Is it me, or is this rude?

[Syrinx]

I had someone email me last night about one of my eBay listings, I don't think they plan to bid, but are complaining about my wording! I described the items as a pair of china salt and pepper shakers, and go on to say that I do not know where they're from but I know they're fairly old, etc.

So I get this email- "These are NOT from China. They're German."

I wrote back and pointed out that china isn't capitalized, therefore it refers to the material not the country. When I told my husband, he pointed out that if I was saying that they were from China, wouldn't I have described them as Chinese?

The response I got basically said that eBayers are "elementary" and expecting people to understand the basic elements of the English language will cost me money.

I'm debating whether to respond or not. I ship to the US and Canada only, so do you think I'm unreasonable to expect bidders to have a basic grasp of English? I just don't see how 'china' could be taken to mean 'Chinese' when it's such a common word/material.

[Syrinx]

Yeah, I decided to ignore it because I couldn't think of a response that wasn't smart-ass! I decided that I didn't want to provoke her, but am putting her on my blocked bidder list anyway.

Actually, I ended up cancelling the listing anyway and am going to relist because I found the basket that these shakers came with and need to take a new picture.

[Lisa03]

I got something like that before and just ignored the person

not wasting my time arguing over something stupid
:D

[ckerr4]

I think it was rude AND ignorant, lol.

(jmo)

[schsa]

Ignore it. Obviously they thought that they had a point and we know that they didn't. Don't make yourself crazy with people like this. It isn't worth your time and effort.

[ebgreen74]

to me, it seems like they were trying to help you-they should have worded their email differently is all. I would have thought you meant they were from China too until I read the part where you state you don't know where they are from, then I would have figured out what you meant.

[BigLyd1]

I hate it when people try to get technical and only end up showing their lack of intelligence.

[SaraSmiles]

Ignore ignorant people. It's hard to win when u arguing with an idiot! :p

[Iluvbears]

a pair of china salt and pepper shakers, and go on to say that I do not know where they're from but I know they're fairly old, etc.

"These are NOT from China. They're German."

I believe the person may have misunderstood what you said. You stated they are China salt & pepper shakers. I don't know where they're from I think the person seen China thought you were trying to pass them off as being from China. People have a tendency to not comprehend what they have read,(or add to what's not even there.) instead they jump on the bandwagon.

It doesn't seem rude. It was just a misunderstanding on their part.

[mficke0713]

What's that saying???? It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid than to open it and prove it. I think she opened her mouth when she sent you that e-mail. Personally, ignorant people who mouth off are my personal pet peeve. I don't think I could have restrained myself from returning an e-mail showing how ignorant she really was--but you are probably doing the right thing. :p

[Syrinx]

What really got me was the second email telling me that I can't expect people to understand the "basic elements" of the English language.

Um... why not?

I deleted the email because I couldn't think of a nice way to respond to that!

[mficke0713]

Such restraint you have!! I know that I would have had to e-mail her back--maybe with fireball's definitions. :p

[cpbaby]

I emailed one seller because he listed ALL of his items the same way.

96 Dodge Intrepid

And when you clicked on the link, then it told you WHAT the item was. Wouldnt have been a problem except he had almost a hundred of these auctions. WITH NO BIDS ON ANY OF THEM! I emailed him and said basically:

I own a 96 Dodges Intrepid and am looking for some specific parts. I was hoping you would have them since you have so many 96 Dodge Intrepid parts listed. Unfortunately, I didnt find what I am looking for. While I was looking in all of your auctions, I noticed that they are all listed the same way. Since I also noticed very few, if any, had bids, I thought it might help if next time you listed the part in the title, such as 96 Dodge Intrepid Ashtray.


Thank you,

My ebay name


He never emailed me back and I think now I may have hurt his feelings BUT, the next time I looked for my car parts, he had listed his parts the way I mentioned.

I guess that was bad of me.

[Johnsmom]

I never would have thought the items you described were from China. That would never have occured to me. They describe things in store ads as china place settings, china plates, china bowls etc and people figure it out. I think expecting people to have a grasp on basic English is normal. If you don't use basic English to describe something, what are you going to use?

[movie nut]

It sounds like Ebay needs to add an translating service to their website (one like Google's), as well as adding Webster's Dictionary for those who don't understand basic English. Good for you for ignoring them. Myself, I would have sent off emails that would get me banned from Ebay. If their customers don't understand basic English, that's Ebay's problem; Ebay shouldn't make it yours.

[ImaGApeach]

I hate it when stupid people make stupid comments and do not have a freaking clue what they are talking about -some people are so ignorant and rude and need to practice keeping their mouths shut instead of trying to make someone else look stupid

[slkirk22]

Originally posted by Syrinx
I had someone email me last night about one of my eBay listings, I don't think they plan to bid, but are complaining about my wording! I described the items as a pair of china salt and pepper shakers, and go on to say that I do not know where they're from but I know they're fairly old, etc.

So I get this email- "These are NOT from China. They're German."

I wrote back and pointed out that china isn't capitalized, therefore it refers to the material not the country. When I told my husband, he pointed out that if I was saying that they were from China, wouldn't I have described them as Chinese?

The response I got basically said that eBayers are "elementary" and expecting people to understand the basic elements of the English language will cost me money.

I'm debating whether to respond or not. I ship to the US and Canada only, so do you think I'm unreasonable to expect bidders to have a basic grasp of English? I just don't see how 'china' could be taken to mean 'Chinese' when it's such a common word/material.

I got one of these emails too. It was because I didn't capitalize the word San Francisco! I can't remember the name of the person it was about one month ago. I just left it alone. I guess someone is really bored.

[Syrinx]

Originally posted by Johnsmom
If you don't use basic English to describe something, what are you going to use?

Exactly! It was very tempting to email back and ask her if she thought I'd get more bids if I wrote my listings in Latin instead. :D