Copied my title listing

[houseofgeorge]

Hi,

I was wondering what people think when another seller copies your title listing for their sale. I've had one who's posted a few listings using exactly my title, word for word. It was in fact a cut and past job.

Now I know it's not the same as photo and item description theft but what's everyone's stance on the practice?

Furthermore, the seller initially copied my "Australian Seller" badge and only until recently did they change it. Then again, it may have been copied from someone else's.

Thank you so much.

Jesse

[donnashuggy]

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@springyzone wrote:

I wouldn't worry if it is just the title that is copied, as long as the description and photos are not yours.

From what i can gather there are a lot of key words that pop up in similar listings anyway, so even if the wording in titles is not exactly the same, people have taken note of good ideas or wording and there is a lot of partial copying going on.

eg How many furniture ads do you see with words like vintage, mid century Eames Parker era in them? Every second ad for older furniture has them in some configuration or other.

So don't be too upset by the title. It is annoying for sure to be copied, but just guard your spiel and photos.

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We all use words to search it is more than annoying.

[houseofgeorge]

Hi k1ooo-slr-sales,

The listing is as follows, Sandisk iXpand 32GB USB/Lightning Flash Drive for iPhone and iPad - New in box!!. I know it's pretty much generic and covers all the keywords everyone might use and given the odds, there will be similarities.

However, if one does an advanced search for completed listing in ebay using the word ixpand, you'll see that there's only two aussie sellers. The first item was sold in 31 Dec last year by myself. The next one is on 10 Jan 2015. Thereafter, another seller entered the market on 11 Jan. It didn't sell. 

If you look at the other guy's title listing, it's exactly like mine, word for word. Moreover, if you take a closer look on his item picture, on the upper right, the Australian Seller icon was also copied. I created that so it's unique. Fortunately, he has dropped the icon as he progressed with his artwork.

So, looking at the evidence, one would tend to believe that it was very much a cut and paste job.

I know that there's nothing I can do with the title so I'll just grin and bear it. And, that's the title listing folks.

Thanks again.

Jesse

[lyndal1838]

I have just read this thread and I must say I am a bit stunned at the fuss being made over a listing title being copied.

May I ask what other words a seller could use in this case to describe the item to maximise their chances of selling?  It hardly has any unique qualities that could distinguish it from the same item being sold by another seller.

When I read the boards I am constantly horrified at the major problems sellers are having with ebay, buyers, postal systems, DSR's, defects......and so it goes on.

Words fail me when I see a thread like this run to 20+ posts over something as minor as a listing title that leaves very little room for change.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

okay, I can see that the title is exactly the same, but I can't see that you should expect to have exclusive rights to that title just because you used it first.  What is it about the title that your feel is 'your' intellectual property? (which is what copyright is all about)  Is it the use of the "!!" at the end perhaps?

I think you are letting yourself get worked up into a tiz about nothing, and can also understand why eBay wont do anything about it.  Maybe if you change your title it will make it appear in more search results than the original title.  Include the word "Brand" as shown below

Try this, change your title from

Sandisk iXpand 32GB USB/Lightning Flash Drive for iPhone and iPad - New in box!!.

       to

Sandisk iXpand 32GB USB/Lightning Flash Drive for iPhone iPad - Brand New in box

Please don't feel that I am being critical of you.  If I wanted to do that I would simply have replied with "stop being so precious" or "toughen up princess".

[donnashuggy]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

I have just read this thread and I must say I am a bit stunned at the fuss being made over a listing title being copied.

May I ask what other words a seller could use in this case to describe the item to maximise their chances of selling?  It hardly has any unique qualities that could distinguish it from the same item being sold by another seller.

When I read the boards I am constantly horrified at the major problems sellers are having with ebay, buyers, postal systems, DSR's, defects......and so it goes on.

Words fail me when I see a thread like this run to 20+ posts over something as minor as a listing title that leaves very little room for change.

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Some buyers copy and paste a title to look and see if it is available cheaper, in other words sellers copy a title with large sales history and start a fight to the bottom. eBay understandably don't see it as a problem because the buyer finds the item at a cheaper price.

[lyndal1838]

I must say that I do not need to copy and paste an ebay title to see if i can find the item at a cheaper price.

On ebay I just type in what I want in the search bar and tick Item Price + Postage Lowest first and go from there.

Off ebay I have a few favourite sellers that I will check as well, depending on what sort of item I am looking for.  If I have no success with that I will do a Google search for the item....all without the benefit of copy and paste.

After all, I know what I want without an ebay seller having to tell me.

[donnashuggy]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

I must say that I do not need to copy and paste an ebay title to see if i can find the item at a cheaper price.

On ebay I just type in what I want in the search bar and tick Item Price + Postage Lowest first and go from there.

Off ebay I have a few favourite sellers that I will check as well, depending on what sort of item I am looking for.  If I have no success with that I will do a Google search for the item....all without the benefit of copy and paste.

After all, I know what I want without an ebay seller having to tell me.

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You are experienced and believe me it does happen. If you have sold thousands of a product and someone comes along and copies your "unique" title and undercuts you the buyers will find them.

[lyndal1838]

Buyers will have many reasons for choosing who to buy from and not necessarily based on cheapest price alone.

When I bought from you for example, I had done a search for the cheapest items.  I then narrowed it down to sellers in or near Sydney because I wanted some of those items fairly quickly.  I could have bought cheaper but chose delivery time instead.

Unless sellers can guarantee that they have completely unique items they have to be prepared to have competition in selling and a listing title should not make any great difference.

[ycmiau]

Report to ebay, but NOT any feedback and that seller still using.
Ebay doesnt care it.

[*tippy*toes*]

No-one really cares after 2.5 years.