Worst type of eBay "guy"

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by ASF123

That's not what I'm talking about. I don't begrudge a seller the right to ship in a crappy top loader (although it's always a point in the seller's favor for return business if they can see fit to include a nice one). I'm talking about sellers, and there are shockingly many, who ship in a nice new top loader that they render useless by mummifying it in tape. Or even with a strip of Scotch tape all the way across the top - that stuff doesn't come off. There's plenty of tape that will actually peel off without ruining the top loader.

Bottom line: If you're going to spring for a new top loader in the first place, let the buyer enjoy the benefit of it too!

Or maybe the buyer can spend twenty five cents of their own if it's so important to them?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Theres really no point of a seller holding feedback hostage, since they can only leave positive. That was the reason why Ebay changed the feedback system.

When they changed that it made feedback pointless. It became mostly a pat on the back for doing what you're supposed to do in the first place. Like having Target break out the confetti and balloons for everyone who put their card in the slot... I stopped doing feedbacks shortly after that, with a handful of exceptions.

If a buyer was new and paid quickly I would usually give feedback. (My expectation for "quickly" was very lax, something like 2-3 days. )

If the sale was unexpectedly pleasant, like the couple people who asked sensible questions and ended up having a brief hobby discussion. Not necessary for either of us, but fun.

Usually if someone asked politely. I would do it, but wasn't in a hurry. I'd let them know that I did it when people asked and that I'd get to it soon, today, maybe tomorrow.

Once I was in the feedback leaving pages, I'd usually do a bunch of them, most of the ones on the page. So maybe 1/3 of what was waiting.

Back when the system was meaningful, I did it regularly.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

But ya'll have hit a sore point on feedback. As a buyer, once I've promptly paid I expect the item, AND I expect feedback. And I deserve it at that point. I've paid, nothing left for me to do in the transaction. The seller still needs to accept payment, package well, and promptly ship. They don't get feedback yet. I consider sellers who want feedback first to be holding feedback hostage... Seems to me that sellers should submit feedback once I've paid.

Sorry...You don't get or deserve feedback until the TRANSACTION is a success. Not just because you paid. You could pay then say the item never arrived, say it was damaged or run any number of other scams after paying. Using your logic, every scammer would have immaculate feedback.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Oh, man. So very much this!

Sellers: Why do you keep ruining perfectly good top loaders?? I collect raw cards. I store them in top loaders. They're not cheap - I know you know that. You shipped the card in a top loader, so presumably you buy them too.

So why oh why do you cover it in packing tape that's so hard to pull off, I feel like I'm risking creasing the card, and it leaves so much residue that the top loader is useless for storage??

You're buying the card. I've yet to see a listing that says "and you get an immaculate top loader too!!!"

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

Or maybe the buyer can spend twenty five cents of their own if it's so important to them?

It’s completely unnecessary for both parties to have to buy new top loaders. How is that even controversial?

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You're buying the card. I've yet to see a listing that says "and you get an immaculate top loader too!!!"

Again - not what I was talking about. See my subsequent post.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ASF123

It’s completely unnecessary for both parties to have to buy new top loaders. How is that even controversial?

I agree the buyer should have toploaders to store their cards in. That is way better than using shipping materials to store their cards.

[ASF123]

Ok, let me try this again:

If a seller wants to ship in crappy top loaders, fine. That’s the seller’s right - although as a buyer I give “that’s a nice gesture” bonus points for shipping in nice top loaders.

However: If a seller does choose to ship in nice top loaders, please don’t ruin them with tape. There’s no need for it, and then nobody benefits from the nice top loaders. So why do it?

That’s all I’m saying.

[thecatspajamas]

Sounds like you guys have identified why some sellers choose to ship in crappy toploaders. Get too fancy with it, and next thing you know you'll be having to buy team set bags to put them in too...

[ASF123]

Say you were throwing in a bonus card, as some sellers do. Would you go out of your way to crease it before you sent it?

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by cammb

Now you sound like a used douche!

Ebay offers protection to buyers if a transaction goes bad. Why would you give that up to save a few bucks?

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by ASF123

I'm talking about sellers, and there are shockingly many, who ship in a nice new top loader that they render useless by mummifying it in tape.

To make sure the card arrives safely. I've received packages that looked like they were run over and the card inside was undamaged. Better to have too much packing than not enough.

[Mike D.]

On the top loader thing...I much prefer tape to a card that shifted in transit and now has 1 or 2 banged up corners.

So, in my mind:

No Tape < Tape < masking tape < team set bag

People who ship a cheap card in a brand new top loader in a team set bag are going WAY above and beyond and should be considered for knight/saint-hood.

[FrankWakefield]

Well dinosaur that I am, I didn't know that eBay sellers can't leave a negative. That surprises me a bit, it sure creates a problem for a nonpaying buyer.

So sellers, what are you going to do when you message a buyer about leaving feedback first, and he responds with a message that he's got the card and satisfied/happy with it?

Still, I think the seller leaves feedback first. And if they don't, I feel held hostage.

Back when I was last selling stuff, I recall leaving feedback for the buyer when I got back from the post office having mailed the item. Maybe today's buyers aren't as reliable as they were 15-20 years ago.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Say you were throwing in a bonus card, as some sellers do. Would you go out of your way to crease it before you sent it?

Say you receive a bonus card. Would you complain if it wasn't mint?

I used to collect GU bats. Bat tubes, bought in bulk, cost about $4.00. When I would sell a bat and ship in a bat tube, I taped the end caps on to ensure the item (the bat) arrived without damage. Rather put tape residue on a $4 tube than risk damage to a $300 bat.

[ASF123]

Say you receive a bonus card. Would you complain if it wasn't mint?

If the card was covered in tape, or otherwise ruined, and I knew the seller did it intentionally, I would wonder why the hell the seller did that. It's not a question of what the buyer is "entitled to," it's a question of "why?"

I used to collect GU bats. Bat tubes, bought in bulk, cost about $4.00. When I would sell a bat and ship in a bat tube, I taped the end caps on to ensure the item (the bat) arrived without damage. Rather put tape residue on a $4 tube than risk damage to a $300 bat.

Different situation. I don't collect bats, but I would imagine with heavy objects like that, heavy-duty packing tape would be necessary to secure the item. So that makes perfect sense.

With cards, though, there are plenty of other easy ways to secure them to prevent damage to the cards that don't also ruin the holder. Blue painter's tape, for example, which a lot of sellers use. Peels right off, and no residue.

[J-Yo]

Originally Posted by Seven

The guy who when your about to win an auction for a card that's price didn't go as high as he wanted, pulls the auction. Just put it up for a BIN if you want a certain number I don't understand.

I really only try to use eBay as my last option nowadays. Much rather work out deals with everyone over here. Saves the Hassle and the Taxes

Yea I don’t get this since the last 30 seconds are when the price jumps


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by jiw98

When a seller has a price or best offer and you make a reasonable offer only to have the seller counter with the full price. If you wont except less than the asking price don't put "make a offer" in the sale.

There is an eBay feature in place for some sellers. The platform will convert BIN listings, after a few weeks, to BIN or Best Offer. Then, eBay will email the seller to let them know Best Offers have been enabled...after the fact.

According to eBay, they do this because "allowing offers (of 50% off the BIN price) will increase sales."

So, in some cases, the seller didn't "put 'make a offer' in the sale." Sometimes, they just started getting offers when they never set up the listing that way.

It would be nice if eBay at least asked first.

[icollectDCsports]

When more of my collecting focus was on pinback buttons and cloth patches, eBay sellers would frequently have multiples of a particular item and post a photo of one of them as an example. On several occasions, the item I was sent was in materially worse shape than the depicted example. I would have to send the items back, and sometimes the sellers would express surprise and frustration because "it's pretty much the same thing." Oh well.

[thecatspajamas]

Brings to mind a pet peeve of mine is sellers who will post an image with multiple items in it, and in their description state something like "auction is only for the item in the title." As a longtime seller who continues to be amazed how many buyers browse and purchase solely based on the main image, without regard to details clearly stated in the description or even the title, I cannot possibly see how the amount of time it saves to not create individual photos for each listing outweighs the headache that must come from dealing with buyers who assume they are bidding on everything in the photo.

[chadeast]

Originally Posted by Eric72

There is an eBay feature in place for some sellers. The platform will convert BIN listings, after a few weeks, to BIN or Best Offer. Then, eBay will email the seller to let them know Best Offers have been enabled...after the fact.

According to eBay, they do this because "allowing offers (of 50% off the BIN price) will increase sales."

So, in some cases, the seller didn't "put 'make a offer' in the sale." Sometimes, they just started getting offers when they never set up the listing that way.

It would be nice if eBay at least asked first.

Wow, that's really shady. It seems there's always a new level of suckage to discover with ebay.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Brings to mind a pet peeve of mine is sellers who will post an image with multiple items in it, and in their description state something like "auction is only for the item in the title." As a longtime seller who continues to be amazed how many buyers browse and purchase solely based on the main image, without regard to details clearly stated in the description or even the title, I cannot possibly see how the amount of time it saves to not create individual photos for each listing outweighs the headache that must come from dealing with buyers who assume they are bidding on everything in the photo.

I usually scan the fronts separately but scan the backs 4 at a time. Not worthwhile to make separate scans on cheap cards.

As for tape, some sellers need to learn that 'blue tape' is not the same as tape that happens to be blue.

Speaking of top loaders, if you ship in them SEAL THE F****NG TOP! I bought a $70 card last week that came in a ton of packing but the seller did not secure the top of the top loader. The card was out half an inch and there was a big ding on one corner. Back it went...

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Speaking of top loaders, if you ship in them SEAL THE F****NG TOP! I bought a $70 card last week that came in a ton of packing but the seller did not secure the top of the top loader. The card was out half an inch and there was a big ding on one corner. Back it went...

I've dealt with this countless times, both from sellers and "promoters" returning my items back from paid signings. You'd think the latter would at least know how to properly return items, but so often the answer is a confounding "no".

If shipping a card in a top loader with First Class/Tracked shipping or any pricier method, first put it a penny sleeve with the bottom of the sleeve facing the opening of the top loader prior to taping it. Then place a piece of sturdy cardboard on either side and tape the borders of the cardboard on all sides. This is not the Manhattan Project.

[Tao_Moko]

In addition to "L@@K", "Read", and "Rare", I saw a new one today - "PSA 3 Authentic". It was ofcourse not even graded.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Tao_Moko

In addition to "L@@K", "Read", and "Rare", I saw a new one today - "PSA 3 Authentic". It was ofcourse not even graded.

LOL....

I dislike the people selling very obvious fakes for a few dollars and saying they don't know if they are real or not. They know....

.

Originally Posted by Leon

LOL....

I dislike the people selling very obvious fakes for a few dollars and saying they don't know if they are real or not. They know....

.

Yep, this! So many sellers with fake cards on there trying to fool unsuspecting buyers. They definitely know.

[JollyElm]

How about the habitual 'PSA 9 in the title, but it's actually a PSA 8 card' guy? He ropes you in with the 'very-low-price-for-a-9' listing, and after you examine the card and see how nice it is (and wonder why it's so cheap), only then do you see it has an 8, not a 9, on the label. Argh!!!!

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

How about the habitual 'PSA 9 in the title, but it's actually a PSA 8 card' guy? He ropes you in with the 'very-low-price-for-a-9' listing, and after you examine the card and see how nice it is (and wonder why it's so cheap), only then do you see it has an 8, not a 9, on the label. Argh!!!!

He's the very close cousin to the PSA 8(ST) guy, who lists it as a PSA 8, never mentions any qualifier, and includes an incredibly fuzzy picture from 200 yds.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Getting very sick of the "Read Description". As if the thumbnail wasn't enough to tell you, "Read" = "Don't read. I'm about to waste your time.".

[robw1959]

How about the seller who tells you that they must list their raw card as a reprint per eBay rules.

[swabie2424]

I dislike PSA 6+++ guy.

Uhm.... it’s a 6.

But, but, but... “Looks like an 8! Great eye appeal!”

Uhm... it’s a 6.

But, but, but... “Great centering!”

Uhm... it’s a 6.

[WillBBC]

New one.

'LeBron James RP PSA 10??'

Go away.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by robw1959

How about the seller who tells you that they must list their raw card as a reprint per eBay rules.

That's usually the description that they implore you to "READ" in the title!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

What about "PSA Ready"? If it's so ready, why not send it in yourself if you're that concerned about it getting a high grade? Any card is "PSA Ready".

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Well dinosaur that I am, I didn't know that eBay sellers can't leave a negative. That surprises me a bit, it sure creates a problem for a nonpaying buyer.

So sellers, what are you going to do when you message a buyer about leaving feedback first, and he responds with a message that he's got the card and satisfied/happy with it?

Still, I think the seller leaves feedback first. And if they don't, I feel held hostage.

Back when I was last selling stuff, I recall leaving feedback for the buyer when I got back from the post office having mailed the item. Maybe today's buyers aren't as reliable as they were 15-20 years ago.

"Reliable" seems a luxury nowadays Frank. Life was so much easier and simpler for everyone when they conducted themselves with integrity.

[pbspelly]

I know some people don't see this as a problem, but I get really tired of folks putting items for sale on eBay at prices that no one is ever going to pay. There is a photo of my great grandfather Billy Sullivan on ebay that is worth at most $40-50. It has been listed at $299 for years now. No one is ever going to pay that. Due to my family connection, I am typically willing to pay higher prices for Sullivan memorabilia than other folks, and there's no way I'd pay $299. At least not until decades from now when inflation makes $299 worth what $50 is worth today. If you want to sell something, sell it, but don't use eBay as a place to display your collection.

I really wish eBay had tried harder to incentivize sellers to list items at auction with low starting bids, and then let the market decide the value. That was one of the original intents of the eBay founder Omidyar. He saw it as a way to make markets for used goods and collectibles much more liquid and efficient, so that the market could set the price. I used to sell vintage telephones on eBay. I often had little idea how much they were worth. I'd start them at $9 and let the market tell me. They typically sold for anywhere from $80-200. But eBay moved away from that, and now a lot of sellers don't trust the eBay auctions to give them a fair price. If I were eBay, I would try and figure out a way to require that after a certain period of time, the seller would be incentivized (or pressured) to let the market determine the price. Maybe start charging progressively higher listing fees or something. If you just want to post pictures of your collection go elsewhere.

[vintagechris]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

Best Offer guy that puts an auto rejection to an offer of 90% the BIN.

Yes!! This guy. Literally just had a guy with BIN of $29.99 OBO. Card can be had for $20-25 if you are patient. This one is a littl nicer condition than the average one that sells. I offer $20 Auto declin. I offer $22. Auto decline. I offer $25. Auto decline. I offer $27 and the offer is sent to seller. He comes back with a counter of $28 Really, man?!!! Why not just post the card for sale at $28?

[Popcorn]

Any same state local buyer guy. Wants to meet up for a quick sale but you tell them you will ship it and it takes a week+ for them to get it.

In the meantime they just message you complaining they could have had it the same day.

Getting threats that it could be damaged, lost or what not.

I hate same state pick up guy.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Popcorn

Any same state local buyer guy. Wants to meet up for a quick sale but you tell them you will ship it and it takes a week+ for them to get it.

In the meantime they just message you complaining they could have had it the same day.

Getting threats that it could be damaged, lost or what not.

I hate same state pick up guy.

Tell him to pick the card up from his mailbox after USPS delivers it.

[Exhibitman]

Mr. Helper. The guy who insists on PMing you after the sale is done to tell you how badly you undersold your BIN. Actual exchange I had with a Mr. Helper a few days ago:

Mr. Helper: You listed wayyyyy too cheap!

Me: Well then I guess you really missed out.

Mr. Helper: I sure did. Got any others?

Me: No.

Mr. Helper: LOL. For future that was probably a $3-$5000 card.

Me: Would you pay $5000 for it?

Mr. Helper: Nope I already have 2.

Then it isn't worth that, now is it?. Makes you want to remind him of one of manhood's most important rules:

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Mr. Helper. The guy who insists on PMing you after the sale is done to tell you how badly you undersold your BIN. Actual exchange I had with a Mr. Helper a few days ago:

Mr. Helper: You listed wayyyyy too cheap!

Me: Well then I guess you really missed out.

Mr. Helper: I sure did. Got any others?

Me: No.

Mr. Helper: LOL. For future that was probably a $3-$5000 card.

Me: Would you pay $5000 for it?

Mr. Helper: Nope I already have 2.

Even worse are the assholes who try to steal a legitimate buyers win by offering the seller more.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I used to collect GU bats. Bat tubes, bought in bulk, cost about $4.00. When I would sell a bat and ship in a bat tube, I taped the end caps on to ensure the item (the bat) arrived without damage. Rather put tape residue on a $4 tube than risk damage to a $300 bat.

I run into this issue from time to time with baseballs that I sell, which I ship in a ball cube for protection. I have received a negative feedback from a buyer before because that ball cube had a sticker on it.

Another time, a ball cube arrived cracked, but the ball inside was fine: in other words, it did exactly what it was intended to do, in that it protected the ball from what had to have been horrible abuse of the package (it takes a lot to crush a 6"x6" shipping box). The buyer confirmed that the $10 ball itself was unharmed, but demanded that I ship him a replacement ball cube. When I let him know that I had sold him a ball, not a ball cube, and that he could return the ball for a refund but that I would not be shipping additional packing materials to him, he left me a neg.

All that is to say that, especially on eBay, you cannot please 100% of the people 100% of the time. If a buyer has a reasonable criticism of my packing / shipping methods that they would like to voice, I am happy to take it under consideration, and in some cases have adjusted my packing methods. Simple adjustments like adding "courtesy tabs" at the ends of tape used on otherwise new materials so that they can be reused, or not taping polypropylene comic bags to a piece of corrugated cardboard due to the material's tendency to rupture rather than stretch, leaving the book exposed if the package is severely jarred. Those kinds of "huh, I never thought of that, but it makes sense" adjustments I can make. It's the ones where I would have to purchase an entirely new category of shipping supplies, spend significantly more time packing, or spend more on postage than anticipated that I just have to politely decline. Given that many (most?) collectors have very specific ways that they like to store their collectibles, I'm also not going to tailor my shipping materials to try and meet those many and varied long-term storage requirements. If the buyer wants to reuse the shipping materials for storage (or for their own shipping), that's perfectly fine by me, but if I want to get into selling specific collectible storage supplies then I'll set up a separate category for that in my eBay store.

And for what it's worth, while I'm sure that all of the above sounds overly curmudgeonly of me, I do generally ship small card-sized or smaller flat items (whether cards or more often negatives and transparencies) in a penny sleeve inside a toploader inside a team set bag. Typically. And largely out of convenience and minimizing packing time for me while also ensuring the item arrives safely to the buyer. The toploader may be scratched or have a label on it, the penny sleeve may have a label on it, the team set bag will generally be new simply because I use them for shipping not for storage on my end. They're probably also going to get the plastic strip from the team set bag adhesive in there, and the strip off of the stay flat mailer that I ship all of the above in. If any of the above is useful or repurposed by the buyer upon receipt, that is wonderful, but my primary concern is getting them their purchase in the same condition it was in when it left my hands, all in the most economical (in time and $) manner possible. It's a balance, and may not please everyone (hence the occasional neg feedback), but seems to be well-received overall.

[sycks22]

I always love when people say "cash is king" or tell me they're giving me "cash money". I'm pretty sure paypal / zelle / venmo are money as well, maybe I'm wrong.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by vintagechris

Yes!! This guy. Literally just had a guy with BIN of $29.99 OBO. Card can be had for $20-25 if you are patient. This one is a littl nicer condition than the average one that sells. I offer $20 Auto declin. I offer $22. Auto decline. I offer $25. Auto decline. I offer $27 and the offer is sent to seller. He comes back with a counter of $28 Really, man?!!! Why not just post the card for sale at $28?

I once made an offer on a "$95 BIN obo" and the seller countered with....wait for it...$94.75.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I once made an offer on a "$95 BIN obo" and the seller countered with....wait for it...$94.75.

I'll counter you: I had an item listed for $10 and got an offer for $9.80. I accepted and tipped my hat to his chutzpah.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by sycks22

I always love when people say "cash is king" or tell me they're giving me "cash money". I'm pretty sure paypal / zelle / venmo are money as well, maybe I'm wrong.

Yes but cash does not leave a trail for taxes. As buyers we are conditioned by the dealers/sellers to offer cash "to save everyone some cash" like PP FF but better.

[vintagechris]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I once made an offer on a "$95 BIN obo" and the seller countered with....wait for it...$94.75.

Update: I couldn't help myself and asked the guy why not just list it at $28 if that's the price you want? He decided to raise it to $34.99. LOL It's his card and everything and he can do whatever he wants but I just don't get people who think $5 is worth leaving a bad impression on a potential customer who could spend more than that $5 in the future.

[Gorditadogg]

We all know that ebay guy who lists cards for 10 times what they are worth. I hate that guy but I hate it even more when that guy comes over to BST to do the same thing.

A little foreshadowing: I didn't know it at the time, but this guy has a fairly obscure SGC 5 card up on ebay for $165 OBO. A PSA 7 of that card just sold for $60 earlier this month, so you might figure his card is worth $20-25.

This guy also has a listing on BST right now for some low grade cards that are more or less fairly priced. So I bought one and he asked me what else I was interested in, because he was "selling off his collection". He sent me a scan of some cards, including his SGC 5 card and I asked what he wanted for it. (It was a front office exec for a team that my aunt's family once had ownership in. I thought I could show it to her and see if she remembered him.)

How about $190? he said. (Yes, more than what he is asking on ebay!)

I am so annoyed by that ebay/BST guy. Most of the members here are a pleasure to deal with, when a scammer comes around here it is a pain.

[Exhibitman]

Speaking of shipping, I hate:

--The guy who wrecks a perfectly good card saver or toploader with tape, especially the one who tapes the entire opening of a card saver with scotch tape. It is just such a waste. Use the blue tape, people.

--The guy who doesn't seal the top of a toploader at all. Blue tape, team bag, even a folded over post-it will work. I had to send back a nice card a week ago because the jackhole who sold it shipped it in an unsealed toploader and when it got to me it had slipped out of the holder and picked up a nicely dinged corner.

--The guy who puts a card saver or top loader into a padded envelope without a stiffener, and especially the one who sticks a packing peanut in there too. What kind of moron thinks that is going to make it to the customer without damage? Ever see a 1960 Leaf baseball pack? The damn marble just tears through the wax paper.

--The guy who mummifies the card holder in tape. I appreciate the sentiment but if I have to resort to a knife to open the holder you are not protecting the card, you are making it more likely that I will damage it trying to open it.

[Tripredacus]

Long time ago I used to sell items starting at 99c with a reserve but then put the reserve price in the description.

I never did quite understand the point of a reserve price, with the exception that you were selling an item to see if it would sell, or would only sell if it reached a certain price. AKA, not a run of the mill item or something that didn't really mean anything to you. Otherwise, you'd just start the auction at the lowest price you'd sell it for. But of course, especially with an auction website that you can sort things by, you can get more eyeballs onto an item by setting a low starting bid.