In ebay messages how important is language/spelling?

[berryblondeboys]

I heard once that a warning sign of a scammer is bad use of language and spelling errors, but if you find someone has been a member for 3-4 years with transactions always transpiring (no lags) and lots of different buyer and they are a powerseller and over a 99% rating, do you NEED to worry?

I've been writing back and forth with this lady and she's an older lady, but her use of language and her typos (and they seem to be typos) are HORRENDOUS... like several in a sentence... is this weird?

I have so little experience with bad writing. it's not for a handbag, but for furniture.

 

[yeuxhonnetes]

ratings and feedback notwithstanding, i find the use of good grammar and spelling extremely important, because not only is it teeth-grindingly irritating to have to try and decipher what the other party is saying, but also sometimes the message can be misinterpreted, which is the most dangerous situation

 

[berryblondeboys]

her ratings are excellent. her buyers all seem legit (and are all different and all still members who have bought before and after). She has a couple negative reviews, but nothing that is out of the ordinary (I have a bad one from a kook too!)

Here's one of the emails I received - the first one. All are this bad or worse:
____
good morning, I would first like to commend your tatse,as this is
the beat example oof high end fdesigner mid entur I hve ssen
andI have been a NYC decorator for many years in the Upper
east Side nad exposed to the best off everything.

The table has FUL pads nad I thik rarely used, the cairs
naugahyde with wonderful supple feel,-----and wonderful
conditon ,as well , The nice things of the chairs are they are
straight and not sinking to make eating at a comfort level but
not to feel stiff -they are well cushioned. my tel. # is XXX-XXX-XXXX, if you woud like to persoanlly discuss, I may be able to
give you a better feel for same .. the sideboard was used in the
PARK AVE AMORRY ANTIQUR SHOW NYC several years ago ,as
being the "ultimate in furniture making by XX. This
is not a sales pitch,as you can see by my auctions, I deal with the
crem de le crem but some photos are hard to digest on hard
surface@ computer. XX is the only carrier that I woujld trust
ith the delivery, they blanket warp crate nad place within the
home and leave NOTHING @ packcing material . Much too nice
to truust wiht anyone else. there Tahk sgiving cut offs are nov 1
but they come here 2 or three times a week . They also allow
COD -which is rare . thet=re cost to DC area is $620 for all nad
the reason I knwo,, becasue had a quote for manasas va on fridy
thansk you nad I hope that I have helped in the descion making
process -this is a real treasurable set. thansking you in advance

______

See what I mean?

 

[berryblondeboys]

I know it's tacky to answer your own post, but oh well! I emailed a couple of her recent buyers to see if all went as well as their feedback presented it and it seems yes, she/he is full of typos, but the products are great and the service is great. The one guy said (and he has over 1000 transactions) that he was worried about the typos too, but it was all very good and the furniture was actually better than he expected, so, I'll have to trust it's all good.

You all have scared me here!:true:

 

[amanda]

i would be terrified to buy from someone that expressed themselves that way - it's one thing to be a bad speller, its quite another to be lazy enough to not even fix obvious, glaring typos when conducting a professional transaction. if you've spoken with some of his or her past customers, though, it might be worth it.

 

[omgblonde]

Maybe she has some form of a learning disability. A girl I know has dyslexia & her typing is pretty much on the same level as her. Doesn't mean she's a dishonest person/scammer though. But I do see where your coming from, I'd probably be weary too. But if she has lots of good feedback I don't think you need to worry.

 

[annanas]

that looks like she has some sort of learning disability to me too. there are just too many mistakes for them to just be spelling mistakes. either that or she might have trouble typing, or seeing the computer screen properly.

 

[berryblondeboys]

One of the two buyers I contacted said that she had hurt her finger and typing was difficult, so my guess is that she can't type as well and going back to correct errors is too much work (she is selling a lot, so multiply my questions by X number of auctions). I guess the one up side is that maybe it does discourage some potential buyers so it's keeping the price low for me!

 

[bags4fun]

spellcheck????

 

[berryblondeboys]

spellcheck????

I don't recall seeing a spellcheck on ebay message boxes. Honestly, I think she's just lazy to do it. She's been selling successfully since 1999 and has 654 positive transactions and 6 negatives. 4 of the negatives were from novice buyers who jumped too fast to criticizing (not contacting her beforehand about shipping damage, etc). The rest rave about her service, communication and the products. I'm just going to have to trust that I suppose.

 

[skigirl73]

She might not originally be from the U.S. I have a good friend who is from Germany and has been here for over 12 years and her spelling is probably as bad as your seller. Or she could have a learning disability. If she has good feedback, I probably wouldn't worry about her spelling deficiency.

 

[kimberf]

This was kind of my thought as well -- maybe she's dyslexic? If her other customers have been happy, I think you're probably in good hands, though I also would have been worried in the first place!!

Maybe she has some form of a learning disability. A girl I know has dyslexia & her typing is pretty much on the same level as her. Doesn't mean she's a dishonest person/scammer though. But I do see where your coming from, I'd probably be weary too. But if she has lots of good feedback I don't think you need to worry.

 

[shoppaholic]

since you said..she's an older lady..could it be that she just doesn't know how to spell words correctly?? we can't assume that people who sell/buy on ebay are all educated and a good speller.. and others suggested that it could be a language barrier, health condition of some sort.. just a thought...

 

[lulilu]

I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe English is not her first language. Or, as others have said, is older and just not a good typist. I have gotten some pretty bad messages from prospective buyers, but they still conveyed their questions.

 

[berryblondeboys]

Well, I got the dining set (and I'm thrilled). It's a John Widdicomb set and I got it for a fabulous price.

It's just weird about her typing (last night it wasn't as bad). I think she types while on the go too because one of the emails I got yesterday said, "When I get home I'll send some more pictures."

She's a retired decorator in NYC with high end clients and she lives on a boat (used to live in a big house). I know her son lives in NYC and is an NBC anchorman... who, I don't know. She has a daughter in Chicago too (we've been emailing quite a bit). Anyway, she does this for fun - to make a little money but mainly just to get great products out to new people from her former clients (I think she sells their "hand-me-downs").

I'm totally comfortable with the transaction and have TONS of photos and all emails through ebay, so it should be good. If you want to see the set, go to the general discussion under, "OMGoodness I won the dining set!"