Should scans be required on the BST board?

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Posted By: marshall barkman

Jim Vb i do not see what is the big deal in regards to Bernie's post. If you want the cards ask him for a scan if not move on.

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Posted By: doug goodman

My apologies for starting all of the threads on the b/s/t, I didn't actually expect as much interest as my question(s) seem to have generated. But, I'm glad it did. Scans, links, prices, I, like many others, just request info from sellers in regards to what they are selling.



My goal in posting to each catagory was for as many people as possible to see my post. My reasoning for not posting on the main board was because, on average, I think that main board members tend to be smart enough to post the that info when they sell. Along those lines, I posted in multiple catagories because I'm sure many people only read the catagories that interest them.



My post(s) were not meant as whiney complaints, just confused questions.



Back in the golden days of communication via postman, I too used to buy cards from people sight unseen based on the seller's opinion of a grade. After a few purchases from an individual or his company, you usually had a pretty good idea of how they graded stuff, so you could buy accordingly.



But, three things have changed:

first, we now have the technology to easily get pictures to out there



second, prices for everything are exponentially higher than they were in the pre-internet / fax machine / mobile phone past.



third, maybe I'm wrong, but back in the day our entire hobby was friendlier, in a "it's not really worth forging this autograph or faking that card, because it's not really worth anything anyway" sort of way. We bought stuff because we thought it was neat, no other reason.



Oops, there I go bashing the grading companies.



All the best,

Doug

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Posted By: Jim VB

MB,

I think you misunderstood me. I have no problem with Bernie's post. Personally, I would never inquire about, ask for scans from, or do business with someone who puts in so little effort, but I'm perfectly OK with the rules as they are now and respect his right to list as he chooses.

My point, which you missed, was that on a day when we had close to 100 posts pertaining to good marketing practices, he comes along, apparently reads none of them, and lists a group of lower condition cards, without scans, without the offer of scans, and without a price.

Some people and business are just oblivious to what is going on in the world around them. They will NEVER change the way they list on the BST because any discussion had on that board or the main board WAS NEVER NOTICED BY THEM!

Since ebay started fooling around with some of their fees and rules, we have seen an increasing number of people use the BST who never post on this board. That may benefit many collectors because we get more things to view, but we're fooling ourselves if we think any thread will impact this behavior.



We're wasting time even talking about it.

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Posted By: robert a

I like scans too, but...


What do folks do if they're selling 30 E cards at once? Put all 30 scans in the post? Where's the cutoff?

Rob

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

When one sells on ebay, even if -- gasp! -- it's 50 cards/listings, scans are included. Perhaps the 50 card listing on the BST could -- gasp! -- be broken down into a few listings. Again, it's a free gift to sellers. Why not reciprocate the gift and -- gasp! -- supply scans? I know this is a big effort but if a seller can walk his check down to the bank he can probably -- gasp! -- make the 60 second effort to include scans.

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Posted By: marshall barkman

I understood you JimVB but jeez give the poor guy a break. If i wanted the lot i would just e-mail him for a price because maybe the poor guy is old or does not even have a scanner.

In the last two collections of tobacco cards that i purchased privately the owner did not even have a computer much less know how to scan. Today i went and looked at a gentleman's collection that had 27 Mantles and every key rookie card from 1951 on up, he also had some wild Babe Ruth strip cards that i had never seen. He could not even spell computer much less own one so i had to drive to his home and just hope the cards were in somewhat decent shape. It was a bummer to see a 1952 Mantle that had the outside border cut out and a Ted Williams rookie with two giant pin holes at the top.

Lichtman that gasp line is a riot. It's to bad i could not make it to the dinner because it would have been alot of laughs.

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Posted By: Jim VB

MB,

I could be wrong, but I have been laboring under the assumption that anyone posting on this board has access to a computer. You've certainly given me something to think about.

Scanner? Yeah, not everybody has one, but many of the people who say "Email for scans!" seem to have some kind of plan.

Old? You got me on that one! I'm so old myself, I never even thought about it (or maybe I did but just don't remember. What were we talking about?)

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Posted By: leon

Unfortunately MB is somewhat correct about not everyone having a computer that gets onto this board. They obviously have access but there is a small percentage that go to a library or office or somewhere else to use a computer, rather than own one. It's not just 1-2 people either. I think it's sort of crazy but then again I pay 5k or more for little pieces of paper with pretty close to 0 intrinsic worth..... B and L Auctions advertises in several places in the hobby and I can usually tell from the first few sentences of a phone call what kind of person, technologically, I am dealing with. I need to slow down a bit (usually) for those that don't own their own computer. I don't see us requiring folks to market the correct way (scans and prices) but it would be nice if they did....regards

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Posted By: Jim VB

I agree we can not require people to use sound marketing principles to sell on our board for a variety of reasons. I said so above. But the biggest problem is that the people using the two boards are different sets of people. The main board users, for the most part, do read the BST. Many of the BST users never venture over to this side.

As I said before, this whole discussion is a waste of time.

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Posted By: JDRUM

if everyone included scans then we would have one less thing to complain about. Pass a rule that requires people to become more courteous and effective sellers, why? I am ok with just moving on, if you don't have time or the inclination to post a scan I don't have time to ask for one. My time is as valuable as yours. No change needed, we have plenty of sellers who post scans.