Abrasive Terms of Sale

Hey eBayers, everybody has a bad experience with bidders. Everybody.

The trick is to not let your bad experiences rub off onto your auctions.

What I am referring to is the very negative and strict terms of sale found in some auctions. These terms of sale often turn off potential bidders. For example:

• "I have been plagued by too many non-payers & re-listing an item is expensive."
• "Money order or cashiers’ check made out to me (email me within 24 hours of auction close for address). I still must receive payment within 7 days of auction close.
  * No personal checks – No exceptions"

These are not even some of the worse terms that I have seen, but they are still pretty negative.

What you have to realize is that about 90% of your bidders will just bid on your item and then pay for it in the next 2-3 days without prompting. The more terms, conditions, and instructions you have, the more potential bidders you will turn off.

Go back and reconsider your terms of sales, and your eBay auctions. Make sure they are simple, and non-threatening, and you could see an increase in bidders. Don't try to dissuade the bad 10%, instead try to persuade the interested 90%.