Why No Scans on Items for Sale?

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Posted By: Frank B

I see a lot of it so maybe it doesn't leave the same
impression on others as it does on me but why would someone post
an item for sale and not show the card? Maybe a few have a problem
getting an image uploaded to the website but the majority who
don't show the item do it as a strategy I'm guessing.

This makes no sense because you definitely get less
response than if the card was right there. Someone please
explain the reasoning for not making it easy on the buyer
by just showing what you have for sale?

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Posted By: Adam

I hear you Frank!

If a person has 5 or under items for sale in a listing on the B/S/T, they should have to include a scan with their post or their post should be deleted. (If you have 5 items or more for sale, however, I can understand why that would be just too many scans to post.)

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Posted By: Bob

I think it just makes sense to show a scan with every card you sell or at the very least, a link. The buyer gets a better look at what he is buying because we all know graded cards in the same grade (especially 2s, 3s and 4s) vary widely. Also, a lot of prospective buyers will skip an item in the BST without a scan. Finally, and most importantly, if you list an E94 Evers in SGC 10 and a dollar amount with no scan, you don't know if you might be getting a mutilated card or one with a vg-ex front and a tiny bit of paper loss on the back. (Good old SGC!)

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Posted By: Tony Galovich

For most the answer is
TIME
Most people have no spare time
It takes time to post a scan
Look on ebay & how many listing do u see with ZERO
or next to nothing to describe the card/s being listed
Talk about Laziness
Sellers want u to send them 100's of $$$
But want to do as little as possible

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Posted By: Joann

I think a lot of cards are impulse buys and that having a scan bumps up that impulse considerably. I am just dying to pull the trigger on something currently on the BST b/c the scan is so breathtaking. Can't do it, but that scan is calling calling calling.

Adding a scan is like putting something in a checkout lane instead of burying it way in the back of the store where you can't even have access without finding a clerk to let you into the area. That's not going to generate impulse buys.

But if there are a lot of cards, then it's different b/c it becomes a time and hosting space issue for a lot of people. Also, not posting scans seems to work fine for people like Toby and Jim M. My guess is that with long-time guys like these, people come to know what kinds of things they sell and roughly how the actual cards will compare to the written descriptions, so they have a pretty good idea of whether they would be interested or not.

J

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Posted By: leon

BIG SCANS (THINK GIZMO HERE) are always appreciated and help items sell much more quickly. You can put as big of ones as you want to in the BST too as there won't be others in that thread (usually). That being said there are almost no written rules for that area and it will never be mandatory to have them. I think it's crazy not to but not the worst thing in the world. And for the millionth time I want to know about crappy things over there and it's always caveat emptor, buyer beware; you are on your own. I get lots of emails for references and always give them when I know the folks, or know of them....best regards (I think the BST is a great place to trade/do business)

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Posted By: Jimmy

I feel links are one of the best ways to show your items, but yes I feel if you have only a few items then post the photos

Jimmy

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Posted By: GeorgeHC

Is Jim 'The Flipper' Manos reading this thread?
The guy is brave enough to post his phone number on every BST listing, but never a single scan.

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Posted By: jdrum

We've talked about this many times bf. It's a seller's choice but I almost 100% disregard any listing w/o a scan. Not sure why the buyer should have to do the work; i.e., rq scans, etc.


EDIT: I almost 100% always misspell a word the first time thru also!

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Posted By: Frank B

>>It's a seller's choice but I almost 100% disregard any listing w/o a scan.

Same here. I refuse to jump through that hoop of having to send a
request e-mail and then wait for the reply before I can even decide
if I'm interested. Like Adam said though, that applies to those selling
just a few cards. For a larger number of cards I understand not putting
images up.

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Posted By: JimB

It is the most frequent sellers (aka: the flippers) who do not post scans. My guess is they don't want the guy they just bought from last week to know that their card is now for sale for x% more this week. Sometimes they represent themselves as collectors rather than flippers which may be why they conceal what they are selling. Notice that none of the most common no-scan flippers will come here to explain themselves, which makes me suspicious. Personally, I disregard offerings without scans. If it is not worth their time to post a scan, it is not worth mine to e-mail and request one.
JimB

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Posted By: Jim VB

I also, almost 100%, disregard posts without scans, unless the seller is listing 100 items or something. I especially hate the "scans upon request" thing. If you're technologically good enough to email me a scan, you can figure out how to post it. Plus, isn't it more work to send out individual scans than it is to post one?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

The B/S/T board is like a whole other world apart from the forums...There are buyers and sellers who I do not recognize on a fairly consistent basis...nothing wrong with that, but unless most of them are lurkers over here they may not even be aware that most of us would prefer to see scans added to the postings.

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Posted By: andy becker

i have a hard time posting scans on the bst. i'd say at least 50% of the time the file is too big to upload.
obviously, that's me....but if i was selling a cabinet, or anything larger than a normal card, then i have issues.

i'd love to post scans with what i sell, but i've become so frustrated with the "file is too large" that i just stopped even trying. HELP...please.

also, to tony's point.....it doesn't take any extra time to post a scan, if you need to scan it anyway.....and as a seller, sales without the exchange of scans are few and far between.

fwiw, i am not a flipper....though i do like dolphins

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

I think Jim is correct in his assessment. The "flippers" have no issue with putting up a scan when they go to list their cards on ebay. Also the "flippers" are generally here to post on the BST not on any topics on the main part of the board so I doubt they are even reading this thread.

I usually pass over the listings that don't provide scans even if I want to card. If you have the time to buy something to sell it then take another minute of your time to scan it and post it or don't bother posting at all.

Greg

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Andy, open up a photobucket account...it's free and the photos are automatically resized for you. All you have to do then is upload the photos to photobucket and it provides a link that you can copy and paste right into your sale ad.

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Posted By: andy becker

thanks dan,
that sounds easy.....i hope you are not overestimating my skill level

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Posted By: Wesley

I don't have a scanner or digital camera at this time.

Would it be offensive to post a fuzzy photo from my cell phone the next time I list something?

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Posted By: Leon

I will always help someone learn how to post scans. This is an open invitation to email me and I will gently teach you....I even taught Dan K this week...and he's as technologically challenged as the rest of us!! (only kidding Dan..., well sort of...)

Scans HAVE to be less than 128k to use a Net54 temp folder and can't have a scan name with a dash or hyphen or anything like that...so

T206-cobbt206.jpg ....will not work

T206cobb.jpg......will work.....


regards
me

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Posted By: Wesley

What is a flipper?

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Wesley, assuming you're serious (and I doubt it) but anyway a Flipper is one who buys cards for the sole purpose of re-sale rather than for collecting purposes.

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Posted By: Jim VB

A "flipper" is somebody who buys cards with the sole intent of reselling them, quickly, at a profit. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...)


Example 1- (non-board member as far as I know) I was recently the underbidder on a 1932 US Caramel card. I bid $250. Winner paid $255. Within 2 days, card was relisted on Ebay with a BIN of something like $325-$350. It ran 30 days with no bites. Relisted again at $325. I made a best offer of $255. He countered by telling me he had at least $280 in it and that was his bottom line. It was still new enough that you could look it up on ebay, never mind VCP. I admit I was being a jerk by offering his buy price, but he was trying to make 25+% overnight.

Example 2- (board members in this one) A certain E98 HOFer, in rough shape, was sold on ebay in Feb for $177.50. In the last week it's been on both the B/S/T and now ebay, for about $500. I won't say more on the board, but email me if you want details.


In this day and age, specific cards are pretty easy to track.

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Posted By: Jeff Prizner

Wesley, you need to flip some cards and buy a damn scanner!

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Posted By: Wesley

Usually I have scans saved from whenever I purchased the card. The pre-flip if you will.

But if I bought the card decades ago or at a show, you're just going to have to take my word that the card is very nice.

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Posted By: Jim VB

"...if I bought the card decades ago or at a show, you're just going to have to take my word..."


And some people will. But as you read here, some people won't bother, and reducing/eliminating customers is not usually a good, long range business plan.

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Posted By: Wesley

That was just a joke, Jim. I am working on buying a scanner though.

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Posted By: Leon

C'mon my man!! Get into the 21st century. I know you pretty well and trust you implicitly on cards with no scans. Not sure I can say that for everyone though.....
There are some that use descriptions that aren't exactly the way the card(s) look. Scans prevent the ubiquitous "Oh Sh**" when you get your card.....

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Posted By: Jim VB

Wes,

I took it as a joke. Unfortunately, the guys who needed the jab the most won't bother reading this thread.

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Posted By: Jason L

because it didn't have a scan.

I wish I was a Flipper, because then that would mean I would either be selling cards for a profit, or have a large dorsal fin and be able to squeak as my primary form of communication.
Both very cool!

Go Bears.
(The Vikes may have lost their defensive line and I am a Cubs fan, so I will hold out hope for at least one week longer).

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Posted By: Peter

Hi There! I am very new to this forum - 2-3 days and I have recently listed some items for sale. I wanted to show scans of my items, however, it seemed in order to do so - I needed to be a member of some photo hosting web site (i do not have an acoount with anyone to host my photos - I have them all in my documents on my computer)- If there is an easy and with no cost way to show my scans - please let me know how to do it - Please either reply to this message or to my email. I would certainly appreciate this. I am not that knowledgeable on using computers and would love to know how do do it - it did not seem as easy as upload image (like email or ebay). I have sent scans to all quickly who sent me an email asking me for the scans including a 1939 tigers team signed ball that I have which kept the scanned lid popped right up to scan. Thank you in advance for advising how to show the scans.

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Posted By: robert a

Hey Wesley,

Stop pretending to be a dinosaur and buy a lousy scanner.

There's already enough old dudes around here that are too ignorant to post scans.



Rob

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Try this under general information:

http://www.network54.com/Index/87491

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Posted By: Jim VB

Peter,

I highly recommend photobucket.com. It's free, easy, and did I mention, free.

Once you've registered and opened an account, it's easy to copy whatever pictures you want from your computer to photobucket. From photobucket to net54 is as easy as cutting and pasting the link to the photobucket picture. When you write a post, you cut and past the link. When posted, that link automatically loads the picture.

There are also lots of other alternatives to do nearly the same thing.

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Posted By: Peter

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Posted By: Rob D.

About a year ago a frequent seller on the B/S/T listed a T205 Cobb with directions to request a scan. I did early one morning. I waited nearly two days and after not receiving a reply, e-mailed again that if the card was available, could I see a scan. Still no reply, so I figured the card must be sold. No big deal, but a reply would have been nice.

About two weeks later I'm searching completed auctions on eBay, and I see the seller listed the same card with a BIN a full week after I had requested the scans. I e-mailed again just to ask what happened and had he received my requests for scans. The reply? "Yeah, I must have forgot to send them."

Believe me when I say that this guy could list a '33 Goudey Lajoie for $5 and I wouldn't request a freaking scan.



Best double-play combo ever? E-mail for scans and Bump for price reduction

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Posted By: Tony Andrea

Leon sad, "I even taught Dan K this week...and he's as technologically challenged as the rest of us"!!

OH BOY!! I bet that was an interesting class
Sorry Big D. Couldn't resist. Love ya man....

Tony A.

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Posted By: Jerry

As far as resizing goes, I use the paint program. I think every computer has a paint program. I right click on the photo in my pictures folder open picture up with the paint program, go to the top tool bar and under Image there is a drop down menu that says resize. I resize verticle and horizonal to 50% and it cuts the Scan size (KB's) down quite a bit.
Hope this helps someone.

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Posted By: Bob Donaldson

Try this under general information:

http://www.network54.com/Index/87491

Actually the instructions above are out of date as they refer to an Insert Object button which does not exist, at least I can't see it. This may add to the confusion, especially to the less tech savy, about how to post a scan

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Posted By: leon

There is an "insert object" button right below this post I am posting right now...maybe different browsers would show something different but it's there now and has been for as long as I can remember....thanks for helping though...it's always appreciated....

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

There is no "Insert Object" button below on my screen...I am using Firefox. There is an "Image Services" button though.

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Posted By: quan

if u found this forum without anybody's referral, then you should be able to post a scan...or at least learn how to. the internet is not that hard. you either don't want to or you're a big gorilla. (no offense to the gorilla)

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Posted By: leon

OK...maybe it's a browser issue..I am using IE..

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Posted By: Adam

Here is a stupid scan posting (or maybe "scan making") question, if you don't mind --

Let's say I have 5 seperate scans I want to post.

How exactly can I make all the scans the same size and post those 5 seperate scans side by side (as opposed to up and down)??

In other words, I do NOT want the scans coming out like this, because I think it looks horrible, yet I don't know the step-by-step to make it better:

http://tinyurl.com/5dcsbz>

Thanks for any help!

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Posted By: Bob Donaldson

It is browser dependancy

Internet Explorer




Firefox



With firefox you have to paste a url or use phtobucket

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Posted By: leon

Thanks so much for posting that.

Adam- I am not sure but I have put periods between them and played around with putting the jpg's in different order....but I am not sure exactly how/why they post exactly the way they do.



To no one specific- I will say it again for the 50th time....I was one of the few that wanted to look at other hosting sites when polled. It seems almost everyone prefers to stay with Net54 and what we have. To that end I will help as much as I can...regards

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Posted By: Tony Andrea

Adam,
To attach scans side by side, when you apply the link to your N54 post from websites such as
Photo Bucket etc, simply leave a space between each link. Try experimenting first.
Just cancel your post before excepting the respond button.

Tony A.

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Posted By: Jim VB

I had a similar issue today in the EPDG thread.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/message/1228511148/last-1228517296/Re-+Ted+Z+-+EPDG-


I played around with it for a while. All I can tell you is that even though they showed the same size in the picture file on my computer, the original scans were NOT the same size and I couldn't figure out any way to resize them.

The front shows it's 400x625 and the back shows 485x800. Somehow photobucket readjusts them to that original size when the link to them.

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Posted By: Adam

Thanks for the great tips Tony, et al., take a look at the link I provided above now, I got most of them side by side! Nothing wrong with learning something new every day.

Best,
Adam

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Posted By: Jim VB

Just for reference, on the four going across, those scans are sized as follows:

Smith 245x400
Kiernan 347x591
McCauley 236x400
Otey 225x400

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Posted By: Roland

I'll make a long story short. I would like to be able to use scans on here, but can't get anywhere. I'm not computer literate, but I'm not stupid. For a lot of the people on here it may be aesy. But for old codgers like me its not. I would appreciate ANYONE helping me out. I do know how to scan and send it by email. But doing it here is a mystery. Why ??
Anyway HELP !
Roland
rocuan@aol.com