What's with buyers who don't read?
2 times in the last 24 hours I've had potential buyers email me with questions asking me things that I clearly state in the listing descriptions. There's no confusion about it either, my descriptions are clear and concise.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe there's something wrong with our listing description blocks not being clearly shown to buyers.
Is anyone noticing this trend? Does anyone know why a person might not see the description and ask such obvious questions? Does it have to do with people seeing things on the mobile app? Did they change something again?
101 comments
animal-house-8
·1 year agoWell just happened again, just got left a Neutral feedback as buyer said item does not glow under UV light, sure glows nice in the pictures because as stated you need to use a 365nm UV light, buyer has no idea what that is but her black doesn't work on this, OMG, it's sometimes not that they don't read, there's an intelligence factor that comes into play.
animal-house-8
·1 year agoThey want you to make them an offer of 90% off.
moon_goddess_emporium
·1 year agoI had 4 like this just yesterday. Sneaking suspicion it was all the same person using different id's.
I blocked them all.
And when you have $1200 in a scammer's cc charge backs & NO ebay protection, that is what anyone would do.
johnrj1226
·1 year ago“You will catch more bees with honey†is an idiom that means it's easier to win people over by being kind and polite rather than being aggressive or demanding.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoThat trend has been going on since Hector was a pup.
Any time a shopper stops and asks a question about a listing the are at least interested - a good seller will see that as an opportunity to close a sale vs being a PITA = Pain In The _ _ _
youn2240
·1 year agoI think it has to do with buyers trying to gauge if what you are saying in the description is truthful. Or they just didn't see it. It has to do with past experiences when they bought an item that ended up being a bad buy from a lame seller. I've pretty much never had an issue with the sale with these types of customers. nor can I hold it against hem because they don't want to waste their time. Some buyers don't like how a lot of sellers have a stick up their *** about making a sale i would assume. It also shows the buyer you are attentive to your account and since you actually respond they may decide to purchase from you instead of the next seller. I think questions are a good thing even if they seem obvious.
gator08041971
·1 year agoThis thread will probably be locked soon, but something to bear in mind:
Many buyers shop with their phone. And a lot of information is hidden unless the buyer clicks to see more. Unlike the website version, the app version is minimalized in regards to what information you can see.
I look at my items via the app to see how they appear, and you cannot see the small condition description, nor the detailed listing description unless you tap/click into something else. Whereas the website version you just need to scroll.
I have taken to put anything ultra important into the item title, just in case of this scenario.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@gator08041971
Speaking of putting anything ultra important in the title...
I just sold an item with "STAIN" in the title.
A buyer messaged me asking if I would take $XX for the item. I responded that I would, but first wanted to be sure buyer had viewed the whole listing and understood the item was stained.
Buyer had not realized that, even with the info in the title (not to mention in the description and a number of photos).
So yes, @kelekt -- your idea is a good one.
kelekt
·1 year agowhen I pay my bills online I have to check a box (before completing payment) that I READ all the details / terms etc.... I have to check that box to complete the payment.
seems easy enough for Ebay to add that little box & make it mandatory to check that box before you are able to check out/complete payment..
something like: "I have read the full description and details about this item"
this would reduce at least some of the problems with returns and force buyers to take some responsibility in the process.
gizzme
·1 year agoDefinitely happening more often. I just had a buyer leave neutral feedback that stated "picture showed two bowls, so I thought that was what I was getting". Considering my auction heading said 2 Available, and the item specifics said 1 bowl under quantity, PLUS my seller notes said both AVAILABLE bowls are in excellent condition....PLUS my auction description said 2 bowls available, PLUS --when buyer went to check out she should have seen the quantity box and clearly put in a quantity of 1, it just makes you wonder how they manage to even maneuver through life. She even admitted in her feedback that she didn't read my auction. Ugh! Not at all sure why she felt compelled to leave neutral feedback when she stated the packing and the bowl were in excellent condition. Only recourse is to reply to her feedback and then block her.
UPDATE: I messaged the buyer and asked (nicely) if she would consider changing her feedback considering there were five mentions of the auction being for ONE bowl. She admitted it was entirely her mistake and did revise the feedback to positive. So - no need to block her and thanked her for her revision.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoAlways was excited that a potential customer asked me a question - its a signal they are interested in what they see and another opportunity to close the sale. Plus many folks use there cells to communicate and all that info you provided in your listing "ain't readily" shown on that small screen. When you think a prospective buyer is a PITA its time to hang up your selling spurs. Sold for 41+ years - taught me that..
animal-house-8
·1 year ago"Can you give me the measurements?" So just copy the measurements and send it to them, happens couple times a week and have yet anyone buy the item they inquired about. They are just fishing for a offer. Then I find that the people with a legitimate question will make a purchase most of the time.
gurlcat
·1 year agoBut if none of the ones who ask you things stated in your description ever actually buy from you, why bother copying and sending the info?
cardxcraft
·1 year agoThere's a glitch in the Android version of the eBay app: when you click on the description it rapidly bounces around and unable to read.
But, the truth is most likely people don't read descriptions all that much.
zenfre6
·1 year agoPeople use various technical reasons for why buyers do not read listings but unfortunately there is only one reason and that is people today do not have the patience or cognitive capacity to sit there and read a few sentences which is truly shocking. As for the excuse that the mobile phone app makes accessing the description more difficult due to there being an extra step or two, that just proves again how impatient, precious and self-entitled people have become.
How on earth can anyone spend hundreds on a used item that they have not read is beyond me. A used item can have lots and lots of unique details that the buyer needs to know. I had a listing for a phone and wrote in the main title 'PLEASE READ' and the buyer who purchased still did NOT read it!!!! OMG was this buyer blind? Was she just playing a game of Russian roulette and buying random items for the fun of it. Its unbelievable.
Buyers have an obligation to read the listing otherwise they cannot by definition return an item using the reason 'not as described'. Sellers can also edit certain aspects of the listing at any time and it is the responsibility of the buyer to ensure that they have the most up to date information about the item. Its absolutely ridiculous that a seller has to email the buyer before posting to check they have read it. Imagine going to the checkout at a supermarket with 100 items and being asked whether you have read the labels on each of the items 😂😂
dhbookds
·1 year agoBetter would be to put no size in the title but measurements in the Description, which you already do.
I would think alot of buyers would just skip over the listing .......
jelibred_drummer
·1 year agoI have also noticed this "annoying" trend for several months. It's true that many don't read your listings in their entirety. The other main reason I have found is that many shoppers use their phones for online surfing. Far too many of these shoppers simply don't scroll all the way thru and READ what you have described. The third reason is too many of them don't bother to really look at your pics/photos. It's a pain (sometimes) but try to be patient with these 'impatient" shoppers...it may well end up in a bid and/or a sale.
a_c_green
·1 year agoMy experience with many questions I receive is that they're looking at the photos all right, but the questions they're asking make it very obvious that they never found the description. At all.
They're scrolling down the listing using a mobile phone, and when they get to row after row of other sellers' listings, they assume (understandably) that they've found all there is to see of my listing, and never even make it down to the obscure one-line link that they have to click on in order to read my description.
umoraski
·1 year agoI just had a bad experience with a buyer who wanted a refund because the item didn't fit correctly. It was tag a Medium. When I measured the item, I noticed it did run small for a women's medium. So In the description, I put in Bold Letters that the item did run small and please read all measurements to insure proper fit. Well sure enough she did request a return because of a flaw in the sizing. I refused the return and of course she left me Horrible Feedback. Couldn't get feedback removed because it didn't go against Ebay Policy. So I refunded all her money plus shipping, also telling her to keep the item. I requested her to revise feedback which she did. What a Nightmare with this feedback. Next time I'll make sure to put "Runs Small" in the Header - at least the buyers will read that part.
femmefan1946
·1 year agoIt was tag a Medium....Next time I'll make sure to put "Runs Small" in the Header
Better would be to put no size in the title but measurements in the Description, which you already do.
My thought is that it would force the customer to read the Description.
I wish Item Specifics for clothing had bust/chest, waist, and hip measurements as Required.
mam98031
·1 year agoThat is a great idea. It would mean the buyer would need to look more closely at the listing. Or title it a Small/Medium. That way you are covered when a buyer is searching for the item.
Measurements in a clothing listings IMHO should always be there new or used items.
starrynightrecords
·1 year agoHi movieman630, I have the answer to your question. Basically ebay's phone app is omitting and not showing the all item description information. Viewed on the phone app, you can only see partial information. View the same listing on a desktop or laptop computer browser and 100% of the item description info is there. I'm Gen X so I work on an acutal desk with 2 imacs and a laptop and only use my phone for texts, calls or weather. That being said I'm quite sure all the young people are using their phone to buy. Sometimes I have people who want to return things because they didn't see any of the item description info that's there plain as day. I tell them to go to a real computer and check it out on a browser. All the info is there and they just didn't see it on the not so smart phone app. The problem with apps is when there's a coding issue, you can't get anyone to fix it.
baantiques
·1 year agoHAHAHA! They don't look at the pictures either.
mybigsale
·1 year agoOne possibility is the potential buyer is hoping the seller might respond with an offer. Especially if the item does not have a make offer option. Depending on the item and buyers "Feedback left for others" responding with the answer and an offer can be successful.
Why doesn't the buyer just ask for a lower price?
Why doesn't the buyer just make offer (if available)?
Why does the buyer ask me questions with already stated answers?
I don't pretend to understand my buyers. "Feedback left for others" usually tells me all I need to know about the buyer before I respond.
natoman777
·1 year ago@movieman630what i really think is happening is that many buyers don't take the time to read the description and the photos. I get questions about measurements at least 1 time a week and they are in the photos.
rugerskick
·1 year agoI think an additional potential reason to yours, is if they are on the phone app, I believe not all the info is displayed the same way as on the desktop, and they may not scroll to find the details or see all the photos.
rugerskick
·1 year agoWell, consider it a possible blessing. You may regard it as a potential trouble sign and pre-emptively decide to block them.
shado-x
·1 year agoIs anyone noticing this trend? Does anyone know why a person might not see the description and ask such obvious questions?
I think potential buyers are typing the question on their smart phone while crossing the street with a Tesla approaching at AI speed.
natoman777
·1 year agoMost buyers can't read...?
When I get captain obvious questions, I answer, then they don't buy. because the can't read my answer? 🤣
deltilogical
·1 year agoThere are so many ads now on our listings I don't blame the buyer for not finding the description.
movieman630
OP1 year agoThe ads have become a hindrance to good listing formatting. I understand the need for cross promotion but to hide the important information about an item among a sea of ads is just wrong and confusing to potential customers. And quite frankly "cheapens" the experience. It's the online equivalent of the "wanna buy a watch" stereotype.
I prefer a more upscale model where focus is on the item they clicked on. It's okay to put some ads at the bottom of the page but the most important info should be at the top and easily seen.
Especially when as sellers we are held to the highest standards and buyers can use the INAD excuse for just about anything, especially if that "description" info wasn't conveyed in the title or photo and put into the main text of the description block that the buyer didn't bother reading or couldn't find.
In short, I wish someone higher up at ebay would give the site back some dignity. This "fast food" menu look on our listing pages is very low brow. One would half imagine the headquarters of ebay in disrepair, with high weeds, a "yard full of junk" and piled up storage bins by the way they present the site these days.
And can we PLEASE get a "Dark Theme" site display option! Every other site can do this now, why can't ebay? I can't stand white background websites! It's part of my migraine trigger problem and with the amount of time I spend on site it's becoming quite painful.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@movieman630
Maybe you could ask about the "Dark theme" request at the eBay open coming up later this month.
mam98031
·1 year agoWe have a dark theme display option.
In the App, it is in your Settings.
On the Desktop, I forget where it is, likely in the settings too, but I'll tag someone that knows far more about this than I do.
@kyle@ebay
@devon@ebay
@elizabeth@ebay
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoThere is no Dark Theme in the settings anywhere on the desktop website, @mam98031 . Sorry, that's incorrect.
mam98031
·1 year agoI only use the desktop or my laptop. Maybe it was a test, I don't remember, but at one point I had the dark mode. I didn't particularly like it for a variety of reasons. But the good think is I tagged the people that know.
devon@ebay
Hey @mam98031! There is not an eBay official way to change the theme of the desktop from it's normal theme to a dark theme.
movieman630
OP1 year agoI don't use the app I use a desktop.
mam98031
·1 year agoApparently what I was involved with was a test. Odd as that was a year or two ago. Sorry I can't be of any further help on this subject. Devon said there isn't an option on Desktop at this time.
mam98031
·1 year ago@movieman630
I just wanted to share that we now have some feedback protections if the buyer doesn't read the listing and leaves a negative or neutral feedback that contradicts what was in the listing. Along with many other good things.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policies?id=4208
gone.c-33
·1 year agoBack when I worked retail 20 years ago, many customers would ask questions for which the answer was right there on the box/package/shelf/etc. I think some people just want human interaction.
I agree shopping in person might be better suited for those people but sometimes old habits die hard.
winterpalace25
·1 year agoMost people are shopping with their phones and the description can be hard to find.
I read on a forum that if you don't use formatting in your description, it appears in full. But if you use the formatting option, it is behind a click.
Also, I have noticed that with my phone the the condition box has disappeared and Condition just says new or used. This is why I prefer to do serious shopping on a laptop or desktop.
gurlcat
·1 year agoI used to get those alllll the time. Then a few years ago I made this my Condition statement right at the top of every listing
and I don't think I have had a single question about a Description-stated fact ever since then. My returns also dropped dramatically.
movieman630
OP1 year agoThe irony is that ebay wants the site to appear more streamlined and professional, they don't want cluttered photos or bad titles but they hide the description where most of the info should be about the item. If we have to put all the pertinent info into the title and photos the listings will look bad. I'm already sick of seeing titles with a million abbreviations in them. Not to mention the titles really don't give us enough space. I think it's high time for another 100 characters in the titles. I could put most important info in that title.
gurlcat
·1 year agoYou know, I'm all for abiding by policy but there are certain ones which can be a detriment to both sellers and buyers, and one of those is the policy against having any text in photos. I get why it's there; it's to prevent sellers violating other policies, hiding prohibited text from scubber bots. But I'm sorry, if there's any chance a buyer will be disappointed about something because they didn't read the description, and I can put it in a photo where I KNOW they'll see it, I'm putting it there.
And I agree that we should get more characters for titles. You can't even say sellers would just abuse it with keyword spamming because they already do it in the descriptions and item specifics anyway.
iart
·1 year agoI think it's people on their phones. They ave to scroll around to find the description and often think all you've posted is a photo.
The problem is that if you note that the info is in the description, they seem to get embarrassed that they missed it and don't buy.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoI didn't read any of the replies yet. But it's not that buyers don't know how to read, but rather they don't want to read. There's a big difference.
Having said that and I'd hate to say this but in the buyers defense, ebay has made it harder and harder and harder for buyer's to see the listing description. Just look at all the countless ads that are in the listing page: above, below, to the left, to the right, in between, etc etc. It's a jumbled up mess. A Where's Waldo page for finding the actual listing description. Even on a seller's store page ebay included that dumb pop up page that's an extra step for you to go see the actual listing page with description.
Hey ebay! Tell me you don't want buyers to see the listing description without actually saying you don't want buyers to see the listing description.
movieman630
OP1 year agoIt's not that people mean things literally, it's just sarcasm or hyperbole.
fbusoni
·1 year agoI wonder what is the ratio (a) of sales eBay loses to buyers who cannot find the information about a listing that they are looking for, to (b) sales that are generated because of intrusive and extraneous ads that clutter up the listing page.
I'd also love to know how many buyers decide to pop over to Amazon, never to return to eBay because this site is such a PITA to navigate.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoI'll add to that (c) eBay sales that resulted in a return or SNAD and never re-bought because the item doesn't fit the buyer and the size chart was totally lost in the item description that the buyer never saw. This is why I include the size chart as a photo in my listing.
reallynicestamps
·1 year ago@fbusoni
I'd also love to know how many buyers decide to pop over to Amazon, never to return to eBay because this site is such a PITA to navigate.
It's possible to find stuff on Amazon?
There's a lot of random stuff shown when I Search there too.
I looked for "yellow kitchen chairs" and among other things, got ads for rubber duckies and christmas lights. I admit I have bought both in the past, because everyone needs rubber duckies.
lux.ra_14
·1 year ago"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read." -- Mark Twain.
714ricki
·1 year agoA big reason is the mobile app where the item description is a bit hidden if you don't click the correct link.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoThe latest layout (layouts) for the past 4+ years has put the Written Description so far down the page that MOST don't know it's there, or don't know it's there Anymore (where it USED to be, right BELOW the pictures)..
Now, there's 'other items' 'sponsored items' 'like items you've looked at' and even Worse! if you sell 'auto parts, the 'fitment chart is ALSO above it.
Bottom line- it's the layout.
castleberrylane
·1 year agoIf you ask me this is the reason why people don't read descriptions--it's because they can't find them. An occasional buyer might not know to scroll all the way down through all the other stuff that Ebay shows before the actual description. I don't shop on my phone so don't know what the experience is like, but I know on my laptop it's hard to find descriptions. It puzzles me why the Ebay hides them like this. There might be fewer returns if the description was more prominent.
inhawaii
·1 year agoIt's always been like that.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoThat may be the reason @movieman630 . Take this listing: 204982541994
Plenty of HTML in that description even though it's just a few basic lines of text. But with any HTML at all - even bold or italics - eBay will hide the description on the app behind a read more link. Buyer will not see the description without clicking to the next screen to read it.
Because the description is pretty basic, my suggestion is to post it without the graphic and without any changes to font. Strip out all the HTML and use plain text. True it will be different visually, but it may resolve the issue of buyers asking questions that are already answered in the descriptions. Up to you how you want to address the issue.
movieman630
OP1 year agoI'm not giving up aesthetics. I literally just got finished updating my whole listing layout for every single item. It took me a better part of a year.
In my opinion ebay needs to go back to the old display and allow buyers to see the description in whole and close to the top. The ads for competitors listings should take a back seat to the primary function of a listing description.
fbusoni
·1 year agoThis is some of the gobbledygook that has to be processed / waded through for your listing description to display.
There is a reason eBay advises plain text. Google also prefers plain text.
 
a_c_green
·1 year agoThat's a very useful display, showing all the nested code, a large portion of which is completely redundant. Some of the duplication occurs in declaring the same thing over and over in successive lines, such as what's seen near the bottom of that screenshot, but the middle shows what looks like a very deep rabbit hole of duplicate calls enclosing more duplicate calls, all of which has to be digested by the browser when trying to display the visible text (wherever that is).
I've seen this in my own descriptions, and it comes from making repetitive editing changes, such as when using Sell Similar to set up a new listing by copying an older one, then going in and changing the text to suit your new item. While the text editor lets you delete old verbiage and write new stuff, it apparently does not remove all the tagging that surrounded your old content, but instead lets it pile up around the new material. It's a little like building your new house without removing the foundation of the old one.
I've noticed this more when editing my listings than when seeing them displayed later, because the eBay description editor is not very good at dealing with old or redundant code. In my case, it takes the form of large, weird gaps between paragraphs, or bulleted lists where the bullets themselves show up as two different sizes, or when pasted-in text causes the existing text around it to suddenly change size.
When goofy stuff like that starts to happen in an edit session, I know it's time to check the Show HTML box and do some manual weeding-out of the excessive, duplicative code that's been building up within the description. Once I get things down to a manageable level, my text will resume the expected appearance.
Unfortunately, this cleanup that I'm doing manually should really be done automatically by the editing software, but isn't. Nor is it something that anyone can do; it requires some knowledge of HTML coding to read it and see what's junk vs. what's relevant to the current document.
I would suggest that every now and then, you just have to make a fresh start with your description, rather than perpetually Sell-Similar-ing everything. 😉 Keep in mind that people aren't interested in your typography anyway; they just want to learn about your product in the quickest and most efficient manner possible.
a_c_green
·1 year agoQuestion (for anyone): Why do they do that? That is, what is so... dangerous, I assume, about having the HTML description on the current page, as opposed to hiding it behind a Read More link that's going to bring it up on the same device anyway?
I know some markup language commands can be more controllable than others, or more volatile than others, but is there not some way to at least filter the HTML text to determine whether it's benign enough to leave it in as part of the original listing?
lacemaker3
·1 year agoI don't use the eBay app on my phone, but it's hard to see the whole description for that item on a laptop as well. As others have mentioned, here is html code in the template that limits the description to a specified height, so there is a scroll bar in the description. But, it's actually very difficult to even see that there is a scroll bar, so there's no suggestion that there might be more to the description.
Here is what the description looks like to me. It's enclosed in a faint grey box (which I believe is part of the html code) and it doesn't give even a hint of a scroll bar on the right. (At this point, almost exactly half of the description is hidden.)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/204982541994
However, if I get my cursor over just the right spot on the right hand side, the scroll bar appears as if by magic:
and then I can scroll down to see the rest of the description. The light grey box stays exactly the same size. If the measurements or important details were below the area that shows up, the buyer has no way to know there might be more information available. And, the scroll bar has disappeared again, so there's no indication of how to get back to the first half of the description.
movieman630
OP1 year agoWOW that's poor design! Unbelievable. I don't know why they even need to make the description area scrollable. It should just display all the info put in by the seller. That's the most important information of a listing.
If sales are the key objective, then the description block is the KEY to securing a sale. If a potential buyer clicks on a listing it's because they want MORE info about that item. They aren't clicking to go down a rabbit hole of more ads for other items.
Ebay really needs to correct this. It's just such a bad sales design I can't even believe it's possible. And yet I've seen other peoples items with super long description areas that aren't limited in a scroll window. What's the difference in how they're listing?
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@movieman630,
"They" [eBay] didn't make it like that. The scroll bar is only there because of your template (which restricts the height of the area used for the description). eBay doesn't normally have scrollable descriptions.
This template of yours may be a hold-over from years back. When did you start using it?
movieman630
OP1 year agoI don't know. A lot of my listings have been around for years, however I end them and revise them just about yearly. Is that something they did a long time ago? I didn't think old listing formats would carry over on a "sell similar" function.
brightlightbookseller
·1 year agoThat's exactly what Sell Similar is good for, carrying over your formatting in the description and similar things like that. You should probably scrap your description field formatting and replace it with something simple. Our description fields have no formatting unless it's accidentally copied in from somewhere (which, to be fair, I know happens more often than I'd like, but I try to get rid of it).
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@movieman630
HTML source code
HTML content won't be displayed on the first page of your Item page on mobile. Since mobile buyers account for over 80% of traffic, consider minimizing your use of HTML as much as possible.
movieman630
OP1 year agoI don't know what you mean by don't use HTML. What is that and what does it mean? All I do is enter info into the description box.
a_c_green
·1 year ago@movieman630 : Hyper Text Markup Language. It's basically the hidden commands in your text description that give it its shape and form: fonts, size, color, formatting, paragraphs, links, etc.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoOften a buyer will send the same message to every seller selling a particular item in an effort to narrow their choices for that item.
They do not bother reading anything but the item name.
The mobile app is always a problem, but so are too many offers for the item.
a_c_green
·1 year agoThe mobile app is a huge problem. It's not only poorly written and formatted, but also its influence seems to be bleeding over to the desktop/laptop side, as seen in the idiotic revisions to the Messages page that eBay is now trying to implement, to make it look like a texting app (on a desktop???) for no apparent reason.
I recently got through a series of messages with an interested buyer (who did eventually buy the item) where it quickly became apparent that they didn't know there was a description in the listing. They thought it was just a title and a bunch of photos, followed by a series of ads for other listings and other sellers. Way down further was a link to the description that they had never found.
heckofagame
·1 year agoThe MBG does not require buyers to read anything.
lux.ra_14
·1 year agoBest way to handle it:
Thank them for inquiring, politely answer the question, and let them know you will package securely and ship promptly if they decide to purchase.
Worst way to handle it:
Get testy, and tell them the answer is already in the description, the item specifics, or wherever. Just answer the question, even if it's redundant.
mantle1951
·1 year agoMaybe they are waiting for you to make an offer to them when you answer their question.
bdmh-enterprises
·1 year agoBUYER ENGAGEMENT MAKES SALES! You should be happy to be getting dumb, easy to answer questions. A simple "yes it is, thanks for asking" is FAR more likely to sell your item than the buyer simply reading your description.
kath.layn
·1 year agoYep, I get them every so often. Just this week I had an ad up for 4 dinner plates. Title says 4 plates, Main photo shows 4 plates, all descriptions say 4 plates. Buyer asks “Is this for 4 plates?â€. I replied “Yesâ€. They bought the plates. What I wanted to reply was something snarky like “Hmmm, excellent question…what do YOU think?†But I opted for nice.
timzbiz
·1 year agoI call them bouncers. They message people (including ebay seller) all day long and hope for a bounce back reply. As soon as they get you to respond they will send another question and hope you bounce back and a conversation starts.
bennotbill
·1 year agoI've had several. It just takes me a few seconds to reply with........
Hi, from the item description "pasted here". Regards
It's all a necessary part of working with ebay's flaws.
fbusoni
·1 year agoPost-COVID, many people like to be spoon fed.
But eBay's listing page design could certainly use some improvements. Both desktop and app.
dhbookds
·1 year agoAgree about the scroll bar........had it not been mentioned, not sure I would have seen it, just because I don't normally see one in descriptions.......
But my pet theory is that some buyers just want to "make contact" with a seller before buying.......to make sure he is ??? alive? responsive? easy to work with? whatever.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoYes, it appears that this occurs more frequently. Some buyers may be uncertain about the seller, not the listings.
safan80
·1 year agomovieman630
OP1 year agoIf they're using stock photos for a "new" product sending pictures of the "actual" product is kind of ridiculous since they are most likely drawing from a mass quantity of the same item BRAND NEW.
If it's used items a stock photo might be necessary if they're drawing from a massive lot where the condition is consistent with the sample item. Taking a specific photo of each individual item is time consuming and redundant considering most buyers wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the one photographed and the one they receive.
A lot of my items fit in these two categories. It takes me hours upon hours to list and maintain my inventory. I can't re-photograph ever single item each and every time I sell one.
When someone asks me for specific photographs I politely tell them it's not possible, point out that I've sold many to other people with no complaints and urge them to buy with confidence based on the provided photograph and description. If they chose not to, that's on them.
I might add that those kinds of requests are very rare so losing those kinds of customers really wouldn't add up to a fraction of a percentage of my sales volume.
safan80
·1 year agomovieman630
OP1 year agoMakes me think I should put a disclaimer in my description that explains that I'm not a drop shipper. I stock all my items and mail them personally.
mam98031
·1 year agoIf you go this direction, which isn't a bad one. I wouldn't mention Drop Shipping, Just that you stock and ship your own items.
We know that buyers can sometimes be challenged to read our descriptions, so those that skim it might get stuck on that word DropShipper and back out of the listing thinking you are a drop shipper without reading the entire sentence.
buybuy42
·1 year agoBlock this User ID and this will no longer be an issue for you.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoIn a climate where buyers are in short supply, why would a smart seller block a potential buyer simply for asking a question even though the answer to the question is contained in the listing?
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoI concur and am unable to comprehend the rationale behind the adoption of this philosophy by numerous sellers.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@chevymontecarlo88 @soh.maryl
I'm actually mildly sympathetic to the idea of blocking a buyer for asking such a question.
The reason is that if the buyer is so negligent that they cannot bother to read the description, one must assume that there are other gaps in the buyers knowledge about what they are purchasing and that ultimately, there is at least an even chance that a seller will be left with an unhappy buyer, an INAD (because the buyer does not know how to manage a return request), and bad feedback.
We've all seen that scenario discussed here.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoI believe it depends on the seller, and I should have provided more context to what I posted. You, like myself, do not need or rely on eBay sales, and I have no problem with some people choosing who they want to do business with. The majority of users rely on sales and shouldn't discount someone messaging them or assume they'll behave in a certain way. JMO Engagement is a key component of sales and an opportunity to close the deal. One distinction between your approach and mine is that I derive pleasure from the involvement and challenge involved in negotiating deals. Over time, some of my most annoying buyers have become my best customers, and it is easy to miss how they communicate via messaging. Some users (clerks) prefer eBay to sell their items, while other users (sales persons) prefer to sell items on eBay through engagement. Both are perfectly fine, but I tend to roll my eyes when people complain about the lack of sales, but ignore someone asking a basic question.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoIMHO it sometimes has to do with the mobile app requiring the user to click a button to see the full description. It sometimes has to do with lazy people not bothering to read. It sometimes has to do with normal people simply overlooking something that is clearly in the description. (I have done that.)
It is hard to draw conclusions from a sample size of two.
All that aside ...
Your listing template forces me to scroll a scroll bar within the listing to see the entire description, rather than just scrolling the screen. That is a definitely not the case with 99% of the listings I look at and I found it irritating.
movieman630
OP1 year agoI wonder why ebay did that. It never used to work like that. I've seen peoples descriptions that were chapters long and I never had to scroll in their description block. It usually just displays. Did they recently change this?
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI do not think eBay did this. I think it is a function of the HTML inside the OP's listing template.
movieman630
OP1 year agoDo you know how I might remove this code? Has anyone else had experience with this in the description block?
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoYES. Ebay has been doing this to me for years now. I've been trying to figure it out for so long as I just gave up awhile ago. I feel that this deserves it's own thread. Do you use a 3rd party lister? If so, what is it? When I first noticed this I contacted ebay about this back then and not to my surprise they didn't know anything about it and just blamed the 3rd party lister. I looked thru the html for something that would cause this embedded scrollbar but found nothing. The 3rd party CS also told me the code shouldn't cause an embedded scrollbar.
But I also found and noticed a few interesting things about this. Not sure if it's still valid or behaves the same way now because it's been so long since I tinkered with this.
-Ebay didn't do this to all my listings, only selected ones which is still a significant amount. I'd say well over 50%. But pretty much all of my listings follow the same HTML code template. All I really change is the displayed text itself. The format and layout is exactly the same, yet ebay only does it to selected ones.
-When I would go to revise these listings and just cut and paste the exact same HTML code, sometimes that would fix and remove the scrollbar. Sometimes it didn't.
-Sometimes when my 3rd party imports a listing to ebay and it becomes live, the listing won't show the scrollbar. Then shortly after the scrollbar would suddenly appear on it's own in the listing when I revisit it or refresh the page.
-Even now when I click onto a listing that has the scrollbar, I notice when I'm scrolling to the description that the listing will NOT have the scrollbar for a split second then it will just pop in there as I'm scrolling down on the browser's scrollbar. For a listing that doesn't have the scrollbar, I'd scroll down and see the embedded scrollbar appear for a split second then remove itself as I scroll down the page. Not sure if this has to do with how some pages can load itself more slowly than usual.
-This last one is hazy as I don't 100% recall this happening. I think it used to do this before but I'm too lazy to try and replicate the issue. If you refresh the page over an over sometimes you'll see the listing have this embedded scrollbar and sometimes you won't. It might also differ depending on the device or browser you are using to view the listing page from.
starrynightrecords
·1 year agoAbsolutely correct. It's the mobile ebay phone app omitting most of the item description or another button on the phone app to view the full item description. Most buyers are on the phone app. Gen X people like myself with imacs and laptops view the listing on the browser and see 100% of the item description all there plain as day. I thought it was people too lazy to read too and then I discovered that it was the ebay phone app that was the problem.
jg.mason
·1 year agoSome people can't or won't (lazy?) try to figure things out for themselves. They have a question about the item and instead of looking at all the pictures and reading the description and item specifics they just fire off the question.