What do you think?

This has been brought up a few times before actually. And you are correct, that the seller should have asked your permission before using the picture.

I assume that the seller does not have a digital camera, (or is just plain lazy), hence the reason for "stealing" your picture. The other reason could be that this seller is a scam artist, and just grabbed a picture of something he thought he could "sell" quickly and easily. You might want to contact Audiogon about this, just in case the later happens to be the situation in this case. (And since Audiogon is rather a stickler about giving credit for "intellectual property", and since it is your picture, they should take action in this case.)

My two cents worth.

Hi Kurt,
He does have a camera, two other pics were in the ad of unopened box.
Evidently his item is brand new in box and he is using my pic to show what piece looks like .

I think it's a pretty poor thing to do. If you don't have a camera, say so and use a manufacturer's picture, identifying it as such. If the product is unopened, then do the same thing. If a person wants to use another person's picture, he could have the courtesy to ask.

And here's another point, what if somebody thinks your picture is the one lifted from the other person and thinks you're the one who is being deceitful? I'd like this practice to be discouraged by the forum administrators when pointed out to them, unless it's a manufacturer's photo.

On a related point, I had an ad not too long ago. A few days after the ad expired, there was a new listing for the same product. I had a look at it out of curiosity. The guy used his own pictures but he cut and pasted my description of the product! I didn't know what to think. On the one hand I thought it was flattering he liked my description. On the other hand, you feel like the person is somewhat underhanded. It makes you wonder what else the person would do. Certainly not anyone I would trust to deal with.

I understand the feeling of having one's territory invaded. But as territorial I am, I can't see any real harm. I wouldn't do that but then I have a camera. In a case where someone does not have a camera, maybe he needs to sell his item to obtain one. All just one man's opinion, of course.

Given the circumstances (unopened box) it seems pretty harmless to me but of course who knows what is actually in the box? He should have definitely said something like "since mine is unopened, here is someone else's pix of the same item", or used manufacturer's image.