Advice Needed: Ebay Seller Using My Pics In Their Ad

[Mr.Duke]

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I guess I wouldn’t mind if the items for sale actually matched what was in the picture.


So I’m perusing EBay this morning looking for the latest deals and I run across an ad where I immediately recognize pictures that I took last May of my Notorious/Outcast when I installed a Max6 and 4985 1650kv combo.

The ad is for a Max8 with HW 4274 2200kv motor

What would be your course of action?

 

[BashingBrian]

I would contact Ebay ??

 

[Thomas90]

I would contact Ebay ??

Exactly that xd

 

[Hammer Down]

Very strange!
They can’t take thier own pics?! ?

Buy it so you can get thier address. ?

 

[Mr.Duke]

The seller actually has 2 ads
One for a motor ESC together and one for just a Max8 ESC

I sent him a message on both ads requesting he take action without getting ebay management involved (yet)

 

[GMballistic]

Ask the seller for 20% from all sales where your picture is used.

 

[Steve B in Vegas]

It's hard to control that, but if you do a lot of photos, might want to watermark them.

 

[Mr.Duke]

It’s not so much an issue with using my pics but I feel like it is a misrepresentation of the items for sale in the description. I don’t think it would bother me at all if they weren’t being used in what I think is a deceptive way.

I’m more curious as to why the seller can’t take actual pics of the items that the winning bidder will be receiving?

 

[bicketybam]

Seems super shady.

 

[Mr.Duke]

I wonder if anyone bidding recognizes the discrepancy and thinks the seller will ship a Max6 combo thinking the seller just misidentified what they’re trying to sell.

No response from either message yet btw

 

[jondilly1974]

On my iOS based eBay app, I would click the menu icon (circled below) and click Report Item. Then see the second image for reasons why.

 

[DoNoHarm]

If he doesn’t respond I’d bring eBay into this.

What probably happened is he googled photos of what he wanted to sell, and because your pictures are used on this forum, just like any other forum, they can be found if you do a google search of that product. I doubt he directly stole it from you, it’s most likely an honest mistake. What’s not forgivable is that he’s misleading the product.

 

[arrmadillo]

I think you went about it the right way. Courteous, professional, wait for a response then take it from there.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

@Mr.Duke did you ever get a response from the seller? I'm curious to see how this plays out.

 

[Notorious J]

I don't think there's anything you can do about it @Mr.Duke. Once we upload our photos to this forum or any social media outlet, they become public and can be copied by anyone who feels like it. Even if he is misrepresenting the product he is selling, that is something the buyer will have to take up with the seller and ebay once the deal is done. As mentioned earlier, the only way to protect your images is by using a watermark, which I'm pretty sure most of us don't have the time or patience to do. I have copied photos from retailers listings many times when selling products. It's easier to sell something when the photos look professional. The buyer can always request more photos if they are skeptical about the ones used in the listing. Hopefully he is not a scammer and there is a real Max8 that's going to be delivered.

 

[Jimbobjr]

This is very common in looking for vintage audio gear. When ever I see something for sale I will google the item and look for similar pictures. Many times a dormant eBay account would be pirated with fake pictures in the ad and a really nice bin price. The one forum I hang out on for vintage gear sometimes has a list of accounts and copies of adds to stay away from it is so common.

 

[jondilly1974]

I don't think there's anything you can do about it @Mr.Duke. Once we upload our photos to this forum or any social media outlet, they become public and can be copied by anyone who feels like it. Even if he is misrepresenting the product he is selling, that is something the buyer will have to take up with the seller and ebay once the deal is done. As mentioned earlier, the only way to protect your images is by using a watermark, which I'm pretty sure most of us don't have the time or patience to do. I have copied photos from retailers listings many times when selling products. It's easier to sell something when the photos look professional. The buyer can always request more photos if they are skeptical about the ones used in the listing. Hopefully he is not a scammer and there is a real Max8 that's going to be delivered.

Actually that’s not 100% true here in the USA. While FB and other SM sites may use your pics in their own marketing, they don’t hold copyright. This is a different deal as the third party stole his images. You can’t sue eBay for the infringement, but you could sue the listing holder if you wanted to take it that far. I used to run an eBay store a long time ago and had to send a C&D letter to a few shady stores that stole my images. We ended up having to watermark all of our images. I spent a lot of time and money taking good photos. Stealing them saved these a-holes a lot of money.

 

[Notorious J]

Actually that’s not 100% true here in the USA. While FB and other SM sites may use your pics in their own marketing, they don’t hold copyright. This is a different deal as the third party stole his images. You can’t sue eBay for the infringement, but you could sue the listing holder if you wanted to take it that far. I used to run an eBay store a long time ago and had to send a C&D letter to a few shady stores that stole my images. We ended up having to watermark all of our images. I spent a lot of time and money taking good photos. Stealing them saved these a-holes a lot of money.

If I find an image in an online store, google, a forum or any other public site, where does it state I cannot take that image and use it as my own? We copy and paste images here all the time when we want to show a part that someone is trying to find. I just search the web and copy it. Are you saying that it applies only when selling on Ebay, or at all times?

 

[jondilly1974]

If I find an image in an online store, google, a forum or any other public site, where does it state I cannot take that image and use it as my own? We copy and paste images here all the time when we want to show a part that someone is trying to find. I just search the web and copy it. Are you saying that it applies only when selling on Ebay, or at all times?

US copyright law says we can’t. Sure we do it and get away with it, but if we were called out for it, we would have to remove it. If anyone cared to that extent, the whole meme genre wouldn’t exist.

 

[Notorious J]

US copyright law says we can’t. Sure we do it and get away with it, but if we were called out for it, we would have to remove it. If anyone cared to that extent, the whole meme genre wouldn’t exist.

Got it. It's illegal but very lightly enforced. Explains why I thought it was okay. Thanks for the clarification Jon