if only we could write the truth

soolin

Just sometimes I wish I could type something like :

Hi, returning your item for a full refund is not a problem even though you turned up, checked it and paid cash a few days ago. I dispute though that my item was seriously not as described and you would have got your refund even without a spurious statement that just makes you look stupid. The item was described as being from the late 1940s- I'm sorry you feel that is older than you thought , so maybe next time you bid you might want to warn the seller how old you wish your 1940s item to be....unfortunately I live in a world where 1946 is a fixed point in time and the fact that you 'would have preferred it to be not so old' does you no credit.

The damage you say I failed to mention is exactly as per my auction - in fact I suspect you cut and pasted it when describing the damage- and I suggest that if the znking great photos were not a clue as well then you go to Specsavers. For your future reference you might want to look up and understand the word 'reproduction' as that is what you actually appear to want- so I am grateful you are returning such a lovely piece of vintage x as I'd hate to think of it in the hands of someone as stupid as you.

-what we actually have to write:

Hi, please arrange to call me to return the item and I'm sorry you feel you were misled by my terms, I'll be in on xx and xx if either of those are any good for you, just let me know.

JPS29

Yup, feel your pain on this one. As a business seller I have a few items I have sold complete with the part number for the buyer to cross reference it will definitely fit their motor, sometimes people don't bother snd then I get a phone call/email informing me it's the wrong part, can they send it back.
I would love to say "well actually it's the right part, as per the ad and the part number, you just haven't checked that the part number matches your old one". In reality they get a "Of course, no problem, just send it back and I'll issue you a refund"

macfly

It will come as no surprise to you that we have a totally different approach.
I've had mobiles returned as the buyer found them too complicated. I go along with these returns as I'm aware most people are too thick to research these days.
One customer who bought a satnav though copped a barrage. Email after email, "won't work - funny message coming up". After 4 more, the answer was "cannot load map." I asked him if he would like to return it for me to reload them from the cd I sent him, if not gave him instructions on how to do it - simple ones. He answered "can't be bothered". Told him to return it for a full refund. He replied "too much fuss, could I give simpler instructions". My reply, "copy map from cd, paste to sd card - doesn't get any more simple". A snotty email back, "I work in a shop selling these type of things, I'm au fey with how they work".
My final response " send it back at once. You are far too thick to be driving, never mind operating a satnav. And by the way - the phrase is au fait you stupid tw**."
Strangely - no return and no bad feedback.

JPS29

MAcfly I would love to take your approach, but unfortunately as a business seller I like my TRS and discounts and don't want any negs, but it does make my blood boil

soolin

JPS29 wrote: »

MAcfly I would love to take your approach, but unfortunately as a business seller I like my TRS and discounts and don't want any negs, but it does make my blood boil

I can't risk this one either and as it is an old piece it isn't just a case of telling them how to use it.

From the buyers email she wanted a 1940s item that was new- she appears to think that the words '1940s' 'original' 'genuine' and 'vintage' means it was made yesterday in a 1940s style. She genuinely doesn't seem to understand that this is 60 years old.

hermum

If only we could all be as forthright as macfly.
To be a fly on the wall when the stupid one read that last message.

hermum

soolin wrote: »

I can't risk this one either and as it is an old piece it isn't just a case of telling them how to use it.

From the buyers email she wanted a 1940s item that was new- she appears to think that the words '1940s' 'original' 'genuine' and 'vintage' means it was made yesterday in a 1940s style. She genuinely doesn't seem to understand that this is 60 years old.

Unfortunately all the people who sell Vintage stuff on ebay that was indeed made yesterday, does mean that there are a load of idiots who think that is what Vintage is.

soolin

hermum wrote: »

Unfortunately all the people who sell Vintage stuff on ebay that was indeed made yesterday, does mean that there are a load of idiots who think that is what Vintage is.

I'm so careful as well- I even put in a bit about the item being 60 years old (or whatever) but it shows how little of the auction some buyers read.

soolin

Hermum- I am sitting here wrapping things and I thought about what you said about people being used to seeing things sold as vintage when they are new- it was me that started a thread a month or two ago about the vintage 1950s dresses that were actually brand new current style Primark. I seemed to be in a minority then thinking it was inaccurate but this does rather suggest that perhapt a large percentage of people on ebay expect a genuine vintage piece to be brand new. I am so used ot selling within a trade outside of ebay where we are careful with how we describe things that I didn't really understand how some people use words.

This reminds me of a decanter I sold a few years back ready for Christmas. My item was a truly vintage piece and I sold it as such. However when I checked out completed listings before I listed mine- in the antique section for decanters there were as many modern ones in an 'old style' as old ones. There was even one that was being sold as Edwardian (it might have been Victorian) that was new and still in the Debenhams box.

hermum

soolin wrote: »

I'm so careful as well- I even put in a bit about the item being 60 years old (or whatever) but it shows how little of the auction some buyers read.

Years ago I was selling a Victorian Marble Washstand with original tiles, all in excellent condition.
Someone who came to look at it said that they would have to replace the old tiles for something modern & maybe replace the top, I suddenly remembered that I had been given a better offer.
Why buy something old if they want it to look like something that's just come from a production line?

Crowqueen

soolin wrote: »

Hermum- I am sitting here wrapping things and I thought about what you said about people being used to seeing things sold as vintage when they are new- it was me that started a thread a month or two ago about the vintage 1950s dresses that were actually brand new current style Primark. I seemed to be in a minority then thinking it was inaccurate but this does rather suggest that perhapt a large percentage of people on ebay expect a genuine vintage piece to be brand new. I am so used ot selling within a trade outside of ebay where we are careful with how we describe things that I didn't really understand how some people use words.

This reminds me of a decanter I sold a few years back ready for Christmas. My item was a truly vintage piece and I sold it as such. However when I checked out completed listings before I listed mine- in the antique section for decanters there were as many modern ones in an 'old style' as old ones. There was even one that was being sold as Edwardian (it might have been Victorian) that was new and still in the Debenhams box.

I agree, and from a buyer's perspective we are supposed to be squeaky clean and even put up with crap because we only paid 99p for it, but sellers can get away with anything that can be justified in the pursuit of making money - and when told by their buyers that this attitude is unappreciated, they whinge about eBay removing their right to leave negs or whatever, as if all that matters is their being out of pocket rather than the buyer wasting their money.

I sometimes feel like a cash cow with an open wallet who is expected to be infinitely patient and infinitely understanding.

No offence to you, Soo - obviously, I don't think you could do anything different - but I wish sellers took buyers a bit more seriously as well and listed responsibly and accurately. For every buyer you get that doesn't read the listing, there's someone getting ripped off the other way round. There was one guy with 5 negs from the same person who had listed an item with a fuzzy picture, with the word SILVER in the title and SILVER in the description with "PLASTIC" hidden away in the item specifics. Pushing all the buyer's psychological buttons - which are the important part, as we all experience with adverts - and weaselling his way out of being hit with an SNAD and then expecting his buyers to realise that the item was not silver at all - but silver coated plastic. The earring stem was mentioned to be plastic but there was nothing about the actual earring.

And he wondered why he was getting negged for that one item and not his others. I wouldn't have bought, but I'm not surprised some people took his bait - and he's the responsible one for listing it like that and not clearly and distinctly labelled as silver-effect plastic or whatever he actually meant.

Regarding the buyer in your OP - you have the skills to handle this sort of idiot.