Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[HatsEnough]

I have to agree. This new ebay policy of dropping the whole auction page to just an entry is seriously crap. I like to look back at the item while it's being shipped, not to mention to double check photos against the actual item when it comes in.

This could easily help unscrupulous sellers do a bait and switch.

 

[Walt]

I have to agree. This new ebay policy of dropping the whole auction page to just an entry is seriously crap. I like to look back at the item while it's being shipped, not to mention to double check photos against the actual item when it comes in.

This could easily help unscrupulous sellers do a bait and switch.

Ebay may find out they are doing a "Netflix" or "New Coke!" Making a bad decision....and then rescinding it.

 

[Walt]

I don't want to feed Ebay's ever increasing fees, but since there are people that want that history they could probably get enough people to pay for it....I'd like to go back and see a year or more sale history--I'm referring to things bought by others (as I'm sure many of you also would like to).

I wonder if they'll stop saving customer purchase history for customer viewing (2 years isn't it?)

I need to start playing with the API's to see what info may be saved but not available from the DB queries accessible via the web interface...

 

[HatsEnough]

I save my own history. I keep a database of my hats. What I paid, what I sold them for, photos.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

See, here's the problem ... even as eBay is making it harder for small-time sellers, it's making things better for buyers. eBay and PayPal are setting up more and more services to protect buyers. This is clever ... because as long as eBay keeps its buyers feeling safe, satisfied and loyal, then we sellers have to stick around eBay. Without those buyers, we're in the doghouse.


I would love for my European and Asian buyers to patronize Etsy, some other auction site, or a webstore ... but they don't. They feel safer with eBay, and they prefer its huge marketplace of wares.

 

[mattface]

Doing the happy dance!!!!

I won this tiny Whippet which happens to be almost a dead ringer for my '40s Stetson Royal AND the perfect size for my girlfriends tiny head. I got it for her for a 2nd anniversary of our first kiss present (halloween eve), and we are going to be RIDONKULOUSLY cute in our matching vintage hats.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=300607142394#ht_500wt_1182

P.S. I also hate the new policy of not showing completed listings. I think it's a really bad idea, and I'm unsuccessfully looking for a good way to provide feedback to ebay so they will know people aren't happy with the change.

 

[Walt]

I save my own history. I keep a database of my hats. What I paid, what I sold them for, photos.

I do to, but it's a service they should also provide if they want to keep customers happy...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I do to, but it's a service they should also provide if they want to keep customers happy...

They're focusing more on keeping customers happy by improving their buyer protection services. Meanwhile, they're making things worse and worse for small-time sellers.

 

[Walt]

See, here's the problem ... even as eBay is making it harder for small-time sellers, it's making things better for buyers. eBay and PayPal are setting up more and more services to protect buyers. This is clever ... because as long as eBay keeps its buyers feeling safe, satisfied and loyal, then we sellers have to stick around eBay. Without those buyers, we're in the doghouse.

To the extent the changes at ebay are improving things I agree and clearly the crappy sellers need to be weeded out (and they usually are by bad ratings and buyer dispute claims). The problem is not all of the changes are for the better....

 

[mattface]

They're focusing more on keeping customers happy by improving their buyer protection services. Meanwhile, they're making things worse and worse for small-time sellers.

As a small time seller I agree, the fees are exorbitant, but considering I can often get twice as much for an item on ebay than I can through any other venue, and turn it around faster, I still choose to use their service, at east for the type of items that sell well on ebay. I'm also looking into Etsy and local selling options, and I consider all options. Ebay knows they need both sellers and buyers, without one you haven't got the other.

 

[Walt]

They're focusing more on keeping customers happy by improving their buyer protection services. Meanwhile, they're making things worse and worse for small-time sellers.

Yes, it is good for them to improve the buyer experience for resolving bad purchases, but they should not do that at the expense of the other aspects of the buyer experience...

 

[Lefty]

"Imported Milan" was one of those euphemisms for "something other than wheat straw" that resulted in the FTC case I posted in the Milan Mania thread.

This milan fetched a solid price (not mine):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...item=&sspagename=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123#cvip_desc

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Exactly. It's like the crazy lady in the pub who goes mad at someone winning the jackpot on the one-arm-bandit because "that's all the money I put in there earlier" or someone 2nd in line to another person who wins with a lottery scratch card: "If you weren't there, I would have bought it!"

Every hat bought for collection or for re-sale is a deal that wasn't had by someone more "deserving".

 

[mattface]

Seriously? We're all so angst up about the latest changes to the ebay interface that no one has any energy left over to share in my excitement that I scored a grey Whippet for my girlfriend that nearly matches my own favorite Stetson?

 

[alanfgag]

Hi Matt,

Sorry for silent applause. I had marked that auction for the beautiful tiny Whippet when I saw it on ebay and smiled when I saw you had won it. Congratulations on purchase and the anniversary!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.

Very rare soft hats from around 1910 (see Buler's scans of "American Hatter" magazine from that era) get no love on eBay:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item5646690743

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item43aa202aa5

 

[zetwal]

.Very rare soft hats from around 1910 (see Buler's scans of "American Hatter" magazine from that era) get no love on eBay:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item5646690743

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item43aa202aa5

It appears that eBay UK leaves the photos and full description online after the auction ends. Interesting.

 

[Joshbru3]

.

Very rare soft hats from around 1910 (see Buler's scans of "American Hatter" magazine from that era) get no love on eBay:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item5646690743

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1910s-192...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item43aa202aa5

I was looking at the copper colored one, but I was unsure how old it really was. The sweatband looked to old, the liner as well, but there was no makers mark on the liner or the sweatband. I couldn't see the sweatband seam either.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It appears that eBay UK leaves the photos and full description online after the auction ends. Interesting.

Yes. That's why I posted it via the eBay UK address. Actually, it works via all non-U.S. eBay addresses. Enjoy it now, until eBay finds a way to kill it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I was looking at the copper colored one, but I was unsure how old it really was. The sweatband looked to old, the liner as well, but there was no makers mark on the liner or the sweatband. I couldn't see the sweatband seam either.

You can see nearly identical ones in the early 1900s "American Hatter" magazine pages that Buler posted around here recently.