Opinion needed on a correspondence with a seller on eBay

[vargha]

Sounds like one of the "old school" sellers who are still pissed that the days of their overrating and overvaluing their cards has passed. Damned grading companies!

[Peter_Spaeth]

PSA needs to go to the 0.5 grade.

[ctownboy]

As a person who sells on eBay I can TOTALLY understand the original seller's frustrations with the games, hoops and BS that eBay management throws at us.

HOWEVER, even though I only add one picture to my listing (because of the extra fee) I DO take additional photos or scans and tell buyers to E mail me if they would like additional photos or info about an item.

I feel it is only right that if a prospective buyer is interested enough in an item that I have for sale and wants some additional info or a picutre of something that I didn't show then I should respect them and try to help them out. I mean, it is not like they can just come over to the house and inspect the item in person and get the info they want that way.

I think if the seller in the original post doesn't want to make an extra effort to help a buyer out then the buyer shouldn't make an extra effort spending money on what that guy has to sell.

David

[E93]

The seller sounds like a prick, but in all honesty, if you committed to buy the card and then told him you would follow through on the purchase contingent on liking the back scan, I understand his perspective. That is something that should have been asked for in advance. Just my .02.
JimB

[vargha]

David, basic HTML and a free hosting service allow you to have as many scans as you want in the description for free.

Its always good to see both sides of the cards. There were some PSA 5 T205's a while back that had paper loss on the back. I remember asking for back scans because they were not on ebay. I know crossing to SGC where they consider both sides of the card when grading I wanted to see the backs. Both were nice but had small bits of paper loss on the back. Both would have been nice 2's at best.

[martindl]

I'll offer a different perspective. I'm not the seller btw and wouldn't respond that way if I was, but.....

Your response could be read as
"I know I've committed to buy the card in its listed condition and for a contracted price but I've decided to add a contingency. The contingency wasn't something you'd have to deal with if I wasn't the winner but I was and now you will. Let me go ahead now and tell you how much I'm really likely to offer you i.e. I'm expecting to get a good discount when I point out the flaws of the grader and why this card is worth less than I've already agreed to. Btw, you can tell I'm a good guy because I've told you I'm interested in other cards you have."

Too cynical? Perhaps, but I've heard of a few too many people lately who win an auction and then want to negotiate. I do think the seller should have handled himself differently but its understandable to me why your approach would set off alarm bells.

[ctownboy]

vargha,

Thanks for the info.

I am already on a free hosting service. As far as HTML goes, I am not very computer literate so I don't know exactly what that means or how to use it.

All I know is, as it stands now, I can add only one picture to my listing and that is it. There have been times I really NEEDED more than one picture but haven't been able to add any more.

I guess I will have to try and play around and see if I can figure out how to add more since I am going to be offering some Topps cards from 1958 to 1970for sale soon.

David

[npa589]

That might be true if this were via eBay. This was in a correspondence via email about an item on eBay. I never put in a bid (it was a BIN). I didn't win the auction, because the price the seller had listed was way too high. Also, if you read what the seller had under the "eBay ME" page - the seller's objection is not just to me. It is to anyone that asks for a back scan. That is the most ludicrous thing about it.

Originally Posted by martindl

I'll offer a different perspective. I'm not the seller btw and wouldn't respond that way if I was, but.....

Your response could be read as
"I know I've committed to buy the card in its listed condition and for a contracted price but I've decided to add a contingency. The contingency wasn't something you'd have to deal with if I wasn't the winner but I was and now you will. Let me go ahead now and tell you how much I'm really likely to offer you i.e. I'm expecting to get a good discount when I point out the flaws of the grader and why this card is worth less than I've already agreed to. Btw, you can tell I'm a good guy because I've told you I'm interested in other cards you have."

Too cynical? Perhaps, but I've heard of a few too many people lately who win an auction and then want to negotiate. I do think the seller should have handled himself differently but its understandable to me why your approach would set off alarm bells.

[npa589]

That I understand, and you're right on that. It was one of those things that once I offered a price, and he accepted - he accepted way too quickly with no reservation. Perhaps that could be just him agreeing, but it caused suspicion within me - which is what was the impetus for me asking to see the back.

Originally Posted by E93

The seller sounds like a prick, but in all honesty, if you committed to buy the card and then told him you would follow through on the purchase contingent on liking the back scan, I understand his perspective. That is something that should have been asked for in advance. Just my .02.
JimB

[Vol]

Originally Posted by npa589

That I understand, and you're right on that. It was one of those things that once I offered a price, and he accepted - he accepted way too quickly with no reservation. Perhaps that could be just him agreeing, but it caused suspicion within me - which is what was the impetus for me asking to see the back.

Ohhh. So you already bought the card you wanted a scan of?

[npa589]

No. I sent an e-mail stating my interest in the item. He responded, I sent a price that I felt was low - expecting a counter offer. He accepted very quickly, to the point that it rang a bell in me that birthed suspicion. I made the mistake of trusting that if there were paper loss, he would mention it in the auction. I then asked to see a scan of the back. He got pissed, but never ever said "the back is fine". It was more like he was upset that he had been caught with attempting to unload a card that had extensive damage to the back.

Originally Posted by VOLnVEGAS

Ohhh. So you already bought the card you wanted a scan of?