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Ebay Listing Annoyances!

Started by DavePEI, May 26, 2012, 04:43:54 AM

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DavePEI

Just wanted to feel others out on what I consider to be real annoyances when I check eBay listings.

Pages of listings for modern cell phones in the Collectibles - Telephones category when cell phones have their own category, Cell Phones and PDAs

The guy here in Canada who lists pages of framed communications stamps in the Collectibles - Telephones category, when there is already a correct category for postage stamps.

Whenever I see this happen, it irks me, especially when there are a lot listed as I have to scroll down and even page down to get back into what I am looking for - Collectible telephones.,

Then there are the completely extraneous listings in the wrong category and test postings that appear from time to time.

Of course then there are those completely incorrect listings that appear every day, like "Art-Deco Eames Plastic Bakelit handle" referring to a G handset. Argggh!, or a Western Electric 17A line test set listed as an "Antique Western Electric Magneto Wire Field Telephone". Then, if one takes the time to let the seller know the correct description, they basically flip you the bird.

Sometimes it is a plain, honest mistake - other times it is an attempt to mislead the buyer.

Then, there are the guys who list something for many times their actual value, and leave it listed for months on end hoping some unsuspecting soul will pay their "Buy it Now" price, instead of getting the picture that it maybe just simply isn't worth what they are asking.

Maybe I am just being an old curmudgeon but I do find this annoying, and eBay doesn't seem to have any sort of mechanism in place to weed out extraneous listings.

My Pet Ebay Peeves of the day!

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

david@london



dave-

i totally agree with you........... looking at "vintage telephones" on ebay usa yesterday .......there were 100 pages , alot of which are clogged with the things you mention.

i usually use dennis markham's categorized web page :

http://tinyurl.com/c93dzvx

........although for some reason, ...the last few days days i've been finding that the page doesn't open properly... (words on right, no phones' pix on left.)  anyone else having problems with it ?





DavePEI

Quote from: david@london on May 26, 2012, 05:15:39 AM

........although for some reason, ...the last few days days i've been finding that the page doesn't open properly... (words on right, no phones' pix on left.)  anyone else having problems with it ?
Opens the same for me, too...

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

TelePlay

#3
Quote from: DavePEI on May 26, 2012, 04:43:54 AM
Maybe I am just being an old curmudgeon  . . .

You may just be an old curmudgeon, Dave, but you are an exactly correct curmudgeon in what you say, all of it. I've felt the same way for a month or two now and spend a lot less time looking for classic phones and parts on eBay due to all that clutter.

One would think the power listers on eBay could get that fixed. I'd like to see a "Report wrong category listing to eBay" added to their report item link but I doubt that will ever happen.

Most of those used cell phones are being sold out of China and listed in more than one place. So eBay makes twice the money on one item so what do they care.

johnnyjt

Yes, this of course been happening for years and in other catagories as well. 
I think some people are either Drunk when they list items in wrong catagories
don't care or just trying to be slick.  There are times when they do get bids.


JohnnyJT    8)
South Phily

AE_Collector

#5
ebaY is a never ending source of frustration, always changing and always frustrating. I make certain that I always have Myers or Mount Gay Rum in the house.....

Terry

Dave F

I also agree.  It's truly aggravating to see phones constantly relisted for prices many times the true collectible value.  We can only hope that some uneducated novice doesn't succumb and take the bait.  Two that come to mind recently are a pink 1500 and a pink mushroom.  I won't feed the flames by providing the listing numbers, but you can easily find them if you really want to.

That having been said, I must admit that eBay, on balance, is a terrific resource if approached with some prior knowledge and a little common sense.  Over the years I have added many wonderful items to my collection due to the existence of eBay.  We have to accept the bad in order to reap the good.  This is just a reminder that knowledge is power, so do your homework before bidding!

DF

DavePEI

#7
Quote from: Dave F on May 27, 2012, 12:53:19 AM
That having been said, I must admit that eBay, on balance, is a terrific resource if approached with some prior knowledge and a little common sense.  Over the years I have added many wonderful items to my collection due to the existence of eBay.  We have to accept the bad in order to reap the good.  This is just a reminder that knowledge is power, so do your homework before bidding!
True enough - I just wish they would put in and enforce some rules. It just seems that in the 12 years I have been using eBay on a regular basis, the quality of the listings has dropped, and of course, prices have gone sky high, some times due to deception and misleading listing on the part of some of the sellers. Of course, inflation is also driving prices, and those increases I consider natural. I pity anyone with no idea of what they are buying.

It would be far better if Ebay were to put in and enforce rules to prevent some of the dishonest listing and out of category listing - it would be better for both the consumer and honest sellers.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Dave F

Quote from: DavePEI on May 27, 2012, 01:07:05 AM

<snip> ... It would be far better if Ebay were to put in and enforce rules to prevent some of the dishonest listing and out of category listing - it would be better for both the consumer and honest sellers.

Dave

The problem here, of course, is that eBay is not an expert on the items listed on the site.  In many cases, dishonesty is "in the eyes of the beholder", and they certainly don't have the resources to investigate and pass judgement on every possible case of seller-tomfoolery.  Awareness on the part of savvy buyers is our best defense against unscrupulous behavior by sellers.

DF

twocvbloke

ebay's full of chancers, a load of rubbish from the PRC (and often sold as genuine goods that turn out to be fakes), dishonest sellers, cheats, liars and all, that, just as there are in real life, it's just an extension of the del-boy suitcase marketer, selling cheap and then mysteriously disappearing...

As for the over-the-top value sellers, well, when you think about it, they're costing themselves a lot of money in relisting fees, so continue to not buy their stuff, let them feel the financial pain of the error of their ways... :D

johnnyjt

Really the Biggest annoyance are the Ebay Software Programmers.
They constantly try to upgrade the system and cause lots of havoc.
My gripe right now is I like to have my Custom View Search setting
with Time: Newly Listed with Show Columns Time Remaining.
So I can see what items were newly listed and the time when the
auction ends in one glance.  Ebay changed that option and now it
shows when a newly listed item was listed.  Totally Dumb.
For weeks I have leaving feedback and calling Customer Service
to enable this feature again.   Maybe someday soon I hope.


JohnnyJT     8)
South Philly

AE_Collector

Currently on ebaY:

Vintage Art Deco Automatic Electric AE 50 Wall Monophone "No Flaws"

DavePEI

#12
Quote from: AE_collector on May 28, 2012, 08:55:25 PM
Vintage Art Deco Automatic Electric AE 50 Wall Monophone "No Flaws"
Gotta love that perfect dial! That is funny, "No Flaws"!

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

#13
Another pet peeve I have with eBay is what I call the free shipping scam. This comes into effect when an International (most often US seller) offers an item for free shipping. Ahh... but there is an unwritten catch. Free only to the U.S.

Now my way of thinking is that when shipping an item to Canada, if offering free shipping, he should take the cost of shipping to Canada, and subtract the amount that he would have paid to ship to the U.S. and charge the difference.

However in practice, it doesn't work that way. One is always charged the full cost of shipping to Canada, and there is never any account taken for the fact the shipping is no longer free.

Now, an American seller might say, "Why should I pay the much higher cost of shipping to Canada?" I say the same. But, charging only the difference is only fair.

It is just another form of padding the auction price, and it seems to be almost universally accepted. The seller just pockets what he would have spent on shipping. This has happened to me a hundred times at least. Outside of eBay, most will subtract the cost of shipping that he had accounted for, charging only the difference.

Now, the one place I don't see this scam is from sellers in China and Taiwan - if they say free shipping, they mean it,  to Canada,  or to the U.S.,  or for that matter,  to any country they ship to.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

pbghmike77

Quote from: DavePEI on May 29, 2012, 05:49:47 AM
Another pet peeve I have with eBay is what I call the free shipping scam. This comes into effect when an International (most often US seller) offers an item for free shipping. Ahh... but there is an unwritten catch. Free only to the U.S.

Now my way of thinking is that when shipping an item to Canada, if offering free shipping, he should take the cost of shipping to Canada, and subtract the amount that he would have paid to ship to the U.S. and charge the difference.

However in practice, it doesn't work that way. One is always charged the full cost of shipping to Canada, and there is never any account taken for the fact the shipping is no longer free.

Now, an American seller might say, "Why should I pay the much higher cost of shipping to Canada?" I say the same. But, charging only the difference is only fair.

It is just another form of padding the auction price, and it seems to be almost universally accepted. The seller just pockets what he would have spent on shipping. This has happened to me a hundred times at least. Outside of eBay, most will subtract the cost of shipping that he had accounted for, charging only the difference.

Now, the one place I don't see this scam is from sellers in China and Taiwan - if they say free shipping, they mean it,  to Canada,  or to the U.S.,  or for that matter,  to any country they ship to.

Dave
I'm basically only a seller on Ebay and agree with most of what you are saying. I can understand the frustration of the free shipping "scam". Keep in mind Ebay forced us sellers to build that into our price. They now charge fees on domestic shipping charges. There's no way to "fix" that from the sellers side. Example: I offer free US shipping, you buy something in (assuming Canada), when I list it there's no was to set it up to deduct the built in cost. Every rebate would have to manually sent back to the buyer. I would recommend contacting the seller and ask them for the discount, I'd give it with no problem .

The high price listings is not smart even if they are "baiting" a rookie. Sometimes its hard to find the right price point so start high and work from there. I'm waiting to see one of my listings on here... ;D  Its not always a mindset of hoping to bait a novice in, keep in mind as you have seen on here there are some collectors with deep pockets on ebay and $100 bucks is not a big deal. Why not try for a month?

Now just a little something to even the playing field. I have never had a seller contact me and say " hey I know packing materials are expensive and you pay for tape, printer ink and paper, so add a $1 or 2 to my order." Personally I use all recycled boxes and packing materials, but I still have to go find them or drive and pick them up.

Just a few things to help ease the annoyances hopefully. Trust me as a seller I can list plenty of annoyances.