posted on May 28, 2001 10:06:28 AM
No they haven't a clue. Even when it is brought to their attention, many still continue with their incomprehensible descriptions.
Books are what I look at ... the number of sellers trying to auction books who are clearly illiterate never ceases to amaze me (no punctuation, grammar skills or spelling abilities). If one is unable to write a coherent auction, then one should hire someone to do so -- there is such a thing as "professionalism" and "taking pride in your work".
And one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to learn the basics of HTML.
I am always amazed at how some sellers are capable of navigating Ebay and typing in their ID, etc. --yet write descriptions that are one, long, ALL CAPS, unpunctuated sentence (if you could call it that). I almost want to e-mail them and ask how they were able to turn on the computer!
It frightens me that we even have people walking around who managed to get out of school(?) in such shape.
What a national disaster!
Wouldn't it be great if Ebay required that all sellers must have reached at least 800 on their SAT's!
We all know that there is illiteracy out there, but to see it unfold so dramaitcally all over Ebay is shocking and sad.
posted on May 28, 2001 10:30:03 AMWe all know that there is illiteracy out there, but to see it unfold so dramaitcally all over Ebay is shocking and sad
I'm a seller on ebay my listing dont look like you describe at all.
Breif description detailed shipping information as to how much shipping is and method will be useed that it.
as far a clue I have one I find that Title with Caps grab more attention and bids then plan Text so many of my titles are in caps and most my description in in the title.
I dont Have no handleing fees but I do use a fixed shipping rate not actual shipping rate but the Shipping is never more then .20 to .40 more then auctual postage.
I have another clue I find it nessary to use the fixed shipping rate to off set all the new extra cost of Running the Auctions.
Most auction manager site are now chargeing listing fees fvfs or both Ebay incressed fees.
Incress in Buyer complaining about the smallest problems I do beileve in custumer service but when the time you spend with each buy incress so dont my time invested yet buyer still insist on low starting bids.
up till september of last year running a .01 to $9.99 auction was .25 to list pluss FVF.
Now its .30 up to 7 days .10 more for 10 days pluss fvf the manager site are getting from .10 and up to list or use there picture hosting or you pay from $9 to $100 a month for to lease webhosting space and up to $70 for a domain name. pluss some charge FVF as well one you sell.
paypal gets fees bill point gets fee buyer love to charge back fees for charge back bounced check fees
Every Company is loveing incressing the cost of running online sales TO sellers yet Buyer blame the seller for incressed cost of buying Why not lay the blame where it belongs.
The cost last year for me to run a auction with a reasonable starting bid was about.55 cents.
it now cost from $1.20 to $2.25 .
Amount of bidding per item is dropping many Item end with one or two bid near or close to the start price.
inspte of what is actually thought most low starting bid item have a .99 to $2.00 profit range.
When the cost to run these same auction incressed most auction had a -.20 profit range.
You cant have both low starting bid and no handle fees which will it be Incressed bid prices or a handleing fee.
Most seller find that as start bids rise sales drop 30% to 50%.
ask me I know rather then charge a handleing fee I incressed all my starting bid on my item from $1 to $2 my bid through is still good but is off by 14% to 20% but an incress in cost of running auction of more then 50%.
People are clueless but im not sure its the sellers.
MY cost is $3 for a item I list it with a $4.75 starting bid for 10 day one bid for $4.75 and fees to run the auction running as high at $2.
the people who are clueless are the people running these imaginary numbers on what auction sellers are makeing when they decide on there new and incressed fees.
posted on May 28, 2001 10:34:14 AM
I think what is more important than SAT scores in the Real World is common sense. Common sense and practicality (with a strong work ethic) will get you through most things in life!
One doesn't have to be an intellectual to write a description that is relevant to what one is auctioning. Whether one is selling china or books, one can at least begin by describing what is in front of them.
With books, anyone should be able to enter the title, author, illustrator, publisher, date of publication, numbering line, format (hardcover/paperback), size, number of pages and describe condition. For example, if one is looking right at the book, there is no need to spell "hemingway" as "hemmingway" (you don't have to be a perfect speller to copytype something)!
One doesn't have to be an expert on china (example only) to describe the marks, size of item, colour, manufacturer, etc.
posted on May 28, 2001 10:46:10 AM
While it may not be essential for a seller to write clearly, it is still sad given the importance of this skill in everyday life.
I would imagine that anyone who cannot write well, also cannot read or speak especially well either.
Ability to hold an auction or not, it is sad.
If you want to teach kids why it's important to stay in school, direct them to many current Ebay listings!
posted on May 28, 2001 10:59:59 AM
TOS too long. TOS not long enough.
I suppose somewhere there is the perfect TOS that is short but gives all the information.
Most auctions I look at the seller has tried to cover all bases in their TOS. MAybe not all of it pertains to you, but many TOSs were reviewed and adjusted because buyers asked the questions.
As far as intelligence, what about the buyer that replies on my end of auction email wanting to know where to send the payment.
Face it, the intelligence of Ameicans is on a rapid downhill descent, which all started when it became politically incorrect to make a student repeat a year of school.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:06:12 AM
Seems like judging others rather than fixing one's own problems is in style!
If you fail to try to understand the fellow person how can you ever have peace?
Blurry pics? Simple. A seller is on a budget, buys a basic digital camera and the pics come out fuzzy. Had they been more aware about the pixels maybe they would have forked over extra moola for a better camera.
Long TOS? Simple. I started using a long TOS so I can answer this from my POV. From reading lots of threads on AW I realized how extensive whining and complaining are about TOS. Since I don't want those whiners bidding on my auctions, I put in a long TOS. It has worked sucessfully since my test period and the quality bidders has gone up.
Vague descriptions? Simple. I use vague descrptions for some of my items simply because the collectors already know what they are. My sales have never dropped because of the vagueness. I don't condone it for every type of item, especially books and unusual items.
All Cap Descriptions? People who use that are attempting to draw attention to their words. They need to be told differently. It makes my eyes fuzzy when reading all caps paragraphs.
Generous handling fees? What do ou consider generous? You should be happy with the bargain you receive with handling fees! Sellers should receive fair value for their time in packagng your item which means handling fees could be as much as 10x what they are now.
Music? You go the store there's music. Go the restaurant there's music. To the Dentists office- Music. I hate places that lack atmosphere. Yes, I already have my own music playing but I enjoy the music added to a sellers listing. I usually spend more time looking over the listing so I can hear the music out, and the more time one spends at a place, the more likely they are to buy. As a matter of fact, a study from sites that use audio shows an increase of buying, and of people returning.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:12:36 AM
I just wish they would read what they type before hitting the launch button. If the mispelling is really bad you cannot even make sense of the sentences. They still sell dictionarys don't they?
Punctuation is a real pet peeve of mine. The word is don't, not dont or didnt.
Nobody is perfect but you can tell when they don't even try to get it right.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:14:17 AM
You have to remember that there are sellers that have NEVER taken the SAT's. I managed to go through life, make a good living and retire and never take it. I have a short TOS, very small fee's (actual) and pay the higher and higher fee's. Now you want ebay to police the sellers that don't have good grammer or cannot write descriptions. Be serious, without sellers ebay would make no money. Now about long TOS's. Most of the long ones are from the older sellers. Just go to the sellers with the high feedbacks and read their TOS's and I am sure you will change your mind. Everyone has to start somewhere, but if you notice they improve with age or rather the more they post the better they get. Most threads are very helpful here in AW, but this one rates as 0 in my book and this is just my opinion.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:30:19 AM
What I find even more sad is a large group of so called adluts sitting at a computer they paid big dollars and online makeing fun of illiteracy .
This is a serious problem in this country I work with younger and older people who you actually have to read thing to and write for them as well because they seriously can not READ or write period.
The sad thing is this countries insistants on incressed test scorce SATs illiteracy has nothing to do with Scoring high on a test it also has nothing to do with being stupid or dumb.
If this was true this country would never have become what it is today since schooling in the past was not a legal right it was a priviage and many only addended any type of schooling if and when there was time.
I key to a good life is survival skills Knowing how to grow your own food and hunt to take care of a family and avoiding sickness.
Many of the bussiness in this country today would not exist today had they not been started by people who could not read or write.
even many of the big bussinesses out there today were started by people who had little to no schooling what so ever.
The founder of mac donalds Had only an 8th grade education could just barely sign his name and had but he had an Idea and $100 bill in his pocket.
the walmart founder
KFC
Wendys and many many more...
illiteracy is not something to complain about or sit and make fun of it is something to stand up and do something about.
If you think people in this country are illterate take a look at its goverment and education system that beleaves higher test scorces will solve this problem.
Most of the error made in listing as far as spelling is because the quicker you can get listing done and auction launched the sooner you you can sell the item and the more you can sell.
spend an hour or two writeing and editing one or two listings is not really an option when your in a paced low return bussiness.
If you dont have an honest answer to a problem then you should not make it worse by sitting and makeing fun of these people who were not educated the right way.
just sit back as has always been done continue to pay billion and billion in school taxes to educate the young and get nothing for your money.
illiteracy Not being about to read or write is not something to make Light of everyone has a right to make a liveing and survive no matter what they were or were not tought from a book.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:53:12 AM
Well, selling mainly books myself, I probably should not say this....
However..
I have seen some very incoherent, disjointed listings for books, full of grammatical and spelling errors, and I think to myself, perhaps they are selling this book because they could not read it!
How can you sell books and not be an avid reader? And, how can you be an avid reader and not know how to spell????
It makes no sense.
I am going to say something here. First impressions are everything and I tend to relate a person's writing/spelling ability, perhaps wrongly, to their intelligence. I am guilty of this! I admit it! I know, however, many fairly intelligent people who cannot spell at all! Just one of my personal pet peeves. But just as in real life, what you see about a person causes you to form an opinion about someone, what they have written causes an impression as well. I would think one would try a little harder to make that impression the best one by using a little spell-checking before listing.
Taking the SAT's in and of themselves DOES NOT educate you. They are merely a measurement of general knowledge, taken toward the end of your grade school years.
qickdraw29:
Seems like judging others rather than fixing one's own problems is in style!
I was commenting on how many sellers cannot seem to write clearly. I write very clearly, without exception. You also itemized a list of answers to complaints made here, but you failed to recognize that your auctions are not the paradigm, so a vague description does not suffice.
posted on May 28, 2001 12:41:36 PM
Appletime, you just happen to view the glass as half empty. When I see a sellers blurry pics, I think, this poor chap needs more money so he can afford a better camera. At least he took the effort to buy a camera. When I see a long TOS, I think, this seller is trying to smooth out any problems ahead of time. A higher handling fee, the seller is trying to cover his costs to stay in business.
All positive efforts by the seller you managed to turn into a negative.
Don't criticize ME all because you look at life through rose colored glasses.
A lot of people are just LAZY and don't take the time to learn HOW to take better pictures--or crop them--or downsize them. Many people DO NOT go to the trouble of learning HOW to do something correctly.
And only a naive person would automatically think that a handling fee is "just so the seller can cover expenses". A lot of times sellers make a little extra profit with the handling fee. How do I know? Because I sell too and pack well, AND know what it all costs. There are plenty of sellers who charge above and beyond what is reasonable, so don't criticize me based on what you either do not understand or have not witnessed.
All negative efforts (or lack of effort at all) by the seller you managed to gloss right over.
posted on May 28, 2001 12:55:39 PM
I dont have a big exspensive camera I have a cheap one in fact mine was a free bee Some time it take a burry picture depends on the light but an fuzzy picture is better then no picture at all .
but with a familly of 6 to suport there isnt much change I will be doleing out $400 to $1000 any time soon just not in the cards.
Keep in mind ebay and online auction sales are prive sales for the average JOE they are not just for the rich and well to do sheesh.
ebay is nothing more then a online cassifide page that over charges for the privilage of offing picture in your ad yet they dont actually host the photos them self.
Please address the topic of the thread, and not each other. Your last post borders on being disruptive and combative - I suggest as a new member of Auctionwatch that you take the time to review our Community Guidelines: http://www.auctionwatch.com/company/terms.html prior to posting again.
Edited To add: your next post was insulting in nature and was therefore deleted - please review the Community Guidelines to avoid putting your posting privileges in jeopardy.
Thank you,
Sara
[email protected]
[ edited by SaraAW on May 28, 2001 01:04 PM ]
appletime1, don't you want to close this thread now? dman3 answered all of your questions. ALL of your questions. Pretty well covered, yep, all are answered. OK then.
posted on May 28, 2001 01:33:23 PM
Sad to say , I was guilty last week of misspelling and it cost me a high bid price ( and this is not the first time. ) I spelled the name of the author wrong and got 1 bid on what should have been a high seller! So for me, spelling does count but often I am in a hurry and just throw the auction on without corrections. Perhaps now I will at least look at the heading! Live and learn to spell will be my new motto!
posted on May 28, 2001 01:44:03 PM
i made a major misspelling on a item descreption didn't notice it till the auction had bids and was close to closing becouse of my mistake the item did not come up on searches for that item.....Guess what item finished verry well 25.00 or so more than similar items..go figure
Again, please take Moderation issues to email only - your last posts have been deleted as discussing moderation in a thread is a violation of our CG's.
This is your final warning, your posting privileges will be suspended if you post in this vein again.
Sara [email protected]
