I am very surprised nobody responded to your inquiry. Seems to me a lot of sellers would have an opinion.
Measurements and the inconsistency of what is provided by sellers is my pet peeve. I am often amazed at the amount of info given by sellers who probably sell tons of pairs of jeans. Saw this one today...Title: 'paige jeans' Really? That's it? I think they are just looking for views. Put a rock bottom price on an item with virtually no upfront specifics and of course people are going to click. Size and inseam were not found til I clicked on the listing and scrolled to Item specifics. And even then I was not sure what the '27' Inseam reflected. Tag or Actual? 5 photos and not a single one of them shows the tag size.
Mind you, I am not a high volume seller...I'm not going to work my you know what off for $2 profit per pair. I'm not in this to make a living. It's really just a hobby. And I can get a little OCD over my listings.
In the TITLE for used jeans I almost always state (in very close to this order) and I didn't always do this...have pretty much settled into this method recently:
1. manufacturer,
2. style name,
3. tag waist and length (if provided by mfr),
(I often swap #2 and #3)
4. cut or style (straight, skinny, bootcut, ankle, legging)
5. more descriptive words (i.e. stretch),
6. measured waist and length (format: "Meas Wxx Lxx" to take up as little space as possible),
7. wash (i.e. dark, light, maybe with the wash "name" if I know it and/or it's "cute"),
8. front rise (if it is especially low or high).
Of course, often that does not all fit within the allowed length, especially when the mfr name is Adriano Goldschmied!!
In the item description within the body of the listing I list everything...going a little overboard...pretty much re-hashing all the specifics again...and then some. Because you are correct...PEOPLE DON'T READ. And if they didn't pay attention at the top of the listing, maybe they will pay attention down in the details.
99% of my items are pre-owned. When I do get my hands on a NWT pair of jeans, I will often state only the mfr size specifics and other information from the tags in my title. But I still include everything...tag and actual... in the details in a table format.
And also, I bet that even on the majority of NWT jeans, tag waist and length NEVER match up to actual. One reason being that nobody understands where each mfr takes the waist measurement.
As a buyer, I don't understand why a seller would even consider listing jeans without providing an ACTUAL INSEAM length. Being 5'11", inseam is EXTREMELY important to me. I've never in my life shortened a pair of anything or rolled them up because they were too long! Same for shorts...you cannot tell from a photo the length of the inseam. Some of us don't want everything hanging out and be able to 'sit like a lady'!! (And don't get me started on photos).
Also as a buyer, I (and others I presume) are often looking to purchase a pair of jeans identical to a pair they previously loved and so when they search they will reference the size on the tag of the currently owned pair.
So to sum up, I do my best to fit BOTH mfr TAG waist (and length if provided) AND ACTUAL measured waist and length in the title. If I have to leave something out, it's usually some of the descriptive terms that a buyer can usually determine by viewing the photos.
In Item Specifics (your question) I think the "Bottoms Size" value is meant to be what is SHOWN IN THE GARMENT. And because of its proximity to waist size when creating a listing, the "INSEAM" field should also be the TAG length, whether it is provided by the mfr as a length in inches or in descriptive terms (i.e. Long (L), Short (S)). But yesterday I realized there are a lot of people in your camp about it. So what to do....?
You mentioned "measuring 3x"...2 times now I have bought used jeans and I did not even realize they had been altered until I measured and discovered they were WAY off from the mfr. Looking closer I saw the alteration. It was very well-done. I was impressed.
So anyway, I came here today wondering if ebay ever provided any guidelines. If they have I would think somebody would have provided a link to those as a reply to your question. And judging by the number of questions on the boards, eBay needs to chime in with their intentions for the various item specifics fields.
I've rambled on enough. Thanks for the ear!
