I thought the photo's looked familiar

[Maineman750]

From eBays coin & currency policy : Include a clear picture of the actual item being sold—don't use only stock pictures

[seal006]

From eBays coin & currency policy : Include a clear picture of the actual item being sold—don't use only stock pictures

And I understand that. My thing is if this were something that eBay cared about they would not allow the countless multi item listings for BIN of Dansco albums, mint rolls, proof sets, so on and so on.

[Maineman750]

I think if that were the policy, you would not be able to run a BIN listing in the Coins category.

I was just quoting the policy for you.

[seal006]

I understand. I am just voicing an opinion that eBay has policies that they do not enforce equally. I understand the intent of said policy. It just needs to be revamped and make the intentions clearer. I understand reusing someone else's photo to sell a single coin. They just need to make it clearer. The stated policy is way to vague.

[jcuve]

Ebay cannot police all the listings (though they should). If you report an item for them, that does not have at least one photo of the coin for sale, they'll pull the item.

[Antiquity]

A couple times last year I bought a coin only to realize a stock image was used, without the buyer saying so. In such cases I make my feelings known with either neutral or negative feedback. I dont mind if they use one but I expect that they tell me they are.

[liveandievarieties]

I agree completely with Thomas. Recently I left my first neutral in close to a year. I had cherrypicked a '99-S CAM on eBay only to receive a normal coin. They were using a stock photo without any mention of it.

Anyone want to buy an $8 1999-S proof cent??!!

[jallengomez]

The statement about stock photos was already posted, but here's a link to ALL the specifics when selling coins and currency. Note that these rules are specific to the category. One could use stock photos for album pages, cardboard flips, etc. It's the selling of coins or currency that puts you under the rule of having to post a photo of the exact item. I sometimes use my own stock photo of a particular variety, but I do also show the exact coin which will be received. Ebay changed this policy a couple of years ago to combat the use of stock images, but as Jason pointed out, they can't police every auction, and unless someone points it out, there is often no way for them to know that an image is not an image of the coin the seller is selling.

Here's that link:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/currstamps.html

[seal006]

OK, so I spoke on the phone to an eBay rep that stated "stock photo" usage is forbidden when selling a single item in a single listing. That if you were selling multiples of the same item, only one photo would suffice. There would be no need to posting 50 photos of the UNC singles from the same roll. She did however emphasize that the photo must be your own.

[eaxtellcoin]

The problem is most folks do not want to invest $1000 - 2000 for a nice set up. It all comes down to $$$. I bought and returned a coin yesterday. Paid $15 - 2.15 for my points came to 11.85 invested. The seller will refund the $11.85, just sucks because I wasted $4.02 to return an upper serif only copy of supposed 1956-D RPM#14. It's the chances we take folks, esp with folks that don't really know; they just sell whats on the holder!!!

[liveandievarieties]

The other side is that nobody who sells volume wants to take individual photos of a $5 coin they have an entire roll of. In most cases it shouldn't matter for a low dollar coin, but for varieties it obviously can, or when you spot a varietiy on the stock image.

[hasfam]

The problem is most folks do not want to invest $1000 - 2000 for a nice set up. It all comes down to $$$.

That's my pet peeve. People who are trying to sell coins for hundreds or thousands of dollars with blurried cell phone photos from across the room. You would think they would "invest" in a decent setup to show the coins and varieties which coincides with the level of value of your listings. And I'm talking about people who have ebay store and consistently list coin varieties as their main inventory, not joe blow who is selling his grandma's lucky gold piece. To me, most of the coin variety photos on ebay are terrible. Too blurried, pixalated, too small etc. When there are clear, large and concise photos of a variety then others don't have the right to steal those photos for their own financial gain. I invested in the equipment. i spent years learning and perfecting my ability to capture the best shots. I took the time to crop and list. It's my knowledge, My money spent, my work, my photo.
BTW, still no response from eBay on this, which is starting to irk me now.

[jallengomez]

I think Ebay could have a very simple solution to this by simply having the seller check a box indicating if the photo is of the actual item or a stock photo. The information would then show up on the listing, and buyer's wouldn't have to wonder.

[hasfam]

Hmmm...13 days since I reported this to eBay and still no answer and no results. The seller is still using my photos.

[SuddenAdoration]

How unprofessional of that person, you could try sending him a "demand" letter/email to take it down or he will have to pay for it.