Columbia arm on Ebay???????

[Andersun]

I'm not encouraging the withholding of information or photos from people, rather expressing my distaste for inquiries from those who are less prospective buyers than they are tire-kicking time wasters. and then there are the "buyers" who went high resolution photographs of every corner, every possible knick, each decal and label, lid top, cabinet bottom, etc. simply put, it's labor intensive... and if you consider the cost/benefit analysis, it's not worth the time. on the dozen or so occasions that I've fully answered and complied with such requests in my more than 10 years of selling crap on ebay, not once did one of those people end up buying what they were asking about... and so far as negative feedback, or after-sale complaints, I can recall one single occasion where that occurred - in the context of a few hundred sales - and nothing would have satisfied this guy aside from getting some money back... he had no intention of returning the machine that he was so critical of, he simply wanted what he referred to as "recompense."

and I don't know what you mean by that - as in taking additional photos and providing everything prospective buyers request - being what you're paid for. speaking for myself, at least, ebay is not my job, and responding to people of the sort described above certainly isn't as well. and, not that it matters, but most of the machines I've been selling for the past few years don't make me much money, if any... it's more a matter of getting my money out of things that I can no longer keep.

brianu,
It's simple, if a seller has a problem with people asking him questions, he need not respond. Sellers who don't respond to my questions don't get my business.

[brianu]

I wasn't looking to start a protracted discussion, just responding to the previous post. although I don't necessarily disagree with you, I think you oversimplify the subject. I wasn't talking about or taking issue with responding to reasonable inquiries - why wouldn't a person do that? it's the unreasonable, demanding ones (like the examples I mentioned) that create the problems and frustrate some sellers from being overly giving, so to speak, in their replies to anyone thereafter... you take the time too many times to provide people additional photos, to re-examine things more closely and write up more substantial condition reports, etc., for people who you never hear from again thereafter, not even a thank you, then you - as a seller, an ebay occasional "seller" mind you, not a commercial dealer or store owner, per se - might understandable become a bit less patient and responsive to inquiries in the future, particularly when they ask for too much while otherwise expressing too little interest in actually bidding/buying... for example, an email from a buyer in italy asking for a dozen more photos of a machine in wisconsin being offered for local pick-up only.

[JerryVan]

Just because you take the time to exhaustively respond to a question, it does not then obligate the potential buyer to make a bid. Perhaps your well thought out response leads him to decide, "no". You are correct in that a simple thank you would be in order.

[Andersun]

I guess it's just part of the hassles you have to go through when selling something on-line. I have been bugged by stupid questions on many auctions. I just try to answer them the best I can.

[brianu]

Just because you take the time to exhaustively respond to a question, it does not then obligate the potential buyer to make a bid. Perhaps your well thought out response leads him to decide, "no". You are correct in that a simple thank you would be in order.

I never said it did (obligate a possible buyer to do anything). if you read back several posts, I was merely offering an opinion on why some sellers (such as the seller of the tonearm that is/was the subject of this thread) are less responsive to questions and inquiries than others. that was all. yes, though, thank you's are always nice, and a too frequently neglected device in this digital age... in this age in general. so, um, thank you for your response.

[JerryVan]

You're welcome!