Claude, who I sometimes disagree with over ebay issues, has hit the
bullseye here.
Ebay could care less.
And righteous Mother-Hubbard-type letters to sellers effect exactly
NOTHING.
I am no big fan of ebay - in fact, MovieArt removed all of their store
listings with
ebay this week because listing them there gets little, if any,
attention.
But looking at it from their perspective, there is no percentage in it
for them
to care. This is why Phil is correct when he posits the CAVEAT EMPTOR
model
as ebay's only consumer-protection operative.
It would simply cost them too much to really care. Besides, what they
really
want to sell is washing machines and cars. The impact of collectibles
on
ebay is no longer robust.
If one could contact ebay buyers, one might do some good by inviting
these
buyers to become MOPO members. But you can't, Blanche.
So shall we piss in the wind some more about the CASABLANCA poster and
the poor ole
hapless buyer?
Why?
Kirby McDaniel
www.movieart.net
On Sep 13, 2009, at 9:27 AM, Claude Litton wrote:
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
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
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