A question to all you long time sellers on here..

[ir0nmaiden66]

 I had a quick question about something that you may get daily Vet/Long Time sellers.

If a buyer asks you an obvious question , or something that was in the description of the item they bought, do you go ahead and answer it anyway, or tell them that it was stupid of them to ask that? As a long timer buyer on this site, I thought the goal is to have a smooth transaction and have me come back to buy from you again, or is decent customer service too much to ask for?

[nobody*s_perfect]

I will answer the first stupid question very politely.  But if they as another one, I ignore  and block.

[frodobagginskennedy]

I will respond " as the listing states.........."

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

As a buyer that comes across as snotty and would totally turn me off.

[fern*wood]

It sounds like a seller embarrassed you.  I try to not do that.

[gracieallen01]

There are time when all of us (probably) have missed something or over-looked it or misread it.  Once, it can happen.  Twice, someone may just be pulling your chain.  More than that, you are very possibly wasting your time.

[frodobagginskennedy]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

As a buyer that comes across as snotty and would totally turn me off.

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yes i know.  Sometimes I cannot help myself.  Normally I am pretty good about answering anything and just go with the flow.  Somedays the little devil is on my shoulder whispering in my ear......

[uncseniorsportsfan]

I will politely answer questions of that nature,  However, I will not reply to unsolicited offers.   

[richard1rst]

I used to get irritated - my thought was "what are you - blind?"

BUT THEN I realized:

It might be a foreign buyer asking about size because they use metric and do not understand English measurements.

English may not be their first language

I don't use a smart phone myself, but based on comments on these boards I am given to understand that sometimes finding/reading the texted description is not always easy.

And, finally, I am more interested in making a sale than I am in insulting a buyer.

[thevintagesilvershop]

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@frodobagginskennedy wrote:

I will respond " as the listing states.........."

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"as the listing states......." is usually a dog whistle for "are you STUPID?"  Whoever you direct that to, believe me, hears it.  I think our goal is to SELL, therefore, it's good to hold back any anger or annoyance and be polite and try to make the sale. 

[buyselljack2016]

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@richard1rst wrote:

I used to get irritated - my thought was "what are you - blind?"

BUT THEN I realized:

It might be a foreign buyer asking about size because they use metric and do not understand English measurements.

English may not be their first language

I don't use a smart phone myself, but based on comments on these boards I am given to understand that sometimes finding/reading the texted description is not always easy.

And, finally, I am more interested in making a sale than I am in insulting a buyer.

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Yup, sometimes it is not the buyer.

I will generally answer, but may block. If they are not getting the basics of the listing it may go downhill from there. I would like sales, but they need to be good sales.

Had a return where the buyer posted a photo of a defect that was nearly identical to the photo in the listing.   Buyer insisted that there were no photos. Defect was described. Buyer insisted that the defect was not described.

@ir0nmaiden66 

Buyer should be answered politely, or not at all. A seller should respond just as  they would if looking at the buyer in person, and not use the power/distance of the internet to be a fool.

[vintagecraze50]

I get some low offer questions at times and sometimes I respond to them telling the customer that this is the best price we can do and thank you for contacting us.

I get questions where people have not read the description or looked closely to the photos and I tell them in the case of as photo, to look at pic number 2, and or direct them to the text in the description. 

Any question I usually will respond to promptly. The only one’s I tend to ignore are the one’s that come up with very low offers and they persistently ask for price reductions. Even then, I may tell them that we may reduce to that much later, and to keep watching.

[chapeau-noir]

I just answer the question. 

[coolections]

We would need to see the item description; we would need to know the question asked; and we would need to know the reason why you asked ? Anything without knowledge about the situation would make it impossible to answer on what a seller would do.

[lex-talon]

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@ir0nmaiden66 wrote:

 I had a quick question about something that you may get daily Vet/Long Time sellers.

If a buyer asks you an obvious question , or something that was in the description of the item they bought, do you go ahead and answer it anyway, or tell them that it was stupid of them to ask that? As a long timer buyer on this site, I thought the goal is to have a smooth transaction and have me come back to buy from you again, or is decent customer service too much to ask for?

Decent customer is not too much to ask for. As long as the buyer is not trying to take advantage of(scam) me. Some buyers just want to make sure your description is accurate and will ask more questions.

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