posted on January 18, 2001 01:59:49 PM
Sorry for the caps but I am really PO'd. I have won 5 auctions in the last couple of days. I like to go back and look at the pics again while I am waiting for the items.
2 of them have already deleted the pictures. I just won those two last night!
Why can't you leave them alone for a few days? After all, I bought the item so technically the pictures are mine now. These are unique type items, no one else could use these pictures.
posted on January 18, 2001 02:06:06 PM
I take my pictures off after the auction ends because that is how I keep my picture naming system in order, not to cause distress for buyers. And technically, no- the pictures are not yours. The item is.
If you want the pictures for reference and you are worried that the seller might delete them, why don't you just save them during the auction while you have a chance?
posted on January 18, 2001 02:08:30 PM
Whoa, chill a bit.
I take issue with this because:
I like to "clean house". AW provides for me a FREE service for hosting my many images. When an auction ends, I want to clear some valuable space to upload another image for another auction. I have absolutely no problem with emailing someone an image, provided that they kindly request it. Contrary to your opinion, I remain the sole owner of my scanned images.
You might attempt emailing the seller and kindly request them to email you the image(s) in question. Otherwise, when you bid/win an auction, save the entire page to a folder on your PC and voila!
Cheers!
posted on January 18, 2001 02:17:37 PM
I like to clean house with my pics too, but I leave them up until the person gets the item. On more than one occasion this has saved my bottom.
I don't see what it would hurt to leave them up for a few days. From now on I will save them, wish I had with these. If I get the items and claim they aren't the same, can you prove they are if you have deleted the pics? Just think about it before jumping all over me.
posted on January 18, 2001 02:23:54 PM
I list my pictures through my ISP. Since I am allotted so much space I can't afford to leave them on for too long. I run out of space. Although I do take them off within a day sometimes, there are times when I don't have a chance and they remain for a week or more. I have listed my pics through AW and another source (bidbay), but I, 90% of the time take more than one or two pictures (sometimes 3 or more). That takes up a lot of space. On the other hand, I do not delete the pictures until I receive an email from my customer that they have gotten their package. (learned that one the hard way) So, if you ever bid on any of my auctions and want to see the pics again, email me and I will have them on my hard drive.
posted on January 18, 2001 02:29:25 PM...I leave them up until the person gets the item... I don't see what it would hurt to leave them up for a few days.
Until the buyer gets the item? That would probably be more than a few days. As I explained before, it messes up my system, and if the buyer wants a copy, he can save one while the auction is running. If he wants one after, he can ask me, and I'll send him one.
If I get the items and claim they aren't the same, can you prove they are if you have deleted the pics?
That would hardly be any protection- I could just as easily substitute a different picture after the auction ended if I were inclined to try to cheat my buyers.
BTW, I'm not jumping all over you- I'm just trying to explain why others might have a different system than you.
posted on January 18, 2001 02:29:51 PM
Steady.
Didn't at all mean to "jump on you". It's just that there is a valid reason for removing images off of a server. I've done this for well over a year now - many auctions won - and not a single person has ever requested to obtain the image. That's all. It's not (on my part at least) about "hiding" anything - it's much more to do with efficient handling of many, many files of data, in order to manage the auctions. So really, I am glad you brought this up - but in my opinion, you might want to just get into the habit of saving the image(s) of the item(s) that you anticipate winning.
Cheers!
posted on January 18, 2001 02:42:33 PM
I normally am sooooo anxious for my item that I download the pictures right into my "Bids Won" folder... so I can "visit" my treasure anytime...
******** Gosh Shosh!
posted on January 18, 2001 02:49:03 PMAfter all, I bought the item so technically the pictures are mine now
HUH? Since when?
There's legitimate reasons why people take the images down after an auction is over. You are more than welcomed to print the page out when you place your bid or as the auction ends.
Since you feel that technically, the pics are yours because you won the item, and you want the images left up, then you will not have a problem, paying the seller a 'storage' fee for those images.. correct?
Just because you bought something doesn't mean that the images involved are yours. If you bought my house, you sure can't have the pictures I've taken of it over the years.. and they're certainly not yours.
posted on January 18, 2001 02:51:34 PM
You know rarriffle,
because of your post, I am seriously considering adding a disclaimer of sorts, to my T.O.S.
I will work on the phrasing (and others are welcome to submit suggestions) but it would simply state that, "the image for this auction will be removed once the auction ends so either save the page/image or feel free to email me a request for the image."
Would that be cool or what?
Cheers!
posted on January 18, 2001 02:55:21 PM
Hold on Pardner!!
People steal the pics!!
So I delete them once contact is made.
IF however, I am expecting a problem from said customer.. I will leave the pic up until said customer receives the item.
So they see what I said and all. lol
Besides, if we leave the pics up.. you might see another item like it and reneg on us
We wouldn't want that... Nope...wouldnt be prudent.
posted on January 18, 2001 03:01:52 PM
Since I list multiple items of the same thing, I either relist the item direct from Ebay so the picture is already there, or have the pictures up on AW ready to go...
posted on January 18, 2001 03:02:26 PM
I happen to place my eBay user name on all my images, so the "stealing" bit doesn't worry me. I am more concerned that my customers are satisfied throughout the entire transaction. If by removing an image AFTER the auction ends bothers a bid winner, I really want to know. That's why I am glad for rarriffle's post.
Cheers!
posted on January 18, 2001 03:29:08 PMrarriffle...I started doing that the first time I received a "bad" item, and wanted the ORIGINAL posted pics as a back up; seller told me once I did not look at the pics properly...there was only ONE...
Never happened again.. Then, I did it just to be able to see my purchase, as mentioned above , as I tend to be very enthusiastic, which is probably why I always pay by M.O.
********
Gosh Shosh!
posted on January 18, 2001 03:31:44 PM
rarriffle ~ sorry if you took my post as someone who is rubbing my fingers together for $....... That could be true..... BUT:
The auction is for the item.. not the image of the item. If, you consider the image yours than you are responsible for all associated costs of that image AFTER the auction ends. If that is the case, than you are responsible for the cost of the space and the inconvenience to the seller for additional storage of said item. An online image maybe small...... but it should be considered in the same view as any other item the that you purchase. If someone's gotta store it for you (and that's what you're asking them to do), then you're responsible for those charges.
Either the images of the item, that you purchased, become your property: therefore your responsibility............. OR.... they're the property of the person who took them: therefore they can do whatever they please with them (ie: you're off the hook for storage charges)
posted on January 18, 2001 05:09:04 PM
Why don't you save the pictures and a copy of the auction to YOUR hard drive when you bid, then delete them when you lose the bidding or the item gets there.
posted on January 18, 2001 06:12:14 PM
I sell, mostly, but I buy as well. I always leave my photos on my auctions for at least a couple of weeks...long enough for the buyer to have received the item and examined it. I keep my pictures on AW, and have no problem with storage space, but I don't keep them forever.
As a buyer, I find it annoying to check on an auction the day after it's over with and find no pictures available. I've never had a complaint about the wrong merchandise or hidden damage, but still, I would much prefer to compare the item to the photos rather than guessing.
I realize that some people have limited storage space and can't keep pictures around longer than absolutely necessary...and I know also that some people sell things like CDs, where photo-stealing is a real possibility. Other than that, though, I don't see why sellers cannot leave their pictures with their auctions at least until the buyer has had a chance to receive the merchandise.
posted on January 18, 2001 11:22:56 PM
If you have an up to date version of Internet Explorer you can save the complete auction page as a web archive (.mht file) on your computer from the File menu. That way you have one file that contains the images and the formatted page exactly as it appeared.
posted on January 19, 2001 12:15:47 AM
I use AuctionWatch and another company (Auctionw***ks). The "other guys" charge me a small fee for all successful auctions, but I can store 100 megabytes with them.
Here's a suggestion, if you feel it's worth the extra effort, use some other services, or even Phot****nt, etc, just for image hosting and cut& paste the URL for your images.
I personally like to see the images left for a few weeks after the auction. That may be longer than most people think is necessary, but I agree the images should be left up until the buyer recieves the item. If anything, it may set them, (and new potential buyers) more at ease.
Also, if people search completed auctions, and they look at yours, they'll appreciate seeing the pictures. That could good or bad, depending how you look at it.
I always put either my user name, or "eBay" or "SAMPLE" in the middle ALL my images rendering them useless to anyone else. You would be surprised what images people would want. Suppose some is making a website, and for some reason like jewelry so, voilą, they include some of your unique one-of-a-kind items to show some of their favorites, whether or not they bought it from you. It may make the item look more desirable if you "copyright" or "mark" your images. An unscrupulous eBay seller could use them in their auction, who knows?
Also, it never ceases to amaze me how many people sell ads, pictures, etc, and post nice clear scans, with no marking on them. What's the incentive for someone to buy it? They just right click on their mouse and set it as their wallpaper, or use it on their website, etc. I noticed a marginal increase in sales when I started my images to prevent this theft.
posted on January 19, 2001 04:15:40 AM
I am dealing with a buyer right now who says I didn't tell the extent of damage to an item. This item was sold at a decent price. The damage was clearly described and pictured. They have threatened to contact ebay. Until this is resolved I will leave the pics up for anyone to see and judge for themselves. If I had deleted these I might have a real problem right now.
Okay, I agree, you can keep your ownership. But I still think the pics could stay up a little longer.
From now on I will save the pics of things I win the bid on but I am only asking for the same consideration I give to my bidders.
posted on January 19, 2001 05:45:16 AM
One of the reasons I delete my pictures is because I keep the names pretty simple and sell many books which are different, but have the same words in their title i.e crochet. I found that craft book publishers tend to use the same or similar names for most of their books and patterns.
If I didn't delete the old pictures I would get confused as to which book went with which picture.
When I tried using sequential numbers, (crochet1, crocket2 etc) I couldn't identify the blasted things when I went to attach them to the auction.
I stick with simple names and delete them when the auction is over.
