ebay drops watermark ban

[tobyshitzu]

No watermark  enforcement in march

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Watermark-Removal-Policy-Enforcement-Update/ba-p/2780374...

How many times have they announced something and had to reverse after.   Like how they suddenly blocked catalog images for used media items,  answered on the boards how important that was blah blah, then a couple weeks later unannounced it was reversed 

[snoopwiz]

How many times have they announced something and had to reverse after

No soap radio.

[silverpinups]

Regardless about what eBay has done in the past about reversing it's polices, this is a positive and welcomed decision that allows sellers to protect their images.

[rose-dee]

Yes, I thought this was one of the stupidest policies eBay had come up with recently.  I'm glad they reversed it, as it will allow sellers to help prevent their own photos from becoming stock photographs for eBay's catalogue that can be used indiscriminately by others. 

I wonder if this reversal would have changed 'mjwl's' mind about bolting off eBay.  I've found over the years that it's sometimes wise to wait a few months when a new policy is announced before changing my business plan, since eBay has had a habit of making these about-face decisions on half-baked and poorly conceived policy.  I imagine there must have been an uproar from sellers over it, especially from larger sellers who were paying to have their item photos taken, only to be told they couldn't display their right to ownership. 

Nonetheless, I can't quite bring myself to give eBay kudos for reversing something it should have thought twice about introducing in the first place.  Oh well, certainly better to have it gone.  

[westernstargifts]

DH and I were away for the summer, returning at the end of October.  I spent weeks after arriving home revising listings to replace photos that were watermarked.  I had 112 listings to revise and thought I might as well do it now before listing the rest of my stock, and new items which I would change as I listed them.  I would be one step ahead of the game.

What a supreme waste of my time, particularly since I have had 8 sales in November.

[silverpinups]

I'm sure "mj" will continue to sell on eBay.... Now that she's formulated a exit strategy and business plan, she can continue to sell on a very high profile selling platform and also branch out to other platforms she's worked on to expand her selling base.

It's a win, win situation.

I have done the same, and launched my website in Oct/17.

I know some sellers have 50,000 items for sale that are watermarked and to eliminate watermarking from eBay would have been a Herculean task. eBay would have also taken a massive hit in revenue with sellers either leaving or refusing to comply with this policy.  

[musicyouneed]

Congrats on the website, very impressive.  

[silverpinups]

Thank you!!

[momcqueen]

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@silverpinups wrote:

I'm sure "mj" will continue to sell on eBay.... Now that she's formulated a exit strategy and business plan, she can continue to sell on a very high profile selling platform and also branch out to other platforms she's worked on to expand her selling base.

It's a win, win situation.

I have done the same, and launched my website in Oct/17

I know some sellers have 50,000 items for sale that are watermarked and to eliminate watermarking from eBay would have been a Herculean task. eBay would have also taken a massive hit in revenue with sellers either leaving or refusing to comply with this policy.  

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Correct. I'm very pleased this will change-in-pollcy will allow me to stay on ebay and continue to sell here while I establish my own site and push to other sales platforms. However, now I will be duplicating my ebay listings as opposed to flat-out migrating them without intention of returning. Good news to my mind.

 
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abblog/blog.pl?/pl/2017/11/1512052228.html

[momcqueen]

To reiterate, this is a huge relief to me. 

[rose-dee]

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@silverpinups wrote:

I'm sure "mj" will continue to sell on eBay.... Now that she's formulated a exit strategy and business plan, she can continue to sell on a very high profile selling platform and also branch out to other platforms she's worked on to expand her selling base.

It's a win, win situation.

I have done the same, and launched my website in Oct/17.  

---

Yes, I've been doing the same for years, and currently sell in 4 quite varied marketplaces.  It only makes sense not to have all your money on one horse in the race, even if it appears to be the fastest.  EBay retains the distinction of producing the highest volume of sales for my niche market, but interestingly not always the highest revenue.  Which is why, even though eBay provides the most exposure, diversity in selling venues is a worthwhile plan, provided one can keep the costs in check. 

Being able to watermark photos is a valuable feature for those who take their own pictures.  I'm relieved eBay revisited this decision, but in my view they should have given it more serious thought before announcing its removal.  

[Anonymous]

It is absurd that eBay "wanted the buyers to see the images clearer before buying them".  Just because we put watermark, it doesn't mean we cover the image too much.  It is absurd for eBay to think that.

I am glad that eBay has reversed this insane policy.  I spend thousands, thousands, thousands of hours putting watermark on the image to prevent theft of my image and I am glad that I don't have to redo them!

[momcqueen]

From the ebay Canada Announcement page: http://announcements.ebay.ca/2017/11/30/8082/

While I could write an essay about the reasons I believe this watermark ban was launched and subsequently dropped, I'll simply leave the screenshot here for ease of use to other commenters. 

[recped]

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@toby**bleep**zu wrote:

No watermark  enforcement in march

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Watermark-Removal-Policy-Enforcement-Update/ba-p/2780374...

How many times have they announced something and had to reverse after.   Like how they suddenly blocked catalog images for used media items,  answered on the boards how important that was blah blah, then a couple weeks later unannounced it was reversed 

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Before you celebrate you should be aware of two things......

1 - Various eBay "blues" have made it quite clear that this is likely only a temporary delay in enforcement (something that has happened several times in the past).

2 - The impetus for this no watermark policy is Google, you may be able to continue to use watermarks for eBay images but be aware that Google will be blocking those listings that include images with watermarks. If you don't care if your items show up on Google then no problem but I suspect these consequences are not going to help improve your sales.

[momcqueen]

My images have always been watermarked and still appear in google searches. Here, I even misspelled the product and still displayed within the top twelve results.