Awkward eBay sellers

[CX23882-19]

I get the impression from some of these people that they don't want you to buy their stuff. Either that, or they're covering up defects in what they're selling by giving vague answers.

Case in point, I'm trying to find a particular laptop model, but I know of issues that can affect this model such as pressure marks on the screen from the pointing stick/keyboard and ugly wear on the rubberised lid coating, neither of which I want.

So, I e-mailed a few eBay sellers asking them if their laptop had these flaws, and the most worthless impolite response I received was:

read the advert nad look a t the photos. this is a used laptop

The time it took to write that could have been spent answering my question. He didn't bother to address my question of whether there are any stability issues with it either.

It's very easy to photograph something to not show flaws such as screen marks and best of all is that there aren't any photos of the top of the laptop. It could be covered in scratches for all I know. I've been burned before by people who claim that something can be seen in the photos when you can't unless you save the image and tweak the brightness etc and look extremely carefully.

[pauldarkside]

If you don't like the service, shop elsewhere...

[Lanky123]

If it was free from the defects you mentioned do you really think he would hesitate to say so. I think he probably did answer your question.

As stated above, shop somewhere else if you aren't prepared to deal with some idiots from time to time.

[Zak33]

I get the impression from some of these people that they don't want you to buy their stuff. Either that, or they're covering up defects in what they're selling by giving vague answers.

Case in point, I'm trying to find a particular laptop model, but I know of issues that can affect this model such as pressure marks on the screen from the pointing stick/keyboard and ugly wear on the rubberised lid coating, neither of which I want.

So, I e-mailed a few eBay sellers asking them if their laptop had these flaws, and the most worthless impolite response I received was:

The time it took to write that could have been spent answering my question. He didn't bother to address my question of whether there are any stability issues with it either.

It's very easy to photograph something to not show flaws such as screen marks and best of all is that there aren't any photos of the top of the laptop. It could be covered in scratches for all I know. I've been burned before by people who claim that something can be seen in the photos when you can't unless you save the image and tweak the brightness etc and look extremely carefully.

I have to say, as a SELLER more than a buyer, I too am very careful about answering questions BECAUSE buyers have very high expectations, and because they can trash your postive feedback for absolutely no reason. I agree the bloke isn't answering your questions.. and to me that means he's worried to sell it to you incase you expect more than he's delivering. Therefore, don't bid on it.

Case in point. Sair lists a kids trampoline on ebay. We include full details of max age and weight it'll hold, from literature supplied with it.

Potential buyer sends message "can it hold the weight of an adult?"

We reply "Please read listing. It's a childs trampoline"

Potential buyer replies "But I want to stand on it with my little girl, can you please tell me if it would be ok for a small adult to just stand on it, surely if a child can jump on it, an adult could just stand on it?"

We reply "Please read listing, all correct specs are in the listing, it's a childs trampoline, so not for adults"

Potential buyer replies again "Would you please stand on it, and take a photo so I can judge for myself if it would be suitable to stand on?"

We ignore and don't reply. Maybe you'd consider that rude. I consider it prudent to ignore buyers like this.

She asks same again... can WE stand on it and take photo.

We ignore again, and so NOW we have to MAKE SURE she doesn't bid on it, and if she does, cancel the bids, because IF she wins it, and stands on it, we're gonna get negative feedback, cos it WILL break.

So for me, that's the other side of the story. In my opinion, sellers not beig able to leave negative is the worst thing ebay have done other than demand paypal as a payment form.

[CX23882-19]

Thanks for the replies. I already ruled out this particular item because of the way that the seller stepped around answering my questions. The laptop does actually look to have been well looked after in the photographs, but I don't want to trust photos because they don't always show everything.

As a seller also, I was disappointed that eBay removed the ability to give negative feedback to bad buyers. Despite claims to the contrary, it IS possible for somebody to be a bad buyer, and the need to give negative feedback to a buyer extends further than tit-for-tat negatives.

[piggin23]

I agree that you have to be careful in answering questions but honesty has always been the best policy.
When I list something I give all the facts and let the purchaser decided if they want to bid.

As for the "nad" comment I would not purchase from this seller under principle.