Help! Another Seller's Nicked My Photo!

Jarvissa

I sold an item on ebay a couple of weeks ago which obviously I listed with what turned out to be a really good photo I'd taken of it...

I then got my hands on another one of these items to sell, so (it being EXACTLY the same as the last) listed it using the photo I already had.

Anyway, today I decided to see what other items like mine were selling for (as bidding on mine is a little low right now) and I find that someone else is using MY photo to sell THEIR item.

Of course, I'm annoyed because bidding on their item is a lot higher! Are they allowed to do this though? Also, my photo shows 14 items (which make up the set) whereas the set THEY are selling has only 12 parts (MY photo clearly shows 14!!!)

Should I just let it go?

frivolous_fay

No, they're not allowed to do it.

Here's what I did:

Sent a polite message asking the seller to remove it.
Gave them 24 hours to respond.
Their response was not 'I'm sorry, I'll remove it immediately' so I...
Reported them to ebay for infringement of intellectual property rights, and...
Their auction was removed.


Why the hell should someone use YOUR work to make money?

mishkanorman

Bloomin cheek !!!

I would send a really firm message and make it clear you will report them for this, there is no way it can me a mistake they have clearly done it on purpose and hoped to get away with it


mishka

doingwhatican

I have had this a couple of times and I reported the user to ebay and the listing was removed within 24 hours.

kriss_boy

It happens all the time with tour tickets... but in those instances its not that big a deal as tour tickets all look the same and so long as the seller has them in hand its not a problem. And providing they have trustworthy feedback.

I do report it however if its a more personal item.

Otherwise, like I say, sometimes its not worth reporting as its way more common than youd think.

You could water mark your pictures or make them unique in some other manner! I used to photograph my guitars with a flat eric teddy in the background which made them unique and quirky.

syanide

ive had the same problem about 3 times. i've emailed the sellers.. and had the 'its not your picture' bla bla off them.. and email back i'm reporting you as I have the origional photo's etc and photoshop changes.. and they have removed the photos after some whining.. I have now added my ebay id to the photo's to stop the copying and it seems to have worked.

alba37

It is very common! I have ebayers selling photos I had on my website!!

Many people will do anything to make money!! :rotfl:

kriss_boy

What sort of stuff were they copying? I dont really grudge people copying pics of new/mint dvds etc, generic stuff like that doesnt bother me.

sarahlouise210

I have read somewhere that if you change the original photo on your computer then their photo will change to the replacement photo ! Someone replaced their original with a saucy photo..which caused a bit of a stir!

alanalea

sarahlouise210 wrote:

I have read somewhere that if you change the original photo on your computer then their photo will change to the replacement photo ! Someone replaced their original with a saucy photo..which caused a bit of a stir!

That only works if your photo is sourced from an online photo storage, like photobucket. If you've actually uploaded the photo straight from your pc, it wouldn't change it because the actual piccie is stored on ebays webspace (Someone please correct me if i'm wrong )

Lea x

smartie1976

you are correct. Pics are not HOSTED from your PC.
They're either hosted on the web or hosted by ebay.