Going hand in hand with Condition estimates is estimated value and from that starting prices, or BINs...

T&T has the single highest prices for almost every uncommon item they sell on E-Bay certainly, and to a lesser extent (Maybe not) the web Store too, and most common items are also way over priced.

Are there really that many desperate unknowledgable collectors out there?

And what the hell is the deal with ALWAYS using stock photos and stock descriptions for EVERYTHING on E-Bay and on the web site both?
Even items valued in the hundreds of dollars, and higher?
It takes seconds to add TRUE photos and only moments to write a true description of the ACTUAL item bening listed.

As stated below and above, you have a LONG way to go to get the public collecting opinions changed.

Gnat the Beggar wrote:Going hand in hand with Condition estimates is estimated value and from that starting prices, or BINs...

T&T has the single highest prices for almost every uncommon item they sell on E-Bay certainly, and to a lesser extent (Maybe not) the web Store too, and most common items are also way over priced.

Are there really that many desperate unknowledgable collectors out there?

And what the hell is the deal with ALWAYS using stock photos and stock descriptions for EVERTHING on E-Bay and on the web site both?
Even items values in the hundreds of dollars, and higher?
It takes seconds to add TRUE photos and only moments to write a true description of the ACTUAL item bening listed.

As stated below and above, you have a LONG way to go to get the public collecting opinions changed.

It's always cheaper to buy directly from the website than ebay. And as for prices, we base it on our market data, and OD&D will be repriced next, I plan to go over it next week infact. For the descriptions, it's something i've brought up and have been working on for more key items. As for the photos thats our product development department, and they have a lot of work to do for other departments as well, so yes if the item was a brand new item they could take a picture of it and post it up, but for something already in our warehouse, it would need to be ordered out, then processed, then delivered to PD.

Well despite how I know the T&T E-Bay listings for many items are VERY inflated, I too have bought a lot of things from T&T over the years.

Only once have I had any real trouble.
A Yggsburgh Hard Bound book was delivered with all four corners VERY dinged up, though it was listed as Near Mint in the description on E-Bay with no mention of dinged corners.
After several E-Mails to several people in various departments (A pain in the butt most asuredly).
T&T sent a replacement copy and did not want the damaged one back and no additional charges were invoiced to me.

I can understand how a huge buisiness like T&T can have many customer relations troubles, especially when any one department never talks to any other department and each department thinks they are the one section holding the whole thing together and wont bend for any reason, since they are always in the right on every issue.

That points directly to leadership problems and those subsequent troubles wont have much of a chance of being fixed until the leadership changes.

As was stated above, this forum has seen folks come in from T&T before, talking of how the company is changing for the better, that they are listening to us, and that they want to do the right thing for the customer base.

We shall see.

Crimsonspire wrote:

It's always cheaper to buy directly from the website than ebay. And as for prices, we base it on our market data, and OD&D will be repriced next, I plan to go over it next week infact. For the descriptions, it's something i've brought up and have been working on for more key items. As for the photos thats our product development department, and they have a lot of work to do for other departments as well, so yes if the item was a brand new item they could take a picture of it and post it up, but for something already in our warehouse, it would need to be ordered out, then processed, then delivered to PD.

Err. So in order to post the correct picture of an item (Judges Guild CSIO jumps to mind where you were selling Mayfair CSIO sets as JG CSIO sets, a difference in value of maybe $80 a shot), or where a buyer can expect a true representation of what they are buying (say products valued over $100), you are saying that T&T cannot provide accurate or true photographs because you have to get the item, photograph it and then post it, and your staff are TOO BUSY?!



This goes absolutely to the point of why customers have a problem with T&T. You misrepresent what you sell, post erronious or inacurate images and descriptions, and then have an company attitude or 'it's the buyer's tough luck. We won't fix the problem because we can't be bothered. It's too difficult to get the items, accurately describe them, photograph them, and tell the truth."



Why not remove ALL your listings, employ someone who knows something about the products you are selling, employ someone who is honest and has integrity to list them, then photograph the items, describe them honestly and accurately, and relist them and whatever price you desire.



Until you get the company AWAY from the position of money and back into a position of providing honest hard working customer service, T&T will continue to destroy it's reputation. Trying to explain why it is how it is, and why it won't change any time soon, is just destroying your company's reputation further.



Maybe going and fixing the problems and not posting excuses as to why the company won't let you fix them is a better position to be in. You are undermining your credibility with excuses like, "... but for something already in our warehouse, it would need to be ordered out, then processed, then delivered to PD." People get screwed by your company because you can't be arsed taking photos or posting the correct photos of the items you are selling.

mbassoc2003 wrote:
Err. So in order to post the correct picture of an item (Judges Guild CSIO jumps to mind where you were selling Mayfair CSIO sets as JG CSIO sets, a difference in value of maybe $80 a shot), or where a buyer can expect a true representation of what they are buying (say products valued over $100), you are saying that T&T cannot provide accurate or true photographs because you have to get the item, photograph it and then post it, and your staff are TOO BUSY?!

This goes absolutely to the point of why customers have a problem with T&T. You misrepresent what you sell, post erronious or inacurate images and descriptions, and then have an company attitude or 'it's the buyer's tough luck. We won't fix the problem because we can't be bothered. It's too difficult to get the items, accurately describe them, photograph them, and tell the truth."

Why not remove ALL your listings, employ someone who knows something about the products you are selling, employ someone who is honest and has integrity to list them, then photograph the items, describe them honestly and accurately, and relist them and whatever price you desire.

Until you get the company AWAY from the position of money and back into a position of providing honest hard working customer service, T&T will continue to destroy it's reputation. Trying to explain why it is how it is, and why it won't change any time soon, is just destroying your company's reputation further.

Maybe going and fixing the problems and not posting excuses as to why the company won't let you fix them is a better position to be in. You are undermining your credibility with excuses like, "... but for something already in our warehouse, it would need to be ordered out, then processed, then delivered to PD." People get screwed by your company because you can't be arsed taking photos or posting the correct photos of the items you are selling.

The response I gave about photos was about the stock photos he mentioned. When an image is found to be incorrect or poor it gets fixed with the proper image.

Crimsonspire wrote:

The response I gave about photos was about the stock photos he mentioned. When an image is found to be incorrect or poor it gets fixed with the proper image.

Well, that may be the case since the start of your tenure (how long has that been?), but is was certainly not the case just before X-mas when you were selling Mayfair Games CSIO boxed sets and pretending they were Judges Guilds books. It's only $80 or so value, so it's no big deal, and had the buyer been an Acaeum member and a collector with experience, they probably wouldn't have fallen for the 'errors', but I'm sure newbies would fall for mis-description/titling of your auctions and corroberating wrong images as quite convincing. I only hope your customer services would not have disputed refunds and had the decency not to expect hooked buyers to fork out to return postage costs.




But again, in my experience T&T stiff the buyers for those costs too; "We screwed up. We're sorry. If you pay to ship the items back, we'll check them and give you a refund. No, it's our mistake, but fixing it is your expence."




Again, I can't talk wisely of other people's experiences of T&T, but what people report on the internet appears to mirror my own. It certainly isn't worth an international buyer forking out the shipping and taking the risk that you won't make a mistake or haven't lied about the condition or actual content of what you're selling.




At least if you gave an assurance that you would provide an accurate photo, and not a stock photo that some schmuck thought might be something like what he was told to find, your buyers would have a little more faith and an ability to make a fair judgement about condition themselves.




It's not rocket science. It's basic honest customer service, and good business practace.




wait....




http://cgi.ebay.com/City-State-of-the-Invincible-Overlord-7th-Print-boxed_W0QQitemZ270555364525QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3efe5b3cad




Oh. look! You're still doing it! Is it a book, or is it the MFG101 boxed set as per the title and description? Would it be a nice surprise when someone bought it, or would an accurate photo or a correct description clear this up?




Now. Why not cancel ALL T&T listings, correctly describe and photograph them, and then relist them? Or maybe just give us another platitude or excuse?

mbassoc2003 wrote:

Well, that may be the case since the start of your tenure (how long has that been?), but is was certainly not the case just before X-mas when you were selling Mayfair Games CSIO boxed sets and pretending they were Judges Guilds books. It's only $80 or so value, so it's no big deal, and had the buyer been an Acaeum member and a collector with experience, they probably wouldn't have fallen for the 'errors', but I'm sure newbies would fall for mis-description/titling of your auctions and corroberating wrong images as quite convincing. I only hope your customer services would not have disputed refunds and had the decency not to expect hooked buyers to fork out to return postage costs.

But again, in my experience T&T stiff the buyers for those costs too; "We screwed up. We're sorry. If you pay to ship the items back, we'll check them and give you a refund. No, it's our mistake, but fixing it is your expence."

Again, I can't talk wisely of other people's experiences of T&T, but what people report on the internet appears to mirror my own. It certainly isn't worth an international buyer forking out the shipping and taking the risk that you won't make a mistake or haven't lied about the condition or actual content of what you're selling.

At least if you gave an assurance that you would provide an accurate photo, and not a stock photo that some schmuck thought might be something like what he was told to find, your buyers would have a little more faith and an ability to make a fair judgement about condition themselves.

It's not rocket science. It's basic honest customer service, and good business practace.

wait....

http://cgi.ebay.com/City-State-of-the-Invincible-Overlord-7th-Print-boxed_W0QQitemZ270555364525QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3efe5b3cad

Oh. look! You're still doing it! Is it a book, or is it the MFG101 boxed set as per the title and description? Would it be a nice surprise when someone bought it, or would an accurate photo or a correct description clear this up?

Now. Why not cancel ALL T&T listings, correctly describe and photograph them, and then relist them? Or maybe just give us another platitude or excuse?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, got it fixed. It may not update on ebay right away, but its correct on the site now. I started working in RPGs in January to answer your question, and as for pulling every product down to rephotograph and enter descriptions for them its just not feasible to put the entire shipping and warehouse departments on hold to pull all of it at once, instead we are pulling problem categories first, already did AD&D 1st Edition, and like I said we are doing OD&D and Basic this upcoming week.




And as for how many employees we have, its over 100, spread out across the departments, RPGs has me and the Department Head in it currently, and we are getting 3 more soon, including one position who is just going to do photos and descriptions.

I know I no longer look at T&T as an option. I may look at them to see what something looks like, because of the photos used, but I have refused to purchase anything from them again.

I appreciate all the suggestions that i'm getting and will act on them. It's not going to be an overnight thing thats for sure.