bigpeepa
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posted on January 15, 2004 07:56:10 PM new
When I get customer emails asking questions about my auctions I hardly ever get a bid from these people. Is it just me or have other sellers noticed the same thing? Also I just received this Email tonight "IS THAT THE REAL COLOR" no Hello, Thanks, Name, nothing just "IS THAT THE REAL COLOR" I don't know why but I don't think I am going to answer emails like that anymore. Maybe its because those kind of emails make me feel cheap when I do answer them with a Hello, Thank You, Name, and Good Luck. Once again is it just me or do other people feel that way when they answer a email like that? Maybe I am becoming a Ebay Burn Out!
[ edited by bigpeepa on Jan 15, 2004 07:57 PM ]
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SaffronSpice
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posted on January 15, 2004 08:04:27 PM new
Bigpeepa...
Bizarre emails I ignore. The ones from regular people I respond to no matter if they bid or not. Good communication between potential customer and seller just makes good business sense, if nothing else it assures one that an air breathing human is still running the show.
Burnout sucks, been there. If it won't kill you maybe launching fewer auctions for a bit might help. Better yet call it a day for a couple of weeks and go to the Bahamas!
Karl
Hey! If you can't beat them then nuke them!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/nuke_all_scammers
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Roadsmith
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posted on January 15, 2004 08:16:00 PM new
Hi: I answer them all, courteously. About 1/3 of them do bid and usually win the item they're asking about.
But here's one I got tonight. I'm selling a set of glass chess pieces for a friend:
"Hey man... I need you help. I'm from Brazil and here is hard to find glass chess pieces. I have this chess game but someone stole my clear glass horse. Am I writing right? do you understant what I mean? I want to pay U$$ 4.25 on your clear glass horse. You can have all the other pieces. Buto I got to know how much money I would spent with shipping! Can you send this information to me? I'm from Juiz de Fora, MG Brazil"
WELL! I told him there's no way I could break up a chess set for him but I wish him luck (in the spirit of international love and understanding, of course).
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
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jackswebb
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posted on January 15, 2004 08:35:48 PM new
If they sound like a moron, I check them out on search for members,,,,,then BLOCK them and tell them how stupid they are for NOT bothering to READ! what was already in the description! lazy jerks! They want a personal description? No way!
MY Powersellers logo.
Annnnnnd,,,,,,The beat goes on...yeah the beat goes on,,,,,
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sparkz
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posted on January 15, 2004 08:43:29 PM new
Roadsmith...You could further help the man from Brazil by suggesting that until an exact replica of the knight can be found, he can fashion a suitable substitute by taking a 1 jigger clear shot glass and glueing a small picture of a Budweiser Clydesdale on it. All in the spirit of international love and understanding - of course 
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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Roadsmith
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posted on January 15, 2004 08:51:54 PM new
LOL Well, Sparkz, you've done it again. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
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tonimar1
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posted on January 15, 2004 09:04:15 PM new
Hi
I sometimes believe that people email you with questions just to see what type of seller they might be buying from.
They want to see if you do respond, and how well you respond so it gives then an idea as to what type of seller you are.
Also, your item is not the only one of that kind up on auction so the buyers have lots to choose from, but the seller would make all the difference in the world to a buyer when they find one that is curtious, and quick to respond to whatever question they have.
I always ans. email questions and hope for the best, thats all we can do. It's just like when I had the shop, people come in looking around and asking tons of questions, then they turn and say...."thank You" I'll be back............and under your breath you say...........don't do me any favors.......lol
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sparkz
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posted on January 15, 2004 09:50:56 PM new
Bigpeepa...The generic question "Is that the real color?" can apply to any auction on Ebay. Did you check the headers on that Email? A little over a year ago one of the Vendio posters came here with a generic email that was worded "Can you send me more information on that item?". Turns out a few others got the same email. They were sent through the ask seller a question feature. After a headers disection and a whois search, one of our tech savy posters discovered it originated in Australia with a marketing agency (aka spammer) These emails were nothing more than an attempt to harvest email addresses from Ebayes through the "ask seller a question" feature. Anyone who answered one exposed his addy to the scammer to be added to a list. I would not be surprised to learn that the email you received was a variation of the same scam. Since that time I am rather selective about answering moronic inquiries.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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Roadsmith
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posted on January 15, 2004 10:00:02 PM new
tonimar--I agree completely with you! Sometimes I have to ask a seller a question, and if I get a curt or rude response, or no response at all, I won't bid. The response is really the only way we'd have any idea what the seller is like, isn't it?
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
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fenix03
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posted on January 15, 2004 10:17:48 PM new
Roadsmith - you may have just turned your back on a cottage industry. Glass Chess Piece replacement. Certainly there are others with chipped broken or lost pieces....
BTW - I'm only half kidding - someone is going to do thiis someday, make a fortune and we are both going to feel very silly.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by fenix03 on Jan 15, 2004 10:18 PM ]
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neroter12
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posted on January 16, 2004 04:25:10 AM new
BigPeepa I agree with others who stated sometimes it may just emailing harvesting stunts. I answer most of them just the same. But the few if I have a flat rate in there who ask, "what is the shipping to 11111?" I am tempted to say flat rate same as it is to 00000". I have choosen not to answer some of those. (It feels almost like they are testing to see if you'll tell them something different because they are closer than a zone 8 or whatever.)
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CBlev65252
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posted on January 16, 2004 04:37:44 AM new
The only time I get bids on the Ask the Seller a Question is when it's an international bidder needing the shipping cost. I had three questions this morning and I'm not expecting a bid out of any of them.
Cheryl
http://tinyurl.com/vm6u
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earthmum
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posted on January 16, 2004 05:01:10 AM new
I launched an auction late last night for a high end piece of jewelry. Woke up early this morning to find one of those e-mails. Politely and as accurately as possible answered all questions. Same lady just did a BIN. Whoopee!! That time it worked out.
However, I agree that more often than not the questioner does not go on to bid on the item.
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photosensitive
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posted on January 16, 2004 08:11:50 AM new
When sellers complain about buyers who have problems with the item after the sale they always say, "They should have asked before the sale." It is true that everyone who asks a question does not bid. It may be that the answer told them that the item was not what they wanted or perhaps between the asking of the question and the bid the price passed their limit.
I ask questions if there is any doubt in my mind about the description or if the seller does not mention a point that is important to a collector of a specialized widget. I also may ask about shipping cost if it is not specified. There are also cases where I asked a question and got a rather sharp reply that the answer was in the listing. I then notice that indeed it is but the terms and layout are so long, confused, or badly written that I did not find it.
I then base my decision to bid on the answer. I think it is better for the seller to loose the bid at that point than to have an unhappy buyer after the sale. I always snipe (I know, I know some sellers hate snipers but when I sell I love them.) and if my snipe is lower than another snipe it does not even show as a bid. This means that someone who answered my question may think I did not bid when I did.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
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Roadsmith
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posted on January 16, 2004 09:47:33 AM new
Fenix: That's not a half-bad idea there! Replacement glass chess pieces. I like it. The sets are fairly common and won't bring much at auction.
Photosensitive: I agree with what you're saying. When I taught customer service about 15 years ago, one of the things we stressed was that questions people ask are a learning process for us. If someone is standing near a directional sign in a hospital and asks for directions, we may learn that the sign isn't prominent enough. When I ask a seller for the dimensions of an item (not given in the description) and he answers with the dimensions, I note that often the seller never goes into the description to add that information! Duh. For every question, there are perhaps dozens who wanted to ask that.
And if you can't find information that's there but buried in the description, the seller should realize he needs to change things.
Honestly! You'd think this was common sense.
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
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kiara
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posted on January 16, 2004 09:54:03 AM new
and if my snipe is lower than another snipe it does not even show as a bid.
I think it does show. Mine do. The only time they don't show is if I didn't beat the clock.
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photosensitive
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posted on January 16, 2004 10:14:52 AM new
Kiara,
I should have said "tried to snipe". It does not show if you left a bid with an automated service that is too low at the time the service places the bid. I have also sniped in person well above the bid that shows on the auction and had an error message that I have not bid enough since someone else sniped at a higher price just before me. In that case it does not show either.
I left a snipe bid on an auction last night and this morning it was sold for a much higher price than I was willing to pay and my bid did not show in the bid history. I had quite a long correspondence with the seller and wonder if I should explain why my bid does not show. Maybe he would just be annoyed at my wasting his time. I did recently write a seller to explain why I decided not to bid on an item after he sent me a very detailed answer and he thanked me for explaining.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
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kiara
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posted on January 16, 2004 10:24:08 AM new
Okay, now I know what you mean. That's happened to me quite often..... I am all assured that I'm the highest bidder and the best sniper and then ..... Whaaaaaaaaat??!! The nerve of them! Where did they all come from? 
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sanmar
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posted on January 16, 2004 10:46:58 AM new
I answer each & every questionairre, regardless of how stupid the question may sound to me, it probably didn't sound stupid to the person sent it. I never have paid any attention as to whether they bid or not.
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giftsforall
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posted on January 16, 2004 11:44:55 AM new
I have gotten quite a few sales from people who ask questions. If the question is bizarre I usually won't answer. I had a feeling about one so I emailed back from my junk email account. Sure enough about two days later I got spam regarding the item I was selling.
It's better than the morons who waste your time on Ioffer offering a $1.00 for items. However I then get the chance to leave a snide remark. Which I sometimes do!
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seagulllax
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posted on January 16, 2004 02:32:01 PM new
Hello All, I see that most of the people that answered this post said its a good idea to answer emails. I will take there advice and continual to answer all emails. I just wish the sender wouldn't be so rude and at least say Hello, Thank You, or a Name.
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zircon4
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posted on January 16, 2004 03:28:53 PM new
I answer all questions politely. If they are asking something that is clearly stated in the auction I just copy and paste the answer straight from the auction. About 25% follow through with a bid. Sometimes it is a good opportunity to educate a prospective buyer about the product.
Regards,
Adrian
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Roadsmith
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posted on January 16, 2004 03:42:28 PM new
Seagulllax: I honestly think there are lots and lots of people out there who have never learned how to write a courteous or gracious letter or note. They don't realize how rude their abrupt messages look to others. And many of them don't know they should capitalize words, leave spaces after the period, etc. I think those of us who actually studied typing in high school learned all that and are lucky.
When I get one of those messages that looks rude, I try to imagine the writer as being a very nice person who never learned to do that. It helps my attitude.
___________________________________
"I have resolved to allow my friends their peculiarities." -- Samuel Johnson
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stonecold613
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posted on January 16, 2004 10:13:05 PM new
I recently receive an ask a question from an ebay member.
He/she asked if I knew that part number of the item I was selling?
I responded, "Yes I do. Thanks for asking."
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timeout4mom
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posted on January 18, 2004 11:07:19 PM new
I was once asked if a polyester pants suit I was selling could be worn in a swimming pool by a pregnant woman...
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