Today, I’m reminded of something that happened almost a year ago but still very valid and I see it all the time. The most common places this comes up is on eBay. Nothing against eBayers, I love eBay! Just got my new PDA there as a matter of fact.

But, because eBay is a starting point for many sellers, inexperience is probably the cause of these mistakes. Yet, this can happen anywhere, outside eBay, selling your own digital goods. Many sellers think, just because a digital product is not sent to someone, that means the customer won’t get the benefit of using it unless they paid for it.

Logical, but not always true. People don’t have to download it from you in order to consume the product. What do I mean?

Case #1
A seller has is a digital product, delivered in PDF format. They are plans (blue prints) showing people how to build a CB radio tower. In his listing he had pictures of his plans that included an enlarged picture. Even though the resolution wasn’t exactly sharp but you could practically see the whole blue print for the tower.

My husband who works with metal everyday of his life for over 20 days looked at it and said. That’s enough information for me to build this thing. I don’t even have to pay this guy the $20 he’s asking. 

Case # 2 
A used notebook computer is up for sale. The seller says he doesn’t have the Windows disk anymore but he has the license key. On the web page itself, he has a picture of the license key clear enough you can print it out and use it. In some round about way, he’s facilitating software piracy.

In this case the seller is fortunate because you can’t use a notebook computer unless you buy it and he ships it to you. But what if he’s selling just the software?

Maybe not all buyers will be that savvy but some of them will be. I for one will not be bidding for it even though it’s a really good deal because I don’t want to use an operating system that’s already been unintentionally pirated.

Solution: Either make the picture smaller, don’t put it up at all or better yet, if it’s something you sell over and over, create a cover graphic for it like a CD case cover or a book representation.

When you put a picture of your product up, don’t forget to look it over, or ask someone to look it over. It’s easy for us to miss these things sometimes.