Paul You are tilting at windmills. Phil is right on target. Just go to ebay at any moment of the day or night and go to "search" in "all categories" in title only, as it will not accept it in title and description. Type in the letter "a" there are over 1 million listings with the letter a in the title so you can imagine how many listings per day exist on ebay. If you believe they will pay attention to a few complainers about a single listing that sold for over $600 with 11 bids and 8 different bidders you are a dreamer. Ebay has proven itself time and time again that they are only interested in increasing income and making it more difficult by the day to contact other users. Potential lawsuits (Vero) by well capitalized large public companies are a far cry from the laments of a few poster sellers and/or buyers where ebay is concerned. Your dreams about the future improving are exactly as you described--------hopelessly romantic. I suggest you face reality and take ebay for what it has proven itself to be and I don't have to repeat what it is. Claude In a message dated 9/13/2009 10:10:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I would second what Phil says about remaining calm and polite when contacting sellers about misdescribed items. A bit of righteous indignation is all well and good, but ultimately it’s one person’s word against another – and if you’re a complete stranger to the seller, why should they believe you’ re any more of an expert than they are? To this end I would also add that it helps to keep it entirely factual and provide evidence where possible. Facts and evidence make a difference, as any lawyers on this group will tell you (!) For example, with a repro Casablanca, a missing bottom border proves nothing in itself, but (correct me if I’m wrong) a visible giveaway is that the white tone of the borders on a repro does not merge in with the rest of the poster in the same way as an original. We’re lucky enough to have some great information online, in the form of learnaboutmovieposters, emovieposter, heritage, reputable dealer sites, forums and fansites. Most sellers on ebay are not crooks, some are even *gasp* quite nice, and are ready to take on accurate information, even when it’s disappointing to them. As we saw recently with “Cine Poster”, even Bruce makes mistakes if people don’t tell him about it, and we know what efforts he makes to get it right. It would be arrogant for anyone to say they know every last detail about movie posters - learning and experience is part of the fun … isn’t it? Where I differ from Claude and Phil is that I’m slightly more optimistic about ebay’s attitude when listings are reported (yes, I know, just call me a romantic fool). As Phil says, there is a large element of caveat emptor, and obviously they are not going to deal with every little complaint, particularly if unsubstantiated, but I would guess that alarm bells start to ring if they receive a certain number of reports of fraud or misrepresentation about the same item. After all, this is where it can affect their bottom line. They’ve discovered a few times now that they are not immune to the law worldwide, and are clearly quite jittery with Vero, so I think there is always hope they’ll take notice where people are persistent and appear to know what they’re talking about. “Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and …etc etc.” BTW I would always go through the ebay messaging system rather than personal email address when sending questions or dealing with disputes, as this means ebay can’t say it doesn’t have a record of what a seller has been told, should they decide to investigate. Anyway, enough of my rambling patronizing. Back to what we do best – enjoying (authentic) movie posters! Paul _www.movieposterstudio.com_ (http://www.movieposterstudio.com/) P.S. No moles were whacked during the making of this email. In a message dated 13/09/2009 00:14:53 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Claude is absolutely corrrect. The selling of fakes (and not just movie memoabilia) on auction sites and through auction houses has been going on for years - decades, centuries. That's why it's caveat emptor. It's also like trying to play whack a mole. eBay does not care remotely about such matters, because as Claude says, the bigger the end result the bigger the fees to eBay. By all means if you see something being described incorrectly then email the seller and tell them politely that you believe there item to be other than what they describe it to be. Why politely? Because of all the hundreds of misdescribed items offered on eBay (and other auctions sites) are frequently - very frequently - being sold by people who have no idea what they are selling. Getting enraged at something one cannot change, and get the appropriate people to take action about - because they have no intention to do so - simply drives the blood pressure through the roof. Life is too short. Phil Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
