posted on May 9, 2008 11:40:47 AM new
I just got rid of a customer that I'd like to shoot. She knew up front what I charged. She signed the agreement which also gives me the right to set the starting bid and says that if she wants a certain price, she has to speak up (not in those exact words). She brought over a large box of used DVD's. I told her she wouldn't get much for them. So what happens? I start listing them and she gets mad because they're too low. Right then I knew this wasn't going to be good. I yanked the listings and told her to come pick her items up. I also told her that used DVD's don't command good money on EBay. She thought because she had complete series of Simpsons and South Park, she'd get tons of money for them. Uh, no. They're still used. What a waste of time and energy.
To make matters worse, some of the movies she already bought used. Some had minor scratches, etc. What did she think she was going to get? Now she's sending me emails with the DVD's on EBay and Amazon that are listed for more than I listed hers at. I had to email her back with a link to completed auctions that tell a truer story. Geesh you can list it for anything you want. Doesn't mean that's what you are going to get.
posted on May 9, 2008 11:52:53 AM new
The CAN make you crazy. Most people think what they have is worth much more than they would pay to buy it used from someone else; it's human nature.
posted on May 9, 2008 11:53:40 AM new
My biggest grip with consignment customers is that, even when they swear on the Bible that they don't expect big bucks and understand my caveats, they're almost always disappointed over the final price. And don't always understand why I start the bidding "low." Sigh.
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posted on May 9, 2008 12:48:51 PM new
You can tell her to contact me!! If she got bids at all she was lucky. I just tried to sell some that I owned for something like $2 each and they didn't even sell. Good movie too.
posted on May 9, 2008 01:35:38 PM new
Many consignment shops have gone out of business or in the case of the notorious AuctionDrop, stopped accepting consignments altogether.
AuctionDrop was a high-profile Silicon Valley startup riding the crest of the 2001 bubble. They raised at least $15 million in VC and announced plans to have dropoff stores all over the U.S.
Reality set in after a few years, though and the number of stores never exceeded four (those are long gone).
Then they came up with a harebrained scheme to have people take their goods to the nearest UPS Store. That didn't work so well, either, even after they decided to accept only luxury items.
Today AuctionDrop is run out of a grungy commercial area in Menlo Park quite close to the UPS depot, which is probably not a coincidence since over 1/3 of the items they sell are return/liquidation/refurbished big screen TVs.
Even that is no picnic; they've gotten 35 neutrals and negs in the last month, plus their DSRs are 4.7/4.7/4.6/4.2, disqualifying them for fee discounts even though they do more than $600,000 a MONTH in sales on eBay.
(That 4.2 in shipping/handling is probably unfair...People just don't understand that if you ship something the size of a 42 inch plasma panel the oversize charges will be huge and there's NOTHING the seller can do about it. In this example, shipping is $235.)
posted on May 9, 2008 02:02:42 PM new
Charge an upfront or hourly fee...say $20.00 to provide them with research on what they might expect to get for their items.
I provide my TA customers with a synopsis of what I recommend they start their items off at and what they might expect and have them okay that plan BEFORE I list anything. Of course these aren't guaranteed results just predictions based upon past closed sales.
Less surprises for the customer and with the upfront research fee, for the report, you usually aren't dealing in nickel and dime stuff.
posted on May 9, 2008 03:26:20 PM new
Cheryl,
If you customer knows enough to check prices on AMZN,why not just ask her to list on AMZN and Half.com herself and find out they may never sell !
*
Lets all stop whining !
posted on May 9, 2008 07:30:36 PM new
hwahwa - I've been tempted! Things felt off from the very beginning.
My other customers and I have a good rapport and I've made a great deal of money the last couple of months. All it took was one customer to tell everyone at church and now they all call me. There is now a waiting list.
