eBay Pro Tip: Read listing before bidding

It's not that hard y'all. I don't take the time to write an item description clearly setting our terms and conditions of the sale for you to completely ignore it, and then complain when you have a problem with a coin that would have been avoided had you taken the time to read the listing and then not ignore what you just read.
In that vein, here's a buyer that I'd advise all of you eBay sellers to block from bidding: picker676.

 

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Do you really think anyone cares? They want it cheap! They want it now! But, if they neglected to read your terms & conditions, it's your fault for assuming that they're literate.

Chris

 

With Ebay nowadays, I would not try to sell there having unusual terms and conditions. IF that is the only way you wish to sell there, I would suggest you stop trying. I will admit I have a predetermined idea of how the transaction will go on Ebay, and if you as a seller wish to do something out of the norm I probably would ignore that as well. I will admit I do not take the time to read every single sellers terms and conditions, expecting them to be fairly standard. So, in that regard, I could be someone you would hate to sell to also. But, I spend thousands of dollars a year on Ebay with no issues from other sellers, and I am betting Ebay will side with me in any dispute versus a seller who wanted unique terms and conditions on his sale.

It is what it is. If you disagree with what most buyers expect in terms of terms and conditions of the sale, I would not sell on Ebay.

Btw, some weeks I might put up 50 or more snipes for coins. Do you really think I have time to go through with a fine toothed comb every sellers terms and conditions? I don't, so if Ebay were a place I felt I was required to do that I would simply stop buying there at all. I believe most buyers would agree with my view.

 

My terms and conditions weren't complicated. Simply said: "I think the coin is BU. Judge for yourself from pictures to estimate the grade for yourself. I will not accept returns on the basis that your opinion of grade differs from mine. If your opinion of grade differs from mine, I suggest you not bid."

The buyer's response when I noted that language: "I couldn't tell from pictures what the grade was." Then why bid?

In addition to selling, I do also buy I eBay. I also read the listing before doing so. In the one instance in which I got burned because I didn't read the full listing did I blame the seller? No, I was an adult and dealt with my own mistake.

 

I think the buyer was right. You stated that YOU think the coin is BU. That is stating a presumably expert opinion, in the absence of TPG grading. He questioned your pictures, which is certainly legitimate. As a very experienced collector,who often buys from Ebay, I'd expect professionalism and courteous service. You condemned a buyer, because he asked a question of the photographs? That isn't courteous service--perhaps your pictures were not clear enough for one to grade. I agree with you---don't bid, and with your attitude of condemning buyers for asking questions, I would not bid on your listings for certain.

 

Terms and conditions, from 'No Returns' to 'We do not sell to Redheads' are futile, the only ones that matter are the ones ebay sets, if you sell there. All else is wishful thinking.
The way to avoid problems is to do a really good job of photography, description and grading, and get your seller's goggles off, If the pictures are good , call that BU , EF, and if the buyer thinks it's better let them bid more.

 

Never list a grade or your opinion of a grade in your auction. What you think the grade is is irrelevant. If the coin is raw it is ungraded. Regardless of your selling policy, a buyer can always return an item if it is not as described.

If the coin is slabbed and graded by a TPG then mention only what the slab says. For example say "this is a Morgan dollar graded MS63 by PCGS". In other words, you're not stating that it is an MS63 (an opinion), only that it's in an MS63 slab and/or has been graded MS63 by PCGS (a fact).

 

Morgandude - I think you misunderstood the complaint. The buyer didn't ask a question before bidding. He bid, auction closed, he received coin, then had a problem with it. Had he asked the question before bidding, I would have been courteous. To open an eBay case after the fact while failing to read/ignore the listing and not inquiring with me before bidding is rude on his part.

For what it's worth, eBay sided with me and denied the refund.

I do my best to take high-quality photos, but I can't capture every detail. Regardless of the buyer's opinion, the coin was BU, and I think what happened is that he was paying an AU-58 price for a coin and hoping to receive a Gem BU, and when that didn't happen, he tried (unsuccessfully and deceptively) to find a way out.

Bottom line: read the listing before bidding. If you have a problem with that, save everybody some time and don't bid.

 

That solves the entire problem-- don't give an opinion on grade for a raw coin, so there is no possibility of misunderstanding.

 

Out of curiosity, did your original listing state "no returns"? I'm assuming so; as I understand it, if you check the box to accept returns, there's no way for you to refuse one. If that's not true, I'd certainly like to know...

 

Can we see a picture of the coin, or a link to the listing so we can see what you think is a BU coin?

 

The other problem as I would see it is photographs are never perfect representations of coins. You are assuming the buyer was trying to scam you and get a higher than expected grade. You ever think that the buyer simply felt the coin in hand was not what the pictures made it appear to be? I have sent coins back because the coin in hand did not really look like the pic. Its a common phenomenon, one that all coin sellers have to face. Good sellers have a money back if not delighted policy for this very purpose. You should do the same IMHO. I, like many other buyers, go out of our way to patronize sellers whom we have had good customer service experiences with.

 

My only regret is that I can give this post but one like. Be scrupulously accurate in your descriptions to the point of being pedantic, and you'll never lose a SNAD case.

 

So your "eBay pro" tip is to simply read the description? I would think that more peewee league, but so much for the obvious....

Neither are ebay's terms and conditions, stated or not, so if you wish to sell on their turf, you're going to have to play by their rules. You can claim all you wish that there are no returns, but also need to understand that you may be forced to do so. Both realizing and accepting this fact would be a very wise "eBay pro" tip.

Because it's eBay, and most buyers know that more often than not, they can, ahem, "gamble" with little chance of losing. Is this selfish? Perhaps, but it does not matter because as mentioned above, eBay makes the rules. Now if buyers were forced to shoulder their loses it might be a different story.

Good for you, and you're not the only one who understands personal responsibility, but again, as long as eBay allows buyers to "gamble" and only follow through if they win, you're either going to have to learn to deal with returns or take your wares elsewhere.

As an aside, accepting returns shouldn't be that big of a deal, especially considering that eBay buyers do not have the ability to view the coin in-hand before making a decision. Now I personally feel that the option to return should only last a few days - most know if they wish to own/keep a coin within a few minutes tops - but again, if you wish to play in eBay's pen, it is by their rules, overly coddling or not. If not accepting returns is that important to you, I would respectfully suggest selling face-to-face which, of course, opens up a whole new bag of fun.

 

If all buyers were honest, sure. The problem with this is that allowing returns makes it so that buyers don't really have to inspect the photos properly. They can just count on the return policy to cover them if they don't like/want the coin for literally any reason. Likewise a buyer may take a gamble (better condition, rare variety, etc.) on a coin knowing they can simply return it if the gamble doesn't pay off. Then of course there are nightmare stories about dishonest buyers returning nothing, returning a different but similar coin, or cleaning/damaging the coin and returning it for a full refund.

Let's say you sold a coin for $100 and offered free shipping, as eBay likes to push you into doing (and really you have to to remain competitive). Well when your buyer decides to return the coin, you end up refunding them the full $100. Of course the Post Office didn't ship it for you for free, so now you're out your shipping costs just so the buyer could look at the coin. On top of the listing/seller fees you pay to eBay and PayPal already, you don't necessarily have much room to begin with to eat wasted shipping costs.

This is why I list all my auctions with no returns. If there is really a legitimate problem with the auction and it's my fault, the buyer can still SNAD it or contact me directly and I'll make it right. There's nothing sinister about offering no returns on your auctions. No returns doesn't mean the buyer can't do a return, it just means they can't do a frivolous return.

 

I hear you sir, but to be honest if I happen to notice a seller saying "no returns" I refuse to bid at this point. I have had sellers refuse to accept returns for fake coins, tooled coins, etc. I had to go to Ebay to enforce their guarantee. So, at this point, if I happen to notice a seller refusing returns I immediately suspect a shady dealer and simply don't bid. Just another point of view.

 

Unfortunately I'm sure I do lose some good buyers by offering no returns, but I also hopefully drive away all of the bad ones. Almost everything I sell is BIN with make an offer and nice clear pictures, so while it may impact the length of time it takes for an item to sell, I don't think it really impacts the selling price.

 

There are people with 100% positive feedback that don't accept returns. It doesn't mean they are up to something. I myself prefer not to allow returns. All sales final. Often by the time a person gets their item I would find myself in a position where the initial funds aren't available.

And what if someone is in a hurry to pay off a dept of some kind (not me, just anyone in general), needs the money right away and can't deal with returns? Doesn't mean anything in particular. I know those people exist on ebay, but viewing them all like this isn't good. If they have lots of good seller feedbacks without problems, they're good sellers. I must ask then, why does ebay offer this option if lots of people view this as a bad thing?

I have also been victim to shady buyers (not very many, but why take the chance?).

That's my buck two fifty.

 

I agree. I've got 100% positive feedback on all my seller accounts on every site I use, and I've been selling on that eBay account for 16 years. If someone doesn't want to bid due to the no returns policy it's their loss.