Sale, refund, slae, refund, sale...

[Phil Robinson]

On the seventh of this month I had one of those nice $180 textbooks sales.

On the tenth, it sold again, same details, but was, not surprisingly, refunded later that day.

This morning it's popped up again. I'm fully expecting the same thing to happen, but fingers crossed.

I've had duplicated sales and refunds before, but never twice in the same month.

Has this happened to anyone else this month? 

 

 

 

(Edit - the second was another sale, not a slae, thankfully)

[Phil Robinson]

Yep, just been refunded. Again.

[Paulstw]

Shouldn't be allowed to happen. That's like taking a DVD or a CD back to the shop once you've listened to it or watched it. What's stopping them from just copying the image? then get a refund. Honestly this game has only one winner and it's not the photographer. 

[Phil Robinson]

Well, it's all the same customer and I still have sold the image once. Three sales, two refunds. It has happened before that a sale gets duplicated then refunded - but twice in as many weeks is new to me.

Anyone else?

[RedSnapper]

it happens - not frequently - but it happens..

 

km

[Stokie]

I've had 3 sales this month of the same image all for $73.53 each, i'm expecting a refund - but none so far!

 

Country: United Kingdom
Usage: Direct mail/Brochures
Media: Travel brochures
Industry sector: Travel & tourism
Print run: up to 500,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: Full area
Start: 07 March 2014
End: 07 March 2015

 

Country: United Kingdom
Usage: Direct mail/Brochures
Media: Travel brochures
Industry sector: Travel & tourism
Print run: up to 500,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: Full area
Start: 24 March 2014
End: 24 March 2015

 

Country: United Kingdom
Usage: Direct mail/Brochures
Media: Travel brochures
Industry sector: Travel & tourism
Print run: up to 500,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: Full area
Start: 24 March 2014
End: 24 March 2015

[CLSI]

What's stopping them from just copying the image? then get a refund.

 

Copyright law. The customer pays not for the image file but for the right to publish or otherwise use it in some way. If the customer doesn't in fact use the photo, they'll want a refund. Theoretically, they should then delete any copies of the photo they downloaded, though I doubt Alamy ever follows up on this, and personally, I wouldn't want them hassling customers with this sort of thing.

 

I've had my share of refunded images, but in very nearly every case, the image was eventually relicensed with similar (often identical) specs. I did once get a refund that was never ultimately relicensed. Does it bother me that that photo buyer may have a full-sized, unwatermarked version of my photo on their computer, and may even occasionally open it up and admire it, without having paid a cent for it? Do I worry that they may violate my copyright and make an unauthorized use of my photo in a way that diminishes its value? No, not really. Most likely, someone made a mistake, thought they were using my photo, and then discovered that no, it got edited out at some late stage, or the whole project was cancelled at the last minute. If they still have a copy of my photo, it's probably in some long-forgotten folder, never accessed or viewed.

[John Mitchell]

I've had sale, refund, sale, etc. scenarios in the past but none for quite some time. However, in January, a textbook sale popped up for $175 and was repeated again a few days later for $180 with slightly different terms. I expected the first sale to be refunded, but both went through, which was nice to see.