i HATE when i see "READ" in caps in listing titles

[ten_o_nine]

Really, I know some buyers don't read the full description, but to tell me as a buyer and in your title to READ is RUDE, my advice to sellers, don't be Rude in your titles, what do you think?

[toomuchstuffagain35]

When I see "read!" in a title I know already there's an issue with it. Like it's incomplete, missing this or that, or not tested or whatever.

[12345jamesstamps]

That doesn't bother me.

However, here it comes, most of us are smart to know new from old....I dislike those who use the word "Vintage" or "Antique"in their title. And what the difference...by the way between vintage and antique?

[toomuchstuffagain35]

I especially like the offshore sellers selling brand new "vintage antique diver's helmets".

[lakefor94]

Not a bad idea for some listings. I would leave it up to the sellers.

The buyers can pick and choose what they want to read.

[ten_o_nine]

Well, vintage is 20 year old or more, antiques are 100 or more.

[12345jamesstamps]

LOL...not again

[12345jamesstamps]

And the average buyer here knows that...probably not. 

Actually, I wonder if you dropped those words would you get more sales? The buyer might dig into your descriptions to actually see what is being sold...sometimes being a little mysterious in a title helps. Just a thought to help you make high sales.

I sell vintage and antique stamps but have never used those words. 

[doc-holmes]

I appreciate it. They are making sure to draw attention to something important. 

[kathiec]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

Well, vintage is 20 year old or more, antiques are 100 or more.

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That definition is true for 'antique', but the definition of vintage differs depending on what it's referring to. In Barbie collecting, for example, vintage refers to dolls made between 1959 and about 1973.

[kathiec]

My bigger pet peeve in titles is 'L@@K!!!!', which manages to be annoying and dramatically incorrect in one fell swoop.

[1786davycrockett]

@ten_o_nine 

When I use "READ," I am definitely making a point that I want potential buyers to READ my "Conditions" description and my "Item specifics" VERY carefully before they commit to making a purchase, in order to prevent any possible misunderstandings after the item is delivered.

I don't use it often; but I do use it for items which show significant wear, or moisture stains, or soiling, or missing pages, or internal defects, or other major issues.

Potential buyers should not be surprised "after the fact" with undisclosed defects -- in my own buyer's experience, I've had far too many items with undisclosed damages foisted upon me in the past, which I had not discovered until long after the returns window had closed.

  So, to me, an "upfront" notification is in the best interest of any potential buyers.

[mudshark61369]

"Really, I know some buyers don't read the full description, but to tell me as a buyer and in your title to READ is RUDE, my advice to sellers, don't be Rude in your titles, what do you think?"

@ten_o_nine,

I think you are taking this entirely too personally. Sellers who have written that in their titles have probably had issues with buyers who Did Not READ the descriptions or other info on a listing, and due to the buyercentric nature of the MBG, were burned because of it. Do you take umbrage with sellers who post ****LOOK***** in their titles? Couldn't that be taken the same way?

Then there is the fact that many of the younger newer members are image driven, and they do not read descriptions, or take the time to scroll past all the sponsored listings on their phones/tablets to find the description.  They look at the photos only.  You may not deal with many of them, due to the nature of the items you mostly sell, but I have run across a few. 

Some of the buyers may have run into listings that were mis-described by a seller who used the wrong nomenclature for a listing Ex: describing Pilaster glass corner shelf clips as, Slat wall metal glass support pegs. 

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

Really, I know some buyers don't read the full description, but to tell me as a buyer and in your title to READ is RUDE, my advice to sellers, don't be Rude in your titles, what do you think?

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Do you want them to put edit the main listing pic and put a big banner across the main listing pic saying "READ"  ... or can they leave it in the title? Those are the only two places most buyers look... 

Especially with the view you get on EBay stores on a computer/browser, you're enabled to view all images, read title and purchase, all without ever OPENING the listing. It completely by-passes the listing page with the key details and basically encourages buyers to not read. There, I said it, EBay is encouraging buyers to not read. So these poor sellers with "READ" in their titles are combatting the "bad" learned buyer behavior of not reading, that EBay is simply reinforcing.

Side Note: Not too long ago I had a very nice looking coin that had some issues, and that was very apparent in pics. In the pics it was very tough to distinguish toning vs corrosion, and spot toning from pitting. So I wrote maybe a 3 sentence description answering these exact questions in great detail. ... buyer comes along, clearly did his homework because he studied the pics and asks me the exact questions I already prepared for. "Is that toning or corrosion on reverse left and is that pitting or spot toning in such and such areas" .... I politely directed him to the description as it was detailed so precisely already, and he apologized and said he tends to not bother reading descriptions anymore since sellers never seem to put anything useful there...

[4pawsup*]

I use it to let buyers now there are conditions they need to know before they buy. If that offends you go to the B&M store problem solved