Now I've been known to bid on a group of coins to get one particular hard-to-find piece, but that listing obviously didn't tell me enough, so it prompted me to send this email: If anyone here agrees with the attitude shown in his response I'd be interested in hearing why. BTW this is a typical listing by that seller. Personally, I believe fewer, but better written and illustrated listings would be likely to bring a much higher total return, and more than pay for the investment of time. (I'm sure Susan agrees with me. ) Let's see - 1 or 2 per week equals about 75 per year times 6 equals around 300 potential buyers who have put him on their ignore list.
Yes, but on the flip side 200-250 a week equals about 11,700, then multiplied by 6 years equals around 70,200 people that did purchase from him. I would argue the seller's side on this one, ASSUMING HE IS AN HONEST SELLER. and really doesn't have the capability to post images.
I will not bid on a coin without a CLEAR picture (I see many that are too out of focus to make a judgement). The exception to that would be a coin certified by ICCS (because as many of you know my interest is Canadian coins). The seller in this case seems to know what he wants and is aware of what he is missing out on.It's hard to fault him for that.
This seller is obviously not interested in providing what the buyer wants, only what he as the seller is willing to give. Whether he realizes it or not, he suffers for this in that he will never see the best price for his items. His lack of picture-taking capability does not explain why he won't take the time to at least provide a detailed description. There are many people who believe that quantity is more important than quality. I'll bet if he figures out how much money his "money-making hobby" is actually showing as profit, he would realize that he consistently loses money because of this philosophy. Quite frankly, this is the type of seller who people like me buy from (even knowing it's a chance) and resell the items at a substantial profit. They're kind of like wholesale suppliers.
I have to say that if this is the seller's philosophy and it suits his needs then fine. After all he is the one initiating the transactions and therefore has the perfect right to set the rules of the game (within ebay confines). If this bothers you or makes you unwilling to purchase from him, so be it. He's probably just as glad not to have you as a customer. I wouldn't assume that he's not making a very nice profit because he doesn't stress customer service in a manner that meets the desires of most folks here. Please remember that folks who post here are probably far advanced from the average ebay buyer.
actaully, I think the seller is intentionally excluding photos - how hard would a few stock photos be, at the very least? I believe he is selling to the inexperienced, because the inexperienced let their imagination get the best of them. If they actually SAW the pictures, they might not buy it - but they really WANT that picture in their head - the one they MIGHT get. I'm not saying this guy is a crook, but I think he knows what he's doing far more than he is allowing for in the correspondence here.
Photos are the hardest, most annoying and time consuming part of listing auctions. This guy might be an honest dealer but he's hurting himself by not posting pics. Even if he was only able to list half of his current auction numbers, it would likely be worth his while to post pics. Generally speaking...I'd be suspicious...but with that said, just how good IS his feedback? If he has a friendly return policy I'd have no problem trying an inexpensive lot or two...might just be a source for good inventory cheap, since most educated buyers will steer clear of him. Nick
