The eBay VeRO programme explained: what happens when a rights owner reports your listing

What is the eBay VeRO programme?

The eBay VeRO programme, short for Verified Rights Owner, is how owners of intellectual property tell eBay about listings they say infringe their rights. Intellectual property means trademarks such as brand names and logos, copyright in things like photos, text, films and software, and similar rights. When a rights owner in the programme reports a listing, eBay can remove it and take action on the seller's account.

eBay's own summary is on its intellectual property and VeRO programme page. In short: an infringing item is not allowed on eBay; if only the way it is listed infringes, the seller may be able to edit the listing; and eBay may remove the listing, warn, restrict or suspend.

What can a rights owner report?

The difference between the first two rows matters. If the item infringes, it cannot be sold. If only the listing infringes, you may be able to fix it, for example with your own photos and wording.

Trademark and copyright in plain words

Most VeRO reports fall under one of two rights. A trademark protects a brand name, logo or other sign that tells buyers who made a product. Counterfeits infringe trademarks, and so can listings that use a brand name in a way that suggests a connection that is not there. Copyright protects original work such as photos, written descriptions, artwork, music, films and software. A listing that copies a brand's photos or text can infringe copyright even when the item itself is genuine.

Knowing which right was reported tells you where to look. A trademark report points at the item or the way the brand is used in the title. A copyright report usually points at the photos or the description.

What happens when your listing is reported?

1. eBay removes the listing. It ends, and if it had sales in progress you still need to deal with them properly.
2. You receive an email. eBay tells you which listing was removed, the type of rights involved and the rights owner's contact email.
3. eBay may take account action. Depending on the circumstances and your history, that can be a warning, restrictions on your selling, or suspension.

If a buyer had already paid for the item before the listing was removed, do not ignore the order. Contact the buyer, and if the item may be infringing, do not send it: cancel and refund in full, and explain briefly. Sending an item that a rights owner has reported can make matters worse.

Read the email carefully. It names the rights owner and tells you what kind of infringement was reported, which tells you what to change.

How do you respond to a VeRO removal?

Step 1: understand the report

Work out whether the report is about the item or the listing. If it is about photos or text you took from elsewhere, the fix is in your hands. If it is about the item being counterfeit or unauthorised, do not relist it.

Step 2: check your other listings

Rights owners often report several listings at once, or come back later. Search your active listings for the same brand, the same photos or the same description and review each one now.

Step 3: contact the rights owner if you believe it is a mistake

eBay's removal email includes the rights owner's email address. You can contact them, politely and with evidence, to ask them to retract the report. Evidence might be an invoice from an authorised distributor, or proof that the photos are your own. If the rights owner agrees the report was a mistake, they can retract it with eBay.

A message to the rights owner you can adapt

Hello, eBay removed my listing [item number] after a report from your company about [type of right]. I believe the item is genuine: I bought it from [authorised distributor], and the attached invoice shows this. The photos are my own. Would you consider retracting the report? If there is anything in the listing you would like me to change, please tell me and I will do so. Thank you.

Keep it polite and short, attach the evidence, and accept that the rights owner is not obliged to agree. Do not argue about the law, and do not send repeated messages.

Step 4: use eBay's appeal process

You can also appeal through eBay's internal appeals process. Keep it factual: the listing, what was reported, and why you believe the report does not apply.

Step 5: fix and only then relist

If the listing infringed but the item did not, you may be able to list again with your own photos and wording. Do not relist a reported item unchanged.

A worked example: two removals, two different fixes

Example, with hypothetical listings.

• Listing A: a genuine kitchen gadget, listed with photos copied from the manufacturer's website. The rights owner reports copyright in the images. The item is genuine and the seller has an invoice. Fix: take new photos of the actual item, rewrite the description in the seller's own words, check the other 12 listings that used the same images, then relist.
• Listing B: a phone case with a famous sportswear logo, bought cheaply from an unknown source. The rights owner reports trademark infringement. The seller cannot show it is genuine. Fix: do not relist, remove any similar items, and stop buying from that source.

Same programme, very different outcomes. The first was a listing problem; the second was an item problem.

How do you avoid VeRO reports in the first place?

• Use your own photos and words. Copying a brand's or another seller's images and text is one of the commonest reasons for removal.
• Know where your stock comes from. Buy branded goods only where you can show they are genuine.
• Check brands before you list. Look at eBay's VeRO participant profiles for the brands you plan to sell, and read what each rights owner says it does not allow.
• Do not use a brand name for something it is not. For compatible or unbranded items, say what the item is, and use the brand name only to describe compatibility accurately.
• Keep a list of brands that have reported you. Do not list them again unless you have resolved the issue with the rights owner.

Keep records of where stock came from

For every branded product you sell, keep the invoice or receipt that shows where you bought it. If a rights owner questions whether an item is genuine, that record is the only evidence most sellers can offer. Without it, a retraction request or an appeal has little to stand on.

Screening brands against a VeRO list before drafts are published, and flagging live listings whose brand matches, cuts down the obvious risks. Dropizon's VeRO checker does this; no list can cover every rights owner or every kind of infringement, so the checks above still matter.

VeRO and sourcing from other sellers' listings

Many VeRO problems start when a listing is built from someone else's product page: their photos, their title and their description. That material belongs to someone. Sellers who source from other retailers should also be clear on eBay's drop shipping policy: dropshipping from a wholesale supplier is allowed, but listing an item and then buying it from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not, and the seller stays responsible for delivery and the buyer's satisfaction.

What to do after a VeRO email

• Read the email and note the rights owner, the type of right and the listing.
• Decide: item problem or listing problem.
• Search and review every similar listing today.
• Contact the rights owner or appeal if you have evidence the report is wrong.
• Relist only after fixing the cause, never unchanged.
• Add the brand to your own do not list file.

For a wider view of the rules that can restrict an account, see the Dropizon documentation on guards and checks, and the policy pages linked above.