Auction Pet Peeves

Renny

I don't know if it's just me but I can't stand when sellers on ebay put set numbers in their item title when the item has no relation at all. I know they do it to pop up in more searches but I just think it's downright dirty. Sorry if this post doesn't belong in this category, I just needed to vent a bit :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-STAR-WARS-Onaconda-Farr-Separatist-8036-10188-10179-7965-Minifigure-Minifig-/251044485652?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a736ada14

starfire2

It irratates me as well, but I just skip past them.

Neopterygii

Does the minifig come in those sets?

Renny

Of the sets listed in that particular auction he only comes in 8036 - Separatist Shuttle. 10188 is the Death Star, 10179 is the UCS Falcon and 7965 is the new Falcon.

Neopterygii

You can file a report with ebay. Ive done it couple times, but never followed up to see if the auction is removed or modified. It is against there listing policies.

Redbullgivesuwind

What I hate is when some one has a reserve and you have to spent hours guessing what they have put. Often its not what the set is worth anyway

starfire2

I never bid if there is a reserve. I like it when they have a make me an offer button though.

gmpirate

I can choose not to do business with sellers or skip past their auctions otherwise.

I'm more annoyed with buyers who don't read auctions or let their kids bid. There's no choice, we have to deal with them. Right now I'm in the middle of it with a buyer for a multiple item auction. They purchased a quantity of one and are upset they only got one. They are fairly new so I explained they have to enter a greater amount to get more than one. I pointed out how the auction states the price of each item and also states the additional shipping for each additional item. Her response is only that she wants a refund, feels cheated, and does not want to leave negative feedback. Most likely her kid that she mentioned bid on it.

Redbullgivesuwind

^^I would do the same but at times they just dont list that there is one. Im bidding on a lego batmobile and keep having to try and second guess the reserve. Ive given up.

^I hate it when they buy something then never pay for it. If your gonna bid have the intention of paying for it at least.

andhe

I bought something, but now the seller is no longer registered :( They claimed to have posted it, before they 'disappeared'. Any likelihood I'll get a refund from ebay?

CCC

There should be a "reserve price not met" next to the price if there is a reserve.

Is there still a £50 minimum reserve for UK sellers? I've not used a reserve for years, so don't know any more.

You can always ask the seller what the reserve is. If they decline, don't bother bidding.

ktmo

It bugs me, too. I hate that when I search by a set number, I have to weed through all the auctions that don't really have anything to do with the set that I am looking for.

Redbullgivesuwind

^^yeah thats how I know there was a reserve. Yes I think there is but this is way over 50. They could have just put it in the description though and saved alot of bother.

Redbullgivesuwind

@andhe yes you should do if it doesnt turn up

joee

I dislike shill bidding. Where the seller has an item for sale then has another account with maybe 0-2 feedback. Once you have bid, the seller uses the 0-2 feedback account to put in multiple bids with amounts just higher than what the current price is. The seller does this to figure out your max, then wins his/her own auction doesn't pay but you received a "Second Chance offer" for the item which is at your highest price.

The_Brick_Builder

I especially hate when I'm searching for a specific official modular, and a ton of custom modular instructions pop up.

CCC

^^ Yeah, never accept a second chance offer.

cheshirecat

^ Or at the very least go through the bid history and work out what your bid would have been without the final bid(s) from the bidder that the seller has now admitted isn't buying. Then offer that amount.

tk79

@gmpirate is that from an auction for one minifig, but has a photo of an army? I could see that being causing a problem to a select few that don't bother to read anything.

CCC

^^ I have tried that before. Nowadays, I just don't bother. If the seller shilled, I make a note of their name and don't bother bidding with them again. For most sets there are enough sellers that you don't need to deal with the crooks.

Renny

What I hate is when some one has a reserve and you have to spent hours guessing what they have put. Often its not what the set is worth anyway

Similar to this is when the reserve price is set just below the Buy it Now price with a super low starting bid. Why bother, just make it a straight up fixed price auction then. Case in point, one auction I was involved in had a BIN of $2100. Starting bid $1. Reserve price? $2000.

Si_UKNZ

I can't stand when sellers on ebay put set numbers in their item title when the item has no relation at all.

@Renny, Just report them. This is known as 'keyword spamming' and will get their listing taken down. The ebay wording for it is "The listing has unrelated or excessive keywords that unfairly diverts attention to the listing."

Irrelevant set numbers, saying 'lego' when it's megablocks, just report them all.

- click 'report item' on the right hand side
- choose 'listing practises' -'search and browse manipulation' - 'keyword spamming'
- et voila!

I reported that one for you :)

gmpirate

@gmpirate is that from an auction for one minifig, but has a photo of an army? I could see that being causing a problem to a select few that don't bother to read anything.

Her bone of contention is actually the word "lot" in the title, although she will not respond as to what she was expecting. Her lack of response to anything I've said just says to me her kid bid on the auction (maybe because of the army pic) and is looking for an out.

Really, there's no way to avoid the hassles that incur when you break down sets. Theses auctions seem to attract for newbies to Ebay or people just not that familiar with Lego sets. People are really nasty with their emails. They don't understand the items are from sets parted out but rather think they are unique sets of their own.

Three negatives: 1 expected the whole set. 1 said I changed the words in the auction after I shipped. 1 because she didn't know how to check her EBay email for my response to a missing piece. At least this last one is supposed to be retracted.

Redbullgivesuwind

^but you cant change the wording after its been sold. As for not checking the emails she sounds like a moron. Just re list and take it on the chin otherwise as you argue with her you feel your IQ slipping away. What were you selling may I ask.

tk79

@gmpirate I hear you about parting out sets, I think it's inevitable to have the occasional misunderstanding from a buyer, guess it just comes with the territory.

starfire2

@gmpirate: I too have dealt with buyers blaming their kids for the winning bid/buy it now. They refuse to pay until Ebay gets involved. I NEVER let my kids have access to my Ebay account.

UKtsumi

I hate it when you accept a best offer within minutes of receiving it , then they take 4 or more days to pay! especially when its not for alot of money!

romdam

I hate when people pull minifigs from lots and list them seperatly. I know minifigs have a premium and all but it sucks for the buyer who wants certains with sets and then make them try to win 2 auctions.

Also, all the lots that say "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter" in the title when it is just a bulk lot of bricks. Hard to look thru everything when people just put that in the titles to get more looks.

gmpirate

I hate when people pull minifigs from lots and list them seperatly. I know minifigs have a premium and all but it sucks for the buyer who wants certains with sets and then make them try to win 2 auctions.

huh?

atkinsar

Years ago I sold a PC version of GTA Vice City on eBay and shipped it to the guy. He then contacted me via eBay to say that I had sent him the game guide to Vice City rather than the actual game. Since I'd never owned the game guide this couldn't be true, which I explained in a reply. He replied again to say that it was definitely the game guide because it only contained a booklet and no disc. In another reply I stated that the disc was in there and had he actually fully opened up the case to check! Again he came back and said nope, it's not in there. I knew it was in there so I trawled google for an image of the case opened up showing the location of the disc and sent that to them. He replied to say he now had the disc, didn't bother to thank me or apologise for wasting my time.

Moral of this story? The world is full of idiots, and eBay attracts more than its fair share.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

My pet peeve is sellers who put an unrealistic price on an item, a price they don't expect to sell the item at, but as though to say "Look what I have", or that they were totally inebriated when they posted it. A good example a while back was $1,500. USD for a duplo bucket which was still available in stores.

It seems that the purpose of an auction is to get the best price the market will bear for the item, not to have listings that will not sell.

romdam

I hate when people pull minifigs from lots and list them seperatly. I know minifigs have a premium and all but it sucks for the buyer who wants certains with sets and then make them try to win 2 auctions.

huh?

What is there to not get? I thought this is for "pet peeves of auctions"? I'll break it down better to understand I guess:

1. I go on ebay and find a lot that has good sets in it I want.
2. The description states there are no figures in the lot.
3. You look and find out he has them listed in a seperate auction.
4. Now, instead of trying to win one auction, I now have to win two to have the complete sets.

Thus, this is my pet peeve. Let me know and I can explain more if need be.

Redbullgivesuwind

^Gmpirate was complaining about people who dont read auctions as he parts out sets and then sells the figures. So it looks like your attacking him for doing it. Which is not true its just your pet peeve. Thats what the 'huh?' is for.

gmpirate

^ No, I didn't take it as an attack -- just looked at the post as a little odd. It's just me I know, but my first thought is to buy the set from someone else then. Their auction has no effect on you otherwise. The theme in this thread has been annoyances on Ebay that are mostly unavoidable -- unrelated search terms causing havoc and difficult buyers, etc. No biggie :P

Redbullgivesuwind

^lol I just sensed trouble. Good to know it was seen as unclear.

I do know what he means though can be annoying but you do just buy from someone else.

dougts

I sell minifigs alone all the time. the market is there, and people pay stupid prices for them. If a seller can make more selling the minifigs and sets separately than they can by selling them together, don't blame the seller. Just move on to a complete set auction, or buy elsewhere.

The bigger problem is that Ebay doesn't have a way to distinguish between new/sealed/complete, and new/incomplete. It's simply "new" or "used". And their definition of new is sealed and undamaged. I guess technically people should be listing minifigs as "used" since they are not sealed, but of course this isn't accurate either.

starfire2

^ I do the opposite. I keep the minifigures but sell the ship/ vehicle.

Redbullgivesuwind

^There is nothing wrong with selling the figures its great for army builders like me. I can buy tones of soldiers and troops without paying silly money for sets.
I was trying to be diplomatic :-).

I do agree the problem is with ebay. It needs to allow much more description with the set. Also needs to work more to stop pepple taking the mick with some sets. And ban people who put rare in the title. A han solo figure is not rare

starfire2

How about the people who sell a "Star Wars Figure Rare Hard to find" but it has Han Solo's pants, Indiana Jones' Torso, and Count Dooku's hair.

dougts

^ LOL

well, I guess that would be rare...

Redbullgivesuwind

or people who sell a "rare limted star wars part" and it turns out to be 2x6's

Si_UKNZ

My number 1 peeve on ebay ...

"100% complete"
And then it arrives and there are bits missing, bits broken, and megabloks used to replace bits everywhere. Just had one of these, with all 3 offences in 1 set. Aaargh!

oldtodd33

All good pet peeves most of which I agree with. How about when someone lists an auction with sets you are interested in but all of the pictures are so blurry you can't tell what they are selling.

madforLEGO

I dislike shill bidding. Where the seller has an item for sale then has another account with maybe 0-2 feedback. Once you have bid, the seller uses the 0-2 feedback account to put in multiple bids with amounts just higher than what the current price is. The seller does this to figure out your max, then wins his/her own auction doesn't pay but you received a "Second Chance offer" for the item which is at your highest price.

True, stuff like that just encourages sniping.

Also in regards to people listing a set to get more attn, unless the figure or part comes with the set they should not be doing this per eBay policies.
That said I have yet to see eBay do ANYTHING to stop this despite people reporting it.
This shows up in their report an item function on their site and I strongly encourage people to do this, especially with those trying to sell instructions to MOCs and listing all the set numbers of the Mods.

Istokg

The most absurd price I've ever seen for a LEGO set on Ebay is $7,200. It was for a USA Samsonite #704 Master Discovery Set of 1966. He had a MISB example of this set, and went to the silly trouble of having it "encapsulated" in hard plastic (like rare coins often are). He said it was the highest rated example of that set in the encapsulation service... none rated higher.

As a coin collector, I know that the encapsulation/grading services provided by several companies in the USA does a decent job of grading a lot of coins. But when you have the only encapsulated set... then saying it's "the highest graded one"... is meaningless. And besides, it would probably be expensive having a boxed set encapsulated.

And then to have the nerve of asking $7200 for it... crazy! It may fetch $500-$700 tops.

mcvitie

People who are too lazy to take their own photo and basically just rip yours off get right on my nerves!

madforLEGO

People who are too lazy to take their own photo and basically just rip yours off get right on my nerves!

Been there too, quite recently actually.. and Apparently eBay does nothing when you report that either.

I think that is more distressing.. knowing that even when you report a rules violation that you can still see auctions listed....

Odindusk

auction title: "[insert set here] - NEW"

description: "Set has only been built once..."

TheBrickLadd

I hate it when you accept a best offer within minutes of receiving it , then they take 4 or more days to pay! especially when its not for alot of money!

+1

Thezoofox

^^absolutely drives me mad!

Renny

I unfortunately have a new one to add. The seller sending the item to the wrong place. This just happened to me for the 2nd time. I won a msib 10129 SnowSpeeder at a decent price ~$775 (compared to the $1000+ auctions out there) but it seems the seller sent it to another address, most likely another buyer whose auction ended at the same time. Last time this happened I just asked for a full refund back and sent the wrong item back at the seller's expense. I will most likely do the same thing this time as who knows what shady things could have happened to it (sealing, resealing, etc).

Honestly, how hard is it to get your shipping labels correct? If you can't handle shipping a certain number of items out at one time then don't put them all up for auction at the same time. And with such an expense set as well, you would think the seller would be extra careful, I know I would be. *Sigh* So tired of it.