Topic: Ebay seller using my own photo for his auction

[jkno]

This guy selling an AT-AT SE is using my own photo for his own auction. I  wrote him an email kindly asking for him to remove it, but nothing.  What should I do next?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190712683550&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v226/sergiurusu/Prop%20Replicas%20-%20Studio%20Scale%20and%20Blasters/?action=view&current=MRAT-ATSE02.jpg





When someone can take a detailed close-up photo of his item, not sure why he isn't doing the same for the whole item and needs to use someone else image.

[jkno]

The problem with this guy is that he is using photos of 3 different AT-AT's there, you are not really sure what you are buying in the end. The bidders might not be aware that the last AT-AT for example is completely different that the first 2, being a customized MR AT-AT Limited Edition - LE (it usually comes with mirror base, no snow base and no snowspeeder, with different paint apps and different pose) where the others, including mine, are Signature Editions - SE (with snow base, Phil Tippett autograph and studio scale crashed snowspeeder). So as a buyer what are you getting? This is not a $10 Hasbro action figure. For such expensive items using photos others than your own, should be a warning for the buyers, but they seem not to be aware of this.

[Clonehead]

You could click on the "report seller" link on this auction if your country's eBay has it and wait for the ever slow automated response time, Serge.
eBay doesn't like it if a photo is stolen from another seller's auction but in this case, it was taken from your photobucket album. In that regard, they might not care as much.
It certainly is some false advertising though.

[jkno]

I'm all in for free stuff, but not when this affects, like in this case, the buyers out there. I don't really care if someone is using my image to show it to someone else, or for a review etc. But not when declaring THAT item is the one the buyer will receive.

There was someone on Rebelscum who used an image of one of my Kotobukiya statues, but I had no problem with that, since he clearly said that is not his statue for sale, and the image he posted was only for people to know how that particular item looks like.

In this ebay case the guy is selling an item, showing pics of 3 completely different products. Quite shady.

[Tamer]

Wow, for an item of this value they had better use their own personal pics. I would report them too.

[Tamer]

Its no surprise that I want one of these and if I was bidding on this it would be Serg's pics that would be getting me to bid.

He does show the damage to the front, but Serg's pic make that damage look minimal. This irritates me, I am taking this to the front page to hopefully warn some folks about this. I don't begrudge anyone a good ebay auction, but for something like this using someone else pics is straight fraud.

[jkno]

The picture with damage is not mine. My own AT-AT is in perfect condition as it can be seen here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v226/sergiurusu/Prop%20Replicas%20-%20Studio%20Scale%20and%20Blasters/#!cpZZ15QQtppZZ12 The only picture he got from me is the first one. The last pic from his auction is from an entirely different AT-AT. That is why it is fishy.

[Tamer]

Well its need a warning out there in web land anyhow. I put it on the front page. Like I said, your first pic would be the one I would be using to bid on it. There is not one caption or message that says the images are not the one being bid on.

[jkno]

Thanks Shawn!

Below is an image with the 2 types of MR AT-AT:

[Tamer]

Yepper, I would love to have both editions one day, but especially that first one. Hopefully word will spread about this and he or she will actually use his or her own images so folks will know what they are bidding on.

[jkno]

Exactly. For expensive items like these one should use their own images.

[jkno]

It seems the auction was taken down, my message to vero at ebay worked. He re-listed it, this time with his own pics, I have no problem with that.

[Tamer]

Yeah, that was done pretty quickly after I posted this on the front page. By the time I got this to our FB Page the auction said ended.

[jkno]

My email written at the ebay customer service about the photo infringements made ebay cancel his auction. He should have used his own photos for such an expensive item, and not try to fool the buyers. Thanks again for your help too Shawn! Collectors need to help other collectors not to get scammed by some soulless idiot.

[Tamer]

I agree Serg, which is another reason for the creation of ISY. We aim to try and protect our members from things like this.