Pinching other people's photo

[springyzone]

I am a bit bemused.

What do you think of this?

I have been looking at prams for my daughter. The ones we have been looking for are quite expensive, often on ebay for about the $400 mark or more.

One came on, listed as almost new, starting at 99c. Obviously they would not expect it to sell for that, but I put in a bid, asked some questions, had a close look at the photos. Two were from the oficial webiste I would say, while one was clearly a home photo taken on a deck. Th actual pram, or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise to scroll through other ads today and see someone else with a whole series of photos, including the deck shot. I suspect the photos are theirs as they have several.

The ridiculous thing is this> the ad  I bid on says excellent condiion, only used about 10 times etc, while the photo shows what appears to be some sun fade.

So why would anyone pinch another person's photo, or at least, if you are going to pinch one, why not pinch a top notch one!

As far as I am concerned, my seller has shot himself in the foot as for a genuine person, I might have been willing to bid up much higher but no way now.

And what if I win and the item is nothing like as described? It is a pick up item but can i walk away without a negative strike if it isn't  as described?

Is there any ebay policy about this practice of using someone else's photos?

[go-tazz]

It's also a tactic used by scammers.

They use the listing but don't actually have the items.

Members bid,pay but then don't receive the item/s and the scammers collects the money and disappears,

[digital*ghost]

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@springyzone wrote:

Is there any ebay policy about this practice of using someone else's photos?

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Yes: http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/vero-image-text-theft.html But I think only the original owner (i.e. copyright holder) can report it.

It's impossible to guarantee that a strike won't be issued if you don't pay for an item, regardless of the reasons why, but if it happened, it should be able to be appealed successfully. 

[lyndal1838]

If it is a pickup only item you do not pay until you have inspected the item and if it is not as described you just walk away. If you do get a strike you contact ebay and tell them it was pickup only and not as described.  The strike will be removed.

[ajarnjenny]

But they cannot do that on a pay cash on pickup.

[springyzone]

My main worry is the pram won't look like the photos. The one in the ad has a white bassinet type inner liner and I would be pretty annoyed to pay top dollar and find the pram didn't include that.

I asked already and was told there is no moses rocker stand (which doesn't worry me as it isn't in the photos) and that only the pram is on sale.

But to me it is misleading to sell something like an expensive pram using someone else's photo.

It may be the seller just couldn't be bothered taking his own photo, but it is odd, all the same.

No, I won't be out of pocket as I would only pay on pick up but it would be disappointing to travel a fair distance & be let down.

I guess it is just something I would never do-use someone else's photo of a second hand pram.

[smiling.susan2011]

I hate scammers and liars.  I wish they would all get caught out and reported.

If I were you I would contact the other person who has the same photos and report to them that their photos have been copied by another ebay seller so they can report this action to ebay themselves.  The person who really does own the pram for sale needs to know another person (the liar and scammer) is trying to use their photo to sell the same pram. 

I hope you stop bidding now and this gets sorted out ASAP before another innocent victim pays for this pram and gets scammed. 

I also hope you find a great pram for sale from an honest, reliable seller and it suits your needs.  Have a great day 🙂

[springyzone]

Thanks, Susan.

I contacted the second seller, the one with several home photos from different angles, to ask if the pram was theirs. They said it was (as I thought would be the case). They didn't seem too worried, just said someone else must have used one of their photos.

The thing is, seller number 1 was actually quite sneaky smart as he didn't pinch the main photo from the other person's ad, he stole one of the minor ones, so when you scroll through the ads, you don't notice at a glance. It was only on opening the second ad and looking through all the photos that I thought, "Hello, hello, I've seen that deck before!"

I did ask a question of my seller. I wrote it looked in the photo as if there was some sun fade, was that the case.

No answer, none at all.

[homeopathmichele57]

On 2 occasions I've had buyers want to return items due to not fitting ( one was they had 2 different sized feet).
As I give detailed measurements I don't accept returns for items that don't fit. I have suggested they try reselling on eBay & give them permission to use my photos if they want to.

[springyzone]

Michele, I see no problem with that, none at all.

Makes sense,

But this is not a case of someone having bought a pram off one seller then reselling it later.

What I am talking about here is two different sellers on ebay right now, both with exactly the same home photo in their ads.

For one of the sellers, it is their own pram and their own series of photos.

They had no idea anyone was using one of their photos.

For the other seller though, it obviously is not the pram he has for sale, and the photo he copied is not the primary photo of seller number one, so it isn't something you would pick up on just from scrolling through the listings.

He has 2 other photos which are very obviously taken from the official pram website and that is fine.

But if I see what is obviously a personal photo of an item, I would expect it to be the item I am bidding on, especially when it is something that could potentially go into the hundreds of dollars. I bid in good faith and I always look very closely at the photos to try to get my best impression of what condition something is in, before I bid.

It was a shock to find the photo isn't of the item I am bidding on and there is nothing in the ad to indicate that.

Mind you, the pram on sale might be even better than the one in the photo-there is no way for me to tell though, and that is the problem.