LVMH is Prosecuting eBay & Forbidding Vendors to Sell Their Fragrances {The 5th Sense in the News}
LVMH (Moët Hennessy. Louis Vuitton) is now prosecuting eBay for allowing sellers to sell Christian Dior, Guerlain, Kenzo, and Givenchy fragrances. The problem revolves mainly around selective-distribution and quality-control issues. (sorry I don't have the time to translate excerpts from the French text now)
"Ça ne fait plus de doute : eBay est dans le collimateur du groupe LVHM.Déjà poursuivi par le numéro un mondial du luxe pour contrefaçon,le site d'enchères est cette fois l'objet d'une plainte au tribunal de commerce de Paris pour avoir permis à ses utilisateurs de commercialiser des parfums Christian Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy et Kenzo. Le groupe, dirigé par Bernard Arnault, a également envoyé fin juin des lettres de mise en demeure aux internautes s'étant improvisé revendeurs d'articles cosmétiques. Ils doivent cesser sous 48 heures de mettre en ligne ces produits sous peine de poursuites judiciaires."Read more......
It's been impossible to sell those products on French eBay for awhile now: the site "blocks" the ad. And it confirms my suspicion that LVMH is behing the decant ban. According to the article whose link you post, a French court has judged that an individual reselling an unwanted gift is allowed to do so, but LVMH isn't having it... So that really spell the end of eBaying for perfume, even vintage, doesn't it? If it weren't that I love the Guerlains, I'd feel like boycotting the whole damn company! Grrrrrrrrrrr.
i'm not a big fan of ebay, although i will say i did purchase fantastic vintage perfume via ebay last year, so i guess I have mixed feelings about this whole drama.
Crap!
So how is this legal? Once I've purchased an item, it's mine to sell again as I like, whether it be an article of clothing or a book or a bottle of perfume. I hope monopoly laws stop them in the U.S. Cretins.