I thought it might be amusing to share a few stories from the selling side and let others join in with their tales..

Two of my favorites....one just happened.

1. In my description, I stated that the item was: 4 13/16ths high by 2 7/16ths wide..I immediately received an email
asking if this was the EXACT SIZE.
I answered by thanking him for his quick detective work...as it had just grown by 1/16th".

2. I started an auction at $9.99 and received an email stating that he was VERY interested in this item and if it did not
sell, could he get it at a lower price.

Any others ??

Marty
Those were too funny. If the 9.99 item does not sell, you ought to reply back to him and say you will sell for 9.98...

I guess I have been lucky enough not to get stupid questions. One thing that drives me up a wall is this...

I do not sell to oversea bidders. I do not because I got screwed on an item a few years back where a German buyer bought a empty whiskey bottle for $53. He promptly sent me a foreign money order. I didn't think anything of it and stupid me, I mailed them the bottle. When I took the MO to my bank, they told me they wouldn't cash it due to it almost costing them the amount of the MO cash it. I have been screwed on shipping charges as well. I just can't seem to get the charges right and I always undercharge.
So, now I block all international bidders and put in my auctions NO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS. Well just about everytime, I get an email from someone overseas "I was trying to bid on your item and it will not let me. Please let me bid." At first I would reply saying I am sorry but no and now I just dont even reply. That might be a bit harsh, but if they do not read my description, then I am sorry, no dice.

Dave

The first thing that comes to mind for me being a seller as well as a buyer is this...

If I am buying it - it sells for more than I can afford
If I am selling it - it sells for less than I paid

Todd........

Years ago I was selling anything on feebay I thought I could make a buck on to feed my hobby habit. My friend had manufactured some some thermometers that could be placed in the ear and would give an audio and visual response. I listed a few hundred in different packages and formats (back then FEATURED FRONT PAGE was 9.99 I think). People inquired if they were used, someone asked about whether they could alternatively be used "elsewhere". I once asked a seller to send me a picture of a NS card. I kept the photo for future giggles as the card showed the size of a penny and the rest of the image was taken up with a huge and somewhat deformed pair of toes that required extensive nail clipping.... They were obviously outside on their lounge chair shooting down on the ground where they had placed the card..... I had an exchange of nearly a half dozen emails with someone when I listed an album. I had explained what it was in great detail. I could NOT get them to understand that there were no cards in it - rather they were representations of the cards. No explination was possible..... Early on I bought about 60 printers boxes to sell. They were large drawers people use to display smalls on the wall. I sold 20 or so individually. A woman who ran crafting shop emailed to buy 20 and after 3/4 negotiations whittled me down to a small profit. Shipping was going to be an issue - and in the middle of the winter I trudged in the snow with the packages to the post office to cost it out. I was fairly new to feebay and a bit nieve I guess. I couldn't carry the load back home as the task seemed to daunting. I sent her the packages before being paid - and yada yada yada - I never got the money. I did some detective work and found out she was married to the president of a university where she lived. Their house was valued at a million +. I tried every trick I could think of - and eventually sent 5 pies to her home late one night. A bit weak but I was pizzzzzd. Crazy woman (I think) was bidding on nearly a hundred items a WEEK. She won a gold herring bone necklace from me worth 900.00 or so. I mailed it out - never heard anything - and about 2 months later the package comes back. I emailed her and no response. About a year later the woman emails me and asks "where is my package??!!". I mail it out along with the original packaging. I never hear from her again. Not even a simple ty.........

Before I closed my eBay account, this one was probably the best:

"Hello....just won your auction and will pay upon receipt and inspection of the card. I never pay until I know for a fact that the merchandise meets my expectations."

I forgot to mention...IT WAS THE EXACT SAME ITEM!!!!!

I guess this comes under the heading as a buyer rather than a seller, but I'm always amused at an item of any vintage that is "mint" for its age. No matter if it's creased, torn, chewed, etc. But the funniest Ebay moment for me dealt with a brand new baseball signed by Babe Ruth. The seller claimed he had brought the ball to a medium who was channeling the spirtit of Babe Ruth who then signed it. Opening bid was $50K. For some reason it didn't sell. (He should have had the psychic powers to see that one coming!)

every collector/seller knew that was implicit in your statement as you are NOT alone but rather one of many if not all.... The truth is if I breakout about even after all is said and done - I'll be far ahead. The hobby has allowed me an exchange with people I might never have met. It has allowed me to learn, laugh (not always), and even grow a bit - while developing an appreciation of some of life and history's nuances and vagueries in the journey. Perhaps most of all - I truely enjoy creating a story in cards, pictures, and stuff - tobacco as art. I can't paint well, write a story, make a movie, sing a song, although I've tried them all. Trying not to smoke and diet and exercise are not hobbies. Neither is listening to my wife. This is a safe (sorta) and friendly hobby for the most part with people that for whatever reason care about what they collect. I love the hobby although sometimes it hard to keep up with it all. Level of commitment I suppose. OK. Done talking about myself. What do you think of me Kidding - please DON'T answer - stole the paraphrase from "Beaches"....

was it me that emailed you about accepting a lower price? Sometimes I get caught up in the game

I once walked a flea market. There was a pillowtop with the hookah and other smoker accoutremonts (sp?) hanging on a trailor. I walked up and looked at it. It was poorly framed and had a 35$ price tag. At the time easily sold in the 125.00 range. I asked the guy with a beer in his hands if he'd take 30.00. He calls his partner out from inside who says the price is not 35.00 but 245.00 and proceeds to smash the guy over the head. A few years later I walked into a North Carolina shop. There were 5/6 large leathers including Grant. The guy wanted 20.00 each. Needless to say I kept my head down - walked quickly to the counter - and didn't ask what he'd do for the group. And my wife says I can't learn.....

promise. Not my story but I love the guy on eBay who sold EVERYTHING he owned - right down to the final hanger in his closet - took whatever $ he had - put the money on one spin of the roulette wheel - WON - and supposedly has never gambled again. He was in his mid-twenties....

The final shoe....

When I am watching an item to put in my final bid, and I forget about it, it sells for pennies! (just happened - DOOOHHH!!!!)

Henry,
I know - I just like putting it in writing since I couldn't think of anything else to say - HA HA!

while I was doing all the talking on here the HLC sunny south blacks series card I had been watching of man smoking cigar sold on ebay for 28. which I meant to snipe. It wudda been a dupe but 78.88 about what I was gonna bid. When I do and have bid on these cards they sell for over 100.00 - me no bid - 28.00

I both buy and sell on eBay. I am continually amazed at the crap people think they can get away with as sellers. Hugely inflated shipping prices, lies in the item descriptions, lies about whether or not something was mailed, lies about how it wound up broken or dirty or creased, yet the box is pristine and without a scratch.

Buyers have the potential to make me crazy too. I work really hard at easy to read, accurate item descriptions. All it requires is for a potential buyer to take a minute or so to read the damned thing. Do they? Oh gosh no. Then they're irked if the item they thought was one thing, turns out to be another (but which perfectly matches the item description, how amazing!) Or the ones who want you to ship $300 worth of stuff to a foreign country and put $3 value on the Customs form. Or the ones who want you to cancel their bids because they (oh right) didn't read the place where it says Size right there in the middle.

((sigh))

I do love my work (this is part of what I do as work from home) but sometimes stupid people make me want to bang my head against the wall.

Laura

My favorite title of someone else's auction has always been:

THINGS I JUST FOUND IN MY COUCH

What was great was that he wasn't kidding....
I remember a few of the items: bottle cap, nickel, napkin etc.

My experience as a seller has been mostly positive. I've only had two people ask to return items. Both items were PSA graded cards that dealers wouldn't take back, but which I did. I do get some fairly dumb questions, but the only thing I find even mildly irritating is when someone makes a ridiculous lowball offer and expects me to accept and end my listings early.

I don't expect to make a profit on the stuff I sell. I'm not against making a profit, and occasionally I do make one, but I'm happy just to get some money back to spend on more cards. When an item of mine doesn't sell, I usually get at least one person who writes to ask if I'll accept an amount less than the starting price. I never accept these offers, as I think to do so encourages people not to bid. Not sure if that's the right decision though.

As a game designer, I've had a certain amount of unreasonable requests over the years. My favorite was a woman who wrote to me asking if I would design a game for her upcoming wedding. She even sent me pictures of her, her fiancee, and her family members that she said I should incorporate into the game. There was no mention of payment of course. I really enjoyed hitting the delete key on that one. It reminded me of something Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) wrote years ago. He said that 50% or more of his mail was unreasonable requests. Many of these were from people like the woman who asked him if he could create a comic strip for her husband's birthday. Scott said, "I could."

Alan

i dont know if this fits the topic, but it NEVER ceases to amaze me what dealers prices are (non sports & baseball) for BIN.... its the buyers of these prices thats shocking. whenever i go through completed listings i usually shake my head a few times.

What one has to remember about prices is: a thing is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Be it tulips in Holland in 1637, houses in California in 2005, or cards on eBay whenever, the key is: what is someone willing to pay?

The trick is to anticipate people's craziness and take advantage of it. Knowing the market is vitally important, knowing when to get in and get out pretty crucial too. But sometimes, things are just nuts and you have to go with the flow.

your pretty smart..for a girl!
(opie on andy griffith show)

Really though, you are on to something, predicting the craziness or creating it...whatever..thats were the $$$ is, I have noticed that if I jump right in with the latest craze I make some..then get hammered.

But if I set back and watch..lets say..dark shadows cards...for a week or 2...buy some up,,,put them all together. Wait for a time when just 1 or 2 auctions of dark shadows are showing up...then dump them across the non sport area...VIOLA! Ching Ching.

"Making money on peoples craziness"

You really are pretty smart...for a non sport girl!
Go get em

(not meant to be sexist) (I will never be politicaly correct)

I know what you mean about the BIN listings. I have come to regard them mostly as a virtual museum, a Louvre of Cyberspace.

The Louvre of Cyberspace?  I like that concept!

My favorite was a BIN posted in an eBay store for something like the last two years or so, a very rare wrapper (was either "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" or else "Don't Let It Happen", I don't recall now), but seller was looking for quite a hefty price, something like $1300.  A wonderful piece?  Yes.  But ouch, that price.

So, exchanged emails with him quite a number of times -- a wonderful guy and one of the better remaining vintage gumcard dealers -- but he refused to move on the price.   As he explained it to me, he considered this a cheap form of advertising.  Didn't care if he sold the wrapper, plenty of collectors stumbled upon it, doing searches, and found the rest of his stuff as a result.

Not bad, eh?

Smart for a grrl, I'll take that as a compliment. Not many of us on here, I know.

I worked for some times in sales - capital equipment as well as supplies. And my father worked as a stock broker for almost 50 years (my brother is one now too, although he has a much fancier title.) I learned a thing or two from them.

Just treat it as part of the game. Money is just a tool (a symbol really) of energy that we move around from place to place. The key is to be at the front of the wave, and most of all, be smart about it!

I have a good one that I am in the middle of right now. I sent out a coin that I sold. I use large scans and rarely grade things. I mentioned no grade and just the coin was pictured. Well, I also use old plastics to ship stuff. The buyer received the coin and wrote me a nasty email that he would like to return it because the grade on the label stated fine and the coin was no where near that grade. I said that is just an old label and I never pictured the label nor graded the coin. Nevertheless, I told him I would refund his money including shipping back to me. Still not good enough, he files a paypal complaint wanting the money first. Where do these people come from?

I had a doozey email me this past weekend, asking me to drop the price on something more than 50% because "it had been listed before" (duh, it's in my store and rolls over if not sold but that's ok at 3 cents per month I don't mind.) Then she tells me she thinks my shipping is too high (wtf? $1.22 too high?!), and needs me to measure it (this is a postcard, which are pretty standard in size.) Then she tells me she has 100% feedback and loves to give positives to sellers.

Yah right. When checked with toolhaus.org (which is currently being blocked by eBay, more's the pity), turns out she has one neg, and has given out three negs and nine neutrals in the space of three years! Oh frabjous joy, let me leap at the chance to sell you something for half what it's worth, and take the risk you'll neg me later because you already told me you think my shipping is too high (never mind I charge only my materials cost for shipping!)

I blocked her from both accounts and sent a polite but firm note telling her to take her trade elsewhere.

I do wonder where these people come from, under big piles of rocks maybe?

"Still not good enough, he files a paypal complaint wanting the money first. Where do these people come from?"

Dan, could you give the ID of the creep? I deal in coins also and would like to block the loser.

"When checked with toolhaus.org (which is currently being blocked by eBay, more's the pity)"

I wondered why Toolhaus wasn't working properly yesterday. Not surprised, since eBay wants the crooks as buyers also, because eBay makes money regardless of whether or not a deadbeat wins an item.

Toolhaus is up and running I just used it.


Steve

what is this feature??

Hey Rand,

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?


Type in an ebay user name and see a summary of all of that user's negative and neutral feedback (without having to wade through all the "good" feedbacks.


Jim VB

what a feature! thx

It's not really a feature. It's a different company that uses the Ebay data and sifts through it. There are times when the relationship between the companies isn't good and toolhaus gets blocked.

I use toolhouse before any eBay purchase. Have walked away from a number of items based on the info it gives me, and blocked several people from bidding as well. Great stuff.