Caution: eBay Rant --- eBay Rant

It should be required that each person who offers a tarot deck for sale on eBay read the dictionary definition of the word "RARE" and then be banned forever if they use the word incorrectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rare
Pronunciation: 'rer
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): rar·er; rar·est
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin rarus
1 : marked by wide separation of component particles : THIN <rare air>
2 a : marked by unusual quality, merit, or appeal : DISTINCTIVE b : superlative or extreme of its kind
3 : seldom occurring or found : UNCOMMON
synonym see CHOICE, INFREQUENT

OH, they must be using the "unusual quality, merit, or appeal" meaning!!! Yeah, right . . .

I actually just saw a green box large Thoth described as RARE on eBay. You can buy it right now for 32% off on Amazon. Grrrrrrr

I am so tempted to send a nasty note to every seller that uses the word, but then I'd probably be the one that gets banned forever!!!

Ok, you can come out now. Rant over.

Well, at least post to the seller of the Thoth.

They just do that to try to make sure they get more hits on what they offer. That way people looking for "rare" items, not specifically tarot, will be drawn to their listing. I think it stinks, but what can you do?

Another thing that annoys me is that so many people also throw in "wiccan" with their listings. Not all tarot is Wiccan, after all, and it's pretty ignorant to list them as such when they're not. But again, they're just trying to draw people to their listings who aren't necessarily looking for tarot but have typed in "wiccan".

Same with "vintage", "haunted" and various other things.

HudsonGray said:

Well, at least post to the seller of the Thoth.

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Really? Think I should? I figure it's not really my business. I'm not going to buy from them, so maybe I shouldn't correspond with the seller. And I am a little afraid of being reported or something for harrassing people. Then what would I do for used tarot cards??!! Except for wonderful fellow ATers, I mean . . .

Oh, yes, Lyric, let's not forget the all-important HAUNTED tarot! (That doesn't aggravate me as much for some reason. I guess I think it's just silly. Who would want to BUY something HAUNTED??!!)

And the Wiccan thing does seems a bit disrespectful. I'm sure most of the sellers don't even know what Wiccan means! That would be a RARE seller indeed!!!

I've given up on eBay for deck hunting. Seriously, most of what's listed can be found less expensive elsewhere, especially when you factor in the absolutely RIDICULOUS shipping some sellers are charging. I understand eBay's got steep listing fees but I'm sure as heck not gonna pay $15 in S&H.

People use words that will get picked up by the search engines - so they load their title up with them, whether they pertain to the item or not.

One mustache cup I was looking at just now is called 'one-of-a-kind' - HA! There is it's mate a couple of sales down!

"Rare" - yup - gets so overused.

If you decide to write to the seller - be polite and state the facts ... after all, if you're not bidding and not the winner who leaves feedback they can't come after you ... yet. (But they can block you from bidding.)There are many people out there selling shaving cups - which are not mustache cups - but they don't know the difference - they just want to make a sale. I only correct them if they write something really so stupid that I end up rolling on the floor because it's so preposterous!

Lyric said:

They just do that to try to make sure they get more hits on what they offer. That way people looking for "rare" items, not specifically tarot, will be drawn to their listing. I think it stinks, but what can you do?

Another thing that annoys me is that so many people also throw in "wiccan" with their listings. Not all tarot is Wiccan, after all, and it's pretty ignorant to list them as such when they're not. But again, they're just trying to draw people to their listings who aren't necessarily looking for tarot but have typed in "wiccan".

Same with "vintage", "haunted" and various other things.

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Totally agree Lyric. A lot of the ads don't even make sense. The seller has just tossed out a bunch of different words hoping for a hit on at least one of them. I never click those type of listings. Thank god I finally found eBays Advanced Search option that lets you filter out words you don't want!

Ummmmmmmmmm

This is advertising isnt it? Is anyone really surprised that advertising on e-bay is somewhat innacurate.

maybe the deck is rare because it was 'blessed by a coven'.

With the exception of one seller of crystal spheres, I've pretty much been cured of eBay-mania by these kinds of sellers.

rachelcat said:

Then what would I do for used tarot cards??!! Except for wonderful fellow ATers, I mean . . .

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You can also try:
amazon marketplace sellers
abebooks.com
(there may be more on-line bookshops that sell used cards)
I still use ebay every now and then, but only as a last resort if the other places don't have it. I always try abebooks first but they don't always have what I am looking for.