a glossary of eBay terms...."RARE", etc...

[BradS]

Ebay sellers seem to have redefined a few of the more common words in the English language (probably other languages too).

Here's an example that has me baffled....

"Rare" now, I know what it means for something to be rare but...it is obvious to me that the usual definition of Rare is not what is meant when something is described as "Rare" on eBay....

Can somebody please help me understand what it means when the seller describes a 1950's era, mass produced (on the order of several hundred thousand produced) camera as "Rare"...????


Other examples of words that have apparently been redefined also welcome.

 

[Vaughn]

"Good" condition used as in "Good condition considering how old it is."

 

[tzillman]

"untested" means that the seller has tested the item, knows it doesn't work, but is pretending otherwise. Similarly, "do not have a battery to test" means that it has been tested with a battery and doesn't work.

 

[palec]

"untested" means that the seller has tested the item, knows it doesn't work, but is pretending otherwise. Similarly, "do not have a battery to test" means that it has been tested with a battery and doesn't work.

Similarly "I can't use cameras, but my uncle photographer gave it to me" means the camera does not work at all.

 

[Sirius Glass]

"Rare" means you do not have one of these and I want to send you into a bidding panic right now DAMN IT!

 

[Jeff Searust]

The sheer volume of crap given to sellers by "uncle," "father," "friend," "grandfather," is staggering and then the ubiquitous "I am not a photographer" tells all we need to know, when the truth, "I found it in my neighbors trash after it didn't sell at his garage sale" would not have looked as good on the page.

 

[brian d]

"minty" means it Looks good in the picture but in reality its a worn out piece of junk

 

[Sim2]

I think that "rare" often means the seller just doesn't know enough about the product and is trying to get interest and shift the damn thing. i like the rare listings alongside 152 exactly identical items!

Sim2
perhaps *one of a kind*

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Minty being used as a condition descriptor, instead of how it tastes/smells. The only thing that's minty is my iced tea or my julep, not a camera. Although I could be wrong - I've never bothered to lick my RB 67 to find out if it tastes like a common garden herb.

 

[Bruce Osgood]

RARE: One of quite a few.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Rare- no longer in production, even if they made more of them than VW made Beetles or Ford, Model T's.

 

[BradS]

Rare- no longer in production, even if they made more of them than VW made Beetles or Ford, Model T's.

[GRIN] Yes! this is what they mean. I am sure of it!

 

[Ian Grant]

"Recessed lens board fits Speed Graphic", no it was a Linhof baby Technica board, APUG member on Ebay bebberbenneringtonbebbers can#t quite spit it out

"Speed Graphic lens board", Burke and James it appears and did fit.

The Ebay sale was my worst ever purchase at the time, but when I sorted the boards out the Linhof board almost paid for the rest when I sold it via a wanted advert here (for a very fair price)

Ian

 

[Rick A]

My wife had to sell an item on fleecebay as a project for her marleting class, and evilbay recommends to first time sellers to embellish the description and make it personalized. They even included an example to the students. Go figure!

 

[Chazzy]

I must say that "minty" and "mint-" really drive me nuts (KEH is guilty of the latter). Why can't we use words like excellent, good, fair and poor?

 

[John Koehrer]

Uniquely, uncommonly, exceptionally, rare?

Did I miss anything?

 

[BradS]

another of my recent favorites...it seems that every crummy old brass lens in barrel is now a Petzval....not even sure why that makes it better but, obviously, it must.

 

[John NYC]

Rare... Ebay definition: I have another one of these I will put up as "buy it now" at a sky high stupid price just as soon as I sell this one.

 

[David Brown]

"rare" means the seller has never seen one.

 

[JBrunner]

"Rare" can mean many things. On ebay it can generally be defined as a listing that is half baked.

 

[Existing Light]

Vintage: requires film

Sold As-Is: 1) person weeding out the cameras he/she doesnt want and doesnt want to take it back or 2) doesnt work

I dont know how to test it: 1) person doesnt know how to test it. might work, might not or 2) doesnt work but sill expects a high sell price

rare: never seen one before, so it must be one of a kind

 

[nick mulder]

another of my recent favorites...it seems that every crummy old brass lens in barrel is now a Petzval....not even sure why that makes it better but, obviously, it must.

Yup "might be a petzval" = brass

and accordingly:

"swirly bokeh" = "might be a petzval" = brass

 

[tony lockerbie]

Rare, Art Deco design, and guaranteed "arty" pictures....yep, this is for a Box Brownie! Radioactivity seems to be a great selling point as well.

 

[eclarke]

"Rare" means they weren't any good in the first place so not many were made and they were crappy and didn't hold up very well. On eBay it means the seller is desperate and really needs to hype his crap up...

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

"Rare" tends to mean "I've never seen one of these before."

"Excellent" occasionally means, "Excellent except for the parts that are broken."