sheen2780 Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller sheen2780 of Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, not only stole our 1881 Victoria Gold Sovereign image, and others, without permission, but failed to inform buyers that the coin pictured was not the same as he was selling. He also described his coin as in very good condition, which it may or may not be.
Many coin owners and eBay sellers appear to delude themselves. We wonder who he is trying to fool?

Sample Listing

Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria 1881
22ct gold sovereign coin. Victoria 1881. Very good condition.

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
sheen2780	150368996515	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria 1895	£0.99
sheen2780	150368995590	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria 1881	£0.99
sheen2780	150368994985	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria 1899	£0.99
sheen2780	150368994893	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria 1899	£0.99
sheen2780	150368992882	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Elizabeth II 1967	£0.99
sheen2780	150368992759	29th Aug 2009	Gold Sovereign Coin Elizabeth II 1967	£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.

Multiple Offender
sheen2780 had 7 eBay auction listings using our images, at the last count, plus a further 7 auctions where he appears to have used other people's sovereign photographs instead of ours.
It's possible he does not care how much he gets for them. Perhaps they were stolen, like the photos?

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of £0.99 for all his sovereign listings.
If it was described accurately and honestly, it may have been underpriced, however we know the the seller is dishonestly implying that the coin pictured is the same coin he is offering for sale, and can presume that the bit about his "great-great grandfather by Queen Victoria herself" is also a fabrication, a flight of his fantasy, or simply inaccurate.
When we report it to eBay, and they remove the listing, we may have saved yet another stupid eBay buyer from being conned and ripped off.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 55; 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
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