Is my listing really "very confusing" or ...
... is this buyer very ... easily confused?
I wish I was joking to ask yall, but considering I make mixed lots like this all the time, is it possible the offering isn't so obvious from the photos, and maybe I should include the answer I wrote to this buyer in the description each time?
Listing (if it still exists) : https://www.ebay.com/itm/127522439047 
42 comments
nyr134
·10 months agoSome posters are suggesting to minimize what is included in the description. But to do so cuts back on the likelihood of having your item appear in search results. We are limited to 80 characters in the title, so I sometimes put additional information in the description.
For example, I am currently listing vintage theatre programs. A star of the original run of Carousel, Iva Withers, does not appear in my title but, because I have her name in the description, searching on "Playbill Iva Withers" gets my item into the second grouping under "results matching fewer words".
So I'd not get overly minimalistic here as it affects appearances in search. (Of course: write only "Iva Withers", not " the amazing, unforgettable, immortal Iva Withers who often wore costume jewelry.")
tortuga_trading
·10 months agoI agree with the buyer and their question(s) wasn't odd. Whenever I sell a "lot" (not often), I always include the total # of items the buyer will receive. By doing this, there is absolutely no confusion.
johnrj1226
·10 months agoWas coached by a mentor and in a business communications class - the secrete to success in sales is to make it easy for a prospective customer to do business with you
BTW my high school Senior Theme Writing teacher often stressed us to be a bit more "pithy" in written papers. This served me well over my "real" career.
When I search for stuff to buy on the internet, mainly eBay and Amazon - if the seller has too much to say or text to read - I do a "Walk On Buy". Business transactions need to be closed in 3 minutes or less.
In a nut shell, it doesn't matter what the seller thinks it is what the shopper(prospective buyer) thinks that matters. Do what ever "floats your boat"
Heck all those ads we see on TV in key sporting events are about 8 to 10 seconds in duration and shown in groups of 7 to 9 back to back during commercial time outs.
gurlcat
OP10 months agoThank you, and I agree. Contrary to how long-winded I can get here in Community posts, I've always felt it was important to keep listing descriptions as brief as possible. Only the essential facts, because the more fluff is added, the more likely those essential facts can get missed. When I shop here, I'm not amused by sellers who have miles-long descriptions and I definitely don't read ALL that mess, because I know the MBG has my back. If they want to protect themselves, they'd be better off saying less.
adamcartwright
·10 months ago@gurlcat
Some of these sellers never learned "Anything you say can and will be used against you" and it shows. 😂
gurlcat
OP10 months agoOMG the RANTS some of them go into, like you can tell they've been burned in the past and are "trying" to avoid it happening again, but they're just making themselves sound problematic and volatile.
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoSame, we only include the essentials and a tiny bit of formatting now, but no fluff, no decorative elements. We also don’t describe the purpose or design of the item (the contents of a book or movie, for example), only the condition. We’re not trying to convince people to buy that item. Most people searching on eBay know what the item is. We’re only trying to convince them to buy it from us, and then not need to return it.
adamcartwright
·10 months ago@gurlcat
I see you sold it. 😃
Nice lot -- you do a great job off arranging your lots.
gurlcat
OP10 months agoThanks yes it sold today. -Totally different buyer of course. Strange phenomenon, how answering a buyer's question (even with the answer being the better one) .... rarely results in them buying.
linenandlaceltd
·10 months agoIt's probably previous experiences with bad sellers.
My mom was after a specific product she was looking for lots of 2. She'd find someone that had 2 in the title, 2 together in photos, or mentioned "lot". She even asked a person once if it was for both, which they confirmed, so she offered. They accepted and then after that realized they messed up and said "No it's only for one."
It is frustrating when you try to be as clear and obvious as you can and feel like some buyers just don't read, but in cases of lot listings, sellers are pretty bad with them and extra clarification is needed.
albertabrightalberta
·10 months ago@gurlcat
Your buyer doesn't understand what a "lot" is.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoI get the question 'Can you pack carefully', which gives me the opportunity to say 'With tender loving care!' My assumption is that the poor souls who ask this have gotten the horrible packing jobs I've gotten from sellers here in the past.
What taught me the lesson was back in the dark ages, I bid on a book which ended at 25 cents. The book arrived to me packed as if it cost 100 times that much. I was so impressed by that seller - they obviously packed each order as if it was their best order. I never forgot it.
cityslickercreations2004
·10 months agoThe buyer was trying to be very clear in exactly what was being offered in the listing before purchasing. I agree this buyer may have been disappointed in the past.
Your description is fine until " Please just write to me before paying, and tell me which items you want, and I will make it work. " I think that may what sparked a bit of doubt in the buyers mind.
I would just add the # of items included to the title and description. Better a question now, than after delivery.
I have seen some wild descriptions and titles on this site. Some of them make me shudder.
broto_64
·10 months agoIt's a simple question, you answered it, great job.
I did find this a bit out of place...
I get it, but that space is to describe the condition of the item(s).
gurlcat
OP10 months agoI get that, but in my listings the space to describe is called the Description.
And it is buried under other sellers' ads, whereas the Condition shows at the top of the page. I don't want buyers reading that and thinking there's nothing else to know.
broto_64
·10 months agoYou have a thousand characters to use in that space...
You ask if your listing is confusing...
Being asked to do something that goes against the natural flow certainly would qualify.
gurlcat
OP10 months ago🤣Really?
You know the buyer's question had nothing to do with condition.
linenandlaceltd
·10 months agoThis is why I always put READ DESC. at the start of my conditions section before continuing on with the condition information.
I try to make it as obvious as possible to emphasize to please read the description.
Some people don't anyway, regardless of what I do. But I think it helps somewhat.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoWhen I first saw that I thought it was funny and very much in place.
Another seller that I knew for years had in her listings something like: "The laws of physics decree that two objects cannot occupy the same space. Please allow room for yourself when looking at measurements".
Let's not take ourselves too seriously here.
adamcartwright
·10 months ago@chapeau-noir
Very true!
When I'm shopping here, I measure something in my own closet that fits me well and then compare that measurement to the listing.
historytimes
·10 months agoVery cute lot of Christmas treasures.
gurlcat
OP10 months agoAww thanks. There are much better lots out there. Mine's pretty "meh" by comparison.
jdbelt1960
·10 months agoI think the buyer was just clarifying he was buying the total lot of items. I have purchased items where I thought I was buying a lot and receive a few items. Not sure of your worries.
fern*wood
·10 months agoMaybe they had a bad experience with a seller that showed a bunch of stuff in their main photo and after they purchased the seller asked which one did they want.
Your listing was fine.
onlinecentral
·10 months agoI'm very confused, is everything in the pictures $52 or is it each picture of items is $52?
The buyer didn't recognize that this was not a Variation Listing. There was no menu choice for them to select a picture of merchandise. They are a newer buyer learning things.
eBay has chosen to hide the buyer's feedback scores from sellers. Sometimes I will substitute the buyers ID in this link to see their feedback number.
https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/BUYERSID?filter=feedback_page:All
gurlcat
OP10 months agoYou actually don't have to do all that. The buyer's name at the top of the message, even though it doesn't look like a hyperlink, it is. If you click it, you go straight to their profile. (Incidentally, this is definitely not a new buyer, LOL).
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redlinear
·10 months ago@gurlcat
I don't see the "costume". Is that included?
gurlcat
OP10 months agoThink: 'adjective,' not 'noun.' Like how I don't see a bucket here:
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redlinear
·10 months agoTypical...........
I thought I'd add a picture of a plastic bucket to that listing just for the fun of it.
Ran a quicky search just to make that price was in the ball park
Ugh....
gurlcat
OP10 months agoHuh, I figured bucket was qualifying 'bracket,' not 'headlight.'
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoYour buyer is confused - it's obvious that the briefest look at the rest of the photos matches the items very clearly shown in your gallery photo. But...since we sell to the world, it means we sell to all types, including the confused. Her question was fine, your answer was fine, but I don't think you need to outline it in your listings unless you'd like to do it just as a CYA.
nyr134
·10 months agoTrying to get into the questioner’s head…perhaps they took this sentence from your description out of the context in which it was written: Please just write to me before paying, and tell me which items you want, and I will make it work.
The questioner may have felt that each item pictured was being sold separately.
Your response clarified it perfectly. Unless this is a recurring point of confusion, no need to change anything.
kandf_vintage_finds
·10 months agoNothing wrong with providing a little clarity to prevent problems down the road.
Your buyer probably "got it" but was just making sure.
gurlcat
OP10 months agoI may start including a quick line in the description about the photos.
But I think if this buyer was just making sure, they would have written "Just making sure, is it $52 for ..... " (not "I am very confused"). 🤣
soh.maryl
·10 months agoHave to agree -- either someone who's been ripped off before, or else a very new buyer who can't believe her luck. You have some very nice pieces there. Years ago, one of the granddaughters liked to collect that kind of jewelry at thrifts and garage sales and would wear them to her middle school all the time. She had a black hooded coat and it was often adorned with several pieces like those.
meme6253
·10 months agoThe buyer is confused your listing is not.
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoThe source of your message has probably had some bad experiences on Ebay.
Your listing is fine, but probably some other seller's wasn't.
toomuchstuffagain35
·10 months agoTrue. Quite often the 'obvious' questions are due to prior bad experiences.
Much like the admonitions (pleas?) to 'please pack well'.
sin-n-dex
·10 months agoI got "does the stamp booklet contain stamps or are the stamps removed?"
Of course it contains stamps, if there are no stamps it's a pile of garbage.
The buyer in question bought a stamp booklet where the inside wasn't shown and all the stamps were removed, so what he got was the garbage packaging that should have been thrown away once the stamps were used. I do my best to photograph everything so there's no more questions like that.
C.
gurlcat
OP10 months agoThere ARE some sellers whose photos aren't of the actual pieces the buyer would receive, just jewelry piles that are supposedly "representative of what you would receive" (basically mystery lots). But those are pretty obvious because no 2 photos show any of the same things, and they're all in heaped piles, etc. Also those tend to be multi-quantity items, showing "__ available."
I always assumed mine look plenty cohesive enough, but this buyer's question really threw me off.
soh.maryl
·10 months agoYour listing is just fine as is. Very tempting.
mr.emk
·10 months agoYour listing clearly states in the title that it's a lot. It's fine the way it is. Best of luck on future sales.