eBay Copyright Thieves & Crooks Named and Shamed
It's dishonest to copy photographs, and misleading to buyers.
mcewan1403 Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller mcewan1403 of Chester le Street, United Kingdom, not only stole at least 5 our Mint Condition Gold Sovereign Photographs, but failed to tell buyers his coins were not the same ones.
Stolen Images
A list of the stolen images includes:
High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 85 with 100% positive according to eBay.
It also demonstrates that high eBay feedback is no indicator of honesty.
Sample Listing
1903 Solid Gold Sovereign
An Edward VII1903 (sic) Solid Gold Full Sovereign. Excellent quality- no nicks or scratches.Very nice colour.
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.
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Seller ID | Item Number | Date | Description | Price
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mcewan1403 | 140463841308 | 9th Oct 2010 | 1903 Solid Gold Sovereign | �50
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mcewan1403 | 140463841221 | 9th Oct 2010 | 1902 Solid Gold Half Sovereign | �50
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mcewan1403 | 140463841343 | 9th Oct 2010 | 1905 Solid Gold Sovereign | �50
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mcewan1403 | 140463841375 | 9th Oct 2010 | 1908 Solid Gold Sovereign | �50
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mcewan1403 | 140463841437 | 9th Oct 2010 | 1911 Solid Gold Sovereign | �50
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Price
The seller was asking a starting price of �50 each for his items.
This is a stupid starting price. Starting at �0.99 costs �0.10 in eBay listing fees, starting at �50 costs �1, so the seller is giving eBay �8.10 more than necessary on his 9 current gold coin listings. Alternatively, he could have selected a cautious but realistic price such as �200 per sovereign, and this would have cost him �1.30 per item. His actual starting price is a waste of his money for no real effect.
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.
Many eBay sellers seem to forget that they will have to pay 10% commission on the selling price, and possibly about 5% more in PayPal fees. If his sovereigns "sold" for �200 each, he would be lucky to receive �170 each, we will pay much more, unless the coins are stolen, damaged, or fake, any and all of which are likely on eBay.
Steals From Anywhere
Apart from the 5 photos stolen from us, mcewan1403 had 4 other gold coins listed, and we guess that all 4 of these other photos were stolen from other websites or eBay auctions.
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.
The 1911 sovereign pictured is from the Ontario Canada Mint, and is rare.
Our photo of a 1902 half sovereign which mcewan1403 has used is of a matt proof coin which is rarer and more valuable than the normal circulation version.
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.
Solid?
We don't know why people insist on adding "solid" to their description, and we suspect they don't know either.
Does he mean solid as opposed to hollow?
Does she mean his coins are made of pure gold, which would not be true, sovereigns are made of 22ct gold which is "only" 91.66" pure.
Why bother adding a meaningless word?
Why not invest a similar amount of time telling people you have nicked the pictures, and not to rely on them?
Possibly mcewan1403 is one of these people for whom laziness and dishonesty are the normal way of life.
Nice e-Mail
Just for once, we got a response, and even more rarely, it was apologetic:
Dear Chards Ltd,
I write in relation to a matter of copyright infringement which has been brought to my attention. I have unfortunately allowed photographs from your website to be attached to several items I offered for sale. As the seller I accept full responsibility. I entrusted another to take photographs for me and I am shocked and disappointed that they have used photographs belonging to another. I removed the listed items myself immediately on becoming aware of the situation and no items were sold.
I wish to apologise and I undertake that there will never be any repetition.
Gina McEwan
(mcewan1403)
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to e-mail. We are happy to accept your apology, explanation, and undertaking.
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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