Welcome to the wonderful world of VERO on eBay. Have you ever received one of these emails?
VeRO stands for Verified Rights Ownership. Or in plain English:
Stuff you can't sell on eBay, or words you can't use in titles.
It means the company has taken special steps to protect their product from 3rd party sales, or to restrict the use of their trademarked name. Some companies just don't want their items sold on eBay. They feel it devalues the item. Amazon is the same - many companies like Dunkin Donuts and Gillette don't want their items sold on Amazon by 3rd party sellers (us). You just have to accept that and move on.
A few common examples:
Velcro. This word is trademarked and you can't use it in your titles. You can say "hook and eye fastener." And it is ok to use the word Velcro in your description, just not in the title.
Another common one is Onesie. This is a word trademarked by Gerber for the little one piece underwear / outfit for babies. I wrote about the restriction on the word Onesie back in 2013 - see, you gotta read this blog to stay in the know!
If you are selling automotive items or aftermarket parts or accessories, be careful. There are a lot of VeRO violations for automotive items - most sellers just don't know about the rules. Take some time to educate yourself on what is allowed.
Don't stress, it happens. Just follow what eBay says. I had a Simpsons ball cap removed a few months ago for VeRO. I didn't know. No big deal, I just donated it back to Goodwill and moved on.
You can read the full list of VeRO companies here.
Can anybody actually know this whole list? Of course not. Some just have rules for exactly what you can and can't sell under the branded name. Like Frito-Lay. They say you can't sell unauthorized coupons. But you can sell all the Fritos corn chips you want.
Or John Deere. You can sell all the John Deere stuff you want, it just has to be authentic. Do if you list a fake or knockoff John Deere item with their logo used illegally, and they see it, your listing will be removed. Who knows if there are fake John Deere logoed items out there, but anything is possible. (There are fake Uggs, fake Otterbox cases, fake North Face jackets - nothing surprises me anymore.)
These companies just want to preserve the integrity of their brand. It isn't about punishing eBay sellers. It is about keeping their brand pure and not having their image diluted because a bunch of people are making fake items and selling them on eBay.
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