One of the fun things with Ebay is dealing with some of the people. I had one person who purchased one of my television related items and said that he was having problems with his paypal account. I replied that as soon as the item was paid for we would ship. He sent a second email as he wanted the item as one of the persons related to the show would be in his store to sign it. Once again the person repeated the request and I replied once it was paid I would be happy to ship. The item still has not been paid for.
The I got a person whose grandson broke one of his items from a playset. The person wanted me to cut the price in half because he lost his job. I did not as I did not know the person and have had had this game played on me before.
Then I love the person who bitches at you for having your figures in milimeters and not inches. Since it has been only one person I will not change or add U.S. measurements to my figure listings.
Ebay itself has a new program coming up for people to do foreign shipping I can not wait to see how the program screws up.
One of the common tricks I have seen on e-bay is some guys like to just put a tangled pile of figures out there and they get your interest by sticking a partially obscured character figure on top and maybe a couple of others partially hidden to get your attention. Often though upon after winning said auction you find that the hidden figure more times then not is damaged in some way, I guess I could complain, but I just make a note of the seller and never bid on his auctions anymore. I chalk it up as he was clever, I’m a dunderhead. I suppose that has happened to most of us at one time or another.
Ed, I think we’ve all paid “the Dummy Tax” before – I know I have; live and learn.
One of the tricks some sellers use that used to amuse me but now annoys me is to stick “MARX” in their descriptions for items that bear no relation or even comparison to Marx figures – “Army Men, Soldiers, MARX?” Usually, no. Just a come-on and an insult IMHO. Oh well, could be worse…
And don’t forget “Very rare’ and “Hard to find” LOL.
Brian
Two most misused phrases in the hobby, I remember when I first started selling on Ebay I sold a Famous Monsters of filmland No 4. The buyer said it is suppose to be rare, yet this is the fourth one I have seen. My Cherilea Knight that graced the old web site. I thought that was rare, but in France one collector found 12!
When I buy I set a price limit and do not let the rare or hard to find get into the picture. The timmee Russians are hard to find but they show up as one example.
Those upon careful inspection can usually be discovered, the partially hidden figure that just so happens to hide the figures flaw is what gets me, I suppose some people do it on purpose and some just literally dump them on a table and take a picture. The trick is finding habituals and of course taking the bait once on that particular seller. Afterall, half the fun of shopping e-bay is looking for that hidden gem among piles of figures, usually we get these hidden damaged figures at a bargain rate anyway, so we really get what we deserve, what do they say , “caveat emptor?”
Ed
This is an old trick which has been used for centuries making something look better than it is. I usually will pass on a lot of items with treasure unless there are other items to make it worth while.
Yeah, it’s probaby about 50/50 odds, if you don’t recognize the sellers name sometimes you find a rookie that really doesn’t doesn’t know what they have. I’ve scored big and got burned. The big scores keep you rolling those dice. I try to keep my bids low to avoid taking a big hit, but sometimes you lose that way too.
Wayne
People who sell have limited knowledge and try to latch on towhat they think will sell their site. If you try to correct them sometimes they get nasty. I once had throw back at the person my 40 years of experience and contributor to various books.
I’ve had that experience myself. And I can forgive some seller who really doesn’t know what they are selling they just happened on the figures through an estate sale or something (though sometimes I wonder about that); it’s just there seem to be certain sellers with whom that seems to be a specialty. I know toy soldiers and can tell Marx figures as well as most other manufacturers (though occasionally, there will be an obscure figure I haven’t seen before) it just irks me that they’re trying to hook folks who don’t know better at worst – or at best insulting our intelligence. As Ed said, it doesn’t really work with experienced hobbyists and I don’t have to (and usually won’t) buy from them – after all, if they’re dishonest in one place there’s nothing that stops them from being dishonest in other ways. So I know I shouldn’t let it bother me but it still does.
I could be mistaken , but I think e-bay sales must be on the rise. It seems like almost every time I bid on something people are bidding like mad dawgs and out bidding me. It could be my paranoia kicking in because in reality everyone is out to get me, but have you guys noticed that too? I mean that the bidding on e-bay has increased, not that I am paranoid. Nine days until I arrive at OTSN, man I can’t wait for the nonsense to begin.