posted on March 22, 2010 11:51:45 AM
Does this sounds like a seller asking for trouble? I was searching for a widget that I collect. Found a listing with a title that screamed "RARE & UNIQUE WIDGET" Well not unless unique means not especially hard to find since I have bought several, passed on a bunch more, and sold a very nice one in its box back when I was selling on eBay. I clicked on the auction and my chin hit the floor. There were three thumbnails at the top, a close up of the logo, a long shot of the widget AND a photograph of a different widget set up for use with another similar widget in the background. Without reading the description I knew that the second and third widgets were not included because it was a photograph that I made of two examples in my collection with their boxes. Somewhere in the middle of the description the seller says "The 3rd picture is only a sample of how this works, but you are bidding on the item in the first 2 pics."
I sent a message and told him/her to take my picture off and suggested that it was not wise to show items that were not included in the auction. I learned from my experience that buyers do not always read descriptions and there was a chance that the extra items would cause a problem. If the pictures were embedded in the text it might have been clearer but the set of three thumbnails at the top of the auction gives the buyer a good chance to overlook the information. The seller did remove my picture but insisted that the description that the items were not included was enough. -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on March 22, 2010 12:19:37 PM
i sell some items that are quite common, but difficult to find online photos to use in the listings. i have watermarked my photos in the past because of this very problem.
fortunately, the seller didn't argue about the photo or ignore you altogether. if they did, you could always sue them for damages... but who ever does that for something like this???
posted on March 22, 2010 12:27:16 PM
I would not sue but I did want my photo off which they did. I really also wanted to warn them about the problem I felt they could have with a buyer who wanted to know why they didn't get the box. On my shop I have shown some examples of items in a setting or with accessories but I write directly on the photograph that it is to show the use and the other things in the picture are not included.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on March 22, 2010 05:57:40 PM
ok, so i just did a search for something that I sell and photograph myself... I found someone using my image. I have sent them an email and will notify eBay regarding this violation.
posted on March 22, 2010 08:09:35 PM
they have removed the photo. funny thing is that they are now using a terrible photograph of the item. very blurry.
