posted on September 27, 2001 02:41:21 PM
How do you other sellers keep from pulling your hair out with some of the "dumbness" displayed by our buyers?
I often get letters just like the one below:
______ Actual Letter from Customer______
sent you a m.o on the 8th of sept for your book did not get book
will go on ebay to tell them about this before i do email asap
______________________________________
I've removed his name and address which was included only to protect the stupid....
But often I get emails like the above or better yet, I'll receive a check in the mail without an auction number or eBay user name. Just a check, nothing else, I normally have 200+ auctions running many of which are dutch auctions ending with 20-60 sales each. And the customer things I just should know what his check is for......
How do you keep from pulling your hair out or is it just me who attracts "stupid buyers".
posted on September 27, 2001 03:11:35 PM
How to keep from pulling your hair out? First line of defense for selling is to expect the unexpected, or stupid, or whatever you want to call it, in other words, if it can happen, it will happen - prepare for it. And, to see things through the other person's eyes some too.
I really don't understand sellers who are quick to label their customers and/or potential customers as "liars" or "stupid" or "dumb" or "overspending" or whatever. If this snap judgment attitude comes through in your ads, or your emails to buyers .. what a turn off. Sure, sellers can say "who cares - I don't count on repeat sales" ... but why be so mean in the first place? Shopping should be fun, as fun as it can be. I try to make the experience as positive as possible for my buyers/potential customers.
As for this example .. seemingly a buyer's snap judgement that his/her purchase is missing ... well, it could be the result of anything .. perhaps this person doesn't buy much, and really has no clue how long something should take in mailing, perhaps they were looking at the wrong dates on the calendar when writing - think this is October already perhaps (heaven knows I do that), or perhaps it was sent in error - ie the buyer had a similiar purchase from another seller - could be any number of reasons for the email. The only way to figure it out, this one, or any of the other "problem" sales is to write them back - explain and ask questions.
That isn't to say that such things don't cause some of us to pull our proverbial hair out .. it is bound to at times! As long as we, as a dedicated and professional seller, respond in a professional way. It just seems to me that there have been an awful lot of snap-judgements on buyers posts lately is all.
posted on September 27, 2001 05:14:11 PM
how about this letter i got from a buyer
Just wanted to let you know that I have left a neutral feedback comment for you. Nothing negative. I took the blame for item not received (as I did not insure it). No hard feelings. I did leave two positives a few weeks back for items received. I love the cat coat rack!!!!
