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Author Topic: Ebay pony listings gripes  (Read 2327 times)

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Offline forever_cuddles

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Ebay pony listings gripes
« on: October 17, 2017, 05:52:14 PM »
I'm sure we all spend our fair share of time on Ebay looking for ponies. I've been getting very frustrated with the way a lot of Ebay sellers represent their products. Instead of taking the time to list their ponies' flaws, they'll only use one or two shoddy photos, and tell the buyer to judge for themselves, or say what you see is what you get. It's extremely hard to see all of a pony's flaws in a couple of bad photos, so I usually never give these sellers my business, but some of them appear to be longtime successful Ebay sellers, so I'm really stumped as to how they've built up such a great business with such minimal effort at representing their products. Anyhow, just needed to rant.

Offline invaderhorizongreen

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2017, 06:39:33 PM »
Sounds like they are preying on peoples buy it now feeling.

Offline Ponyfan

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2017, 07:14:51 PM »
This reminds of when I saw a Baby Ember on Ebay once and politely asked the seller if they were any flaws that weren't visible in the photos. I got a rude message back that basically said "It's an old toy! Of course it's going to be dirty!"

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Offline Tulips

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2017, 07:59:22 PM »
Not pony related but I recently had a similar frustration while looking for second-hand items on gumtree and feel like joining in the ranting about silly sellers.

I found a local selling a collapsible pet carrier, with this listing info: 'used, check pictures for condition'... well I squinted at the strategically angled photos then sent them a message asking specifically if the door zipper was damaged in an exact position or if it was a trick of the camera angle. Lo and behold they replied that the zipper was chewed where I suspected and couldn't close, therefore the carrier was insecure and unfit for its purpose. Why not just say that in the listing?! It's pickup only, they can't scam people into buying broken items in person, just waste their time ugh.

In addition to that are sellers who post a picture of a piece of furniture but don't have any information about its dimensions. I know what I can fit in the boot of my car, if I didn't have to message every single seller to ask for dimensions I'd save myself a lot of time. Do they not own a tape measurer? (I bought one first week after moving to the new house lol)

You'd think sellers would actually save time by providing the extra detail upfront and not have to answer the same questions a few dozen times, or potentially have unhappy customers wanting returns because of their insufficient listing details. Does eBay protect sellers or buyers in cases like this?

Sorry I was a bit off topic, but it's not just pony sellers who seem to be getting lazier.
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Offline legodrew

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2017, 09:05:45 PM »
And no Haven Bay listings  :cry:

Offline TheBeatlesPkmnFan42

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2017, 09:55:09 PM »
I haven't actually gotten many ponies off eBay (just a G1 lot years and years ago which were my first ever G1s), but I do browse eBay a lot for them. A big pet peeve I notice I have is when I see ponies with very easily fixable issues like surface dirt or a mark that can obviously be erased with a Magic Eraser. There seem to be a lot of sellers on eBay that are just too lazy to bother doing simple cleaning on a toy before selling them.

This reminds of when I saw a Baby Ember on Ebay once and politely asked the seller if they were any flaws that weren't visible in the photos. I got a rude message back that basically said "It's an old toy! Of course it's going to be dirty!"

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Yikes, people are rude!
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Offline NightGliderSA

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2017, 01:18:21 AM »
I haven't actually gotten many ponies off eBay (just a G1 lot years and years ago which were my first ever G1s), but I do browse eBay a lot for them. A big pet peeve I notice I have is when I see ponies with very easily fixable issues like surface dirt or a mark that can obviously be erased with a Magic Eraser. There seem to be a lot of sellers on eBay that are just too lazy to bother doing simple cleaning on a toy before selling them.

This reminds of when I saw a Baby Ember on Ebay once and politely asked the seller if they were any flaws that weren't visible in the photos. I got a rude message back that basically said "It's an old toy! Of course it's going to be dirty!"

Ponyfan


Yikes, people are rude!

I wonder why people, who want to sell to you, choose to be so rude? On the other hand I do not mind getting a grubby pony as I get a lot of pleasure out of spa day-ing the heck out of her and making her all pretty again  :)

Offline forever_cuddles

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2017, 09:26:08 AM »
So many great replies on this thread! I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets frustrated by lazy or rude sellers. Since it is much easier to spot issues with a pony in person than in photos, I always appreciate if a seller can at least mention possible tail rust or missing hair plugs. Or if they are only going to show photos and have no description, then those better be awesome photos and more than just two! I've tried messaging these types of sellers before with additional questions, and usually (at least with Ebay sellers), I get no response. The sellers on Etsy are much more pleasant to deal with, but the prices are often higher, and not as many ponies are listed through Etsy unfortunately.

Offline Taxel

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2017, 09:51:57 AM »
I mean honestly, I'm at the point where its too much work to keep listing every single teeny tiny flaw on every. single. pony. when I sell (on the Arena, not eBay). I provide an excessive number of high quality photos for buyers to look through though and of course list any large issues. But I don't blame anyone who doesn't have an hour to spend meticulously looking over one single pony and listing all the tiny things people might complain about.

There's no excuse for crappy photos or rudeness when you're trying to sell something but honestly I think some people expect far too much from people outside the community. Someone who doesn't collect MLP won't know or care what cancer, smooze, or regrind are. They're not going to list every ding, scrape, or scratch. Most people in the world just see ponies as children's toys, because they are, and aren't ever going to devote the kind of time/effort needed to learn all the ins and outs of pony problems to sell some dirty old toys on eBay. Its annoying for us, sure, but that's the price we pay to try and get good deals buying from people who don't know what they've got :P
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Offline LadyMoondancer

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2017, 10:17:16 AM »
I mean honestly, I'm at the point where its too much work to keep listing every single teeny tiny flaw on every. single. pony. when I sell (on the Arena, not eBay). I provide an excessive number of high quality photos for buyers to look through though and of course list any large issues. But I don't blame anyone who doesn't have an hour to spend meticulously looking over one single pony and listing all the tiny things people might complain about.

I'm on the same page . . . I just want to list ponies quickly and get them out so I have more room for . . . probably other ponies, lol.  I don't try to hide flaws and I try to take good quality pictures.  And if I see an obvious issue I'll mention it.  But I've started using the "not for the picky collector" tag, even on ponies where I don't see obvious flaws.

Also, I feel like it's more risky to list all flaws meticulously and accidentally miss one than it is to not list flaws meticulously.  Like, I feel the former is more likely to end in an angry buyer, as opposed to the latter.
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Offline Ponyfan

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2017, 10:58:42 AM »
 I know sellers are human and might miss tiny flaws, but I do expect sellers to be polite and respectful when I’m asking a question about their items. Everyone I’ve ever dealt with on here has always been wonderful and patient with me when I asked questions. Many times I don’t even see the tiny flaws the seller mentioned or the are so small they don’t bother me.

I have been a little disappointed once where a seller did disclose flaws because when my pony arrived the flaw was more noticeable than I thought it would be, but it was my fault for not realizing that the flaw would bother me that much. That  pony still lives in my herd


Stock photos /no photos on Ebay also bother me because I want to see the actual item I’m buying. 

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Offline Taxel

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2017, 11:57:46 AM »
Also, I feel like it's more risky to list all flaws meticulously and accidentally miss one than it is to not list flaws meticulously.  Like, I feel the former is more likely to end in an angry buyer, as opposed to the latter.

This is another part of it for me as well! If I list 10 tiny flaws I don't want a buyer to rage at me over an 11th I missed. I know that's unlikely to happen here on the Arena but on places like eBay, Facebook, etc its a very legitimate concern. I'm not an ultra crazy picky collector of anything so I wouldn't be surprised if I missed something really small because I genuinely never noticed it. I'd rather advertise my stuff "as-is", "imperfect", etc and not take on any extra risk.
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Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2017, 12:14:04 PM »
I know I asked for a close up of a pony that was originally shot with a group, and the seller gave me a blurry photo with a lot of glare. It does get frustrating and I don't see how people can just settle. It isn't that hard to take a competent photo?

Offline forever_cuddles

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2017, 12:17:47 PM »
From the perspective of someone who lists lots of ponies for sale, I can understand how it would be time consuming to note flaws or noticeably good points about each pony. And I can also see how if you missed mentioning one thing, that that would be what the buyer points out that you missed. As a buyer, it's just really helpful to have a few bones thrown our way, because photos are not always as good as the seller thinks they are. What you're seeing as you snap those photos is rarely what the buyer sees. The flash could be bright and hide blemishes. The lighting could be dark and hide things.
There are a lot of sellers who only show the pony from one angle, or don't do any close ups. I at least prefer a few different angle shots. If I'm trying to decide between three of the same ponies listed by three different sellers, I'll almost always go with the seller who has more photos and at least a small personal description of the pony. At least I'll have a better idea of what I'll be getting as opposed to paying for a grab bag.

Offline Mami Tomoe

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Re: Ebay pony listings gripes
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2017, 06:16:53 PM »
when they sell fakies or dont even look up the ponies names
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