Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Copy Cats.

People say that copying is the highest form of flattery.

I sometimes disagree. I more or less think its laziness or lack of using your own head.

Usually I can just ignore it- for example:

-You (my neighbor) want to decorate your outdoor lawn just like mine for christmas? Thats cool.
-You want to wear my exact same outfit I wore yesterday... Thats cool too.
-You want to make a blog with almost the same exact title as mine? Ok-cool. whatever

......But you want to copy my ebay listing???

ohhhh heck no.


The top mug for $49.95 is mine. That's my stinking granite counter top my mug is sitting on! And what do you know... a seller with 4000+ transactions has my exact mug on my exact counter.

So of course I reported them to eBay... and of course I am trying to think of a witty little message to send the seller.
Seriously... I work so dang hard at my listings and some dumb "big" seller comes in and seriously copies my listing?
Sellers like that do not DESERVE TO SELL ON EBAY! I mean how many other listings have they done this with?

....ok end rant. I need to go shake it off.

15 comments:

  1. I look up completed and take one that sells well as do a "Sell similar as" and it copies the title. No harm, no foul. I dont care if ppl do that to me because ebay copies the title to your new listing. Pictures are a completely different issue. Thats a big NO NO. Not only does it infringe on your intellectual rights but it also is against ebay policy but the buyer chances are arent going to get what they are expecting. Plus this seller took your listing and *then* undercut you in price too. Wow. Just Wow. How did you happen to find this? Maybe I should check my listings :D

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    1. Oh and I am thinking about checking my other listings too :) haha

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    2. I am totally with you. I use the "Sell Similar" option all the time. eBay allows it, and I don't mind that aspect of it.
      The pictures are the problem. I checked out the listing description and the seller only copied a few sentences from my description... and really I am ok with that.. I dont care who does that with my listings.... But the pictures- really? If we could all use someone elses pictures then our lives would be so much more EASIER on eBay. PLUS- Isnt that deceiving? Your saying that the mug your selling... looks like MY MUG. When I buy something I want to see the exact item pictured (unless its brand spanking new of course).
      I found it because I got a few watchers on the mug.. which I thought was weird because I have had no activity on it.. so I thought maybe I had some competition.. When I saw the other listing I freaked out because I thought maybe I accidentally listed it twice... haha
      Thanks for the moral support!

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    3. i tried to report the listing too....but since its not mine they wouldnt let me :D sharing pictures would make life easier. I hate stock photos though. Part of why I hate buying on Amazon (I cant see the item if its used) but love selling on amazon (its super fast but i only sell new on amazon for the reason that i cant put in my own pictures :D )

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    4. Haha. Thanks -you are awesome! Im trying to go through right now and see if the seller took any other photos from sellers.
      I am not sure if I should actually send the seller a message.. what if the seller has another account that he could buy something from me with... and then ding me on feedback to be spiteful...
      ugh. its crazy that I even have to think this way.

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  2. I came across a listing a couple days ago where someone had used my title word for word and I was really annoyed by that. Titles always take me the longest to come up with when listing, and I never "borrow" from other listings --- but geez, if someone had used my photos I would have been really ticked. And you're right - it sucks that you can't send them a "knock it off" e-mail without worrying about some form of retribution.

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    1. Kari -I totally understand why you would be annoyed!
      and yes... its so ridiculous that I have to be scared of retribution. It really isn't fair.

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  3. I have had someone buy an item from me and then take my pictures and description and relist it for more. Ebay removed it very quickly after I contacted them.

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  4. I don't blame you for being upset. I had both happen. Once someone copied my photo and after that I started putting a little sign with my id in the photo. I don't think ebay allows that anymore though. Then one time someone copied my description. I reported them but ebay didn't do anything. O got really mad, so I put a little blurb at the bottom of my listings saying that anyone copying my descriptions will be reported just to scare them off. I don't bother with that anymore, but sometimes I put videos in my listings to show that things work and I'm always sure to put my user name across the entire video so someone else can't copy it and use it in their listing.

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    1. Lorraine I was thinking about watermarking my photos too... I am going to look more into the exact rules. eBay should allow watermarking if they are not going to be quick to remove listings with fraud pictures and descriptions. :/

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  5. Maya- Thanks for commenting. Did you contact eBay via telephone? Or file a report.
    Yes people are really that lazy and I cant believe it!

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  6. I know when I do a 'sell similar" on someone else's item, it copies everything BUT the pics and the description, you have to put those in yourself. (and I always change the title to my own). I wonder if they got your pics because they used a laptop. I always do mine on the Ipad. Also, who stole your blog name? Now that would make me mad!

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    1. Even on a laptop it wont copy pictures and description! (I do sell similar on my laptop) :)
      Haha.. Ya once you start confusing my blog with another one you will see who it is.

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  7. Although it's annoying and I would be annoyed too, I don't think it matters in the end. Don't give up selling because of some jerk. I would never do something like that either but if someone does it to me I may not even know. My things will either sell or not based on their own merit and my reputation as a seller. Don't spend too much time and energy on it. You can't control it.

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    1. You are right Nancy. Sometimes its hard when things like this are completely out of your control. The best thing to do it carry on :)

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