Onselling on Facebook when your item has just been listed?

[connydeylen]

Someone alerted me to the fact that someone was selling our items on facebook and their website for twice the price. I took a look and they were using our photos and stories without asking our permission (keeping the handmade bit  but deleting connydeylen). And then I realized they were listing them as soon as we started an auction. They waited  and as soon as one of their customers showed interest they placed a bid. This person claims to be a Physchic and her customer base is basically people who have recently lost a loved one. I am absolutely seething and have blocked them as bidders. But are there otherways to put this con artist out of action?

[digital*ghost]

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@robinsonmarineparts wrote:

The O.P is calling the 'buyer' a con artist , how is the 'buyer conning the O.P'?

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I believe the buyer / reseller is conning their own buyers, if they are intentionally leading them to believe she made them herself rather than someone else. 

I don't disagree there is a practical, business side to the issue, but to make allowances, condone of dismiss the reseller's actions just contributes to the notion that doing it is ok (steal from someone? me, all's fair in business, just find a way to deal with it.... that sort of attitude makes it socially, if not legally, ethically and/or morally, acceptable, and that is something worth protesting to me). 

I posted the link the the IP website for a reason, though - pro-active steps are better than anything else, and if I were to offer advice (real advice, not just empathy or derision for their position / reaction), I would echo many of the suggestions already made - that is for the OP to brand their items, increase her prices and protect her own interests.

Heck, I'd even join Facebook (if I wasn't already a member) to make a select few posts in certain areas. 😉

[theboulevard14]

First off, Conny your products are delightful and good luck with everything.

But, oh my, there are an awful lot of posters on here that do not know anything about business in the real world.  Please do not take any of the wrong opinions to heart.  What this person on Facebook is doing is ILLEGAL.  You have every right to protect your product and your BRAND and several people here have given you some good pointers on how to do that.  It's obvious some here are just after a sale at any cost, and not building a viable selling platform.

Robinsons or colic, I think you may have a bit of a problem, if you try and purchase some products, say APPLE iphones or ipads, at the Christmas sales and then try and sell them on facebook.  Try using any of APPLES brands, images or descriptions, and try selling them for a profit, and not telling anyone that you are not authorised by APPLE to sell such products.  Even if you are making a profit, Apple still got the original sale, didn't they?  Try telling Apple, that it's just business, that you're not hurting their reputation at all, or trying to profiteer off all of their research and development and branding and previous sales in building up APPLE products into the brand that it is today. They should send you thanks and congratulatios for making your purchases, cause a sale is a sale, isn't it? NOT.

You buy my products, you can do what you like with them personally, you won them.  You bought the PRODUCT only and nothing else.  In no way do you own any of my Interllectual property at all.  If anyone tried to do anything similar to this, with my B&M business, they would cop a writ before they could say "SOLD".  A business has to do a lot more than make a few one-off sales to make money and prosper, they have to build a Brand, a product that involves a lot more than just the nuts and bolts it is made of. 

Conny obviously has put a lot of talent, creativity and love into her products.  they are not just dolls heads and a few pretty strips of fabric.  I could do that today, but they wouldn't be the same.  They would lack the love, the story, and the background and presence, which Conny's have.

[aps1080]

Bolevard

You can buy Apple product and then resell it on ebay. Heaps do it, especially when something new comes out. They also use Apple photos and probaby the logo.

If the person has purchased the doll(s), I can't see what the problem is. If they haven't, then an issue exists.

Having had another look at the dolls, I think the OP is selling them far too cheaply.

Target a higher class of customer, you woyuld be amazed at how much people pay for things and once in that market with a reputation,

word spreads.

[robinsonmarineparts]

Oh dear.

So what your saying is that no one sells name brand products ( anywhere ) without the permission from the 'Owner of the brand'.

[digital*ghost]

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@aps1080 wrote:

You can buy Apple product and then resell it on ebay. Heaps do it, especially when something new comes out. They also use Apple photos and probaby the logo.

If the person has purchased the doll(s), I can't see what the problem is. If they haven't, then an issue exists.

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You can buy an Apple product and resell it on eBay, sure, and you can use the stock photos in eBay's catalogue, too (if it's brand new), because a license is granted to all eBay members to do so.

But you can not remove the logo and deliberately mislead people into believing you made the product, nor can you steal photos protected by copyright in order to advertise it. 

This issue is not a simple matter of someone deciding to resell an item they bought. 

I'll try and put it into a context where it makes the issue more clear...

What if conny was not an artist making dolls, but instead a musician who was independently releasing CDs, and then found someone on Facebook was creating ads for her releases under their own FB name, plus removing the "by Conny" from the album cover.

Would that be ok?

No.

There are some differences between a music release and a handcrafted doll (or dolls), yes, but despite that, the fact remains that the reseller is doing the wrong thing, and conny has the right to do something about it.

End of.

[aps1080]

digital

I have already said i most of my post what to do re the photos to stop them being used. So that issue we agree with.

Re the hand made, the OP said they left the "handmade" bit but not the name. Not illegal, a bit mischevous or bending the truth !!!

At the end of the day, if the FB person purchased a or some dolls, they have every right to resell them, without conny's name on the FB page.

On the other hand, selling them without having purchased them, well, worse things could happen.

Which brings me back to the point of the OP should wholesale them to the FB person and put the price up !!!

[digital*ghost]

It's about misrepresentation, though - handmade doesn't identify the artist, and that's the biggest issue. 

If we stick with the Apple example, what if Samsung bought a bunch of iPhones, removed all the identifying details, and started selling them in their stores. Would there be an issue? 

I suspect there would.

I grant the reseller is walking a fine line and not quite the same thing, and maybe if someone posts on the FB page a comment like "I love your dolls, you do amazing work" they don't respond with something like "thank you" and continue the misrepresentation, but explain that she didn't make them...

I also recognise others don't take the issue as seriously as some - this kind of thing pops up on etsy quite frequently, unfortunately, in varying degrees, and there's always a mix of similar responses (from the indignantly offended, like me 😄 to the people who think the OPs should just be happy they got the price they were asking and who cares what happens after). 

Bottom line is, of course, if you want to ensure you're credited for your work, you have to make it virtually impossible not to be. 

[colic2bullsgirlore]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@colic2bullsgirlore wrote:

The onseller bought the description and the picture whebn they purchased the item. 

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I'm sorry, but this is just outright incorrect - you do not purchase a copyright license to copyright-protected content just because you buy an item. The buyer purchased a doll and nothing more.

Now, let's shift the issue somewhat on to what they actual problem is, aside from stealing copyright protected content (which is in itself a problem).

There is a little thing called intentionally misleading consumers - misleading by omission. If the ads the reseller creates mislead consumers into believing she makes the dolls, then no matter how you feel about the OP's reaction to someone reselling her items, the reseller is in the wrong, on two counts (copyright theft, misleading by omission).

To condone this behaviour is unconscionable to me.

Conny, take a gander through this site - know your rights, and what you can do to protect them.

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/understanding-intellectual-property/

Your items are beautiful, and should be protected. 🙂

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@colic2bullsgirlore wrote:

The onseller bought the description and the picture whebn they purchased the item. 

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I'm sorry, but this is just outright incorrect - you do not purchase a copyright license to copyright-protected content just because you buy an item. The buyer purchased a doll and nothing more.

Now, let's shift the issue somewhat on to what they actual problem is, aside from stealing copyright protected content (which is in itself a problem).

There is a little thing called intentionally misleading consumers - misleading by omission. If the ads the reseller creates mislead consumers into believing she makes the dolls, then no matter how you feel about the OP's reaction to someone reselling her items, the reseller is in the wrong, on two counts (copyright theft, misleading by omission).

To condone this behaviour is unconscionable to me.

Conny, take a gander through this site - know your rights, and what you can do to protect them.

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/understanding-intellectual-property/

Your items are beautiful, and should be protected. 🙂

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The dolls are not advertised as copyright and I believe that they now cannot be considered for same ie no copyright

breach has occurred.

misleading by omission....lmao ..did you read your own link??

I wondered digital as the "designer' has been displaying her wares how she could now apply for copyright???

Intellectual Property (IP) rights establish ownership and exclusive control of your innovation.

Registered IP rights such as patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder's rights are not granted automatically.

You need to apply with IP Australia and meet specific criteria under the relevant legislation.

You need to safeguard your IP by letting others know you own your innovation.

That is why many products contain the ® symbol - to let everyone know the trade mark is registered.

Copyright owners do a similar thing by using the © symbol with their work, while many new products will have patent

pending or the patent number displayed.

Designers should be rewarded for their innovation and creativity. IP is a very valuable asset and an IP right allows you

to protect your design from being copied or misused.

The legal protection of an IP right provides you with the exclusive permission to use, control and therefore profit from

your design work.

Importance of secrecy

Inventions and designs cannot be registered unless they are totally new.

This means they cannot have been publicly disclosed or displayed beforehand.

For example, if you included your new design in a catalogue then filed a design application,

it would not pass the 'new' test. Similarly if you gave a presentation at a conference explaining your invention, it would also fail the 'new' test in any subsequent patent application.

This is how it is done.... search.......

Branbria Christmas Elves, Pixies, Witches & Fairies ~ OOAK Doll Hand Sculpture

and whose was the first Chrissie pixie??? those wacky looking pixie heads get around ...eh??

[colic2bullsgirlore]

. In Australia, copyright is granted automatically which means that you don't have to apply for it.

To be protected under the designs and trade mark legislation you need to apply for a right to be granted.

A design refers to the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation which give a product a unique appearance, and must be new and distinctive.

Design registration is intended to protect designs which have an industrial or commercial use.

A registered design gives you, the owner, exclusive rights to commercially use it, licence or sell it.

[4green2000]

Was feeling a bit down this morning thinking of all these new bills that just came in the mail..

I thought this morning i need a bit of cheering up so i was about to google "funny jokes" but thought id check ebay forums first.

Well i no longer need to google "funny jokes"...I feel better now..