Photography Thievery
The heatwave is over...it's been hell here in Michigan, quite literally. Over 100 degrees for almost a week. The last few days have been bliss, low 80's...ahhh!So now I can blog in the back yard, because it's not too hot.
One of my competitors is blatantly stealing my product photos. I sent her an email informing her that she had 24 hours to remove the photography, and she obliged..this time. This practice just makes me so angry. I photograph all of my own stuff, unless the manufacturer gives me the photos. I like all of my imagery photographed in the same manner, almost always silouetted, unless it's necessary to photograph it otherwise. If I have shoes, I photograph them all in the same manner. I feel this gives my site a unified look. It keeps you focused on what you are looking at if the photography is clean and straight forward. In other words, I believe it lets you compare apples with apples when you shop...just makes it a pleasant experience. Clearly I have worked hard on a "look" for my site. Whether you care for the design of my site or not, you'd have to agree it's consistent, and I hope easy to work through. And this comes from my design background.
In any case, when a competitor comes in and "steals" my photos and posts them as hers, that's not only my hard work, but she's lending credibility to her own site. To add insult to injury, she marks it down a few bucks, too. She's doing it, I'm sure, because she puts no effort into the photography or layout of her own site. She's completely lazy. Her site is horrendous! But if someone is out there comparatively shopping and they see a product on both of our sites, hers a few bucks cheaper, but the product, visually, is identical, of course they'll buy from her.
I've heard a lot of people say they enjoy the experience of shopping our site. They find it easy, and pleasant to look at. It's quite a compliment to me. I'm really proud of that. Throwing a copyright on the photography doesn't work. We all know you can take it right out in Photoshop. I just don't know how to stop this from happening. This really fires me up. It's just so underhanded, right? I know it happens all the time. I'm a firm believer that what comes around, goes around. They'll get theirs right?...well, I'd just be happy if she'd play fair. I can handle her going out and carrying a new product that I just found, or I can even handle how she always undercuts us by a few bucks...that's normal business stuff.. That's it for now, Now I'm angry again having reread this.
