It's human nature, to try to squeeze out the best possible description
on an item you are selling and unless the seller really holds himself to
a consistently high standard, that tendency can easily get out of hand.
Hey, just stop by a used car lot and talk with a salesman... But, Bruce,
even though you are one of the best around, you still slip up
occasionally. Like, with tonight's auction of the DESTINATION MOON
poster. All the description says that it is in "very good" condition but
the picture clearly shows it to be badly color-faded. And I mean, like,
*way* faded. Now, sure, you urge people to use the picture as their
primary "condition description" but in a case like this, if some newer
buyer didn't have a good idea of what the poster is supposed to look
like, he might think the auction picture looks pretty good (or that
perhaps it was overexposed when it was taken).
Your own site describes "very good" condition as:
"This item has survived in pretty nice condition, but has some
relatively minor imperfections. If they are within the image, they are
not very distracting at all, or they may be in the blank borders, where
they will not show when the item is displayed."
http://auctions.emovieposter.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=1496917
To be accurate, the description really should read "Color-faded,
otherwise in very good condition".
As a practical matter it's no biggie because to anyone with any
experience, the picture tells the tale -- but since you brought up the
subject of less-than-accurate descriptions, I'm jus sayin'... :)
-- JR
Bruce Hershenson wrote:
From around 4 years ago to around 8 years ago I bought a HUGE amount
of items on eBay. If I saw a pressbook I didn't have (not that often),
or any funky poster where I thought I could re-auction it in my own
auctions and make a few pennies, I bid on it, figuring that many of
those I bought from might go on to bid in MY eBay auctions, so that it
might be good for business in more than one way.
But over time, I saw that there were LOTS of eBay sellers who
over-graded their items, and lots more who packaged terribly. So
around 4 years ago I quit buying on eBay.
Around 6 months ago I decided to give eBay a try again, to see if
things had improved during my multi-year absense as a buyer.
Well I have bought 100 or more items the past 6 months, and while most
sellers (but far from all) seemed to have figured out how to pack a
poster so it doesn't get damaged, there seem to be a lot of sellers
who think it is fine to over-grade items, and to miss important defects.
I have received posters with many pinholes scattered throughout, or
paper loss in the image, or with writing on the back that bleeds
through to the front, and they have been described as "very good to
fine" or "overall quite nice" or "generally excellent".
I wish I could say that this was only true of "little sellers", but
this has proven to be just as true of some of the foremost eBay
sellers (I won't name any names, because I am not looking to embarrass
them).
I would say that I have been disappointed by around one-third of my
purchases. Today I opened four purchases, and one (with four
one-sheets) was ridiculously over-graded, and another (with a
pressbook) had major condition issues. The other two were fine. Should
I expect to have a 33% to 50% satisfaction rate?
I am asking those of you who still buy on eBay if you have had
similar experiences, or if you think I have just been very unlucky.
Feel free to reply to me "off list".
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