*** EDIT UPDATE 10/16/12 ***
Apparently BMS is banned from posting in this forum. The exact reason I don't know but I'm not surprised. They have responded and basically denied trying to copy my product and blamed it on their webmaster for using my pictures.
*** EDIT UPDATE***
BMS has removed my pictures from their listing. For those still interested, here are the archived listings for you to judge. Thanks to all those who support me.
My listing:
Their Listings:
Hello, my name is Nelson and I’ve been an avid BMW enthusiast for many years now. A few years ago I saw that many E90 manual transmissions owners wanted an easy to install clutch stop for their vehicles. I was able to design and develop such a product after many months of R&D. I began to sell these clutch stops on eBay (ID: pickyeater334) as a hobby. I pride myself on selling a quality product and giving each customer the same service I would expect as a fellow BMW enthusiast. If you’ve dealt with me before, I thank you and I’m sure you can attest to both the quality of my design and to my prompt service.
BMS – not a BIMMERPOST sponsor, but a company I once considered “reputable” has stolen the pictures in my listing and called it their own.
Here’s a link to my eBay listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230519560074...84.m1555.l2649
Here’s a link to the BMS listing using my pictures:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251167551669...84.m1423.l2649
The worse part of it is that, BMS had first made a copy cat clutch stop (and also stole my install pictures) a year ago and called my design inferior as part of their marketing campaign. But now they’re marketing my design as more “sturdy” and only selling it on eBay and undercutting me on price.
I think it’s crazy for a vendor to knock off someone else’s product with something inferior and call it better only to realize customer's have figure this out on their own. Then steal all of my pictures in an attempt to fool customers with their "new" product.
Here’s a link to their first copy cat clutch stop by BMS:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250989235114...84.m1423.l2649
It’s basically the same design as mine but they used rubber adjustment shims instead of metal. I’m sure many of you have purchased the BMS stopper and are happy with it and that’s great. After all it is based on my design. I’m not going to get into it here but if you search you’ll find that users do in fact find my design with the metal adjustment shims to be more solid feeling or complain that they didn’t feel much of a difference when they installed the BMS one. Many have switched over to my stopper after trying the BMS one for several months. I’ve been told they wish they knew about my original one first.
If BMS reads this and decides to delete or edit their listings, it’s ok because I’ve already archived those pages. To me it’s pretty shady business practice. I’ve already contacted them and expressed my concerns but they basically said so what and they had no knowledge of using my pictures.
The “right” thing to do would be for them to stop selling these clutch stops and stop using my pictures.
I just want my fellow enthusiasts to know the type of unethical behavior this particular vendor is capable of.
BMS is welcome to join in this thread to say they didn't copy my design and didn't have any knowledge of using my pictures as part of their promotional materials.