Monday 27 October 2008

Ignorance and idiocy at eBay

Well, my problems with eBay continue. In fact, they've just reached a new low. I've just learned that my my eBay account has been suspended. Why? Because they think that the My DDR T-Shirt DVDs I am selling are unauthorised copies and a breach of copyright.

I have now had 10 auctions or eBay sales removed by eBay. I have written to them several times to explain the situation but it seems that they are far too big and powerful to listen. I keep writing to them but they send generic and pre-written replies that clearly don't understand the problem. For the record, the DVDs I am selling are not unauthorised and they do not breach any of eBay's policies.

This eBay account suspension is an unjustified punishment of a legitimate seller. It's also a serious blow to the campaign to promote My DDR T-Shirt. The untouchable idiots at eBay are having a real impact on what I do and it is apalling, truly apalling, that they can act so unfairly.

If you were thinking of buying my DVD, simpy email me at "sales [at] ianhawkins.co.uk".

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Lots to report...

Man! There's quite a bit to report this time. Things have been a little less hectic at home recently and I've used this time to tick a few things off the DDR To Do list. But first of all, I have to report some disappointing wrangling with eBay. Over the last few weeks they have removed several auctions for the My DDR T-Shirt DVD. I think it's seven in total. They still seem to think I'm selling counterfeit copies of someone else's film. They even wrote to all my DVD bidders and told them that the product was an 'unauthorised copy' and a 'breach of copyright'. I don't have any legal expertise but this must verge on libel.

I keep writing to them to explain, I keep re-listing the DVD but my account is running dangerously close to being suspended. Ideally, I'd like to take my custom elsewhere (eBay's customer service structure is immensely frustrating) but there just isn't another online market place to compare. And that's the truth...

Despite this, eBay sales are ongoing and going quite well (relatively speaking). I'm also getting some nice feedback from satisfied customers. The current eBay auction is getting close to the end. Maybe it's because eBay scared all my customers away but bidding is still at 99p. No other auction has done this so it may be a great opportunity to pick up the cheapest My DDR T-Shirt DVD so far. Unless eBay has suspended my account, you can always see the current auction from my eBay Shop.

Anyway, there are a few interesting irons in the fire. I don't want to jump the gun so apologies for the flaky details. I'll just tell you the news and report at a later date if anything comes to fruition.

1. I was contacted by a person who works at a large museum dedicated to the Cold War - he said there is a gap in their material about life in East Germany and my film just might fit. They may play an edited version of the film or stock the DVD in the museum shop.


2. One person offered two very interesting leads. Firstly, they run an online bookshop and may be interested in selling the DVD. Secondly, they have contacts with an independent arts organsation for Russian people living in the Northeast. This might lead to a screening at some point, somewhere.

3. A good friend is making initial contacts to explore the Leipzig screening reported last time. I love the idea of a German/Leipzig screening so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one. In preparation, the transcription of the film has finally been completed and will (hopefully) be translated into German for use as subtitles.

4. I'm down to small, techy details now but we have now transferred all Hawkinsian websites to a new server to increase web space from 55mb to 2500mb.

Wow. The biggest My DDR update ever? Probably. Well done if you got this far!