Question
I ran across this auction and am REALLY curious what you guys think of it. I don't blame you for not reading the whole thing but give it a scan and tell me honesty what you think.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...e=STRK:MEWA:IT
I personally would be too afraid to bid!
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sorry, I amn too exhausted after reading all that to give an opinion
buyers don't have time to read all that crapola.
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I don't know whether snotty is the term I would use but I would NOT bid on the auction. It really turns me off to find three small sentences about the auction item and paragraph after paragraph of terms, all of which are negative in nature.
Joan
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What Gabs said.
It's tiresome, and seems a huge amount of hoops to make sure you go through precisely (for a batch of buttons, nonetheless!).
I would be too afraid to bid because all kinds of things can happen during the course of a transaction. Accidents, mistakes, etc. She may very well be understanding and nice--but her rules come across as one who might not understand if your mail-in payment took longer than 10 days.
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I didn't think it sounded too bad. For one thing, the international aspects of sales these days take more words in terms. Don't think so - well, how do you handle the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts? How about the EU and UK Remote Purchase Laws, and German Distance Selling Laws?
I did object to the threatening tone concerning feedback and non-paying bidder. Yet, this is a powerseller. I understand where they are coming from. They've had a lot of non-paying bidders with every excuse under the sun. They have been burned with late pays, no pays, payment by non-approved methods, payment for less than the amount, payment only after warnings... And I bet they get complaints when someone doesn't answer an email within 20 minutes. And I can really see why they don't open attachments with so many nasty viruses going around these days. Updated antivirus software is at best 99.9% accurate. So one time out of a hundred spin the wheel and be a winner...
I've seen the bidders bid with their email addy being incorrect. Had a heck of a time with two of those in my more limited sales. I even had one with a wrong phone number and address. There are buyers who want to continue to negotiate the price down after the auction, and then there are those who want to negotiate the shipping after the auction. They swear UPS ships cheaper than FedEx or USPS does and insist upon it, when terms say you use the other two (and it isn't cheaper). And how about the bidder who doesn't email, doesn't reply, ignores the PayPal only, and after 2 weeks, a personal check appears, for less than the amount due?
But the threats...nope, leave em out. Do what has to be done, but don't threaten. I'd prefer to see some kind of returns but they sell antiques, folks. And antique dealers don't do returns. No where I know of. Neither do flea markets. It just isn't done. There are good reasons - people substituting their broken items for the seller's item in a return and more. Items are used they aren't mint most of the time. The color comment I understand too. Take a few photos in varying light and each camera will accentuate certain colors hues improperly. Check the camera comparisons in PC Magazine or others to see what I mean. Same with the monitors and printers. To correct this, we would have to hold up a Pantone color wheel or strips to show the color numbers for the item's colors. Ever had a bidder chastize for the color hue mention in the auction?
If they left out the terms in the auction, and they have these problems, then the bidder is free to claim they can do any of the objectionable things mentioned, and they do. So the trade off is put the terms in and reduce the bids while running off some of the problem buyers, or leave them out and deal with some deadbeats.
Frankly, I'd like to see eBay create a special terms page for each seller. It should have the general categories on it that each seller should do in terms. Most leave everything to chance and those are the ones who complain when they get burned. The ones with terms can go back to eBay and PayPal and the buyer and say... see the term here... that means it works like this... and can't be done that way...
Tradeoffs...
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I'm not offended by any of it. It's not how I do things, but it must be working for them.
I do basically the same thing via email rather than on the auction page. I have drafts saved that answer almost all of the common questions, combining shipping, international rates etc. (Even the ones plainly answered in my ad. )
I do think it's a very nice looking template except that it took a little long to load.
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It isn’t “what” they are saying that bothers me ... it is “how” they say it. The tone of the entire listing I personally found somewhat threatening. Jaded perhaps is a better word than “snotty”.
dstuber, I found your comment interesting about eBay having a special terms page. What a great idea. If eBay did something like that with a set format, it would be easy for a buyer to check out the terms without having to search for them in the body of a listing.
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Originally Posted by gabs-a-lot
sorry, I amn too exhausted after reading all that to give an opinion
It looks like every time he has a problem he adds another line to his terms to address it. I wonder if I could bid on something and make him add "Do not pay one-half by Paypal then mail cash for the rest and allow your cat to sign for the item when it arrives."
I always preferred my high-polished vintage mother of pearl buttons on a card onnastick anyway.