Stock Photos :)

Ebay is such a great marketplace, but I agree - you must be careful. You can find wonderful things there that you can't find anywhere else - you can also be cheated by the bad ones out there! No question about it - I know that eBay tries to get rid of the thieves and I appreciate that!
So yes - you must be careful - no question.
I received this question/comment the other day from an eBayer:


Dear ilovemygirls3,

The pictures you show of this item are stock pictures, do you have any pictures of your actual bag?


Now, this was a fabulous compliment to my hubby's photos. He truly works hard at this and takes it very seriously. Who knows more than me how many hours he spends downstairs in his studio with the mannequin? Should I be concerned - I mean she is in great shape and doesn't give him a hard time about anything - except sometimes her left arm just won't come off! :)

I emailed her back and explained that they were indeed NOT stock photos and if she needed a particular photo, a number, a label, a mark, etc., we would be happy to supply her with another photo - but just to get the item out and take another photo of it "on a chair" as she requested was not going to happen.

A lot of things are involved here.
One - I'm stubborn - I work very hard at my eBay. I take great pride in my 100% Feedback and the wonderful items that I sell. I believe it is up to the buyer to know who he/she is buying from. There are many ways to do that. Read the feedback of the seller, look at the other items that the seller is offering and the items that have been sold. This is your end of the homework as a buyer - KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUYING FROM.

We spend a lot of time on each item that we list - whether it is listing at a starting price of $9.99 or offered at $12,000 - we examine the item, we describe the item, we measure the item and we photograph the item. The photos are cropped - and the listing is prepared for listing on eBay. I would think that the entire process for each item is almost an hour. We have approximately 300-400 items up at a time.

When I told this gal that she should do the above mentioned things to know that this wasn't a "stock photo" she wasn't interested.

Good - frankly, I have so many repeat buyers - reason being that I LOVE MY EBAYERS! Truly - I love them. I appreciate all of my buyers (well, 99.7% anyway). They appreciate me and I appreciate them.

BUT please, you do your homework. Ask as many questions as you would like, if you need another photo because you have a particular question about something, that's great - we will provide it as quickly as we can - but please, don't ask me to provide a photo of the bag ON A CHAIR because you don't trust us!

Yes, I'm stubborn - but truly, I bend over backwards for my eBayers - and I'm happy to do that - because they are reasonable and know who they are dealing with.

In the end - I really didn't want to do business with this person. If you don't trust me - I don't want to do business with you.

If you can read my feedback, look at the other items I am selling and see the things I have sold (so many in the last 9 years) and then you don't trust me - yes - better not to buy from me! People like that frighten me.

Oh, included are some of the photos - taken by my husband of this particular bag. Believe me, I can bet there weren't STOCK PHOTOS anywhere of this bag. :)