eBay

goldguy22k · ‎10-22-2018

OK, so I am using what could be considered an inflammatory style in the title, but am looking for rational discussion as I am pointing out issues and places where there could be improvement. There is no "quick fix" solution - just things buyers should do or do better. So offering this up as insight, from a buyer's perspective. So yeah, if you want to look at my feedback or go ahead and make assumptions or attacks, I guess that is your "right." Sigh. But I am just offering insight in hopes a few other sellers might learn from my experience as a buyer.

Recently, I needed to replace an item that I use frequently. So being an ebay seller too, I came here looking to buy. I had in my mind an amount I was willing to pay and searched out recent sales and confirmed I was in the right ball park. Adjusted my amount a bit.

So I entered my search criteria and ebay's algorithm returned 53 items. On closer inspection 19 items (36%! ) were irrelevant. (....and some say there is "throttling?" ) The irrelevant items were items associated with what I wanted but not the exact item. (I used an exact name/info search) So down to 34 listing to consider.

Looking further, about half had prices that were 50% or more higher than the average of recent sales and most of these were BIN with no BO associated. So I looked at the remaining 17 closely. This is where the "fun" begins.

Now what follows is included should anyone wish to understand what a buyer "sees" and experiences.

So the fun is that HALF of the listings were grossly deficient! I am looking at used items and:

seller posts a stock photo of a new item?
sellers posted 1-2 pictures that are blurry and don't show the condition.
sellers have zero or scant description - perhaps relying on the LONG ebay included "catalog" information?
Listing unclear as to what essential items were included.
sellers failing to follow ebay policy of disclosing all flaws, etc.
Almost none reported on the history of the item

It sure appears as though the scant info provided would leave one WIDE opening to claims of NAD since descriptions are weak. Yeah, I know, it doesn't matter in a SNAD case, buyer always wins, but is this a reason to not show the condition or an adequate description? Is this what sellers have defaulted to under the ebay policy? Is this acceptable?

So I ended up sending out 7 emails requesting specific information, additional pictures, etc. I am happy to report that I got 3 replies and those were fast and responsive sellers. {Wish I could have rewarded each of those three with a sale. } But three others - nadda. One seller promised to provide pictures the next day and failed to follow through.

One of these "no reply" sellers had their listings sell for well less than I would have paid. I guess I should have done what most would do, buy cheap and file a SNAD if I was disappointed. But sigh, I have a conscience and just don't work like that.

Oh and there was one seller, with just 3 feedback, who listed scant info and a stock photo. (That in a category known to be trolled by scammer.) Sure looked like a potential scam case waiting to happen.

Then of course I had to go in and look at feedback scores of sellers. One with 95% FB most would have passed by, but it was a low volume seller with a Neg from ONE remorse buyer. Then there was the seller with 1,000s of FB & a rating under 98% and hundreds of Negs for INR & inappropriate behavior (pass).

So in the end, I saw an item that was in great shape but missing a few essential pictures. Got a FAST reply from the seller with extra info and pics. Had a few more email exchanges and ended up buying from a responsive and helpful seller! YEAH! They do exist!

OK, so someone is going to retort - "Hey, you got your item and paid what you want, what is there to complain about!" That is NOT the point of this post.

The point is that in doing what was needed to insure I avoided a "case" (doing the DD noted on these forums) I spent over 3-hours in the buying process! So part of the point is: what other buyer is going to spend that time and effort?

So it is pretty easy to see how disputes arise and how a casual buyer might easily get into trouble. Most of which appears to be avoidable by better listing practices, being responsive to buyers, etc.

Now this is generally my experience when I go looking for used items on ebay. It is time consuming and frustrating and I can see why it might turn off other buyers.

Maybe ebay could create a peer review panel of experts to coach sellers when these kinds of deficiencies occur? But less than stellar selling practices appear to be wide-spread.

I dunno - all fwiw!

OK, now flame away with the personal attacks that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sigh

jason_incognito · ‎10-23-2018

@goldguy22k wrote:
@auctionpet wrote:
You had me, until you stated this.....

Almost none reported on the history of the item

Most items posted here, sellers don't know the history of, if your referring to prior ownership. A seller isn't required to disclose where they purchased the item, nor would it necessarily help in selling the item. I'm not about to reveal the source of my items, if I'm the longtime original owner of an item I may state this, if this is what you mean by history. If you mean how an item is actually relevant in history, a buyer looking for the item would likely already know this. I've seen listings where the seller gives a history lesson about the item, which they obviously stole from Wikipedia or another source, when all I want are the item facts/condition, which they tend to omit.

Looking further, about half had prices that were 50% or more higher than the average of recent sales and most of these were BIN with no BO associated.

Unless items are exactly identical, incuding condition. You shouldn't expect all prices to be identical. Often those that sold cheaply are from sellers who don't care about getting the true worth of the item or the item is in less than desirable condition or missing components. You also need to be sure your including shipping cost when evaluating prices. I price my items based on their worth/condition, I don't price them higher or lower because of another sellers sale price, I don't have time to review every single item that sold and evaluate their photos and description, if they even bothered to provide one. Granted, there are many sellers that dramatically overprice their items and way too many claiming their Rare or Hard to Find, which is quite comical when your see plenty of them listed!

No doubt, there are plenty of sellers whose quality of listings and photos bring down the overall appeal of wanting to buy here. Since this isn't a vetted site, with the doors open to anyone to sell, there's not much that can be done to change this, nor can I imagine ebay wants to, as they want as many sales as possible.

OK, I am with you! I'll add a bit to clarify what I did, if that helps in understanding the frustration and desire to see things changed.

OK, as far as history goes, I think it is important to have some idea as to whether the seller is listing an item they bought new or inherited or if it is from a third party source. No one is asking anyone to reveale their sourcing information in a listing, just indicate what you know of the history: I owned it, it was my relative's item, I got it from a third party source. All of that is helpful to a seller when determining condition, etc. and making a buying decision.

As far as identical items goes..... In my example, YES! All of the items were EXACTLY indentical! The search terms I used were specfic and focused (manufacturer, brand, model, etc.). So yes, it was an apples to apples comparison. Sure there were essential bits that some included and others did not, but that was not what appeared to drive the division in price. Just 17 of the 34 listings of apples to apples had prices that were 50% higher. Since there were plenty of nice, great condition items in the lower tier, not sure why I'd pay the premium, so I started there. Perhaps there is a quality difference in service or something else, and if that is the case then something needs to chage (or I need an education) so that the distinction can be made.

I did however, end up buying from a seller who intially had a "deficient" listing - missing a few essentail pictures. But because that seller provided the pics fast and was responsive to other questions, etc., that seller won my vote of dollars. So in the end, I got a good quality item, but was willing to pay a "premium" over the "average price" in that lower tier. But in no way did I pay anywhere near that 50% premium that half of the sellers asked for.

On price - when ebay shopping, I consider the "out the door" price of purchases. Which often means that one has to create a spreadsheet to keep track of cost (price, shipping & delivery times), so that one is evaluating total cost across the board. Which is better, one dudes price of $70 and $100 S&H or another dudes price of $170 with free shipping! ? LOL!

I can tell you that when it is "free" shipping, that seller will do everything possible to lower the shipping costs.... Fed Ex smart post? sure! When I pay for it? Priority shipping offers free boxes!

"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything" Colin Kaepernick the new face of NIKE

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-23-2018

I didn't even start posting until I read that buyers want something for nothing. They want primo service for bargain basement prices and deserve what they get.

The corollary is that some sellers want to give thrift store service but charge Neiman Marcus prices.

It was not intended to diss all sellers but more to point out that there are unreasonable people on both sides and nobody deserves bad service regardless of what they pay.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

I stated that, It is sad that the OP fully expected to be flamed for what he said. That refers to the following taken directly from the OP.

So offering this up as insight, from a buyer's perspective. So yeah, if you want to look at my feedback or go ahead and make assumptions or attacks, I guess that is your "right." Sigh. But I am just offering insight in hopes a few other sellers might learn from my experience as a buyer.

OK, now flame away with the personal attacks that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sigh

My apologies to all who have been offended by this and other posts as discouraging anyone was never intended.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
I didn't even start posting until I read that buyers want something for nothing. They want primo service for bargain basement prices and deserve what they get.

The corollary is that some sellers want to give thrift store service but charge Neiman Marcus prices.

It was not intended to diss all sellers but more to point out that there are unreasonable people on both sides and nobody deserves bad service regardless of what they pay.

Exactly.

lunalapin1912 · ‎10-23-2018

@bubbleman2010 wrote:
Most folks come to ebay shopping for champagne on a beer budget and expect world class service and thats just not going to happen....

And most folks come to Ebay to sell trash at treasure prices and conceal flaws, and that's why the SNADS are such a huge problem.

jason_incognito · ‎10-23-2018

I don't think it's so much that they are concealing flaws. I just think they make as much effort to check the item they are selling as they take the effort to write a description ot respond to questions.

"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything" Colin Kaepernick the new face of NIKE

lunalapin1912 · ‎10-23-2018

Poor listings can be a treasure. I once saw a listing for what seemed to be two cat plates. It was $9.99 with $12.99 shipping. A bit pricy for two plates that were probably very small. I really really loved the plates so I bid and won it. Next week, two large heavy boxes arrived. Each box contained 12 different plates. The seller was selling two complete series of plates from Franklin Mint, but hadn't put it in the listing. They put nothing in the listing. So, I have a huge collection of beautiful cat plates which cost me less than the shipping. (It was over $50 to ship the two boxes)

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

That's true, they can go either way.

So glad you had such a great surprise, enjoy!

missjen831 · ‎10-23-2018

@lunalapin1912 wrote:
Poor listings can be a treasure. I once saw a listing for what seemed to be two cat plates. It was $9.99 with $12.99 shipping. A bit pricy for two plates that were probably very small. I really really loved the plates so I bid and won it. Next week, two large heavy boxes arrived. Each box contained 12 different plates. The seller was selling two complete series of plates from Franklin Mint, but hadn't put it in the listing. They put nothing in the listing. So, I have a huge collection of beautiful cat plates which cost me less than the shipping. (It was over $50 to ship the two boxes)

Agreed. I’ve found some highly coveted vintage Sanrio pieces & won the auctions for a low price because the listings sucked and the pictures were dark and blurry. One of them, I found by using a simple search term. It was a lot of 3 and you would have never known that one of them was highly coveted unless you looked at all the pictures. The seller focused on the larger widget. I didn’t notice the one I wanted until I enlarged the pictures. I couldn’t tell the condition of it either but took my chances and it paid off.

One life is all we have to live
Love is all we have to give

**Formerly known as MissJen316**

tunicaslot · ‎10-23-2018

Easy solution - free returns mandatory - just like Amazon .Now the good sellers would then leave in droves and the bad sellers will either get kicked off or quit because they can't afford all the returns.

Many here seem to forget - many of these listings are put up using the mobile app - like Mercari, Posh and other sites - the app asks for the bare minimum. Sellers don't know to add more and often times can't.

Buyers want to change Ebay so they are satisfied - sellers feel there are too many restrictions and want less - it's a no win situation. For all it's flaws - Ebay has made changes and back stepped on others due to both buyers and sellers speaking out. I don't see that on any other platform I sell on.

Add to that - there are umpteen venues to make purchases on - and I've tried to tell those with a high rate of SNADs that they may be best looking elsewhere - but they refuse - despite the fact that these collector groups are all over the net and sellers are abundant - they know exactly how to describe as they are collectors themselves and these people would be much more satisfied knowing they are buying from someone who know what they are talking about. If you don't help yourself - then often times a buyer is the problem.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
I don't think it's so much that they are concealing flaws. I just think they make as much effort to check the item they are selling as they take the effort to write a description ot respond to questions.

Yes, effort may not be made, but sadly it may be put down to the buyer's fault no matter what the situation is, and the recommendation is don't buy here~but that is why the MBG is here. Telling buyers to buy elsewhere is sure to have a positive effect on sales! Sellers can also go elsewhere but may hold on, blaming the buyer and Ebay.

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎10-23-2018

I read on here all the time I can't find what I'm looking for anymore, all my favorite sellers are gone, can't find a bargain...yada yada. If you look at it from a seller's POV there's little reward in back busting for a few bucks, not going to happen anymore, even new sellers are getting smart to that after a few sales. Sellers leave or aren't offering their best items here anymore because of too much complaining after the sale trying to get a partial refund and similar situations on hard to find and vintage items, and must be millions of false snads that are truly remorse, but let that seller eat the postage. We're sick of the unlevel playing field. My listings have often 12 pictures and extensive descriptions and then half the questions are--What are the measurements? when it is right in the description. Then there's the trying to save a few bucks on purchasing more than one item, which ebay has made very complicated for a seller to set up, had to say it again this morning, sorry...one of the items you were interested in has sold. Frankly I don't mind saying that. Gives the buyer the incentive to stop always trying to get the price down, there's a good chance you're going to miss out on the item. Now I just make sure I price all my listings on the middle to higher end, leaves the problematic buyers for some other seller to deal with, and there's never any room for another dealer, no meat on the bone ever. Now I get for the most part buyers that aren't worried about saving a buck here and there, and my sales are so much smoother and no problems after the sale.

tunicaslot · ‎10-23-2018

You can address me - when referring to something I've said. Going elsewhere may be in the best interest of a buyer who is dissatisfied with purchases here. I've told you before - there is no reason to put yourself thru bad experiences. If a seller is indeed not discribing things correctly causing dissatisfied buyers - sales are going to dry up anyway as that buyer may go elsewhere in the future.

People have to do what's in their best interest - period.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
I can tell you that it used to be that buying glass I'd get 60% or 70% boxes filled with peanuts. Now it might be 10%......

And that 10% may not be adequate.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-23-2018

@tunicaslot wrote:
You can address me - when referring to something I've said. Going elsewhere may be in the best interest of a buyer who is dissatisfied with purchases here. I've told you before - there is no reason to put yourself thru bad experiences. If a seller is indeed not discribing things correctly causing dissatisfied buyers - sales are going to dry up anyway as that buyer may go elsewhere in the future.

People have to do what's in their best interest - period.

I understand but the decision is still mine to make. Many are still here after twenty years.

No disrespect intended. You did, after all, tell me you were not going to do this "back and forth" but then continued posting to me for some reason. I took what you said seriously and stopped the back and forth by responding to other posts and not yours. You were offended when I simply explained why I said something~as if I am not allowed to do so. That is your right but I have no desire to offend you any further. That's all.