posted on March 3, 2006 08:36:55 AM
This is an old topic, I know, but wanted to share with all of you...
Browsing and price-comparing my store listings with other sellers, I found another stolen picture -- linked directly to my host service -- with stolen text as well. I sent the seller a note (through Ask-Seller-A-Question) giving him/her 2 days to remove the pictures and text from his store listing of over 6000 items.
I changed the URL to my pictures through my host service so my pictures will be valid when, and if, the seller does not make the changes.
I'm looking for suggestions as to what text to add over the existing pix he/she is using, should they not get the pix and text replace before Saturday. Something comic, but to the point would be fun.
Wish I could put a hot-link in the picture and direct any buyers to MY listing. No wouldn't THAT be fun -- and profitable!
Sorry to hear of your problem. Giving the other seller a chance to correct the thievery is very generous of you.
You could always change your photo to include text with a message such as:
FREE OVERNIGHT DELIVERY!
or maybe:
BUY ONE GET TWO FREE!
Or, as you mentioned, maybe you could just put something to re-direct buyers to your listings.
As you probably know, if a bid is placed on his auction before he changes the photo to one of his own, he will be unable to edit out the one you've placed there.
Best of luck to you.
[ edited by melissafan100 on Mar 3, 2006 12:26 PM ]
posted on March 3, 2006 08:53:48 AM
Post a text message that reads " Please email me direct to purchase this item so I can avoid the outrageous fees that Ebay charges".
Then report the auction to Ebay.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on March 3, 2006 09:56:19 AM
Change the picture now.
I know of some good porn pics you could use. Anyone steals my pics, they get no warning. Wham. Instant image change.
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Many misleading tricks in 2006. The new Demomoron slogan.
posted on March 3, 2006 10:47:34 AM
Thanks, Stone, for your in-put...
However, I will stick with my word to the seller on this. Keep in mind he has over 6000 listings to wade through. From a look at his other listings I suspect he hasn't a clue about "quality" listing on eBay, ie: not much technical knowledge of HTML, spell-checking, pictures, etc.
When he copied my text, he missed some of the HTML and his listing is all askew; extra small, then over-sized text. Pretty messy!
Looks as though he is just throwing up anything he can get his hands on, in any fashion possible.
I'm going to let him sweat this out for another day...
posted on March 3, 2006 11:54:40 AM
Pat, you are much too nice, I would change the pic before he has a chance to copy it. A seller who stoops to the level of copying text and linking to somebody elses pix may stoop to the level of listing items he doesn't even have. You don't owe this guy anything. I would put 'I'm a thief and want to steal your money' on the pix.
posted on March 3, 2006 06:38:12 PM
Report the guy to eBay. They will pull the listings and he is out of money. When I find someone has stolen a pix I don't even contact them I just report them to eBay. The listing gets pulled very quickly. I also print my store name on all of my new pictures now with my photo editor.
posted on March 4, 2006 07:52:50 AM
OK, Friends...
You win -- the thief loses.
My picture is still up on his listing, and I've had no response from him/her at all.
Now, my question is -- How do I contact ebay to report this theft of pix and text? (My computer was stripped and restored about a month ago, and I'm slowly replacing my e-mail and Favorites links.)
posted on March 4, 2006 08:20:35 AM
Wow, 2 days, that is generous. I immediately change the picture. The last time I had a nice collage - One part was a portrait of Adolph Hitler. The other side had a KKK lynching. I then put in the text say Heil Hitler when paying, and you will get free Fedex shipping.
I then went to a different account and emailed the seller, telling them that I was going to bid on their item, but that I was so offended that I was going to report them to ebay.
They actually wrote back, and said they didn't know what was happening, that they were upset too and they had contacted ebay as well. Imagine, that, they reported themselves.
Very shortly after, the auction was removed from the database. I guess ebay didn't like the pictures too much.
posted on March 4, 2006 12:05:15 PM
Take your image and change the name. Like add a number to the end. Then upload the dirtiest porn photo you can find. Just name is exactly what your original image was. Then spread the word. You can bet this guy will hear about it.
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Many misleading tricks in 2006. The new Demomoron slogan.
posted on March 4, 2006 01:34:51 PM
Thank you to ALL OF YOU who contributed ideas and suggestions!
MELISSA...
I loved your BUY ONE GET TWO FREE idea. I came close to using it, but decided to be kinder...this time. However, what I DID put on the image is not realy the kindest thing one could do. So...
BILL...
Thank for the link. I searched eBay for the correct link, but got nowhere. Thanks to you the thief has been turned in.
STONE...
I changed the picture number by adding an "x" to it when I discovered the theft, then revised my listing. Thank you, though, for caring and making your suggestion.
6192974800 (his) - 3293082226 (mine)
I don't know how to add the picture here but here is the pic I altered for our "fine friend".
posted on March 4, 2006 01:59:13 PM
pat: good on you for taking a stand AND managing to stay diplomatic about it at the same time. Some here (myself included) would not have been so nice, especially after the offender was given, and failed to use , an opportunity to change their pics.
posted on March 4, 2006 02:28:06 PM
Stuck his listing on my watch list. Will be interesting to see how long it takes to get changed or cancled. Just imagine the expression on his face when he realizes what happened.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on March 4, 2006 03:14:58 PM
The sneaky thief is on my watcher list now too lol. The seller has 8919 feedbacks so you know they know better than stealing pictures. Not like its a newbie .
posted on March 4, 2006 04:14:44 PM
Thanks, Neglus, for posting my picture for me!
Sadly, as I've browsed other Charming Tails sellers, I've found quite a few stolen pictures and text among this character’s listings. Many are recognizable by the backgrounds and styles we sellers establish and use over and over. Wish I had the time to pursue this guy with other sellers but, alas, I don't...
posted on March 5, 2006 05:45:06 AM
I noticed, as I looked at their other items, most of the pics do not appear to be taken by them. Almost 1600 items! Theirs are probably the incredibly amateur photos. (Mine are only a tad better than those...lol!)
posted on March 5, 2006 04:47:45 PM
Hmmm, looks like they saw the picture finaly. The listing has been ended by seller. The stolen picture is still in the listing however.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on March 6, 2006 05:35:36 AM
'I immediately change the picture. The last time I had a nice collage - One part was a portrait of Adolph Hitler. The other side had a KKK lynching. I then put in the text say Heil Hitler when paying, and you will get free Fedex shipping."
LOL how long did that stay up before he took down his auction?
posted on March 6, 2006 07:00:30 AM
Finally! The stolen pix and text listing has ended, and I got a bonus! The first link in the "Similar items from eBay sellers" is for my store listing.
It is OK with me if they leave his ENDED listing up for awhile. Hope he/she has seen it, got a note from eBay, or some other notification. Perhaps they won't be so eager to steal again.
Now...Hope this seller does not decide to retaliate with a bunch of NPB bids, etc. Time for me to watch my back???
I notified the seller on Thursday that I'd appreciate his removing my text and photos from his listing. I gave him 2 days to get it done. On Saturday, with no response from him, I notified eBay -- thanks to help from you folks here with the proper link -- and eBay (or the seller) appears to have ended the listing last night or this morning. In total, 3-4 days from discovery to completion.
I've had pix and text stolen before, and a pleasant note to the seller has always ended the listing promptly, with a nice "Sorry, I didn't know" note from the seller.
Once again, my thanks to all of you for your great ideas, suggestions, and the necessary link to end this theft. I wouldn't have known how to contact eBay were it not for you, and the idea for the text I put on the picture came from you folks, also.
posted on March 6, 2006 07:23:46 AM
Thanks, Cheryl! Hadn't thought of that!
Do you have the lnk for that site?
I lost all those seldom used but important links when my computer crashed and had to be stipped and restored.
In fact, wasn't there a list of these important links listed here on AW some time ago? If anyone knows where I can find those, it would be GREATLY appreciated!
posted on March 6, 2006 05:57:27 PM
These are truly some inspiring (and hilarious) ideas that I'm sure I'll be using in the future! I was devastated a few weeks back to discover that another seller who sells the same product line as I do had stolen an incredible amount of what I had spent months of experimentation and hard work creating--almost ALL of my listing titles and subtitles WORD-FOR-WORD, many of my gallery images, she'd copied my listing text, changing just a word or two here and there--she'd even copied my listing format!..Our auctions looked almost identical, and since, due to the theft, we now had identical search terms, we were competing for the EXACT same bidders!
I was even MORE devastated when eBay told me they were planning to do NOTHING about it because they saw no evidence that anything had been stolen. WHAT?!! The theft was INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS (I had even taken the time to break it down into about 6 different categories/types of eBay theft)! I was sure there was something in the eBay Trust & Safety pages that said you couldn't copy titles word for word, but I KNOW you are not allowed to steal images, and images don't lie--if two look exactly the same, guess what?..they are!
When I wrote back to eBay to point out the stolen gallery images again, they said they stood by their initial conclusion, and would not take ANY action. I was stunned! Fortunately, a nice note to the seller solved the problem, and with a red face, she removed the copied images. It's really a shame that eBay doesn't do more to protect us from this type of theft. I know I can watermark my images, etc., but unless my watermark is going right across the image (which I feel is incredibly distracting, and detracts from the nice image I've worked so hard to create), any marking can easily be cropped out of a stolen image by a dishonest seller.
Those of us who actually DO take the time to stage our photos properly, with nice lighting, and backgrounds, edit them in Photoshop, etc. should know that we have reliable protection from being robbed blind by lazy eBayers such as these. It's truly a shame that this practice of stealing other sellers' property seems to be so rampant on eBay and in many cases, goes on unchecked.
[ edited by bellacollection on Mar 6, 2006 05:59 PM ]
[ edited by bellacollection on Mar 6, 2006 06:00 PM ]
, an opportunity to change their pics. 
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein