[meteorite-list] eBay notices and posting quotas

From: j.divelbiss_at_att.net <j.divelbiss_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:49 2004
Message-ID: <20030901140153.BC7AE5395B_at_pairlist.net>

Elton and others,

The ebay sales notices are annoying, but tolerable for the most part...they
have yet to come even close to raising my ire like the barrage of trivial
trade offerings we used to get. Some of you may recall my tantrums over
those. If they start again to any degree...I'll probably go off again.

Once a week sounds fine for the most part...but my latest "bug" has to be the
occasional beating over the head we get when someone's auctions are not going
as well as they would like...and the message comes out in-so-much telling
us "to get off our butts" and bid on their items or we'll miss out the
greatest deals of all time. As Elton says...most of us who might be
interested in buying something know who is selling what and when. Especially
the ones with the bigger auctions or the nicest material. And a few
individuals will probably never get a bid from me...and that's the way it is.

Reminding us that some nice material is available...once a week at the most
sounds OK to me. But to tell me your Nantans or NWA chondrites are going
cheap...hurry or miss out...come on, get serious.

John

> eBay auction notices........arrrrrggggghhhhhh!
>
> While I once defended their posting, in my eyes they have become all too
> redundant and a few are obnoxious. Since the early days of this list
> the number of dealers has tripled so by shear numbers the amount of
> postings have taken a hog share of traffic. There are two frequent
> areas of abuse I see in them. This list is worldwide now and just like
> some threads here the sun never sets on it! The notice telling me an
> auction ends in an hour without telling me which date and hour you are
> referring to-- is virtually worthless unless I am online the same time
> you are. Someone suggested by convention you state in eBay time when the
> auctions close. (BTW an hour's notice is really worthless to mose users
> anyway when you think about the timing of things.)
>
> In large the old time dealers aren't as as insensitive as the late
> comers , however, the barrage of notices make me want to place a weekly
> quota on the number of posts about eBay auctions.
>
> I propose ONE only in a seven day period. Either the start or the
> approaching end of an auction series-- let the seller choose which is
> more important. Serious dealers (ahem) have the savvy to set up their
> own announcement lists and/or to use the meteorite sale list. Those
> more interested in selling/ trading (vs. bragging and cyber-battery) use
> the meteorite sale list--An underutilized resource lost time and again
> on some of the most flagrant abusers--but I digress.
>
> If you ARE going to make an announcement, make it worth my time. If you
> are posting just to tell me you have some auctions on ebay...(yawn) we
> both have better things to do. If you have something NOTEWORTHY tell me
> what it is and be specific. Understand that if I am a typical buyer,
> I am already working through the ebay catagory on a regular basis and I
> have SEEN your auctions. If I am a fan of yours, I have already gone
> thru your entire list a second time.
>
> I am not a list rule maker but I think I am expressing what others want
> to say or have said time and again. Speaking of rules... the
> requirement to place a SALE or AD(ADVERT?) in the subject line on any
> post of that nature is probably the most abused rule list I am aware of.
> Whatever is used please standardize it so mail filters can be setup that
> work.
>
> Lets choose up sides and let the replies begin.....
>
> Elton
>
>
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Received on Mon 01 Sep 2003 10:01:50 AM PDT