They'll buy anything on Ebay - Powerbook *box* auctioned off (1 Viewer)

[Carl Miller]

Quote:
Exactly. It's deceitful by relying on the fact that people don't always read things properly, either due to haste, their own idiocy or perhaps because english isn't their first language.
From personal experience, I just had a winning bidder back out of an auction of mine this week.

He bought a 2nd print Grateful Dead poster from me, circa 1968. My listing clearly stated in 4 seperate places including the header that the poster was a 2nd print. You know what the winning bidder communicated to me in his e-mail backing out of the auction?

He said my listing was "vague and misleading" and he thought he was bidding on a 1st print of the poster. The truth is more likely that he got carried away and bid about $150 over book value for the piece and probably figured that out after the auction ended.

I don't know how I could have been more clear any more than I can figure how this particular seller could have been more clear that the item was just the box...Looks perfectly clear to me.

The end result of my auction by the way is that I gave the buyer a negative, and got one in return. I can live with that as I have a good, well earned reputation...However if everybody followed your line of thinking here, I'd be out of business.

It's the buyers responsibility to read and comprehend the listing.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

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However if everybody followed your line of thinking here, I'd be out of business.
Hardly, Carl. I bet your auction didn't also go on to explain the details of the first-run just to confuse the over-enthusiastic, did it?

As I said in an earlier, post, the seller is doing nothing technically wrong except to prey on the misunderstanding or reading comprehrension of other people. If he were advertising that box in the same way in a retail store or other commerical outlet, there's a good chance he'd get his arse kicked by the advertising standards and trading standards authorities (if you have one over there, we do). Nobody buys a cardboard box knowingly for hundreds of dollars (with $10 shipping). There is no rarity or really any value to the box whatsoever so while the buyer may be a complete plonker, the seller is con-man, which in my book is a lot worse. Over and out.

 

[Tony Genovese]

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the seller is con-man

Con-men don't achieve 97% plus positive feedback on ebay or in any other commercial endeavor.

 

[Carl Miller]

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Hardly, Carl. I bet your auction didn't also go on to explain the details of the first-run just to confuse the over-enthusiastic, did it?
No, it didn't. I'm a respected seller Rob, and have been dealing in vintage rock posters for several years. My website, though woefully undeveloped, is frequently recommended by dealers as a must visit for new collectors...especially those looking to purchase on Ebay which is by far the best source for what I sell. My site is such because it preaches the importance of learning to distinguish between print editions, and of keeping one's cool when bidding on Ebay.

I have nothing to gain by deceiving people Rob, and a nice little business to lose if I do.

Your assumption, obviously, is that every seller is dishonest to some degree or another and that is simply not true. The very fact that Ebay works as well as it does flies in the face of your position.

As for this box...Most likely the first 2 bids on that listing were legitimate. Exactly what happened after that, I don't know. It looks like people were screwing with this seller intentionally, but it's hard to tell for sure.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe people should be held responsible for their actions, and live up to their obligations...Not whip out a card that reads "I'm ignorant and therefore not responsible for anything I do" whenever the need arises.

 

[John_Berger]

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Nobody buys a cardboard box knowingly for hundreds of dollars (with $10 shipping). You are also assuming, apparently, that the bids were legitimate. The facts that there were so many zero-feedback bidders plus so many bids by the same cretin are almost proof-positive that this auction was screwed up not by deceptive marketing and gullible buyers but by those few idiots who seem to get some kind of sexual gratification by ruining the bidding process.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Folks, as this thread has dissolved into another one of those "stupidity on Ebay can't be underestimated" threads, it is being moved to here.

Also, let's be a little more kinder towards one another.

 

[Chad A Wright]

Have you seen these Powerbook boxes in person. These boxes are nice. As the proud owner of a 15" 1Ghz Powerbook box, I wouldn't part with it for $1,200. It's the greatest box ever designed.

I gladly payed Apple $3,500 just for the box. I was shocked when they threw in a computer and cables for free. Such a nice company

 

[Jason GT]

This is a month old, but people have commented about the bid history of one particular bidder.

It's not at all suspicious - s/he could have been a legitimate buyer.

One of the highest bids (by itprofessional) was placed on Dec 15. All the bids by kashto were placed Dec 16. Thus whenver kashto placed a bid, ebay's autobid increased itprofessional's bid.