How To Get 5-Star Ratings From Me For An In-Hand On Ebay

Thanks for voting in the poll about which is your favorite in-port baseball design. The clear winner was 2001.

From the message board over the years while in-port designs held certain opinions, there have been threads to descibe how well a particular year's design looks in-hand. What comes to mind is the 2004 design: some couldn't stand it as an in-port while others preferred how the design looked in-hand. Cast your vote in which is your favorite in-hand design by year.

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For one penny, we are back up and running to list in-port cards starting officially as of 1pm est today. I can't believe it took this long to reach this solution but what do I know. It's a programming issue so building in a penny cost to the listing template could be like rocket science, especially if no one at etopps management has looked under the hood of the template since it was first built.

I listed some cards when it became available and noticed that the cards I listed were going up on ebay within 15 minute intervals. I also noticed they updated the optional picture gallery as being free rather than claiming the old cost of thirty-five cents.

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I've focused a lot on selling in-hands on this blog. For a change, I want to give some kind of perspective for the other side of in-hands: buying them.

Here's what I expect when I buy an in-hand on ebay:

• The condition of the card is in genuine mint condition as stated in the listing. If not, the listing should clearly state if it is not and (possibly) for what reason.
  
• The cost of shipping is not ridiculous (i.e., over $3).
• The picture looks like the condition of the card I will be receiving, not a copy and paste job from cardtarget or etopps of the in-port picture of the card. In other words, I want to see what I'm getting.
  
• Feedback from the seller is given by the time the seller has packaged the card for shipment.
• Delivery confirmation is used via paypal so I know when the card is shipped.
• Shipping should be no more than 48 hours from the time I pay for the card and when it is shipped. Anything more than 48 hours without an explanation by the seller is inexcusable unless I purchase the card in the late afternoon on a Friday and the shipping is done the following Monday.
  
• An email from the seller acknowledging payment, when the card will be shipped and thanking me for their business. (Pet peeve is a seller who does not communicate anything)
• The card is shipped in a bubble-lined mailer
• If my mailing address is hand-written, I expect the mailer to write my address exactly as I have provided it through paypal (ie, mistaking the letter S for the number 5 in my street address).

When all of this goes well, I am happy to give the seller 5-star ratings for each category. Otherwise, I'm not going to be 100% satisfied.

If I forgot anything that you expect as a buyer of an in-hand on ebay, please add your comments.