Good evening everyone, as a yearly benefit of my American Express Mercedes Benz Platinum Charge Card, I receive a $100 certificate for Mercedes Benz merchandise.  Since I do not have a Mercedes Benz vehicle, I typically go to the Mercedes Benz merchandise store and buy key rings or other small items.  I then list those items on Ebay in the hope of making a few bucks.

A few days after listing the key rings, I received the following email from Ebay that claimed that my listings violated Ebay’s listing policy.  The email also claimed that “the rights owner reported it as counterfeit” and that I should contact Daimler AG if I had any questions.

I found the phone number to the Ebay Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program (866-322-9106) and called them to find out more information.  The rep said that Ebay receives thousands of requests daily from various rights owners and Ebay is legally required to take down all reported listings.  I asked the rep if I could contact Daimler AG and explain that the items I was selling were authentic.  After the call, I sent the following email and photo to Daimler AG and cc’d Ebay (copyright@ebay.com):

Good evening Daimler/Mercedes Benz, I wanted to prove that the key rings that I am selling on Ebay are authentic/genuine, not counterfeit items. I purchased 13 key rings from my local Mercedes Benz dealership in Foothill Ranch, CA on January 3, 2015. I have attached images of the front and back of the original receipt showing that these key rings were purchased at this location. The key rings cost $15.95 each, for a grand total of $207.35. If you have any questions about my purchase, please call the dealership directly at 949-347-3700. If you have any questions for me, please let me know. Thank you and have a great day.

The following day, I received an email response from Daimler AG:

Dear Mr. Thomas,

Thank you for your mail and for sending us the receipt for the products offered.

After verifying the data indeed turned out that the delisted items are genuine and that therefore your auctions were cancelled without reason. We have notified eBay to release your listings and to return your account to good standing. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

Best regards

OpSec Security GmbH

A few hours later, I received the following email from Ebay stating that my listings were reinstated and that I could relist the items.  The items were sitting in the unsold items section, so relisting them took only a few seconds.

It was a good thing that I kept the original receipt from the Mercedes Benz dealership, otherwise I might not have been able to convince Daimler AG that the key rings were authentic.  This is just one of the many annoying things about selling items on Ebay.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!