Allegro and Ebay

[Candace]

So...Allegro seems to be just like Ebay. At least my name wasn't altered. This time they have been hot-linking to my site and I've got 200 hits to my bandwidth this month so far. This is their second auction using my photo and site, so it looks like they're going to continue doing this unless I e-mail somebody.

Anyone know what language this is??? Anyone familiar with Allegro and are they a branch of ebay? It's great fun when Ebay folks do this, but now with it being out of the country...


http://allegro.pl/item363206937__storczyk_phalaenopsis_mambo_.html

 

[Corbin]

Go get them Candace.

 

[Candace]

I'm leaning towards the coppertone lady for this one...unless folks have a better photo I can upload. Or the porno monkey photo I've used in the past or the good old "this is a photo thief why would you buy from him" stand-by.

So help me choose, old lady, porno monkey or thief photo...I'll have to load it before his auction ends, so I'd like to get 'er done by this evening. I'll let you guys have fun with me...which one???

 

[Corbin]

Well I have not seen the other two but this lady is sick.

 

[streetmorrisart]

How I love the hot-linkers. Every once in awhile, I check out and wonder why MySpace and all of the other "I assure you I'm interesting so please f me sites" are big referrers for me, then I come to, and oh the images I’ve considered uploading instead of the ones of mine they’re using! You’re being very kind if you just go with Coppertone Lady. (Got to say too, I wish I had just a shred of her lack of self-monitoring behavior—I’d be having much more fun.)

 

[Elena]

Anyone know what language this is??? Anyone familiar with Allegro and are they a branch of ebay? It's great fun when Ebay folks do this, but now with it being out of the country...

It appears to be Polish ebay?

Time to bring out the old lady picture, I think :evil:

 

[SlipperFan]

I like the last option: this is a photo thief... The old woman is funny and will get a laugh, but the photo thief my hit him where it hurts -- the pocketbook.

 

[streetmorrisart]

All would be bidding deterrents for sure; it’ll be pretty clear for most what’s going on (and of course send the seller a message). If you want to be 100% obvious about it though, a simple image stating “don’t steal my photos” or bandwidth etc. is the best choice. I see that on Google Images occasionally…you click on something indexed for a larger look and then the site yells at you—generally counterproductive in that situation for commercial sites, but something special for cases like this on an as-needed basis would make sense for you since you're protective of your photos.

I still say...Coppertone Lady! :evil:

Here's a sample of some more nice hot-linking for you Candace: http://www.youtube.com/user/cherokeetwin

Yup, that's my art as background. It's not commercial and I'm only at 50% usage, so I hesitate to bother with it or any of the rest. I do charge people for commercial usage and ask them to host the images themselves.

 

[Candace]

I can't send the seller an e-mail since I'm not a registered user. Also the site isn't in English and I've got no idea if he's speaking Polish, etc. So, there's really no way to communicate with the seller without going to a translation site. And that's why I'm sort of leaning towards the old lady because my photo theft sign is in English so may not be easily understood.

Yeah, that's lovely Robin. Grrr. I'm way under 50% usage but I don't put up with hot links. Of course, there's probably more than a handful of folks in other countries using my pics but they downloaded them and aren't stupid enough to be using my bandwidth too.

 

[practicallyostensible]

Coppertone lady transcends the language barrier.

 

[Candace]

O.K. ta-da!!

 

[streetmorrisart]

Brava, brava... It's somehow even funnier now! :rollhappy:

 

[rdhed]

To bad you couldn't add a caption such as "picture shows how it will bloom under proper bright light.":rollhappy::rollhappy:

Allen

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

Oh my god, that is so delicious Candace. You go girl! :rollhappy:

 

[NYEric]

Do it again!

 

[Corbin]

So this is way over by head but how does it work. Do they somehow have the "picture" on their site actually pulling up your picture every time it is opened? And then when you change your picture (with same link of course) it is the changed picture that is then pulled up? Or something like that?

 

[Mrs. Paph]

Heck yes, nice work Candance !!! I agree, no translation needed w/ the, ah...sunscreen ad!

 

[Candace]

Most photo thieves steal the picture outright. They copy the photo from a site onto their harddrive and then upload it to ebay or their site etc. I find out about that from people telling me they've seen it being used without my o.k. Usually it's on ebay, but there have been several commercial orchid nurseries that I've had to deal with as well.

But, some thieves are really dumb and they forgo copying the photo and actually embed a link to the photo on my site. I get weekly logs from my website that show external links and hits from other sites that I can click on an it takes me to the site. For example, this person used images tags like this....

So, in effect every time someone clicks on his auction page it "opens" the photo on my server and uses my bandwidth that I pay for every month. Of course, I'm under quota, but it's just the nerve that someone not only steals a photo to use but is also making me pay for the service. If you go to the Allegro Auction link, put your mouse over the coppertone lady and click and hold your mouse button you can select copy image location. Then paste it in your browser and see that the photo is hosted on my server, not Allegro's.

And yes, that's how I did it. I renamed Mrs. Coppertone as Mambo.jpg so that his hot-link is directed to the photo of my choosing:> And all of this takes time, so it's tempting to let it slide...but it's kind of fun, too.:evil::evil:

And for the record, I'm perfectly o.k. with forums, educational sites linking to photos or using them. And I'm usually fine with commercial, too if credit is given and they ask permission first. I get cranky when I feel like I'm being run over.