Civil War Token Listing Practices On Ebay

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Author	Replies: 12 / Views: 1,352
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 03/09/2013 11:18 am I recently encountered an ebay seller who lists all of his tokens as simply "Civil War Token" in the heading. The seller acknowledged to me that not all of his offerings are Civil War tokens, saying he does this to capture the attention of those more knowledgeable collectors. My question then for our CCF folks: What is your opinion of such a practice ... positive, negative or neutral? ----------------------------------------------------------- I'll post some of the seller's listings in a few days, following some objective feedback on the question. Report this Post to the Staff

Funny Money Valued Member United States 424 Posts	Posted 03/09/2013 12:38 pm It's all about the seller trying to market them to whomever he feels will pay the most. So I'll go neutral. I mean what business of mine is it how someone wishes to sell their stuff. My 2Â¢. Edit...although now that I think about it, that misrepresenting the item...so...? Edited by Funny Money 03/09/2013 12:41 pm Report this Post to the Staff
nohope587 Pillar of the Community United States 5953 Posts	Posted 03/09/2013 1:56 pm The use of key words is part of the ebay thing since even though search says item and description its seems to only be the title. So the more key words you can use in your title the more hits and the better chance of a sale. If the key word clearly does not belong then I don't use it but there are plenty of sellers who would and do. I am kind of neutral I suspect he will loose as many customers as he gains people don't like to be misdirected and will probably remember the seller in the future in an unfavorable light. Report this Post to the Staff
bpoc1 Rest in Peace United States 4078 Posts	Posted 03/09/2013 4:48 pm Quote: The seller acknowledged to me that not all of his offerings are Civil War tokens, saying he does this to capture the attention of those more knowledgeable collectors. Honesty is the best. He did this to you but.... What about the unknowing? When it comes to money and ethics. We all should know what wins. Report this Post to the Staff
Dave H Pillar of the Community United States 1436 Posts	Posted 03/10/2013 5:53 pm How many categories can you list an item in? I've seen CW tokens listed in the Hard Times tokens & vice versa. Not saying it's right, but E-Bay is a "buyer beware" site. We all preach the "know what your buying" mantra. That type of thing is exactly why... Report this Post to the Staff
basebal21 Bedrock of the Community 13014 Posts	Posted 03/10/2013 6:51 pm Its not the worst thing in the world but it is annoying to see stuff like that when you are searching for something else. My pet peeve for Civil war listings is when a seller will list a coins as "pre civil war" or "post civil war" just to get them to show when someone searches civil war Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 10:31 am Here's the item that initially caught my attention and is described in the heading as a Civil War Token: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...:RTQ:US:1123 This seller handles quality items and has 35 years of knowledge to share yet lists every item as a "Civil War Token" regardless of its vintage. In this particular case, the company that made this "Civil War Token" was not formed until 1892, and the seller knows; this, given a reply to a question that I posed. IMHO, this is not only misleading, it's sad ... Report this Post to the Staff
Dave H Pillar of the Community United States 1436 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 2:37 pm Do all the items listed as CWTs have the same basic description in the auctions? It may have to do w/ laziness in not wanting to have to re-write them... Edited by Dave H 03/12/2013 12:43 pm Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 2:59 pm Quote: Do all the items listed as CQTs have the same basic description in the auctions? It may have to do w/ laziness in not wanting to have to re-write them... The seller said he does this to attract the attention of the more knowledgeable, Civil War token collectors. He feels that they would better know whether or not a any of his items are of Civil War vintage or not. As such, laziness or convenience is not a factor. The seller does this as a marketing ploy, and he makes no attempt to explain the vintage in his description; this, despite his thirty-five years' experience in coins and exonumia. I say that this is a ploy because a simple mention of Civil War tokens in the body of his description would cause his items to appear in a search for those, would it not? I believe that there has to be a simpler means for him to target certain collectors with being misleading (deceptive?) in his listings. Report this Post to the Staff
biokemist6 Bedrock of the Community United States 12437 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 3:00 pm The usage of the term "Civil War Token" for other unrelated tokens is quite clearly keyword spamming which is not allowed on ebay, not to mention that it is quite irritating when searching for specific items and you are forced to wade through page after page of dreck Keyword Spamming Keyword spamming is when people use words or details (such as brands, item condition, model names, pop culture terms, product names, style, and type) that have nothing to do with their items so that their listings will show up in search results. Since this clutters ebay and makes buying and selling more difficult, we don't allow keyword spamming. Allowed All the words in your listing have to be accurate and refer only to the item for sale. For lot listings, you can specify all the different items in the lot. For example, "This lot includes 2 pairs of shoes, 2 shirts, 1 pair of pants, 3 pairs of shorts, and a jacket." You can use synonyms to describe an item. For example, you can call a handbag a purse. Not allowed Calling out similaritiesâ€"for example, when selling a DVD, don't talk about Blu-ray discs. Comparisons between products aren't allowed. For example, you can't say things like "shirt not pants" or "video not Nano." Descriptions that promote items in other listings. For example, a listing for shoes can't say things like, "Check out my other listings for hats, shirts, pants, coats, gloves, and underwear." Hiding unrelated keywords in a listing by using white-on-white text, tiny fonts, or HTML or JavaScript code. Keywords in any part of a listing that aren't related to the item you're selling. Here are some examples: If you're selling a shirt, the title can't say "Nike shirt size M â€" shoes, hat, shorts." If you're selling an MP3 player, the listing description can't have keywords like "purse, shoes, baseball hat, DVD, toys, cell phone," etc. Words with question marks (such as "carved wood dresser â€" antique?"). If you're not sure about a detail, don't call it out at all because doing so can be misleading. Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 3:08 pm Interesting, Biochemist6. Simply being a buyer, myself, I was unaware of that, the keyword spamming. Might this particular seller write better wrtite as follows in his description: "This item might well appear to a Civil War token collector." Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 03/11/2013 3:13 pm Nohope587 wrote: Quote: I suspect he will loose as many customers as he gains people don't like to be misdirected and will probably remember the seller in the future in an unfavorable light. That's exactly how I felt when I realized what this seller is doing. Report this Post to the Staff
CheetahCats Pillar of the Community United States 731 Posts	Posted 03/12/2013 09:51 am IMO it is dishonest and misleading. For those less informed or less experienced, such a practice is deceitful. There are plenty of categories on ebay that are more appropriate. I generally filter out explicitly repeat offenders. That's because 99.999% of the time, in my experience, such sellers are purveying junk or juiced junk anyways. (I scan through tens of thousands of auctions weekly.) Edited by CheetahCats 03/12/2013 3:22 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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