bytor

Assuming this is not a joke, is there a new "foul language" policy that was recently implemented that I'm unaware of?

I think $150 is fair for a boxed Boing!. I'd say the box craze is holding even. There will always be another boxed Boing! at some point. When Mike listed this boxed Boing I really thought it was gonna hit $250. Damn good thing there wasn't 2 of them up at once eh? wonder what that means?!?! hehe... yah... i'm a tool. well anyhow... it is up again like i said! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=250157913944 I see you've been paying attention to the constructive criticism... you clearly indicated the method of shipping (priority), and you lowered the shipping price by using calculated shipping rather than flat $10. Nice! Just change the "btw... 10 bucks for shipping" text and you'll be golden. You should be able to get a nice bit of change from that auction, though your low feedback rating might lower it a bit.

While I must say I'm thankful that this thread hasn't turned into yet another silly augment-filled lockdown (of which I've been a part of, true enough), it is rather disconcerting that not a single person has contributed their great seller experiences. Perhaps I've been deluding myself, but I keep thinking people here are just too busy to respond... but then I only have to take a look at the multitude of posts in other threads to know that just isn't the case. I simply refuse to believe I'm the *only* one here who has had great eBay experiences. Even if out of 100 transactions 99 were bad for you, how about you write about the good one? Call this an Olive Branch or an open gesture of good faith, but come on people, let's show Al that a thread can be created in the forum that is free from silliness and actually useful to the Atari Community!

Why not lock it anyways, it's not as if anything productive is going to come of it. We've been down this path before. Certain peoples don't care about reality and continue to hold their views no matter how many times you prove them wrong. They just have their own unique way of looking at things, and you can't cut through that. To coin a new phrase, I like to call it the "John Jamelske Effect", obviously not for his action, but his attitude. The Raven chides Blackness.

I can assure you there are many that don't sit around tapping F5 all day to get decent a BIN. On the other hand, given all of the finger-pointing going on around here, I can understand how clicking and tapping all day might seem advantageous to some. You just argue for the sake of arguing, don't you? How can someone who doesn't refresh all the time, possibly get a decent BIN before the re-sellers do? And I am not talking about some stupid single loose game either. No, the fact is I don't argue for the sake of arguing - I make a concerted effort to speak based on facts. What I stated above is the truth. Don't believe me? Just ask one of your BIN buddies to reveal their secrets for consistently winning their BIN's. They won't tell you? lol! On the other hand, look at what you just did, as it seems to be your usual M.O. - you accused me of something (which it turns out you're absolutely wrong about) as if you speak The Gospel, then turned right around and issued your obligatory rhetorical question. You probably don't truly want to know the answer as you seem to usually speak as if there's no other possibilities outside your world, and when given an answer you rarely acknowledge it. Why is that? <---- *not* a rhetorical question See, what I would have done was reply with something similar to this (even if it was a PM) - "Hmmm, I didn't realize their might be some other method other than hitting refresh. Would you please enlighten me? I'd be eternally grateful. Thanks!" You see, I didn't make any false accusations. In fact, I admitted that I might have been wrong, and am gratefully seeking answers. See the difference?

Let's see...I've bought things from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan that never arrived...I've had buyers in Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Australia claim that their items never arrived. I've never shipped anything to South America and won't do so based on what I've heard from others. Ask Albert about South America...if I'm not mistaken, the AtariAge store won't ship there anymore unless Al knows you, due to him having too many problems with lost shipments. You've never had problems? Good for you. Personally, there's no way in hell I'd ship a boxed Quadrun or anything of that kind of value overseas. There's just too much risk, unless you know the person you're shipping to...and even if you do, there's a lot of theft with international shipments. Part of the problem of course is the fact that you have to fill out a customs form...isn't it nice that everyone who comes into contact with your package knows exactly what's inside? Even moreso if you insure it, then they know it's something valuable. Of course, you could always be overly general or lie about the item on the customs form, right? Wrong...if you're overly general that will only give customs officials more of a reason to open it, and of course if you lie about an item, you risk confiscation. Does all this mean that people should never ship internationally? No, of course not...but there's certain items that I wouldn't ship and certain countries I wouldn't ship to. But that's just me. Damn sorry to hear you've had so many problems. Honestly, I've been buying and selling on eBay since the 90's and can't recall a single problem with any overseas transaction (including several to Italy and Mexico), though I can certainly understand the potential for fraud. However, the same can be said of US transactions, right? I've personally always shipped with DC and have never had anyone claim they didn't receive something. Conversely, I *have* had problems over the years with sellers who claimed to have shipped but I never received it... and what a shock, they didn't have any delivery records at all and usually ignored my emails. Sellers like that are Teh Suk!! So, what's my point? i dunno lol. I don't know if you or Al can do anything differently to minimize the overseas problems, and it could just be that I've been extremely lucky. Knock on wood...

I can assure you there are many that don't sit around tapping F5 all day to get decent a BIN. On the other hand, given all of the finger-pointing going on around here, I can understand how clicking and tapping all day might seem advantageous to some.

Well, except packages getting lost and stolen constantly, or foreign buyers claiming that they were and filing claims/chargebacks, no, there's no reason. Truthfully, it depends on the country. I wouldn't ship anything to Italy, Spain, or anywhere in South America/Southeast Asia. Other than that, you should be okay (Canada, UK, Scandinavia, Oz). It might be a better idea to just allow certain foreign bidders if they are trusted members of this site (if that is possible). I've heard anecdotal "horror stories" about dealing with some countries, but have never personally experienced any problems. Have you had problems? If so, please give us a few examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragraph

I don't think it's so much that as it is there is already a thread sorta like this. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22468 There is a thread like this too. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=87198 I've seen those threads, but unless I'm mistaken they primarily pertain to trading via Atariage, and not specifically to eBay sellers. Atariage trading does not necessarily (and usually doesn't) have anything to do with eBay, and vice versa. Furthermore, I want more than a list of names, as that's not too useful... I want to know specific reasons for why they appreciated the experience, and therefore what to them makes for a great seller. An example of what I'd like to see is given in the first post of this thread.

No one else has had a great experience with a seller they'd like to share? Surely not every seller on eBay is bad, are they? Or do you feel there is always some issue with every seller that you think completely ruins the transaction for you? I'd like to keep this a positive thread, filled with excellent eBay experiences with sellers. However, if you've had more bad experiences than good, then do tell what they are, but please don't mention any seller names. "Bad eBay seller" threads can be started elsewhere - I don't want to turn this into yet another seller-bashing thread.

horseboy you keep saying the same thing over and over again, yet I don't recall you ever mentioning the FACT that eBay has rules against excessive shipping charges. Why is that? Don't you think it might have some relevance to the argument here? While I'm a firm believer in personal responsibility (i.e. the buyer is responsible for what he bids on - no shit, genius), that has nothing to do with those who choose *not* to bid on an auction because they believe it contains an excessive shipping charge, and then express their opinions on the matter. Take a step back and look at your arguments here. It seems that all you're doing is telling those who have an opinion which differs from yours to simply shut up and go away. Is that what you'd prefer?

Sadly, you're preaching these truths to The Choir, brotha. The others are incapable of understanding WTF you are talking about.

I realize that many Atari sellers get bashed for one reason or another around here, sometimes without just cause. With that in mind, I thought it might be worthwhile (and a welcome change of pace! ) to create a thread filled with the names of sellers you've personally done business with that have gone above and beyond the norm. My hope is that once several sellers are mentioned, we can begin to see a pattern emerge that might finally help to answer the question: "What makes a great seller"? With that said, I'll start it off with one of the best sellers I've ever had the pleasure of doing business with: -------------------------------------------------------------------- ZEITSHABBA In all seriousness, there's not a single thing I can think of that he could do to improve his seller rating: - Auctions are clear, honest, and contain many detailed and *focused* pictures - Communicates in a timely manner - Ships the products quickly - usually within 24 hours - Indicates how long it usually takes to ship - usually faster than stated time - Indicates actual method of shipment (i.e. priority or parcel post), not "Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service" or worse, none at all - Extremely reasonable shipping charge - often below his cost or even FREE! - Offers PayPal (and others) as payment option - Provides a Money back guarantee return policy - Never has to make excuses for *not* doing any of the above I believe other sellers would certainly do well to use his actions as a perfect example of what to strive for. -------------------------------------------------------------------- That's one example, and I've done business with many other excellent sellers as well. Please list your favorite(s), and tell us what makes them great sellers!

For the record, I can personally attest to the fact that zeitshabba is consistently one of the best sellers I've ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Seriously, there's not a single thing I can think of that he could do to improve his seller rating: - Auctions are clear, honest, and contain many detailed and *focused* pictures - Communicates in a timely manner - Ships the products quickly - usually within 24 hours - Extremely reasonable shipping charge - often below his cost or even FREE! - Never has to make excuses for *not* doing any of the above Other sellers would certainly do well to take his actions as a perfect example of what to strive for. No, he's not sending me CIB Boink in return for this endorsement lol. I just don't want him to possibly be lumped in with others that have less-than-stellar selling skills.

zeitshabba you fucking rock man. That is some hilarious shit. 'nuff said.

That's fair. In retrospect I can see how my example could have been misinterpreted. It was intended for skunkworx's "...you can almost guarantee any S&H that comes in at $10 or less is not gouging." comment. For the record, I said this earlier in this thread... "My personal opinion is $1-$2 (give or take) added to each item above actual shipping cost for handling/material cost is reasonable. Anything above that increasingly approaches excessive shipping. Again, that's my opinion, and many sellers do indeed apparently still get away with the ol' sell for a penny and add on $20 shipping scam (not saying this seller is doing that at all)." In other words, (assuming he's ship priority) I think I'm agreeing with those who're saying Mars' shipping charge was likely completely fair.

Fair enough, though in that case I'll take a guess and say that the outcome will be "I can take them or leave them" FTW.

Please re-read my replies here. If there's something you still don't understand (or disagree with) then be specific and I'll answer. Well, I didn't even have to introduce you. I see you already met Mr. Kettle. horseboy, it's apparent that you think I haven't been following along and/or am being evasive or outright ignoring the questions here, but honestly, I believe I've answered every question asked of me. It is possible I've overlooked something, so I ask again, is there some specific questions or comments that you believe I've failed to address? Also, your claim that "here is debating about shipping charges that are listed" is incorrect. I was referring to *my* example (i.e. the postcard example), not the original seller's auction.

Please re-read my replies here. If there's something you still don't understand (or disagree with) then be specific and I'll answer.

So, it wouldn't bother you in the least if someone sent you a postcard with the word "Atari" on it and charged you $10 shipping, knowing it only cost them $0.26 to send it? Nope that wouldn't bother me one bit. I would however line up all the neighborhood kids and let them kick me in the junk one at a time due to the fact that I bid on a postcard with $10 shipping listed in the auction. I would also laugh at anyone that that happened to, because they, my friend, would be an idiot. No one said anything about the $10 shipping charge being listed in the auction. In fact, let's say it wasn't. Would you say it was gouging then? Would there there *any* case where you would determine there to be gouging involved, or is it your opinion that the seller it truly able to charge whatever they wish, even if it's against eBay's policy?

So, it wouldn't bother you in the least if someone sent you a postcard with the word "Atari" on it and charged you $10 shipping, knowing it only cost them $0.26 to send it? Be reasonable. I'm being quite reasonable. My point is clear... everyone has a limit to what they consider "reasonable" when it comes to shipping charges. Therefore, I question why anyone would argue with someone who believes that a particular auction's shipping charge is "unreasonable". Isn't it all a matter of opinion? Regardless, after a certain point it IS against eBay own "excessive shipping" policy. However, since that policy is so vague no one exactly knows what it means.

So, it wouldn't bother you in the least if someone sent you a postcard with the word "Atari" on it and charged you $10 shipping, knowing it only cost them $0.26 to send it?

Unfortunately, since there is no differentiation amongst "resellers", this poll is fatally flawed. Lumping everyone into one group either does a disservice to the the exemplary sellers, or doesn't give the despicable ones the vote they deserve. In other words, say you're thinking of what you consider a "perfect" seller, and therefore vote "They are great I buy from them all the time". Well, obviously the low-life sellers that intentially mislead, lie, and ultimatley never ship the product don't deserve that vote. Likewise, if you've taken both extremes into account and vote "I can take them or leave them", then again, the great seller is "punished" and the slime is given more credit then they deserve.