posted on July 14, 2003 08:04:27 AM new
I've been buying quite a lot in the past couple of months from ebay sellers and very few ever email me at all. If they take Paypal, I send the payment from the item page and I don't hear anything from the seller until the item arrives in the mail. No email contact at all, no thank you at all. The sellers range from small to large, powersellers and non-powersellers.
Is this what ebay has become? Like a self-serve machine? I'm concerned about how newbies feel about this. Imagine your first time buying on ebay and you never hear a word from the seller. Would you buy again?
I'm a long time seller and email everyone a eoa notice with a thank you, a shipped notice with a thank you, and a receipt with the order with a thank you.
posted on July 14, 2003 08:10:29 AM new
Feels like plain ole...
Common Courtesy
doesn't it??!!
OTOH: I'm able to send emails easily with pre-formatted templates -- tis only seconds to personalize & send!
Only do 20-50 auctions/week, so tis a piece-of-cake! If I were doing 100-500/week, I might look at the issue differently??
In any case, for those sellers who DO NOT maintain contact with their buyers (in Scruffy's parlance: hand-holding), I think that QUICK SHIPPING can eliminate buyer dis-satisfaction...IMNSVHO
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" http://tinyurl.com/5duz
posted on July 14, 2003 08:15:18 AM new
I'm a long time seller and email everyone a eoa notice with a thank you, a shipped notice with a thank you, and a receipt with the order with a thank you.
/////////////
PLEASE GIVE ME ALL YOUR EBAY IDS so i can stay away from your auctions,i dont need 3 emails per shipment!!
posted on July 14, 2003 08:47:01 AM new
I agree. I have been selling alot more than buying lately. I bought 4 items off ebay auctions. Out of the 4, only 1 had the courtesy to email me at all. On the seller's side, I also have templates set up for EOA, payments and item is in the mail. I just personalize them for each auction.
posted on July 14, 2003 08:49:48 AM new
That's only two emails, and one in-package invoice, and in my opinion, it's not annoying, it's common courtesy.
I send an EOA notice with payment details, and if they pay with paypal just a two line "Thanks! shipping on ___" and if they pay via snail mail, a note along those lines when payment is received. If it bugs them, they can just click delete, but I haven't had any complaints yet.
I've been on ebay since 99 and am used to sellers who don't bother to say thanks, got it, or even kiss my butt. I can only imagine what the newbie thinks when they are all excited that they just bought their first ebay item, only to sit for a few days wondering if all the stuff on 60 minutes was true.
There are stores in my little town that I purposely go to because of the friendly service. I could probably get xyz a couple of bucks cheaper at Walmart, but they have earned my loyalty. You can't tell me this doesn't apply to internet sales as well. Heck, even the cashiers at Wally world have to say "Thank you".
Yep, my emails are automated. They can still be written in a way that is friendly and courteous...and at least let the person on the other end know that there is indeed a live person on the other end of the transaction.
posted on July 14, 2003 08:51:54 AM new
That's only two emails, and one in-package invoice, and in my opinion, it's not annoying, it's common courtesy.
I send an EOA notice with payment details, and if they pay with paypal just a two line "Thanks! shipping on ___" and if they pay via snail mail, a note along those lines when payment is received. If it bugs them, they can just click delete, but I haven't had any complaints yet.
I've been on ebay since 99 and am used to sellers who don't bother to say thanks, got it, or even kiss my butt. I can only imagine what the newbie thinks when they are all excited that they just bought their first ebay item, only to sit for a few days wondering if all the stuff on 60 minutes was true.
There are stores in my little town that I purposely go to because of the friendly service. I could probably get xyz a couple of bucks cheaper at Walmart, but they have earned my loyalty. You can't tell me this doesn't apply to internet sales as well. Heck, even the cashiers at Wally world have to say "Thank you".
Yep, my emails are automated. They can still be written in a way that is friendly and courteous...and at least let the person on the other end know that there is indeed a live person on the other end of the transaction.
posted on July 14, 2003 08:57:54 AM new
I'm really surprised that at least newbies wouldn't get a little extra treatment, even from those Veddy Veddy Busy Power Sellers.
I add a P.S. to newbies' EOAs telling them I can see that they're new (or rather new) to eBay buying and selling and I want their experience to be a positive one. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
When they respond right away, I tell them I can see that they're going to be the kind of communicating buyers we sellers all want.
They do also ask questions frequently (where is the feedback forum, how to I pay with PayPal, etc.). Sure, they *should* know these things, but where's the harm in helping them get over the hurdles?
I will NEVER be too busy to be courteous to my buyers. NEVER.
posted on July 14, 2003 08:57:59 AM new
I do a lot of selling on eBay, probably about 40 sales per day. I no longer email buyers UNLESS they request the status of their order. Here's why.
I use to confirm everyone’s payment by sending out an email informing the customer that their payment was received. However when I sent a confirmation email to those who didn’t ask for it we were being reported on several occasions to our ISP as sending Unsolicited Email, i.e.: spam. So unless you ask for confirmation or status we’re not going to send out an unsolicited email as we’re tired of being accused of spamming. We do a high volume of business on eBay and our websites, receiving 100 payments or more per day (combining eBay and website sales). When we sent all customers confirmations we were getting at least 5 people per week who forgot about their order and inturn attempted to report us for spam. Then to protect my butt I had to go through all my emails and records and file a report with my ISP in order to prove that indeed the email which was reported was actually in response to an order that person replaced.
posted on July 14, 2003 09:09:22 AM new
some day some porn site or viagra site or mortgage site will fgure out a way to put " from your ebay seller" on their email !!
posted on July 14, 2003 09:55:14 AM new
The spam senders are already using Order Confirmation and similar subject lines.
Ebay is a lot different now then from five years ago. It's like a small town that grew into a big city. There are advantages of being a small town and advantages to being a big city. People will always miss the small town ambience and community spirit but will often migrate to the big cites seeking employment. If some sellers can maintain a small town ambience with their ebay customers they may hold an edge over the big city ebay sellers.
----------------------------------
-------------- sig file ----------------------------
"Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error."
- Andrew Jackson
posted on July 14, 2003 09:59:56 AM new
drcomm,
I totally agree. Our practice is exactly the same...as I guess it is do unto others....I know we like to have info from sellers when we buy, I hate wondering did they get our payment? did they ship it? We send one email and one invoice/thank you in the package. Unless you count Vendios EOA and Paypal. No one has ever complained of too much information.
[ edited by cramer on Jul 14, 2003 10:00 AM ]
posted on July 14, 2003 10:19:09 AM new
stopwhining:
I send 2 emails, 3rd thank you is in the shipping box. I found that if I didn't send a "shipped" email, many would ask where there stuff was.
I'm sure ebay is very pleased with this self-serve type system, since they really don't want much interaction between buyers and sellers. Eliminates off-site deals, etc.
posted on July 14, 2003 10:28:20 AM new
I'm sure I'm not anywhere close to being as high volume as many here, but here's how I send notice to snail mail payers:
I have a "pending" file in outlook express. When I receive their shipping info/how they will pay info I drag and drop said email to pending. Then, when mail payments come in, I find the email in pending and copy and paste the note. I sell about 75 items a week and haven't had trouble with this yet. Of course, if they DON'T send me any kind of email after my EOA..they don't get a shipping notice. Fair enough, I say, since they didn't respond as requested with shipping info so I could pre-pack.
I'm going to give the "FROM SELLER" thing a try..I have an amazing amount of bounced emails from spam filters, and sending another email through ebay is a pain in the keister.
posted on July 14, 2003 10:35:08 AM new
Two emails should be the norm. 'You won' and 'I'm shipping'. Too many emails is bad and one or no emails is also bad.
When I first started selling on ebay I would not send an email saying payment received and I'm mailing your stuff because I figured the buyer would have the thing in short order. That's flawed thinking for at least two reasons. The thing]/i] ( I'm staying away from the term [i]item just for you Jack ) could get lost in the mail or the widget could have been won by a very impatient bidder that thinks Media Mail means it is placed on a Lear Jet. These bidders are very fast with a neutral feedback or even negative feedback.
I don't have the heart to place the We Return Your LIKE for LIKE Feedback. line anywhere in an auction description or email ( sounds a bit mafiaso? ) but I agree with the sentiment and the bidder will get the same type of feedback they leave.
----------------------------------
-------------- sig file ----------------------------
"Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error."
- Andrew Jackson
posted on July 14, 2003 10:48:34 AM new
That little line saved me just last week. They wanted to Sooooooooooooooo bad! You know,,,then they read that. Even mentioned that I got them TWICE! They were the NON reader variety.
Shoot it's not a threat or ANY thing like that it's just fact. I never leave it FIRST, if they never bother with it I care less. 1181 and 15!!!!!! negs!!!!!! ALL from impatient OR flat out LIARS!! NPB's!
The only guy in the REAL B/M world that says anything when they leave K-Mart is the dissatisfied types. Signs, yelling! The happy people just drive home. (how do I know? BECAUSE I AM THE TYPE THAT FLIPS OUT AND IN FACT DOES THE YELLING!!!!! hahahaha,,,,, )
posted on July 14, 2003 11:00:09 AM new
Oops, 1268, and I know for fact I have sold well over 10,000 things on e bay. 3 years! they get the point my way, the less feed I get,,,,,the better I like it. I show enough credibility and thanks to 15 morons uncredibility.
NEGs no longer bother me, I just slam them back with a verified UPS number right in the feed back. No he said, she said. FACT!
posted on July 14, 2003 11:02:13 AM new
In my ITEM SHIPPED email, I include this statement, along with the fb link:
"Auctions should be fun! If you have any questions about your purchase after it arrives, PLEASE contact me! I check my feedback profile at least once/day and reciprocate immediately. I'm very grateful for all the kind comments over the past 2 years!"
Seems to generate around 80% return FB!
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" http://tinyurl.com/5duz
posted on July 14, 2003 12:20:41 PM new
Thanks tomwiii. I'm gonna use that line in my item shipped email from now on. Sometimes I get lazy and just reply to Paypal payment letter and tell them I'm mailing out their stuff but a formal letter with your phrase is better.
----------------------------------
-------------- sig file ----------------------------
"Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error."
- Andrew Jackson
posted on July 14, 2003 01:24:51 PM new
I do what Cramer here does. My EOA message is replied to and I thank them.
Then, when payment is rec'd, I e-mail to tell me I rec'd it and that I'm shipping "right away"--that covers today and tomorrow, in case of earthquake or other terrorist act. I do ask them to let me know when item arrives.
When they tell me they've got the item, I thank them for their business. And sometimes now I send them my small survey to determine where they first stumbled on my item--searching keyword or category? etc.
posted on July 14, 2003 05:49:20 PM new
I send an EOA with payment instructions and nothing else. It is a business transaction, not a social meeting.
As a buyer I do not expect anything but payment instructions and the item timely shipped. I avoid sellers that try to make the purchase a social scene. You can usually spot them by the useless and annoying things on their auction page - I avoid buying from them at all times.
posted on July 14, 2003 05:57:11 PM new
Reamond....actually some of my best customers have turned out to be little old grandmas that did need it to be a social thing...its ok in my book to play the game a bit....its not that time consuming to answer a couple of emails...just a matter of opinion, I guess.
posted on July 14, 2003 06:06:40 PM new
Oh,,,,,I bend many times,,,,and chat, But I have yet to ever establish any long term buying from one person and believe me I have heard it, we'll buy many more in the future! Yeah right, they wanted some kind of discount. They bought and that was the end of it.
posted on July 14, 2003 06:11:24 PM new
Sold a Barbie doll for an ungodly amount of money. I was thrilled to pieces (for me, it was my version of the infamous Carnival Glass plate). The buyer has turned out to be an extremely valuable source of information and I send her photos of my finds to help identify them to this day. I consider being "chatty" well worth it sometimes.
Deana
All Jacked up on Caffiene and YACKITY SHMACKITY!
posted on July 14, 2003 06:16:32 PM new
hahhaahaha,, my Barbie source from 3 yrs ago when I WAS a chatty before this really became a business in my mind,,,,she got nuked...
posted on July 14, 2003 06:16:42 PM new
Reamond
I think many a business has made service courtesy and personalization into quite a profitable edge over the competition. And more so with high end buyers - that they've come to expect that. (Though I admit the internet is a little different.)
I used to send thankyou's in the shipment, but dont have time to anymore. Now just message in paypal form thanks and tell them when it will ship and what their estimated delivery should be. I've noticed my FB has dropped since I dont do the 'personalization'
thing anymore. ?? Wonder if they feel why bother to leave a FB?
