The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Off Topic => The Dollhouse => Topic started by: WingsOfMasquerade on February 05, 2020, 02:59:41 PM
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Sooooooo
It's apparently illegal to sell Skydancers dolls on ebay. And they suspend me for 3 days for doing it, plus pulling them both down after I had good bids. And then hiding all the rest of my stuff from searches until they decide not to because I might have more TeRRoR DoLls somewhere to wreak havoc upon...?idk?
It doesn't make sense.
I did look it up and yes the old original Galoob ones WERE product recalled at some point, but the recall was only to stores selling NIB product. Also the recall would end after Galoob also ended because you can't recall something to a company that doesn't exist. So the recall is expired, then how is it illegal?
How do OTHER people have their listings for the SAME dolls up and also SOLD still?
If Ebay knows it's a banned product like "A Gun & 1 Fresh Human Kidney--still works!"
Why even allow it to be listed?
There's even a whole search-suggestion for the stupid things...you're not allowed to write swears into the listing titles, why not just make skydancers galoob a swear and not allow people to list? Why create entrapment by allowing the listing to go up and then smash the person down later. How is anyone supposed to know which now-non-existing-toy-companies had recalls on their stuff? What about the McDonald ones that didn't launch? What about knockoffs that do the same thing? Like if people were what, shooting the dolls at each other? You can still sell Franny Frufru Flyer and shoot her at anyone you please because it's the same thing.....that should be banned too but it magically isn't.
What's burning me is there's identical sellers with the same dolls and those are still up.
I'm super salty and really tempted to try and report them but that's not the right thing to do. (Unless it was they who reported me because they don't want competing dolls? That's so dirty if so....just wait! Everyone can sell)
Is someone vindictive about the listing & that's "Just what you get" for trying to sell or maybe they hated something else? The ones still up don't have anything special about the description either like "Its for adults" or "only sealed package never open it or your child will die of doll....uh...twirling...affliction"
So what do I do now?
I have like heaps of these things, the fairies the animals the originals and launchers and what all. You're not going to be able to do Etsy or Ecrater either because they probably have the same secret (until you break it) rule in place too waiting to pop out like a viper.
Anyway.....just wanted to throw this into the dolls area to be sure no one else runs afoul of the secret trap on feebay.
3 days isn't the worst thing ever but it was just a nasty surprise.
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You might want to look into toy shows near you, specialized flea markets or place an ad, old-school style.
There are quite a bunch of collectors out there. You just need to get the wares to them without these common websites. Sucks, but Skydancers are almost treated like weapons these days :lol:
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That's dumb. Especially since people sell far more dangerous things on evilbay, like collectible expired food and actual weapons.
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I'm sure someone "reported" your listings repeatedly until you got kicked. Maybe some other bitter Skydancer's seller or some dissatisfied customer who wanted you to sell them for cheaps.
Maybe you can sell them on craigs list (do people still do that) or a Facebook group, or find a toy/doll show or flea market in your area.
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That is insane :O
I have bought Skydancers off eBay in the past, so it doesn't seem like a very widely applied rule - which makes it even more unfair. I do remember buying the fairies and launchers from separate listings though. Maybe if they're incomplete and therefore don't work you can get away with it? But that still makes no sense because you could just buy the separate bits and still have a *Dangerous Skydancer Weapon*. If the world was a sensible and logical place, you would be allowed to just put a note in the description saying something like 'adult collectible, not for children'.
Hope you're able to find somewhere to sell them. I like eBay generally but some of their rules are just totally loony.
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Eh.
The point is it's technically illegal to sell items that have a recall on them. Not just on ebay, but anywhere. (it doesn't matter if the company is still around). So it makes sense eBay needs to pull listings that are reported -- for legal reasons.
https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/ResellersGuide.pdf That is where your secret rule resides.
Sell them somewhere with less of a giant footprint-- where there's less scrutiny to get pulled/noticed. Facebook (MAYBE a private group?), craigslist, fleamarkets, toy fairs, etc.
As for why you can make the listing, because eBay doesn't have a pre-filter. It's like you can technically attempt to take a knife on a plane (intentionally or unintentionally).
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What!! That's just insane - definitely sounds like another seller got really petty and 'snitched' on you to try and wipe out some of the 'competition'. -_- Utterly ridiculous, even if they had been recalled, HOW many years ago was that??? I mean, I really doubt these'll be going to anyone other than adult collectors... *shakes head* I guess rules are rules, but still, they should treat everyone the same, in that case.
Try selling them on Facebook or Craigslist, or a local toy fair/boot sale/etc :) I'm sure you wouldn't run into any trouble there, sounds like you just got unlucky here.
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At the very least they should have given you a warning first.
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How about we get even WEIERDER with the drama?
Thanks to the helpful investigations of Clipper, the actual us government page for Skydancers has been found. And it's whacky for sure complete with horrible picture that's wrongly sized and all manner of obviously made-up accusations of what these dolls are capable of.
If you use Sky Dancers you will get
BROKEN RIBS
CONCUSSION
your teeth KNOCK OUT
and much, much more!
I cannot even conceive of how one could possibly break a rib, even a child rib using the doll or the launcher. Maybe using the launcher as a brass knuckle/holding it in a fist an adult uppercut vs a child breaks a rib? The dolls weigh about an ounce, I don't believe a 1 ounce projectile is going to do much below what, 50 mph? A speed no dancer could ever reach?
It's suuuper obvious that all these 'accident reports' of 'danger toy' is just jerks trying to extort Galoob for money. But, it's still ok to know the origin of all this dumbnity that's going on now. (Kind of like that pokemon porygon seizures thing when kids caught on they wouldn't have to go to school if they said they had seizures from the episode then everybody got on board---not realizing it would almost bring down their whole most favorite show/ruin everything for a simple day off.)
See more at
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2000/CPSC-Galoob-Toys-Inc-Announce-Recall-of-Sky-Dancers-Flying-Dolls/
It also includes the unhelpful advice to return them to Galoob in 2000, so it would give you a new toy of approximate value.
Which, of course, by then, would never be of approximate value.
However, it also seems that they're not illegal in Europe or Canada......so the ones that are on ebay now are most likely non-us sellers so ebay can't/won't bust them.
Now let's add another layer of oddity!
Big Lots the national store chain was actually selling these.......in 2015! But they were "Flying Heroes" now
https://images.app.goo.gl/ywFdqVjW5nZXjr86A
Spiderman.
In 2015. So how is he not illegal and on recall too? If he reaches flight speed, he's the exact same as a skydancers.
So that's a third layer of nonsense.
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I agree with Leave a Whisper:
There should have been a warning, but ebay considers auction tear down plus 3 days of no search and no more listing ability a 'warning'.
Maybe I'm supposed to be glad they didn't ban me for eternity or steal my bank account for something I couldn't have known.
I fairly-well don't care about the 3 day delay, my job isn't ebay it's just a hobby that I like to find wacky old stuff at yard sales and then make a buck or two and learn something along the way. But other people, that's serious business.
If it IS a snitch wiping out the competition...
Should I try to rat out the other listings that are up now? Ebay has 13 or so of them on. I know 2 are euro though.
Plus, trying to get me to sell it for cheap would fail with that method, because now....the skydancers can't be sold at all. Kind of ever! I can't sell them at a yard sale or flea because they'd never fetch a good enough price where everybody wants something for a buck. Maybe I can take them to the Pony Friends Forever Convention or the Fair or something because that's all adult buyers.
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Wow. Talk about over exaggeration.
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here is the direct quote--
Galoob® has received 170 reports of the dolls striking children and adults resulting in 150 reports of injuries. They include eye injuries including scratched corneas and incidents of temporary blindness, broken teeth, a mild concussion, a broken rib, and facial lacerations that required stitches.
According to that sentence there was only one concussion and broken rib. (there is no plural to either one of those words). Both those things can happen with a fall-- and they could of happened along side the other injuries. I think the more important thing is a repeat of lacerations on the face and eye injuries. THAT sort of repeat injury is why there was a recall. Also toy recalls don't expire.
I don't see the reason to make this dramatic.
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Don't forget it'll shoot the neighbors and hide the bodies for you. Regular little assassins they are. XD
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I think if something has ever been recalled then it's technically illegal to sell the item on Ebay unless you can prove that the item you're selling wasn't recalled.
I got really in to Disney/Pixar diecast cars after the first Cars movie came out. There were several waves of characters. Right after the "Supercharged" wave came out the Sarge car was recalled because of lead paint. All the Sarge cards were pulled except for a few that were not included in the recall. I bid on a Sarge car on Ebay and in the description it said "I don't know if this is from the recalled set of Sarge cars or not" I put a bid on the set because I was a collector and even if it was the lead paint Sarge I knew it would not end up in a child's hands. A few days later I got a message from Ebay that the listing was removed because it couldn't be proven whether the set included the recalled Sarge or not.
I'm sorry that happened to you. If it's possibly a recalled toy, you shouldn't be able to list it on Ebay.
I also think the recall was due more to facial and eye injuries.
Ponyfan
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Wow, this is interesting. I have been following multiple sales for MIB Sky Dancer of a certain few that I had as a kid and want them again for nostalgic reasons. I have seen them on eBay, Mercari, and Etsy. Silly. Anyway, if you have either the Halloween or Christmas exclusive ones, let me know as I am interested in replacing my childhood ones!
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Wow, I'd never heard of these before. They are so pretty ^.^
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It's a huge pain D:
I know a few people who have gotten away with selling them on Mercari if they list it as a collectible vs toy and it doesn't stay up for more than 24 hours. But even that's dicey. Makes it seriously hard to find them as well because they just don't pop up locally often. :/
So far my luck has been one that was chewed by a dog XD
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Wait why would it be illegal? I'm out of the loop on these things XD. Sorry its a pain!
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Wait why would it be illegal? I'm out of the loop on these things XD. Sorry its a pain!
It is illegal in the US to sell a toy that has been recalled (and it doesn't expire). Online or offline sales. https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/ResellersGuide.pdf
And eBay will remove listings that are reported to them.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/product-safety-policy?id=4300
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While no one is arguing that recalled toys should be sold to kids, or handed out to them (bad Halloween idea, don't do it, lol), or shot at their eyeballs, I think the problem with the Sky Dancers scenario is twofold:
1. The rule is unevenly applied. A quick glance at ebay shows quite a few active and completed listings.
2. Even though there was a recall, the same technology has been repackaged and sold over and over again since the recall. Under the Skydancers name more than once, even. As a consumer, this leads to questions about the original recall.
The problem for the OP is escalated to another level. Ebay should not have suspended the account without a warning.
I have listed Skydancers on ebay before as well and had them pulled. I got a warning message. At the time, I also got annoyed by how many other listings were still up when mine were pulled, with no rhyme or reason to it. I have found a few alternate sites to list them over the years, but at this point I've actually accumulated a great collection by default.
Now I'm probably going to be buying some of yours at the Pony Friends Forever Convention, lol. It's not my fault... it's ebay's fault... :silly:
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Wait why would it be illegal? I'm out of the loop on these things XD. Sorry its a pain!
It is illegal in the US to sell a toy that has been recalled (and it doesn't expire). Online or offline sales. https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/ResellersGuide.pdf
And eBay will remove listings that are reported to them.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/product-safety-policy?id=4300
Oh!! Didn't know they were recalled, just learned of them this week! Thanks
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I had genuinely no idea there was ever anything about those toys, but then someone mentioned they're not illegal in Europe so..?
The interesting thing about this is that in most cases Europe (by which I mean the EU specifically, not necessarily everywhere in Europe) has much stricter safety regulations on anything than many other parts of the world (cue one thing in hectic discussion here about trade deals with countries outside of the EU and regulations etc)
So my suspicion is either they weren't that dangerous and it was a spate of complaints that blew up because Galoob were really unlucky in the US, or there were some product modifications that ensured they flew (no pun intended) beneath the radar here. But then you guys have rules about Kinder Eggs which are on sale here on literally every high street, so it may simply be that the US's toy safety rules have different parameters.
In any case I'm sorry it was a suspension without a warning. If it was a first time doing anything against Ebay's rules and you didn't know then they should have taken the auctions down and issued you a warning, but left it at that. If you aren't stating it specifically and explicitly by name in your rules and regulation, expecting a private seller clearing out old stuff to know what the site does and doesn't allow, toywise, is unreasonable. A warning would be enough to tell you that much.
Most probably if this restriction is on them, they'd also be stopped at customs like the Kinder Eggs, so even the European sellers would probably not be able to sell to the US (or vice versa) either.
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I've have been flagged for listing an empty Skydancers Bubble bath bottle by ebay in the past. I knew about the toy ban but I think they have a keyword search that auto pulls listings down because I was almost immediately pulled for it. So you can't call it a skydancer even if it's a book