Frustrating things I see as a buyer

[steelernation2007]

There's a lot of posts lately about how sales are down or very slow so far this year. So I'm going to offer some personal insight into the problems that bother me most, when I have bought an item or am considering buying something. I am mostly experienced with buying and selling collectibles, so my advice  pertains to that category. These are the things you want to avoid as a seller, in my opinion:

1. Vague open-ended descriptions of only one sentence, that say little about the item or the condition of it.   If it is a used collectible you need to be transparent about any defects or issues it may have. This prevents you from getting a SNAD later.

2. Using only one photo, a stock photo, or blurry poor quality cell phone photos. Also dark photos. It makes you look lazy as a seller and gives the look that you really don't care if your item sells or not. Ebay gives you 12 spots for photos, so make the most of them!

3. Charging ridiculously high shipping fees that are way higher than it actually costs to ship the item. This will turn off a LOT of buyers.

4. Copying and stealing the ad of another seller, word for word. Again, this is a lazy look, and also against Ebay rules.

5. When you sell an item, mark it as shipped, and then it sits at your house for 2-3 days. It satisfies the Ebay service metrics but drives your buyer crazy!

6. When you ship an item and don't include any tracking info at all. It's very annoying when I have to beg for the tracking from a seller. Then one time I find out my package ended up taking a long detour to Florida on it's way from NJ to PA. I had no idea what was going on until I was finally given the tracking after 4 days. 

7.  When you don't leave the buyer feedback after purchasing. It's a show of goodwill and starts the transaction off on the right foot. If you don't leave feedback how can you possibly expect to get it back?

8. When you pack a condition-sensitive item inside a flimsy plastic bag or mailing envelope. It's  a cheap-out on the shipping fee but sets you up to get a damaged item complaint.

9. Offering info that is inaccurate or poorly researched. An example- calling a vintage bottle Pre-Prohibition when it's actually post-1933. This can also set you up for a SNAD case. Some sellers intentionally call an item older than it is to get more money from it.

This is all I can think of at the moment. If others have more to add to this, feel free. I hope this helps.

[upgradedendmills]

Thanks for your insight and ideas. Helpful tips and some real common sense woven in. I sincerely appreciate all my customers and do everything I can to foster a long term relationship with them. However, it seems like that can be a one way street at times. The longer I do this, the more demanding and entitled some customers seem to be getting.  It's a business and many sellers are deeply invested in it and surely overworked.

     Depending on the item listed, I feel that some buyers should have more realistic expectations as to what a seller can actually do. Lots of good sellers and buyers and too many bad sellers and buyers. It's not a war or shouldn't be.

[pburn]

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@steelernation2007 wrote:

This is all I can think of at the moment. If others have more to add to this, feel free. I hope this helps.

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Well, I have one that may sound kind of odd, but it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I'm not sure sellers could find any way around it, but here goes:

This evening, I was searching for a specific DVD title and found it at a good price. The seller was offering a "Buy 2, get 1 free" discount, so I clicked "See all eligible items." 

There were 51,279 items in the offer. 

If any seller thinks a buyer is going to go through 268 pages of DVDs just to take advantage of that deal, well, at least I'm not one of them.

I may still buy the DVD I was originally looking for because it's somewhat hard to come by, but I'm sure not going to look through all those other 51,278 listings to find two more DVDs to buy. If I had some other specific titles in mind, I'd look for those and buy them if they were there, but I don't. So the seller loses out on the sale of a second DVD, and I lose out on the seller's promo.

[mtgraves7984]

Well, a great list indeed!

I'd venture to say that you'd be satisfied shopping with me!

Check my (recently sold) listing for a Four Roses Whiskey bottle, Fall, 1933... advertised "as Prohibition was ending." The buyer received every single thing on your checklist (so far) and the sale is almost complete... awaiting your #7. (I leave feedback after the buyer does.)

Thanks for the reminder to all, and I appreciate the pat on the back!

[reallyhardtofind]

I agree with most of your points. Except the feedback part. 90% of buyers don't leave it anyway and as a seller receiving feedback is more important than leaving it for buyers as its adds to the sellers resume. Also since ebays new "catalogue"  other sellers can take what ever they want from other sellers listings. Yes I agree its "lazy", but it happens just like lazy packing and other practices you've mentioned which bring online shopping down. Also it was a sad day when ebay started charging 10% on postage fees too which in turn inflates quoted postage prices. 

[moldy5]

Amazing list of what we sellers need to fix. Thanks for this post. I am a collectibles seller, Thought what I was doing was right. Thanks for directing me elsewhere.    Any more suggestions welcome. NOT

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Why do you think adding to your resume is more important than doing something that makes a buyer happy? Why is it a contest? It’s not like you can only have one or the other.

i suspect if you were to ask your buyers they would tell you it’s more important to them to get feedback rather than to be considered one more notch on your belt. Remember this post was about what buyers like to see. It’s not all about the seller.

[reallyhardtofind]

That's totally off the point of what I was trying to make (notch in the belt, pfft) your words not mine!. Its about sellers receiving feedback which makes their selling history more detailed which improves buyer confidence. With ebay's current feedback system there's no such thing as a bad buyer as its all positive.

[turquoisetulips · Accepted solution]

Here's one more . Sellers that write in their listings '' If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask ''  and then if you need to ask a questions  all you get back are crickets chirping .. Tulips 

[reallynicestamps]

#3-- One of the useful effects of Free Shipping is that the buyer does not know how much of the price is actually the cost of shipping.

And most buyers frankly have no idea what shipping actually costs.

I ship from Canada. The cheapest parcel rate is for items under200grams (less than 1/2 lb) at $7.29, but if I want it Tracked that rises to$13.59.

Which is more attractive a $25 item with $13.59 shipping or a $39.95 item with Free Shipping?  (There is not right or wrong answer to this question. )

#5-- Guilty.  I wrap and stamp my packages for shipping the next business day, but eBay does not want to know that Canada Post does not accept shipments on weekends.

And again, most buyers know little about shipping and don't understand why their 6pm Friday purchase was not mailed (actually accepted by Canada Post) until Monday morning. US sellers have similar tales.

But I wish I could ship cheaper (25c tracking - glorious!)  and sooner. 

Your list would be a sensible part of new seller training-- and has a few lessons for old dogs too.

[inhawaii]

I agree with most everything you said except for the part about shipping. 

If i'm buying a widget that i'm willing to spend $100 on, what do i care if the widget is  $90 with $10 shipping or if the widget is $10 with $90 shipping?

Let's say the actual shipping on a widget is $10, which would you rather buy?

A) $50 widget + $40 ridiculously high shipping 

B) $90 widget + $10 actual shipping

Call me crazy but I'll take the "ridiculously high" shipping every time. 

[steelernation2007]

I understand what you are saying. I am both a buyer and a seller so I can see it from both sides. I only expect some simple things and for some sellers that seems to be too difficult. For example yet again today I'm apparently dealing with a seller who marks an item shipped and leaves it sit at their house. No tracking has ever been added. This is getting old.

[steelernation2007]

I saw that ad for the Four Roses bottle and it was a  nice looking bottle. Well done!  I'm selling one also but it's not as old.

[steelernation2007]

Your attitude suggests you might be part of the problem? The fact that you are offended by the list really tells a lot. Good luck anyhow.

[pburn]

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@steelernation2007 wrote:

I understand what you are saying. I am both a buyer and a seller so I can see it from both sides. I only expect some simple things and for some sellers that seems to be too difficult. For example yet again today I'm apparently dealing with a seller who marks an item shipped and leaves it sit at their house. No tracking has ever been added. This is getting old.

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@steelernation2007 

Are you sure the seller is marking the item shipped? This has been discussed repeatedly in the community.

When a seller prints a label, eBay sends an email telling the buyer "your item is being shipped," when it isn't. All that has happened to trigger that email is the printing of a label/uploading of tracking number. The USPS tracking will say something like maybe "pre-shipping notice" or whatever.

Both buyers and sellers have complained that this email is misleading. I even went around with an eBay staff member about the wording, and he (of course) defended it, because, well, yes, the item was being shipped--eventually. Really bad decision on eBay's part to send that email to buyers, IMO.

So, what happens is a seller gets notice of a sale and prints a label. The buyer gets the "it's being shipped" email, and rightly expects that to mean it's in the hands of the carrier, even though it isn't. Then the seller, as is his/her right, mails the item within the handling time listed on the item listing. The buyer sees that the seller hasn't ACTUALLY shipped the item for (we'll say) two more days. Then the buyer is understandably upset . . .

Are you sure that's not what you're seeing?