Sellers Are More Honest About Flaws Than Buyers Expect, Study Finds

When selling a used gadget with a known flaw online, sellers are more likely to disclose the problem than buyers expect, according to a series of experiments published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The research, led by Shira Garber and colleagues, involved five main studies and two pilot studies, and found that buyers consistently underestimate sellers’ honesty. In one scenario, a pair of speakers with a static noise was listed without mention of the defect. When buyers asked, “The speakers don’t have any problems, do they?” 85% of sellers admitted the issue. Across studies, sellers reported caring more about being honest, fair, and kind—and less about money—than buyers gave them credit for. The experiments used various secondhand items, including an iPod with a fast-draining battery and an electric scooter with a faulty battery. In the first pilot, 63.2% of sellers chose a truthful opening message over one claiming the iPod was in excellent condition, while only 43.5% of observers predicted they would. In Study 1, 51.7% of sellers disclosed the battery problem, but buyers guessed only 43.2% would. With a direct question in Study 2, three-quarters of sellers disclosed the fault.

Study 3 found that a pointed question (“The speakers don’t have any problems, do they?”) made sellers more likely to mention the noise, but buyers’ predictions didn’t change. The gap between expected and actual honesty was significant only under the direct question. Study 5 paired buyers and sellers live, with some engaging in a three-minute chat about enjoyable activities. Buyers rated sellers’ likely honesty at 6.56 out of 10, while coders scored actual replies at 7.51. Among pairs who chatted first, this difference was no longer statistically significant—the chat raised buyers’ expectations. Study 4 showed that prompting buyers to consider the seller’s moral concerns before predicting nearly halved the gap. Sellers reported higher concern for decency (4.99) than buyers guessed (3.78), and lower interest in money (5.06) than buyers assumed (6.03). The findings suggest that buyers’ suspicions may be overblown, and simple interactions or reminders of sellers’ morality can bridge the perception gap.