Why does ebay ask for good photos when they stick their ugly stock photo in my listings?

[ten_o_nine]

All my media items seem to have stock photos, why? I took the time to take pictures, so I don't have to use those ugly stock pictures, also many don't even represent the exact item I am selling. Do I need to remove the ISBN and UPC to get you to stop it? Ridicules 

[femmefan1946]

Are you using the Advanced Sell Your Item form?

Just click on the x in the upper right corner of the stock photo and it disappears.

Generally, with books, it also disappears if you are selling a used rather than new title. That may not be true of other products, however.

BTW - flat things can be scanned which gives a much clearer picture than photography without that distortion. I use 400 to 600 dpi for books, 1200 for stamps which depend on great detail.

[ten_o_nine]

Those were items I listed a while ago and all have stock photos that will not go away unless you wipe out the ISBN and UPC.

[femmefan1946]

You could end those listings, then one at a time (sorry) relist them removing the stock pictures and inserting your own.

If you do this at about ten a day, it would not be particularly onerous, and when you relist, if you use Sell Similar you would get a boost in Search as being a New Listing.

I don't think bulk relisting will work because you can't change pictures in the Bulk Relister.

But you don't have to lose the UPC /ISBN codes. It just takes more time.

[ittybitnot]

You could end those listings, then one at a time (sorry) relist them removing the stock pictures and inserting your own.

This does not work.  eBay will re-insert their stock photo even if inaccurate along with their catalog information, be it inaccurate as well.   If your item is in the catalog, you must use the information or they no longer allow it to go live. 

 Here is the new rule:

"Starting in mid-September 2018, when you revise an existing listing or create a new listing in enabled categories, you will need to associate your listings with the eBay catalog. If you do not associate your active listings with the eBay catalog, your listings may have minimal or no visibility to buyers. If you do not associate new or revised listings with the catalog you will not be able to successfully complete the listing."

[ten_o_nine]

Yup, they keep reinserting them unless you remove all reference to t6he catalog.

[ittybitnot]

Just think...the line for seller 40% final value fee camp is going to get longer....."my item did not look like the picture SNAD"....of course a seller is "responsible" for everything in their listing even if it is forced by ebay and not true.  Good luck with this, boys and girls. 

[krys888]

Wow. I just re-read this. I see now what they’re trying to do. They must be losing more and more good sellers and attracting more and more dubious sellers so in order to make them (and ebay of course) look better, they’re stepping in to “whitewash” the bad sellers with their stock photos and generic descriptions. That covers the bad grammar, the realistic photos, all of it. That’s interesting...

[krys888]

And by forcing everyone else into the same generics, we are all reduced to generic products for ebay. Wow. I’m keeping this one. There’s something to this.

[krys888]

That’s it. Ebay has Amazon envy. O.m.g. Seriously? That explains their identical seller structure with Amazon. How did I not see this before?

[ittybitnot]

they’re stepping in to “whitewash” the bad sellers with their stock photos and generic descriptions.

I don't think so.  They are more invested in artificial intelligence that shows the buyer items that they will likely buy. Amazon uses this format, and ebay likely paid big bucks for the same.   If you only buy scarfs in the $20 range, they will not show you those that are for sale for $100 and above.   Manipulation. 

For generic goods, they are going to the "product page" format.  ebay makes up a TITLE, and all the lemming posts are included in that.   If your product is "special" ....a rare issue, an exclusive one of a kind version, too bad to be you. 

[hioctane62]

For most of what I'm selling, if ebay has a photo, it's mine. I even have another seller whom I've sold stock to in the past steal my photos on several listings. It did come in handy when I discovered that he stole photos on a couple of listings that were victims of ebay's deleted photos on relist debacle. I no longer had access to the original photos, so I stole them back from him. 

[femmefan1946]

@ittybitnot

eBay will re-insert their stock photo even if inaccurate along with their catalog information, be it inaccurate as well. 

If the catalogue is inaccurate, why would you use it?

Better to have low views than to have an inaccurate description /picture that leads to an Not As Described dispute.

What happens in your experience* if you manually remove the catalogue picture?

I sell used books. If the listing is for Used, the catalogue picture usually does not appear. The few pictures that do appear (it's eBay, it's wonky and sometimes the picture will show up) I can delete it.

Also I have on the few non-book items I have listed that were catalogued, I could add more pictures and move the stock photo to second or twelfth place as needed.

This is handy if I have a New In Box item, and want to show what is in the box, without opening the box.  But I use my own pictures in first place.

*Because whatever eBay says, you really have to test all the workarounds.

[ten_o_nine]

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@hioctane62 wrote:

For most of what I'm selling, if ebay has a photo, it's mine. I even have another seller whom I've sold stock to in the past steal my photos on several listings. It did come in handy when I discovered that he stole photos on a couple of listings that were victims of ebay's deleted photos on relist debacle. I no longer had access to the original photos, so I stole them back from him. 

---

Good for you and you didn't steal, it's your picture, I wish there was a way you could delete his.

[sharingtheland]

In the old days (trust me, I have no idea if it works now or even how it worked then), when a photo was stolen the original savvy seller would change it on the stealer seller's listing.  The change would not be, ummmm, of benefit to the stealing seller.

Think:  Both sellers have listed a very nice, new with tags cashmere sweater.  Savvy seller changes stealer's photo to that of a goat. 

I kind of know how it worked, since the original savvy seller still had the photo in her/his whatchallit photo storage place.