Gary said:
Seriously though, I think the RM marketing phenominam is merely a by product of his own market strategies after all the gullable seem to be willing to buy anything marketed with RM associations.
Sadly though I think where ebay is concerned its only those who dont know better who get hurt.
The use of a brand name and/or registered trade marks (such as 'Ray Mears' or Woodlore) other than directly related to the item for sale on eBay is
not allowed under the
eBay Terms & Conditions - Listing Policy. It is called
Key Word Spamming
Key word spamming
Inclusion of unrelated key word terms used in effort to gain unfair exposure for seller's auction. The seller will usually state in title; Beautiful Brand X boots - not Brand Z.
Policy: These types of auctions are not permitted and will be ended. The listing fee will be automatically credited for that auction.
and
Don't:
Assume that if buyers want more information you'll hear from them by email. More likely, they'll just bid with your competitors.
Say anything that's not true
Keyword spam. This means don't include words that are actually unrelated to your item just because you think they would appeal to buyers. (For example, don't say: "If you like Ralph Lauren, you'll like the colour of these towels.") This is against eBay's listing policies
Full details here of
eBay - Key Word Spamming.
Anyone can report misleading items here:
eBay Community Watch. Just select the relevant choices and email them with the item reference number.
So I would say it is, at the very least, actually misleading potential purchasers and I often report it to eBay because of that. Unfortunately it happens all too often on eBay
and with so many items it is hard to police and why it is more important to report it. Because others do it does not make it right.
I agree with you Gary that people who recognise the name are being misled by the sellers. It is not something RM would want to see but very hard for them to do anything about except complain direct to eBay.
If on the other hand people want to buy genuine RM related items then that is up to the individual. I am not sure it is gullability. There is a big market for anything related to people with celebrity and often has more to do with association with that person than the actual worth of the object (signatures are a good example) and about potential valuesin the future ( such as with the first RM book that is just down to market forces and what collectors will pay).
This does not mean that the item is any better or worse than anything similar just as it is the name of a famous name (often they are simply more expensive to pay for the endorsement!) but to be fair most of the kit for sale from Woodlore is actually a personal recommendation from use which should carry more weight than a simple 'rubber stamp'.
That is personal choice.