Here’s a real-life reminder that Amazon doesn’t kid around when it says “no watermarks or copyrights in images”. This week I spoke to an Amazon low-ASP seller that had embedded a copyright mark on photos (a number of sellers in this category are doing so — here’s a good example) and received a 48 hours deadline to remove the copyrights from the images or risk an account suspension.

Of course 48 hours are no enough to update thousands of images so the seller had no choice but to remove all product listings, update the photos, and reactivate the products with new images, having not only lost about 10 days of solid sales but also money for a contractor to help with this.

The seller is understandably very frustrated about the lack of notice and the fact that he felt singled-out. The biggest concern though was his inability to speak with Amazon about his plan or get a grace period to correct the situation.

Amazon doesn’t specifically call out the “no watermarks and copyrights” among its image requirements:

• • The image matches the product description in size, color, and so on.
  • The product is recognizable.
  • The image is a photo and not a drawing.
  • The photo is taken at a flattering angle.
  • The product is focused and well-lit.
  • Close-up shots are not obscured by highlights or shadows.
  • The product occupies at least 80% of the image area.
  • The entire product is depicted in the image.
  • The image includes only what the customer will be receiving. (Accessories that are not part of the product should not be shown.)
  • The image displays the exact quantity of items the customer will be receiving. (For example, if the product is one mixing bowl, don’t include other bowls in different sizes and colors in the photo.)
  • Backgrounds are simple and clean and do not to distract from the product - ideally, the background is pure white.
  • Images do not have borders, text, or other decorations.
  • Minimum dimensions: At least 110 pixels wide or high.
  • Recommended dimensions: 500 x 500 pixels.
  • File type: JPEG (.jpg) or GIF (.gif).
  • Resolution: 72 pixels per inch.

When you sell products on Amazon it is important to remember that Amazon is building a universal, seller-agnostic product catalog (rather then seller-specific offers) so that consumers have lots of choice when it comes to selecting a merchant to trust with their money. If the image is tailored to a single seller (using a watermark or copyright) then this likely will result in other merchants with the same product creating their own product listing which in turn will quickly pollute Amazon’s catalog (for this category) with duplicate offers and ultimately creating a poor shopping experience (ruining it for everybody).

This is pretty much Online Retailing 101 and holds true for most other non-eBay marketplaces and comparison shopping engines that are keen to attract shoppers with big pockets.

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