Is there any point to accepting questions on items for sale?

[gwzcomps]

So I grow very weary of the lowball offers, and pointless questions.  I would say 2/3 of the messages I get are people trying to offer me 30%-50% less than my listed price.  Another chunk is questions that are answered in the listing.  The occasional message is a question about compatibility or something genuinely important.  Of all these messages I get 99% of the people don't even buy anything.  I have just now disabled questions, but I am not sure if that is the right decision.

If the majority of the questions I get are pointless is there any point in accepting questions?

[jconnor315]

@walwalwill YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES.

@gwzcompsI answered a discussion similar to this the day before and I wasn't sure of the proper way to link but wanted you to see this response as well, so here goes:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Unprofessional-Seller/m-p/30867529#M312168

Bottom line, many thousands of dollars in sales that seller could have had. Many thousands of dollars we spent elsewhere (including the table I mentioned earlier).

[gwzcomps]

@jconnor315   Yeah it is a tossup.  My sanity or sales and helping the customers who need it.  Ironically this morning I had someone who worked around the block to try to lowball me on something I wasn't taking offers on...  No matter what, being a seller on eBay means I lose 😛   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Maybe I will enable them again soon and see what happens.

[jconnor315]

@gwzcomps  With respect, I don't think it is a toss-up though. I think it's easy to ignore the jerks and answer the sincere people (and even answer the people who might come across as jerks, but it turns out their written/verbal delivery just sucks). When I had a (commercial fitness equipment) eBay store back in the day, I'm sure I could match you inane message for message. Even more so when I was selling vehicles professionally on eBay Motors (the things I was offered in trade may or may not surprise you).

Just a couple of afterthoughts:

- The furniture seller I mentioned who repeatedly ignored me also only ships freight, which I'd expect. However, every listing states "Contact us for a shipping quote." That just tickles me.

- I've met some amazing eBay sellers from around the world as a result of being ignored. Maybe I should send a Pretty Woman-style thank you note!

[gwzcomps]

@jconnor315 I used to have the phrase "Questions are encouraged" in the bottom of my listings. It worked well for a while. Then I had this one tire kicker who got mad when I pointed out their question was answered in the listing. They pointed out I said "Questions are encouraged" in the description. My response was something to the tune of "Yes thank you I will be sure to remove that from all my listings". I used to assume people would use common sense in their questions, but oh boy have I been proven wrong over the years.

[gwzcomps]

Well the experiment has been interesting. I have learned a few things from it.

• No noticeable changes in sales.
• Buyers still figuring out ways to message me with lowball offers
• Buyers still don't know how to check compatibility and go straight to a SNAD when they don't know how to use their item.

Whether allowing messages is worth it or not?  Beats me.  If buyers truly want the Amazon experience on eBay then no messages makes sense.  In all reality I think buyers think they can have their cake and eat it too.