posted on November 6, 2007 07:23:39 PM new
This happens every time I get stupid enough to ask a powerseller a question. I don't know why I bother, must be my abiding and unshakeable belief in the goodness of mankind. Either that or I'm just plain dumb. Powerseller has a fixed price auction for an 11.3 cubic foot garden cart. It's measurements tell me that it's big enough to schlep 2 bales of hay at a time and that it'll carry 400 lbs, but don't tell me much else. His additional information includes the following:
Customer satisfaction is my number 1 goal. I work seven days a week and can answer your questions within minutes, so please email your questions before bidding."
His garden cart is 99.95 plus 20 dollars shipping. I have been looking at carts here locally that were 200 dollars. I emailed him the following:
Hi, could you please tell me who the manufacturer of this cart is, what the side panels are made of and approximately how long it will take to ship it to zip code XXXXX. Thanks in advance!
None of the above information was included in the auction page. I know how to read and do in fact read every word on an auction.
24 hours goes by without reply so I email him again. Another 24 go by, so this time I email him the same thing prefaced by "You may have missed my previous emails"
Today I looked on Harbor Freight's webpage and found not only the same cart but the SAME picture and SAME descriptive text. The item is 10 dollars cheaper and even though I'd have to pay tax the total tax and shipping is only 15 dollars and they'll actually tell me when they're going to ship.
I emailed this genius back and explained that while I wished him well, I figured he had a piss poor business plan stealing pictures and text and then trying to sell items for more than they were generally available for at reputable stores that would actually answer emails. What a waste of time Ebay and it's power sellers are becoming.
posted on November 6, 2007 07:38:02 PM new
I understand your rant but I'm guessing that the same photos and description were provided by the importer to all of its distributors and resellers. I have some familiarity with Harbor Freight and bet dollars to donuts the manufacturer is a generic (i.e., Acme) brand name for a Chinese or Taiwan manufacturer. It's also more than possible that the seller has this drop-shipped and has no clue to what the sides are constructed of and has shipping times out of their control.
posted on November 6, 2007 07:48:34 PM new
I wouldn't have answered your email either. Clearly you want to know who the manufacturer is so you can get it somewhere else. Why should I indulge you?
I've always figured that if I can't make a buying decision based on what's in the ad, it's time to move on.
posted on November 6, 2007 07:50:34 PM new
Speaking of drop-shipping, I ran across an eBay employee-seller the other day who has more than 30,000 listings in his Store. Clearly ALL drop-shipped. His prices? Retail plus a premium.
I wonder what eBay does when one of its employees maxes out his credit card...
posted on November 6, 2007 07:55:17 PM new
If you wouldn't have answered my email, you shouldn't have included a promise to answer. I have no doubt that this guy is a shill for Harbor Freight. None the less, he shouldn't make promises he has no intention of keeping. Bottom line is, he nearly had a sale he doesn't have now. Probably doesn't matter though, because everybody knows what a cash cow Ebay is.
posted on November 6, 2007 08:20:05 PM new
Fluff is dead wrong on this one.
You have every right to know the brand name of wheel barrow you potentially are bidding on. I wouldn't purchase either without knowing. This could be a cheap knock off or one that has known defects that the seller may or may not know about. This would apply to anything you buy on ebay, not just wheel barrows.
posted on November 6, 2007 08:34:11 PM new
Just out of curiosity, did you get the name of the manufacturer from Harbor Freight? Was it a name you were familiar with? Did they tell you what the sides were constructed of? Edited to add: Many Chinese and Taiwan manufacturers sell the same items under many different brand names, these are the goods that Harbor Freights carry- where precision is not required, many are sufficient for home usage. However, don't expect American quality standards.
[ edited by pixiamom on Nov 6, 2007 08:44 PM ]
posted on November 7, 2007 06:15:44 AM newhe shouldn't make promises he has no intention of keeping.
Quite right, and I told him so last evening at the nightly gathering of PowerSellers Elite. (Motto: We're Better Than You And Don't You Forget It.) He just shrugged and poured me another glass of Dom Perignon.
posted on November 7, 2007 06:53:02 AM new
Yeah - Fluff - my invitation must have been mishandled by the schlubs who try so hard to screw with delivery of items to our buyers -- those damn USPS wonks!
That said, there are as*h*les among us! Some sell their measly $1,000 per month and check the box to display that logo. Then, we have some who buy from us.
Case in point: Buyer of 2 items this past week tried to make payment within moments of the last auction closing. Had difficulties getting it to complete on Sunday night and sends me her own rant that includes:
[i]What is going on? I assume you want me to pay you - but how? If necessary I will send you a check but I much prefer to use Paypal.
I suggest you get rid of this useless and frustrating system and just allow your customers to pay thru paypal.[/i]
Now, she's assuming it's the checkout's fault and not "PayPal," because we all know there's NEVER been a problem with that system... or... Heavens to Mergatroid ... never been a problem from eBay's side.
The point being - I think she's just an angry person in her offline life and this just spilled over into this transaction. The problem cleared up without anyone's obvious intervention and she made her payment.
BTW - she bought about $600 in retail jewel boxes and it cost her about $50.00 - but I wasn't b*tching about that.
It's just the attitude that some people take from the outset that I find offensive. Not everyone is trying to screw you over or take advantage of you.
Life's too short. If you find you're not being listened to by someone online - move on! There are plenty of us who care about our customers to let one nut upset you.
I do answer our questions very quickly. Unless, you're like the one I have sitting in my in-box right now. Never bought on eBay before, according to her question, and apparently stopped reading when she saw that she could just ask questions that could be answered if she read even a few of the description details - instead of looking at the pretty pictures.
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
[ edited by TheFamilyBiz on Nov 7, 2007 06:53 AM ]
posted on November 7, 2007 06:56:34 AM new
I answer almost all emails, been a powerseller for over 8 years.
99.9% of the time it is very little trouble- I just cut and paste it out of the auction.
posted on November 7, 2007 08:58:42 AM new
Don't hold it against all power sellers! Many will send you a reply within minutes.
Harbor Freight is my husband new favorite store!!!
posted on November 7, 2007 09:11:20 AM newIt's not unlike having a shop with big display windows full of products--and the door locked.
Oh, you mean like after closing time?
I work seven days (well, really five days, a half-day and a half-day) a week and I will NOT answer your question within minutes, because email is not my job, selling is. If you can't bid based on the information in the auction, move on and find another seller.
Such a timely subject this is. I sent out my routine "thanks for your order, won't you please visit our website, blah blah" emails yesterday and got one very hostile reply back. Weird. So I looked through past unanswered email and found that this lady had purchased the one item BIN, paying instantly. *Then* and only then did she read my extremely compact TOS where it says we don't combine auctions. "Well, ah WUZ going to show my daughter yore auctions when she came home, but you DON'T COMBINE, so Goodbye!"
She sat at home and worked herself into a tizzy because she was sloppy and her assumptions were wrong. People, they just crack me up.
posted on November 7, 2007 09:18:13 AM new
Fluffy, you missed one of my points: If there's no salient information in the description, and the price looks good, and the photo looks good, a buyer has the right to ask for more information.
In the big world of collectibles, buyers can't simply move on and find "another seller" because there may not be another one out there (as is the case with the postcards I buy for our museum; they're often quite rare).
_____________________
posted on November 7, 2007 09:23:15 AM new
Fluff -- Remember when I was a newby and you read me the "Riot Act" about how to handle needy customers, etc.
I was so green - I thought "What a b*tch she is. Can't she just do a little bit of customer friendly communication... blah, blah, blah..."
Well, I've seen the light! I think Howard Hughes was so misunderstood. While so many thought he was a cook... I think he was going on the plan of "Make as much money as you can -- then get the hell away from the public!"
I will go out of my way for customers who ask in advance for some consideration or other... I'll offer to write a note in a gift or customize something for them -- and they're a pleasure to do business with...
But those who demand or assume or take an attitude at the outset -- won't cause me any problems! Next...
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
posted on November 7, 2007 10:17:50 AM new
Wayne said-
But those who demand or assume or take an attitude at the outset -- won't cause me any problems! Next...
Ohhh I immediately add those to block bidder list,delete the question and move on
posted on November 7, 2007 07:16:21 PM new
I have no doubt you won't answer emails Fluffy, you've made that abundantly clear in other threads. I also bet you have the integrity to not promise to in your auction descriptions. This seller promised to, and renegged on his promise. I suppose if I'd bought from him and then been unhappy you'd tell me I was being foolish for buying something that wasn't completely described on an auction page. I work 7 days a week too, and my workday is 24 hours long. When I get home from running an elementary school my real job at the ranch begins and lasts well into and oftentimes through the night. Big deal.
I didn't ask Harbor Freight about the manufacturer. I'm sure it's a no-brand item made in China. The reason I don't feel a need to is the fact that in addition to being 15 bucks cheaper, Harbor Freight has in my experience the most no hassle no questions asked return policy since WalMart. I did call and get an answer to what the side panels were made of and some other questions I'd thought of since. If the thing's no good, I'll just pitch it in the truck the next time I go to Tucson and get a refund.
The bottom line is this seller made a promise he didn't keep and thereby lost a sale. I don't mean to lump all powersellers together, I'm sure there are many good ones on Ebay. But my overwhelming experience with them has been that they are slow to leave feedback and slow to communicate and answer questions.
posted on November 8, 2007 07:31:14 AM new
But, Zippy, the seller says ". . . and can answer your questions within minutes, so please email your questions before bidding."
Since so many bidders just look at listings a day or so before they close, the promise is hollow if the seller is just playing semantic games. Very misleading, even with your parsing of the word definitions.
posted on November 8, 2007 06:59:17 PM new
I'm an English teacher too Zippy, and I teach the difference between the literal meaning of versus the implication of words.
posted on November 8, 2007 07:24:51 PM new
That's great! Now, if only their parents are teaching them to take responsibility for their own actions as well as teaching them not to be whiners when things don't go exactly their way, all their bases should be covered.
(By the way, when I said I was an internet English teacher, I wasn't being "literal." )
posted on November 8, 2007 08:22:04 PM new
I also hope their parents teach them integrity, honesty, and respect for others, traits that should be evident in any business dealings.
posted on November 9, 2007 04:53:39 AM new
I respect his right to run his business however he wishes. If that includes alluding to the fact that he'll answer questions quickly and in fact not doing so, great. He loses a sale.
