Power Sellers Unite

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17227 Location: Texas

Retailers said lawmakers should focus more on preventing organized retail crime rather than cracking down on offenders.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retailers and police called on Congress on Thursday to require online auction sites such as eBay to post the serial numbers of items for sale to help crack down on gangs of professional shoplifters.

The Internet auction sites should also provide more information about high-volume sellers of goods, they said.

Both Democrats and Republicans on a House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee said the issue is ripe for legislative attention, noting the retail industry loses more than $30 billion a year from organized theft.

more.. link to news article

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Do I hear a chorus babies crying?

DDT

AlterEgo · Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 560

This is one of those sounds like a good idea things, but the logistics of getting hundred of thousands of individual sellers to post serial numbers is near impossible... So I just don't see this being implemented.

I can see it being done with Car VIN numbers. But cars are rare very high ticket items sold on eBay and am sure only a few sellers sell cars on eBay.

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

I agree with AE - sounds 'good' in the planning, but what a zoo it could turn out to. The biggest question in my mind - if sellers were required to list Serial Numbers, do all retailers have them to prove the original loss? And, why would only retailers be protected?

An example - my boy had a super nice mobile fon mp3 player he got for his birthday. It was stolen at the skate park, and of course, was never found - :roll: ! I did watch ebaY for a long while to see if it was sold 'there' but there were quite a few. I DID have the SN, and if sellers had to post, I may have gotten the phone back.

But - the only reason I had the SN -------- the mobile company knew it. So - it's one set of issues for sellers to have to list the number; it's a whole new set of problems for the affected to prove the item was stolen and that is 'it'.

mongoose · Joined: 05 Feb 2008 Posts: 2087

"Both Democrats and Republicans on a House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee said the issue is ripe for legislative attention, noting the retail industry loses more than $30 billion a year from organized theft."

Isn't this a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black? How much does government steal annually to pad special interest pockets and to buy votes...

stockflyer · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 124

Shoplifting is serious. If you've ever owned a store you'd see it. I have had over $400 of candles ripped off at one time by a professional ring. No serial numbers on these, but Yankee is easy to sell anywhere and I bet many on eBay are stolen.

greggrss10 · Joined: 13 Apr 2009 Posts: 40

AlterEgo wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")This is one of those sounds like a good idea things, but the logistics of getting hundred of thousands of individual sellers to post serial numbers is near impossible... So I just don't see this being implemented.

I can see it being done with Car VIN numbers. But cars are rare very high ticket items sold on eBay and am sure only a few sellers sell cars on eBay.

totally agree. it would be impossible to track every item sold on ebay. perhaps track big items (e.i. TV's, stereos, ipods, etc).

all though, pawnshops have to write down serial numbers incase items were stolen. maybe create a database for numbers of stolen goods?

purple_reading_giraffe · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5485 Location: Indiana, USA

I can see one way eBay *might* be able to be sure SNs were listed - a required field in the listing. I see NO way they can ensure the number is correct.

stockflyer · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 124

I agree, without visual inspection, I'm not sure just how to enforce this. Although with a bit of brainstorming and creative thought there must be a solution or approach that could work.

We could require everything to be tracked just like we manage the ownership of cars through their VIN. :twisted:

(just kidding) -- I am in no way, absolutely no way, advocating getting the govment involved. Honest people need to make this work without the govt being involved. :evil:

diesel_parts · Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 723

If you are in business theft is part of doing business. Te retailers need to improve their security instead of trying to get someone else to foot the bill.

What about the billions of items that have no serial #?

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

diesel_parts wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")If you are in business theft is part of doing business. Te retailers need to improve their security instead of trying to get someone else to foot the bill.

What about the billions of items that have no serial #?

What about all the "used" or new auto parts sold on auction? Many of those turn out to have been stolen.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4780

When I had my B&M retail store and especially when I sold in a local flea market, I would get hundreds of items offered to me, that I knew had been stolen from local stores.

I had one individual who would bring in 50-60 CDs or DVDs each week that were still wrapped and in many cases had a store's price stickers still on them. When asked about the fact that they had as many as 10 of any given title, they would respond that they hadn't realized that they already had the item when they bought the extra copy... :lol: :roll: :lol:

And NO, I didn't buy the items. If I knew or could tell where the items had come from, I would confiscate them, and if the person bringing them in complained, offer to call the police. Then when I had the chance, I would return them to the store they were stolen from, along with a description of the person who brought them to me.

But many other flea market sellers did buy the items. One once got busted by the feds who confiscated over 1200 of his items. The next day, his shop was filled once again, with items that he had been storing at his home.

greggrss10 · Joined: 13 Apr 2009 Posts: 40

i don't understand how someone can steal 10 copies of a DVD. You'd think the store would catch on pretty quickly. People can be so dumb.