eBay Copyright Thieves & Crooks Named and Shamed
It's dishonest to copy photographs, and misleading to buyers.
0076one Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller 0076one of Epsom, United Kingdom, not only stole our 1981 Queen Elizabeth II Gold Sovereign Obverse & Reverse Photographs without permission to sell his own sovereign, but failed to state that the photos were not of his actual coins, thereby deceiving all potential buyers.
High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 414 with 100% Positive Feedback according to eBay..
Sample Listing
1981 QUEEN ELIZABETH II FULL GOLD SOVEREIGN
1981 QUEEN ELIZABETH 2ND Gold Sovereign with ST GEORGE backing.
Used with light scratches
Preferred payment is via paypal but will accept cash on collection, please contact me on auction completion if this is easier.
What's Wrong?
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and cost into creating some of the best photographic coin images on the internet. We strongly object when lazy and dishonest people decide to use them without a by your leave or thanks, doing so in competition with us.
Copyright theft is dishonest. We recommend you avoid doing business with dishonest dealers.
This particular eBay seller not only stole our high quality images of a 1981 Queen Elizabeth II Gold Sovereign Obverse & Reverse, he used them in his eBay auctions to try to sell his own sovereign without saying it was not the same coin. Anyone viewing the photographs would expect them to be the same, near perfect condition coin, "airbrushed" to make them look like supermodels.
It is always possible, even likely, that sellers who steal photographs do not own a similar coin, and have the intention to totally defraud potential buyers.
The vendor is not only cheating us by stealing our copyright images, he is fraudulently or ignorantly misleading and deceiving all potential buyers. Gaining pecuniary advantage by deception is the definition of fraud.
Seller ID | Item Number | Date | Description | Price
|
0076one | 200576045544 | 13th Feb 2011 | 1981 QUEEN ELIZABETH II FULL GOLD SOVEREIGN | �180.00
|
0076one | 200576040526 | 13th Feb 2011 | 1872 QUEEN VICTORIA GOLD FULL SHIELD SOVEREIGN | �200.00
|
Price
The seller was asking for a Starting Price of �180.00.
Whatever the item "sold" for, after eBay's greedy 10% selling fees, and possible PayPal charges, the crook may have been much better off selling the coins to us, instead of stealing our photographs.
eBay Guilty of Negligence or Complicity
We will be reporting this example of copyright abuse using our standard Statutory Declaration via the eBay VeRO programme, and wait to see if they chose to action or ignore our report. We look forward to taking legal action against eBay for their negligence and / or complicity if they fail to take down the offending material promptly.
Selling Gold Sovereigns & Other Coins on eBay
We point out that sellers may often get more money, for less effort, by selling to a specialised dealer, such as us, rather than via eBay.
Copyright Notice
Please see our "Copyright" page for further information.
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