eBay trust and safety

Someone stole my eBay listing!

They stole my photo, and my text, and used them to sell their own item. Rude, dishonest, and a breach (mm-hmm) of eBay's trust and safety policies.

(It was a pretty hot listing).

I emailed them, and told them:

You've stolen my photo and my text!
This has to be a breach of eBay rules.
And even if it's not, it's rude.
My text is MY intellectual property and I think you're being dishonest using it.

(I hid my email address. I'm always a bit scared of challenging like this. I let my last eBay dispute disappear, mostly out of discomfort and cowardice).

After an hour or so, I hadn't managed to speak to Terry to voice my indignation, and their non-response just made me more indignant, so I reported it to eBay. Sure enough, they have a specific report mechanism for it, so clearly it happens, though eBay are more understanding than me, and add platitudes about people not realising that stuff on the web is not theirs for the taking.

This morning eBay have duly taken action - though what action, they told me, is a secret. Hmm: just a minor bit of detective work shows me they've removed the original listing, but there can have been no greater penalty. They have allowed the item to be re-listed with a bad photo and just a small bit of my text. I was tempted to email him/her again to tell them it's *still* my text, even if 7/8ths of it has been removed, but Terry said I should let it lie. I don't know - the member has a 100% positive feedback score of 204, which does nothing to reflect their breach. Maybe there's a three strikes type rule.... Or maybe it's just a minor point - more important being the transaction and the quality of the goods being as described. It vexes me, though.

That listing was hot. And it was mine.