Okay, So They Don't Teach Cursive Writing Anymore - Is Reading Comprehension Also Extinct?

[tiramisu41]

Yesterday, I had a prospective buyer inquire what pattern a piece of china was.  Title and description of the item?  "XYZ Maker ABC Pattern Bread and Butter Dish 6-1/4" 1930s Vintage"

Just received a message from another prospective buyer.   "What color is the top?"   Title and description of this one?    " ABC Maker Womens 3X Black Short Sleeve Sweater Knit Top"   All pix of the top featured in the listing?   Yeah, you guessed it:  Black.

I realize when people use the eBay mobile app that in order to see details they have to click on a link to the description, but what in heck are they seeing (or not) when the answer to the question they need to know is right in the title of the item?   Or, can people just no longer read or comprehend what they read?  Have things gotten THAT bad?

[tunicaslot]

You're more than welcome. Just wanted you to know - as many buyers don't read or can't find the description on their mobile phones. You asked a questioned - I answered - the color on my monitor is purple - it's not always they buyer's fault.

[annindallas]

It's frustrating to answer questions when the answer is in the title. It may help to understand that sometimes, the buyer may not be looking for a specific answer to their question.

They want to communicate. They want to know if they can trust you, if you like them. They are trying to find a way to touch base before they hit that "buy" button.

Problem was, you answered all the questions. There was nothing left to ask. You were too good a seller, so she had to look stupid.

[dtexley3]

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@tiramisu41 wrote:

Yesterday, I had a prospective buyer inquire what pattern a piece of china was.  Title and description of the item?  "XYZ Maker ABC Pattern Bread and Butter Dish 6-1/4" 1930s Vintage"

Just received a message from another prospective buyer.   "What color is the top?"   Title and description of this one?    " ABC Maker Womens 3X Black Short Sleeve Sweater Knit Top"   All pix of the top featured in the listing?   Yeah, you guessed it:  Black.

I realize when people use the eBay mobile app that in order to see details they have to click on a link to the description, but what in heck are they seeing (or not) when the answer to the question they need to know is right in the title of the item?   Or, can people just no longer read or comprehend what they read?  Have things gotten THAT bad?

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And on a mobile device they now see:

XYZ Maker ABC Pattern B....

ABC Maker Womens 3X Bl... 

Until they click on the listings that's likely all they see.  eBay thinks it's better to elipse the titles.

[tiramisu41]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

You're more than welcome. Just wanted you to know - as many buyers don't read or can't find the description on their mobile phones. You asked a questioned - I answered - the color on my monitor is purple - it's not always they buyer's fault.

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Not doubting that on your computer the color of the top may look different as not all monitors are calibrated the same.   Case in point, when I check the photos on my camera, my two computers, and my tablet the pix for the listing look black which is correct.

So when I  get a message simply saying:  "What color?"  and all parts of the title/description/item specifics/photos indicate it's "X" it makes you wonder what's the problem?   Is it eBay or something else?  🙂

[ersatz_sobriquet]

And then there's the lovely ebay catalog. Now that ebay is linking seller's listings they may link one seller who has a black one to another seller's listing who has a purple one to another seller who has a dark blue one, and on, and on...

[tiramisu41]

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@hollysfinds wrote:

She was flabbergasted !

That's when I told her that a lot of the schools are no longer teaching it.

A lot of people aren't aware that they aren't teaching it anymore.

Parents need to get in the loop & demand that it be brought back, imo.

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Yes, I agree @hollysfinds.  I was flabbergasted myself when I learned they are no longer teaching it in most/many schools.  Personally, I hated "penmanship class" when I was a kid, especially since *you had to write exactly a certain way* (and I refused to make my Q's using that weird looking "2" 😉  ) but I just can't believe it's been deemed a skill not worth learning or knowing how to do. 

Maybe there'd be a resurgence of interest if a person's last will and testament would only be valid and the estate's proceeds divided if it was hand-written.   😉

[pvcliff]

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@hollysfinds wrote:

Those are sad stories indeed.

I have one for you too.

The youth leader at our church sent a birthday card

to one of the kids in the youth group.

At the next meeting he brought the card with him & thanked her for the card.

She had written a note to him in the card,

& he brought the card with him because he didn't know what it said.

She asked him " What do you mean? "

He said he didn't know how to read cursive writing .

   this was a 17 yr. old

She was flabbergasted !

That's when I told her that a lot of the schools are no longer teaching it.

A lot of people aren't aware that they aren't teaching it anymore.

Parents need to get in the loop & demand that it be brought back, imo.

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I was unaware until about two months ago, when the topic came up twice in about 10 days. I was floored! We had to read "original" documents in both history and English when I was in high school in the 70's  (like letters written by Abraham Lincoln or Walt Whitman), so I can't imagine not learning cursive. 

[castlemagicmemories]

I'm speechless.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@hollysfinds wrote:

Those are sad stories indeed.

I have one for you too.

The youth leader at our church sent a birthday card

to one of the kids in the youth group.

At the next meeting he brought the card with him & thanked her for the card.

She had written a note to him in the card,

& he brought the card with him because he didn't know what it said.

She asked him " What do you mean? "

He said he didn't know how to read cursive writing .

   this was a 17 yr. old

She was flabbergasted !

That's when I told her that a lot of the schools are no longer teaching it.

A lot of people aren't aware that they aren't teaching it anymore.

Parents need to get in the loop & demand that it be brought back, imo.

Seriously, though, if you can read, period, cursive is not that much different, in my opinion, so as to render it unreadable.   

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[thatsallfolks]

Yes, they do teach reading comprehension, just as they always have. And just as always, some people are better at it than others.

[theposhmermaids]

This is a little bit off topic, but I hope it will be helpful. 

I sell clothing on a different platform, and another seller came up with a great idea on how to identify colors in a listing, since colors may look different on different computer screens.  She bought a box of 72 Crayola crayons---like we had in school.  She picks the crayon closest to the actual color and uses that name in the description, along with a description of what she is doing.  Sounds like a great idea, right? 

But to prove nothing is fool-proof, I tried this in several listings and had someone ask what color the items were in a different brand of crayons.  And yet another person asked if the crayons came with the top!

[tiramisu41]

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@theposhmermaids wrote:

This is a little bit off topic, but I hope it will be helpful. 

I sell clothing on a different platform, and another seller came up with a great idea on how to identify colors in a listing, since colors may look different on different computer screens.  She bought a box of 72 Crayola crayons---like we had in school.  She picks the crayon closest to the actual color and uses that name in the description, along with a description of what she is doing.  Sounds like a great idea, right? 

But to prove nothing is fool-proof, I tried this in several listings and had someone ask what color the items were in a different brand of crayons.  And yet another person asked if the crayons came with the top!

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D@mned if you do, d@mned if you don't, right @theposhmermaids?!     Seriously, if you tried it here, if you also mentioned the name of the Crayola color in your title/description, you'd probably get VERO-ed.  😉

[yuzuha]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

If it's the Sag Harbor top - the top does indeed look like a dark purple on my monitor and the close up is even more of a light purple. Could be people see that and wonder if the top is truely black or you used sell similar and forgot to change the color.

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I agree; it looks decidedly purple on my monitor and phone as well.  In this case, the buyer is doing the responsible thing and asking a question to verify the color before buying.

[berserkerplanet]

I have a box of 120 crayola crayon colors, and not a one of them has ever been anywhere close to the color of anything I tried to match them to. So far off that I figured it was safer to just go with multiple photos with different lighting and a verbal description, and gave up on the crayon idea.