What puts you off a listing?

[ILoveStripeySocks]

When looking to buy on ebay, what listings do you avoid or puts you off bidding?

For me, its bright multi-coloured text, centre-alligned text or those animated layouts. Also lines & lines of T&Cs.

I luagh at lisitngs that say stuff like "i am not responsoble fo rthings lost in teh post" or "Payment within 3 days or I will relist & unpaid strike issued". Makes them look like very silly/novice sellers!

[Paolosgirl]

Poor spelling and no explanation as to why they're selling = dodgy knocked off goods.

Loads of T and C don't bother me - it means they are serious.

[IdrisTheDragon]

People who are trying to charge about £5 in postage for a 4 year old's T shirt.

People who have really poor spelling (this isn't necessarily a deal breaker but does affect my overall impression).

People who don't have a photo for the item they are selling.

People who have about 12 pictures of a item where the auction starts at 99p

People who live near to me and say you can't collect in person.

I'm sure there's more things that put me off

[NorbertDentressangle]

Bad, bad spelling. Not just one-off words but lots in each listing

I was once looking for a green top for one of the DC and you wouldn't believe how many spellings of khaki I came across eg. kharki, carkey, carki.

With spellcheck there is really no excuse.

[Bucharest]

Pink font.

[memorylapse]

poor spelling
no photos
excessive postage

[TheDevilEatsBabies]

poor photos: i was looking at wedding dressses yesterday and there some auction listings that were starting prices of £100, but the photos were blurred shots taken with a normal camera (not very high resolution) and the dresses weren't even on dummies/stands, just lying on a bed or hanging from a hanger on a door.
did not make me want to bid over £100 for something i couldn't even tell the shape of!

[ATortoiseisBetterThanABlackCat]

Poor spelling wouldn't put me off.

Low feedback
Rubbish/no picture
High postage
New sellers
Are things which put me off an item.
Oh and reserves.

[SqueezyCheesyPumpkin]

Photos where the house is a tip in the background.

[memorylapse]

SqueezyCheesy..I second that.

[tethersend]

Are you all mad? these things are what I look for in a listing...

It means everyone else will be put off and won't bid and I can get the item for a bargain price

[stakethroughtheheartofgold]

music
photos that look like they're been taken underwater

[stakethroughtheheartofgold]

they've

[threetinytots]

Poor photos
One line descriptions
Reserves
High postage
High starting bids
Poor spelling/punctuation/grammar
Low feedback

Ilovestripysocks, I always centre-align my text - just thought it makes it easier to read? I will stop if it puts people off!
I also put I am not responsible for items lost or damaged in transit because I have had a few stroppy buyers demanding refunds when it is not my fault. I think the payment within 3 days thing is to put people off that don't intend to pay straight away. I used to do this too but it doesn't seem to make much difference to non payers.

[ILoveStripeySocks]

threetinytots - those things annoy me because it shows me they dont know how ebay works - you cant enforce any of those things. Ebay give you 7 days to pay - you cant do anything about it. If an item gets lost in the post - paypal will give you a refund. No point putting those things in your listing as yyou cant make any of them happen. I think it makes you looek liek you have a poor understanding of selling on ebay, and will be a pain to deal with.

As for the centre-alligned text - that might just be me I find it doesnt flow properly!

Forgot about reserves - dont see the point in them at all!

Items of clothing photographed on a dirty carpet/floor - eugh!

[exexpat]

Poor photos
Descriptions with the words stunning, amazing, gorgeous etc
Listings with long descriptions in bad grammar and WRITTEN IN CAPITALS
Things listed as "antiques" when there are several of them all with identical photos from different or the same sellers
Anything that seems to be in the UK then when you look more closely at the postal charges it will be coming from China (at huge expense)

[exexpat]

Oh, and any seller that has sold hardly anything or only items of low value, who suddenly lists several expensive items finishing at the same time. Makes me very

[RubyBooBerry]

High postage puts me off. And crap pics

[sixlostmonkeys]

I agree stripysocks re the ' I am not responsible' bit..and the pay up bits

I hit the back button straight away if anything moves eg wizards or auctiva. Also if the text is bigger that 14 - I've seen some use font so big you would have scroll for each word - do they think they may get a bid from the person at the back of my room?

The ones that really make me laugh are the ones with 3 words describing the item (eg. book. read once) and then a mile of terms and conditions about how they insist you pay immediately or they will report you but they won't be posting it until the 2nd tuesday of the month because they live too far away from a PO and if you don't agree to this there will be trouble....blah blah

[IdrisTheDragon]

I have the feeling that the non-paying bidder process is less than 7 days now - I'm sure I saw one of those ebay announcements about it. I must check.

[IdrisTheDragon]

Yes it has changed - if a buyer doesn't pay after 4 days you can start the process and if they don't pay after another 4 days you get a final value credit and the buyer can't comment on it. Here

Wish that had been in place for a recent transaction I had.

[ILoveStripeySocks]

Still give sthem 8 days in total to pay

[Mspontipine]

Oh no!! I do bright multi-coloured text, centre-alligned text and occasionally those animated layouts!!! I also write in comic sans! I do however check my spellings and do not include lines and lines of threatening text at the end! As for not responsible for their own parcels or asking for more for recorded or insured - idiots!!!!

[bigstripeytiger]

I agree with the posts about people saying that they arent responsible for lost parcels, or giving people the option to pay extra for insurance, as it makes me think that they dont understand how ebay works.

Also listings where the brand name of the item is spelt wrongly. If they really have the item, cant they check the label to check the spelling?

Pictures of clothes on people rather than on dummies or hangers put me off too.

[threetinytots]

ilovestripysocks - thanks for that, I didn't actually realise that you could put in a claim through paypal for things lost in the post, perhaps that will help me next time! I don't sell huge amounts, so maybe I am a bit of a novice seller. I did know about the 7 days to pay - hence why I have stopped putting in the listing. As you say, there is absolutely no point in listing reams of T&C's that just cannot be enforced. I think they are quite scary looking and very off putting!

Have been looking at listings since you mentioned the centre-aligned text and I think you are right! I do find it better to read "normal" text. So glad you started this thread - I am picking up lots of tips!

[ILoveStripeySocks]

Didnt mean to tell anyone off or anything, just thought we could share tips that would help us sell, and stand out from the riffraff