eBay

buman_51 · ‎07-28-2018

I wanted to write this for a long time... the GREAT sellers will recognize themselves. The other ones...well... !

I am a BUYER - I buy quite a lot on EBAY - I LOVE EBAY

For the poor whining ones (no sales etc etc etc)

1) Take the time to write a FULL description of what your are selling (If you can't take the time to do that, well laziness will take you nowhere....)

- I am SO TIRED of sellers listing vintage model kits as NEW in the main title. Worse they used the word SEALED in the main title. Usually it ends up "kit is sealed inside - SEEMS complete". My God what a joke. You still have to ask questions after questions and you can feel how anoyed they become.

- Older / vintage kits are NOT NEW !! Even shrink wrapped. GOT IT ? Do you need a dictionanry to find out the meaning of something NEW ?

- I prefer to click on a listing that says USED then I read the [intelligent] description that tells me everything about the kit from A to Z. And I BUY.

2) Answer a question from a customer within the hour. Answer with DETAILS. Do you care that it maybe a SALE ? The way some sellers answer I prefer to pass because a 4 word answer isn't going to cut it. This is not Walmart.

3) Caring about the way you ship things. I have AMAZON PRIME and if I see something I like very often I choose EBAY even if it is going to cost me more because I know that my item(s) will arrive in good condition (Amazon packaging has become worse and worse througout the years - especially with "expensive" books.) YOU can make a difference: charge me a couple $ more, that's okay ! I have stopped buying books on Amazon because each time I had to sent it back due the the fact that is was runned by poor packaging. I never had to return anything on EBAY

I want to thank ALL the FANTASTIC sellers who send me their card, a thank you note with my name on it, who packed my item(s) with a lot of care. I have all saved you as my favorite sellers and will be ordering again and again because you make such a humongeous difference among the zillions sellers.

That's all I wanted to say. Long live EBAY which has also a great customer service.

Oliver

fossil_diver · ‎07-29-2018

@buman_51 how do you feel about sellers using NOS for New Old Stock? I think ebay should make it a category.

ohnojoey · ‎07-29-2018

@*madison wrote:
@annindallas wrote:
Your french wardrobe has one picture and no measurements.
And also description " Antic French wardrobe Louis Phillipe from1850 - RARE "

antic
ˈ
adjective
archaic

grotesque or bizarre.

--------------------

Or did the OP mean Antique ?

My "wordweb" dictionary says similar; "Ludicrously odd."

It's a nice piece but the sellers definition is subjective, I find nothing grotesque, bizarre, ludicrous, or odd about it.

songofthebrazosgracia · ‎07-29-2018

I have to admit, the "whining" members of the E-bay community get to me sometimes. I am one of those who love E-bay. Have a premier shop and my husband and I, both retired, make our living now with it. There are slow times, sure, like right now just before school and college start, but they level out and things get back to normal. We just have to sit loose during the slow times and KNOW that it will get better. We have almost ten years behind us in this business and it has always followed this pattern.

Also, don't know why sellers get so upset over changes that E-bay makes. Like the seller overview - in my opinion the greatest thing they have done. All the information I need on one page. Saves a lot of time and effort. And I know where the business is at any minute of the day or night. I read an posting from a seller once who was freaking out because the little door that opens to her E-bay shop had the color changed from red to blue. Come on, is that really important.

And yes, I do deal with the really stupid questions. I have actually had a woman email me and ask if the bird in the listing "Hand crafted blue bird" was blue. And another just after that wanted to know what the size of the 6 1/2 by 4" Fenton bowl was. But, I answer them, even though I am sometimes gritting my teeth, and once in a while one of them even purchases the item.

To me, E-bay is a wonderful way to have our own business, brings in a nice income, and lets my husband and I work together. We have genuine fun on our buying trips to find more merchandise (we sell a mix of collectibles and small antiques). And we make a fair income. I worked 31 years in a high pressure job as a journalist and my husband worked 35 years as a screen printer owning his own business.

And yes, I do see that many people who "whine" about poor sales and little profit do not do their homework about the items they are selling and more often than not, really place unreasonable prices on them. Our market is competitive and we all have to be careful, both with descriptions and with pricing. In the long run, I think we will all find it is worth it.

If I was asked for a specific complaint it would be probably be one that E-bay has little or no control over. And that is unscrupulous buyers. It is a problem that is prevalent in other sales areas as well, even brick and mortar stores, but it can be bothersome and cost us money we did not need to lose.

dhbookds · ‎07-30-2018

@fossil_diver wrote:
@buman_51 how do you feel about sellers using NOS for New Old Stock? I think ebay should make it a category.

I've always thought that should be a designation in some of the "vintage" categories..........

thatsallfolks · ‎07-30-2018

@buman_51 wrote:
I wanted to write this for a long time... the GREAT sellers will recognize themselves. The other ones...well... !

I am a BUYER - I buy quite a lot on EBAY - I LOVE EBAY

For the poor whining ones (no sales etc etc etc)

I appreciate you letting me know that there is no way I could please you as a seller. Thanks!

baantiques · ‎07-30-2018

@flyinhawaiiangirl wrote:
Tell me your thoughts on the use of NOS. New Old Stock. If it is still shrink wrapped, no matter how old it is, I consider it new, but I didn't think it would bother a buyer because if it's a collectible, they should already know its relative age, and I would list that in the description.

NOS is not new. If it were, it would just be called "new" and not have a special term that differentiates it from new and used.

NOS simply means a part that is old but unused. It can be in the original box and packaging but frequently is not - original packaging is not archival or acid free, and so deteriorates. I've destroyed boxes just by trying to open them for a picture. They are not generally durable unless it's a crate of some kind.

NOS parts are not always pristine. Mouldings typically can need polishing or other work, especially if they've been stored carelessly, or if their packaging is long gone. Other parts can have surface rust, etc. I've occasionally tossed NOS parts because they were not in decent enough condition to sell. A lot can happen in 30 40 50 60 70 80 years.

I typically list NOS parts as "new other".

jason_incognito · ‎07-30-2018

For me it seems that more and more, the person who sends questions and eventually buys is becoming the norm around here.

If I ignored stupid questions I would have lost 2 sales just this week.

"how tall are these" if you read the descrition you would see that they are 6 3/8" tall.......

But I answer it like it's new info and move on. Hours later, another question, and still more hours later they sell.

Had a buyer with half a dozen back and forth. Had to explain what "crystaline" is. I finally just referred her to the manufacturer's website. In effect, crystaline is crystal without the lead.

She didn't buy because she wanted lead crystal. Cities are spending billions to get lead out of the drinking water and she wants glasses that put lead into her food and drink? Can't fix stupid I guess?

"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything" Colin Kaepernick the new face of NIKE

thatsallfolks · ‎07-30-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
She didn't buy because she wanted lead crystal. Cities are spending billions to get lead out of the drinking water and she wants glasses that put lead into her food and drink? Can't fix stupid I guess?

Lead crystal glasses are safe. What's unsafe is storing liquids in lead crystal containers for long periods; that's what allows the lead to leach out.

So she wasn't stupid after all.

coolections · ‎07-30-2018

OP, I am a buyer and am interested in your antic wardrobe. Please go back and install 6 pictures or more. I need to see the front, the back, the sides and most importantly I need to see the inside. I also need a description telling me about any flaws, and scratches and such. Please put the size so I know if it will fit in my room. Don't be like those other sellers you are complaining about.

movieguy1 · ‎07-30-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
For me it seems that more and more, the person who sends questions and eventually buys is becoming the norm around here.

If I ignored stupid questions I would have lost 2 sales just this week.

"how tall are these" if you read the descrition you would see that they are 6 3/8" tall.......

But I answer it like it's new info and move on. Hours later, another question, and still more hours later they sell.

Had a buyer with half a dozen back and forth. Had to explain what "crystaline" is. I finally just referred her to the manufacturer's website. In effect, crystaline is crystal without the lead.

She didn't buy because she wanted lead crystal. Cities are spending billions to get lead out of the drinking water and she wants glasses that put lead into her food and drink? Can't fix stupid I guess?

I once contacted a seller who had bowls for sale that I was really interested in. I asked what the marking on the bottom said. She replied "See pictures in the listing." I know she thought my question was stupid, because she did have pictures of the bottoms of the bowls in the listing-they were just so blurry I couldn't make the wording out. I sent a nice note back telling her about her pictures. She profusely apologized to me and gave me the information I needed. Had she just answered my question, I could have bought immediately.

penguins_dont_fly · ‎07-30-2018

@coolections wrote:
OP, I am a buyer and am interested in your antic wardrobe. Please go back and install 6 pictures or more. I need to see the front, the back, the sides and most importantly I need to see the inside. I also need a description telling me about any flaws, and scratches and such. Please put the size so I know if it will fit in my room. Don't be like those other sellers you are complaining about.

🙂

@buman_51

Also, please tell me what kind of wood it is, the joining technique (pictures) and any craftsman's marks. Show me (and tell me about) the hardware.

If you have provenance, that would also be appreciated.

penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
Buying and Selling since 2013

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-30-2018

@*madison wrote:
@annindallas wrote:
Your french wardrobe has one picture and no measurements.
And also description " Antic French wardrobe Louis Phillipe from1850 - RARE "

--------------------

Or did the OP mean Antique ?

I would think so

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

fossil_diver · ‎07-30-2018

But lead makes it sparkly!

city*satins · ‎07-30-2018

@buman_51 wrote:

- I am SO TIRED of sellers listing .... SEEMS complete". My God what a joke.

OK - this made me laugh since the first thing I saw in the description of an item you listed was:

Entire necklace appears to be made of copper

I'm also going to question whether it's a Native American piece. My GFs and I all wore those metal cheap metal necklaces back in the 60s and we picked them up for a few bucks at an incense and jewelry and hippie ephemera shop where everything was made in India. But hey - if the original owner collected Native American jewelry, everything in the estate must be Native American, right?

You're lucky. The buyer didn't know either and took your word for it.

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