Linden Dollars on eBay

[Lindal Kidd 11,367]

If you go to eBay and enter "Linden dollars" as a search string, you get over 30 results.  One of the sellers even boasts an image implying they are an "authorized reseller". 

Clearly, this is against LL's policies...it violates rules about selling $L outside the LindEx, and also LL's policy against use of their trademarks.  It's probably also against US law.

I don't seem to have had much luck reporting these listings to eBay.  LL, how about siccing your legal team on 'em?

(Oh...and if any residents reading this think that eBay might be a good place to get your $L -- the prices aren't as good as you can get on the LindEx.  Assuming you'd actually get any $L at all, of course.)

[Kristin Linden 494]

Hello!

If you happen to come across third party websites that are offering to buy/sell L$, such as Ebay listings, you may of course report the content on the website themselves. Probably the best way to report this sort of thing to Linden Lab is to submit a Support case with further information and links to the individual listings. From there we can escalate to the appropriate people as necessary.

 

Also, don't buy L$ outside the LindeX folks! You're gonna have a bad time.

 

[Love Zhaoying 9,879]

15 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

If you go to eBay and enter "Linden dollars" as a search string, you get over 30 results.  One of the sellers even boasts an image implying they are an "authorized reseller". 

Clearly, this is against LL's policies...it violates rules about selling $L outside the LindEx, and also LL's policy against use of their trademarks.  It's probably also against US law.

I don't seem to have had much luck reporting these listings to eBay.  LL, how about siccing your legal team on 'em?

(Oh...and if any residents reading this think that eBay might be a good place to get your $L -- the prices aren't as good as you can get on the LindEx.  Assuming you'd actually get any $L at all, of course.)

Last time I reported something on eBay (to them, not related to SL), I contacted support and spoke with someone.

[Fionalein 4,782]

10 minutes ago, Kristin Linden said:

Probably the best way to report this sort of thing to Linden Lab is to submit a Support case with further information and links to the individual listings.

Why a support case?  Why not even demand a Jira... Sorry, LindenLab ... it should be in your own interest to make reporting such stuff as steamlined and easy for us as possible ...

Please rethink this procedure - Just imagine how many possible reports you might have missed out on just because people think "Wait? Go through all this trouble? ... No way!"

Edited July 22 by Fionalein

[Rolig Loon 21,539]

3 hours ago, Fionalein said:

Why a support case?  Why not even demand a Jira..

Because you are not reporting a perceived problem with SL.  That is a good question, though.  You are reporting an apparent violation of the TOS, so I would think first of submitting an Abuse Report.  A JIRA report is normally used to report a technical problem or suggest a new feature.  If you went that direction with this issue, your report would probably either be dismissed or languish for years. A Support Case is typically used when you are having a problem that is probably not systemic but is affecting your own performance, or when you need assistance performing a complicated function like moving a private region. An Abuse Report is intended for alerting LL to a possible TOS violation, which seems to be the case here.  

In fact, the answer may be sort of a coin toss.  It's my understanding that an AR is sent directly to the Governance team and that a Support Case is triaged by a team that is more like Customer Service or Technical Support in other businesses.  My guess is that the Support team is larger and may be more nimble at times when a generic question comes across the desk.  If a perceived TOS violation isn't a matter that affects you personally, therefore, LL may prefer keeping it off the Governance team's plate and letting the Support team handle it. That's just a guess, but it sounds like what @Kristin Linden is saying.  In any case, though, a JIRA is not the right way to go. 

Edited July 22 by Rolig Loon

[CoffeeDujour 4,261]

My first thought would have been an AR too ... 

[Alwin Alcott 5,363]

50 minutes ago, ZoeChanning said:

Reporting it might be considered selfish, not everyone's bank cards are accepted by Linden Lab and the alternatives do not work either in my part of the world.

People generally only see the world from where they are standing, usually america, which is sad.

perhaps you dont realise but those third party resellers are most likely not delivering at all, and if they do it's money that's collected in a not so fresh way or even stolen.
If LL doesn't protect you, me, us from that would that make you more happy?

I'm guessing with paypal, skril, credit cards and the other accepted payment methods, including combinations of those ( like PP +prepaid cards) a coverage of very high numbers is reached.

[Whirly Fizzle 4,814]

1 hour ago, ZoeChanning said:

Reporting it might be considered selfish, not everyone's bank cards are accepted by Linden Lab and the alternatives do not work either in my part of the world.

People generally only see the world from where they are standing, usually america, which is sad.

It's not selfish.  It's potentially saving the buyer from getting their account locked or worse.

When I was a noob & didn't know better, I bought L$ from a 3rd party reseller & this was back in the days that 3rd party resellers were allowed.
The L$ I bought were very cheap - so cheap that alarm bells were ringing & I suspected a scam.  I thought I may not get the L$ delivered so I only bought a small amount to test it.
I did however get the L$ sent to me inworld from a zero day account a couple of days later.
So I thought oh, this is great, maybe it's not a scam & ordered a slightly larger sum.
I also told a couple of my friends about the website I used to buy the L$ & both of them bought quite a large amount of L$. I still feel really bad about this 

A couple of days later, both of my friends had their accounts put on hold - they were blocked from login with a message to contact support.
Turned out as soon as those L$ hit their accounts they were put on hold & had the L$ bought deducted from their balance & then had to pay LL in $ to get their accounts back to a positive L$ balance. It cost them both over US$100.
I wasn't locked out of my account but I knew it was coming as soon as those L$ were paid to me.  LL were obviously aware & were watching 
I contacted support as soon as I knew what had happened to my friends & was told I'd have to wait until my account was locked & then to contact them because the lock was automatic.
Sure enough next day, my account was also on hold.
I phoned LL billing & explained again what had happened & I had to buy enough L$ to put my account back in a positive balance after the fraudulent L$ were removed.  LL unblocked my account as soon as I did that.
They explained to me that the L$ I bought were bought using a stolen credit card & I got a polite lecture about buying L$ from those kinds of websites again.

So no, it's not selfish.  Anyone buying L$ from an unauthorized reseller is going to end up getting their account locked & paying for those L$ twice, without actually getting the L$.

I'm also sad to see that same "game currency" website is still trading, however they no longer sell L$.
Not sure if I'm allowed to name the site so I'll err on the side of caution & not. I wish I could though because the site is scam & still selling "game gold" after all these years.
 

[Kristin Linden 494]

While you can certainly file an Abuse Report on selling of L$, Abuse Reports are for issues on our service. Of course if you are encountering someone advertising the buying/selling of L$ in-world, we definitely encourage for Abuse Reports to be filed.

However,  if this activity is going on a 3rd party website outside of Second Life (such as Ebay) an Abuse Report may not be the best way to report this. Which is why a Support case was recommended in this particular case so that we can escalate that information to the appropriate team to handle further. 

I hope that clears up a little bit of the confusion!

 

 

[Lindal Kidd 11,367]

Well, I brought it to LL's attention, however I managed it.

Mission accomplished, I say.

[ZoeChanning 126]

Reporting it might be considered selfish, not everyone's bank cards are accepted by Linden Lab and the alternatives do not work either in my part of the world.

People generally only see the world from where they are standing, usually america, which is sad.