Thread: Why don't buyers read listings?

Gee this annoys me. I got a note this morning from an ebay buyer claiming that the razor that he bought wasn't as described. This surprised me because firstly I'm very reluctant to describe the overall condition of razors I sell on ebay and secondly, I'm really anal about making sure what write is 100% accurate.
Anyway, the buyer reckons I described the razor as being in excellent condition and he said that the razor had a lot of hone wear. When I looked at the listing I wrote "excellent condition, deep etching on the blade" and this is one of the photos that I posted. I think that the deep etching on the blade is in excellent condition and you can clearly see the level of hone wear in the picture. I really don't like the way that ebay gives the buyer the right to leave negative feedback against a seller at a whim so I offered a refund to the seller if they want to return the razor even though the listing is 100% accurate. It's just a lot of extra hassle because the buyer didn't really read the listing and look at the photos.

End of rant.

People just like to complain cause that's what we do best I can even see some hone wear

To be honest, I can see his point. The way you wrote it, it is not obvious that the adjective 'excellent' applies only to the etching.
I take "excellent condition, deep etching on the blade" to mean that the blade is in excellent condition, AND has deep etching.
And in that case, the description does not really match the picture, because the honewear makes it less than excellent.

Originally Posted by johnmrson

I wrote "excellent condition, deep etching on the blade" and this is one of the photos that I posted. I think that the deep etching on the blade is in excellent condition and you can clearly see the level of hone wear in the picture.

I believe that the comma makes it as two independent descriptors, instead of 'excellent condition' being qualifier to the deep etching. If I wanted to describe the etching as being in excellent condition I probably would have phrased it like "the blade has deep etching in excellent condition". Also I would have explicitly noted the hone wear and provided a measurement for the flat along the spine, rather than relying on just the photograph. I would say that the patterned background is making the hone wear rather hard to notice, especially by less experienced buyers who don't necessarily look hard for these things.

The thing is that it's easy to miscommunicate, these things happen, so best thing is to try to improve your future listings. If the hone wear wasn't explicitly noted, I would most certainly give your buyer the benefit of the doubt as you would share pretty large part for the misunderstanding.

The whole listing looked like this. Sorry, I should have provided the full context. It was a single line description in a multi line listing. I don't see how anyone could have read that to mean that it is describing the razor as opposed to the blade etching as being in excellent condition.



Heart Columbia Japanese straight razor - shave ready



The blade measures 20.1mm which makes it 13/16 in size.


This is a Western styled straight razor.


Excellent condition, deep etching on the blade


Nice faux ivory scales with brass inlay.



This is one of the other pics in the listing.


As for providing a measurement of the spine I don't see how that would be of any benefit unless you knew what the original measurement was with no hone wear. Also I've yet to see one listing on ebay or even in the cladssified here that provides any hone wear measurements.

I can see the buyers point too, and I'm afraid I agree with both Bruno and Gugi.

A comma inserted in a sentence can completely alter it's meaning, that's obvious. An extreme example I saw online recently is "Rachel likes cooking her family and her dog" - insert a comma and the meaning changes: "Rachel likes cooking, her family and her dog"!

However, the hone-wear is pretty self-evident in the picture and as the picture is an inherent part of the listing the buyer should have been aware of it.

Regards,
Neil

Ah, live and learn! Now just pray he does not leave negative feedback after he gets his money back. They do that. Not sure why if refund is given.
I am always triggered to look harder if listing reads to check pictures carefully. A way to get folks to look harder!

If the person sends it back i possiblity buy it
from ya though ebay.

Yep, the way I read it the listing is for an excellent razor. You have to be really careful when you write up a listing and the language has to be really simple and clear. I would have said "blade has deep etching and the etching is in excellent condition. The overall condition of the blade is..."

I consider Taylors1000 to be the gold standard for giving an accurate description of a razor.

I'm always 100% fully aware of what I buy when I buy from him and I wish more people would follow his format and model.

I also think the OP's ads to be very good and much better than 95% of razor ads out there.

Of the two purchases I've made from him, I've been well satisfied.

People are quite sensitive to honewear and I would rather sellers be upfront about this than coy.