Most buyers don't read the description

[sugar249]

This is an often discussed point on here,  and this is just a fun post,  because there are to many other non fun posts on here. But if it also gives us all a little reminder to double check, well thats a bonus

A case study.

A seller has had an item listed for well over 5 years,  no revisions ever made (accept to add more stock).

The item is mug.

• The title says it holds 8 fluid ounces
• The description says it holds 430ml.
• The seller has sold over 50 of these items in that time.
• The seller has not had one complaint or Item not as described case (8oz is about 236ml) (15oz is 430ml)
• Overnight the seller gets a question asking which is correct.
• The seller corrects the title.

It has taken 5 years and 50 sales for someone to pickup the error (including the silly seller).

Now lets hope the potential buyer wanted the bigger size.

Note to self go back and check all sizing.

[love_of_cars]

Every couple of months I list services for a client on Gumtree, which includes pricing for our packages.

Every time without fail people send me messages asking what are the prices.

[springyzone]

I am guessing in the case you mentioned, buyers were ignoring the fluid ounces completely. A lot of the young ones wouldn't know how many ml that is so as long as they got a roughly decent sized mug, they were happy. Bet most of them never even measured how much it held.😁

There was one ebay feedback a few years back that had me in fits of laughter, though I felt sorry for the poor seller. It still makes me laugh actually, most ridiculous feedback comment ever.

I had occasion to be looking for very narrow double sided tape & ribbon. I needed 0.5cm. I couldn't find it in the craft shops but ebay was marvellous & I found what I wanted.

The seller I settled on was an Australian seller and I saw her feedback had a neg. Someone had bought this exact tape and their comment was, 'This tape is far too narrow, it isn't even 1cm wide."

I bought the tape but I couldn't resist messaging the seller and saying I was so relieved to be able to find the narrow tape I needed & couldn't believe the stupidity of the person who gave her the neg.

She answered and said yes, she had been tempted to reply to them that their first ebay purchase should have been a ruler.😂😂

There's another case of mistaken counting or sizing that shows the habit is not restricted to ebay buyers. I forget where I read this, but apparently back in the day when scientists were investigating chromosomes, a photo was taken of the sets of chromosomes and the researcher published that they had discovered humans had.. I forget what they said, maybe 22? pairs of chromosomes.

That was republished and never questioned till one day, some lowly person who was bored actually counted the sets in the photo and said hang on, how come I can see 23 pairs?

[dresstopia]

And all the rest don't look at the photos. I'm sure they buy on impulse from the item title and the first picture only. I was selling a dress one time with a fabric defect - I sold it four times before giving up. Each time I'd ask the buyer if they read the description and checked the photos...

[*sons_n_daughters*]

I sold a loose gemstone a few years ago. I'd listed it as "tiny <gemstone type> gemstone, 3 x 5mm". I had taken macro photos to show buyers what they were getting. The last photo was of the stone with a 5c coin, which showed it as being tiny. Of course the photos showed it as being huge. The buyer sent a message expressing their sadness as it was so small. REALLY? Not only did I put the size in the heading, I also mentioned several times in the description that this gemstone is REALLY small. They got it for like 4 bucks with free postage (which at the time I think was about 60c for less than 5mm). Thankfully they didn't leave feedback. I was expecting a neg!

[springyzone]

Honestly, you could not have done more.

I've seen Chinese ads, not for gemstones exactly, but for those coloured stones for cardmaking and craft. The size is mentioned but still some of the neg/neutral feedback will state that they were smaller than expected.

I truly believe a lot of people should drag out a ruler and actually physically look at the dimensions if they can't visualise a size.