Leeches?

Thoughts?
https://www.v1engineering.com/leech/

Wait for Ebay first, they will do something (they will admit it’s the same design.) But I doubt he will sell one of them. You can otherwise make a false ebay account from his country, put exactly the same title to be in the same results than him with a better price, and to explain then from where it comes, under which licences and how much you really sell them, etc…

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I love the way you think!

I sent him a question through eBay citing your design and asked if he had permission to sell it. Maybe enough comments like this will prompt him to remove it on his own.

Hi Allted,
No. I don’t think you are being petty at all.
You put in loads of original effort and were generous enough to share it with the world.
Thank you.

This spanish guy has obviously used your specific design (and, originally, your photos) without honestly stating attribution.
Not only that, he is now denying it is your design!
But your design is so distinctive, there can be no mistake…it’s yours!
I am so sorry there are such selfish folk.
I hope he makes no money from this ebay ad.

I still can’t put my finger on why this bugs me so much. If anyone built another one for a friend or two and made some dough, I have zero issues with that I actually love that idea. I have released all the files, no issues with people making one.

I think it just has something to do with everything else that goes with it. I just know when something goes wrong he will point them straight here. Putting the burden of education on all of us here. What makes it worse is it is a non standard build. I can’t trouble shoot something I don’t own. If they come here and don’t get help, they will talk about this project in a negative manner, when really we had nothing to do with it.

You’re preaching to the choir. I think I can safely say we’re all behind you on this one. Hopefully, eBay will rectify this. It would be nice if they had a mechanism to prevent this sort of thing - maybe enough complaints could temporarily remove a listing until the issue is resolved. Anyway, if he had just asked for permission to sell his “modified” machine and properly credited you, it probably wouldn’t even be an issue. But the way he went about it makes him look really slimy - especially denying it’s your design when it clearly is.

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Just playing devil’s advocate here, is it possible they are selling a machine they made for their own use, and decided not to keep? Is it also possible they bought at least some of the parts from you?

Is it also possible they bought the kits from you, and are trying to sell it as assembled? That’s OK too, right? You don’t sell assembled kits.

If they are making their own kit, using your designs and selling it without all the proper knowledge to go with it, then 1) buyer beware, and 2) yep, get mad if it makes you mad.

No way they are going to get $2500 for it.

I would be okay with someone trying to sell there machine, I even put a link up for someone on my thingiverse page. I get this isn’t for everyone. But sadly its not the case, And none of those parts are mine.

This isn’t the first time this has happened and actually it is going for the same price…but at least the last guy actually emailed me and asked lots of questions and decided he didn’t want to peruse it.

You should sell franchise licenses. You did all the initial work and you likely will have to offer some sort of support. That way, at least you’re getting a cut. :wink:

Lots of people have asked, once they get a little further they realize how little I make. Every single one backed out. That is before we even got into what they would be willing to send my way. You all see the cost of the parts, it’s more about the time that goes into it. Bagging hardware prepping the boards, bulk shipping from china isn’t free, so my prices are actually the same or more than some of you got from aliexpress. I am really charging for time and taxes at this point. Walking a fine line of, is it worth it?

I might stop selling the arduinos separately as well. Those have a high rate of failure and take the most time to prep. $50 is not worth it at all. Only available in the kit I think.

There really isn’t much in it, That is why I have to raise the prices soon. Taxes took 25% of the profit plus the accountant fees, so that’s probably what I will need to raise and compensate for.

oops/rampling, wrong thread for this.

The fact that he claims that it’s redesigned and “far from his model” when it clearly isn’t, is a real kick in the teeth. That would annoy me the most.
You can see some slight add-ons but the bulk of it looks identical.

Just sent a nasty gram, I will let you know if I get a reply.

Thanks for all of your work!!

Disappointing…

I would get in touch with Ebay and let them take down this guy’s auction. I am a top rated ebay seller, and we have to deal with clones and fakes all of the time in our business. eBay is usually very responsive to things like this. I recommend calling them instead of emailing.

I think that you have inspired a lot of people and that there will be some that try to profit from it. I think that the community will support you Just take care of your customers and be the best you can be, and it will pay off.

For example, I could have purchased all of my CNC items from China and probably even saved some, but I want to support your business and what you do, that’s why I purchased from you, others will do the same… MPCNC is your baby. And wouldn’t exist without you. Don’t let this ebay seller get on your nerves too much----just get ebay involved and know that your customers support Vicious Circle, and that is where the beauty of your hard work will really pay off.

I don’t think you’re being petty. I would be really annoyed too. He isn’t even nice about it, instead he actually is rude by saying that there are lots of shortcomings etc. If that’s the case, he should contribute by posting his ’ so called fixes’ . Which is apparently just a bunch of bull since it’s actually just a pretty standard built from what i can see. He even used mdf as feet…I wouldn’t really call that an upgrade.

I hope eBay fixes this. I think most people here understand that you don’t make money from this if you take into account all the time and effort you put in. People here try to help each other creating a better machine together. And i think that is really what you want. So yes, I would have a problem with this too. GL

Oh btw. My machine is up and running and I will post pictures of it soon, but I don’t have a Z axis right now. I was curious about how strong carbon fiber was, so I ordered some 25mm (23mm id) carbon fiber tubing to use for the Z axis. (Just as an experiment. It wasn’t even that expensive…)

Think I’ll buy the e-bay one - it looks like a bargain :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks.

I keep meaning to buy some CF, it isn’t too expensive and how cool would that be if it did hold up?! keep us in the loop

Okay new day, thanks guys for all the support.

It really isn’t that big of a deal unless someone buys it and ends up in this forum, or he sells it and lists another. I would still help the new owner because obviously they would need it for not doing a little research first…and if another pops up I can call ebay and see what they say.

Other than that. I have new parts to design to overcome my obvious design “shortcomings” and help him raise his prices a bit!!

It looks like he took it down. I think we might have scared him

High five!!!

:raised_hand: