posted on April 3, 2004 10:37:43 PM new
As I've posted here before, I have a core group of about 3 dozen buyers who make up 80% of my sales.
Recently a bidder in the middle dozen (numbers 12 to 24) has gotten increasingly dissatisfied with the transit time of goods from here to there. It has gotten to the point of her complaining about it daily and demanding constant status reports on her shipments. Average transit from payment to her doorstep is ten days. Some get there quicker, some don't.
I decided to be frank with her and told her that there really wasn't going to be any improvement in transit time, so she might want to consider shopping elsewhere.
And yes, I really do resent the implication that I should be so darned grateful for her business that when she says to jump, I should start training for the Olympics. I quit a very lucrative tech job to do this for a living, and if I'm not allowed to be my own boss, there's no point in doing it at all.
Now, I know darned well that she buys from me because the auctions are 1 cent no reserve and that other 1 cent no reserve sellers don't get the goods out any faster than I do. I also know she can't get these particular goods elsewhere. So she really has nowhere else to go, but she doesn't know that yet.
Sure enough, I get a snotty email back tonight telling me she's going to take her $800/month business elsewhere. I get out the calculator, and quelle surprise, it's more like $500/month. I've noticed that in general people tend to think their custom is much more than it actually is.
So, I'm sure this missive will bring out the horrified the-customer-is-king types who'll say they'll eat dirt for anyone who buys their stuff, but you know, there are things more important than money. I won't promise what I can't deliver, and that's that.
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Dennis: Come see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed.
posted on April 3, 2004 10:46:34 PM new
Fluffy, you're absolutely right. No customer should think they can dictate how you run your business.
Of course, if she wants to, I 'spose she could double the shipping charge and you might, if you're in a really good Two-Buck-Chuck and Pringles mood, consider shipping Priority.
Have you put her on your blocked bidder list? Might get her attention...
posted on April 3, 2004 10:47:32 PM new
Speaking of eating dirt for a customer, I hope you didn't pass up the opportunity to suggest to her that she go pound sand up her a**. I've done it several times. I may never get rich, but I sleep well.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on April 3, 2004 11:02:40 PM new
I left her with the "don't let the screen door hit ya where the good Lord split ya" line. Unoriginal, but I'm really tired tonight. Might not even make it to the Ham Radio Swap Meet tomorrow.
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Dennis: Come see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed.
posted on April 3, 2004 11:30:44 PM new
Fluffy, I was thinking of that myself the other day. I do no where near the volume you do, but find people getting a wee bit demanding lately.
I think we have them somewhat spoiled. Mail order companies and even alot of web sites dont do the hustle when people buy. I am starting to wonder why I do it as an ebay seller.
posted on April 3, 2004 11:38:58 PM new
Love to read your posts Fluffy because you must attract all the "great" buyers. With the business you have I don't think that that is a bad transit time.
posted on April 4, 2004 03:41:33 AM new
fluffy, you said it all in the first part of your post "if you can't be your own boss, there is no point in doing it"
sometimes the profit doesn't begin to pay for the grief that goes with it!
posted on April 4, 2004 05:24:31 AM new
Fluffy: Smite the customer with the Holy Handgrenade of Antioch. Remember, counteth unto three before ye pulleth the pin, etc., etc.
posted on April 4, 2004 06:20:28 AM new
Since you know she can't get what you sell elsewhere, you should put her on your blocked bidder list.
Then when she changes her mind, she'll have to "ask" to be allowed to bid or simply do without.
If you allow her to bid, maybe she'll have a slightly different attitude when she realizes that buying and selling is a two way street, and that either party can turn it into a one way street.
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Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon.
Woody Allen
[ edited by greatlakes on Apr 4, 2004 06:22 AM ]
posted on April 4, 2004 07:25:42 AM new
Stop: She is a seller, though if she's reselling my stuff it must be under a different ID. Her buying ID has a ton of flea market crap jewelry. She puts 14k gold in her title and only by reading carefully do you find out it's goldplated.
I hate people who do that. But in her case it justifies my opinion of her.
greatlakes: Funny you should mention that. A big buyer left me 5 negs back in December and stopped buying. Then she came back again in March and currently resides in the top 12. A couple of other people have done similarly. You would think if you were so unhappy with the buying experience as to leave a neg you would never go back. Apparently there are other forces at work.
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Dennis: Come see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed.
posted on April 4, 2004 08:34:17 PM new
Not to take sides here, but the one question that popped into my head is how do you ship? First Class, Media Mail, Priority? Maybe $500.00 a month doesn't seem like a lot of money to you, but I think for most it would be an important steady amount that they would like to keep coming in.
Another question I just thought of is, did you offer a faster shipping option? (at her expense)
posted on April 4, 2004 10:38:39 PM new
I ship everything First Class. I'm not going to change that.
I used to offer all sorts of shipping options...Priority Mail, Overnight, etc. Then I discovered that while people wanted the options, they didn't want to pay for them. "If I send you $2, you can ship it Priority, right?"
Now they don't get any options. It works.
Maybe $500.00 a month doesn't seem like a lot of money to you
I don't know if it seems like a lot of money. I don't think about business that way. Remember, these are 1 cent auctions, not fixed price listings. A day doesn't go by that I don't get bids...from my bottomfeeders, if no one else. I even got bids on September 11, weirdly enough.
Could I be coddling my Golden 36 bidders more? Sure. I've been thinking of ways to do that. But that'll be my decision, not theirs. When faced with an ultimatum ("If you want me to keep buying from you, you'll...) there is only one possible response: "So long and have a nice life."
posted on April 5, 2004 12:22:15 AM new
I assume you use EDC for the extra few cents. I send an email at the time of shipping with the EDC NUmber and if they contact me again in a few days time with a where is it I resent the EDC Number with a note telling them tto refer to the email sent at the time of shipping. As many of my parcels are over 13 oz. I frequently use priority.
I also have shown the door to customers who annoy me and am fond of telling them I don't get paid enough for your abuse. It's nothing I haven't said to a customers face and am quite comfortable with it and considering my overall price to quality ratio they are hard pressed to come up with an alternative source anyway.
posted on April 5, 2004 01:22:52 AM new
Oh, heck, play her game. Tell her the government has a program to address this very problem and you will send her some forms with her next order. Send her a USPS complaint form.
Once I worked with a CSR at a Rent-A-Car that was rude and sarcastic with her customers. I was fascinated by it, regulars would stand in line and wait for her. I read quite a bit analyzing it. Quite interesting.
Ask her to let you know how 'they' do it if she finds anybody that ships faster.
I am curious as to the origination of the button she is pushing.
