no watermarks allowed ? some input and a question

[tatertot2u57]

Have been seeing here where no watermarks will be allowed on photos.  

This is not a one size fits all  good idea .  ( what else is new with  changes ?)

I know some people that sell eggs for hatching here and their  HUGE  selling point  (besides  egg freshness, etc.) are  the photos they take/ put here of their  birds. 

Those pics. show  the condition of the parent birds AND the conditions they're  raised in, this matters greatly to potential buyers. 

With this new change & not being able to watermark photos,  some  copy cat prone  egg  sellers will simply copy other's photos  trying to  pass those healthy looking   birds off as their ( maybe not so well raised) own, that really bites. 

Also, I think about some people who work tirelessly on handmade items such a quilts, etc....how is this going to affect their listings from here on out ?  EG:  Some lazy lister  makes a simliar quilt like another seller's  but the quality is just not the same.   So.... they  copy a photo of the other seller's better made one and try and  pass it off as their own .  

I just think a line needs to be drawn in some special cases similar to  these .

Anyway...that's my thoughts and my question is,  will time/date stamps count as a watermark too ?

[18704d]

"Anyway...that's my thoughts and my question is,  will time/date stamps count as a watermark too ?"

--------

Yes.

Picture policy
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/picture.html

Not Allowed

• Including photos that don't accurately represent the item for sale

• Placeholder images used to convey messages, such as no image available, or out of stock, or other marketing messages

• Stock photos for used, damaged or defective items

• Adding borders to your photos

• Using a picture that is less than 500 pixels on the longest side

• Adding additional text, artwork, or marketing to photos

• Watermarks of any type, including those used for ownership attribution.

  Lynn

[jonathankirkland]

I agree it does kind of suck for people who spend a lot of time and effort making fantastic, high quality professional photographs of their items.

But here is something to keep in mind. Someone who does copy the photos and tries to pass them off as their own lower quality items probably won't be on ebay too long because they will have to pay out SNAD refunds or risk defects if they try to refuse accepting those returns.

So I would not worry about what other scummy sellers are going to do. Just concentrate on your own business.

Best of luck to you!

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Sellers of used goods can't employ stock photos. If your photos are in eBay's catalog, they are deemed stock photos. And, yes, sellers who misrepresent a product will face consequences soon enough. If your photos are not officially part of eBay's catalog but are simply "borrowed" by another seller, then you can make the photos less desirable. Include a hang tag, price tag or other "unique" identifier prominently in the photo(s). A serial number is useful for electronics and other products so marked. A sewn-in "maker's tag" is fine for handmade textiles, clothing or toys. A "foreign object" placed on the product, but not obscuring important details, also works. Penny, paper clip, pebble, straight pin or safety pin, string or yarn, bits of paper, seeds . . . any small, extraneous item that helps to show scale yet effectively "marks" the photo. It does help to sell unique items with or without flaws. Nobody else owns the 1910 Christmas postcard sent by Aunt Minnie to baby Emma in Peoria! It also helps to sell several related items as a single unit or to add a "bonus" item clearly shown in the photo(s). For example, include a bookmark with a book, a pen or pencil with writing materials, a pretty gift tag with lingerie or jewelry or some fun stickers with toys. Bottom line: Watermarks are overrated. Creative photo composition and presentation make photos far less useful to anyone else. ~~C~~