Someone is copying your photos and listings: what you can actually do

You open the app one morning and there's your own photo. Same jacket on the same white wall, same fold in the collar, same shadow on the floor. Except the listing isn't yours, and the description repeats your sentences word for word.

It's an unpleasant experience, and it's far more common than you'd imagine. It particularly hits the sellers who take care over their visuals, which is to say exactly the ones it costs the most.

Here's what can be sorted out in practice, what comes under the law, and what is a waste of time, so you spend five minutes on this rather than a week.

Telling three situations apart

They don't all call for the same reaction, and the first mistake is to treat the most harmless one as the most serious.

Inspiration. Someone has seen your account and adopts your style: neutral background, tight framing, a description built in three blocks. It's annoying, but it's neither forbidden nor contestable. A style doesn't belong to you.

Copying the text. Your sentences are lifted as they are, sometimes with your own typos. It's blatant copy-paste, and it's easily fixed by pointing it out to the person.

Reusing your photos. This is the serious case. The photos you took are your work, and using them to sell a different item is a problem both for you and for the buyer, who receives a piece that isn't the one in the picture.

This third situation has a consequence many underestimate: if the item delivered doesn't match your photo, the dispute, the bad reviews and the disappointment land on the other account, but the image attached to it stays yours.

The evidence to gather before you act

Five minutes, before any message and before any report.

• Screenshot the whole listing: photos, title, description, account name, date. A screenshot taken after deletion is worthless.
• Find your original: the raw photo file, with its creation date. It's the simplest and strongest proof you have.
• Note the date you first posted. Being first settles the question of who copied whom.
• Look at the rest of the account. If it's made up of photos clearly taken elsewhere, you're probably not the only one affected, and the report carries more weight.

The direct message, which works more often than you'd think

Before reporting, a short message resolves a good share of cases. Many recent accounts copy without grasping what they're doing, and take the photo down as soon as they're asked.

Tone matters more than content. A factual, non-aggressive message gets a takedown; a threatening one gets you blocked, and you lose access to the listing.

Three sentences are enough: your listing's photo has been reused, you're asking for it to be taken down, you note that you'll report the post if there's no reply within a few days. No insults, no screenshots posted to a story, no calling in the mob: these are reflexes that backfire on you, including with the buyers watching the scene.

Reporting to the platform

With no reply or in the event of a refusal, reporting is the normal route. Platforms all have a form for reporting content, and the use of a photo you authored is covered by it.

What makes a report effective:

• The exact link to the offending listing, not just the account name.
• The link to your own listing, to establish that you were first.
• The original file if the form lets you attach it.
• A precise reason: use of a photo you authored, not simply a complaint against a competitor.

Allow a few days for processing and don't file the same report over and over: it speeds nothing up. If the person starts again after a first takedown, say so explicitly; a repeat offence is handled differently from an isolated incident.

What the law says, in two honest sentences

A photo you took yourself is a work you authored, and reproducing it without permission is not allowed. A descriptive text that's personal enough falls under the same logic; a plain list of features, much less so.

That said, the practical value of this right is low for a twenty-euro listing: bringing legal action costs more than what's at stake. The real lever isn't judicial, it's operational, and it's the report. For the systematic reuse of your entire catalogue by an identified account, a legal professional will tell you better than this article what is proportionate.

What limits the risk upstream

No method fully prevents copying of public images. Three habits make it clearly less worthwhile for whoever copies.

Get into the frame. A hand holding the garment, a recognisable accessory, an identifiable background: the photo becomes hard to reuse without it showing. It's the most effective protection, and it also improves your sales. Our tips on clothing photos that make people want to buy point in the same direction.

Personalise your descriptions. A measurement taken by hand, a note on the cut, a sentence of your own: copy-paste becomes visible immediately, including to buyers. Our guide on writing a listing description details what sets a useful text apart from a generic one.

Keep your original files. A folder dated by month is enough. It's what turns a dispute into a demonstration.

A visible watermark is possible, but it degrades the image and lowers sales. On a second-hand listing, the trade-off is rarely favourable.

What is a waste of time

Posting a public screenshot and naming the person: this exposes your own image far more than the other's, and a mistaken identification is very costly.

Creating an account to buy and then leave a negative review: this is a misuse of the review system that can backfire on your main account.

Deleting your own listings to "stop giving ideas": you lose your visibility and your seniority, which is precisely what was protecting you.

Spending a week watching the offending account: the time you put into it costs more than the harm. Report it, note the date, and go back to your own listings.

When volume changes the nature of the problem

An occasional seller spots a copy because they know their twenty listings by heart. At several hundred items, no one spots anything by eye.

At that stage, what really protects you is no longer vigilance but traceability: knowing which photo belongs to which piece, when it was taken and when it was published. That's what a management tool like DressKare keeps track of, where each piece keeps its history and its original visuals, something a folder of screenshots does not.

The key takeaway

Tell apart the copied style, which can't be contested, the reused text, which is settled with a message, and the stolen photo, which gets reported.

Capture the evidence before any contact, write a factual message, then report with both links and the original file. Don't dole out public justice and never delete your own listings.

And work upstream: get into the frame of your photos, write descriptions that can't be copied over, keep your originals sorted. That's what makes copying visible and unprofitable, and it's what improves your sales along the way.

FAQ

What should I do if a seller uses my photos?
Screenshot the whole listing before making any contact, then send a factual message asking for it to be taken down and stating that you'll report the listing if there's no reply within a few days. If nothing changes, report the post through the platform's form, attaching the link to the offending listing, the link to your own to prove you were first, and the original photo file. That's the route that works, not a public confrontation.

Are the photos in a listing protected?
A photo you took yourself is a work you authored, and reproducing it without your consent is not allowed. A personal descriptive text follows the same logic, unlike a plain list of features. In practice, for a low-priced listing, legal action costs more than it's worth: the useful lever remains reporting it to the platform.

How do I prove the listing is mine?
With two simple things. The original photo file, with its creation date, which the person who copied it doesn't have. And the date you first posted your own listing, which establishes that you were first. Keep your raw files sorted by month: that's what turns a dispute into a demonstration, in seconds.

Should I put a watermark on my photos?
You can, but it's rarely worth it in second-hand: a visible watermark degrades the image and lowers sales, for a limited gain since it can be cropped out. The most effective protection is different: get into the frame, with a hand holding the piece, a recognisable accessory or an identifiable background. The photo becomes hard to reuse and it sells better.

Another seller is copying my style, is that a problem?
No, and there's nothing to contest: a photo style or a description structure belongs to no one. What is a problem is the reuse of your photo files and your text word for word. If only the style is being copied, the best use of your time is to keep developing your own rather than watching a competitor.

Can I leave a negative review for a seller who copies?
No, and it's actually risky. Buying for the sole purpose of leaving a negative review misuses the review system and can backfire on your own account. A documented report is the only route that produces a result, and it doesn't expose you.