eBay pet peeves

[gatorboymike]

What eBay seller activity drives you crazy? Here's what drives me crazy:

1. People who can't identify refractors.
Seriously? Refractor technology has been around for 20 years, and almost all of them have actually said "refractor" on the back for 17 years. Are these people colorblind? Are they idiots who really can't tell the difference? Or are they con artists trying to trick us? I find it hard to believe anyone still can't tell the difference between a refractor and a non-refractor after all this time, so we should assume these people are all just liars.

2. People who list base sets one card at a time.
Ugggghhhh...nobody is ever going to buy your cheap and worthless base set, buddy. The only way you could sell it is as an entire set. If you try to break it up, you might sell a handful of singles to people who need one or two cards to complete their base set, but then you'll end up with just 95% of the base set still in your hands, and you'll get less for that if you try to sell it all together than you would have if you tried to sell the 100% complete base set. And anyone who just wants to buy a single card for the set will be put off by $3 shipping for a 10-cent card. All you're doing is adding 7 or 8 pages of garbage that I have to sift through.

3. "No auto, no jersey."
This is a cheap way of getting people to notice your listing when they're looking for cards that DO have an auto or jersey in them. Technically it's not dishonest, as they admit there's no auto or jersey in the card they're selling, but it walks that line, since it's a clear case of trying to trick people who don't want what you have into looking at it. You might as well include "Not 1/1, not Jordan, not Kobe, not LeBron, not solid gold, not a cure for cancer, not a marital aid."

4. Large lots that don't tell us what's in them.
Then how am I supposed to know if any of the ones I need are included? And why won't you ever answer my question when I ask you which ones are in this lot? Oh, I know. You know the ones I want are not in it. You're just not telling me that in hopes I'll buy the lot out of desperate hope. Then when I complain that the ones I wanted weren't in it, you can say "Hey, I never said they were!"

5. Auctions with no pictures.
Do I need to explain this one?

[Italy61587]

One thing that I can't stand is sellers that list things at BIN/Best Offer, with a ridiculous BIN but they never respond/counteroffer to an offer.

[JWinn]

I think ebay sellers are lazy too often. To me it's just details. Or lack of them.

A simple description of the card, year, card number, any serial numbering, and any other important details. Is the auto on card or a sticker? Some pictures are not clear. A picture of both sides would be nice also so I can judge the whole card.

Too many just put up a picture of the front, and expect that to tell the whole story.

I know, this is Basketball, but this topic applies to all cards and sellers on ebay. Details are the key to any listing. Too many sellers just don't bother to put any effort into it anymore. In my opinion, it's the sellers JOB to do the work to make a sale, not the buyer.

[JWinn]

One thing that I can't stand is sellers that list things at BIN/Best Offer, with a ridiculous BIN but they never respond/counteroffer to an offer.

Just encountered this recently myself A guy had a card listed for $50! It's just an old card #/25 that should be no more than 10 or 15 bucks at MOST! I offered him $25, thinking any sane person would jump at that, but never heard back.

[GoDucks]

Im with the guy who talked about not listing the year or card number.

[whalechaser]

I'm fine with all those little annoyances listed above, the worse thing now is how much ebay skews things in the buyer's favor nowadays to the point where sometimes the seller feels powerless.

The rampant amount of shill bidding and scamming doesn't help either.

[Zeppelin1985]

Things that irk me and probably you...

- That every card is now described as being a "sp".
- You would think the seller could at least put what the card is #'d out of in the auction. Is it too difficult to write #36/100?
- As GatorBoyMike said, the whole "no auto, no jersey" spiel. Yes, in 1 way you're being honest. However, you are wasting my time because it is more than likely that I'm not at all interested in your card..
- Since when has it been accepted in this hobby that cards have chips and creases? I seemed to have missed that memo
- Sellers list the card as in nm to mint condition, yet I can clearly see it's damaged in their scan.
- "possible 1/1?"....lol. Actually, sometimes I still get a laugh out of those.
- Paying a ridiculous shipping fee and my $100+ card was shipped in a pwe and in a toploader, with no penny sleeve. Emphasis on the word PENNY sleeve. Yet shipping was $5 and you somehow lucked out that the card still arrived safe. :)
- people who don't know how to ship cards correctly.
- people who do know how to ship cards correctly but now do it the cheapest way possible.
- i HATE when people put scotch tape or any kind of tape on toploaders or magnetics because it pretty much ruins it when I try to remove the tape. Buy the super size sleeves that protect magnetics & toploaders, they take away the purpose of using scotch tape

[tbcgregory]

I hate when someone lists a $3.00 shipping fee, and when I get the card, it's in a top-loader in a letter envelope.

[bdoody42]

Here is my take.....

I can understand why someone sends in a plain white envelope with the top loader tapped because I would rather have a card in good shape in an okay top loader than a bent or creased card in a nice untaped top loader.

I just go with the flow on eBay.... You know there will be people who list things funny, type incorrect statements into the title and so on.

One poster complained about people charging $2.75 for shipping and then shipping in a plain white envelope. In my expierce this is normally when it is a low end game used card that you pay maybe a dollar or two. Basically if they make a total of $4/$5 bucks and it comes in a plain white envelope I have no issue about that. Guys need to make a little on there cards. If they don't explain their shipping exactly or you don't ask I don't really feel you can blame them as long as the card comes safely.

[tbcgregory]

I understand the need to make money on cards, but we're talking inexpensive cards. I'm not buying Johnny Bench cards. I'm collecting sets of 80's Rangers, and when I buy a card for $1.25 and you charge me $3 to ship it and it comes in a white envelope, you've made $3.75 on a card that's worth about .50.

I know this because I ship in white envelopes with a penny sleeve, top loader, and thin cardboard. It costs me .51 to ship each card, therefore I list them with free shipping.