Ebay pony listings gripes

[Safflower]

Yeah, this bothers me. Sometimes I see listings that have only one photo I really don't like it when they don't take pictures of the hooves. How do I know there aren't names written on there? If it's a Collectors Pose how do I know if it's a flat foot or a concaved? If it's a nirvana and advertised as such how do I know if it's actually from that country? I get it when people who don't collect ponies don't think to take a pic. If I were selling a pony and wasn't a collector I would totally see the hooves as unimportant What bothers me is when collectors don't because they should know there are variations and some people are looking for a specific one. Other than that I can't think of anything else. And this isn't too bad of an issue for me either, hope I wasn't to whiny!

[plushroo]

Yeah, this bothers me. Sometimes I see listings that have only one photo I really don't like it when they don't take pictures of the hooves. How do I know there aren't names written on there? If it's a Collectors Pose how do I know if it's a flat foot or a concaved? If it's a nirvana and advertised as such how do I know if it's actually from that country? I get it when people who don't collect ponies don't think to take a pic. If I were selling a pony and wasn't a collector I would totally see the hooves as unimportant What bothers me is when collectors don't because they should know there are variations and some people are looking for a specific one. Other than that I can't think of anything else. And this isn't too bad of an issue for me either, hope I wasn't to whiny!

Yeah, I hate when sellers only have one lousy photo to look at. Ebay lets you post 12 free photos for crying out loud! The least the seller can do is snap a few pics so the buyer can get a better idea of what condition the pony is in. My other gripe is when sellers have one photo of more than one pony or item, but when you read the description, you find out you're only getting one of the items and have to bid on each item in other auctions.

[Ponyfan]

Yeah, I hate when sellers only have one lousy photo to look at. Ebay lets you post 12 free photos for crying out loud! The least the seller can do is snap a few pics so the buyer can get a better idea of what condition the pony is in. My other gripe is when sellers have one photo of more than one pony or item, but when you read the description, you find out you're only getting one of the items and have to bid on each item in other auctions.

That bothers me too. I don't think it's fair to show multiple ponies in the auction picture and then have a disclaimer that says "you are only bidding on Sunbeam. Please check other auctions for the other ponies in the pictures."

Ponyfan

[Stiletto]

Wow, so glad I popped into this thread!

As an eBay seller it's really interesting to hear opinions about everyone's  personal experiences (and pet peeves)buying ponies on eBay, and that ultimately helps me with my listings.  It's also nice to hear that people do appreciate clean ponies, good pictures, and written descriptive flaws because I've got all 3 covered in my store, Pony Allure (link is in my signature), but I am always working towards expanding and improving.

As an eBay buyer the thing that bugs me the most is people way over charging shipping.  It just bugs the heck out me and I will usually just pass up an item that has outrageous shipping charges.  And I will absolutely not buy from someone who does not to offer combined shipping or has a bad combined shipping policy.  Those are my personal pet peeves, but overall I've found some really great deals on eBay from everything to ponies to clothes to electronics and other collectibles.

[northstar3184]

I hate when sellers list fakies as MLPs. I saw a lot on Craigslist with a heading of something like "Lot of 10 MLPs for sale". Then I looked at the pictures and they were all fakies except for like 1 G3 McDonalds pony.

I also hate it when sellers list a common pony as "rare" or "HTF". For example, looking at current Ebay listings one lists G3 Twirlerina as HTF. Another lists G1 Cherry Treats as HTF.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I hate when sellers list fakies as MLPs. I saw a lot on Craigslist with a heading of something like "Lot of 10 MLPs for sale". Then I looked at the pictures and they were all fakies except for like 1 G3 McDonalds pony.

I also hate it when sellers list a common pony as "rare" or "HTF". For example, looking at current Ebay listings one lists G3 Twirlerina as HTF. Another lists G1 Cherry Treats as HTF.

God, yeah both of these. Especially the latter, it feels a little manipulative? Like trying to lie to people in an attempt o get them to buy it.

[Wardah]

I hate when sellers list fakies as MLPs. I saw a lot on Craigslist with a heading of something like "Lot of 10 MLPs for sale". Then I looked at the pictures and they were all fakies except for like 1 G3 McDonalds pony.

When parents are unloading their kid's old toys on Craigslist they are usually assuming another parent is going to scoop them up for their kid. To a parent any stylized equine toy with hair is a "My Little Pony". They also tend to call all 12 inch fashion dolls "Barbies" even if they are something else like a Disney Princess.

[JazzMatazz]

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.

I'll admit, I've been sometimes super lazy with cleaning up ponies I list on ebay other than fixing their hair and a light washdown. Fixing hair is more therapeutic for me. Then again I try to even things out with lots of photos and describing flaws. It's nice to see what buyers want in listings. I have a whole backlog of things I want to sell but just haven't had the time to clean.

I hate that USPS upped the shipping prices again recently $3 seems to be the minimum shipping now. I've cut way back on what I pick up thrifting and what I'm reselling because it just isn't worth it when I'm busy full time with work on top of my ebay selling hobby. 

[Haruna]

I hate that USPS upped the shipping prices again recently $3 seems to be the minimum shipping now. I've cut way back on what I pick up thrifting and what I'm reselling because it just isn't worth it when I'm busy full time with work on top of my ebay selling hobby. 

Oh, really? Darn. I'll have to keep that in mind when I sell ponies over the holidays (on my ever-lengthening to-do list!)

[Taffeta]

I am amazed this kind of discussion hasn't come up before.

Coming from the standpoint of someone who first encountered Ebay when it was still only an American auction site, before paypal, and when the picture thing was basically the result of a pony put in a scanner if there was a picture...in those days there were risks attached to ebay lots. Descriptions. Believing the seller was right. Trying to spot a bargain. No gallery view. Risks of sending cash or payments you couldn't file a report on if you got scammed. All those things made it much more dangerous to sell or buy online.

In spite of that I think that we now have a wave of much lazier, ruder sellers. I of course do not mean a lot of the people selling ponies are lazy and rude, but now you can list on your phone, there are people who literally just go, pony, photo, list. "See picture". And the thing that annoys me the most is the "Rare, htf, don't know the name but sure you do" comments. If you don't bother to find out what you are selling, don't call it rare or htf. At least do the basic research to find out the name of your item, its release date and if it is actually hard to find.

Pricing is a very personal thing and it can range widely, but then you get the people who are like, ten rare ponies, buy it now, $500...as if we're all stupid and are just going to throw lots of money at ponies the seller can't be bothered to name, photograph individually or even clean or groom up.

I think that is what bothers me the most about this. Ebay selling used to be a lot harder. Ebay selling now is too easy and sellers often think too much of making money and not of customer service which is a symptom of the world in general.

I also get where some people are coming from about finicky detail picking - I always put that if people want extra pictures or information to ask me before bidding and I always put as many pictures as I can with detailed descriptions. If I can't spare the time to do that, though, I don't list on ebay. It's important to me that a person gets the pony they think they are getting. The big problem I think people are talking about here is that we all have our own opinion of words like 'mint' and that can be dangerous. I think part of the problem here is an overreliance on words like "pony cancer" and such like to describe flaws. To me they're jargon, they don't mean much to someone new to the hobby and they can create extra misunderstandings. I'll be honest and say that I've done this for twenty years online now and I still don't understand all these terms. I would rather be just bluntly upfront and say, this pony is discoloured here and here, this pony has marks here, has dots here, etc" than start listing terms like "cancer" "regrind" etc.

On the other hand, if a buyer wants to avoid a particular flaw I think there is onus on them to ask those questions about what THEY are looking for and be fair to their seller who IS taking photos and giving information. But I genuinely think that hardcore ponypeople could do well to lose the jargon and make it much clearer in terms of description, especially on ebay.

I think some buyers and some sellers have all become a bit too self-entitled about what they expect - sellers want to do as little work and buyers want perfection. We're probably talking about the same proportion of the population really. But with all that negative it shouldn't detract from the many genuinely good sellers and buyers there are out there who bother to take time and have actual dialogue about items before concluding a sale

I will not even mention the GSP as we've already ripped that one to shreds in other discussions.

[bright rabbit 1]

I only get what I want from eBay.co.uk when the price is right, I hate when people put things at such a high price. And bidding, don't get me started; if someone bids on what I want I'll let them have it and just watch the bidding war. Luckily today I got one of my Grail ponies,, and a upgrade of Cherries Jubilee (my one I tried to rehair it but the head split open).

Guess who my Grail pony is I give you a hint she's blue.

[starstrider]

One of my particular favourite sets to collect are the G1 porcelain ponies.  They come up sporadically on eBay, and although it seems that most collectors don't care for them all that much, they're uncommon enough that those who do collect them will spend years (and usually a fair amount of money) attempting to complete the sets. 

Typing in a search term like "my little pony porcelain/ceramic" would ideally be restricted to just the porcelain ponies, which at best would normally return 5 listings. But instead it turns up 5 or so pages of the UNOFFICIAL merch coffee mugs which you can buy with the MLP FiM characters on them in 100 different patterns.  I resent that the sellers of those bloody coffee mugs have flooded the search results with 100 individual listings when instead they could setup a consolidated multi-listing so anyone who IS interested in the mugs could just select the design from a drop-down menu to save people from having to scroll through and sort the vintage ponies from their mugs.   

It may be a gripe that only I feel, but I feel it passionately!  If I want a bloody coffee mug, I'll run a search for coffee mugs!  Leave the terms "porcelain" and "ceramic" to the vintage figurines.  /rant

[lovesbabysquirmy]

One of my particular favourite sets to collect are the G1 porcelain ponies.  They come up sporadically on eBay, and although it seems that most collectors don't care for them all that much, they're uncommon enough that those who do collect them will spend years (and usually a fair amount of money) attempting to complete the sets. 

Typing in a search term like "my little pony porcelain/ceramic" would ideally be restricted to just the porcelain ponies, which at best would normally return 5 listings. But instead it turns up 5 or so pages of the UNOFFICIAL merch coffee mugs which you can buy with the MLP FiM characters on them in 100 different patterns.  I resent that the sellers of those bloody coffee mugs have flooded the search results with 100 individual listings when instead they could setup a consolidated multi-listing so anyone who IS interested in the mugs could just select the design from a drop-down menu to save people from having to scroll through and sort the vintage ponies from their mugs.   

It may be a gripe that only I feel, but I feel it passionately!  If I want a bloody coffee mug, I'll run a search for coffee mugs!  Leave the terms "porcelain" and "ceramic" to the vintage figurines.  /rant

If you want to exclude a keyword, try typing in "-mug" after the "my little pony porcelain/ceramic"  bit and see if that takes out all the mugs!

Oh except the Euro/UK/Scandinavian countries actually got vintage G1 mugs and eggcups and such so you might want to tweak that exclusion a bit.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

The fakies thing really boils my blood!  They are, in most cases, not worth as much as a real pony, and sometimes I see lots of nearly entirely fakies with a few McDonalds toys.
Marks and surface dirt that can easily be cleaned off being present is for the most part excusable, as they may be listings by parents who just want old toys out of the house to make room and they may not have the time to clean every one. But there was a seller who priced common G4s and G3s at around $10 a piece simply because they conditioned the hair! Putting 20 minutes of work into making the pony's hair not tangled doesn't tack on dollars to the end amount!