Ebay Auctions - What Encourages You To Buy From A Seller?

[impcon]

I am posting this in hopes that some Ebay sellers who sell models will be led to it and hopefully learn a thing or two from it. Please feel free to add your comments as to what experiences you have had buying models off of Ebay. Please do not get into attacks on individuals or mention names - this is a general discussion and the purpose is not to inflame anyone or have the thread used to slam particular sellers.

For myself, the vast majority of my experiences buying models on Ebay have been positive. My biggest beef is that there seems to be a growing trend among sellers to be vague with descriptions and with posting poor photographs. It is buyer beware out there but I have passed on more then a few auctions where the seller has one or two fuzzy or distant photos of a model and I will email with questions and asking for more pictures and I never receive a reply. Most sellers are good people but there are those who don't seem to care as long as they make a sale. So what are your worst and best experiences?

Edited October 1, 2010 by impcon

[curt raitz]

I sell a lot of "built" models on eBay

I believe "a picture says a 1000 words", so I concentrate on good photos (4-5) and keep my description brief.

also answer all questions asap...seems to be working so far

[Railfreak78]

I have not sold yet but I have bought a lot of stuff from Ebay. A few models a lot of Hot Wheels and lot of H.O. Trains. Pictures are everything to me. I wish the enlarge feature was better sometimes but pictures is what sells me. Model wise I buy from sealed to parts so I'm open but I am strict on complete kits if I am not buying parts lots. Description and pictures is key for my trains since I need to know if they work or not and what they need. If its a locomotive and they say it works and it doesn't I'd be furious so I look for things like "Track Tested".

[davyou5]

I recently just got the AMT kit that I needed from EBAY, It's the waiting that really kills some times, other than that, I have had no problems with sellers items. Even if the Picture/s were not of good quality, if I really needed it I would bid/buy it.

[junkman1153]

feedback,feedback,feedback, check it and read the feedback see what buyers are saying about the description of the items,honesty of the seller,shipping charges and shipping time. if the seller has some negatives check the reasons some are just stupid. real problems or complaints should be a factor in your decision. i do sell on e bay my feedback is all positive i do tend to understate condition .something that is near mint to me you might consider good to very good ,so i list it as good.pictures are important but can hide damage or missing parts .i have seen very carefully staged pictures to advoid showing problems with the item .my descriptions are accurate and shipping plainly stated always combine shipping on multiple items. i personally advoid sellers with vague shipping charges ,who attack the people who leave a negative feedback. Joe Friday said it best "the facts just the facts" ask questions if they don't answer don't buy.

[Greg Cullinan]

Reasonable shipping prices and starting bids along with detailed description and photos. I've found a handful of sellers that suit my needs and I tend to look at their auctions first.

There is a seller who has a ton of cool kits but they are all buy it now so I don't buy anything. Right now he has a AMT annual 66 Impala convertible for $180, which I would probably be willing to come close to paying just not out right without the opportunity to acquire a better price.

This applies to Emodelcars as well which I am going to start patronizing the majority of the time.

Edited October 1, 2010 by Greg Cullinan

[seeker589]

This is really good topic as I am currently thinning my collection due to space considerations. eBay ID: grmnut

I try to include:

-picture of the box - including the description of the condition of the box.

-picture of the side of the box if the illustrations are good

-picture of the whole kit laid out on the table or floor with a full view of the all parts.

-Detail pictures of any flaws the kit may have (warped or broken parts, scratched or cracked "glass",etc)

-A detailed description of all flaws

-I also invite bidders to contact me with ANY questions

When I post an auction I try to start that auction at around half of what the kit would be in the store if it were sealed. If the kit had been opened and fondled (one of the funnest things to do in modelling, I think) I then reduce the starting price by 30-40%. If parts are missing - I start it at $3 or so - somebody should bid on it if it is that cheap

What else would YOU want to see in a model auction?

What is a reasonable handling charge for a kit? Boxes, gas to the store and my time are worth something.

One thing that I fear is that bidders want the item NOW! Due to work constraints - I can't make it to the post office or the local shipping store until Friday or Saturday. I don't do this as a business - I'm just a builder/collector. How much understanding should I expect from a bidder?

Gotta go and ship two 1/8 Monogram kits I sold this week!

[impcon]

This is really good topic as I am currently thinning my collection due to space considerations. eBay ID: grmnut

I try to include:

-picture of the box - including the description of the condition of the box.

-picture of the side of the box if the illustrations are good

-picture of the whole kit laid out on the table or floor with a full view of the all parts.

-Detail pictures of any flaws the kit may have (warped or broken parts, scratched or cracked "glass",etc)

-A detailed description of all flaws

-I also invite bidders to contact me with ANY questions

When I post an auction I try to start that auction at around half of what the kit would be in the store if it were sealed. If the kit had been opened and fondled (one of the funnest things to do in modelling, I think) I then reduce the starting price by 30-40%. If parts are missing - I start it at $3 or so - somebody should bid on it if it is that cheap

What else would YOU want to see in a model auction?

What is a reasonable handling charge for a kit? Boxes, gas to the store and my time are worth something.

One thing that I fear is that bidders want the item NOW! Due to work constraints - I can't make it to the post office or the local shipping store until Friday or Saturday. I don't do this as a business - I'm just a builder/collector. How much understanding should I expect from a bidder?

Gotta go and ship two 1/8 Monogram kits I sold this week!

We sold used auto parts for over 10 years on Ebay until their rules started getting stupid and they staerted getting greedy. We actually did very well and we had many, many repeat customers with whom we developed relationships. When answering emails, my wife and I both spent a few extra seconds to put some of our personality into our emails and it really helped a lot I believe. I buy quite o bit of stuff off Ebay and most sellers are simply cut and dried - no personal touch at all and while I realize that everyone has time constraints in their life, it's always nice to know that it is a human being and not a machine with whom you are talking.

We hosted our own pictures on our ISP who gives us free space for personal web pages and my pictures were a good size, clear and I took the time with every picture to run it through a little photo program - Adobe Photoshop. We used the first several versions and then it became bloated and confudsing. But the old program worked just fine for us. I also often posted two or more pictures of an article, depending on what it was and again, I believe that those pictures were worth while.

As for shipping -= that was where we really built some loyalty with repeat customers. We would package the items that sold the night that our auctions ended ( Sunday night always worked best for us ) and I would measuer and weigh each box and then give the stats to my wife who would go to the USPS site and calculate the shipping costs on their calculator. She would then email each buyer with their total amount opwed including shipping and then we'd wait for payment.We ALWAYS charged actual shipping costs and people liked that. If for exam0ple, I sold a dash pad for a Ford truck and the shipping came to $32.78 on the USPS site, Tina would quote the customer that amount. Many times when we shipped, thge shipping was actually less than what we quoted so she would ALWAYS issue them a refund - even if it was thirty five cents. I never figured on costs for boxes or packing material - if you have any ambition, there are lots of stores and business's that will happily give you all the boxes and cardboard that you want for free. The same goes with foam chips, packing paper and foam. We never bought any of that stuff - our only real packaging expense was the clear tape that we used to put the boxes together. As for fuel - we got to write it all off on our income tax as with ANY supplies that we had to buy, so we got most of that money back anyhow.

People were often shocked with the shipping refunds and the fact that we did not gouge on shipping. I always figured that if I had to cover some expenses, then I just started each item a bit higher but trust me - treat people fairly and honestly in this day and age and they'll walk over broken glass for you. I say that not in the sense that you be nice and decent to people for your own gain - but what goes ;round comes around. I have learned that. When I see a seller charging 12.00 to ship a model, I walk away. Plain and simple. If he is in the $8 - 9.00 range, I'll buy from him and I'll even pay a bit more just to support someone who is trying to be fair.

I could go on but this post is already too long but in closing, we did very well on Ebay and I firmly believe it was because we treated people fairly and never gouged or refused a refund if they were unhappy - and there were VERY few of those. Hope this helped..