Stink over French Perfume Costs eBay

Company fined $2.5 million for auctions involving luxury brands

Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy has successfully sued San Jose-based on line auctioneer eBay in French court over sales of luxury perfumes on the site, and has fined eBay $2.5 million.

Arguing that the sales were not by authorized resellers and hoping to enforce its exclusive distribution agreements with retailers, LVMH objected to eBay's trade in scents and cosmetics from the likes of Dior and Givenchy.

eBay argued that the agreements were anti-competitive, and that the company was doing its best to filter out offending items from listings for French shoppers.

The company even accused LVMH of deliberately listing items so that they would evade the filters in order to present them as evidence at trial.

Normally, eBay has been on trial for the market in knockoff products, not legitimate offerings.

The company plans to appeal the ruling.

Jackson West wears Clubman Bay Rum because it's old-timey.

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