nickyboxing Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller nickyboxing of London, London, United Kingdom, not only stole our 1883 Victoria Young Head Gold Sovereign images without permission, but omitted to mention to potential buyers that the images used were used without our permission as copyright owners, and failed to include a credit or source for the images.
It is always possible that nickyboxing does not actually own such a coin.

Sample Listing

1883 Soverign (sic) Gold Coin Queen Victoria vgc
1883 Queen Victoria Young head, Melbourne, Gold, Full Sovereign Coin, I've had this item since 1991 and have not used it since I bought it, it's been kept protected in a plastic case.
The coin as (sic) been used but is in great condtion (sic). The picture is not the actual Coin as I can't get a good photo of it.
Any questions feel free to contact me?
Weight: 8gms
Diameter: 2.2mm

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
nickyboxing	230364316569	5th Aug 2009	1883 Soverign Gold Coin Queen Victoria vgc	£0.99

What's Wrong?
First it is dishonest to steal images. We select the best coins from thousands of sovereigns, then take high quality photographs of them, followed by extensive post production work (airbrushing) to make them look even better. This draws on our wealth of experience, education, training, trial and error. Our two graduate photographers work very hard to produce our high quality pictures. We have invested thousands of pounds in equipment and software. When some dishonest eBay vendor thinks it is acceptable to use them without our permission, we get more than a little annoyed. If we were a family business from Sicily, we would send one of the boys round to talk to them. If we were in Northern Ireland, we could set the Intellectual Rights Association onto them. As things stand, we simply report them to eBay, who usually get round to removing the copyright infringements. We also request full contact details of the eBay member so that we can take legal action against them, or send them a warning.

Deception
Not only does it infringe our rights, it is an attempt to deceive any and all potential buyers. This is fraud, which is a criminal offence.
We thoroughly recommend any potential eBay buyers to avoid dealing with this crooked member.

Price
Nickyboxing asked a starting price of £0.99 for this coin, which "sold" for £170. We guess that the potential buyers may have been mislead as to the condition of the coin, influenced by the high quality photographs, and may be disappointed if they ever receive the coin.
eBay selling fees on this item will be £17, plus listing fees, and possibly plus PayPal charges.
It is highly likely that Nickyboxing might have got more for his coin selling it to us. Certainly if it were in the same near mint condition as our coin, we would have snatched his hands off at the price. As it happens, we think cutting them off would be more appropriate.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 66; with 100% positive according to eBay, which all goes to show that you cannot rely on the eBay feedback system as any indication of the honesty or integrity of the member.

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.