Spot the Difference! Is it OK for another seller to use my images, my title and my description?

[james_cumbria]

I recently sold item 305341297010.  eBay Global Shipping failed to deliver it.  It's now back up for sale, the new seller using my photographs, my title, my description.  Item number 276370525402.  These listings take me many hours to put together and I am not at all happy about my work being plagarised in this way - particularly as I operate in quite a specialised field and don't want my buyers confusing me with anyone else.  Is there anything I can do?  

As an aside, this is not the first time that one of my high value magic lanterns has gone astray while in the care of eBay's GSP, only to come back onto the market a few months later.  Somehow the cheaper ones always seem to be delivered without a hitch, but when I sell one worth £1,000 or £2,000 they get lost.  Very strange!    

[btr.style]

Yes they are allowed to. 

[tressygirl]

Nothing you can do about ' lazy' sellers copying your listings and photos,  it's in our agreement with eBay that ths is allowed.  eBay themselves can use any of our photos in their library if they wish.

As for missing items in GSP,  hopefully for any case opened there for item not received,  you entered the tracking number and mentioned in the case this is a GSP item, and it shows delivery to the UK hub.  This will prevent you paying for any refund.

[vintagewatchpart]

Can someone from eBay please provide clarity on something given that one of my "lost" items is also available from this seller?

What happened to the invoices that were in this package that had my own personal data and customers data on please as well as the label on the outer box?

I asked this question on the other thread about this as unless steps were taken prior to passing on my item to another seller to remove these details it would constitute a breach of the Gdpr law.

I expect a response to this and for it not to be ignored.

The buyer of my item was most irate that it couldn't be fulfilled to him and I spent my own personal time dealing with that and lost a future customer because of it.

[m25jet]

Although I no longer sell on eBay, having given up selling on eBay when they ditched PayPal as the default payment means for sellers, I actually had a similar experience with an item that I once listed for sale on the site.  Another seller used the exact same images that I had taken with my own camera and posted on my own listing, so I contacted eBay to report the seller, quoting the listing number of the advert in question, stating that the seller was using my own images without my consent.  Within a matter of hours the other seller's listing was taken offline and it did not reappear again.

Perhaps things have changed at eBay in the years since I gave up selling on the site, but personally I'd advise you to contact eBay Customer Service about the matter (ideally during the morning as you'll have a better chance of getting through to somebody who speaks English as his/her first language).  Explain to the eBay representative on the other end of the phone that the seller did not ask your permission to use your images and is therefore using them without your consent.  Make sure you mention that they also appear to have copied your own item title and item description as well, also without your consent.  If you give them your own listing number plus that of the advert that you are reporting then eBay may well decide to remove the listing in question.  It may also be worth pointing out to eBay that the other item may not be absolutely identical and therefore may result in an Item Not As Described case being opened at a later date.  That scenario may not occur, but just mentioning the possibility that it could happen may be enough to make eBay decide to remove the listing, if only to be on the safe side...

Unless eBay have changed the rules since I stopped selling on the site and now allow sellers to use another seller's listing title, photos and item description without the consent of the person that they're poaching the photos and details from then they ought to take the listing down when you draw their attention to it.  It may not work, but you won't know unless you try.  You've got nothing to lose, and if it does work then the seller in question will not get away with using your own details and images to sell his/her own item(s).

[potters_uk]

When you submit a photo or indeed enter item specifics they become the property of Ebay to do as they wish.  Thats why if you use the sell it yourself feature on listing they do give you the chance to put your own photo on, but if their are specs already entered then they leave them on.  

[rigged_out]

It's part of the rules that you agree to when joining GSP. If Pitney Bowes who run GSP cannot send your item because:

it's against UK export rules or the receiving country import rules (this can be very ambiguous and they rule on the safe side, often incorrectly)

they can't because it's too difficult to get it to the destination in one piece or can't insure it

they just don't want to..

Then they refund both you and the buyer and the item is then moved on to another account who sells the item using your full listing (description, photos, whatever). I forgotton the account who takes those items now but it's a large account.

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For other instances where someone uses your photos without permission you can issue a Vero against them. You need to be able to prove those photos are yours (for e.g. if you have listed it on another site you can use that account and pictures to prove they were yours at such and such a date). You have to read up on how to use the Vero system for this. However, in your case it really sounds like an instance where Pitney Bowes don't want to send it and so it went to the selling account.

[rigged_out]

Just to add about the Vero. You have to use a third party site, not eBay, with your photos. It can be Depop or anywhere else. Then eBay have to act and will issue the Vero. This is how the eBay reps described what to do at the 2023 eBay open. Check their Youtube videos for more info.

[carbtec]

The vero team will take down listings that use your images if you can demonstrate that you own the copyright to that image. The images do not have to be displayed on any other site anywhere else, as long as you have the original image & that image contains the EXIF data.

It isn't easy, they seem to like to keep busy by asking the same questions several times, but it can be done if you persevere.

[tressygirl]

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@m25jet wrote:

Perhaps things have changed at eBay in the years since I gave up selling on the site, but personally I'd advise you to contact eBay Customer Service about the matter (ideally during the morning as you'll have a better chance of getting through to somebody who speaks English as his/her first language).  Explain to the eBay representative on the other end of the phone that the seller did not ask your permission to use your images and is therefore using them without your consent.  

Unless eBay have changed the rules since I stopped selling on the site and now allow sellers to use another seller's listing title, photos and item description without the consent of the person that they're poaching the photos and details from then they ought to take the listing down when you draw their attention to it.  It may not work, but you won't know unless you try.  You've got nothing to lose, and if it does work then the seller in question will not get away with using your own details and images to sell his/her own item(s).

Things have changed,  eBay do allow the use of another member's descriptions,  photos, listings etc. 

Whilst it's polite in my humble opinion to message a seller to ask if one can poach their listing,  it is not mandatory to do so.

Politeness and laziness springs to mind.

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[eyewear247]

A "friend" of mine once had a similar situation where another seller stole the html that made up the listing and my "friend" ended up hosting the images within the thiefs listing description so they uploaded a new set of images to their webspace that overwrote the original images on the thiefs listing with uncomplementory replacements  😁