When the marketplace panel is no longer enough: claiming outside the platform
Nextica Law & Tax handles a digital business's disputes once they can no longer be solved inside the panel: judicial or out-of-court claims for withheld amounts when the internal procedure has been exhausted, unfair competition actions against competitors who copy the product listing, commission fake reviews or use someone else's trade mark in advertising, claims against the supplier —often Asian— for non-conforming goods or missing safety documentation, and defending consumer claims and consumer authority files.
The platform's deadlines and forms run out. After that only the ordinary route is left, and it has to have been prepared.
What's included
1. Checking what contract was accepted by operating on the platform
what law it designates, what courts, and what internal procedures must be exhausted first.
2. Exactly quantifying the claim from the settlements
gross sales, commissions, refunds, withholdings and adjustments, so the figure is not argued about.
3. A formal, dated demand through a channel that leaves a trail, before suing, which is what most often avoids the litigation.
4. Securing evidence of the copying with a certain date before warning the competitor, because the moment you warn them it disappears.
5. Actions against imitation of the presentation, commissioned reviews and free-riding on someone else's effort.
6. Claims against the supplier for non-conforming goods or missing safety documentation, with the applicable law and forum identified from the contract.
WHEN THE PANEL NO LONGER WORKS, THE ORDINARY ROUTE BEGINS
And the ordinary route is won or lost on what was prepared while you still trusted the form.
Claiming without quantifying
if the withheld amount is not broken down by item from the settlements, the first reply argues about the figure and the case drags on for months over something that was never the substance.
Warning the competitor before securing the evidence
the moment the infringement is notified, the copied listing, the photographs and the reviews disappear. The dated capture comes first and the warning afterwards.
Ignoring what law and forum the platform's contract designates
it decides where you sue and at what cost, and finding out while drafting the claim completely changes the analysis of whether it is worth it.
Regulation (EU) 2019/1150Frequently asked questions
I have exhausted the marketplace's internal procedure and they still will not release my money. What is left?
The ordinary claim, and what decides its fate was prepared earlier: what contract the seller accepts by operating on the platform, what law and courts it designates, and above all what evidence was kept of the withheld amount and of the steps taken. Before suing there are two moves that almost always save the litigation: a formal, dated demand through a channel that leaves a trail, and an exact quantification —settlements, commissions, refunds— that removes any argument about the figure. In parallel, the out-of-court dispute route that the European platform rules themselves provide remains available.
A competitor has copied my product listing and my photos. What can I do?
More than it seems, because two things usually apply at once. On one side, the photographs and descriptive text are your own work and copying them infringes copyright. On the other, imitating the presentation of a product or a shop to the point of causing confusion about its origin, or free-riding on someone else's effort, falls into unfair competition, as does commissioning fake reviews or disparaging a competitor. The first step is always the same: secure the evidence with a certain date before warning anyone, because the moment you warn them the copy disappears.
Let's talk about your company.
Tell us your situation and we'll reply within 24 working hours.