posted on December 27, 2000 09:46:13 PM new
Have bought on ebay for a year, I'm now selling a few items, and I can see what sellers have been saying about buyers. I have no major complaints, but *why* would someone put a check in an envelope with no explanation!?! Buyers, listen up! We don't have time to shuffle through reams of paperwork to find which item went with your name. You really need to include the item name and number.
I'll take your money anyway, but some ID would be extremely helpful.
posted on December 27, 2000 09:52:04 PM new
Here Here!
I;m glad to see that a Buyer is finally getting it!
Now imagine 2000 auctions a week on eBay alone, a good percentage of which are 9.99 plus a standard 4.25 shipping and try and figure out who was sending in the the money without an auction id or email address....
LOL - it's not funny... even with a good database and email tracking system!
posted on December 27, 2000 09:55:11 PM new
I finally cleared up one of my "mystery" payments today by sending a follow-up "did you pay yet" kind of letter to a bidder. She fired back an email saying she'd sent a MO two weeks ago, along with about 10 others, and that all of the other sellers had been in touch with her and she'd even received some items--but heard nothing from me.
She signed her email!!!!
For the first time, I had an actual name for this bidder, and I recognized it at once as the name on my mystery money order. She had sent a money order with *no* signature, *no* auction #, *no* hint of item. She was one of those buyers who don't respond to EOA notices, but just send payment. Although her return address was on the envelope, I never knew her name and that was no help to me, since I only knew her user ID. Besides she had gotten this item at a pretty good price and I wasn't inclined to spend 33 cents to mail her MO back to her; nor was I inclined to waste more time trying to track her down through eBay.
I hadn't been able to match up the amount of the money order to any of my auctions, and now I know why--her money order is not enough enough to cover the winning bid, let alone the postage. I suspect she sent "my" money order to one of the other ten sellers.
Her follow-up email to mine explaining all this: "Oh. Sorry." No word of what she plans to do, LOL.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:03:41 PM new
Hi Roadsmith:
I'm laughing! I know what you are going through - and it's frustrating, it used to be one of my biggest peves!
Payments that show up in the mail with no item number, no item description, no eMail address, and sometimes with no name on check or MO, can be difficult to identify when one is running lots of auctions!
It's almost like they think you are selling one item only - to them...
I used to send buyers a letter via snail mail asking for item identification. Now, I can usually identify the items with a little effort.
Using the check or money order amount, I subtract my three most common shipping and insurance amounts. For example, if a MO is in the amount of $18.90, I'd subtract $4.05, $5.15, or $6.25. Using eBud software, I'd sort the list by ending bid amount. Then look for the amounts of $14.85, 13.75, or 12.65. Chances are you can locate the item; additionally, if you compare a suspected bidder's eMail address with last names you can often find similarities.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:16:53 PM new
Roadsmith,
Welcome to the seller's club. I know it can be frustrating to get a payment from a customer with no identifying information. But if you think that's bad, wait till you get your first customer who won't send any payment at all
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on December 28, 2000 05:45:19 AM new
I've given up searching all over the place for the Mystery bidders auction!
Don't have the time for it, I asked clearly in my EOA notice.. and it is the bidders responsibility to inform me of what auction they won.
People contact me, I ask them for their mailing address, and the look my mystery pile... currently 15 letters deep.
Considering adding this line to my EOA notice: "Those who e-mail me their Mailing address will get their order proccessed first"
[ edited by celebrityskin on Dec 28, 2000 05:58 AM ]
posted on December 28, 2000 06:38:37 AM new
One soultion that works good for me on this is to just send the Payment back if they put a return address on. Tell them you don't have a clue what the payment is for and to send it back with the item #. I have only did this a few times, but it works.
posted on December 28, 2000 07:16:33 AM new
Hi,
I wanted to add my opinion here.
when a buyer wins the auction, the first thing I do is send them an email asking them: for their snail mail address and payment preference.
When I receive an email reponse, I print the information out, write the item number and description on the paper and tape it to the ready to ship box with item inside.
This way, if I receive a payment with no identifier, I can usually find who it is either by name similarities or process of elimination.
I can't help on the no contact bidder...never had that happen. I do use AuctionWatch to a point..but I also make a point of personal contact with each and every buyer. Nothing beats the personal touch.
posted on December 28, 2000 09:20:44 AM new
Have a mystery payment sitting here right now, going back to buyer tomorrow. $8.00 money order - no information. Buyer did not even put his name on the envelope, or the money order just the address, can I mail this back in an envelope without a name? I feel like addressing it to idiot buyer but will refrain. I do have an auction that ended for $8.00 but was $11.50 total with Shipping. So on Tuesday I wrote them a note asking if it was their payment. Still no response. This is not an ebay auction so I can't pull contact information.
posted on December 28, 2000 09:51:38 AM new
A little off topic (although I do have two checks hanging on my bulletin board right now with no IDEA what user IDs they belong to or what they are paying for)....but how about this for a buyer/seller story: About two weeks ago a buyer sent me payment amounting to DOUBLE what her winning bid was. She sent along a note saying she felt the item was worth far more than her winning bid and she wanted to pay me what it was really worth!!
posted on December 28, 2000 09:54:09 AM new
Roadsmith here. I need to clarify a little what I said when I started this thread.
I am a journalist and communicator by training and experience. As a buyer for a year, I was fanatical about communication with the seller. Did everything I think a buyer should do, and things were smooth for me in my 110 purchases--never a problem.
I assumed!!! everyone is as fanatical. I've read your threads about this and thought that if *I* communicated properly, *they* would too! Wrong. (E-mail ain't that hard, and it blows my mind that it isn't used by all buyers to set the wheels in motion for the purchase they've just made.)
I've enjoyed your responses, and I do dread the day when I have a non-payer. Things could be worse, right?! Adele
posted on December 28, 2000 09:55:20 AM new
What kills me is this, "Here is payment for the shirt". Well, ya I figured it was for a piece of clothing since that is all I sell. But Geez, can you tell me what shirt out of the 67 I listed is yours!!!!!!
