johncuthbert123 Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller johncuthbert123 of coylton (sic), East Ayrshire, United Kingdom, not only stole our 1922 George V Mint Condition Gold Sovereign Obverse Photograph twice, but failed to tell buyers his coins were not the same ones.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 295 with 100% positive according to eBay.
It also demonstrates that high eBay feedback is no indicator of honesty.

Sample Listing

full gold sovereign
Item specifics
Era: Elizabeth II (1952-c.1971) Condition: Used
great condition money back if not satisfied.

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.
When eBay vendors use photographs of near mint condition coins, this may mislead potential buyers into believing that the coins shown are the vendors own photographs of the actual coins for sale. This may be deliberate in which case it is fraudulent, or it may be though ignorance and stupidity. It may be all these factors, and laziness also.
eBay knows it happens, but take very little action about it.

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
johncuthbert123	330482367015	1st Oct 2010	full gold sovereign	�150 / �185
johncuthbert123	330485117872	15th Oct 2010	full gold sovereign	�185

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of �150 for his first item, with a Buy It Now option of a questionable �185.
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.
When we say "questionable", as we would pay more on sight. without deduction of any fees, either the seller is stupid or his items are stolen goods.
There is actually one other possibility, that the coins are sub-standard pieces recovered from jewellery, in which case they are often scratched, worn, damaged, and only fit for scrap, but as he alleges they are in great condition, perhaps this option is unlikely.

Fraudulent Misrepresentation
Using our images breaches our copyright.
Using them to suggest or infer that the coins in the photos are the actual coins for sale is misrepresenting them as to rarity, because of the date mintmark combinations, and as to grade, because our photos are of high quality coins in near mint condition, whereas the actual coins are extremely unlikely to be as good.
We guess that johncuthbert123 does not know which reign his coins are from, as he has shown George V's portrait, but one of the items gives its eBay item specifics as Elizabeth II 1952 - 1971.
By not clearly stating that his coins are not those shown on the photos, he is committing or attempting fraud. This of course is an everyday occurrence on eBay.

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.