postcard.co.uk

This post is peripheral to postcard collecting but may serve to revive the forum. eBay is using bots to detect "price gouging", which is when vendors seek to capitalise on the pandemic by offering gels, masks etc at inflated prices.

I spent yesterday listing stamps, covers and cards relating to the Warsaw-Berlin-Prague cycle race ("Peace Race") of the 1950s-1970s. All went well, until with one item I got a stern red warning that I was price gouging and should not attempt to list the item again.

In fact it comprised a set of four small folders. When opened out, the right-hand pages had a printed frame that might be interpreted as face-shaped, with two stamps stuck where the eyes might be and a circular postmark for a mouth! It would appear that the bots had thought that this was a human face.

Amazing! Well, that's capitalism for you - working on the law of supply and demand!

And the term "price gouging" is another Americanism that we can do without quite frankly ... ebay just enhancing it without recourse as usual.

Best luck with sales!

Au contraire - whatever about its origins, the art of "price gouging" has been taken to new levels by Irish dealers in postcards as well as everything else perceived to be old, from books to antiques. It's especially galling when one considers that your average online seller is not bothered by rent, rates, insurance or the taxman. Sadly, eBay remains more or less the only place to buy cards but as for selling on the platform - I've virtually given up on it as its user interface is almost as unfriendly as the Zuck's unmentionable site.