Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

[Letric]

Aaand it's back. (for me at least). Happy shipping!

 

[Sartoriamo]

And people sometimes complain that I have handling time set for two days. 😜

Yeah, that's the whole "Amazon effect". Bezos ruined it for everyone. I have the same 2-day handling time (just to account for glitches and items requiring odd packing), but do my best to ship everything out the same day or next if it's past cutoff. This works fine as I am usually a relatively low-volume seller (30-40 items and $4K a month). Mondays usually have the highest volume from crap I'm blowing out at auction that ends Sunday nights like everyone else. Nine times out of ten I get at least one email every Monday: "can you ship this today?" And what's more, it's usually for the ten buck blowout item that's barely worth my time. People drive me nuts!

 

[Fueco]

I have this boilerplate in all of my listings. I still shop pretty much every day, but I figure I should cover myself.

 

[StanleyWingtip]

How would you guys go about listing these coats and Jackets with no maker,size, fabric tags on ebay? I bought these all from one man’s collection and many others were Edgar Pomeroy and the stitching/linings makes me think they’re also Pomeroy but no tags saying so.

“Anonymous bespoke”?

Thanks!

 

[MJMcRibb]

How would you guys go about listing these coats and Jackets with no maker,size, fabric tags on ebay? I bought these all from one man’s collection and many others were Edgar Pomeroy and the stitching/linings makes me think they’re also Pomeroy but no tags saying so.

“Anonymous bespoke”?

Thanks!

View attachment 2243533 View attachment 2243535 View attachment 2243537 View attachment 2243539 View attachment 2243541 View attachment 2243543 View attachment 2243545 View attachment 2243547 View attachment 2243551

I wouldn't bother putting "anonymous" in the listing title. Just use the extra characters for descriptors that might get searched.

 

[Conclusive]

I don't know how to quote from another forum, but I had this situation arise at the end of August/start of September. I posted on the Thrift thread because that's the only thread I've really participated in (didn't know there was an eBay thread) with a description of the situation:

"I bought the jacket from a Polo Factory Store in Vegas, so I know it's authentic, and nobody in my vicinity smokes or chews tobacco. I've had situations like this before, but those were with items I picked up at the thrift, which have a higher probability of me missing some defect. This was brand new, albeit discounted, at an official retail store.

A return is annoying, sure, but not terribly problematic in the long run. Based on these messages, I'm more worried he's going to ship something else back in a bait-and-switch."

I responded to the buyer with:

Which was followed up by:

It's been about a week with no response. The buyer hasn't opened a return yet, but I hate having the anxiety of knowing that the buyer has until the end of September to ask for a return. Does the length of time between receiving the item and the buyer requesting a return factor into eBay's decision on a return/dispute? I've already contacted eBay customer service about the situation, but are there any additional steps I should take? I'm already planning on recording myself opening the return parcel if the buyer forces a return.

 

[goatamous II]

I think all you can do is sit and wait. As you said, the buyer has until the end of the month (plus some additional time to actually ship the item)

It's annoying, but after you receive the item back you have to file an appeal, which also takes some time and potentially some arguing with ebay

Hopefully this ends up being something the buyer is negligent on, but in the meantime just get your ducks in a row to file that appeal.

 

[goatamous II]

@StanleyWingtip If you're certain it's bespoke, use that term without using a brand (you can select "unbranded" in the brand requirement for the listing)

i've also used the word Custom, which i prefer over anonymous

 

[Sartoriamo]

How would you guys go about listing these coats and Jackets with no maker,size, fabric tags on ebay? I bought these all from one man’s collection and many others were Edgar Pomeroy and the stitching/linings makes me think they’re also Pomeroy but no tags saying so.

“Anonymous bespoke”?

Thanks!

I would still list these as "Edgar Pomeroy? Hand-sewn bespoke blah blah blah" with an explanation in the full description text. Having the question mark solves the keyword search issue, with the goal of having the Pomeroy fan open the listing, and reading your explanation of the imaginary "consignor" getting all his custom clothing made by EP. The style of the items you showed are clearly all from the same "atelier". Rumor has it that while EP "designed" all of the garments, he was not actually a tailor (more of a pompous a$$), and everything was made by Martin Greenfield. Your trivia for today . . .

 

[florent]

Recently I've seen some sellers filling the item specifics fields with a bunch of similar brands or other keywords (random example here). Is that ok with Ebay rules? Do you feel it's a fair practice?
I'm curious as it seems to actually work to get more visibility in search results.

 

[vestbash]

Recently I've seen some sellers filling the item specifics fields with a bunch of similar brands or other keywords (random example here). Is that ok with Ebay rules? Do you feel it's a fair practice?
I'm curious as it seems to actually work to get more visibility in search results.

Using a brand name that doesn't apply to the listing is not allowed per ebay's rules and can be reported as "search and browse manipulation". Ebay generally does enforce this rule but it can take a little time for listings to get pulled down.

Generally, ebay does not police words use as descriptors. For example if a sportcoat was a three button but "two button" was used as an additional keyphrase to attempt to drive traffic to the listing, that's not something that in my experience ebay cares about even if it may be implicitly or explicitly against the rules.

 

[LaundryRoom]

View attachment 2238887

Is this from your listings, Mike?

That's a comedy club in Burlington, VT (101 Main St). I've seen a few shows there.

 

[goatamous II]

That's interesting @florent
Once upon a time I used to see it in the title, but I don't think I've ever seen it buried in the details like that. Wonder if it does actually increase the search hits

It's not allowed but I imagine having it buried in the details gets it past the initial screening

 

[Fueco]

Is this from your listings, Mike?

That's a comedy club in Burlington, VT (101 Main St). I've seen a few shows there.

No, I saw that posted elsewhere online.

 

[florent]

Using a brand name that doesn't apply to the listing is not allowed per ebay's rules and can be reported as "search and browse manipulation". Ebay generally does enforce this rule but it can take a little time for listings to get pulled down.

Generally, ebay does not police words use as descriptors. For example if a sportcoat was a three button but "two button" was used as an additional keyphrase to attempt to drive traffic to the listing, that's not something that in my experience ebay cares about even if it may be implicitly or explicitly against the rules.

Thank you, that makes sense

That's interesting @florent
Once upon a time I used to see it in the title, but I don't think I've ever seen it buried in the details like that. Wonder if it does actually increase the search hits

It's not allowed but I imagine having it buried in the details gets it past the initial screening

I suppose it works because that's how I found them, rather high in the results too