[lv_forever]

First of all, I always ask questions before the auction ends. They all respond quickly and politely when I ask them questions like "does it come with a dust bag/ box?" However, when I ask them for more pictures (because there was ONE picture on auction), I either get "Oh, my camera is being repaired and I will send them to you soon" (and never write me back so I therefore do not bid) or no response at all. I am always polite and my questions are succint, so I don't think it's my problem.

Is it because they have something to hide or just lazy? I gave them a plenty of time (usually 3-4 days prior to auction ending).

Suffice it to say, I haven't bid on eBay for a LONG TIME because of this problem. I just don't feel comfortable. However, apparently there are a whole bunch of people willing to bid on an item for a lot of $$$ w/o getting more pictures?

Should I just stay away from these sellers?

[Jen Loves LV]

My opinion is that if they're too lazy to take sufficient pictures when listing it, they will be too lazy to take more when asked. The best seller is one with a lot of GOOD pictures and willing to answer questions and take more pictures if needed. It's all about trying to make a sale, a seller to should be more than willing to do something that could result in a higher auction price!

[kimberf]

I would stay away if you don't get pictures that make you comfortable purchasing from them. It's better than being sorry later; there are definitely a lot of fakes out there. I do the same thing - not enough pictures, I won't bid. I recently asked a seller for more pictures to see bag hardware and the ones she sent me were teeny tiny -- I literally think she just cropped areas out of a normal photo. I'm not bidding as a result.

That said, I don't think that it's necessarily always because they're trying to hide something. If they're a casual seller, they could simply not be great with the camera or not get the importance of the pictures. I've certainly learned that I don't have a super-steady hand when it comes to taking close-up pics of details. I sold a few items on eBay years ago and quit doing it partly because it literally would take me hours to take photos, upload them, discover they were too blurry (since I couldn't tell on the little camera screen), retake them, upload again, still not clear enough, do it again, then upload to eBay, etc.

[jchiara]

No - if you're really interested...please ask for more pictures. You can offer to have them send them directly to your email address as well if they don't want to pay for the extra pictures....but frankly, if they're going to be getting more questions for more pictures, they might as well post on their auction....

[Lvbabydoll]

I honestly have no idea! I help authenticate in the LV area and our motto is, no pics=no buy. If you don't get the pics requested, then you shouldn't bid on the item. Also though, it's good to ask for even ONE picture on any item, just to be sure they actually have their item in their posession. I've heard too many stories lately about seemingly good sellers who show one item in an auction, then send something different.

[melissa_talent]

Originally Posted by Lvbabydoll

I honestly have no idea! I help authenticate in the LV area and our motto is, no pics=no buy. If you don't get the pics requested, then you shouldn't bid on the item. Also though, it's good to ask for even ONE picture on any item, just to be sure they actually have their item in their posession. I've heard too many stories lately about seemingly good sellers who show one item in an auction, then send something different.

oh so true! my friend sadly was a victim of such a transaction, she thought she won an authentic gucci but wow.. when it arrived were we both shocked! she did ask for additinal pictures but who knows where they came from!

from now on when i ask for additional pictures i always always always have the seller take a piece of paper, write "for melissa from [insert eBay id here]" and take a crap load. if they're not willing to go along with this to ease my sometimes weary mind then i steer clear.

[KaiieCHANEL]

Well when i saw a Chanel cambon wallet on eBay i thought it was fake ,
but they only had one picture so i asked for more and they said SURE then i find they have taken the auction off or something!
I think it's cause it was fake.

[MissusB]

As a rule, sellers aren't stupid...if they are selling an authentic item, they will take great pains to include photos of important authentication elements in the listing. I feel that is a photo isn't included, there is usually a reason!

Now, there are exceptions to the rule...but many times I get a "gut" feeling from someone's response to my request for pics. "My husband took our camera on a camping trip with my son", "my camera's in for repair", "was using a friend's camera" or "out of town and will send later" are ones I've heard before. Honest sellers will go out of their way to prove to you that they are just that!

True, you may miss out on a great deal once in a blue moon, but "why pay to get sick when you can stay well for free"?

[lv_forever]

^ so true.
I also don't think it's safe to bid on their items not only because they didn't respond to me about pic requests, but also because they were not communicative. I mean, I am the potential buyer and they are not responding. What would they do once I give them my $? I can only imagine the horror of dealing with them when the item has not arrived in a month.

[Lvbabydoll]

Originally Posted by melissa_talent

oh so true! my friend sadly was a victim of such a transaction, she thought she won an authentic gucci but wow.. when it arrived were we both shocked! she did ask for additinal pictures but who knows where they came from!

from now on when i ask for additional pictures i always always always have the seller take a piece of paper, write "for melissa from [insert eBay id here]" and take a crap load. if they're not willing to go along with this to ease my sometimes weary mind then i steer clear.

Oh that's a good idea..I saw some auctions last night where the seller had a printout of their screen name underneath the item. I'm beginning to think that's one of the only ways to be able to tell that the seller even has the item anymore.

[designbutterfly]

Because it's a fake! They only take photos of areas that may look real!

[halocom]

This is kind of an aside, but as a seller, I don't always take the requested pictures b/c the person hasn't read my auction (I don't write overly long ones and don't use tiny fonts - so I don't feel there's excessive information to sort through).

For example, on one of my recent auctions, an international buyer asked multiple times for photos, hinting that she didn't think my item was authentic. However, it's very clear in my auction that I do not ship internationally and I told her that I was not going to invest the time and effort (which is a lot for me b/c I'm not that great with a camera) to take the number of photos she wanted since she wasn't going to be able to buy it anyway.

But for legitimate buyers, I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't take additional photos.

[Lvbabydoll]

Originally Posted by halocom

This is kind of an aside, but as a seller, I don't always take the requested pictures b/c the person hasn't read my auction (I don't write overly long ones and don't use tiny fonts - so I don't feel there's excessive information to sort through).

For example, on one of my recent auctions, an international buyer asked multiple times for photos, hinting that she didn't think my item was authentic. However, it's very clear in my auction that I do not ship internationally and I told her that I was not going to invest the time and effort (which is a lot for me b/c I'm not that great with a camera) to take the number of photos she wanted since she wasn't going to be able to buy it anyway.

But for legitimate buyers, I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't take additional photos.

Yeah in that cases, it's perfectly fine not to send more pics. I wouldn't want to spend time doing that for someone who won't be able to get the bag anyway!

[ashakes]

Originally Posted by MissusB

As a rule, sellers aren't stupid...if they are selling an authentic item, they will take great pains to include photos of important authentication elements in the listing. I feel that is a photo isn't included, there is usually a reason!

Now, there are exceptions to the rule...but many times I get a "gut" feeling from someone's response to my request for pics. "My husband took our camera on a camping trip with my son", "my camera's in for repair", "was using a friend's camera" or "out of town and will send later" are ones I've heard before. Honest sellers will go out of their way to prove to you that they are just that!

True, you may miss out on a great deal once in a blue moon, but "why pay to get sick when you can stay well for free"?

Totally agree! I myself am having camera problems legitly LOL, but I will still try to take whatever additional pictures potential buyers ask of me. I would expect sellers to do the same for me.

I did get irritated one time because I literally already had 15 photos of an LV and they were detailed and showed all the things one would need to prove it was authentic and to see the condition, and I still had a buyer e-mail me asking me to "add pictures to my store". Ummmm I'm not a store. LOL These are things from my personal collection! But, that is the only time I didn't want to take anymore photos. Of course, I still did though b/c I felt that was the right thing to do!

[Lvbabydoll]

^Lol. I had a bidder email me today about a pair of shoes, wondering if the pictures of them were recent. Um yeah, of course they are, I'm selling them because I don't wear them, I'm not going to go partying in them and then send her beat up shoes.