Counterfeit Evidence Checklist: What to Collect Before You Report

Before you report a counterfeit, collect proof of your rights, the listing (URL, ID and a dated capture of the page), the seller (name, store and any disclosed business details), the price, and ideally a test purchase compared with your genuine product. Add chain of custody notes for anything you bought and a history of every report, and keep it all in one case file.

This page gives you the checklist as a single table, then explains how to capture each item, how to handle a test purchase and how to organize the file so you can reuse it for marketplace reports, letters and counsel. It is general information, not legal advice.

The checklist

Marketplaces and counsel ask for broadly the same things. Not every case needs every item: a clear copy of your logo on an obvious fake may be removed on the listing evidence alone. The table marks what is usually essential.

#	Item	What to collect	Why it matters	Usually needed
1	Rights documents	Trademark registration number, issuing office, certificate, goods covered; copyright or design details if relevant	Proves you own the right you are asserting	Always
2	Authorization	Letter of authorization if an agent or distributor files	Shows the person reporting may act for the owner	When not filed by the owner
3	Reference product	Photos of your genuine product, packaging, labels and codes	The baseline for any comparison	Counterfeit claims
4	Listing URL and ID	Full URL and the platform's listing ID (ASIN, item number, product ID)	Lets the platform find the exact listing	Always
5	Dated capture	A capture of the full page showing the URL, date, title, images, price and seller	Listings change or disappear after you report	Strongly recommended
6	Seller identity	Seller name, store link, seller ID, disclosed business name, address and contact	Links repeat listings to one seller, and supports letters	Strongly recommended
7	Price and currency	The listed price, currency and any discount, with the date	A price far below cost is a supporting signal, not proof	Recommended
8	Ship-from country	The location or shipping origin shown on the listing	Helps choose where to act and which rules apply	Recommended
9	Test purchase	Order ID, receipt, payment record, delivery date	Proves the item was sold as shown	Strong counterfeit claims
10	Comparison	Side-by-side photos of the item received and your genuine product, with the differences listed	Explains how you know it is not genuine	Counterfeit claims
11	Chain of custody notes	Who ordered, received, opened and stored the item, with dates and photos	Makes the test purchase hard to dispute	If the case may escalate
12	Related listings	Other listings by the same seller, or the same copy from other sellers	Shows scale and repetition	Repeat sellers
13	Report history	Date, platform, report type, reference number and outcome of each report	Supports follow-up and escalation	Always
14	Signs of confusion	Customer reviews, messages or returns from buyers who thought it was yours	Supports a likelihood of confusion argument	Useful for letters and counsel

How to capture each item

Rights documents

Keep one folder with the registration certificate for each mark and country, plus a short summary: mark, registration number, office, classes and goods. Every marketplace report asks for some of this, and you will retype it less often. Our guide to what trademark infringement is explains why the goods covered by your registration matter.

The listing and a dated capture

Copy the URL from the address bar and note the listing ID. Then capture the whole page, not only the product photo: the title, the images, the price, the seller name and, if possible, the URL and date visible in the capture. Save the file with a consistent name, for example 2026-09-27_amazon-com_B0XXXXXXX.pdf.

Seller identity

Open the seller profile and record the store name, the store link and any seller ID. Marketplaces increasingly have to disclose who their sellers are. In the US, the INFORM Consumers Act requires online marketplaces to disclose the name, physical address and contact details of high-volume third-party sellers with $20,000 or more in annual gross revenue on the platform. In the EU, the Digital Services Act requires marketplaces to collect and display contact information for the traders who sell through them.

Price and ship-from

A price well below your cost of goods is a useful signal to include in a report, but it is not proof on its own. Record it with the currency and the date, together with the shipping origin shown on the listing.

Test purchases and chain of custody

A test purchase is often the strongest evidence in a counterfeit case, because it moves the question from "the listing looks wrong" to "the item we received is not ours." Amazon's Report Infringement form, for example, includes a field for the order ID.

1. Order under a normal buyer account and keep the order ID, receipt and payment record.
2. Photograph the parcel on arrival before opening it: the label, the sender, the tracking number and the date.
3. Record the unboxing with photos or a short video, showing the item, packaging, labels, codes and inserts.
4. Compare with your genuine product side by side, and list each difference: materials, stitching, print quality, labels, serial numbers, packaging.
5. Store the item in a sealed, labeled bag with the date and case reference, and note who handled it.
6. Wait for delivery before citing it. A report that cites an order not yet received is harder to support.

How to organize the file

Evidence scattered across inboxes, phones and desktop folders is hard to use when you need it. A simple structure works for most brands:

• One folder per case, named with the date, the platform and the listing ID or seller.
• Inside it: the page capture, the seller details, the test purchase photos, the comparison, and copies of every report and reply.
• One log for all cases, as a spreadsheet or in your tool, with a row per listing: URL, seller, date found, status (not reported, reported, gone, relisted), report reference and notes.
• A shared rights folder with certificates and authorization letters, linked from every case.

Northmark GoodsHomeProductsSearchesReviewCounterfeitsReporting guidesTeam activitySettingsMLMaja LindOwner

CounterfeitsListings you marked Likely counterfeit, and where each report stands.

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Product:Tarnby Down ParkaCheck which are still onlineExport

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Report this listingWinter down parka fur hoodaliexpress.com · China · View listing

1How to report on AliExpress2Copy what to send

3Evidence

Their listingYour reference photoPriority 92 · Photo match 81% · Found in 3 searches · Relisted 1×US $38.00tarnby-outlet-2026Page saved 26 Sept 2026, 09:21 · Open full sizeSeller details Shop nametarnby-outlet-2026Seller pagehttps://aliexpress.com/store/tarnby-outlet-2026Save page again · $0.05Download evidence pack (PDF)Download as CSV

Status: DraftSave

Common mistakes

• Screenshots without context. A cropped product image with no URL, date or seller proves very little.
• Reporting before capturing. The listing changes, and the evidence is gone.
• No comparison. Saying a product is fake without explaining how you know is a frequent reason reports are rejected.
• Mixing up genuine and fake. An unauthorized seller of genuine goods is not a counterfeiter. Keep those cases separate.
• No report log. Without reference numbers and dates, you cannot show a pattern when the seller relists.

When to involve counsel

A good evidence file is enough for most marketplace reports. Involve an attorney when a seller keeps returning, when the volumes or safety risks are high, when you are considering a cease and desist letter to a well-advised business, or when you want to keep the option of going to court. Counsel will tell you what else is needed in the relevant country, including how long to keep the evidence. For the reporting steps on Amazon, see our guide to removing counterfeit listings on Amazon.

How Valigard helps

Valigard builds much of this file as you work. For each listing you mark as likely counterfeit, it keeps the URL and title, the price and currency, the seller or store name and page, the country, the photo match against your reference photo, a saved and timestamped copy of the page, how many searches found it and whether it was removed or relisted. A seller look-up adds details about who is behind a store, and you can export an evidence pack as PDF or the list as CSV.

The counterfeits list tracks each listing as not reported, reported, gone or relisted, and "Check which are still online" shows what came back. Valigard does not send reports, and it does not determine with legal certainty that a product is counterfeit: you file on each marketplace and log the case number.