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My tracking has been exclusively intellectual property which actually offers some advantages to the tracker, but the technique will work for both.

In my experience the items I was tracking were unique enough that I found the (in this case) DVD bootleggers with little trouble. I did need to my eBay searches to the UK in my case because UK items don’t necessarily show up on general item searches. (ebay.co.uk) Anyone searching on eBay for an item might do well to set the search parameters to a specific search if a general search does not yield results. For example, you can set an eBay search to 200 miles of a specific city, with pick up as the only option. If eBay knows you don’t live within 200 miles of that city you may not find the item in your general search results unless you adjust your search results.

(‘eBay Hacks’ by David A Karp is a good source for understanding and even programming eBay searches.)

It is possible on eBay to search back through a lister’s items for the past 30 days. The link can be found on the ‘SITE’ menu, the link to which is on the bottom (and top) of most eBay pages. Go to the listings for ‘More Ways to find items’ and click on ‘completed listings.’

Sometimes people listing items can obscure what the item was by making the item ‘private.’ There are ways to get around this. One pirate I was after made the items private but then also tried to modify feedback by only publishing good feedback. The item numbers were listed, and by inserting an item number in an eBay search box that item will appear unless it is older than 30 days.

In a situation where I did not have the item numbers the feedback itself was a hint as to what the item might be. If you are an intellectual property rights owner or the agent of such you can file what is called a VERO complaint. (Just type VERO in eBay’s HELP box and all the forms you need will be made available to you.)

As an authorized VERO agent once you are sure that the item is, in fact, a bootlegged intellectual item, such as a copyrighted DVD ( VERO covers more) you can file a report and ebay will cancel the item (even if the listing is already completed and the buyer has paid) and let the buyer or would-be buyer know the item has been canceled.

So it was possible, to prevent bootleggers from profiting on bootlegged items, to contact buyers on an item with feedback that sounded like the item might be the one in question (only necessary if the item is marked private and you can’t find the item number.) and ask them (You are limited to only a few contacts with eBay members who have not purchased from you recently in any given day.) if it is, indeed, the item in question. I do point out that if it is, I will enable them to file a complaint to eBay (and especially PayPal if they paid that way,) that the item is bootlegged, and demand their money back.

Then whether I knew the item number of found it out from a buyer I file a VERO. (You should file the VERO complaint only after you’ve given them this chance to demand their money back from PayPal, etc. or the fact that the item will simply vanish from eBay records might make it hard for them to file a claim for a return of funds.) I do tell them that they may keep the bootlegged item with the copyright owners blessing.

This had greatly discouraged our British and Scottish bootleggers. But the searching system might also help in finding resellers of stolen items on eBay.

My tracking has been exclusively intellectual property which actually offers some advantages to the tracker, but the technique will work for both.

In my experience the items I was tracking were unique enough that I found the (in this case) DVD bootleggers with little trouble. I did need to my eBay searches to the UK in my case because UK items don’t necessarily show up on general item searches. (ebay.co.uk) Anyone searching on eBay for an item might do well to set the search parameters to a specific search if a general search does not yield results. For example, you can set an eBay search to 200 miles of a specific city, with pick up as the only option. If eBay knows you don’t live within 200 miles of that city you may not find the item in your general search results unless you adjust your search results.

(‘eBay Hacks’ by David A Karp is a good source for understanding and even programming eBay searches.)

It is possible on eBay to search back through a lister’s items for the past 30 days. The link can be found on the ‘SITE’ menu, the link to which is on the bottom (and top) of most eBay pages. Go to the listings for ‘More Ways to find items’ and click on ‘completed listings.’

Sometimes people listing items can obscure what the item was by making the item ‘private.’ There are ways to get around this. One pirate I was after made the items private but then also tried to modify feedback by only publishing good feedback. The item numbers were listed, and by inserting an item number in an eBay search box that item will appear unless it is older than 30 days.

In a situation where I did not have the item numbers the feedback itself was a hint as to what the item might be. If you are an intellectual property rights owner or the agent of such you can file what is called a VERO complaint. (Just type VERO in eBay’s HELP box and all the forms you need will be made available to you.)

As an authorized VERO agent once you are sure that the item is, in fact, a bootlegged intellectual item, such as a copyrighted DVD ( VERO covers more) you can file a report and ebay will cancel the item (even if the listing is already completed and the buyer has paid) and let the buyer or would-be buyer know the item has been canceled.

So it was possible, to prevent bootleggers from profiting on bootlegged items, to contact buyers on an item with feedback that sounded like the item might be the one in question (only necessary if the item is marked private and you can’t find the item number.) and ask them (You are limited to only a few contacts with eBay members who have not purchased from you recently in any given day.) if it is, indeed, the item in question. I do point out that if it is, I will enable them to file a complaint to eBay (and especially PayPal if they paid that way,) that the item is bootlegged, and demand their money back.

Then whether I knew the item number of found it out from a buyer I file a VERO. (You should file the VERO complaint only after you’ve given them this chance to demand their money back from PayPal, etc. or the fact that the item will simply vanish from eBay records might make it hard for them to file a claim for a return of funds.) I do tell them that they may keep the bootlegged item with the copyright owners blessing.

This had greatly discouraged our British and Scottish bootleggers. But the searching system might also help in finding resellers of stolen items on eBay.