Things I've learned being new to selling on Bartertown

[frankcastle]

<SNIP>

Speaking of which. Is there a way to find out what people bought or how much they have spent?

Only from what has been said in the references about that person. Some people like to post exactly what happened down to dollar amounts and model count, others simply say "good trade, fast shipping, would trade again" or something along those lines

Hmmm clearly ebay has taught me bad habits my reviews were pretty vague. I should have been more detailed.

[porkuslime]

I would (almost always) try to put in a "what was traded" line, even if it was general in nature.. "I relieved trader X of his hard earned currency for my lousy ol' Mordhiem stuff" or something.

I do not think I have ever gotten detailed to the point of "I paid Trader Y $251.89 USD for his collection of vintage rubber band powered airplanes, (consisting of 128 still in package planes, 4 built planes, and 820 planes without intact wings)"

However, there have been times when I have been rushed, or leaving many references at one time, or forgetful to the point when I leave feedback 2 months late.. that I am vague as to details.

-P

[pretre]

Yeah, I'm trying to get better about that. Mostly because of completing trades with folks like porkuslime who made be feel guilty for my vague, vague references.

[frankcastle]

I would (almost always) try to put in a "what was traded" line, even if it was general in nature.. "I relieved trader X of his hard earned currency for my lousy ol' Mordhiem stuff" or something.

I do not think I have ever gotten detailed to the point of "I paid Trader Y $251.89 USD for his collection of vintage rubber band powered airplanes, (consisting of 128 still in package planes, 4 built planes, and 820 planes without intact wings)"

However, there have been times when I have been rushed, or leaving many references at one time, or forgetful to the point when I leave feedback 2 months late.. that I am vague as to details.

-P

There's a rubber band plane section?

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

There's a rubber band plane section?

Proxies for Cron Air.

[porkuslime]

There's a rubber band plane section?

Collectibles.

Word.

-P

[Adunaphel]

If it's any help at all, I have had MUCH worse luck with bad apples on EBay than I have had here. I have probably done about 400 transactions here and had two that were trouble (and they both eventually worked out). On EBay, I have done about 500 transactions and had more than a dozen bad experiences (including three nightmares where I was the seller and got robbed of LARGE amounts of money).

I find it interesting that people seem to think that EBay and Paypal somehow make a transaction "safe". For me, it has been anything but safe. Having said that, there are uses for both.

As to the original question, I would ignore a trader that wanted to finish a transaction here by going to EBay.

Also, I do try to give a synopsis of the trade when I leave a reference. But, I don't go into great detail.

Karl

[carmachu]

If you want to inspire the confidence of a good rating, put in the work. None of us sprang up fully-formed with an awesome rating; we all traded our way to where we are.

You want to convince people that you are legit on BT? Communicate well and swiftly. Honor all of your trades and go above and beyond. Ship quickly. Pay quickly. Accept that you currently have a low rating and bend a bit when dealing with people with higher ratings.

In no time, you'll have a higher rating and a good rep. That's how I did it.

This. The rating you see next to my name took years of work. Decade even, and its not even all the trades I've done. Some folks just don't leave feedback.

[YoungWolf777]

But I will say this--it would be a rare trader--like porkuslime, Steven H., YoungWolf777--that I would send $1000 worth of figs to straight up.

High praise indeed. I'm honored to be included in that company.

As someone who started out with a 0 rating (like everyone else) all I can say is be up front, be honest, and above all be dependable. If something is going awry, communicate immediately. There's no such thing as too much communication during a trade. I always do my best to treat trade partners the same way I would like to be treated, even if it's not reciprocated. I have yet to be (knock on wood, formica, etc.) scammed, although I have had a few disappointing trades where items were not accurately described. If something doesn't smell right, it's probably not. Move on.

As for the move to ebay question, I would most likely avoid that deal as it doesn't "feel" right to me. If I want to use ebay, I will use ebay, almost exclusively as a buyer from known sellers with high ratings. (Usually bits stores) Bartertown is more about dealing directly with the person, where ebay allows a certain level of anonymity.

I have successfully completed deals here worth $500+ with little anxiety. Do your homework on your prospective trade partner. If you need more info, PM their past trade partners for details on their dealings with them. I'm always happy to answer those kinds of inquiries as it helps the community as a whole.

YMMV

[kturock]

As someone who's been screwed both ebay and here, I approach all deals warily.
I bought a large amount of CSM on ebay, and models were broken, and missing. I filed with ebay asking for a partial refund for the peices missing; ignoring the broken models, since I could reglue them. Ebay said, no proof was submitted, with no option to send photos of the missing sprues or damaged models.
I also bought SM that were supposed to be Death Squad. They were SM, painted black with white X's on them. The pic was blurry and distant. I filed with ebay and got no answer.
So much for ebay's protection.

Here, I've bought some rhinos and they were broken, poorly built, poorly packed and slopaily painted. I sent the seller a pm, his answer was, what did you expect for that price. [this was before btr could be filed. only negative refs.]

Now that I have a decent number of refs, I ask to receive my end unless the buyer has either traded with me before or has more refs than I do.

[carmachu]

Here's a silly question for the mods:

Why cant refs tell us how much roughly was the trade? every time I make a ref for a person, I can comment and under it askes me the estimated value. I always fill that out. Why cant folks see that?

[imp522]

Here's a silly question for the mods:

Why cant refs tell us how much roughly was the trade? every time I make a ref for a person, I can comment and under it askes me the estimated value. I always fill that out. Why cant folks see that?

It's for the Bill we send you every 10 years, we charge 15% of the total
Honestly, good question I imagine MM or Pork will be able to answer.

[Bahamut_Dragonlord]

Here's a silly question for the mods:

Why cant refs tell us how much roughly was the trade? every time I make a ref for a person, I can comment and under it askes me the estimated value. I always fill that out. Why cant folks see that?

I don't ever fill that in, I think if I ever found out the total it would make me sad, I like my denial...

[MagickalMemories]

That's a technical question. I don't know the answer, myself. They only keep me around because I'm charming, sarcastic, a good enforcer and have a bunch of knowledge on trading and catching scammers... and because I'm sucker enough to take the job. Not for my technical prowess.
LOL

Oh, and because I'm charming. ; )

Eric

[carmachu]

So basically the answer is no one asked that question of why its there? Perhaps someone can ask Lins?