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Evan,
Exactly. With over 600 feedbacks and a 100% positive rating, the seller
'spookycyn' is obviously doing something right -- which makes her abrupt
reply to the very legitimate questions asked even more surprising (and
disappointing). Surely she must realize that particularly in the Star Wars area
that fraud and misrepresentation has been rampant on eBay. Therefore, if she
doesn't want to waste time replying individually to a flood of authentication
questions -- which I can certainly understand -- why doesn't she put all this
information in the auction description in the first place and save herself and
everyone else the bother?
I think it behooves ALL sellers on eBay to realize that there is now a lot
of very *justified* mistrust out there among the bidders and that they need to
write complete and accurate auction descriptions. This can go a long way
towards answering bidders questions *before* they are asked and help
establish veracity and the idea that the seller is aware of buyer's concerns in
this area and taking the trouble to address them in a proactive way.
This approach would be good for both the sellers and the buyers. Yet it
seems to me that many of the descriptions on eBay are far less informative and
complete than they used to be, even among the bigger, reputable dealers. There
seems to be a real trend to just say "check out the picture and see my feedback
rating" -- which we all know really doesn't mean that much anymore, as plenty of
known proven disreputable sellers have still managed to keep a very high
feedback rating on eBay.
Sellers who don't wish to be labeled "suspect" -- or spend a lot of time
replying to questions -- need to take the time to write complete descriptions
that anticipate authentication issues -- particularly when dealing with those
titles which are known to be plagued with repros.
And finally, any seller wishing to avoid suspicion and do good
business needs to offer a return policy. The real killer for me with
'spookycin' is her absolutely no returns policy. Personally, I never have
and will never buy from any seller who takes such a stand, and I will
continue to advocate that no one else should either. She really needs to
reconsider that approach, as usually a "no returns" policy is one of the primary
warning signals that a seller may be trying to pull something. I don't know of
any truly established reputable sellers who operate with a No Returns policy.
It's simple enough to do like I do when I sell sci-fi pulp magazines on eBay --
offer a 7-day no-questions asked refund MINUS shipping costs. That way the
seller is protected against paying anything if a buyer just changes their mind
after receiving the item, but the buyer can be confident that they can get their
money back if they decide, for whatever reason, that they don't want to keep the
item. A good seller will stand behind their merchandise and rely on the accuracy
of their descriptions to keep returns to a minimum. After 5 years and over 600
transactions, I have had only 3 requests for refunds. So, if you're going good
business, having a return policy is not burdensome.
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 22:06
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Bill's Bad Seller
UPDATE
A disapointing reply.
However, I should add that I have
known this individual for many years and she is a wonderful person,
knowlegeable in the area, and willing to sell on eBay with very reasonable
opening bids, and her listings include decent descriptions.
Items I
have purchased in that past were well packaged and arrived
promptly.
She has been listing since July 2001 with 0 negative
feedbacks -- an indication that I am not alone in this opinion.
Its
unfortunate that a eBay's sales model encourages so much sceptisim in both
sellers and bidders. This is certainly a result of having scads of
reprints available hawked as originals, and irrisponsible (and picky) bidders
unwilling to send a
check.
Evan.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
DISCLAIMER:
This message contains information concerning my personal experience with this
particular Seller. It is not intended to be a wholesale condemnation of
this Seller. It's possible that this Seller has had many positive
transactions with the movie poster collecting community.
However based
upon my experience, I WILL NOT BUY FROM THIS
SELLER
Seller: Ebay ID
=
spookycyn
Broomfield, CO
Items in Question:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6394522066
(Phantom Menace DS teaser OS)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6394524246
(ESB GWTW tri-fold OS)
I sent the Seller the following set of
questions concerning these posters: (slightly customized for each
poster)
Hi. I'm very interested in this poster as well as the
ESB but would like to be assured of its authenticity as an original theatrical
release poster. Will you please provide exact measurements? Can you provide a
closeup picture of the bottom border of the poster? Can you confirm that it
has a Lucas watermark? Are you able to provide the name of the dealer whom you
purchased it from? Your no Refund/Return policy is troubling, will you
guarantee that it is original and that any information provided is correct?
Will you provide return/refund if the information turns out to not be exactly
correct? THANK YOU, Bill
Here's the Reply:
Hi
Bill:
Please do not bid on this poster, you sound as though you do not
trust anyone and quite frankly I don't think I want to do business with
you.
Thanks
Notes:
The posters may in fact be
legitimate, but why would I buy from a dealer with this type of response to my
questions. Yup I should trust this person, especially when he has the
following Return policy (Not).
Absolutely NO REFUNDS, NO RETURNS. NO
EXCEPTIONS. Please bid responsibly.
Yours in
Collecting,
Bill
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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