Totally new concept; helping Ebay buyers.

[Virginian]

I responded to that other thread, but it's so long...
Anyway, if you are dying to help someone, why not email potential buyers and tell them when something in a description is wrong or whatever? I am not talking about advising them on pricing as that I believe is a no-no according to eBay. Am I the only one not rooting for the seller's here?
And, if eBay says it's okay to email sellers but not buyers, it's because they ARE rooting for the sellers because then they get a bigger cut.
Before anyone gets too offended breathing the rare air up there, ask yourself this: If you saw a "Buy it Now" listing for the one loco you really want for like $20, are you going to email the seller or buy it as fast as your fingers can type?

[cacole]

I don't know how you propose to conctact the buyers, since most of them are not identified on e-Bay as near as I know.

A recurring problem I have noticed on e-Bay are the sellers who don't even know how to post items in the proper location according to scale. I peruse the G scale area quite frequently, and have seen a lot of HO and N scale items posted there.

Sometimes that's to my advantage, because I might be the only bidder.

[davekelly]

I wouldn't. One, it is easy to contact the seller - there's a question link right there on the listing page. A little more work in contacting buyers. Also, I am assuming that the seller has made a mistake. Knowingly putting up false info on an item is against ebay policy. I also don't want to write 10 buyers and have all ten of them say "I know - that's why I'm bidding on the thing" or have them think you are a shill.

I'm not rooting for the seller here. If a guy lists a Kato SD40 and it is obviously an IHC SD40 - how is it rooting for the seller if I give the seller a heads up? If he changes his listing to an IHC model - he's just lost a bunch of money. Seems like I'm rooting for the buyer here. OK - there is a point that I'm helping the seller possibly avoid a fraud issue, so in a way it's rooting for the seller I guess.

Ebay wants a bigger cut? Go figure - a company wanting to increase profits. I don't think just emailing sellers gets ebay a bigger cut. If a guy lists a IHC SD40, but I know it's a Kato - wouldn't the selling price possibly increase if I email all the buyers and tell them that the engine currently sitting at $15.00 is really worth $80 or more? (Of course in doing this I run the risk of these buyers reporting me to ebay as a possible shill - I'm not losing my membership over that). Emailing sellers in this instance would increase the bidding price thus giving ebay a bigger cut. Runs both ways.

Another possible problem. Guy's got a Kato SD40 listed - he mistakenly posts a pic of a Model Power engine. You email all the buyers and inform them that the item is a Model Power engine and no one bids on it or they retract their bids. You've just interferred with the sale. If you contact the seller and say "I think the loco pictured is a Model Power unit" he can either blow you off - which puts everyone in the exact same boat as they were previosly - or the guy posts the correct picture.

Seems to me as a member you run less risk of violating the rules by contacting the seller.

[RedGrey62]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this discussion. There are two points of view concerning eBay, Buyers and Sellers, I am both, but more of a seller right now. Buyers are looking for either a good deal or an item they cannot find at their LHS, if they're very lucky, they get both. Sellers are either looking to make money or get rid of something and maybe make a little something off of it.

If the seller if professional, that is they work in retailing (online or storefront) then they know there are costs to conducting business. They pay X for the item wholesale, make the mark up, and hopefully sell it so they make a profit. The cost to list and hopefully sell the item in both time and money is guaranteed for eBay (insertion fees and final fees if it sells). Remember, eBay gets paid whether the item sells or not so you have to figure X amount of items will not sell. If the buyer uses PayPal, those costs are guaranteed for them as well. People gripe about shipping and handling, but the key word is handling. It may only cost me 3.85 to ship an item, but I had to take time to box it up (which may invlove driving to find proper boxes and packing materials), and drive to the post office/shipping center. If the seller has a true storefont and using eBay as another avenue then you have to figure rent, insurance, utilities, etc in the cost of that item. So, what does the seller have to do to sell the item to get at least something back.

eBay says start at a lower starting bid, which I can tell you will have to be lower than what the seller paid for the item wholesale in most cases. Then he has to contend with the "snipers" because everyone knows that trick now. Unfortunately the bidders never start early enough for the price to go up before it ends. Personally, I'd like eBay to automatically add 30 minutes to any auction that gets 2 or more bids in the last 5 minutes to discourage this practice.

Now as you can proabably surmise, I am talking about honest sellers. We keep talking about supporting your LHS, many of the sellers on eBay are somebody's LHS! Again, as I said on another post, they may have something that is not selling regionally or they bought too many. Believe it or not, wholesalers demand minimum orders so if an owner of a LHS wants to guarantee receipt of a limited run item, Walthers, Horizon, and the manufacturers will demand that so many are ordered even if the owner knows he cannot sell them all locally.

Again, eBay has given collectors in all hobbies the chance to get items that may not be available in their local area or sold out in that area. I live in Kentucky but I model the CB&Q. The closest hobby shop (Nashville) does not carry my RR and I cannot blame them. I use LHS from my home town when I am there, other mail order shops I trust, and eBay.

Now don't get me wrong, I like deals too but I am prepared to pay the fair market value, especially now that I've lived the American dream of owning my own business (and subsiquently going out of business). The cost of doing business on eBay is high for the sellers and there are just too many buyers not willing to pay that fair market value.

If the seller is obviously trying to put one over or trying to hype an item that doesn't deserve it, don't bid. But don't hold that against all eBay sellers, most are honest and they are providing a service. eBay is a relatively cheap way to have an online presence that virtually guarantees that people will at least look at your merchandise.

By the way, I just had 7 items end, 4 sold, total income after eBay and PayPal fees equaled what one of the items would have brought in at the store. The total I got for the 4 came to 35 (minus fees for the 7 listed), regular price would have brought 120. So yes I am ranting a bit even though I am prepared for take that kind of loss. [banghead] [:)]

Rick

[dwRavenstar]

A fool and his money............................

Ebay sellers have a responsibility to properly describe the products they offer and to deal honestly when the question of "handling" is answered.

It's a marketplace, they provide the supply in the hopes of discovering demand.

Knowledgable buyers will do the required research and make intelligent decisions when bidding time arrives. Those less savy will hopefully learn from their mistakes and become stronger as a result.

If you wouldn't approach a complete stranger at the local market with information regarding lower prices at a competitor's outlet or comment on the "bargain" they are considering you have no business even considering the concept of writting to an Ebay bidder with like information.

This whole sniper thing is a crock. If you can't be online at the end of the auction place your highest acceptable bid and hope for the best. If that option holds no appeal (they'll see my bid and try to max me out whaaaaaaaa) you've come to understand why folks wait till near the closing bell before they enter their own "best" bid. If you really, really, really HAVE to own that special boxcar or flatcar bid $1K and rest assured that it will be yours. Value is in the eye of the beholder or the wanna holder whichever you choose. Bid what you want to spend and pay as much or as little attention to other buyers as you pay to the members of your home community when you pass them in the aisles at the local market.

BTW I've made over 125 Ebay purchases, finding both extreme bargains and fair enough prices in my travels, only suffering twice when the items were less than described. Maybe along the way I'd learned how to spot the lemons amongst the oranges.

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Anonymous]

I've been known to write sellers and point out mistakes they've made in their listings. I've also written high bidders and warned them that they were about to get a royal screwing if they won an item whether ebay liked it or not and will continue to do so if I feel someone is about to be done wrong...

trainluver1

[Virginian]

If you click on the "bids" icon it lists the high bidder(s). You can click on their names and email them. I beat a guy for an item and then found I had bought a duplicate road number. Totally my screw up. I emailed him and told him to be on the lookout as I was going to relist it. He thanked me.
My point is that if a seller doesn't list an item as well as they could (as in cacole's G scale example) I may spot a bargain because I did the searching to find it, but if someone points it out to the seller, then there goes that bargain. I have gotten several this way (I didn't 'steal' anything). The ability to find potential bargains has decreased as more and more helpful people have emailed the sellers. For instance, a seller listed a Proto Y-5. It was a Y-3. They didn't list the wheel arrangement, or a road name, as it was undecorated. Just before the auction ended at about 4 AM East Coast time, someone emailed a comment listing all the omissions, and the seller put it up on the listing. If the comment had been posted earlier I am sure someone would have bid it up for a lot more than I got it for. Did I feel guilty? No. If someone chooses to be careless with their money (and that is not a cheap engine), then who am I to mind their business. Maybe they are so loaded they just don't care to put in any effort.
I have been primarily a buyer, but when I do sell something, I do my homework and I do as meticulous a job as I can describing the item and include good pictures. I am right up front with the total shipping and handling costs and I don't try to pad my profit (if any) on a handling fee. I have no sympathy for someone who does less. I have nothing against the sellers who do a good job listing and get a fair return on their investment.
When a third party intervenes, they potentially tip the scales in the sellers' favor because then they can decide whether to make a change in the listing or description or list the comment. I only email questions (such as a road numbers ?) on items I am bidding on, and I weigh what I am doing against how it might affect the bidding.
I would wi***hat if someone is not bidding, they would just stay out of it all together.

[sebamat]

E-bay is like a flea market (or buying used cars): you have to know quite well what things are, are worth and what for most probable flaws can have and check that out. And like at flea market, I do not stroll the aisles correcting all the wrongly priced or mistakenly labelled items. If you want security/do not know out go to the local specialised shop.

I use ebay for 'hard to find' items (Illinois Central is not really popular in Switzerland) and after several years I would say I got a few nice are items (customised, special runs, out of production etc), but rarely if ever a real bargain (even before H&S, what in my case is >15$). But that is fine for me.

And more specialised are yours wishes, more easily you end up buying from specialists, who say clearly what things are, with flaws, advantages et all.

A 'found it in the cellar' introduction make me mostly more suspicious as to start hoping for the 'big bargain' (as the price most commonly are on the high part).
I saw more than once mistakes, but as there were quite apparent for someone who took the pain to open a 'walthers catalog' for a short check, I never felt the urge to write a suggestion for corrections. And the prices mostly were not far from realistic ones, meaning that buyers knew what they were looking at.

Only once I wrote a critical question, when I saw an offer for an 'engine builder plate ' of an engines's serie were all units were still in use.
Clearly no answer, and I do not remember if the offer then disapeared .... Possibly I shoud have told it to ebay or the involved railroad, but I didn'... too lazy? Unpatriotic? Or just having my life?

sebastiano

[Anonymous]

I kinda keep to myself as a buyer. I intent to snipe that item at the last 20 seconds, I expect other buyers to try and compete.

As a seller I field questions from time to time no matter how trivial or dumb. By taking care of potential buyers I think they may consider business in future.

Now, I have had items won in the past where other buyers are indeed after it. Once or twice have gotten a "Angry-gram" demanding to know who I am and how much money etc etc... Those get straight to the delete bin.

Far as I know auction won fair and square.

[davekelly]

Just an additional thought. Virginian - I'm sure you do your homework and are knowledgeable. I expect the same from the various Hobby Shops that list on ebay (ie: Dans, Klein etc). But what of the person that is selling some pieces left over from a deceased relative? I've seen some sellers that if you check their feedback have sold hundreds of articles of clothing but have 2 train items listed. Yes, I guess we can say that seller should have done his/her homework - but what if the person got bad advise from a "knowledgeable" person? What of the buyer that pays for an item (the description looked good and the picture looked like what was described) and doesn't get what was described? Yeah I know there is some remedy - bad feedback, arbitration, court case etc - but let's be real here - it ain't worth it for a $100 engine.

In any event - I think one needs to look at the consequences of one's actions. Is the action harmful/beneficial to the seller? Is the action harmful/beneficial to the buyer? Of course the question is also what is considered harmful or benficial? What if the info you send either the buyer or seller is wrong?

Scenario - Guy has listed a "Kato SD40" but the picture looks to be an IHC model. You email the seller and say "I think that model is a IHC." The seller has the model in front of him, sees that you are correct and changes his listing. Has the buyer been helped? Knowledgeable buyers have not been affected - they know what the item is and have bidded accordingly. How about the non knowledgeable buyer? The newbie who read on this forum that Kato's are great. He then sees the correction and doesn't bid on it. In this case the buyer has been helped. In a way the seller has been helped also as he has now accurately listed his item. What if he sees you are right and doesn't change the listing. Nothing has changed because of your action. Non knowledgeable buyers still run the risk of paying more than something is worth - but they were going to do that anyways before you emailed the seller. It should be noted, however, that the seller is responsible for his listing (whether it is ebay or a brick and mortor store) and does run the risk of being liable for misrepresentation - either intentionally or negligently. In this scenario emailing the seller does not result in just the seller being helped. What if you are wrong and it actually is a Kato? If the seller changes the listing based on your email he loses and some buyer picks up a great bargain. I'm not concerned about this as the seller is still resopnsible for the accuracy of the listing and he's got the model in front of him to check the info in the email. If the seller realizes you are wrong and doesn't change the listing then nothing changes.

How about they guy has listed "IHC SD40" but the picture is of a Kato. I'm pretty sure this is the scenario you are thinking of Virginian. You see the listing - know its a Kato and bid $30.00. No one else bids because they've read here that IHC diesels are junk and you get quite the bargain. I agree that if someone emails the seller and says "I think the thing is a Kato" he may correct his listing bringing in more bidders thus erasing your bargain and increasing his revenue. In such a case arguably the buyer has been hurt. But what of the bidders that wanted a Kato SD40 but didn't see one in their search? Arguably they have been helped by the corrected listing. Of course they won't get the bargain and may have to pay fair market value - but then paying a fair price is not harm - just not a great bargain.

Of course what happens if you email the buyer? Let's say you tell the buyer that what is up for auction is worth much more than what the seller thinks (seller lists a IHC SD40, but the pics looks to be a Kato). If you are correct - then the buyer might get a bargain. If you are wrong - you've harmed the buyer if he bases he bids on what you've told him. You also run the risk of being accused of being a shill. You definately didn't help the buyer here. What if you tell the buyer that what is actually listed is not as valuable as the seller is describing? ie: seller has listed a Kato SD40, but the pic looks to be an IHC). If you are right then you've helped out the buyer by giving him accurate information. What if you are wrong? You've harmed the seller by possibly affecting his ability to get fair market value for it. You've also harmed the buyer because he may change his mind and not bid on it even though it is exactly what he wanted. Remember the buyer doesn't have the model in front of him to see. You've also arguably committed a tort - tortious interference with contract. Probably not a big deal if MRR equipment - but could be if it were a car or some such thing.

Final Comment. If a seller lists the shipping and handling - what's the big deal over how much it is? If a guy has a Kato SD40 listed and his listing says that shipping and handling are $50.00 why do people think it's a bad thing to bid on? What if the winning bid is like $10.00? Why is $40.00 price and $5.00 shipping more of a good deal than a $5.00 price and $40.00 shipping? I think it is obvious that it's a bad deal for a buyer to bid $10.00 for a piece of Atlas flex track when the shipping price is listed at $30.00. (Of course if a person doesn't list shipping or have one of those calculators you don't know what the shipping price will be and probably should avoid it).

[CraigN]

Has anyone gone to a real auction? One with an auctioneer? There is usually a veiwing period right? ( That is what the Ebay service is and that's what pictures on Ebay are for )

You bid on what you want and what you don't want you don't bid on right? ( at least that's what I do)

The guy that is willing to pay the most wins right? ( I have won some and lost some )

Do you go to auctions to tell the seller or auctioneer about possible mistakes? Or do go because you hope to get a deal? ( That's what auctions are for, I go to get a deal otherwise I would go to a store and but new )

Is it anybodys business to help the seller out? ( NO )

Is it anybodys business to help potential buyers out? ( no, only the sellers )

If I'm not sure about an item I am thinking of bidding on, do I have a chance to ask the seller some questions? (Yes, unless I wait untill the last day of the auction )

If I win something, and pay more than if I went to a store, is it my own fault? (YES)

Does Ebay have policies in place to protect the buyers in case of fraud? (YES)

If you don't plan on bidding on an auction, is it any of your business what happens with it then? (NO)

Sometimes, people need to just mind their own business right? ( yes, unless someone asks for help then it's different because the person asking is trying to make it your business)

Will I ever help someone that asks for it? ( usually, If I can )


Will me listing these facts upset some people? (YES- sorry folks)

[davekelly]

Craig,

You are right in all of your points. Yes, there is no reason in the world to help anyone that doesn't ask. But I guess I figure that if I can help someone more correctly list an item which may help out seller and buyer both than I will. Yes, ebay has things in place to take care of fraud - sometimes what appears to be fraud is a mistake. Why burden ebay with all these things which could raise the percent that ebay charges sellers and transitively affect what a buyer pays for an item?

Is it possible that because something is mislisted that you sometimes miss a "good deal" on ebay?

While I'm not asked - sometimes I point out potentially hazardous situations in stores that I visit. Is it my business? No. In fact I might lose business when someone doesn't get injured and then hire me to sue the store owner. But then, I figure if I help someone out instead of taking an every man for himself attitude it makes for a nicer world.

[CraigN]

Dave, you can't compare apples to oranges. A hazardous situation in a store is alot different than sticking your nose in on an auction on Ebay.

Now these next questions I ask are to everyone that likes to be nosey on Ebay Auctions:


When you trade your car in for a new one, do you make sure you tell the salesman everything that's wrong with your trade-in? I'll bet most of you don't! I'll bet you want as much as you can get for it .

After you trade in your car, do you call up prospective buyers and tell them what's wrong with your car? Again, I'll bet most of you don't! Why would you, it's not yours anymore.

After your car gets sold, do you call the new owner and tell him what's wrong with your car? And again, I'll bet most of you don't. Your driving a new car and that's all you wanted. That's why you dumped the other one in the 1st place right?

Now, if I am correct with my answers to my last 3 questions, then please explain to me why? If you are indeed wanting to be nice and freindly, why aren't you when it comes to high ticket items? You could save people alot more money that way right?


Now I'm sure that if the new owner called YOU, you would then help him out, but that is different.

[davekelly]

Craig,

Yup, you're right about a hazardous situation and ebay. But where do you draw the line? At what point does offering help become nosey? There are some folks that think my example of pointing out a hazardous situation is being nosey - after all that's why they have building codes, insurance inspectors etc. And if someone gets hurt there are already mechanisms in place to resolve the problem.

Apples and oranges? I hardly think an automobile is the same type of apple as a model locomotive but then they are both goods, so perhaps they are.

How about this? You're in the LHS and see an older couple looking and overhear one say that her grandson likes trains and "its HO or something like that." Later you see her pick out a N scale engine that "looks cute." I probably would say "excuse me, I overheard you say your grandson likes HO, those are the HO models over there." Yup the hobby shop probably has a return policy - but wouldn't it be nicer avoid the kid being somewhat disappointed, grandma having to return the engine and the LHS owner handling the return/exchange? I would not, however, suggest that she go to some internet site or ebay to make her purchase. In my mind to do so would be interferring with the transaction.

Perhaps we are talking about different things. I would never email a seller/buyer on ebay and point out what is wrong with something or what the value is etc etc. There is no way to tell by looking at a picture the exact condition of something. Nor is it my place to put a value on something (one man's garbabe is another man's treasure). I also would not definatively identify anything as again, I don't have the model in front of me, some pictures are not all that clear nor do I know every single item that has ever hit the market (I just learned a few months ago that apparently Athearn at one time did make a GP 30 - didn't know that). This is why if I decided to write someone I would make the message short and something along the lines of "I think the model you have pictured is an Atlas/HO Scale/etc.

We all have a line somewhere to determine when we get involved in a situation and when we don't. In my opinion neither you nor I are right or wrong. We just have our own preferences on when to act and when not to act - most likely formed from our own life experiences.

Dave

P.S. Just a thought. If the new owner of the car calls you and asks for help be wary. If he has discovered something wrong with the car and has the belief that the dealer was "hiding it" he may also draw the conclusion that you were "hiding it" from the dealer when you sold it. Although the chances of you being liable are slim, there is the possibility that you could find yourself dragged into a lawsuit (most likely under some sort of failure to disclose or misrepresentation cause of action)- which although you will most likely be successful - could end up costing some coin to defend. Even if not made a party you could end up being called as a witness if what you tell him doesn't jive with what the dealer told him about the car or if he gets upset about the deal and decides that you can help him get the dealer. Missing a day of work for a deposition stinks. Depending on the state you may get paid $40 or $50 dollars for your time.

[davekelly]

Craig,

I've thought about your car analogy to ebay and it is quite interesting. You suggest that we don't tell everything that is wrong with a car on trade in so that we can get the most money. Would we really? If we don't say a word do we run the risk of the dealer assuming that more is wrong with the car that is being told him and thus being offered a lower price?
In reading the many ebay topics here there seems to be folks that believe if a used item is not accompanied by anything other than "SD40 - used" one should stay clear of it. Of course if we say it is in great shape and it isn't - then we'll have to lie. Would it be OK for a ebay seller to truthfully say "Kato SD 40, only taken out of the box to test run" and fail to say that during this test run he bashed into a box car and broke the coupler and while putting it back in the box he broke the handrail? I dare say everyone here would leave negative feedback - but if he sees it as a "little thing" is that any different than the car analogy? After all he is trying to get as much as he can from it and you do have the opportunity to look at his picture (engine in box, broke railing on other side. Of course this is off the topic as a third party would not be able to tell and contact either seller or buyer. The question is should a third party give a heads up to a seller is he knows the listing is incorrect.

There is something to be said about caveat emptor and all that, but is it best? What if you and the family decide that to get a travel trailer would be a great way to vacation. In looking for a truck to tow the thing with you know if has to be able to pull, let's say 12000 lbs. You find a truck and the paper says the dealer put in the 15000 tow package. Perfect! You buy the truck and on your first trip the tranny self destructs because the service guys forgot to put the extra cooler in. Yup- you can sue the dealer, but the vacation is ruined and you have to spend a bunch of time to sue him. What if a guy the day before you bought the truck was looking in the engine compartment and noticed that the cooling devise needed to tow 15000 lbs was not installed and just casually mentioned it to the dealer giving the dealer the opportunity to either install the thing or document it correctly thus saving you from the ruined vacation. Wouldn't that be nice? Or is it not the other guys business?

[Anonymous]

Who appoints anyone the "eBay Police"?

I say MYOB!

Bob Boudreau

[davekelly]

Bob,

No one is appointing anyone the ebay police - there is no power to enforce the rules nor punish offenders. I do respect your opinion, but I'll have to disagree.

I guess it's my nature but I pretty much will continue to not mind my own business and:
1) open the door for elderly folks with lots of packages at the mall. Even though that person should know better than to carry that much I figure that if it saves an accident perhaps it in a small way helps keep the mall's insurance from rising too much thus perhaps keeping my cost of shopping constrained;
2) tell a person when he doesn't have enough room to parallel park. Even though if he dings a car he'll be liable, not me, my thought is that it will save two people some grief and perhaps keep my car insurance rate from increasing as much - not to say maybe help reduce the backlog in the court system that we all pay for through taxes.
3) blink my lights at a car at night running without headlights on - perhaps avoiding him dinging someone else's car - same reason as above
4) give a call to the AG office when I see a deceptive trade practice. Perhaps if the AG informs the retailer it can be fixed before lot's of people get taken and a large civil suit is filed thus further backlogging the courts and increasing my taxes. If the guy is fraudulent maybe it will save future customers some grief and help honest retailers get business. If it is an honest mistake perhaps he'll fix up is advertising and we'll get a good retailer in town
5) on and on

While none of the above are technically my business - I consider it helping.

In any event - I do look forward to your posts - keep 'em coming. Moreover, I really do enjoy your pics - you're definately a modeler of the highest caliber!

Dave

[Virginian]

Dave, I think you are an absolute master of inductive reasoning.

[CraigN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Craig,


Perhaps we are talking about different things. I would never email a seller/buyer on ebay and point out what is wrong with something or what the value is etc etc. There is no way to tell by looking at a picture the exact condition of something. Nor is it my place to put a value on something (one man's garbabe is another man's treasure). I also would not definatively identify anything as again, I don't have the model in front of me, some pictures are not all that clear nor do I know every single item that has ever hit the market

Dave, Isn't this what the topic is about?

I guess being a lawyer, you are trained to argue both sides?

You are arguing with me but you are agreeing with me!



If you really want to make the world a better place- put your energy into keeping criminals off the streets. Make jail a punishment for criminal activity and not an apartment with free cable and free college educations and conjugal visits. Make them NOT want to go back!!

Let Ebay police itself.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Bob,

No one is appointing anyone the ebay police - there is no power to enforce the rules nor punish offenders. I do respect your opinion, but I'll have to disagree.
While none of the above are technically my business - I consider it helping.
Dave

Dave:

All of the decent things you've listed are in no way related to interfering with eBay auctions. They are not the same at all, in any way, shape or form. I do know that eBay has rules re interfering with auctions, and can ban those who do, no matter what their intentions are. All it takes is one seller reporting your actions and they will drop on you.

If someone ASKS for your or anyone else's help, that is fine. But to go out of your way to point something out in an auction is none of your business unless you are the seller or buyer.

I very rarely check eBay myself, but do recall chuckling at some of the ridiculous descriptions on some items. Obviously posted by someone who does not know about model railroading. But I look at it as their business, not mine. If their incorrect description results in a knowing modeler getting a better deal, then that is good for the buyer. I think there were 60-70,000 items in model railroading; are you going to check them all? [:D]

Have fun at policing eBay!

Bob Boudreau

[davekelly]

Virginian,

Thank you, I think. Most people would say I run at the mouth. My wife would say I have too much time to think about silly things since I've been unemployed.

Dave

P.S. Check out the restocking fee thread - I'll think you'll find that we are in total agreement on that one!

[davekelly]

Bob,

Yup, I've been trained to argue both sides - both as a lawyer and as a military officer - it helps prevent surprise lol. But in a way I do agree and disagree with you - it's that aweful fuzzy gray area that I always live in lol.

The first post was about contacting buyers. I would never do that as it can be seen as interferring with a transaction whether or not it actually does. I do not check out all the listings on ebay, but if in my searches I see something I sometimes, but not always just write a little "I think the model you have pictured is N Scale, but I may be wrong." I don't think I would be dropped from ebay for this as it is not interferring in any way because the seller has the ability to check as he has the product right there. Yes, I agree with you when a product is totally mislisted by an unknowledgeable seller a buyer could get a good deal. The knowledge modeler knows what he/she is looking at regardless of the description. What of the newbie model railroader? The jist of the first post was that emailing sellers doesn't help the buyers - I think it can.

As to making the world a better place - I spent six months getting criminals off the streets in Mogadishu and in my previous employment helped recover upwards of $50 million on behalf of a federal agency from insider folks that embezzled or defrauded banks. But then - lot's of what we were able to piece together came from folks that were not involved in the matter at all. We would have lost the ability to recover several million but for a woman who called us and said she thought her neighbor was packing to leave the country. Yes, not in the same league as ebay - but she could have said "it's none of my business." lol I also am currently seeking employ at our county district attorneys office so perhaps I can more directly work towards getting criminals off the street.

Keep training!!