Is Google Lens enough?

It's the best free starting point and covers many marketplaces. Some sites are indexed poorly, so search a cropped version of the photo and check a couple of other engines too.

How often should I check?

For bestsellers, weekly. Copies often appear months after a listing goes viral, so a one-off search isn't enough.

What if the photo is edited?

Copiers often crop, mirror, recolour or add text. Search a tight crop of the product itself, and compare backgrounds, props and shadows to confirm.

Copycats

How to find out who's using your product photos

Reverse image search for sellers: which tools to use, how to search marketplaces that hide from Google, and how to tell a real copy from a lookalike.

Updated 2026-10-26 · Markdown

Copies of your photos rarely announce themselves. You find them by searching on purpose, regularly.

Free tools

Tool	Good for
Google Lens (images.google.com, camera icon)	Broadest coverage, including many marketplaces
Bing Visual Search	A second index that sometimes finds different results
TinEye	Exact and edited copies of the same image file
Yandex Images	Often strong for marketplace and overseas listings

How to search well

Use your highest-resolution original, not a thumbnail.
Search a tight crop of just the product — backgrounds and text overlays confuse matching.
Search every photo in the listing, not only the first. Copiers often use your second or third image.
Open “visually similar” and “exact matches” tabs separately.
Note the platform and price of each hit; cheap copies on high-traffic marketplaces divert the most sales.

Real copy or lookalike?

A real copy uses your photograph: same angle, lighting, background, props and shadows, even if cropped or recoloured. A lookalike is a similar product photographed by someone else — that's a design question, which is harder to act on.

Keep a record

For each copy, save the URL, a screenshot, the date found, and an Internet Archive snapshot. That record is what makes takedown notices and Etsy appeals work.

Automating it

Manual searching works for a few listings. MakerSentry runs these searches weekly across your whole shop, checks each candidate with a vision model, and archives every copy it confirms. You can try it on three listings with a free scan.

Questions

Is Google Lens enough?: It's the best free starting point and covers many marketplaces. Some sites are indexed poorly, so search a cropped version of the photo and check a couple of other engines too.
How often should I check?: For bestsellers, weekly. Copies often appear months after a listing goes viral, so a one-off search isn't enough.
What if the photo is edited?: Copiers often crop, mirror, recolour or add text. Search a tight crop of the product itself, and compare backgrounds, props and shadows to confirm.

MakerSentry

Keeps dated proof of every listing, finds copies weekly, tracks takedowns and builds your appeal if Etsy removes a listing.

Scan 3 listings free