If you want to receive top price at auction , take good honest, revealing pics ...and don't be rude to buyers !

DocJD

DocJD

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Knife at auction interested me recently , but the only pics were of the slightly smashed box and the knife concealed by bubble wrap . The sheath was almost visible , but not clearly .

I asked seller about this problem and was told : "Then don't bid. "

I did bid , but much lower than I might otherwise , if I could have seen the merchandise .

The knife sold for much less than it should have (with a proper listing ) , but more than I was willing to bid unseen .

The knife was probably fine , but I had no way to know that . I had no previous experience with this seller .

If I feel that I might have to hassle with returning , that lowers my cap on bidding .

This is the seller's business to decide how they list , but seems kinda seems stupid to me ...as does a rude reply to a simple comment meant to be helpful . :mad: :thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
 
I'll add to this- if you have a decent item to sell, then take good honest pictures. I bought an item on ebay once (a watch) that didn't have very good photos and turned out to be a fake. OTOH I bought another item one time that had very good photos, enough to reveal the smallest of flaws, and I think I was able to buy it for a better price because most of the buyers were scared off. So if you have a questionable item, you can use less revealing photos to deceive the buyers.
 
bdmicarta said:
I'll add to this- if you have a decent item to sell, then take good honest pictures. I bought an item on ebay once (a watch) that didn't have very good photos and turned out to be a fake. OTOH I bought another item one time that had very good photos, enough to reveal the smallest of flaws, and I think I was able to buy it for a better price because most of the buyers were scared off. So if you have a questionable item, you can use less revealing photos to deceive the buyers.
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Yes, tons of clones out there now and sometimes the sellers themselves are not even aware of what they are selling .
 
I have gotten good results when selling because I am honest and take good pics. I also have learned to see through bad pics sometimes to get a deal. The light will make the tiny details of dust and handling marks show up like major flaws. So I always screen my pics for how they will appear to the purchaser. I also add when selling, if it’s something I actually have had myself a period of time, or if it’s something I have no history about.

That said I rarely sell on eBay anymore cause it is a pain since they moved away from PayPal. When I sell, I want the money right then, not wait a few days for it to be put into my bank account. But I guess I’ll likely sell again in the future as my interests change.
 
DocJD said:
Knife at auction interested me recently , but the only pics were of the slightly smashed box and the knife concealed by bubble wrap . The sheath was almost visible , but not clearly .

I asked seller about this problem and was told : "Then don't bid. "

I did bid , but much lower than I might otherwise , if I could have seen the merchandise .

The knife sold for much less than it should have (with a proper listing ) , but more than I was willing to bid unseen .

The knife was probably fine , but I had no way to know that . I had no previous experience with this seller .

If I feel that I might have to hassle with returning , that lowers my cap on bidding .

This is the seller's business to decide how they list , but seems kinda seems stupid to me ...as does a rude reply to a simple comment meant to be helpful . :mad: :thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
Click to expand...
I don't know. If a seller hasn't posted decent photos and responds poorly to a request for additional photos, they've actually done me a favor by self selecting them self out of the population of people I'd want to deal with. Block the seller to avoid them in the future and move on.
 
craytab said:
I don't know. If a seller hasn't posted decent photos and responds poorly to a request for additional photos, they've actually done me a favor by self selecting them self out of the population of people I'd want to deal with. Block the seller to avoid them in the future and move on.
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Exactly so ! :cool:

Other than just ranting , I meant this thread only as advise for sellers of knives .

I'm pretty sure it's mostly redundant advise and already obvious to experienced sellers here on BF .
 
Funny, just sent following comments to a seller on his "new" knife after reviewing his pics:

Heads up- Just a note to say thx for 25.00 off offer, but this xxxxx, does not look "new" from inspecting pictures, and as defined by Ebay, : Left side wood near bolster in one pic looks dirty or stained or a void in wood?,
scratches on stainless steel bolster on right side,
dirt or just grime in pivot grooves,
blackened segment next to left side nail nick,
uneven assembly near back of lock on left side of spine,
wear on right edge of blade's spine from rubbing there when opening and closings,
not centered,
grime in lock slots and right side of blade and word "xxxx" look weird, not sure what is going on there.
Definitely been handled, maybe disassembled after leaving factory, and certainly not kept in sock and box since Soligen packed it. A little maintenance would make it right though.

They responded by reiterating new never used and said please go elsewhere. Pics spoke more then words, and saved me the trouble.
 
On the other side of the coin, I just finished packaging a dozen knives to mail out from the conclusion of some eBay auctions I had finishing up Sunday. All but one guy, who sent me this message:
"Hello!
Just a quick note to let you know I will be going into town tomorrow or Wednesday to add money to my incredible shrinking bank account, town is 20 miles away and I am trying to bundle my trips to get multiple things done in town (waiting on a delivery to my P.O. Box). My frugalness should not effect those I am trading with, so if you REALLY need me to pay for the knife tomorrow, I will make a special trip to town tomorrow no matter if the package is delivered or not. Just let me know.

Thanks,XXXXX"

To which I replied;
"Hi,
It would be very helpful if you would have paid the same day, that way I could have saved a second 20 mile round trip to my post office to mail your knife out to you, along with the other people's things that they won on my auctions. I have to mail theirs promptly or I get low marks for slow shipping. Please pay as soon as possible so I can save money on gas for multiple trips into town. I am selling some of these knives to supplement my retirement income so we can eat.
Thanks, OMCHamlin"

I mean, WTF? If you are so worried about your incredibly shrinking bank account, perhaps you might want to hold off on buying stuff off of eBay? Why is your problem MY problem?
 
The last few knives I've purchased from sellers on ebay and other venues were listed as having no blade play at all. I even sent a question to the seller to confirm. Sure enough, I get the knife and there is significant side to side wobble. One guy later admits he didn't know...I asked him to check prior to sale and he said it was tight with no movement. I've sent the worst of them back for refunds. I also found that sellers who post slightly out of focus photos are often being deceptive.
 
How many times on this exchange has a knife been put for sale with only one photo and no specs. Seller acts offended when I ask for blade length and blade material. AND IS IT A FRAME LOCK OR LINER? (because if there is no photo of the back, then you can't tell). Twice I was told to "google it." So I'm supposed to do the work for the seller? Not every buyer knows the specs of Brown, Herman, QSP, or whatever.

So if they don't want my money IN A FREAKIN' RECESSION, then fine.
 
Some Ebay sellers are simply lazy or uninformed , and will use any old stock photo and ad copy that comes close to what they want to sell .

I've had to return several used that were not the same model as described , different steel etc . from the listing .

I want to see some actual good pics of the item I'm bidding on(unless brand new from authorized dealer) and the correct description .
 
Most auction site sellers will meet the "absolute minimum threshold" required to sell the item, no more. They generally do that by looking at other similar listings, and over time the quality of all listings go down. Uninformed, lazy, incompetent, whatever, just ruins the fun for everyone. This site is no exception (think how many sellers link to a third party website like imgur, which is chock full of garbage advertisements and privacy invading cookies, even when BF provides an ability to include them in the post). 🤷‍♂️
 
Ken Hash what was the first number before My Recon Bowie SOG I know you said Brs or srb .
 
DocJD said:
Knife at auction interested me recently , but the only pics were of the slightly smashed box and the knife concealed by bubble wrap . The sheath was almost visible , but not clearly .

I asked seller about this problem and was told : "Then don't bid. "

I did bid , but much lower than I might otherwise , if I could have seen the merchandise .

The knife sold for much less than it should have (with a proper listing ) , but more than I was willing to bid unseen .

The knife was probably fine , but I had no way to know that . I had no previous experience with this seller .

If I feel that I might have to hassle with returning , that lowers my cap on bidding .

This is the seller's business to decide how they list , but seems kinda seems stupid to me ...as does a rude reply to a simple comment meant to be helpful . :mad: :thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
Click to expand...
I have not been rude to anyone. If I have I am sorry. I say please and thank you to all.
 
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