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

[SpooPoker]



+1 for Padded Flat Rate Envelopes for international. I specifically offer combined shipping on shirts to international buyers. I refund one of the shipping charges if they buy two. I attribute at least 10 to 15 extra shirt sales per month to this.

This is my answer to the "Can you ship it to my country cheaper" question. "Hell, yeah! How about half price?"

The padded envelopes are much stronger than the paper flat rate envelopes and can hold three smaller sized shirts or thinner fabric shirts. Three large-sized OCBD's may not work.

Exactly this. Those padded flat rates are a blessing for most everything.

 

[DanM]

Hey guys, could I get a photography/lighting critique? I'm using three 60W 5000k CFLs (at least one more would probably be helpful) and taking pictures using my Iphone 5S camera. I've been struggling with too much yellow in the pictures, as the wallpaper in the room I'm working in is a very faded yellow (haven't gotten to refinish this room yet.) Any suggestions would be great.

 

[k4lnamja]

Can someone tell me what color these shoes are? I can't tell if they're burgundy/maroon/oxblood OR brown? I even used that app Wes told me about and nothing

 

[capnwes]

Can someone tell me what color these shoes are? I can't tell if they're burgundy/maroon/oxblood OR brown? I even used that app Wes told me about and nothing

Those are Allen Edmonds right? What are the numbers. The catalogs will tell us the actual AE color.

 

[Acme]

Hey guys, could I get a photography/lighting critique? I'm using three 60W 5000k CFLs (at least one more would probably be helpful) and taking pictures using my Iphone 5S camera. I've been struggling with too much yellow in the pictures, as the wallpaper in the room I'm working in is a very faded yellow (haven't gotten to refinish this room yet.) Any suggestions would be great.

Those pics look fine to me. I finally solved my color problems when I 1) got all the same color bulbs (5000K just like yours) and 2) manually set the appropriate color balance setting on my camera (daylight setting for 5000K bulbs). Hope that helps you.

 

[TheNeedMachine]

I'm in need of advice for a buyer I'm dealing with. He paid immediately after BIN, had 100% feedback of 436 (albeit private) but had a verified shipping address, so I thought it'd be alright even though the messages sounded a bit rough. Long story short, the buyer is lying and stating there are stains on the shirt; but he wants to keep the shirt and have me pay to have it dry cleaned. Should I call his bluff and tell him I'll accept the return or ignore the message?

Does sound kinda sketchy - NWT shirt with alleged stains, they want to give as a gift BUT also have it dry cleaned (thus no longer NWT) which will cost $15 (?!).
Agreed - no partial refund - either they ship back and get a full refund, or they keep the shirt and get nothing.

 

[Tweets]

I think we need an award for stupid Ebay buyer of the day...

Dear Intelligent Seller,

I WON THIS ITEM AND WEAR SIZE 9.5 INSTEAD OF 10.
PLEASE, CONFIRM IF YOU HAVE SIZE 9.5 IN THIS SHOE?
THANKS
NAT
- Idiot that thinks I'm Foot Locker

Do I look like a shoe store?

 

[Fueco]



I think we need an award for stupid Ebay buyer of the day...
[COLOR=000000]Dear Intelligent Seller,[/COLOR] [COLOR=000000]I WON THIS ITEM AND WEAR SIZE 9.5 INSTEAD OF 10. PLEASE, CONFIRM IF YOU HAVE SIZE 9.5 IN THIS SHOE? THANKS NAT[/COLOR]
[COLOR=000000]- Idiot that thinks I'm Foot Locker[/COLOR] [COLOR=000000]Do I look like a shoe store?[/COLOR]

Par for the course...

 

[Shoeluv]

Hey guys, could I get a photography/lighting critique? I'm using three 60W 5000k CFLs (at least one more would probably be helpful) and taking pictures using my Iphone 5S camera. I've been struggling with too much yellow in the pictures, as the wallpaper in the room I'm working in is a very faded yellow (haven't gotten to refinish this room yet.) Any suggestions would be great.

Some of those look good but some I have a hard time telling what the color of the suit is (mainly those on the mannequin). What are you using to edit the pictures after you take them? If you are looking for something free, I started using GIMP which is available for Mac or Windows (I use a Mac). All I do is open all of the pictures and do 'color -> auto -> white balance' and some came out fairly good and some are still a little dark. You can check out a few here.

 

[Koala-T]

Some of those look good but some I have a hard time telling what the color of the suit is (mainly those on the mannequin). What are you using to edit the pictures after you take them? If you are looking for something free, I started using GIMP which is available for Mac or Windows (I use a Mac). All I do is open all of the pictures and do 'color -> auto -> white balance' and some came out fairly good and some are still a little dark. You can check out a few here.

Thanks for the tip here. Not OP, but I'm going to start using this.

 

[Shoeluv]

Thanks for the tip here. Not OP, but I'm going to start using this.

There are some options I am exploring like scriptfoo where you should be able to automatically run the auto white balancer on an entire directory. This would save me a ton of time, if anyone has done this or has a better way using GIMP to edit photos please chime in.

 

[Fueco]

There are some options I am exploring like scriptfoo where you should be able to automatically run the auto white balancer on an entire directory. This would save me a ton of time, if anyone has done this or has a better way using GIMP to edit photos please chime in.

A better option is to always use the same white balance settings. I believe that even most point and shoot cameras let you set the white balance. If you set it to 'flash' and leave it there while photographing indoors with a flash, you should get fairly consistent results. If you can do manual exposure, find a setting that gets you consistent results and remember that setting. As an example, my general 'Ebay sales photography' setting is: 1/30th at f/5.0 (ISO 200) with the white balance set for flash. I use an external flash, but a similar setting might work with a P&S as well. I never alter the colors before importing to Ebay. I've not had any complaints other than one where I didn't know the difference between burgundy and brown in dress shoes...

 

[jebarne]



Some of those look good but some I have a hard time telling what the color of the suit is (mainly those on the mannequin). What are you using to edit the pictures after you take them? If you are looking for something free, I started using GIMP which is available for Mac or Windows (I use a Mac). All I do is open all of the pictures and do 'color -> auto -> white balance' and some came out fairly good and some are still a little dark. You can check out a few here.

The pro camera app has a white balance control. Way better photos than the internal app.

 

[Steve Smith]



I think we need an award for stupid Ebay buyer of the day...
[COLOR=000000]Dear Intelligent Seller,[/COLOR] [COLOR=000000]I WON THIS ITEM AND WEAR SIZE 9.5 INSTEAD OF 10. PLEASE, CONFIRM IF YOU HAVE SIZE 9.5 IN THIS SHOE? THANKS NAT[/COLOR]
[COLOR=000000]- Idiot that thinks I'm Foot Locker[/COLOR] [COLOR=000000]Do I look like a shoe store?[/COLOR]

A few weeks ago a buyer opened a case against me stating that I sent him the wrong shoes. According to him, the shoes I sent were not blue like the ones in the auction. My description took up four lines. Here is the last line: The colors of the suede, starting at the toe, are dark brown, brown, and a light stone or light tan.

 

[capnwes]

A few weeks ago a buyer opened a case against me stating that I sent him the wrong shoes. According to him, the shoes I sent were not blue like the ones in the auction.

My description took up four lines. Here is the last line:
The colors of the suede, starting at the toe, are dark brown, brown, and a light stone or light tan.

I had a guy leave me neg feedback once because I clearly sold him a burgundy tie, listed as burgundy, titled as burgundy, described as burgundy and pictured as burgundy.

His feedback read "The tie is not purple"

I called him out on it and he removed it.