Question
Misspellers not sellers in vast eBay auctions
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
Article
When Holly Marshall wanted to sell a pair of dangling earrings, a popular style these days, she listed them on eBay once, and got no takers. She tried a second time, and still no interest.
Was it the price? The fuzzy picture? Maybe it was the description: a beautiful pair of chandaleer earrings.
Such is the eBay underworld of misspellers, where the clueless - and sometimes just careless - sell labtop computers, throwing knifes, Art Deko vases, camras, comferters and saphires.
They do get bidders, but rarely very many. Often the buyers are those who troll for spelling slip-ups, buying items on the cheap and selling them all over again on eBay, but with the right spelling and for the right price.
John H. Green, a jeweler in central Florida, is one of them.
He once bought a box of gers for $2. They were gears for pocket watches, which he put back on the auction block with the right spelling. They sold for $200.
"I've bought and sold stuff... that I bought for next to nothing" because of misspelling or vague descriptions, Green said.
No one knows how much misspelling is out there in eBay land, where more than $23 billion worth of goods were sold last year.
An unofficial survey - an hour's search for creative spellings - turned up dozens of items, including bycicles, telefones, dimonds (both Neil and the sparkly kind) and loads of antiks.
Some say there is no evidence that people are spelling worse than they ever did. But with the growth of instant messaging and e-mails, language has grown more informal. And much as calculators did for arithmetic, spell checkers have made good spelling seem like an obsolete virtue to some.
Not that spell checkers are used by everyone. Indeed, experts say the Internet - with its discussion boards, blogs and self-published articles - is a treasure trove of bad spelling.
"Before the Internet came along, poor spelling by the public was by and large not exposed," said Paige P. Kimble, the director of the National Spelling Bee. "Now anybody can get out there and expose themselves. We are becoming acutely aware of what a challenge spelling is for us."
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Now anybody can get out there and expose themselves.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> http://community.here.com/infopop/em...s/icon_eek.gif
Um, which is worse... poor spelling, or awkward choice of words? http://community.here.com/infopop/em.../icon_wink.gif
Ms. C.
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Great article! Thanks for posting it.
-Nancy, who got a GREAT buy on a "Chech" fan vase once. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...on_biggrin.gif
___________________
Still #1462.
Show me that smile. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...on_biggrin.gif
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But send an address label with your payment. I bought a great shipping item once, the auction was laced with serious spelling errors. I do believe it was sent but it never arrived.... I seriously think that the address that they wrote was pobably illegible, and it just never got anywhere near me. Since then, if I buy because of spelling problems I include a label that can just be attached to the package (no writing necessary).
Cheers, Kevin
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I've been using misspellings on eBay since near the beginning. Using a common misspelling on an item that is saturated on eBay otherwise can yield not only sales, but sales at a higher price (as you have no competition for buyers who can't spell).
eBay Items ~~ Yahoo Items ~~ eBay Store ~~ Online Store
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Back mid-december, I picked up a $500 lens for $100, because of a misspelling.. (both brand and the word lens). I frequently check a whole bunch of misspellings when I'm searching for competitive items that end up pushing the prices high. But I've never gone out of my way to search, in order to resell. Not becasue I haven't thought of it, simply because it'd be more work than it's worth for me.
~~Sneak a peek at my hobby =) ~~
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Occasionally my fingers go faster than my brain in the search engine or on Google and I am always surprised at the results that display.
Dee
I will not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
Answer
Looking for typo or finger-shift web sites is fun.
www.yahpp.com
www.yahii.com
www.yaho.com
www.yahkk.com
www.uajoo.com
www.yshoo.com
All of these are valid. Disclaimer: some go to naughty places. www.yahooo.com and www.yahll.com go to the real yahoo.