Ebay prices

have to put in my pennies worth on this one. as far as a price is listed for an item or asked for based on a catalog price maybe there is more to the story. if i stated i never listed an item for more than the catalog price i would probably not be correct. i have at times speculated and bought items that became immediately out of stock. now i have an investment and i want to make money on it. one of the benefits of ebay is bidders who do not live within 100 miles off a hobby shop will actually do well buying for 10% over retail, when you conside time,travel money, etc.

Larry,

I agree with you about the listed price compared to a catalog price, just remember one thing. Capitolism(sp?) It is the right of anyone dealing in this country to try to sell things for any price they want. If there is a buyer for something like this that is overpriced, so be it. That is the buyers decision. No one is forcing them to bid and buy. I have overpaid for an item or to in my day because I "just had to have that thing!" The thing about ebay is.....you don't have to bid. What is troublesome about this whole episode is the response you got. I would be hardpressed to want to do business with a person like that. The langauge chosen, while not profain, is totally unbusiness like and inexcusable. I believe you did the right thing in reporting this to ebay. And.....I also believe you did hit a nerve.

Bob Rule, Jr.

No one is forcing you to bid or buy on it.

While I agree with your point, you stuck your nose where it didn't belong. I would expect ebay to suspend your ebay user id. I'm surprised that the seller responded at all. The seller had the right to tell you off. The reason is that you sent the seller a question and under ebay policy (cough, cough, cough) the seller can respond to your question.

The basic thing here is that it isn't your job to protect some other fool from spending way to much for something on ebay. If you think a listing is inaccurate, then an email to the seller would be appropriate if done correctly. If you suspect something worse, then contact ebay directly. If you find a really outrageous ebay listing, then post the link to rmr. They make really great and cheap fun to read :-)

Dave

A. Were you being FORCED to bid on and pay for this item? B. If someone else bids on the item at its posted price, then they are happy with it. C. Obviously you have too much time on your hands if you have to nitpick this sort of crap.

Larry,

His tone and attitude is all wrong but he is completely within his right to charge anything he wants for the item. The great thing about eBay is that you can probably go to another listing and find it for half what he is charging. I've had hundreds of positive transactions on eBay, both buying and selling. There is the occasional jerk but isn't that what feedback is all about?

CBix

No argument. What got my goat was the out and out lie "Usually sells for much more!" That's fraud in my opinion.

Hi Dave, Why do you think it is likely that Larry will get his user ID suspended. Was it the fact that he pointed out what he thought was an inflated price or that he did it in an rather aggressive manner? Or some other breach of Ebay policy?

Lynn

Dave

Larry, you should simply have referred him to an e-Bay listing for English as a Second (or more probably third) Language.

Andy

That's fraud in my opinion.< I understand your complaint but the statement could mean anything. If he had said "cheaper than list" or "cheaper than MSRP" it _could_ be fraud. The real facts are that many people simple don't know how and don't want to spent the time with what they purchase. That why, for example, my car or anything else "I" buy may cost less that the same item purchased by someone else. Phone companies try to sell me long distance service for $40 a month when my average bill is $2. Yet some people in the same condition buy that service. We just have to face the facts, as that tee-shirt said ----"I see dumb people"---

ALL CAPS, only marginally literate (numerous grammatical and spelling errors), probably a Michael Savage listener to boot.

Just remember that Adam Smith & Co.'s explanation for the virtues of free market capitalism depend on informed buyers as well as informed sellers, so any excuses for sellers who take advantage of the igorance of buyers are not in defense of capitalism, but in defense of predation and scamming.

Wanna buy some colored light bulbs guaranteed to cure cancer provide you maintain the proper state of mind?

paaaaaah!

WTF!!!!??

Where DO all you people come from defending some semi-literate abusive lying scam artist, or for that matter the great tin God EBay you all bow to? EBay doesn't make any provision for or pay any attention to reports of false statements by sellers. Granted, that might be impossible to administer, but as long as they allow sellers to make any claim, they ought to allow critics to post for public view their own feedback as to whether the price and quality claimed are reasonable.

The point is, as someone else remarked, that the seller who perpetrated the bald faced lie also responded like what I'd call some rabid Montana Freemen ayatollhoid. That level of response seems to be why Mr. Blanchard posted the idiot's rant, but it sure pushed a lot of buttons in the "laissez faire scamming is good" crowd! And your responses pushed my button.

If eBay had only a single a--hole, rather than thousands, one might be forgiven a supposition as to why your noses are, er, uh, rail brown.

spelling errors), probably a Michael Savage listener to boot.< My only negative on ebay was posted because I gave a negative to someone who wrote like that and sold me an item that I felt was not as advertised. I simple want to return the item and received my money back and he wouldn't. My negative simply said the item was not as advertised and his negative reply was interesting to say the least!

Sure, but that's not what Larry did.

A message to the effect of: "Beware of Ebay auction [#12345678] by [seller ID]. He is selling [manufacturer, model no.] at a Buy it Now price of [exact price]. My [hobby shop name, location] is selling this item for 10% below retail, or [exact price]." would have been a message about price and quality claimed.

If he wanted to tell us about the price and quality claimed by the auction, we'd at least have details on it.

But as it played out, all Larry did was send a complaint to the seller and then forwarded the seller's reply when he didn't get the answer he wanted. It seems more like a play for some sort of self-gratification. And just to let us know that he sent the guy's response to eBay.

Also if you want to see an interesting auction go to #3164631887. This guy has no idea of what he is selling (well mostly) but he started it at a buck so who cares! My point, BRASS???????

If you sent me an email telling me that I was "auctioning" an item that was overpriced, I would think you were interfering with my right to maximize the price at which my item was sold. Ebay's user agreement prohibits interfering in an auction. Nothing will happen if the seller doesn't file a complaint though. If the seller is a smart person, not filing a complaint would be the best course of (in)action. I'm sure Ebay would consider the seller's reply in making a determination but Ebay seems to me to be better at protecting sellers than they are at protecting buyers.

Duuh.

Why would private E mail from a potential bidder to a seller, mail that on the E bay system is seen only by the sender and receiver, be an interference with an auction? Explain with examples, please.

What fantasy world do you live in?

You missed the part where I stated that I shared his view about it being overpriced. But understand this, it may be a "free" country, but when you go to Ebay, it's Ebay's "private" game and you must play by their rules. As I said in another reply, Ebay seems to be better at protecting sellers than they are protecting buyers. I'll never understand why someone would buy an item on Ebay that they could have purchased online for less at one of the major/well known Model Railroad Hobby Stores.