Thank you for letting me know your item reached you safely. Thank you for your purchase and I hope you will enjoy it.
I have left feedback for you and hope you will do the same. If you wish to leave feedback for me, the following link will take you directly to the feedback forum section of ebay.
Many a newbie have written back to say they never understood the numbers behind their ID and didn't know how to use the feedback forum until I sent them the link.
Hopefully I got them started on the right foot for other sellers.
posted on July 28, 2001 05:40:37 PM new
To get around the spelling problem when using a search engine, simply add * after each word likely to be spelled any number of ways. One I run into a lot is 'Grande' which frequently becomes 'Grand'. So adding the * tells the engine to bring up all the variations. After all, any drudge can spell things the same way over and over again. It takes real creativity to be original and have various spellings.
I try to answer all intelligible questions. Even the ones that wonder just exactly how many items are in the pair I have up. But then nasty or degrading ones I don't answer. The 'did you know these usually sell at only . . . ' types I delete.
posted on July 29, 2001 09:04:28 AM new
...bought item, paid within 10 minutes of end of auction with Paypal, sent seller an e-mail to confirm my shipping address...5 days later I still hadn't received any communication from the seller...sent another (polite)e-mail telling them, that just in case they hadn't received the e-bay EOA, the Paypal payment confirmation letter, my personal confirmation...here again was the pertinant information, and although a thank you for my business wasn't actually necessary, acknowledgement of my sale would be nice. They responded to that one by saying they did indeed receive my earlier e-mail, but they sold only as a hobby and would have gotten to responding and shipping when time permitted, and added that I should show some patience.
I finally got my widget, and to their credit, it was packed wonderfully, and much better than described so I'm happy...of course, I'm still waiting for them to get around to leaving feedback, and am sure they will get around to it "when time permits"
posted on July 29, 2001 10:04:04 AM new
Just to get back to the original comment made... There are also a lot of buyers who ask quite involved questions (usually about sizing regarding clothing...) You do the work andwer them the email before the end of the auction and they never say thank-you or bid! Frankly I find that most buyers who ask questions never bid....
posted on July 29, 2001 11:38:26 AM new
Sometimes I am unsure if certain emails warrant a reply. If its a simple statement I sometimes just pass on it, though sometimes I send a reply with a thank you if I feel there is some information to add.
I usually do not reply to 'item received' messages, though I do appreciate them.
Email can be very time consuming, and I usually like to spend some time on a reply and would frequently pass on a reply if it was simply a one word answer, like 'thanks'.
Doesn't mean it wasn't appreciated.
Remember also: this is summer. Alot of folks are on vacation.
posted on July 29, 2001 01:18:57 PM new
Folks, this is an auction. Bidders set their own price. Would you go into Macy's, offer them 10% of the sticker price, and then expect them to fawn all over you? I think not.
If you get a seller who is fast, courteous and responsive, stick with them. Just remember the person at the other end of the email is a human being, not an eBay drone.
posted on July 29, 2001 02:09:32 PM new
A bit of irony here. So many sellers justify high shipping and handling by saying they are running a "real business".
Then when it comes to true customer service they backtrack and use "family", "life", "vacations" etc. as excuses for not being businesslike.
Just for the record, the one seller that I commented on who keeps giving me various excuses for not sending my package does spend some of her evenings on her computer after all as she has been bidding on ebay auctions during that time.
I would love to stick with all the good sellers that I meet but I buy all over the map and in some ways it is a crap shoot. I sell also so I can see both sides.
posted on July 29, 2001 02:23:44 PM newKiara, well that's certainly true too. I charge a small handling fee, usually about a buck. Not because I'm a "real business" but because my time is worth it. And once again, the buyers set the price, win lose or draw. But I think buying on eBay and then expecting sellers to conform to anyone's idea of a "real business" would lead to disappointments.
I'm winding down my eBay sales after four years, because sales are down, and whiney customers are up (if that were possible). Here's an email I just received a few minutes ago.
"I know you received payment, because I mailed it several days ago. I still have not received my product. Please advise on shipment."
It's a $4.95 CD-ROM, and no, payment hasn't arrived yet.
And bidders wonder why the seller just unloads on them "out of the blue?"
