Etsy Sellers Beware

I was having a good day until I got a message from a fellow Etsy seller this evening with some disturbing news.  She told me that another seller was using using other shop's photos and listing for half price. My photos were among those stolen. So now when someone searches for a "hot pink tutu" they will see two tutus identical in photos but one for half the cost.

Problem is the buyer will undoubtedly go with the less expensive choice but won't get item photographed. This seller can try to duplicate my item but it will not be the same especially for price listed. There's no way because my products are reasonably priced and this seller is offering free shipping. There is no profit for this seller to make. So one of two things is happening. Customer is getting an inferior item unlike one in stolen photograph. Or since this seller made over 60 sales in two days they are never planning on sending any products and just stealing the money.

Not to mention how can you put out a quality product with so many sales in a day without a long turnaround time. I am beyond frustrated because I take pride in my products and now there is someone out there ruining it for us all. I reported this shop to Etsy and I hope they will be shut down promptly before more buyers are duped and good shop owners lose deserved business.

So I learned a very important lesson. You must put a watermark or your shop's name somewhere on your photo. I opted for right across the tutu because you can still see the item but it cannot be cropped out by those who make a habit of stealing intellectual property. Hopefully this should stop all my photos from being stolen in the future. It's just a shame we have to do this because a select few cannot respect others intellectual and artistic property. Please protect your shops and edit all of your photos so nobody can steal your images, take it from someone who said: "It will never happen to me."

Before and After