Lack of Yanmar Tractors?

Villengineer · Feb 22, 2005

Just playing the devil's advocate here, as I have a Yanmar tiller and I would like to be able to source parts for it, but are you 100% sure about that? The problem with the statement that it's not illegal is 1) that you already inserted a clause in it for Kubota (at least for certain circumstances) 2) as you've stated Yanmar's only a court ruling away, and 3) corporate law, especially the trade/trademark/copywrite laws, tend to be extremely open to interpretation. Yanmar has put forth an iterpretation they find fits their agenda and Ebay has chosen not to fight it b/c I'm sure it would cost them more than they could ever make on the auction fees.

Tractors4u · Feb 22, 2005

( I still suspect that except for fear of the SEC, Ebay would have told them to take a hike. )

Has the SEC made some kind of ruling? I haven't heard anything. I think ebay is making enough money that they figure that they can afford to loose the commision on a few tractor sales verses the possibility of a legal battle with Yanmar some day.

Using the word Yanmar or a picture of a Yanmar is total crap. If a seller is using a copywrited Yanmar logo or a copywrited picture of a Yanmar from a Yanmar brochure, then maybe they have some legal ground. What if Chevy and Ford told ebay the same thing?

Ebay is somewhat trigger happy without checking the facts. I enjoy guns and shooting. When the assault weapons ban went into effect and magazines that held more than 10 rounds could no longer be manufactured, ebay banned selling those. They were still legal, gun stores and Wal Mart kept selling them until they ran. Ebay stated they were illegal.

Whiskey · Feb 22, 2005

thegreatrandini:

I also think that the best advertising for Yanmar tractors in America has been the Grey's.. When they start selling compacts again (and they will) they will sell like hotcakes because of the greys...... 

Not that this makes a hill of beans to anyone but, I always thought that Yanmar grays sold so well over the other grays was because of when they did manufacture a line of tractors for sale in the U.S. market and the fact that they have been in the ag and marine buiness since before I was born and were known far and wide for there ability to make diesel's and the fact that John Deere intered into an agreement with them didn't hurt there name either, kind of a buy out your compation thingy...kind of the short of it or I thought anywho

Villengineer · Feb 22, 2005

They can't be pursuing this too proactively as there are at least 2 tractors on Ebay right now being sold in the US. One is obviously a used equip dealer and the other appears to be someone who is or wants to sell these tractors regularly. I'm not an expert on the Yanmar tractors, but I don't think they are US models. There are several more being sold out of Canada obviously directed at US sales since they list how close to the border they are located. So Ebay isn't trying real hard to stop these sales.

Whiskey · Feb 22, 2005

Villengineer:

I see 4 for sale

1401
1401D
1501D
Are gray markets tractors

YM155D
Was made for sale in the good ol' USA

thegreatrandini · Feb 22, 2005

No u r wrong! Yanmar says u cannot sell a tractor that even looks like a Yanmar. Did you read the whole thread? You use an intelligent vocabulary.

thegreatrandini · Feb 22, 2005

ok, but having us guys say how great the grays are helps alot too.... They only sold us models for a couple yrs.....Most rual folks I talk too never heard of them.. I always say how good they are... I will have to stop that practice now......

Villengineer · Feb 22, 2005

No, nothing posted on this site is from Yanmar. The only "official" info we have is from Ebay. Ebay has none, zilch, zero, nada say as to what you do with your tractor outside of Ebay. Ebay has the right and the power to prevent you from selling anything they randomly choose because it's their business. I am sure that's even in the little writing that everybody doesn't read but clicks "I accept" when they sign up.
They may be regurgitating whatever the Yanmar reps sent them, but they CAN NOT stop you from selling a red or green or whatever color they choose to paint their equipment tractor that has 4 tires, a IC engine, 3 pnt hitch, a PTO, and sheet metal square corners outside of Ebay unless you are in fact copying their tractor and selling it w/out license. The limits in that message concerning used tractors are so over-stated that it is obviously not enforcable outside of eBay and even then they would have to check every single listing selling a tractor.
Does the whole mess make sense? Depends on how you look at it. Carroll Shelby won a similar case against Ford and all the kit car makers. Reproduction sheetmetal either is licensed or makes no reference directly to the OEM, brand, product, or model name/logos. Do unlicensed knock-offs get around the laws? Often for a time, but it usually catches up with them. Yanmar may be shooting themselves in the foot over this, but there's definitely no law against that.

Villengineer · Feb 22, 2005

Out of curiousity I went to the Yanmar site and read their offical postings, including the court order involving Wallace and his company/dealerships. No where does any of it say that an individual can not re-sell their tractor. The lawsuit against Wallace makes sense, he apparently was trying/had set up a "de-facto" Yanmar dealership chain. Any corporation that uses dealerships for their main source of sales would have taken him/his company to court. They obviously are also trying to shut down the flow of additional used foreign imports, and that makes sense on a business level if you want to sell new product as their wording would indicate they at least reserve the option to do. They are obviously also very concerned about liability. Can you imagine the problems they will have if they ever re-enter the market on any kind of scale just from a product liability standpoint? They would have to either settle or prove in court that every case involving a "grey" was in fact a "grey" unit and then they may not even win those cases. I'm sure they've already had some, but would imagine that a lack of having a current US presence in the market shields them somewhat.
It would appear that since Yanmar's site lists nothing involving Ebay directly that they have simply shown Ebay the current ruling. I would say that Ebay has then chosen to this path to avoid any potential for Yanmar filing anything against them. I'm sure it's money ahead for them, even if it isn't right.