Ebay Burnley

[KevJ+2]

There are two sellers on ebay at the moment selling elan and +2 parts (including log books).
What really annoys me is their lack of information in their ads. Newly advertised is a +2 chassis with diff, suspension steering rack etc.but the comprehensive description runs to - 'does not include wheels'
For God's sake, surely with a bit of thought they could add something more
Does anyone know anything about these two? I think one at least has been mentioned here before and although I'm sometimes interested in their items, I don't want to deal with people who so strangely give such little information.
Kev.

[Bud English]

Kev- Have you tried posting pretty much what you have above to the "ask a question" link in the ad? Your question gets posted to the ad and you might get the info you seek. I've had only one seller simply ignore my question and that ad went away before the close of the auction.

[KevJ+2]

Hi Bud, I see where your coming from but I think it's about openness and transparency and I suppose just being bothered to provide more than stating that something comes with wheels or not.
I understand that I can ask any questions but to me (and maybe it's just me!) but I think it's just plain lazy not to offer more to people and expect them to part with quite a lot of money (starting bid - ?1,750).
There is a maroon/silver +2 for sale at the moment with about 2 pages of information given- I like that, it's really interesting reading a comprehensive report on a sale item and in return, the seller deserves a good price!
Apologies Bud, bit of a rant,
All the best,
Kev.

[S2Jay]

I?m with you on this one Kev.

When the seller presents very little detail, it gives the impression [at least to me] that they do not know very much about the item, or they do not care much about the item or the sale, or they are trying to hide or be deceptive about something, or perhaps they just are not very bright. Or some combination of the above. This especially true as the cost and complexity of the item increases.

Yes, you can ask the questions, but I am not certain that the seller is someone with whom I want to be involved. At the least, I will be helping them do the work they should have done in the beginning. Sometimes there emerges a justifiable set of circumstances, but caution is warranted.

Jay

[Bud English]

Oh, I agree with you both. They may be devious crooks but I saw the ads your talking about. Even though they don't have an extensive track record with hundreds of sales, they do have 100% positive feedback with a reasonable number of sales. Every item sold had little or no decent item description.

Looking who they've bought from and at what they have sold I'd guess it's more a case of the guy asking his significant other to do the listing because he hasn't a clue about using ebay. Just a guess. Annoying, sure is!

[john.p.clegg]

Ooooops, someone has upset someone....

a special note for elan.net
i dont do detailed descriptions unless someone is actually interested
1/ i dont have the time to" make good reading"
2/ i have far to much to sell
3/i know to much about the parts i am (legally) selling to put down on paper
any questions can and will be answered in full
i will be watching elan.net very closely for any potentionaly libellous comments by your members
should this be found to be the case strong & swift legal action will be taken
(looselips beware)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ELAN-2- ... 27df5d68ca

John

[rgh0]

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-I ... 0671027034

[elanfan1]

You know what Phil - we all have busy lives yet it takes just a few minutes extra to put a detailed description on a listing. This is of benefit to potential purchasers and for you it should mean not having to repeat yourself to several different enquirers and you should get better prices too.

Silly threats are all well and good but you will be the loser because ebay seller requirements REQUIRE you (look it up) to accurately describe an item INCLUDING its faults and deficiencies.. Any complaints from a buyer and you WILL lose the case and Paypal will refund.

All seems a bit shortsighted to me - a little more thought/consideration and everyone should be happy!

[john.p.clegg]

Seems to me there are two sides to Fleabay,one over the pond and one this side and if you check it out the descriptions are like War and Peace versus Andy Pandy,maybe it's down to litigation issues,over here we don't sue people for thirty million pounds for farting in our face ( although it is going that way )

Bring back the good old days

John

[Elanintheforest]

I don't think that a lack of description would put off anybody who really wants something, although it probably puts off folks who want something as a spare or for the future. We have pretty short distances to travel to go have a look!

Some of my best buys on ebay have been items that have been under-sold or poorly described, and the best was probably my white S4 DHC advertised in 2 lines with 3 out-of-focus photos. One of the lines said that he'd lost the keys, V5 and history for the car! So one full line of description, which said it was a S4dhc, it had been off the road for 15 years and it didn't run. 2 sentances, 4 or 5 negative facts about the car, and photos that looked like he was trying to hide something.

I won the auction for ?5k as nobody else bid. The owner turned out to be a consultant surgeon at Jimmy's in Leeds, and was just focused on his work...nothing else was important.

The keys, V5 and old MOTs were under the seat, the car had 1 previous owner and was / is totally original and not messed about with. And nobody else bothered to contact the seller! I could have put it straight back on eBay with a full description and a good set of photos and just about doubled the price I paid....but of course, it's still here in the garage 5 years later.

So to the lads in Burnley, just a couple of thoughts. Most Elan owners in the UK, and many around the world, at least look at LotusElan.net. Many will also buy stuff to tuck away for the project they have to do when they've finished the current one, or the one after the current one.

The better the description, the easier you make it to buy, the more interest you'll get and the higher the price you'll achieve. If you don't know what stuff is, or what sort of price to start an auction with, just ask on here. The folks here are a very friendly bunch!

Mark

[KevJ+2]

My rebuild is going to cost me approx. ?15,000. Guess where I won't be spending it?
Looselips

[tonyr27]

Is the starting price dearer than the cost of a new one!!
[url][/url]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ELAN-ACCELERATOR-CABLE-/310882549500?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item48620b3efc

And is ?6 postage reasonable?

I posted a pair of front dampers for ?5

TonyR

[jono]

I bought a ?1.99 bike cable from Wilko and re soldered the nipple back on - sorted and works brilliantly

[Bud English]

Tony- Some sellers add a handling fee to the shipping costs. I think this is a leftover from the days that you paid your seller's fee based on the selling price of the item only, not on the total including shipping. On today's fleaBay it doesn't matter whether that extra charge is in the selling price or in postage and handling. The seller is going to pay the seller's fee on the total. You can see this here: http://www.fees.ebay.com/feeweb/feecalculator. I don't know if the UK site has the calculator or not, but I'm pretty sure the seller's fee is the same.

Some buyers are put off by anything that appears to be underhanded or shady, whether that's the intention of the seller or not, and some see incomplete info and shy away. That was my point above. I usually look at what the seller has done in the past. I look at feedback ratings primarily, but I do look at what they have bought and sold if in doubt. You don't get 100% feedback by hosing buyers with misleading or inaccurate descriptions. As shown in this case you can have 100% feedback even if you are shortsighted and cranky while selling to customers that are 100% satisfied with their transactions with you. You just limit your customer base.