Why hasn't Spyderco registered with eBay's VeRO Program?

[The Deacon]

While reporting fakes here and to eBay gives us a warm fuzzy feeling, eBay cannot do anything unless the owner of the trademark, copyright, or patent that is being infringed has registered with their VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program and is the party reporting the violation. That's actually reasonable, since eBay can't realistically be expected to know what every company produces, or ever produced and an unscrupulous seller report "your" auctions to increase the chance of someone bidding on theirs. But, when I look through the list of VeRO participants (http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html), Spyderco is not among them.

[Creepo]

A quick search revealed that the only major American (or European) registered knife company is Benchmade (even if I liked to get more deeper into this subject I won't :D). Considering out of several knife companies only one is registered, I'm not so surprised Spyderco isn't either.

And as Kristi herself put it the reason this sub-forum exists is the shortage of staff:

As a small company it’s not possible to have someone on staff searching for these things. You are a key part of our awareness. Your efforts are appreciated more than we can express.
I don't know what it takes for a company to register in that program or if it reguires active reporting from the company itself. But I suspect it would probably require someone to actively scan eBay and report the fakes and considering the vast amount of fakes, it would reguire hiring more staff.
And as always Sal and crew try to focus on bringing us great knives for a great price.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for Spyderco registering in the program! Even if it required me to pay 1$ more for each Spyderco product I purchase. ;)

[The Deacon]

A quick search revealed that the only major American (or European) registered knife company is Benchmade (even if I liked to get more deeper into this subject I won't :D). Considering out of several knife companies only one is registered, I'm not so surprised Spyderco isn't either.

And as Kristi herself put it the reason this sub-forum exists is the shortage of staff:

I don't know what it takes for a company to register in that program or if it reguires active reporting from the company itself. But I suspect it would probably require someone to actively scan eBay and report the fakes and considering the vast amount of fakes, it would reguire hiring more staff.
And as always Sal and crew try to focus on bringing us great knives for a great price.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for Spyderco registering in the program! Even if it required me to pay 1$ more for each Spyderco product I purchase. ;)Yes, Spyderco would have to be the one reporting the violations. However, if they were registered, Kristi or someone else from Spyderco could monitor our postings here, and act upon them, rather than having to scan eBay themselves. That's my point, we can help, but only so much, and only if they get involved. Would it be 100% effective? probably not. Would it help reduce the number of fakes? maybe. Is it worth their time and effort? Only they can answer that one.

[SmoothOne25]

Yes, Spyderco would have to be the one reporting the violations. However, if they were registered, Kristi or someone else from Spyderco could monitor our postings here, and act upon them, rather than having to scan eBay themselves. That's my point, we can help, but only so much, and only if they get involved. Would it be 100% effective? probably not. Would it help reduce the number of fakes? maybe. Is it worth their time and effort? Only they can answer that one.

this makes sense^ good job paul

[SmoothOne25]

i use to not even bother till i read here. now im reporting left and right. to no avail imho. it goes down and a dummy sock account pops up with the same stupid "5" the normal most copied five....

ill sue you england!

[Pinetreebbs]

Yes, Spyderco would have to be the one reporting the violations. However, if they were registered, Kristi or someone else from Spyderco could monitor our postings here, and act upon them, rather than having to scan eBay themselves. That's my point, we can help, but only so much, and only if they get involved. Would it be 100% effective? probably not. Would it help reduce the number of fakes? maybe. Is it worth their time and effort? Only they can answer that one.

I really like your idea. I have two concerns, we may be overfilling the plate of a Spyderco employee and there may be legal ramifications that an attorney should review.

[Bluntrauma]

I would help in anyway I could even if it meant scouring the forums daily. Oh wait, I do that anyway. :cool:

[TazKristi]

Spyderco is registered with the VeRO program. Two separate registrations in fact. We work very closely with EBay and have had success with having certain auctions removed. However, please keep in mind, there are many things going on behind our doors that we cannot discuss here. Ultimately, having "Bob's" auction taken down is not always in our best interest. Does it cause an issue for "Bob"? Of course, but it may not have any affect on the bigger picture.

Our biggest resource though in this constant battle is you. The links that ya'll post here are key to our ability to address this issue. Not just on EBay, but on the internet as a whole. As I said when I started this sub-section, we would never be able to duplicate the number of eyes on this problem in-house compared to all of you. You are highly educated on the topic of Spyderco and byrd. You are interested and motivated and you genuinely care.

So, please keep doing what you're doing. Post links when you find questionable items. It may not seem like it, but I promise, we are looking and we are following up with each and every post.

Spyderco takes great pride in what we do. 33 years of hard work, our commitment to quality high-performance products and always striving to do business in a fair and proper manner is not something were willing to sit back and watch get diluted or worse.

We sincerely thank you, each of you, for looking out for us. It does not go unnoticed and it is always appreciated.

Kristi

[Pinetreebbs]

Spyderco is registered with the VeRO program. Two separate registrations in fact. We work very closely with EBay and have had success with having certain auctions removed. However, please keep in mind, there are many things going on behind our doors that we cannot discuss here. Ultimately, having "Bob's" auction taken down is not always in our best interest. Does it cause an issue for "Bob"? Of course, but it may not have any affect on the bigger picture.

Our biggest resource though in this constant battle is you. The links that ya'll post here are key to our ability to address this issue. Not just on EBay, but on the internet as a whole. As I said when I started this sub-section, we would never be able to duplicate the number of eyes on this problem in-house compared to all of you. You are highly educated on the topic of Spyderco and byrd. You are interested and motivated and you genuinely care.

So, please keep doing what you're doing. Post links when you find questionable items. It may not seem like it, but I promise, we are looking and we are following up with each and every post.

Spyderco takes great pride in what we do. 33 years of hard work, our commitment to quality high-performance products and always striving to do business in a fair and proper manner is not something were willing to sit back and watch get diluted or worse.

We sincerely thank you, each of you, for looking out for us. It does not go unnoticed and it is always appreciated.

Kristi

We're on it!

[On Edge]

Smart smart company and business model.

And we get to be part of it, and benefit from the resulting offerings!

Truly unique.

:D

~ Edge

[rnbtexas]

The more I read about Spyderco and from it's forum members the more impressed I am.

[sal]

Hi RnbTexas,

Welcome to the Spyderco forum and thanx much for the kind words.

sal

[Ghost]

Our biggest resource though in this constant battle is you.

Proud to say I report all the fakes I spot on the Swedish auction site I frequent :). Dunno if has any effect though.