A new eBay experience

[Doktor]

Eh, no big deal. There's always more books out there. His loss. I get it though. They were a high volume seller, so 1 lost sale isn't really a big deal. Just figured I'd ask around to the other sellers here & see their thoughts on it.

[youmechooz]

I look at it as the arrogance of the seller . He doesnt want to sell his item that badly . Some sellers will go to great lengths to sell an item.

I would send someone whatever they wanted, with in reason, if it helped me sell a $2 comic .

Asking for a few more pictures shouldnt be that big of a deal .

I remember when i first started selling on ebay too. I would send whatever photos they wanted. Once you start selling on ebay more often, you will change also.

[RockMyAmadeus]

So this has never happened to me before, but I asked a seller for some additional pictures before I made my decision on an item (wanted to see the CBCs on a slabbed book to see how well it presents) and was told "sorry, but you'll have to make your decision based on the photos available". I wasn't terribly put-off or anything & the seller was polite, but I just replied that I would have to pass.

 

Is that a common practice that I have just never come across before? Or was this just a random thing? Have you ever told someone "no" to extra pictures?

 

Yes.

 

Extra pictures is a major, major hassle if you're selling more a few items.

 

I have never told anyone that directly, but I have said "I don't know if I'll be able to get more/better pictures, but I'll see what I can do." Sometimes, I can, sometimes I can't.

 

And people who ask for interior photos...? Pass.

+1

And chances are, they wont even buy it

want any more photos other than a front and back scan? Dont buy it online.

 

+2, +3, +4. People who ask for more photos aren't going to buy.

 

Yup.

[Beige]

I look at it as the arrogance of the seller . He doesnt want to sell his item that badly . Some sellers will go to great lengths to sell an item.

I would send someone whatever they wanted, with in reason, if it helped me sell a $2 comic .

Asking for a few more pictures shouldnt be that big of a deal .

When you list a ton of items every day, it is.

 

+1

 

Although for a $100 raw book, I'd probably try to quickly send a couple, IF I had the time.

The return system is there if you aren't happy with the book.

 

[loadstone]

As a seller I always offer additional photos but I use high res scans and often include 1st page, centerfold, and last page shots for raws which likely precludes the need for the request. However, I have received a a total of 3 requests in the past and I gladly provided the scans/photos they requested and added the scans to the listing.

 

First time: I had 1 guy buy after confirming what he was seeing wasn't a flaw,

2nd time: I had another guy pass on the sale but shortly after I updated the listing with the new photo, I had someone make a best offer that was acceptable to me and sold it.

3rd time I had a guy request that I don't post the new scans in the listing but instead just message it directly to him. I guess he wanted to keep whatever info he was looking to verify a secret. I didn't hear back from him and the listing expired. Seeing as I had done the work I relisted the item with the new photos but raised the price and oddly enough it got a bunch of offers and sold to another buyer for my previous asking price.

 

Of course I'm not a high volume seller. If I were I'd probably still try to fulfill the requests but would likely decline if it were too close to the end time or the request was for more than 3 photos.

 

As a buyer, I tend to ask for more scans/photos if the seller doesn't offer returns, the photos are blurry or hard to see, the seller is stating it as NM+, if there are no Back Cover scans, and if the book is going for over $50.

[Bills Comics]

I look at it as the arrogance of the seller . He doesnt want to sell his item that badly . Some sellers will go to great lengths to sell an item.

I would send someone whatever they wanted, with in reason, if it helped me sell a $2 comic .

Asking for a few more pictures shouldnt be that big of a deal .

I remember when i first started selling on ebay too. I would send whatever photos they wanted. Once you start selling on ebay more often, you will change also.

 

While my volume isnt insanely high right now . I have been selling on Ebay since the mid to late 90's. Had a few other accts , shared accts with a few people . Total sales on my current Ebay acct over $60 k.

I would still do all i could , within reason , to sell one $2 comic . If someone needs additional info . Additional pictures. No problem . Its not that big a deal . Regardless of volume . I put up many pictures on most items already . Does it help me? Do people look at all of them? I dont know . But I try my best to make sure people can see and have as good an idea of what they are buying without seeing it in front of them .

If other sellers dont want to be bothered , then better for me .

[youmechooz]

I look at it as the arrogance of the seller . He doesnt want to sell his item that badly . Some sellers will go to great lengths to sell an item.

I would send someone whatever they wanted, with in reason, if it helped me sell a $2 comic .

Asking for a few more pictures shouldnt be that big of a deal .

I remember when i first started selling on ebay too. I would send whatever photos they wanted. Once you start selling on ebay more often, you will change also.

 

While my volume isnt insanely high right now . I have been selling on Ebay since the mid to late 90's. Had a few other accts , shared accts with a few people . Total sales on my current Ebay acct over $60 k.

I would still do all i could , within reason , to sell one $2 comic . If someone needs additional info . Additional pictures. No problem . Its not that big a deal . Regardless of volume . I put up many pictures on most items already . Does it help me? Do people look at all of them? I dont know . But I try my best to make sure people can see and have as good an idea of what they are buying without seeing it in front of them .

If other sellers dont want to be bothered , then better for me .

Mcs has one default picture and they sell more $1.25 books than anyone on ebay. Point is, for a $2 comic, 1-2 pics is more than enough. It seems more like, you need the $2 rather than the other seller not wanting to sell it badly enough.

[MediumLover]

No.

 

Customer service

 

Send the extra picture.

 

No-brainer.

[koollectablz]

Though I have always sent any extra info when requested, I'll chip in and say that the more info a prospective buyer asks for the less likely they are to actually buy it.

 

Case in point last week i had a comic at £99.99, one scan of the front cover plus description. I had question upon question from one guy asking for pics and more info, i complied to every request.

 

Then he sent his final message saying it was way overpriced and I didn't have any idea of pricing.

 

Before I had chance to respond, someone else had pulled the trigger on the BIN.

 

Happy Days.

[RockMyAmadeus]

No.

 

Customer service

 

Send the extra picture.

 

No-brainer.

 

Customer service is reserved for customers, not tire kickers.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Though I have always sent any extra info when requested, I'll chip in and say that the more info a prospective buyer asks for the less likely they are to actually buy it.

 

Case in point last week i had a comic at £99.99, one scan of the front cover plus description. I had question upon question from one guy asking for pics and more info, i complied to every request.

 

Then he sent his final message saying it was way overpriced and I didn't have any idea of pricing.

 

Before I had chance to respond, someone else had pulled the trigger on the BIN.

 

Happy Days.

 

I love it when people try to hack me down, and then someone else comes along and buys it, no questions asked.

 

[CAMPER49]

Hey at least you got a response.

I usually get no response when I ask sellers for more photos/scans.

This of course leads to no bids.

[Real Elijah Snow]

I ran an Ebay store with thousands of listings for over 10 years. Most of the time after sending additional photos the buyer would see that as an opportunity to offer a lower price on items that didn't have "best offer" on them. I stopped doing it. I maybe sold a book to a handful of people after sending additional pics to hundreds. It's a huge time waster. If you're thinking that it's worth the extra effort to sell a $2 book then go for it, but it stops being a $2 sale when you take into account how many times you do it for free.

[Dick Pontoon]

I don't think it's always as cut and dry as described and depends on the situation. Obviously this can be a pain and the province of tire-kickers, but I recently considered buying a $400+ book on ebay, except the seller listed it with only a photo of the front, and in a bag to boot. I asked if he could send a shot of the back. He responded politely but never got around to sending another picture; consequently I didn't buy the book.

[Bills Comics]

I look at it as the arrogance of the seller . He doesnt want to sell his item that badly . Some sellers will go to great lengths to sell an item.

I would send someone whatever they wanted, with in reason, if it helped me sell a $2 comic .

Asking for a few more pictures shouldnt be that big of a deal .

I remember when i first started selling on ebay too. I would send whatever photos they wanted. Once you start selling on ebay more often, you will change also.

 

While my volume isnt insanely high right now . I have been selling on Ebay since the mid to late 90's. Had a few other accts , shared accts with a few people . Total sales on my current Ebay acct over $60 k.

I would still do all i could , within reason , to sell one $2 comic . If someone needs additional info . Additional pictures. No problem . Its not that big a deal . Regardless of volume . I put up many pictures on most items already . Does it help me? Do people look at all of them? I dont know . But I try my best to make sure people can see and have as good an idea of what they are buying without seeing it in front of them .

If other sellers dont want to be bothered , then better for me .

Mcs has one default picture and they sell more $1.25 books than anyone on ebay. Point is, for a $2 comic, 1-2 pics is more than enough. It seems more like, you need the $2 rather than the other seller not wanting to sell it badly enough.

 

Well good for MCS . I guess that means no one should put any extra effort into helping a customer.

That help with a small sale could mean a good customer for years to come and much more money in my pocket because of it .

 

[lizards2]

No.

 

Customer service

 

Send the extra picture.

 

No-brainer.

 

Customer service is reserved for customers, not tire kickers.

I would be surprised if the 'potential buyer' wasn't blocked as well.

[Gaard]

I kinda get the feeling that some people here get annoyed if someone asks for additional pics. If I feel that I need additional pics to better make the decision to buy or not, I'll ask. It never crossed my mind that I was doing something bad.

 

Mike

[wombat]

I kinda get the feeling that some people here get annoyed if someone asks for additional pics. If I feel that I need additional pics to better make the decision to buy or not, I'll ask. It never crossed my mind that I was doing something bad.

 

Mike

 

Same here.

[Doohickamabob]

Though I have always sent any extra info when requested, I'll chip in and say that the more info a prospective buyer asks for the less likely they are to actually buy it. Case in point last week i had a comic at £99.99, one scan of the front cover plus description. I had question upon question from one guy asking for pics and more info, i complied to every request. Then he sent his final message saying it was way overpriced and I didn't have any idea of pricing. Before I had chance to respond, someone else had pulled the trigger on the BIN. Happy Days.

 

I've had that happen before, but it wasn't a straight-up BIN, it was a BIN-or-Best-Offer.

 

First somebody came along, asked questions, etc., and when I politely answered they responded with, "That's a piece of junk. I wouldn't pay 1/10 of your asking price." Or something like that.

 

Then a 2nd person came along and made a Best Offer that was about 20% off of the asking price. I might have countered at 10% off, and ended up selling it at a 15% discount. Or something like that. This was a long time ago.

 

But it did get me to thinking, in my paranoid brain, that this would be a very interesting psychological method for a buyer to play "good cop, bad cop" using a shill account. First the buyer could approach the seller with a shill account and talk about what a piece of worthless junk the item is. Then the same buyer could swoop in under another account, make an offer, and give you a chance to make the first "buyer" look like a fool.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

I kinda get the feeling that some people here get annoyed if someone asks for additional pics. If I feel that I need additional pics to better make the decision to buy or not, I'll ask. It never crossed my mind that I was doing something bad.

 

Mike

 

Same here.

 

You're not doing something bad. However, a seller's refusal to provide additional pics is not bad either. It's simply a choice and there are pros and cons to that choice