Fleamarket Shoppers

I have a new rash of ebay pests. These are not complainers, or whiners. They are lowball after auction offerers. I had 4 auctions end with start prices ranging from $29.99 to $34.99. This guy sends me this, with no title, no item number, so I have no idea what he's offering this for, and if I wanted $19.99 for it, I'd have relisted it for that...

Since bidding has ended, with no offer, I am now offering to buy from you for US$19.99.  Your consideration will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Last night. Again, no title, no auction number.

 hi how are you..? I am willing to pay 5.00 $

My response (rather snippy):

I do not know what item you are talking about, and what I have listed for the price is the price. $5 won't cut it for anything I have listed.

He finally got back to me and said it was for some feathers. Frig that, dude. I can package them with some crochet lace and other feathers I have and sell them as a millinery lot for more than I had them listed in the first place as fly tying supplies. It's all in the presentation.

Did my auction say Best Offer? no it did NOT. If I wanted to give my shit away I'd just go to the damned fleamarket.

This weeks winner is....

Potential Etsy buyer, E.

Question:

what size is this plate?

Item title:

 Vintage German Cabbage Roses 6" Cabinet Plate

That happened.

Seller Updates

Hey ebay! Let this seller give YOU an update.

I hate being forced into 5 day listings.  They suck, and here's why:
I upload my 5 day listing. Potential buyer puts item on watch list. This gives them 5 days to find another item, forget said item, or think over and decide they don't really want it. Since I have had to implement 5 day listings my sales have taken the proverbial dump. I don't like to do buy-it-now because there's too much potential to screw oneself out of extra money garnered from the bidding process.

I also hate that you've eliminated 30 freebie listings. The FVF amounts you would have gotten from whatever freebie listings that sold would have trumped the .30 you got per listing that you will now get, because now I will be selecting very carefully and selling less of my lower end stuff.

Yay! say some people "I am sick of ebay being flooded with cheap crap" This hits people who are looking for parts or accessories to things...now people are not going to want to list that hat to a certain doll, or fence piece from that playset because they don't think it is worth it to blow .30 on listing a $5 thing.

I am gun-shy to list any more suspected non home runs/cheap items (IE under $12). Etsy will get my money for those.

eBay, your company is tanking. Please for-the-love-of-God, get your heads out of your asses!

Buy It Now

I had this message waiting for me in my inbox this morning:

I am interested in the Stangl Magnolia 

Is there any way I can combine several of the listings and pay a buy now price?

Let me know if that is possible.

If I had any idea what to charge for these damned things, I would have charged it and done a fixed price. If I wanted to do a buy-it-now, I would have done so. I was hoping there would be some competition and so these would not go for the start bid, so the start price is a no. I don't want to seem greedy, but I want to get what these fuckin' things are worth, or at least ballpark.

She doesn't tell me which of the lots she even wants, though I am suspecting it's the bowls, because they are rare and they will wind up going for about double when these auctions finally end. I also suspect this has come about because she does not want to wait 4 days for the fuckin things to end, and on that point I don't blame her!

I kind of cringe because she lives in Washington state, and I charge east coast prices for shipping so that west coast people aren't scared off from bidding due to high shipping. Her wanting this shit causes a conundrum for me because for obvious reasons I would prefer someone in say New York/Pennsylvania/Virginia/Maryland/North Carolina...you know, upper-middle EAST COAST to win them because then I won't have to pay out-of-pocket for the shipping cost discrepancy 

I hate HATE the new "seller update" and being pigeonholed into 5 day listings. The stuff sits forever. I liked the 3 day auctions because then I had faster turnover. 5 days sends me to a screeching halt. People stick the shit on their watch list and then forget about it by the time the damned thing ends, not to mention that I've got more inventory sticking around my house for longer periods of time.

Defective

The other day I sent out two clay pots. The less expensive one that already had noted damage (hairline cracks on the lip edge) had a chunk taken out of the lip.

Now seeing as it was stuffed with packing pillows, cushioned with large bubble bubble wrap (twice!) and surrounded by peanuts inside the larger pot, I am unsure how this even happened.

I am pretty sure looking at the location of the damage, that the guy attempted to pull it out before removing the peanuts around it and took a chunk off the lip while doing so because of the pressure put on those aforementioned hairline cracks.

So of course, instead of contacting me via messages, the asshole OPENS A RETURN CASE and requests a partial refund. Why in fuck could he not just send me a message asking for one? I don't give a rat's ass about the fucking $15 I refunded. I do, however, care about my defect rate, which I try to keep as spotless as possible. There was no reason he should have had to open a case!

Now my .42 defect rate is .63. Fucker. I have spent the last several months trying to get it down from the .55 it had climbed to after some bitch opened a case about a stupid Cabbage Patch doll...again, without checking with me to see if I was willing to work with her first! Now I am back to square one. *headdesk*

As Ebay Turns

Had a damned good week. Bought of a load of fishing crap and sold it for uber high prices. Sold some depression glass for about 20 times what I paid for it. My car was running like shit and I ordered a catalytic converter, only to find out that it was a $2 spark plug causing the problem. Canceled my order and saved $160.

Waited then for the other shoe to drop, and like I always expect, ebay never disappoints.

Hello - I received my dishes yesterday - and there were broken items.  The auctions were shipped in 2 boxes - and each box had broken pieces. 
The items that were broken :
Chartreuse Saucer
Chartreuse Salad Plate
Chartreuse Large Platter
Seafoam Salad Plate
Seafoam Dinner Plate
Seafoam Covered Casserole - lid

I was really disappointed - the dishes were in good condition.. and would have been a wonderful addition to my collection.. other than poor packing.
I can return the broken items or send pictures of them... but I would like a refund on those items.

Yes, lady because 30 large pieces of pottery won't ship well in one box, I shipped them in two. I guess somehow that was my first crime.

Then she starts with the "poor packing" accusations. These I HATE with a vengeance. I spent an hour and a half on that packing job. I used brand new packing materials for said job. The box with more stuff in it, was double boxed.

BTW, The other two boxes I sent that day packed the same way (one with a set of 20 pieces inside) somehow arrived safely. How about you get all accusatory with your local postal service, lady? Hmm? Because only your set got damaged. I sent her polite message asking her what she wanted for a refund.

They are always lightning fast to complain, then take forever to answer you when you ask them what it is that they want. I know the bitch will wait to answer me until I am work, where I am offline for 5 hours straight, then get pissed because I didn't refund right away, and pull the "case" trigger on me.

Why was this doll Made in Hong Kong?

You tell me, then we'll both know. I got a question this morning on a doll I am selling.

"I'm very interested In this doll. Why does it say it's manufactured in Hong Kong?"

I simply answer: "That's what it says on the back of the head"

Fuckin' really? Would you like me to try and contact the now-defunct manufacturer and ask them why they made shit in Hong Kong? I looked at the persons feedback left for others and immediately blocked. No fooling around. There's plenty of buyers with an IQ above 70 in the sea.