General Forum

 Hi.  The thread about how to mail cards inspired me to post the eBay rant I've been thinking of posting for awhile.  There are things sellers do that really drive me nuts. Please don't do them.  Please. I sell a bit myself, by the way, and I always follow my own rules.  Feel free to add, disagree, or scold me at will.  Here some of my rules:

1.  Take a decent, close up picture of the cards. Your picture of a stack of cards is useless. Your picture of 50 cards spread on your bed is useless. You get 12 free pictures.  Take 5 minutes to give me pictures of 48 cards.  Please.

2.  List the card numbers. I know my collection well, but don't have every one memorized by sight.  Give me a list of the numbers.  I just sold a 156 card lot last week.  Know what I did? I listed every number with a description of my opinion of the condition and the flaws of each and every card.  It took time, and maybe that's excessive, but for under 50 cards, say, just list the dumb numbers.

3. Get it right.  Don't advertise 1956 cards, picture 1955 cards, and describe 1954 cards.  Don't advertise $2.99 shipping, but have the description say the shipping is free. I just want to know what I'm buying and what it might cost.  I've made it a small quest of of mine to alert buyers to their screwups.  (I clearly have too much time on my hands, as demonstrated by this post.) Most are appreciative.  But, please, just proofread. You can correct errors really easily, too.  I've done it lots of times for my own screwups. 

4. Don't threaten me.  I see lots of ads that lead with a threat. "If you're going to leave poor feedback, don't buy from me." Seriously?  This is how you lure good customers?  Would you eat in a restaurant that had a sign out front that said, "If you don't plan on tipping 20%, don't eat here"?  Come on. I NEVER buy from those people.

5. Don't try to rip people off.  I can't really complain about this one; it's the nature of commercialism. But I hate the people who are trying to take advantage of those who don't know better -- probably kids and grandmothers.  Perhaps it's because I'm a public interest lawyer.  The HUGE seller (that also makes sausage?) that seems to price everything at about double its value annoys the heck out of me.  The guy that keeps (successfully, apparently) selling three card lots of common, not very good condition, 1966 cards for about $25 each drives me crazy.  

Grrrrrr!!!!!!

All right, I'll stop there.  I'm sure I'll think of more.  I'm sure you will, too.  If I've offended anyone who does any of these things, well, good, I'm afraid. 

Happy collecting. 

v3

 There was a guy selling Jordan subset cards from 1993-94 Upper Deck for over $200 apiece the other day. Note I said subset, not insert. Common Jordan cards, like the Bulls vs (whoever) first round playoff series highlight card. Over two hundred bucks.  card is worth maybe four dollars, top. Not graded. And the selling point, you ask? He could identify the names of the specific shoes Jordan wore on each card. Perhaps the shoes are rare? Who knows? I couldn't care less. Cards were near worthless. Two hundred bucks, I repeat.

there, my ebay rant.

Or how about, "You are bidding on the card in the title only." Yet, the picture is waaaaay off. I totally agree wth switzr1. I see people selling a $30 card for $400! I would love to know why they feel it's worth over 10x it's book value, not to mention they still charge shipping. Be very descriptive, AND accurate. My girlfriend will buy me cards from my wantlist, and occasionally (because she's not an expert) they list the year wrong and she duplicates her purchase. I realize you should really only purchase if you know what you're purchasing, but if the description was correct, if shortens the margin for error.

Just my opinion, but I agree totally with everything you said.

Agreed on all of the above. Lete me add:

If someone does leave a negative or neutral feedback on you, don't flame them or call them names. State facts (although it's hard to tell the whole story in 80 characters!) only. (My lone negative in 16 years on there came recently because it was someone who had already stiffed me twice on auctions, I blocked his 2 IDs that he used then, he started yet another and bid on my item. I cancelled his transaction - after waiting a long time for payment - he finally pays. Turns out, he went against ebay rules by bidding on my item. HE is blocked, not just his IDs. Unfortunately, ebay didn't decide to remove the feedback.) If you want to see a good example of what NOT to do in feedback replies, look at the negative feedbacks for mom_and_pop_card_shop. I wouldn't buy from them because of how rude they are. I think it might be bad business to call your customers morons and idiots.

If you have something listed as BIN or BO - at least have the courtesy to return a counteroffer. There's a place to add a note. Communicate.

This is just the beginning. 16 years has shown a lot of negative human behavior. It's also shown a lot of good behavior, but that's for a different post! :)

 v3,

I like your list, especially points 4 and 5. Whenever I read a listing where the seller "threatens/warns" the buyer I wonder what happened that they feel it's necessary to say that.

One of my pet peeves are the sellers that list a price and include an "or best offer". I enjoy finding those listings and usually will offer 10-15% less. (I don't give super low-ball offers.) Then the seller has 48 hours to respond. My pet peeve: RESPOND!!!

Frequently, I am forced to wait for 2 days only to have the offer expire.  Why include the "or best offer" as an option but then ignore an offer that is sent in? I recently made an offer of $2.50 on a card that was priced at $2.99. The shipping was listed at $2.50 and I thought $5 was a fair price to pay for the card. I waited for two days and the seller never responded to my offer. A couple days later, after the listing expired without the card selling. It was then re-listed at $2.50, or best offer. If you don't want to entertain offers, don't make that an option.

Thanks for letting me complain.

I agree with what has been said so I'll try not to repeat anything.

Relating to #5 on the OP list one of my pet peeves is when a seller will start the auction off at 99 cents and the shipping will be something outrageous that is many times what the actual shipping would cost, or the shipping is the sale value they want for the card.

Also don't get me started on shipping in a PWE when charging regular buibble mailer shipping costs that should be for sending in the standard bubble-mailer. PWEs are OK only if the listing states the single card (or no more than 4 or 5 cards) will be shipped in a PWE AND the shipping cost is equal the cost of sending a PWE. The card also better be well protected, which actually means a PWE probably shouldn't be used.

CARDSAVERS: (the very flexible plastic "sleeves" that are the style of ID Badge holders that the government uses for employees and visitors.) Should rarely be used if at all. They should NEVER be TAPED CLOSED.

If using tape please use painters tape or new masking tape (masking tape that is too old is too dry and brittle leaves residue) never the clear invisible or cellophane tape (it always leaves residue and needs to be surgically removed) or at least make sure there is some kind of barrier (paper/plastic/foil whatever) between the tape and the card.

 As for cards, the seller should scan the back as well as the front.    I dont like guess what is on the back and won't bid on it unless I see it.     From a seller's standpoint,   I wish buyers would pay on time.   I hate sending follow-up reminders.

I agree with everything except for maybe #5.  eBay is a "buyer beware" market so it's up to the buyer to know what they're buying and pay a reasonable amount for it.  I remember one time about ten years ago I was wanting a table hockey game.  I looked on eBay and saw a guy selling Stiga table hockey games for over $200.  I did a little internet research and found I could order the same exact game directly from the US distributor for almost half of what the eBay seller was charging. 

 I confess that I don't usually take pictures of the backs of cards, but I always describe any problem with the back.

Oh yes, I hate the "you're only buying one of the nine pictured" move, too. Thanks for reminding me.

Glad this got juices flowing. I even learned a bit.

Happy collecting. 

V3