Locked
Discussion interactions are currently paused.
WATERMARK LOGO-Sellers are selling a lot of items with their watermark logo and that's a bad idea.
Hello, everyone.
I notice a lot of sellers are selling their items with watermark logos embedded in the item photos.
It's not a good idea to put a watermark logo embedded in the item photos because there are other resellers that would like to buy the item from you and use your photos and resell it to their customer.
It's a good idea just to use the item photos without a watermark logo then you will see that your sales will increase then the reseller will use your photos and show to their customer and it will generate good results for the eBay sellers and the generic resellers.
I hope that my comment will be helpful and the seller will remove their watermark logo to increase their sales.
kh-shakhib
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoGood grief!
Why does it take us so long to figure out that we're being punked?
tasifama
OP2 years agoalbertabrightalberta,
shipscript
·2 years agoChurning a thread to get a rise by stating nonsensical arguments as if they were valid, such as :
1) stating intent to engage in illegal activity
2) stating intent to engage in eBay violations
3) using strawman arguments to bolster positions
tasifama
OP2 years agoWe still don't understand your comments.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoMany sellers on this site are retailers who are not interested in wholesaling, and not interested in drop shipping for other resellers.
They wish to protect their intellectual property because they do not see their pictures if reused by another seller as anything but larceny.
The do not reuse any other sellers' images.
tasifama
OP2 years agoYour comment doesn't make any sense.
mb300e4m
·2 years agoBuyers can take their own pictures. Maybe they are too LAZY to do so. To use water marks is OK with me. I once had a seller copied my WHOLE listing include pictures, description and terms & conditions. He got into deep poop for doing that. It is a no no.
driver.apparel
·2 years agoEbay recalled their watermark ban rule, an official annoucement was made on ‎11-30-2017
Search Ebay community Announcements: Watermark-Removal-Policy-Enforcement-Update
I cant include a link in the comment unfortunately.
shipscript
·2 years ago@driver.apparel
Watermarks
eBay instituted a ban on watermarks in response to Google's policy of not including listings that had junky photos (borders, backgrounds, watermarks) which was causing a drop in eBay listings appearing in google shopping.
eBay did not reverse or "recall their watermark ban rule". They simply cancelled their March 1, 2018 drop-dead date for compliance (when listings were going to be removed from search).
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Watermark-Removal-Policy-Enforcement-Update/ba-p/27803744
"...have decided that we will not enforce the removal of watermarks in March 2018 as originally planned...."
As a third-party developer, I was present at the developer council meeting where we developers complained that sellers facing the task of retaking hundreds of thousands of photos could not do so within such a short period of time. The consensus at the meeting with eBay staff was that no new photos could apply watermarks, while the existing photos could be allowed to age off. Those listings with existing watermarks were less likely to appear in Google shopping.
The developers, in compliance with eBay's new rules, removed the watermarking features from their listing tools. I no longer promoted my watermarking tools. That is were it was left at that time. I don't recall it ever changing after that. The 2017 ban on new watermarks still stands, and no new watermarks should be appearing.
Copyright
That said, I agree that sellers should, and do, have the ability to protect their work. A seller who invests in quality photo equipment and staging to generate great listing photos, should not be subjected to photo theft by others who will profit from those efforts without payment.
I also believe that "discreet" copyright notices should be allowed.
According to US copyright law, copyrights are vested in the creator of a work at the moment it is created. The work does not need to be labeled with a copyright notice to be copyrighted, although a notice makes it easier to take the infringer to court. This means that purloining the photos of others (often found on the Internet) is a violation of copyright law UNLESS the owner of that copyrighted work has given it to the public domain or has given direct permission. Grabbing the photos of other sellers, without asking permission of that seller, is a violation of copyright law.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoSo it's never occurred to you that the seller used the watermark in his photos to prevent others from doing exactly that?
ltldpr
·2 years agoThis reminds me of having a booth at an antique mall or the big outdoor events and having someone ask, "What's your best dealer price?"
Hate it. It implies that I should give the item to them at cost or at a loss simply because they too resell items.
Nope. We're not obligated to break even or lose money simply so someone else can make money.
Watermarks are ugly, but I know why they exist. Those sellers are not obligated to provide pictures for free so someone else can make money.
stephenmorgan
·2 years agoAccording to policy there are not supposed to be any watermarks, marketing material or ownership attributions. The first picture has their website across the photo. The other two you just need to add .com to the watermark to get to their website.
There is so much stuff like this on eBay that the rules seem to be more of a guideline and not a rule that means much. You could report them if you wanted to, and eBay "may" pull down the listing you reported.
As for using someones else’s pictures I would rather take my own photos.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/picture-policy?id=4370&st=3&pos=5&query=Picture%20policy&intent=pictures%20in%20listings&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1316
Picture policy
When you create a listing or product, you must include at least one photo that is 500 pixels on the longest side, but we recommend including more to help increase your chances of a successful sale.
Photos are one of the most important parts of your listing because they allow potential buyers to see the item's exact condition, and help them decide whether to bid or buy. We recommend including more than one to help increase your chances of a successful sale.
What is the policy?
The following are not allowed:
Photos must be at least 500 pixels on the longest side. For more guidelines see our Adding pictures to your listings article.
bennotbill
·2 years agoI remember something a few years back coming from eBay on the forums, where they basically said that though this remained in policy it would no longer be acted upon.
Looking at numerous pictures on eBay that still seems to be the case.
kraftique
·2 years agoWell I use to use a Paid serve for my Pictures. Why would I do all the work so someone gets to use my server for free pictures? This is a Business not a Free for all. You have it all Wrong. Get Real
tasifama
OP2 years agoOne more member wrong on this comment:
Who the heck pays for pictures to use on their eBay store????
Even if you buy photos on the internet it will be so cheap these days to buy a plan and you can get a thousand and thousand pictures just for USD$9.00 or less.
If you pay a photographer to take pictures for your eBay store is up-to-you but it doesn't make sense with all the technology cameras that smartphones have lately.
The comment of this member doesn't have any consistency and it doesn't make sense at all.
I will not continue to comment more to this member because his comment doesn't have an understandable consistency.
css2001
·2 years ago@tasifama wrote: It's a good idea just to use the item photos without a watermark logo then you will see that your sales will increase...
Do you have any proof of that?
The watermark is there for a very good reason. These sellers are tired of other sellers stealing their photos. It's the same reason companies have copyright protection of their intellectual property. You bought an item, but you did not buy the photo, thus you do not own it. If you purchase something to resell, why not use your own photo? If you bought it to dropship, you're already behind the eight ball.
tasifama
OP2 years agoWhich proof are you referring too?
You are wrong in your comment and it doesn't make any sense.
You don't know anything about being a good supplier or retailer that's why you wrote this wrong comment.
If a customer buy a lot of items from my eBay store definitely if the buyer ask me to use the pictures of the items from my eBay store or from my website for sure I will grant permission to the buyer to use my images, the buyer is giving me benefit then why should deny to use the pictures of my eBay store or my website? it doesn't make sense to do this.
Sometimes I take a lot of pictures of my items and post them on my eBay store or on my website and sometimes I see my pictures on other websites but it doesn't bother me. For me it is fine there is not nothing to lose if that happens.
The biggest companies in the world use their images without any logo and all people on the internet use those images and they never take any actions against these people that use the photos of these companies.
If you purchase something to resell, why not use your own photo?
Answering to your question:
Most of the time people don't have the product in stock to take pictures to use their own photos or maybe they didn't receive their products yet and they have to promote the product to sell the item before it arrives etc.
If the seller put the logo on the picture of the items they will never sell the item that's for sure.
The customer will not trust you if they see the logo of your company specially when it is exaggerated like on the picture I've posted on this comment also on the item listing they will think that you are a scammer seller because a good seller never put their logo on the item specially on the eBay store.
lacemaker3
·2 years agoYou have apparently never heard of intellectual property, DCMA, or VeRO.
Try searching these boards and read about all the sellers who have been restricted or suspended for using copyright pictures, with or without a logo.
tasifama
OP2 years agoI'm not interested about that.
lacemaker3
·2 years agoYour statement is incorrect.
You should be interested, since your stated business model relies on stealing photos from other sellers, and violating eBay's and Amazon's policies on drop-shipping.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoMaybe if you had your logo on your images, they would look you up and not buy from your competitor.
People don't decide to buy or not to buy because of a watermark on an image.
A lot of companies put a watermark on their stock photos to keep resellers from using them and they don't have any problems selling.
tasifama
OP2 years agoIt's very easy to understand the logic that makes sense.
Look all the items at Amazon.com the sellers don't put their logo on the image of the items
and that's why Amazon sells more than any other company in the world.
At Amazon.com if you see some items with the sellers logo on the image of the items it's because those sellers are coming from eBay.com or any other place with the same wrong idea and they never sell the items.
the*curious*hare
·1 year agoI've just seen my photo's and exact description used on an item I sold to them. I think it's lazy and almost creepy .
kh-ornesh
·2 years agoHi everyone,
This discussion has gotten a bit heated. Please remember that, while it is fine to disagree with others, discussion should always remain friendly and respectful as required by the Community Guidelines.
Thank you for your cooperation.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoIf that's what you're doing, you're violating ebay policy and not only risk upsetting customers when you're not able to fulfill a buyer order but you face loss of your account when ebay finds out that you're dropshipping in this manner.
@tasifama
It sounds like you're ticked off that you aren't able to steal pictures of other sellers' items so you can dropship your items using pictures that belong to others.
Instead of being lazy, do your own work. Buy the inventory, have it in stock, photograph using your own pictures and own words in the description and improve your reputation as someone who is willing to do the work to become a good seller.
FWIW, I find it interesting (and rather telling) that you aren't using your selling ID to post! I wouldn't want to out myself either if I were doing this.
css2001
·2 years ago@tasifama wrote:
If you purchase something to resell, why not use your own photo?
Answering to your question:
Most of the time people don't have the product in stock to take pictures to use their own photos or maybe they didn't receive their products yet and they have to promote the product to sell the item before it arrives etc.
Most of the time people don't have the product in stock to take pictures...
Those people are known as dropshippers.
And why would you "promote the product to sell the item before it arrives" ?
What would you do if the product does sell before you physically have it? Of course that's a rhetorical question since it's obvious you are indeed a dropshipper.
brittinconradco
·2 years agoSo how exactly should a I, a reseller go about getting pictures of products. I have brand new, unopened products that I buy from liquidation outlets for very cheap, which I then resell for a good deal to my customers and still make a profit for myself. Opening and putting together a product to take the picture would then make my product used and decrease its value. What does one do in this circumstance?
stephenmorgan
·2 years agoHave you read this section?
Listing your item with details from our catalog
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/listing-item-product-details-catalog?id=4653&st=3&pos=1&query=Listing%20your%20item%20with%20details%20from%20our%20catalog&intent=product%20catalog&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1360
quicksilverdiecast
·2 years agoThat is easy especially if you have more than one and since you bought a skid load of products your cost is prolly not terribly high that you cannot open one to use for taking pictures and declared in the description it is a pic displaying what you are seller and that the one they get will still be sealed in original package, and when done sell the display one as new unused and was used for display only and knock a couple bucks off....if you are using pictures the original manufacturer uses you should have no problem..but stealing others work is not going to cut it
quicksilverdiecast
·2 years agoI have not noticed a loss of sales, quite the opposite, as my buyers know it is an item that comes from me, as well as preventing any competition from using my work., Setting up and taking pictures is a creative and time consuming issue and one that is taken in pride, of which I have no intention of letting the competition use my own work against me...do like others do learn how to take and use pictures yourself, once you are done let me know how much you like it when others steal your work to use against you!
lacemaker3
·2 years ago@tasifama
That is exactly WHY those sellers put their logo on their photos. They don't want you to steal their photos, or use them as an unwilling drop-shipper by selling their items.
You're not going to get any support for your suggestion here. If the sellers wanted resellers to steal their photos, then they wouldn't have put their logos on them in the first place.
It's against eBay policy to for a "reseller" to do that anyway. You can't purchase an item to fulfill your transaction after the buyer makes a purchase. The only way you are allowed to drop-ship items is if you have a contract with a supplier in advance, which permits you to sell items that they will ship for you.
tasifama
OP2 years agoI don't agree with your comment on certain things that you mention.
It's very simple and easy to understand the logic:
Those sellers that use watermarks on their item photos don't sell almost anything, you can come back in 5 years and the item is still there because of that mistake putting watermark on the item photos.
Those eBay sellers that don't put the watermark logo you can see that they always sell their items and the buyers come back with more confidence to buy more items from them.
lacemaker3
·2 years agoYeah, right. Good luck with that.
mb300e4m
·2 years agoThat is **bleep**. What planet are you on?
tasifama
OP2 years agoI'm at eBay planet and you?