Sloppy Ebay sellers...

[Feraud]

I have to gripe a bit about a pet peeve of mine that I have noticed more and more recently.
Has anyone else encountered Ebay sellers that do not bother to clean their items? My wife recently bought something from the site and it arrived really dusty. The item itself was fine. There was no indication of how much dust was covering the piece in the auction photo. Why would a seller not bother to give an item up for sale a basic cosmetic cleaning? A 15 second wipe with a damp towel would have worked wonders.
Today I am viewing an auction and the seller adds this line in the third sentence.

You clean them, I throw the dust in for free.

What is with this? Do Ebay sellers think (or know) they have everyone by the throat on this most popular of auction sites? Has the internet created a situation where as long as you can present the appearance of a decent looking product, the real thing can be less than advertised?
I decided not to bid on that item because of the idiotic comment and am considering sending the dude an obtuse reading note asking asking about his "free dust".
Rant over. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Many sellers list items "as found" and don't consider ebay to be retail. I've gotten vintage bugs and other creepy things with my items.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I once received an antique absinthe spoon from a French eBay seller, that still had dried sugar crusted in the perforations in the spoon.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Has anyone else encountered Ebay sellers that do not bother to clean their items? My wife recently bought something from the site and it arrived really dusty. ... There was no indication of how much dust was covering the piece in the auction photo.

The seller should have stated "as is" in the auction's description. Some sellers don't do anything with an item because some buyers insist on receiving it in a "pristinely unrestored" state. Which is fine. But in that case, the seller really SHOULD indicate in writing that the item being sold is "as is", "as found", "dusty", and/or "unrestored".

Personally, I dust off the vintage hats that I sell; I dryclean the vintage suits; and I very carefully polish the vintage shoes. That's just my preference.

.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Well I tend to clean what I selll lest it be something really old that could be damaged by my cleaning.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

As a buyer i like things to be dirty/dusty/musty/funky/you name it. This scares off potential competitors. (Namely: the '36 three piece i got recently for $10 - it was dirty but not ripped or holey. It will clean up beautifully. An almost identical one went two days later for nearly $80, but it had rips and tears.)

If a seller wants to get a good price on something that isn't absolutely the rarest thing ever, they are silly not to clean it.

bk

 

[Serial Hero]

Isn’t EBay just a giant online flee market? I’ve been to a lot of real ones, and everything is always dirty. I guess that’s why I don’t really own any vintage cloths. Up until recently I never saw them as being “vintage”; I just saw a pile of some dead guy’s dirty laundry.

Remember the old saying “buyer beware”? I’m sure many sellers see it as, why put the extra work into cleaning it when their going to get the same amount for it as is. That’s the free market for you; make as much as you can for the least amount of effort.

If you don’t like the condition of the items you buy, don’t shop there.

 

[Serial Hero]

Also: Do you really want the sellers cleaning these items before they ship them? Most are just picking up old stuff from garage sales and looking for a quick turnaround. They don’t really know what they have, or how to handle it. Just think if they tried to clean it before sending it to you? What if they used the wrong type of cleaner on that vintage suit, brushed that hat the wrong way, used solvent on that piece of china and ended up taking the pattern off?

Leave the cleaning for those that know what they’re doing.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Isn’t EBay just a giant online flee market?

Yes. And as in any flea market, not all sellers offer dirty and/or unrestored items.

I’ve been to a lot of real ones, and everything is always dirty.

Come on down to the biggest flea market in the U.S.A., held the second Sunday of every month in the parking lot of Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium. I guarantee you that plenty of vintage things there have been cleaned and restored by the sellers.


.

 

[Feraud]

Personally, I dust off the vintage hats that I sell; I dryclean the vintage suits; and I very carefully polish the vintage shoes. That's just my preference.

.

Thank you. I am sure your buyers appreciate it.


My thoughts on cleaning..
I do not expect Joe Fleamarket to attempt to restore a Picasso!
However if one is selling a 1970's hunk of plastic, how about wiping the dust and grime off? It ain't rocket science.:eusa_doh: Cleaning an item is a basic seller's consideration toward the buyer.
Ebay sellers throw the word "Vintage" around like it is going out of style. Most of the stuff is not priceless, it is just stuff. I prefer they leave all of that "as is" fluff for the real treasures, not a "Vintage" hair pick from 1979. lol

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Come on down to the biggest flea market in the U.S.A., held the second Sunday of every month in the parking lot of Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium. I guarantee you that plenty of vintage things there have been cleaned and restored by the sellers.
.

But I think you'll agree, the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market is head and shoulders above any other flea market in the country. It definitely draws a higher caliber buyer than one in Long Beach or, lets say, one in Pomona or Indio would draw.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

But I think you'll agree, the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market is head and shoulders above any other flea market in the country. It definitely draws a higher caliber buyer than one in Long Beach or, lets say, one in Pomona or Indio would draw.

Well, yeah. But my point is that the Rose Bowl flea market is big, very big ... hence it is comparable to eBay, which is the biggest on earth. With size comes variety, and there are a variety of sellers out there who do (as well as don't) clean up their vintage merchandise.

.

 

[BellyTank]

Sloppy/Plain Stupid...

Received a Borsalino from Italy- flat packed in a mailing envelope.
Very flat indeed.
A hat isn't supposed to fit through a postal slot.

B
Flat

 

[Feraud]

Received a Borsalino from Italy- flat packed in a mailing envelope.
Very flat indeed.
A hat isn't supposed to fit through a postal slot.

B
Flat

Ouch! That's gotta hurt.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Never was a sale more deserving of negative feedback :rage:

.

 

[Twitch]

Hey Bellytank maybe the seller pulled the hat out of their a$$ anyway.