Comments on: Wake Up Blind eBay Members!

By: harry

harry — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:36:15 +0000

i really dont think people should be offended by the title as it was referenced at ebayers not people in general. I dont think people are stupid i think it is solely to do with selective reading ‘skimming’ there is not much that can be done about this apart from maybe bold text clearly clarrifying the purchase.

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:22:19 +0000

I’m so glad that I’m not the only one having trouble with Ebayers and ebooks. I have written several ebooks and, although they sell really well, it’s amazing how many times I’ve been asked for the cost of postage. Ahh well, one day they might get it right.

By: Pat Graham

Pat Graham — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:11:08 +0000

After reading last week’s rant for the second time, I have a
suggestion for helping people to read the copy.

How about placing a captivating question or two in various
places in the copy. The question could be in a bright color
and larger font than the main body copy. The following
paragraphs could answer the question and mention “ebook
download” a few times.

When I skim a sales letter…yes, I do it, too…and pass over a
question that stirs my curiousity, I stop and scroll back to it
to see what the answer is. This is a simple thing to do, but it
might be effective.

Pat

By: Dan (el_passo)

Dan (el_passo) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:28:23 +0000

Thanks for all your comments.

Let me just make a “Global” apology for the subject line. I honestly didn’t think it would cause so much controversy. As someone else posted it wasn’t at all a dig at Blind people, just a tounge in cheek comment about eBayers that don’t read listings in full.

Paul – Good point about the conversion rates ATM. There has never been a better time to buy products in USD with the exchange rate as it is. If you are planning on buying expensive products in USD then now is the time to do it, the exchange rate today is $1 = £0.52

By: Dixie

Dixie — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 06:04:08 +0000

Hi Dan: Most people who buy books on eBay, buy actual books. They aren’t blind or stupid. They find a title that is of interest, and see the picture of a book, and instead of reading the entire description, they just say “yippee – that’s just what I was looking for!!” They hit the bid or buy button, delighted that they have found a book with free shipping. Most don’t know a lot of computer jargon, if any, and haven’t the foggiest idea what upload, download, or digital means – to them, an ebook is a book that’s sold on eBay. They need to be told, right up front, that an ebook is an electronic transfer that will be sent to their computer as soon as their payment is received, and they should watch their email for instructions. Tell them if they still don’t understand what an ebook is, to click on “ask seller a question” in the upper right hand corner of the page, and you will explain further. I know this to be true, because 3 years ago, when I first started buying and selling on eBay, I was new to the internet, and proud that I could get an eBay account set up by myself. Go ahead and laugh, but we all have to start somewhere. I’ll bet if you took a poll, you would find that all unhappy customers are fairly new to eBay and the internet – not to mention ebooks. That’s my 2 cents.
Dixie
(eBay ID: dixieredhatter)

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:29:55 +0000

I too was offended by the subject line of this email as both my daughter and her partner are blind. Whilst most people would not even give it a second thought, people who are either directly or indirectly affected by this most terrible of conditions most certainly will be. I applaud the people who have been offended by this and have been brave enough to say so in this “blog”

with that said, now to the second reason for replying to this thread.
A quick word of advice to anyone who may be considering buying “JAWS” It is a very expensive piece of software ( $800 US or about £600 GB) and it does have its fair share of shall we say quirks. But if you are going to buy it the observant of you may have noticed the figures above do not correlate to the exchange rates for the given currencies. So the advice is when searching where to buy from you are better off buying from the US than you would be buying from the UK approximately to the tune of £150 ($300) So it pays to shop arround.

All The Best

Paul

By: Sinita

Sinita — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:42:11 +0000

I agree, Janey, I didn’t feel that Janet sounded offended in her post.

By: Janey

Janey — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:48:29 +0000

Janet Quoted:
Hi
Well I will probably be one of the few that find the question very offensive. BECAUSE YES I AM BLIND! I have a program no my computer called JAWS and it reads to me what is on the screen. As for the lady and the ebooks unless stated that they are hard cover, or paper back if bought over the net I take for granted they are digital. But then again I try to use gray matter. I have noctice that people tend to think things are what they want so it had best be stated plainly exactly what it is.
Jan

I read the original post by Dan and interpreted it to be referring to ‘blind ebayers’ as apposed to ‘blind people’ ie. people that simply do not read the listings and therefore assume what they have read to be correct, but certainly not directed at blind people in any way!

By: LINDA

LINDA — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:26:38 +0000

hi Dan you have really upset me. I think you should have called your email ‘wake up stupid ebat members. I thought I had posted yesterday but obviously I hadn’t – glad really because Janet says it all for me and also made me aware of ‘Jaws’ for reading the text – I too am blind and have been for 7 years, so that’s at least 2 people you have offended.
I think there are far more stupid, people in the world so you would have reached more people by usint the word ‘stupid’.
I can only speak for myself but because of my blindness I am much more aware of the written word because I have to read everything seversl times, and believe me I am not stupid!
Well you have your rants, that’s mine. Linda

By: Connie

Connie — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:01:16 +0000

Hi Dan,

Great blog today!

I counted 5 Fs so I guess I did well.

I haven’t had any problem with people thinking they are getting a hardback book but then I am kind of new at being an eBay seller.

I would like to comment on what Katie said about the Police Auction Ebooks being free information. I do think that the bidding on that item is outrageous (I saw one go for over $1,500) but the fact that the information can be found online for free isn’t surprising to me.

The majority of books both physical and digital have information in them that is free, if someone looked hard enough. The information is out there for anyone to gather together and then put into the form of a product.

People have been doing this for ages now and being paid time and time again for producing the same information. What people are paying for is the time, effort, interpretation and expertise of the author that put the information together. It is the ease of having the information in one place that makes it a good product.

I truly enjoy gathering together information about different subjects and putting them into a book, audio or video that others will enjoy. But, it does take time, effort and I have to interpret the information and put it together so there is something that has value for the consumer.

It is the perceived value of the information that raises the price. I also enjoy watching my listings go higher and higher. This tells me that I have created a good product. Isn’t that what auctions are all about?

Connie