First, I would like to know when it became allowed to remove an asset from sale and then upload the exact same asset again as if it were new, without even changing its name.
Here’s the situation. I have been buying assets from publisher for a long time. Today I noticed that assets I had already purchased on FAB are now listed there as new products.
I wrote to the publisher, and without explaining why they did this, they simply sent me ZIP archives.
But the problem is that now in my library the release links lead to a non-existent page. I can’t check which version the asset was for or see its description. And on the publisher’s side, it looks as if I had never purchased that asset at all.
Is this some kind of new scam? Or is it a new FAB policy?
Maybe for some people this isn’t a big problem, but for me it creates certain difficulties. I have more than 2,500+ assets, and it’s simply impossible for me to remember everything I’ve purchased.
Most of them were bought for creating images for advertising booklets, so I don’t constantly work with all of them.
So does this mean that now, before every purchase, I need to check my library to make sure I’m not buying a duplicate of something I already own?
P.S. I’m not disclosing the publisher’s name for now, as I currently believe this might be some kind of mistake rather than an intentional attempt by the developer to mislead customers.
Fab’s UI is inconvenient and difficult to use for both buyers and sellers.
For sellers, it is very hard to freely modify existing assets. Even when trying to remove outdated files, the system often does not allow it. In many cases, all required fields are filled in, yet the platform still blocks the asset from going live.
Another frustrating issue is that the system does not clearly explain which file is causing the problem when an update is rejected. It simply repeats generic messages about file formats instead of giving specific guidance.
Ironically, registering a completely new asset is often much easier than updating an existing one, and the review process is less strict as well. To be completely honest, after going through this process many times, there have been cases where I simply deleted an asset and uploaded it again as a new one because the update kept failing.
Even when asking for help through support emails, there is no response. No seller wants to upload an existing asset again as a new one while knowing it may attract criticism. When people do that, it is usually because there is no other workable option. At least in my case, that has been the reality.
It turned out to be much more interesting. It seems the seller simply moved only some of the assets from the old marketplace to FAB, while leaving others behind, and then uploaded them as if they were new. That’s exactly why this issue occurs.
In any case, I now recommend that everyone check their library before buying anything. You might have already purchased that asset before, but FAB simply doesn’t show it to you.
This would be very annoying, This is what I thought at first but then it happened again long after everything upgraded to FAB. I purchased an asset to just find out I already had it. It was not showing in my library, but I already had the same redeem code from another email (which I previously redeemed). redeeming it again was successful. then I tried the code again and it failed that I have already redeemed the code. a few months later, I noticed the asset is missing from my library again and then I go back to that same redeem code and I was able to redeem it again to my surprise. This must be some major bug in the Fab system. I have contacted support and the only thing they could say was we are glad that you already have the item in your library, since the issue is solved there is nothing else that we can do.
I’m not gonna publish anything new unless fab brings back the 5 minimum threshold, I can’t even make good will gestures like free products without “drive by” ratings hurting my brand unfortunately.
But sellers now are encouraged implicitly to take down products that have low ratings and re release them, it’s unfortunate but after the November update this is gonna be more common. They should still provide the download and support, but the current rating system is an imbalanced power dynamic and sellers simply won’t harm themselves to appease strangers for a couple bucks. It’s just the sad reality, people can argue how to better design review UI elements or the ethics behind whether reviews actually matter long term but people will always prioritize themselves before strangers and so a policy update needs to be made that rebalances things for both buyers and sellers.