Looted goods online: Vinted, eBay and Leboncoin pledge to help French authorities

After the looting during the 17 October protests, suspicious listings appeared on resale platforms in France. Trade minister Serge Papin and digital affairs minister Anne Le Hénanff therefore summoned representatives of Vinted, Amazon, eBay, Leboncoin, Meta and TikTok on Monday evening, along with the industry bodies French Marketplace Alliance and Fevad. On Tuesday the government said the platforms would help track down stolen goods. According to the government, a significant number of stolen items have already been identified; however, according to the news site Presse-citron, there are no firm figures yet on suspicious listings.

Four points were agreed: closer cooperation with investigators, including sharing data that helps identify handlers of stolen goods; stronger moderation; the same vigilance towards purchase requests, with customers informed of the risks and penalties; and regular reports on removed listings, with initial feedback expected within 48 hours. Warning signs include abnormally low prices, batches of new products, security tags or explicit references to theft.

Vinted speaks of zero tolerance and says it has been removing listings that may involve stolen goods since the weekend and is working with law enforcement. eBay points to an automated system that detects suspicious behaviour, while Leboncoin says it checks all listings and will cooperate fully with the competent authorities. France 24 reports in a video on the government's demand to the online marketplaces.