The Wonders of...

What do you mean by "putting their cards on the table"? Are you saying that by stating 'no returns' the seller is admitting there's a reason they don't want their item returned?

I don't think eBay wants to be rid of amateur sellers (speaking generally), I think they just prioritize attracting more buyers, regardless of method.

You see plenty of "I'm not a professional bookseller" statements on eBay. If you're selling a book for over £30-40 I don't love this excuse. It's not difficult to do a quick search and figure out how to properly grade a book. You don't need to know technical terms to know that a book with torn pages shouldn't be graded Near Fine. And I think it's obvious when a listing isn't written up by a professional; it doesn't need to be mentioned. Just do your best, be honest, and it will work out fine *almost* every time.

At the end of the day, if something material has been left out of the description or the description is incorrect, I'll raise a SNAD. I think I have only actually done this once (though I probably should have done it four or five times in reality), but I tend to avoid sellers that have disclaimers on returns, as my assumption is they are going to stiff me. Avoiding most (not all) of the professional Tolkien sellers helps, as I know they often paint their items in an unreasonably positive light, as I have seen the same items for sale before they bought them. Usually the amateur seller was more honest...

Just as importantly, what kind of numpty would pay $400 for a 1955 Hobbit with no jacket and lots of fading to the boards? $100 at best.

By "putting their cards on the table" I mean: eBay have a pretty clear policy that "not as described" is a valid reason for returning something. Unless the seller is poorly communicating this & simply mean they won't accept returns for reasons beyond this e.g. because you changed your mind (perfectly acceptable); then, by saying this, they're basically saying to hang with eBay's rules & to hang with your buyer protection. This is the way I'm selling. Well, sorry, this isn't a garage sale. This is a flagrant (or ignorant) breach (if they try & enforce, by refusing to accept a return) of eBay selling rules. And, as Stu alludes to & to answer your question; yes, it suggests the seller (if they do this intentionally & in full understanding) is not interested in accuracy or perhaps even honesty. I don't buy from sellers who state this in their listings. Nobody's forcing them to sell on eBay. They should at least have the decency to abide by the fairly basic rules that eBay lay down. They're hardly unreasonable.

Someone seriously overpaid for this:

eBay Item #113384068329

A good £125+ more than I paid for my 13th (in the last 6 months, and mine doesn't have the foxing). Anything more than £40 - 50 seems a bit daft for 60s copies.

Speaking of, here's a listing with a rare variation on 'no returns accepted': "Due to the 'rarity of this book', we are listing this as a 'no returns excepted listing' so...."

So "rarity of this book" and "no returns excepted listing" are in inverted commas? This book club copy of this edition is extremely common. Thanks for giving me a place to complain

eBay item #163386699922

^ This is basically what I was talking about. If you need to return that due to it being poorly described, as is your right; then my guess is you're in for resistance. This should never be the case for any buyer if the seller is at fault. And a seller should never set their stall out preemptively in this fashion. Just looks like unnecessary fighting talk.

I think you are misintepreting "no returns" here. There are a lot of time-waster buyers out there that change their minds for little or no reason and then leave negative feedback if a seller won't accept returns claiming they were not made aware of the no returns policy.

Ebay allow sellers to decide if they accept returns from buyers who change their minds. "Not as described" is entirely different.

Ebay policy:

"If the buyer got their item but it's faulty, damaged, or doesn't match the listing description, you'll have to work with them to resolve their issue – you'll also have to cover the return postage costs. If they changed their mind, how you can respond, and who pays for return postage, will depend on your return policy."

Thanks for the clarification on the policy Deagol, I think that is a good point.

(p.s. congrats! Your link somehow is breaking the TCG bot. I am working to fix this.)

Right... I'd say that it's usually a good idea to check the seller's return policy even if you no intention of returning the item. It's just good to be aware of it and fully understand the terms of a sale, especially if you've paying a decent amount.

Among those time-waster buyers are plenty that change their mind/have buyer's remorse but still claim 'not as described' so they can get a free return. This is another instance when eBay will tend to side with a buyer (unfairly in my opinion). It's usually not at all difficult to tell when a seller has made an honest mistake in their listing as opposed to blatantly leaving out/skipping over important information about the condition. But even when a seller is accurate a buyer can nitpick and get away with it. There are too many documented examples of this that can be read about in the eBay community forum.

I just wish buyer and seller could leave feedback for each other. Sure, there was retaliation, but one could easily look back through negative feedback and determine if - on balance - a buyer or seller was an ass. By getting rid of buyer feedback, eBay pretty much broke itself. Has been downhill all the way since then.