posted on February 5, 2003 06:36:17 AM new
In this morning's post:
--------
Good Morning...
I've written you once before about this bracelet. I have 6 little girls I am trying to get matching bracelets for Valentine's day (nieces & my stepdaughter)
I have actually gotten 3 like this one, and 2 I don't really want, but got them because I was getting desperate to have something for them.
Please tell me if you have any more other than the one that is currently on auction and please be specific and truthful this time if at all possible. Last time I wrote, you said you didn't have the number that I needed and you did, and I missed bidding because I can't sit here all damn day watching your auctions.
posted on February 5, 2003 07:01:26 AM new
LOL! Desperation can just RUIN a persons manners!
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on February 5, 2003 07:19:02 AM new
Don't you just want to smack them upside the head. Same thing happened to me with some glassware. Sold her some and when she asked if I had more I said look for the auction after Christmas. Auctions went up and did well but she didn't bid. Then I get the whiney email that it's MY fault she didn't bid because I didn't tell her the auctions were up. Geez! Over the last three months I've had 9 auctions for this stuff! Ignore, ignore ,ignore!
posted on February 5, 2003 07:54:17 AM new
Or... listed ten rolls of fabric from an estate, one time offer. So we put in the description (we could see it coming!) "Bid now - we're listing these auctions all at once, and when it's gone, it's all gone."
FIVE of our bidders, as well as a few people who never put in bids at all as far as we could tell, got back to us after the auctions were over, asking if we had any more, since they were outbid! Two of those didn't really care if we had more, they just asked us outright if we could break the other bidders bids, since they had bid first, and after all, it had been theirs for a while! (They really NEEDED this!)
posted on February 5, 2003 08:12:17 AM new
Fluffy.
I know you have probably done it already, but I would add her to my "blocked bidder list" & then send her the following:
"Since you feel I have lie to you, I have solved the problem of your searching & bidding on any of my future auctions. Your bids will no longer be accepted in any of my auctions, I have added you to my blocked bidder list. Have a good day."
posted on February 5, 2003 08:17:27 AM new
I had a buyer last year who purchased a cup & saucer set. It was my 2nd to last set. I shipped it to her (she declined insurance) and all was well. When I auctioned off the LAST ONE - stating that it was THE LAST ... same buyer won it. But this time she felt "safe" in not paying for insurance and declined it, since the 1st one arrived alright. Well, this one never arrived - and WOULD I SHIP HER ANOTHER SET AT MY EXPENSE SINCE SHE NEVER GOT IT! Sure .. let me get right on that!
[ edited by cwb on Feb 5, 2003 08:17 AM ]
[ edited by cwb on Feb 5, 2003 08:18 AM ]
posted on February 5, 2003 09:53:54 AM new
She's got an AboutMe. An excerpt:
As I reflect upon the joy that has come intomy life...true love, marriage, my children, I have come to know that there is no place I would rather be than at home with my family. My initial experience with Ebay was as a buyer, but soon discovered that I would enjoy and benefit in many ways from selling. Wish me luck & my wish for you is to find a great bargain!
Okay. Then this:
In keeping with the spirit of Ebay, starting an auction for $1.00 does not mean I am willing to part with some items for a $1.00. If for some reason the listing does not run well, I reserve the right to end an auction and/or cancel bids at any time. Happy bidding!
So...the "spirit of eBay" is to lead people on and then cancel their bids if the auction doesn't look like it'll fetch what you want?
posted on February 5, 2003 10:15:02 AM new
She is obviously concerned with only one thing...herself. The heck with bidders and other sellers.
Another question, Fluffy. Does she have this end the auction lingo in her TOS or only on her About Me page. And if it's only on her page can she do it? Guess she doesn't like snipers.
posted on February 5, 2003 04:57:39 PM new
Fluffythewondercat,
While every one is harping on what a horrible buyer this person is you haven't answered her question. Did you have what she wanted? She implies you said you didn't yet they showed up as additional auctions. Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell her you won't sell outside the auction format, and to watch for future bracelet auctions?
I'll never figure out why someone that claims to be a seller complains when a buyer wants to buy something. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
posted on February 5, 2003 11:40:55 PM new
She sounds like a real winner. ;^)
I start all my auctions at the minimum I
will take. I do not cancel bids and I
have only ever ended a few (3?) auctions
and all because I made a mistake in the
listing and didn't notice it until I'd
submitted the darn thing!
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on February 6, 2003 05:32:33 AM new
Why does fluffy get so many "difficult" buyers? Hmmm? It seems to happen over and over again. I just can't figure it out.
posted on February 6, 2003 08:20:21 AM new
I think it must be a jewelry thing.
All of the nutcases I get are jewelry buyers (which is why I am trying to list all remaining pieces today and be done with them). I feel Fluffy's pain. After the last run of jewelry listing I had I was convinced that for some reason every bitter, insane, delusional individual that signed on to ebay during that week was somehow compelled to bid on my auctions. Obviously since I didn't have any jewelry listed the past couple weeks they all went back to Fluffy - Never fear Fluffy my friend - I'll be taking some of those freaks and malcontents off your back for the next week or so but after that I'm afriad they are all yours. My level of masochism just does not run high enoug to consistantly deal with them.
posted on February 6, 2003 09:40:33 AM newWhile every one is harping on what a horrible buyer this person is you haven't answered her question.
That's right.
Did you have what she wanted?
No. Nobody has what she wants, since she doesn't even know what she wants. She's already admitted she bought some bracelets that weren't "right", but she did buy them (why?).
Sorry, my subscription to Miss Cleo's Mind-Reading Hotline expired last month.
She implies you said you didn't yet they showed up as additional auctions.
Ever hear of "relisting auctions that deadbeats didn't pay for"? No?
Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell her you won't sell outside the auction format, and to watch for future bracelet auctions?
Huh? Did you miss the part where she's set up this elaborate fantasy in her head that she is going to have these items in hand to give to six little girls on Valentine's Day? Ya think future bracelet auctions will do her any good when her deadline is a week from Friday?
The stress that she is (obviously!) under is completely self-induced. We get people like this occasionally, like brides who see one of our necklaces and decide they're going to collect a complete set of eight. It never works.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Feb 6, 2003 09:42 AM ]
posted on February 6, 2003 09:54:21 AM newWhy does fluffy get so many "difficult" buyers?
Uh, because I do a lot more volume than most of the people here?
Because the overwhelming percentage of my buyers are women?
Because women get these bizarre notions like trying to collect a set of six identical bracelets by buying them one at a time and getting mad at the seller when it doesn't work out?
posted on February 6, 2003 10:20:34 AM new
Just to be very, very clear, since there seems to be some lack of clarity about this among my bidders and perhaps some of you, too:
Some of the items we sell are one-of-a-kind, at least at the point of time in which we sell them. We may get more like it. We may not. We have no idea at all what will be included in our next shipment. We get our goods cheaply precisely BECAUSE we are not allowed to pick and choose...we have to take it all.
(This is frequently a fact of wholesale life, but even some auction sellers don't seem to get this.)
I can't just order up six matching bracelets for Miss Valentine's Day. I don't know if we will EVER have these bracelets again. I'm thinking that we won't get many more, because this is a style that peaked about three years ago (think Reese Witherspoon's jewelry in _Legally Blonde_) and our source's buyers are no longer buying them to stock their store.
I know the bidders aren't "getting" it because right after an auction ends I get email that says "I missed out on this auction. Can you sell me another one?"
To which my response is: That is why eBay has a proxy bidding process. Bid early, bid high and you won't miss out on many auctions. And no, we don't have any more of these.
posted on February 6, 2003 03:18:10 PM new
Fluffy, If there is anyone to blame for any "confusion", it's yourself. The first thing I thought when I read this post is that you just did'nt feel like doing this woman a favor....same old thing you always write about when referring to your customer relations. Why else did I think that? Well, one of the first posts I even read here was written by you. You stated that there was a woman who had lost her little girl, the woman wanted to buy a few matching bracelets for the girls friends, to have the girls name engraved on them. You said "no" to the woman, and stated that while you did have the number of bracelets she asked for, and she was willing to buy them at a decent price, you still told her no. You buy wholesale, a quantity at a time. Yes, maybe sometimes you no longer have what someone is looking for, but this time your did....no skin off your teeth...but you told her no because....why? Oh, right,
"some" you said " would call that being a witch, but I call it business".....the first
label was correct in that case. Being a good business person does'nt only mean how many nickles and dimes you have in your bag. Hmmm....ya think that thread (and similar happy stories) could be at the root of the confusion? And..who bashes their own sex? You do, incessantly. Wow, that's loyalty for ya!
posted on February 6, 2003 04:32:59 PM new
inot: Actually, she got the merchandise she wanted and she's still a customer of mine. She ended up buying a lot more bracelets than she originally asked for.
And it wasn't that I wouldn't sell her the bracelets at all; it was that she wanted me to sell her a "set "of them off eBay, and her justification for asking me this was that her daughter had died the year before. In addition to feeling a bit resentful about this kind of blatant manipulation (I really don't need to know why anybody buys anything), I didn't do what she asked for several reasons: one is that that style bracelet was sourced by the department store to at least six different manufacturers, so while the bracelets are similar they are NOT identical. This has caused problems in the past where the buyers have screamed about minute variations in color and/or shape when making multiple purchases.
The other reason is that I want the auction price. Sorry if that offends you. I don't sell fixed-price, a decision that is looking more and more justified these days.
I haven't listed a thing today on FFPLD.
Being a good business person does'nt only mean how many nickles and dimes you have in your bag.
posted on February 6, 2003 04:36:53 PM new
I can second the statement about the finished jewelry category. I do sell there from time to time (not recently; I have more than enough custom orders thru my website to keep me hopping) and have found that a disproportionate number of bidders are rude, stupid or careless. Not all - nowhere near all - but quite a few. I've had at least two that I suspect were using their understanding of the emotional impact that criticism has on an artisan to leverage a cheaper price on hand-crafted items.
Fluffy clearly doesn't need anybody to defend her, so I won't. I will just say that I'm acting in my own selfish interests; I enjoy reading her posts, and I sometimes wish I had the guts to apply the smackdown as readily as she describes.* (And I'm going to go with the "she," trusting her to set me straight and quickly if I'm wrong.)
*I am reasonably good at a variant known as the "Southern Belle Smackdown," but that is hard to do through email, so I rarely apply it through eBay. Plus, it's really not fair to use it on Yankees and people from California.
posted on February 6, 2003 04:56:23 PM newAnd..who bashes their own sex? You do, incessantly.
You poor dear. It must be difficult to read something as politically incorrect as my eBay selling experiences. I'll bet you think someone should make me shut up.
However, I don't see any point in nice-niceing the truth.
I have never had a male buyer who sent me vicious and personally-insulting email studded with picket fence punctuation.
I have never had a male buyer who claimed that he just came out of a six weeks' hospital stay but was bidding all the while.
I have never had a male buyer who tracked down my cellphone number and screamed at me because she didn't get a refund as promptly as she thought she should...then handed the phone to her husband so he could yell at me some more.
Male customers for the most part are cool, rational and businesslike when doing business on eBay. (Those who allow their wives to egg them on are excepted.) Men aren't afraid to ask questions before bidding. From talking to my single man friends, I've found that they get great deals, too. It's possible some women are doing themselves a big disservice by allowing their emotions and preconceived notions to take over a transaction. In fact, I think there's a huge dynamic going on here that goes unexamined because as a society we don't really want to admit that men and women are not the same at all.
posted on February 6, 2003 05:08:45 PM new
Miss - don't assume that people who reside in California are quick to fall victim to Southern Belle Smackdown. I ran into an old schoolmate this week that informed me that I was the great hero of my 6th grade class back in the south due to my bazen willingness to subject my teachers to my own special brand of sarcasm
You do know that no one is really from California don't you? We all just move here based on urban myths of all the wonderous things and then spend so much on rent every month we are unable to save enough money to leave.
Why do you think we are all on ebay - we are trying to raise moving fees
posted on February 6, 2003 05:17:44 PM new
Pretentious puss, as usual you draw the wrong conclusions. No PC business going on here. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I would never hope that someone would "shut you up?". And have no idea what your meant by that. I love to read your posts. Just calling you as you portray yourself, oh perpetually hormonally challenged one. Funny, are'nt you the one constantly extolling the virtues and thrills and "rights" of "revenge" and yet you list this attribute as a negative experience you have had with your female customers? what a hypocrite.
posted on February 6, 2003 05:34:23 PM newneonmania You're right. Just because it's worked every single time is no reason to assume that it will in the future. But I will admit that most California folk seem to be reasonably polite, which limits the need for drastic methods in the first place.
(Just to be clear, we're talking SMACKDOWN, not wheedlin'. Wheedlin' has a lower success rate because it's harder to preserve your own self-respect when doing it - which is why I don't. But a good old-fashioned steelboned, frosty-eyed, viciously polite smackdown ... well, it's a powerful thing. I am nowhere near as good at it as my aunts and grandmothers. They can do it by telepathy, and email would be scant challenge as well.)
I would disagree with Fluffy on one thing ... the male vs. female relative difficulty ratio. Because ... well ... teenage boys. I suspect the gender, age and responsibility stats vary widely from category to category.
[ edited by msincognito on Feb 6, 2003 05:38 PM ]
posted on February 6, 2003 05:34:51 PM new
I agree with what Fluffy says about women customers. And I am a card carrying Feminist since before the bras were burned. You aren't born knowing how to stick up for yourself (read capable of executing good smack down). You get smacked first and then decide you aren't victim material. Whimps don't survive on eBay. You can be nice but there's a line customers can't cross.
As for posting here - we are all extroverts and risk takers. And don't forget opinionated.
posted on February 6, 2003 06:02:02 PM new
::Every day I thank the higher power that I don't sell skateboarding accessories. Imagine what those people go through.::
At least we know they don't get emails following the six weeks of non payment with the excuse I got this morning....
im sorry. i havnt sent payment yet because i just got out of the hospital after having surgery due to a pregnancy in my tube.
This is the follow-up to....
I just changed banks and am waiting for my new credit card
and
My boyfriend decided to clean up and thru away your address.
I don't know why she keeps writing, she never pays and I filed againt her negged her two weeks ago.
