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What we are building, and what we are learning
Notes from the people making Metzee, and from the sellers on it.
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How sneaker condition is described
No scale, three words, and a number out of ten that means nothing.
How manga is graded
There is no scale. There is completeness, and there is the spine.
How video games are graded
Mostly they are not. Completeness is the scale this trade actually uses.
How books are graded
A ladder with no service behind it, and a word that means the opposite of what it sounds like.
How records are graded
Six rungs, two objects, and the rule that good is not good.
How coins are graded
A seventy-point scale, and one word that has to mean exactly what it says.
How comics are graded
A half-to-ten scale, a universal rule about restoration, and a spine that decides most of it.
How sports cards are graded
The same four areas, the same ten points, and the parallel that changes everything.
How trading cards are graded
Four things assessed, a ten-point scale, and the difference between a grade and a guess.
Questions to ask before bidding on food or drink
Which date is it, what are the allergens, and how is it getting to me?
Questions to ask before bidding on beauty products
Show me the seal, the batch code and the dates. Then tell me where you bought it.
Questions to ask before bidding on baby and child items
Model number and date stamp. With those two you can do the one check nobody else can do for you.
Questions to ask before bidding on an estate lot
How much of this have you actually been through? Everything else follows.
Questions to ask before bidding on outdoor gear
Was it ever packed away wet? Ask that one first.
Questions to ask before bidding on sports equipment
What is the specification, what has been repaired, and can I see it working?
Questions to ask before bidding on furniture
Measure it, and ask how it is getting to you. Both before the bid, not after.
Questions to ask before bidding on womenswear
Flat measurements, the lining, and whether the fabric was stretched when it was measured.
Questions to ask before bidding on menswear
Measure it flat. A size is not a measurement, and an altered garment is neither.
Questions to ask before bidding on electronics
Can you boot it, and have you signed out? The second one saves more sales than the first.
Questions to ask before bidding on a bag
Corners, zip, lining — and does it smell?
Questions to ask before bidding on a collectible
What makes this one different from an ordinary one? The answer tells you what you are paying for.
Questions to ask before bidding on manga
Which volumes, exactly — and can you show the publication page?
Questions to ask before bidding on a mineral
Put it on a scale and hold something beside it. Photographs lie about size.
Questions to ask before bidding on handmade work
Who made it, is this the exact piece, and how do I look after it?
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