Just for a moment, consider the question I asked about tires: what make, how much tread depth in 1/32". Now if I call the guy, once I've gotten him on the phone, and ask him that question, does he then get out his tread gauge, go out to the car, measure the depth, write it down, and come back, pick up the phone, and say "There's 3/32" of tread depth." Okay, good.
"What kind of tires?" I ask
"Michelins," he answers.
"What kind of Michelins?" He troops out to the car, comes back.
"XZX's"
"What size?"
"Aw, c'mon, buddy. Whaddya wanna know what size the tires are? What are you going to do, drive around in a car with your kids on 'em? huh?"
"Well, yeah. That's the idea."
"If you want to buy a new car, you ought to do that. Otherwise, you take your chances. If the car looks good, give me a bid. If you win, you better pay. If you get here and don't like the looks of it, it was an as was/where was auction."

The problem that I have with a lot of the dealers on Ebay is that they want the width of market that distance selling offers, but they don't want to offer any more information than they did in the good old days when their lot only sold to locals.

Beyond that, I don't see how them writing tread depth in an email confers any advantage to anyone, as long as the depth they measure is correct. It just gives the bidder information he'd be able to get if the car was in a local lot. It's not as if be providing make, model, size and tread depth that the seller is warranting the tires.