Are my auction rules too harsh?

[Ruffie]

After weeks of repeated frustration selling on EBay, I decided to add the following to the end of my aucitions:



About my auctions:

While I am committed to customer satisfaction, and have noticed that the vast majority of buyers are likewise seeking a smooth transaction to get the items they bid on, I have nonetheless had a few issues with some past buyers that have made me decide to list, very clearly here, some simple rules for my auctions.

1. PayPal ONLY. Don't even ask to pay any other way. Payment must be made within seven days after auction ends. Item will be shipped as soon as payment is made. Since my auctions usually end on Sunday evenings, those who pay by early Monday morning will have their packages shipped out on Monday morning.

2. U.S. ONLY. I will not ship to Canada, the U.K., Brazil, or anywhere else but the U.S. Please don't ask me to.

3. USPS Priority Mail ONLY. It's quick, it's fast, and everyone wins. I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

4. Feedback will be left once the buyer has received the package and indicated that the transaction has been completed to their satisfaction, either by leaving positive feedback or by sending me a message saying that the package was received and all is well.

5. Please feel free to communicate. EBay has a nice built-in message system, and I check it throughout the day, including before and after work. Ask me questions about the items, ask for your shipping confirmation number, and I will be glad to answer. Ask me if I would ship an item outside the U.S. and I will probably ignore you though.

6. If you do not see an option to "Buy It Now", then there is no option to buy it now. Please don't ask to circumvent the auction as this is unfair to other potential bidders.

Again, the tone of these rules are not directed at the vast majority of EBay members who read, comprehend, and gladly agree to a seller's terms for an auction, and proceed to enjoy a smooth transaction with them. These rules are directed at those few who have, in the past, made selling on EBay much more of a hassle than it should be. Thanks!


After seeing these rules up in my auctions, I began to wonder if I was being too harsh. And, if the tone might drive away potential buyers. I really do not have much time to devote to EBay anyway, working a full-time real-world job, so I need to keep it simple by limiting it to PayPal only, U.S. only, and so on.

Thoughts?

Ruffie

[Jumpman Jr.]

2. U.S. ONLY. I will not ship to Canada

Too harsh

[jajaja]

The rules are fine, but i find these sentence allitle "rude":


Don't even ask to pay any other way.


I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

You can also write smaller like 1. Paypal only. 2. I only ship within the US and with Priority mail for your and my safety.
Just a tip :)

[Steven]

The rules are fine, but i find these sentence allitle "rude":


Don't even ask to pay any other way.


I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

You can also write smaller like 1. Paypal only. 2. I only ship within the US and with Priority mail for your and my safety.
Just a tip :)

agreed 210%

[Griking]

The rules are fine, but i find these sentence allitle "rude":


Don't even ask to pay any other way.


I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

You can also write smaller like 1. Paypal only. 2. I only ship within the US and with Priority mail for your and my safety.
Just a tip :)


Actually, I think his conditions are just fine.

First of all, whether he wants to ship to Canada or any other country is completely up to him, I'm sure that he took into consideration that the items may sell for a bit less because of the smaller amount of bidder competition but again, that's up to him to decide.

Also, I don't think that there's anything wrong with the language that he uses in his conditions. He makes it completely clear that these are his terms and that people shouldn't waste their or his time emailing him to ask him if he'd be willing to do things any other way.

[ryborg]

Don't even ask to pay any other way..... Please don't ask me to......I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks......Ask me if I would ship an item outside the U.S. and I will probably ignore you though......Please don't ask to circumvent the auction as this is unfair to other potential bidders.

There's really no need to be this harsh. Don't let the morons who don't read or follow directions ruin it for the buyers who would be sincerely interested. It's easy to turn people off. Like Griking says, the conditions are fine, though.

Also, the problem with most dumb questions is that people don't read. Why would you expect them to read your rules?
________
Prilosec Sickness (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/prilosec/)

[Damaramu]

Nope. Your rules are pretty much just like mine:


Payment must be received within 7 days after auction’s end. I accept payments through PayPal ONLY! Shipping to PayPal confirmed addresses only! Please email me with any questions you may have about this item before bidding.

Sorry, no overseas bidders. US bidders only.

Your auctions, your rules. It's as simple as that.

[eightbitonline]

i always think of having to explain your rules over the telephone or in person to a customer if you ran a physical game store. if you wouldn't use a specific tone or a certain wording with a potential customer face to face, then don't use it in your auctions.

some of your language is stronger and more argumentative than i think would be appropriate if you were speaking across a sales counter to a customer.

as for your actual selling policy, i think it's fair. i'm a canadian so i've gotta gripe about the "no shipping to canada", but it's your auctions- your rules.

the rules aren't too harsh, the approach is though.

i think it's important to state that you don't ship to canada if you really won't. as a canadian i see unspecified shipping costs to canada all the time because a seller hasn't checked the "ship to canada" box, but will ship internationally if asked. ebaying for me involves a lot of sending messages that say: "your auction doesn't specify whether you'll ship to canada. shipping to canada is easier than other international shipping, and it's quite affordable... of course i would cover any costs over your regular shipping fees". and getting a) turned down, b) a ridiculous shipping quote c) no response d) a polite "of course i'll ship to canada. add a dollar to my regular shipping fees!" addressing the issue inside the description of your auction makes my auction browsing way easier. i simply read your description and as soon as i see "won't ship to canada" i stop looking at your auctions. no muss, no fuss.

[smork]

Agreed with the sentiment above. It's good that you are firm and specific about what you are willing to work with, but you could probably phrase it a little more gently.

I actually wish more sellers would be this specific.

[jajaja]

The rules are fine, but i find these sentence allitle "rude":


Don't even ask to pay any other way.


I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

You can also write smaller like 1. Paypal only. 2. I only ship within the US and with Priority mail for your and my safety.
Just a tip :)


Actually, I think his conditions are just fine.

First of all, whether he wants to ship to Canada or any other country is completely up to him, I'm sure that he took into consideration that the items may sell for a bit less because of the smaller amount of bidder competition but again, that's up to him to decide.

Also, I don't think that there's anything wrong with the language that he uses in his conditions. He makes it completely clear that these are his terms and that people shouldn't waste their or his time emailing him to ask him if he'd be willing to do things any other way.

That is what i said, i said hes rules are fine :P
It wasnt me who mentioned about not shipping to Canada btw, altho i know it was a joke hehe.
Hes intention might not be rude, but since its so to say impossible to pick up the tone when you read something it can be understood as rude. Atleast thats the way i understand it. The rules could be cut down to 1 line sentences. Imo, its not nessessary to fill out that much info on each rule. It can scare people.

[yok-dfa]

I usually don't bid on auctions where the description part consists for 3/4 of rules set by the seller :roll:

[kevin_psx]

Best thing to do is NOT say any of this stuff.

- You can set your Ebay Preferences to only accept Paypal Buyers.
- You can set your Ebay Preferences to block non-U.S. citizens.
- You can set your auctions to only list Priority.
- You can set buy-it-now-only auctions.
- Don't bother to mention your feedback policy. Buyers are there to buy >games< not pats on the back. Best to keep mum.


-----> Therefore you can delete rules 1/2/3/4 and 6. Rule 5 is probably un-necessary too. Do that, and you'll have a MUCH friendlier & inviting auction that buyers will come to you in droves.



1. PayPal ONLY. ...

2. U.S. ONLY. I will not ship to Canada, the U.K....

3. USPS Priority Mail ONLY. I will not ship any other way...

4. Feedback will be left once the buyer has received the package and indicated that the transaction has been completed to their satisfaction, either by leaving positive feedback or by sending me a message saying that the package was received and all is well.

5. Please feel free to communicate. ...

6. If you do not see an option to "Buy It Now", then there is no option to buy it now. ...

[XianXi]

Dude, I fell asleep reading that. Most of the stuff in there is already active in the auction. US Only, Paypal Only, No Buy it now, Priority Only.

It makes you seem whiny if a buyer reads it. I would pass on that alone. Thats just the way it comes off but I know exactly what you mean in the terms you listed as I follow those as well but didn't type up a novel to say it, I just setup the auction that way.

[cavein2000]

I would offer media mail or another cheaper shipping method. It definitely attracts more buyers, especially if you are selling something where the price of the item equals the shipping cost. Again, you can do what you want, but if you are looking to attract more buyers...

[rpepper9]

Too much text. I didn't read through all this in this post much less in an auction.

Are your listings the type that have one line about the item, no photo half the time and then this huge disclaimer/rules? I tend to avoide those types of auctions, I am sure others feel the same.

[Cyan]

*shrug* It looks fine to me. Unfortunately, it's almost necessary to use strong words with various eBay buyers these days. Even the concept of "you bid, you buy" seems to be lost on some of these people.

With that being said, I'm left confused as to why so many US eBay sellers refuse to ship to Canada. Canadian PayPal accounts can be verified with verified addresses, so the PayPal risk isn't there. USPS has very reasonable rates to Canada, and adding an extra shipping option to Canada on all of your auctions isn't very time consuming. Then, you've got a whole market opened up to you.

Alas.

-RS

[eightbitonline]

the only problem with NOT detailing your policies in the auctions (simply setting them in ebay preferences) is that if you don't specifically mention it you get tons of buyers sending you messages asking you to bend your policy to suit them. if you don't spend a shitload of time responding to these people and saying "NO!" they sometimes end up bidding on your item anyways ('cause they're douchebags) and then negging you when you won't ship to nigeria and you relist ('cause they're douchebags).

i definitely agree that your policies coudl be shortened though.

[Damaramu]

*shrug* It looks fine to me. Unfortunately, it's almost necessary to use strong words with various eBay buyers these days. Even the concept of "you bid, you buy" seems to be lost on some of these people.

With that being said, I'm left confused as to why so many US eBay sellers refuse to ship to Canada. Canadian PayPal accounts can be verified with verified addresses, so the PayPal risk isn't there. USPS has very reasonable rates to Canada, and adding an extra shipping option to Canada on all of your auctions isn't very time consuming. Then, you've got a whole market opened up to you.

Alas.

-RS

I've heard stories of Canadian customs holding incoming stuff for weeks, even months. I think this extra hassle bugs alot of US sellers.

[Ruffie]

I just want to thank everyone who posted responses here. All of your input has been helpful and constructive. I may indeed "tone it down" a bit in my upcoming auctions. You've given me a lot to consider.

Ruffie

[Sylentwulf]

I'm not sure that I've EVER agreeed with Kevin in this forum, but he kinda nailed it. If you INSIST on having those strict rules, then just do it while listing, don't clutter up your whole auction.

If you really want to include it, do a "small print" section like we do at the bottom of our auctions. The anal people who want to read all that crap can, and the people who don't wanna see a million rules can easily ignore it.

[coreycorey2000]

I wouldn't bid on your auctions.

[TS_Death_Angel]

Just a question, why wouldn't you ship outside the U.S.?

[77punk]

I think that is a good thing to have on the bottom of an ebay auction since people dont really read fine print, you have to make the PAYPAL ONLY the biggest thing on the screen. I wouldnt send anywhere but the us also. its just too much with customs and everything.

[jajaja]

I think that is a good thing to have on the bottom of an ebay auction since people dont really read fine print, you have to make the PAYPAL ONLY the biggest thing on the screen. I wouldnt send anywhere but the us also. its just too much with customs and everything.

The custom thingie takes 10 sec to fill out. Just write what it contains, write value and ur signiature and your done. Now that that is done, what is "everything" ? :)

[ryborg]

Now that that is done, what is "everything" ? :)

Yeah, really. The buyer pays the customs fees (if any), too, NOT the seller. The customs forms/fees are not an issue sellers have to deal with. It's potential Paypal fraud/chargebacks, which is up to the seller to decide if he wants to deal with that slight risk based on what type of item he is selling.

I personally will ship anywhere. Last time I went to the post office, I had a package for Luxembourg and one for Bulgaria. No big deal. If someone tries scamming me, I know enough about Paypal to try to fight back. If I can't win, so be it. It's part of the risk of selling online.

International buyers aren't only winning items; they are bumping up the prices of items they don't win. I'm certainly not going to turn away a larger potential profit.
________
Vapour Air One (http://www.vaporshop.com)

[chaoticjelly]

1. PayPal ONLY. Don't even ask to pay any other way.


Must like paying fees. Rude.



2. U.S. ONLY. I will not ship to Canada, the U.K., Brazil, or anywhere else but the U.S. Please don't ask me to.

Ignorant. Losing out on higher bids and more custom. Think. One guy abroad might be willing to pay $30 for an item, a guy in the USA might only be willing to pay 99 cents. Nobody else is interested.. item sells for 99 cents because the nasty foreigner isnt allowed to bid. After all, eBay is a "worldwide" marketplace is it not? Customs document takes 5 seconds to write out.



3. USPS Priority Mail ONLY. It's quick, it's fast, and everyone wins. I will not ship it any other way to save you a few bucks.

Rude. Unaccomodating. I simply state the postage costs in my auctions, if someone specifically asks for a cheaper shipping rate, I oblige them, after all, your paying less fees on the shipping they pay you, if they pay through paypal after all?


4. Feedback will be left once the buyer has received the package and indicated that the transaction has been completed to their satisfaction, either by leaving positive feedback or by sending me a message saying that the package was received and all is well.

Agree with this, far too many "ebay newbs" out there that only communicate a potential problem/misunderstanding via feedback.. this rule is fine.


5. Please feel free to communicate. EBay has a nice built-in message system, and I check it throughout the day, including before and after work. Ask me questions about the items, ask for your shipping confirmation number, and I will be glad to answer. Ask me if I would ship an item outside the U.S. and I will probably ignore you though.

Patronising and sarcastic.


6. If you do not see an option to "Buy It Now", then there is no option to buy it now. Please don't ask to circumvent the auction as this is unfair to other potential bidders.

You'll still get people asking to "buy it now". Besides, if you know the value of an item, whats the harm in not mentioning this rule.. sometimes you may be offered more than the item is actually worth (very rare to happen.. but still..)

The whole massive text thing, as others have said, makes auctions look very off-putting. I used to have fairly harsh rules a few years ago, when I was an eBay newb, some people still dont take any damn notice, so now I dont list any specific rules per-se, only that payments outside Europe have to be sent using PayPal (foreign cheques cost a heck of a lot to cash in the UK, and problems with exchange rates)

Anyway, I guess if it makes you feel better then do it, but you'll still have problems. Example, I put in my auction for a SNES game last week in large BOLD letters at the START of the description "This game is a UK PAL game, it will not work on American or Canadian NTSC consoles" and it sold to a US bidder, then I sold Majoras Mask on the N64, which had text to a similar effect to a Canadian bidder... :roll:

However I sold a Saturn game to a nice bidder from the US last week, he asked me if it would work with a converter cartridge, to which I replied yes, and he bought and paid for it instantly, which was pleasing.

I can say that I get more problems dealing with overseas people than people within my own country, but if I ruled out people from overseas bidding, some games which I got very handsome prices for, would of sold for peanuts. The majority of Europeans are great, and pay very fast, unfortunately with the exception of the French, who always seem to buy stuff and then they cant type hardly any English..

For example, a French guy trying to tell me that his Golden Axe 3 game was missing out of a package (I forgot to put it in) sent me an email mentioning "Golden Delicious cores"

(Golden Delicious is a variety of French apple)

Confusing, yet hilarious at the same time :roll:

Anyway if you *MUST* put all those rules, I'd create an "About Me" page if I were you, put the rules in there, and simply put in your auctions that by bidding you agree to all the rules, which are on your about me page, or perhaps put your rules in the "additional instructions" box at the bottom of the page, and point toward that... then at least its not loads of angry text in the face of potential bidders..

Essay over x_x

[ryborg]

Think. One guy abroad might be willing to pay $30 for an item, a guy in the USA might only be willing to pay 99 cents. Nobody else is interested.. item sells for 99 cents because the nasty foreigner isnt allowed to bid.

Actually, in your scenario (if non-US buyers are allowed to bid), the end result is that the foreigner wins the item for $1.04, *not* $30, since no one else is interested enough to push his proxy bid up. Think.
________
OUTDOOR TUBES (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/30/outdoor/videos/1)

[Ruffie]

Again, thanks for all the input.

What I am seeing a lot of here, though, is judgement from a lot of very experienced EBayers who are holding me up to their standards of expertise, experience, and know-how, when I simply do not wish to get that deep with EBay.

I would just ask you all to consider the fact that I don't have the time or energy to become an EBay whiz - what you might consider a simple thing might be something that I tried to figure out when I first started selling (like the rules for international shipping), couldn't figure out, so I decided to "limit" myself to U.S. only.

I have found that the rules and conditions I choose work well for me - in terms of sales and simplicity. They have also worked for many satisfied buyers who read, comprehended, and bidded on my auctions.

In any case, I will be altering the tone, content, and possibly the presentation of my rules when I set up new auctions. Mainly in response to the great feedback I received here, but partly due to the fact that they still didn't work, as I have received another private message asking if I'll ship to Canada.

*sigh*

Ruffie

[XianXi]

Customs document takes 5 seconds to write out.


Not in the US.

[Rev. Link]

I think your rules are mostly pretty good. I would suggest you find a way to make the whole thing a little smaller, though. Most buyers wouldn't take the time to read all that or would just abandon your auction altogether when faced with all that text.

I sympathize greatly with your situation. I'm not a big time eBay seller either, though I do sell things from time to time. I've had to deal with some really stupid buyers before, and I've often thought about putting similar rules in my listings.

[Vectorman0]

In any case, I will be altering the tone, content, and possibly the presentation of my rules when I set up new auctions. Mainly in response to the great feedback I received here, but partly due to the fact that they still didn't work, as I have received another private message asking if I'll ship to Canada.

*sigh*

Ruffie

You will always get these messages regardless of what you say in your auctions and how you say it. The best you can do to limit them is what you already have done.

[ryborg]

You will always get these messages regardless of what you say in your auctions and how you say it.

Exactly. I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it. Some people just don't read, no matter how clear/large you make the rules in the item description. Just delete the email and move on.
________
Iolite Vaporizer Cleaning Instructions (http://vaporizerinfo.com/)

[coreycorey2000]

Many sellers will list shipping only to US in the auction. But after you message them they are willing to ship other places. I've bought some rare items for cheap because most people didn't bother asking a simple question. That's why people will ask you.

[Insaneclown]

2. U.S. ONLY. I will not ship to Canada

Too harsh

Agreed. :(