Runaway slaves wanted poster

1837 wanted poster 3 runaway slaves make offer


ends - Thursday, March 6, 2008

Auction grade: C+

Starting bid: $200.00

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an antique wanted poster for three runaway slaves back in 1837 in northern Kentucky. A $300 cash reward is being offered for the return of the slaves.

The title for this auction doesn't look that bad. Apart from putting the word "wanted" in all capital letters for effect, I would also add key words such as "vintage", "antique", "historic" and probably even "Kentucky". The "make offer" part could easily be removed and replaced with a better key word or words.

The main body of text needs a lot of work to make it more professional and easier to read. Things like periods and actual paragraphs will make it much easier to read and follow what the seller is trying to say. It's amusing to see how someone back in 1837 could write much better than someone from the same general area today.

I like how the seller says how he acquired the item and gives some physical details about the wanted poster. I also appreciate the seller's honesty when it's mentioned that at least one dealer could not tell if it's authentic or not. That's also going to be a death blow for this auction. Without some sort of certificate of authenticity to prove its age, it's highly unlikely that somebody is going to place a bid. Also, stuff like "so take a chance if real is valued at 5000.00 if not look how neat" doesn't exactly sound convincing either.

The seller mentions making him an offer for the wanted posted. It would help if the "Best Offer" was actually available for buyers. When setting up the auction, you need to select the "Best Offer" option when telling eBay that you also want to do a fixed price format. When it's activated, you'll see the words "or Best Offer" under the "Buy It Now" logo. It'll also appear in its own section near the top of the actual auction with its own link.

Is this seller trying to pull a fast one by advising you to use the "Buy It Now" link to make an offer even though it won't work that way?

The final things to change are the details in the "item specifics" section. The region/culture is not Asian or China, and I wouldn't classify this as being black memorabilia. When determining the target audience for this type of wanted poster, I would most likely use the general "historical memorabilia" tag in the "antiques" category.

On a plus side, the pictures are excellent. The seller did it right by showing the document from many angles and levels of zoom.

Overall, this advertisement needs extensive editing in the item specifics and main body of text. The seller also needs to enable the "Best Offer" option if he wants buyers to be able to use it.

Is this an authentic wanted poster from 1837 and an apparently good deal, or is this a hoax? I honestly don't know. How many other buyers feel the same way?