Has anyone ever had their eBay auctions/description of items & pictures stolen?
 

Just came across someone tonight who TOTALLY stole my ENTIRE auction - AND pictures :mad: It made me so mad, because I take quite a bit of time when describing my items, and I try to be very precise when doing so. Then someone comes along and copies and paste every SINGLE thing I said, word for word (I mean everything...right down to the exact same font, and text color) then to top it all off, swipes my pictures as well :mad: They even used the same "title" description for the item that I used - but they are obviously nuts because they listed the item higher than I did, with higher shipping costs, how dumb :rolleyes: Ahh, and they had TWO of them listed...so I nailed them doubly for that ;) lol

I just reported them, but I was wondering if anyone has ever had this happen to them before? There are several consequences for it according to the "eBay rules" :rolleyes: but I was just wondering what actually happened to the other seller? I'm assuming that they will have their listings canceled by eBay, but it also said something about suspension of their account.

Anyway, this just kind of ticked me off. I guess people are just too lazy to come up with their own descriptions, and take their own pictures :rolleyes: I hate it when people have to COPY everything and can't just do their own thing! :mad:

Not on ebay, but, my husband had done a write up for a group of people on a web forum, similar to this one but for cars. Another forum plagiarised EVERYTHING down to his pics too. He eventually got it cleared up and was given credit for the work, but on the internet it is SO hard to prove anything. He was just lucky I guess. But it does suck so bad to have someone take all of your hard work for their own. I hope eBay lets them have it for you!

that sucks!! i posted a set of four Harry Potter books on E-Bay a couple of days ago. It was my first time and was the hardest thing to come up with a good description of my item. probably don't have to worry about anyone stealing mine. you must write good reviews.

How awful that someone would steal your auction!!

I have looked at completed listings before to get ideas on things I need to mention, but I have NEVER stole anyone's descriptions or pictures!!

I sometimes use stock photos if the item I am selling qualifies for that...but I view my photos that I take as original pieces of artwork and I would be furious if someone stole my pictures!

My daughter uses Ebay alot for both selling and buying, and she runs into problems occasionally, but she reports the probs to Ebay, and they are pretty good about taking care of it. She also runs into quite a bit of scammers.

I'm sorry this happened to you. It seems there's always those dishonest people who come along and try to ruin a good thing.

gosh that sucks! you should ask shanatink..i know she wrote a post about this happening to her as well..

I have auctions on eBay, but I don't take other's descriptions or pictures. BUT...sometimes I have similar descriptions to other's b/c I use the description that the manufacterer gives. Call me lazy, but it's coming straight from the horse's mouth. Of course, I add my own "flair" and change a word here or there, but for the most part I feel using the manufacterer's description will not leave anything out.

I had a someone similar situation. I no longer sell on ebay and havent for a while but not too long ago I found an ebay member stole my pictures from my website so I was livid and turned them in. This person even lied and tried to say the pictures of my Chloe was her own dog so I harassed and threatend her until she removed all my pictures (which was several dozen auctions she had used them in). She ended up having to shut down for awhile to remove all my photos and she had to start over with new listings which I was happy because I knwo that takes a really long time to set up. It just made me even more pissed that she woudl try and tell me the dog was her and she even watermarked my photos as her own. Sadly, every once in a while I have to get on ebay just to police and make sure no one is using the modeling pics that I took for use on my website only.

I had a listing for a toy or something (I use to sell kids toys) and someone stole my complete listing (word for word) and picture. I turned them in to eBay and the listing was gone for awhile. I watched this seller and the listing came up again, but it was different pictures and the format/wording was all different. I am not certain if they get a strike against them or what, but I do know that they made the person take it down while they corrected it...so I bet they were charged the listing fee and stuff again.

I don't sell on eBay much.....but I do look at other listings of similiar items to get ideas and see what they are going for, etc (as eBay instructs you to). I would never dream of just copy/pasting someone else's entire listing or pictures! I know I hated that when it was done to me.

I always worry about pictures being used, but what can you do? Is there a way to "watermark" them or put something on them that doesn't cover the picture? Is there a way that people can not "right click" on them??

With your creativity, it is no surprise everyone wants what you make :thumbup:

Well good thing ebay has very strict rules on such actions.

It's sad but that's rampant on eBay. I use to primarily sell there (not anymore). I once had someone steal my description word for word and when I complained to eBay about it they did nothing. She changed one word so they didn't think it was worth going after her I guess. The same person also stole someone else's pictures in the same auction she used my description in. I did find a code that prevents right clicking for my future auctions.

I used to sell pet carries on Ebay and someone kept doing that to me. I was so upset as well! It takes a lot of time to list things and for some lazy person to copy all of your hard work is the worst!

That sucks. I know it happens...I don't know why people can't just come up with their own descriptions and pictures.