A message for those who sell video games

[steelernation2007]

It's unfortunate I have to make a post about something that should be common sense. But I see countless ads for pre-owned video games on Ebay (many listed as rare or vhtf), and many of the sellers do not take the extra few minutes to photograph the bottom of the discs. This is the most important part of the game package! No one wants to drop a bunch of money on a game only to find out it has scratches. And most of the time, when I send a message asking for a photo of the disc surface, I get no response. Sellers with half-baked ads and customer service like this do not give me confidence in buying from them.

[coolections]

Sounds like you are a smart buyer. All you can do is keep hitting the back button what you see an ad for something you are not sure about.

[jameshen1]

While I agree with you and you give good advice, I doubt many video game sellers frequent the boards.  So I don't think many of the people it is intended for will see your post.

All you can do is hit the back button, or contact the seller and ask for the pictures of the bottom of the discs.  Hopefully they will provide them.  If not, hit the back button again.

[iart]

I understand buyers want a certain game and expect it at a certain time, but cost seems to be your major concern. So then, returns or refunds are options for Not as Described or Not Working.

Ebay makes it very easy for buyers to get their money back when they aren't satisfied. It's a minor hassle - even when the seller doesn't cooperate.

[steelernation2007]

You're right. The people that need to see this post probably won't. But it helped to vent. The sellers who don't post proper pictures will not get my business. Competition is tight on Ebay for sales, you'd think that sellers would want to do anything they can to get an edge. But not everyone thinks like me. I am a seller btw. .

[countrickter]

Taking pictures of the bottom of the disc can sometime be misleading. Some disc look better than the eye with a photo and other disc look worse in photo.That is why you dont see disc sellers do it often.

The only way is to make sure you dont get beat is to see if the seller has returns set up for the listing. Chances are if they do...they could be more legit than the guys that offer no returns. I know it seems like a simple thing to do...take a pic of the disc... But when you are taking pictures and attempting to list hundreds of games, it becomes difficult to get pics of the disc that show accurate representation of the disc. .Grab a scratched disc and grab a disc that is in great condition, if you have one handy. Take pics of both disc and you will see what I mean.

and always remember if you get a disc that doesnt match what the seller says in the listing, return it. ebay will have your back. and leave a comment for the seller so other know that you had an issue. Not every eBay seller is bad.

[shado-x]

many of the sellers do not take the extra few minutes to photograph the bottom of the discs

I always do.  It's a difficult process for many sellers, but I recently bought a camera that allows numerous quick picture loading with accurate lighting so that I can pick and choose the best (wish I could find out how to get MS-DOS to read annoying THM thumbnail files).  Other sellers try it but it is difficult to show the disc wear based on poor lighting angles, slow camera loading, blurry results, etc.  If you ask for a seller for a photo for anything other than what is listed, I can give you 25 reasons why you will be ignored though.

See you during Q4!

[katzrul15]

@steelernation2007 

We mostly sell new/sealed and we get so many pix requests and we have already taken a picture of every side, angle to show the factory wrap is intact, not torn, etc.  

I do answer questions, but if I have taken 10-12 pix from every angle of a new/sealed item and have 100% FB that states we regularly exceed expectations, would buy from again, yadda yadda.....   When we sell used items, we try to take pix of everything from the booklet to the inserts to the disc/both sides.  Still not enough for some Buyers and honestly, I would prefer they buy from someone else.  Our items are tested and stated as so.  There are some things you should just buy live if 10+ pix don't get it done for a Buyer.  

We recently sold a new/sealed Paper Mario, 1000 Year Door original release game.  The guy who bought it had 1 question - better close up of the UPC.  We gladly obliged, although I could easily read it moused over.  He immediately purchased and sent a nice email after delivery- people are so used to being scammed, he was certain the game was not legit.  It was.

While pix are great, I think too you have to look at the Seller's profile, years selling here, Feedback, etc.  

Look for Sellers who offer free returns.  No questions asked.  HV games, we will make you sign at delivery whether e-Bay requires it or not.   Because there are Buyers who are buying to re-sell, who are not legit too.  😉

[countrickter]

whats the name of this camera. I need it...lol

[yuzuha]

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@countrickter wrote:

Taking pictures of the bottom of the disc can sometime be misleading. Some disc look better than the eye with a photo and other disc look worse in photo.That is why you dont see disc sellers do it often.

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Yep. I have some games in my personal collection that really don't look great at all when it comes to marks, scuffs, etc., but they play just fine because they're all just surface scuffs.

[singular-source]

I ALWAYS take pictures of the readable side of discs.  It is super important.  I found a $150 dvd box set the other day, but the DVDs were absolutely destroyed on the readable side.  Pass...

[alicioake]

I always try to get a good picture of the disc surface because dealing with returns is no fun. I have been scammed twice though so far, I believe... sadly, my very first video game sale was a blatant "switcheroo" ... still refunded the money but kind of made me mad. I've come up with my own system of making sure it doesn't happen again though. 😉

[bikeotaku]

On PS1 games and discs that aren't silver it has no purpose.

On normal silver discs, superficial marks still aren't picked up in images well, even if you have glare hitting the surface with bright lighting surrounding the area. I still pick and choose when to picture the back of the disc, but superficial scratches on almost any surface are almost always hidden / partially hidden in image and something best viewed with your eyes only.

A good example is white gloss, nearly impossible to capture any superficial marks with a camera.

[px_455]

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@steelernation2007 wrote:

You're right. The people that need to see this post probably won't. But it helped to vent. The sellers who don't post proper pictures will not get my business. Competition is tight on Ebay for sales, you'd think that sellers would want to do anything they can to get an edge. But not everyone thinks like me. I am a seller btw. .

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I'd be willing to imagine those same sellers come here to voice their issues with slow sales and how the algorithm is "throttling" their exposure.

[mooma-3005]

Totally agree. Its also not hard to take the picture of the label while holding it. I cringe when I see it placed on something label up.