eBay Listing Standards?

Dear eBay Queen;

I buy lots of stuff on eBay. I've been searching for a couple of what I call, high-priced technical items. After searching for this stuff, it seems there are no standards of what is in an eBay ad. I searched everywhere on eBay and I can’t find any kind of standards on basic information to supply when selling something. What do you think of about this? Do you think there is something I can do to make this better?

Dear Standards;
You are right! There are no real standards on what a seller must include in the auction listing in order to list it on eBay. I did do a little digging and came up with this link under eBay’s Seller Central http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/bestpractices.html . It only is a guide on the best practices of how to sell on eBay.

As a seller, I like it that other sellers don’t include all the information that I include when I write up an eBay ad. It puts me in front of the pack. I completely understand as a buyer why you’d like to see some kind of standards in eBay listings. I’m not sure that eBay would be able to enforce these kinds of standards. You, as a buyer, have much more power than eBay does. You can simply not buy from that person who is not including the right information for you.

At this time, eBay is definitely a buyers market. You have your choice of sellers to buy from. When I come across a seller that is not giving me enough information in the eBay ad, I ask them a question. That usually enough of a hint to tell that seller they are not putting enough information in their ad. If you don’t receive the answers you are looking for, you can always move on to the next seller.


Dear eBay Queen;

I have a dilemma. I sold an item Tuesday night and it was paid for on Thursday with an e-Check through PayPal. The problem here is that I told the buyer if she paid me with PayPal by this weekend I'd get the package shipped to her on Monday. I'm leaving Monday for the week and I won't be back until next Sunday. Of course the payment hasn’t cleared my PayPal account yet. I promised her I would send it out, but the payment hasn’t cleared.

The buyer has a feedback of 2. She had four total with one negative for nonpayment. How does that math work? The negative cancels out a positive? She's been a member since March of 2004, but her activity only began in May of 2007. Her last transaction was June 2007. All except the negative indicate she's a good customer who pays quickly. So, what do I do? Do I write to her and tell her I’ll send it next week when I get back? Take the packed item with me and mail it when the e-Check clears or go ahead and send it today? If it were you, what would you do?
Wanda

Dear Wanda;
This is quite a predicament. You told her you’d mail it if she paid by a certain day, and she did, but the funds won’t be available until the check clears.

I think your best bet is to email the buyer and let her know what is going on. Explain to her how e-Checks are fast, but the funds are not available in your account until the check clears. I would then offer to send the item while I was away, or ask her if it is ok to send it when you get back from your trip. I’m sure your buyer will understand.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 230197327736 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page) With all the ice that has hit the Mid-West I thought it would be interesting to see what a top selling “ICE” item on eBay is going for. Check out this Vintage Opco 1950’s Ice Gun SOLD $6000. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110190385285