Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hi Edie

The menu has been moved more to the middle of the page and is no longer in a box.  So, where you see "best match" in blue letters, just point to that and you'll see the rest of the options (like newly listed) pop up.  It's confusing, but that's what they're good at - ha.

Hugs,
Cathy

Hi Kelly

Oh dear.  I hope I didn't mess you up with the suggestion of adding Featured Plus!  I'm soooooooooo sorry!  I wasn't aware that they wouldn't accept that with a new user.  How strange.  I never knew eBay to turn down a buck before - ha.  The new search is going to be a lot better for that as I think it will no longer be a benefit to pay the extra $19.95.  Goody!  I'm in for that.  Anyway, I didn't mean to cause you so much headache!

Hugs,
Cathy

Thank you Lisa!

I think with your help, I'm getting there ;-)  I wanted to put up my doggie photo first, but the bear came up.  I'll keep working with it but as least I'm in the general direction.  Yay! :dance:   I have to admit, I've never joined a forum or blog, so I'm very new at this.  Wouldn't it be much more fun if we could toss the computers in the bay (or back yard or forrest) and just make bears?!  Ha .  Of course, the computers allow us to meet each other and that's a good thing, too. 

Thanks again!  At least it looks a little better.

You're welcome!  Isn't it sad that we have to put safeguards in teddy bear auctions?!  Sheesh, you would think those of all things would be exempt from the bad guys.  I always try to avoid as much "fine print" as I can as it's a negative, but the PayPal thing seems to be accepted by most bidders.  I've had several contact me asking to bid and since I know them, I'll exempt them from the requirement.  Mostly I thought it might be helpful to explain WHY the bad bids happen so no one takes it personally or gets upset.  Once you havea a reason behind it, it's much easier to take positive steps to prevent future problems.  I noticed one artist mentioned the Featured Plus.  Those listings are definitely targeted as these guys usually just hit the top end of each category.  Now with the new search feature, I think a lot of people are going to drop the Featured Plus as it's expensive and won't be much use anymore.  Hooray!  I could do without that expense! Ha.   Well, with all that's going on today we have to band together, support each other and our craft and do the very best we can for our collectors.  I'm sure we'll all get through this and keeping a positive attitude will certainly make it much easier!  Do let me know if you have better luck in your listings!
Hugs,
Cathy

PS  Now if someone can tell me how to put my photos on the left all pretty like you guys are doing, I would be grateful!  I'm a computer idiot ;-))

Hi Sarah,

I keep forgetting about Teddy Talk and re-discovered it through Intercal's weekly special.  I was glancing down at the topics and saw yours.  I'm so sorry that happened to you as I know exactly the emotions you went through when you discovered you had a fraud.  I had the same thing happen to me last year and the bogus bidder bid up 2 of my long-time collectors over $1500.00.  The fraud didn't win the bear, but when I discovered that my loyal collectors had been fraudulently bid up, I reduced the price of the bear.  It was terrible as my one collector bowed out just as it was closing as she felt the new bidder was determined.  I don't think the fraud realized how tough your loyal collectors can be when they set their sights on a bear they must have, and happily it was a real bidder who won.  I couldn't in good conscience change the extra amount of the bad bids, so I reduced the final amount.  It did make me quite upset as I did indeed have 2 good bidders with one dropping out and would have realized close to the original sum had the fraud not been involved.  It was a hard pill to swallow but I never regretted reducing the price.  My intergrity is worth much, much more to me.  Now, here is why they do it and how you can avoid it.  The bad guys want to win your bear at a very high price.  Gets you all excited and they think you'll let your guard down.  The next step is to send you a bogus money order for way more than the bear sold for.  You'll be told to cash the money order, keep the amount the winner owes you and send the bear and the change (usually hundreds of dollars or more) to a third party.  The reasons on this scam vary - I am from the UK and owe money to my friend, I am fighting in Iraq and want to send my girlfriend a gift and some money, etc.  You get the drift.   Sounds all warm and fuzzy until a bout a week later when the bank reverses the money order and takes all that money out of your account because it was a fake money order.  OMG  Can you imagine?  Now you're out the bear, the cost of the auction, the cost to send it and a couple more hundred dollars on top of it.  But don't worry.  There's a very simply way to avoid this in the future.  Simply require that your bidders be registered with Paypal.  That's because PayPal verifies identity and makes sure the person is bona fide.  The bad guys don't get involved in PayPal and know that you're on to them, so normally they'll avoid those auctions.  Now, you can also allow your long-time collectors in on your auctions even if they don't have PayPay just by adding them to your exempted list.  Obviously, if you know someone and have been working with them for a long time, they would be exempt from the requirement.  It may sound complicated, but it truly isn't.  I've been with eBay for about 10 years now and have reached almost all my customers there.  It's been terrific, but you have to keep on your toes.  To me, that makes it fun and challenging as I love nothing more than to beat the bad guys - ha. 

Hope I helped!  I just felt so bad for you because I know how your heart was broken and the emotional roller coaster you just hopped off.  Hang in there and try again!

Bear Hugs,
Cathy