sharonsbesttreasures Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller sharonsbesttreasures of North Miami, Florida, United States, not only stole our 1912 and 2004 Mint Condition Gold Sovereign Photographs, but failed to tell buyers her 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 250 with 98.7% positive according to eBay.
It also demonstrates that high eBay feedback is no indicator of honesty.

Sample Listing

2004 Queen Elizabeth British Gold Sovereign Solid 22kt
2004 Queen Elizabeth British Gold Sovereign
Description
This is a gorgeous uncalculated (sic) 2004 crowned Queen sovereign, It is solid 22kt Gold it has a fine gold content of a sovereign is 0.2354 troy ounces. Sovereigns weigh 7.98 grams and are made of 22 carat gold
This was a gift from my English Family I have (sic) it from 2005 and it was kept in a box is (sic) was never in circulation only touched by hand.
In excellent condition.
Due to the nature of the item it must be mailed priority mail with signature confirmation and full insurance.
This protects you and your purchase and me the seller.
Please look at my other listing for other deals I am offering, Thank you
See my other listings for more great items!
Payment
Payment must be made within 5 Days of purchase or we reserve the right to resell. This is a binding agreement, if you purchase this item you agree to pay within 5 days or agree to release item for resale. You also agree when entering this agreement not to leave negative feed back if you fail to pay within 5 days of purchase.
No checks, Thank you for you understanding.
Shipping
I use Priority Mail to ship Items so you will receive them quickly. I require Insurance on all of my items worth more than 40 dollars incase (sic) of damage in transit, or loss of mail.
International buyers I only use Priority mail which allows for insurance and Tracking through customs Starting price for any item is 24 dollars for very small item to 50 for larger items this will include insurance.
If you are an International buyer please email for price quote on shipping. The shipping prices are for America Only.
I require Insurance on all of my items over 40 dollars incase (sic) of damage in transit, or loss of mail.

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
sharonsbesttreasures	250687952291	25th Aug 2010	2004 Queen Elizabeth British Gold Sovereign Solid 22kt	$299
sharonsbesttreasures	250713122939	17th Oct 2010	1912 CROWNED KING BRITISH GOLD SOVEREIGN SOLID 22KT	$299

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of $299 each for both items.
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 she 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.
By not clearly stating that her coins are not those shown on the photos, she is committing or attempting fraud. This of course is an everyday occurrence on eBay.

Interesting Negative

Seller sold fake items and seller knew that he was selling fake item.
Member id xxx Feb-10-10 06:33
HUGE 14 INCH AUSTRIAN RSTK TURN TEPLITZ PORCELAIN VASES (#250555650080) US $125.00

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.