Custom Items in Exchange

[kronin323]

Thank you for your post. I think you explained my points better than I could. I understand that is likely too small for Oakley to worry about and why piss of valued customers for no gain (insert negative Lux comment here). But as a collector of all things Oakley (not just shades), I am concerned that the more "replica" items (built from scratch without permission to use the logo) that are in the marketplace, the more likely I am, or another member is, to unknowingly purchasing a non-authentic item. And this forum is providing a gateway for these items to enter the market (despite rules stated in the contrary). So far it hasn't become the biggest of issues, but it might be good to get ahead of it before it does and be consistent rather than wait for someone to get items made in bulk to sell here.

Thank you for the thanks, but I think you may have misunderstood my post; it was to explain what's legal and what's not, why you see those items allowed, not to say what should be allowed...

So, a couple of things...

First off, there are no forum rules to the contrary, in the broader sense you're inferring. The forum rules prohibit counterfeits, which are copyrighted items sold by Oakley which are illegally reproduced and sold as authentic or "replicas". You won't find those here. There are some replicas of non-copyrighted, not-sold-by-Oakley display items, as well as original designs, and they are clearly stated as such. This is not against forum rules. And those rules are enforced consistently already, at least as far as this subject is concerned.

More importantly, your view of this forum as being a gateway for non-authentic items is backwards.

Ebay is such as gateway - you have people who pull out OEM lenses from frames, put in aftermarkets, then sell them as "one-of-a-kind OEM customs" or "prototypes" for inflated prices, then sell the original OEM lenses separately for top dollar. Full-on counterfeit sunglasses sold as authentic. Original design display items either sold as Oakley-designed, or their custom origin not disclosed. Blatant scalping. All of these prey on the ignorant. None of that happens here.

This forum is not that sort of a gateway; on the contrary, it's a tool for empowerment. For information and Knowledge. There is so much expertise and historical industry knowledge cumulatively among its members, you can post a question about any Oakley-related item, questionable or not, and you'll have a bunch of knowledgeable people telling you what's what. That doesn't just apply to OEM products; people here have been around long enough to know the history and origin of "built from scratch" items and replica display items as well. Lacking that, there's a thorough enough knowledge of OEM products and display items to know what isn't. People here ask those sort of questions and get those sort of answers almost every day.

It's the responsibility of a buyer to research a prospective purchase. Failure to do so isn't innocence, it's ignorant foolishness; caveat emptor. This forum and the other one like it are the best tools for doing such research. Items sold here are done without deception (or if someone tries, they fail). Items bought here and resold deceptively in other markets; well, it doesn't matter where they were originally purchased, that happens regardless of the origin and making stricter rules here won't stop that, or even meaningfully curb it. What this forum can do to effectively combat it is to educate.

In general, trying to "sterilize society" of things one doesn't like never works. Instead, what works is to empower people to make responsible decisions. "Just Say Know"...