"If I see an image in a gallery that's by a merchant and it has a list of credits that say "This by me", "That by me", "The Other Thing by me" then that looks like a promo to me and promo images belong in the Product showcase. If they want to leave off the credits, that elimates the promotional aspect and that image should be allowed in any gallery."

I disagree. If a merchant can credit PURCHASED items but not their own hard work then this site will be doing exactly what hauksdottir has an apparent problem with DAZ about.
Why should a merchant downplay their hard work?

If merchants are told to not credit their own hard work, work that is bringing in $ to this site I guarantee they will lose merchants because that's quite a betrayal.

...... Kendra