Given yesterday’s post, I think this is appropriate.
I’ve done a bit of business, both buying and selling, on Ebay over the years, but this week’s experience has given me a new perspective on what doing business there can be like. Every time I’d sold anything on Ebay in the past, it was just regular stuff. Nothing fancy, exciting or in demand.
The PSP is all three of those things.
And since it is, it attracts a lot more attention. A lot more. In the past, I never got more than one email from a prospective bidder on any of my auctions. Usually, I got zero. This time, I got about 20 for each of my two auctions. If nothing else, these emails have taught me one thing:
Most people on Ebay don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.
Either that, or they’re just dumb. Really dumb. I mean like monumentally stupid kind of dumb.”How dumb?” you ask. Well, let me tell you….
1. If the auction does not have a “Buy it Now” price listed, don’t ask for one.
Seriously, if I wanted to give somebody the chance to end the auction early, I’d have put up a BiN price and been done with it. I like the fact that Ebay is an auction site. As such, I run auctions, not sales. You want a set price? Go to Wal*Mart. What’s that? They don’t have PSPs?!? Too fucking bad! My auction, my terms.
2. If you’re going to be an ass and ask for a BiN price, make it higher than the current bid.
This actually happened twice in one of my auctions. The first time, the bid was up to $405 and some jackhole asks if I’ll end the auction early and sell it to him for $400. Why the hell would I do that? If you want me to end the auction and sell it to you, you’d better make me one hell of an offer. Making said offer higher than the current bid would be a a good start.The other guy really took the cake. When he sent his email, the bidding had only gotten up to $360, and that’s from the opening bid (set by me) of $350. This clown offered $300. Yes, $50 less than the minimum bid. Anybody who’s bidding on PSPs knows how much they cost. The prices in Japan are a matter of public record and can be found on most any gaming website out there. And since I included a lot of extra stuff in my auction (game, screen protector, magazine, demo disc, etc.) my cost was more than $300.
Am I running a charity here? I’m going to sell you something for less than I paid?!? No. No, I’m not.
3. Read the auction terms carefully.
When I was putting my whole Ebay/PSP plan together, I spent some time checking out the auctions that were out there for pre-orders to see how other people had set up their auctions, and how those auctions were progressing. One disturbing trend that I wanted nothing to do with was bidders who had zero-feedback making stupidly high bids on auctions. (For those not familiar with Ebay, “feedback” is your reputation. Little or bad feedback means others won’t want to do business with you.) I suspected – but have no proof – that some of those bidders were intentionally trying to spoil the auctions for the sellers. They’d make high bids, then never pay, forcing the seller to re-list the item and lose time.
Time’s important on an item that’s in high demand and limited supply. If you’re first to market you can get higher prices. Once more units become available, the price will most likely go down. To avoid this nonsense, I specified that bidders with zero feedback were not permitted to bid in my auctions. Now, because of how Ebay is set up, they can still bid.
But I can cancel their bids.
I had a couple zero-feedback bidders in my auctions, but rather than cancel their bids outright, I tried to be cool about it. I know everybody has to start on Ebay at some point. And when you’re starting out, you’re not going to have any feedback. It’s a fact of life and it happens to everybody on the site. So I decided to give the bidders a chance. I emailed the first guy, asking if he was on the level. He didn’t respond and his bid was cancelled. So he bid again. I emailed again, he didn’t respond again, his bid got cancelled again. He didn’t bid anymore after that.The second guy did respond, but took his sweet time.
4. Respond to any emails from the seller in a timely manner.
Okay, I know I’m in Tokyo and most people on Ebay are not. That tends to make for a bit of a time difference. I get that. What I don’t get is people who can’t respond to an email within 24 hours. That gives them a whole day/night cycle and plenty of time to dash off an email. Can’t find 5 minutes in your day to respond? Not my problem. But if you really want what’s up for sale, you’ll make the effort. Mr. Zero-feedback number 2 did not make the effort.
He didn’t even try.
5. Respond to any emails BEFORE THE AUCTION ENDS!!!
I shouldn’t have had to say that. Really, I shouldn’t. It’s so blindingly obvious that it pains me to write it. The second guy with no feedback mailed me back 7 hours after the auction ended. What am I supposed to do? Roll back the clock and let him get his bid in? Every auction listing tells you exactly when it’s going to end. When it’s down to less than 10 minutes it even tells you to the second how much time is left for you to bid. If you can’t tell time, and can’t grasp the concept of auctions having a set ending time you should not be on Ebay. Period.
I realize this entry may come off as overly harsh, but I think that tone is necessary to get through to some of the people on Ebay. That said, not all the bidders were dolts. I had some with good questions. The kind that should be asked when you’re bidding on an expensive item that’s on the other side of the world. I’m going to devote another advice post to the whole Ebay thing, but that one will be devoted to how to be a good shopper – not what to do (or not to do) if you’re a dumb one.
Ebay can be a great place to shop, and if you know what you’re doing, you can score some great deals. I’ll share a few tips and tricks in the next advice posting.