posted on February 13, 2001 04:53:31 PM
Things I LIKE to see on an auction;
1. Item from a Non-smoking home. I'm tired of e-mailing to find out if it is.
2. No handling fee.
3. Combined shipping for more then one auction.
Things I HATE!
1. Long TOS--short description.
2. Sites that are to cute and take forever to come up.
3. Sites with music. If I want music I'll turn on the radio!
posted on February 13, 2001 05:13:26 PM
I've only had one person ask if I was a non smoking home. I am..as far as cigarettes go, but I heat with wood..so am I a non smoking home? I think my stuff has a woody scent to it.
I put my shipping and handling as $4.50 (actual PO cost is $3.95 (sometimes one of theses clocks actually ends up less than a pound (must be lighter bubble wrap and peanuts), so it would only cost me $3.50). I have it in my TOS..if someone doesn't like it, the time to make that known, would be when they didn't bid. I can see no reason why I shouldn't be expected to recoup some of my gas to and from the PO, the cost of my bubble wrap and any other cost of doing business, just like store front businesses who ship.
I too hate "cutsey" sites, and when I see it's going to play music, I back right out.
posted on February 13, 2001 05:15:26 PM
Things I LIKE to see on an auction
- Actual shipping cost, or at least the weight and zipcode, so I can figure it out.
- If it is costume jewlery, tell me what color the metal it is. Pictures often are not correct.
- Clear sharp pictures.
- Don't mind a short non-threatening TOS. (and yes I READ these)
Things I HATE to see on an auction
- "Picture says it all", and it doesn't (out of focus, too small, too large)
- Click here to see picture
- Picture at the end of the auction, especially with a really long TOS.
- No Personal Checks (If you don't want my check I will find another item).
- Advertisments (for you web site, your auction software, your picture site, your listing site, your counter site, your payment site. I hate billboards too).
- TOS telling me I will have to go to a web site to enter my information.
- Top of the auction says "See auction for payment terms or shipping cost", and it is NOT there.
- Anything that follows my cursor around the screen.
- htpp cookies in an auction, I don't want to be tracked.
posted on February 13, 2001 06:44:07 PM
Just popping up to say hello. Plus I had to reply to this
1) Cosmetic auctions that give you a clear photo with a good description of the product and color you are bidding on. Not everyone knows what "MAC Powder in C5" looks like, or if its lightweight, or oil-free, or whatever.
2) Clothing auctions with fabric content (or at least a good guess) and measurements! especially when they remember to put the hip and inseam. I remember those sellers
3) A sense of humor!! I love a funny seller
Fraidycat
``Only a fraidycat here``
[ edited by fraidycatz on Feb 13, 2001 06:55 PM ]
posted on February 13, 2001 07:17:01 PM
#1:"Personal checks WELCOME" (not only do I bid, but I tend to bid HIGHER!)
#2:"Actual shipping" ....AND THE AMOUNT!!
(gets same result as #1)
#3:"size IS...." (if nothing else...put a ruler in the photo...we will figure it out!)
#4:"Feedback posted for ALL buyers"
(gets mine too!)
#5:TOS that treat me like a responsible adult who balances his checkbook and follows thru...NOT threatens me with Negs and NPB's and lawsuits and sugar in my gas tank and
getting my puppy pregnant if I dont pay in 3 days with crisp dollar bills.....
99.9% of the sellers I have dealt with the past 3 years have been great...but the auctions lately have started looking like something out of an CIA manual! Let's remember that old term: C O M M U N I T Y !!
Same Kawfee-n-Junque as on eBay...I aint afraid of who I am!
posted on February 13, 2001 07:23:12 PM
I like to see:
-If the item comes from a non-smoking or smoking home.
-CLEAR good photos
-Shipping clearly stated.
I hate:
-Midi files.
-Those things that follow my cursor around
-Ghastly background/font combination
-Blurry or pictures taken from too far away to do the auction any good. [I browse the Bassoon listings, and a close up of each joint is really really nice. I don't need to see your front porch.]
I see no point to:
-"click here for a larger picture" when the pictures are both the same size.
-writing your entire auction description in caps or in a large font.
posted on February 13, 2001 09:39:26 PM
I don't understand.... "from a non-smoking home?" Fortunately, I have never had a buyer ask me that. And I do not want to deal with buyers that ask that. I am a dealer for 25+ years (on here they call us sellers).
Unless someone is selling something of their own from their own homes, how the heck would they know if the item came from a non-smoking home? My speciality "out here in the real world" was Amish items. So they don't smoke, but everything in their farmhouses do!...their lamps, their warming ovens, their meat smoking in the attic...gheesh! Cigarettes, etc. have gotta be mild compared to that. And when I bought at country auctions, flea markets, yard sales, I'm gonna know if it came from a non-smoking home?? Give me a break!
If it came out of a smoking home (and I cannot tell), wash the dang thing!
This irritates me more than anything. Why not ask the sellers, do you have cats, dogs, birds, etc. if you're allergic to them...many people are...again, wash the dang thing!
Whether or not something comes from a non-smoking home (and I could care less if it does) screams to me "agenda here" cause you can always WASH THE DANG THING!!!
As a buyer, the one seller I avoid is the one who does not list shipping costs (where possible). PERIOD!
If they have things I don't care for such as music, graphics...so what? I can ignore that if I am interested in the item. Guess I'm just not all that uptight. As for fuzzy pics, not everyone who sells can afford a $900 camera..have a heart, they may be doing the best they can with what they have. I know of one poor young widow selling on ebay, using a Barbie digital camera (all she could afford), trying to make a little extra to take care of her fatherless children.
Personally, I am quite happy to have the picky, picky cranks go right by my auctions. Gheesh, these are auctions, people, mostly of used goods....not a store.
posted on February 13, 2001 10:06:59 PMaramatha, some things you can't wash. Ever try and wash a book that came from a smoking household, or try and get the yellow discoloration off of a picture that came from a smoking household.
My father, who moved out when I was 13, was a three pack a day chain smoker (camel, no filter). When he moved out, I relized food had taste and smell.
It is incredible how little smoke it takes before I can smell it. Try driving down the freeway and smelling the smoke from the driver in front of you. You don't want to know how bad it is when I open a package that comes from a smoking household and the box, packing and item stink so bad I have to put it outside for a week.
posted on February 13, 2001 10:27:21 PM
i'm allergic to smoke. i can tell when it's from a smoking house. i don't ask because if i really want the item, it stays in the garage until i can deal with it.
things i like to see in a description:
1. short and nice TOS, AFTER a nice and concise description with a good picture.
2. Free shipping would be nice, but not required!
3. proper spelling, grammar, and puncuation. please look things up in a dictionary, write things up ahead of time in word and run the spell checker, or use www.dictionary.com a poorly spelled and/or written description will make me click on the next item. (kinda like foreplay/sex and well written description/me bidding! )
my .02 worth
edited for my own sentence errors -- remember FANBOYS
[ edited by paulswife on Feb 13, 2001 10:29 PM ]
posted on February 14, 2001 12:42:11 AM
I just got a couple of items from smokers that shocked me in how bad the boxes and the packing material stunk. It smells like the person must have purposely sat and blown smoke into the box, but I'm sure that isn't what happened.
I usually re-use styrofoam peanuts for my own auctions, but I had to dump all the packing material. Fortunately, the items were all ceramics or glass, so I could just wash them, but I would have had to send back any fabric or paper item.
This is the first time I've bought ceramics and the first time I've had this problem - are they related?
posted on February 14, 2001 01:50:05 AM
"When he moved out, I relized food had taste and smell."
Greg, that's exactly what I meant by "agenda". I see you read the propaganda re taste and smell and smoke. My son's a doctor...hogwash. We are talking about auction items here, not effects of smoking. As far as driving down the highway.... smelling the awful exhaust of some of the buses and trucks in front of me....well, I have often thought I just inhaled two lifetimes worth of damage to my lungs from that.
As far as discoloration, I have books and pictures extremely discolored, but from age. No, I can't clean them. But if it is from smoke, yes I know dealers that can clean them.
I still do not understand what all of that has to do with auction items coming from a smoke free home, except for agenda. Cause they stink? I've had stuff that stinks that wasn't anywhere near smoke...nauseated me. I've had Amish dolls almost make me faint from manure smell cause the Amish kids left them lay in the barn. People still wanted them.
What really ticks me off is that I am from the era that, when you went to the hospital, they would often asked if you smoked. If you said "yes", they said, "well, then smoke, it will help you relax"!!! I don't know one single person who thought it stank back then because they were not conditioned to think so.
People don't seem to mind paying a high price if they can get an ad of Ronald Reagan advertising cigarettes.
Brainwashing is a powerful thing. So is imagination. I have cats (who incidentally cannot tolerate smoke). We have had people at the house and, during the course of conversation, at times would say "I'm so glad you don't have cats as I am violently allergic to them. (My cats hide when people come). Really? "Well, you have just been in a household for 5 hours with 6 cats and isn't that strange you had not one symptom?". I am thoroughly convinced that the same would be true of most people re cigarette smoke if they COULD NOT SMELL IT.
You don't want to buy from me cause I do not allow smoking in the house. I don't mind it, but my cats cannot tolerate it. So people have to smoke on my enclosed porch and a lot of the stuff I sell is packed in boxes out there. I have no idea if it smells of smoke or not. I cannot tell. I do know a lot of it is very old and smells musty and I am allergic to mold. Even so, I don't ask sellers if their stuff smells musty or has mold cause if I want the item I'll deal with it.
Getting too OT here...this is about auctions...not anti-smoking agenda and that is what I see here.
With all the harmful stuff in this world, I either have to live with it or live in a bubble. I had two good friends die of lung cancer and neither ever smoked a cigarette in their lives. One was never even near smoke cause he was a priest from a non-smoking home.
If it is such a major problem, you might email the sellers before buying.
And many won't even know, if they bought it elsewhere for resale.
"nuff said from here...I see the part of this thread re smoke free homes as an agenda against smoking rather than having much to do with auctions.
posted on February 14, 2001 07:24:35 AM
this didn't turn into a smoking vs non-smoking agenda until you did and you dragged it out. i do know when people smoke in a house, bar, car, restaurant. i get really bad headaches, sinuses ache, lungs ache, and my clothes and hair smells bad. just because you keep your house cleaner than the average bear, doesn't mean everyone does.
however, i digressed here and thought i wouldn't.
this thread doesn't need to digress into that agenda beyond this either. let's keep it on track. it's a good topic.
my .02 worth
posted on February 14, 2001 08:14:46 AM
Thank you Greg!
If the "whatever" comes from a smoking home the effects happen before the package is opened. There is a smokey smell on the whole package. The allergic reaction starts fast. I have had to put things outside for days to air out. If I was allergic to cats or dogs I'd ask the same thing. It's a health issue.
aramatha--all I want to say to you is "I thought that I was grumpy". I think that you gave a whole new meaning to the word.
paulswife-- another Thank You. I appriciate your stand.
The idea of this thrad was to discuss what BUYERS like to see on auction sites. It seems lately that the buyers have been trashed and now they can have their turn to say what they like or not.
Thank you for letting me have my say, auntieb
[ edited by auntieb on Feb 14, 2001 08:15 AM ]
posted on February 14, 2001 08:37:35 AM
I like to see accurate descriptions of the item, mention the flaws, or say it has no flaws, but don't just say good condition!
To digress a bit:
Paulswife:3. proper spelling, grammar, and puncuation. please look things up in a dictionary, write things up ahead of time in word and run the spell checker, or use www.dictionary.com a poorly spelled and/or written description will make me click on the next item.
Sorry, I had to scroll right past your post because you didn't capitalize properly..
Since everyone is talking about smoking, it isn't the smell of smoke that you are alergic to, it is the air borne irritants in the smoke that you are allergic to. Smelling day old beer doesn't get you drunk does it? It just smells bad! Smelling day old smoke doesn't make you react, except to the gross smell. I agree totally with Aramantha, and I don't care whether or not my items come from a "smoke free" environment.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:04:34 AM
Bassicbrian----tell all that to my allergy Dr. She will be glad to know that all my sneezing, red ichy eyes and runny nose are from air borne irritants. All this time she has had the wrong diagnosis. Bottom line--my home is one place that I can keep smoke and/or second hand smoke from tobacco OUT and that is why I will not buy from a seller that is not "smoke free".
posted on February 14, 2001 09:16:34 AM
auntieb..May I ask you a question? I have a non-smoking home. I buy from auctions, garage sales ect. I have not allergic to anything (very fortunate yes). I also have a terrible nose for smells. So when you ask me if this item comes from a non-smoking home...how do I answer you? Do I just tell you "yes" or expand and tell you that I don't know where it has been before?? Thanks
posted on February 14, 2001 09:24:50 AM
nanastuff, you might just say you don't know. That it came from an estate sale, etc. My biggest concern is the packing material used to pack it in. Also, say I buy drapes or throw pillows or such they may not be washable. Then I'm stuck with something I can't use.(also allergic to dry cleaning stuff) If you say you don't know that gives me the option to take a chance and bid or not.
posted on February 14, 2001 11:33:10 AM
Regarding the smoking issue -
I think people just want an accurate description of the item's condition. A big scratch on the side of an item is a flaw. An oil stain on the top of it is a flaw. An unpleasant odor - manure, cat spray, cigarette smoke - is a flaw. Depending on the flaw and the item, sometimes it can be corrected - maybe you will be able to buff out the scratch, maybe you can bleach out the stain, maybe you can launder out the smell. In order to bid an appropriate amount, I want to know if I'm going to have to put time and effort into correcting the flaws of an item.
I personally don't know of any good way to rid old books of a smoke smell. Airing them out helps, and it's possible to somewhat mask the odor with a fabric softener sheet, but in my experience the smell never totally goes away.
When people say they'd like to see the phrase "From a non-smoking home" I think what they really want is just the assurance the item doesn't reek, not its provenance and entire history. If a manure or cat spray smell was as common as a cigarette smoke smell, I think people would want reassurances up-front about those flaws also.
[ edited by triplesnack on Feb 14, 2001 11:49 AM ]
posted on February 14, 2001 12:20:49 PM
Bassicbrian -- LOL
I had to chuckle with what your wrote. I think faster than I type and using caps slows me down. I'm now working in a position where my internal emails go up the foodchain, and so I've been told to use caps. By nature, I'm a low-key person. When I type properly, I've noticed that I sit straighter in the chair.
But anyway, a further digression.
Clear, concise, articulate descriptions.
my .02 worth
posted on February 14, 2001 01:30:52 PM
triplesnack.....what you say is true and to me if it smells like smoke and it's not washable, it is a flaw. It's not hard to add "From a non-smoking home". This phrase gets my attention faster then anything because it's so important to me. I'll look at an auction closer if they say this and go on to the next if they don't.
posted on February 14, 2001 02:16:00 PM
Something I hate is: When a seller holds my check until it clears. I have over 450 positive feedback, 0 negative, but they make me wait till my check clears before they send my item. I can understand them holding a check on a newbie, but you'd think they would take a look at my feedback, and see that I haven't had one to bounce yet.
posted on February 14, 2001 02:44:08 PMaramatha, why don't you have your son call my Ear, Nose & Throat doctor so he can explain how wrong my doctor is.
*** Off Topic ***
The only agenda I have with smoking, is when a smoker infringes on my rights, which is wenever they exhale around me. I believe every smoker has the right to smoke, just not to exhale and blow their smoke around people who don't want it. I don't care how you decide to kill your self, just don't take me with you.
Yes, I believe, extended exposure to smoke can sensitize you to the smell and it can decrease what you taste.
*** End Off Topic ***
I have to agree with what triplesnack said, it is really nice to see ANY flaw listed.
posted on February 14, 2001 02:48:33 PM
I have had checks bounce by persons with over 1,000 and 2,000 feedbacks, as well as newbees.
Some very trust worthy persons have written me a check and it bounced for simple mistakes. Even though many persons make good on bad checks, I still have the bank charge back fees and additional efforts to get refunded - about 50% of the time I HAVE NOT got a refund for bad checks.
I do explain in my auction descriptions that I hold shipping when I receive a check. I do not say "wait for check to clear" because I have no way of knowing if the check has cleared unless I call the bank the check was written on. That can be a expensive and time consuming process.
The only other way I have to know is wait about 10 to 15 days and see if my bank has charged me with a charge back. I have received charge back notices from my bank in up to 13 days from the day I have deposited the check. OUCH!!!
I do not like checks, but I will take them only with my terms. Sorry, I never intend my check taking policy as a personal jab, but I have been burned too many times and must protect myself against loss.
Did you leave a Neg feedback for the bidders that had 1000 and 2000 feedbacks???? Did any seller before you leave a Neg. about the buyer writing bad checks?????? I would agree to a TOS saying that I reserve the right to hold shipping if the buyer has a Neg. for a bad check until that check clear's my bank.
posted on February 14, 2001 03:28:42 PM
Age of item (antique and collectibles at least). If you don't know, say so; that includes if it's new and hot off the turnpike.
Humour. I love the listing I found for a lucite ring that says "maximum vulgarity." (True, true! Good for uncontrollable laughing). In real life, I often buy the person as much as the item and like to have a sense of the person with whom I'm dealing.
Warning if there are a lot of pictures that take time to load. That way, I'll wait if I'm interested instead of assuming it's a dud of a link.
Letting me know, in general terms, how long I might wait for answer to email questions, which can range from minutes to days!
posted on February 14, 2001 04:49:29 PM
Honest descriptions.
I try to see the dealer -- the seller -- typing up the description: beehive tilted at an unnatural angle, dewlaps aquiver, the snipe of a cigarette dangling from slack jaws... pizza stains on the tattered lounging robe... purple nail polish on chewed fingernails... the item, some bizarresquity from long ago which was treasured and used, and which is now being discarded into the great maw of history and someone else's life for a few bucks... if one gets lucky.
Makes my blood race! And that's why I buy the most outlandish things... and then sell the most outlandish things. Brutally honest descriptions are the only ones worthy of our profession.
If you doubt me, check out www.squarf.com and my current offering -- a "lucite pinky ring of maximum vulgarity." I even priced it far below its gottenu value in order to maintain the essential tackiness of it all. THRILLING!
I use to say in my auction descriptions "NO CHECKS." As many sellers know, that does no good for buyers who do what ever they please or fail to read the auction descriptions or emails sellers send.
Now, I don't worry about what a person's feedback is before I take their check, because I will not ship until I am sure I will not get a charge back.
Before, I learned the hard way I would check their feedback before I accepted their check and if the feedback looked good I went ahead with shipping - not a full-proof system.
Off the top of my head, the person with 1,000 feedbacks had 2 or 3 negative feedbacks and she was kicked off or banned from eBay before I could leave her negative feedback for bouncing a check and taking my merchandise. Another person had over 2,000 feedbacks with several negatives and was very apologetic and made good on the check after about 1 month in two different money order payments.
I'm sticking with my "Expect Up to 30 days delivery if you send a check" policy because I really don't want checks. Payments by check are too slow. I spend more time on payment by check transactions and I don't feel or think checks payments by snail mail is the smoothest way to do business over the Internet. If buyers insist on paying me by check they can wait for their package. Or, they can make payment by money order, cashier's check, wire transfer, pay me directly with visa or MasterCard, or online with PayPal, Billpoint, or Amazon.com Payments.
I realize that some buyers will prefer to shop with another seller who accepts checks and that is the bullet I have chosen to bite.
pcalton
Perry Calton [email protected]
http://wwww.pcalton.com
You offer your buyers a link to your feedback on the auction sites to show that you are a good business to buy from, but you could care less to use a buyers feedback to judge that person as a buyer to take a check from. You also say that sending a check by snail mail is to slow, but you accept a money order or a cashiers check by snail mail and that takes the same amount of time. You have 5 Neutrals from less than 200 buyers on e-bay and I have 0 Negs, 0 Neturals and all Pos from 200 sellers and I only pay with a personal check. So why put up your feedback on your site for your buyers to use, if the buyers feedback is of no use to you to accept to take a check???
I feel attacked.
I don't want checks.
I don't want checks.
I don't want checks.
I have the right to set my terms of service.
If you insist to bring up my feedbacks,
I have over 6,500 feedbacks on Amazon.com. That demostrates I at least may have learned a little bit about what works for me.
Please understand that none of my neutrals on eBay were given me by other people. Anytime a ebayer is kicked off their feedbacks become neutral and that is what has happened. Every one of my transaction partners on eBay gave me positive feedback.
Please, go ahead and take checks if that is what you choose to do, and do so under whatever conditions you choose to.
Please allow me to set my own terms, to share those terms here and do so without being attacked. If you have not meant to attack me, I apologize
pcalton
Perry Calton [email protected]
http://www.pcalton.com
[ edited by auntieb on Feb 14, 2001 08:15 AM ]
