Attracting bottom-feeders...
I'm sure everyone has their item that attracts these type, I got one from the store today (and there's quite a few more they have for me).
What it is, is a proof set from one particular country. The proof set is worth $300-400, pending on year. But for some reason despite it being a premium item sold for a nice price, this item itself attracts all sorts of bottom feeders (who will offer $150-200). I know this because it's the same gang that appears every time these proof sets come in.
It's been a while since I had one in the store, but I'm gearing up for how I'm going to respond to these inquiries. The group that this item attracts is a particularly aggressive and pushy bunch, and when I first started getting these sets, I didn't know how to deal with the "pushing around" that came with trying to sell them here.
I'm kind of anxious to list the one I got to see how it goes before taking more of them. I've got a better plan than I did previously on these, perhaps being among the lowest listed, which is a strategy my partner always employed when selling something that attracted bottom-feeders. He'd point out how much the others are selling for and his is the cheapest one, and no, he's not going to go any lower in price. Once I get this set up it will give me lots to talk about. (He had a similar experience selling a used luxury car, he went lowest to try to ditch it as quickly as possible).
Anyway Saturday I think I can get my pictures taken and get it up to see what will happen. While I don't remember the User IDs of the people who will contact me, I remember them clearly by the lingo they use when they contact me.
C.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoI got the item up - we shall see what it attracts. I checked out my competition. I have a slightly better version (as far as original packaging goes), and I don't have horrible feedback like another one of the sellers (who sold theirs for much less than mine is listing for).
In the past couple of weeks I sold a few very valuable items in the store (stamps), and got a lot of good feedback on how well it was packaged and accurately described. Due to this being a $300+ type of item, I did my best to describe anything that could possibly be wrong with it so there is no disappointment when it's received. Getting the price I want is part of the issue, but making sure a return isn't started is very important.
I do describe faults in all items, but I'm more likely to miss a fault in a $5-10 item (and just say there "are minor faults"), whereas in a $100+ item I'll do my best to make sure nothing is missed.
C.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoThe best thing to do when you get an insulting offer is to completely ignore them. Don't let these low lives raise your blood pressure. Put them on the best buddy list (block bidder list) especially if you read the feedback left for others and it's not good. I ignore them completely. I won't waste 1 minute responding. In fact, I get a thrill thinking that they are constantly checking their phone/device every 10 minutes to see if I accepted the offer or did a counter offer. Yesterday on a rare 39.99 diecast car with 4.99 shipping , a buyer emailed and wanted to know if I would do 15.oo shipped? The New Yorker in me wants to cuss them out but that would raise my bp. So they became the newest member of my best buddy list.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoThe checking the phone every 10 minutes is a priceless statement... that actually describes me sometimes when I'm in some heated exchange, checking every 10 minutes for the next response. (These things sometimes happen while at my day job). I try not to get into many exchanges around here, I hold myself to a higher standard of conduct on eBay than I do in my outside life.
We'll see what happens... if anything exciting happens I'll come back to the thread in a few days to share. I know one person in particular will reply. He seemed to get booted on one of his old IDs so I can probably pretend I have no idea who he is when he writes to me again. (He's not a scammer, dunno why he got booted, he's just a very annoying buyer).
C.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoAnnoying buyer, add them to your best buddy list. I used to battle them but then I realized it was taking away too much time from listing, family stuff, etc. etc. I'm older now and need to watch by blood pressure. Thankfully, I don't need ebay to live. So my blocked list is big.
skate_man1000
·3 years agoThat's what the B in eBay stands for. 🤣 Seriously though, the first thing I do is check their feedback left for others. Usually a mine field of negs/neutrals. Then I put them on the BBL.
duncanvr
·3 years agoI bet its other sellers trying to get that set cheap. I would hold out till you get the $300.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoThe one I just mentioned actually sold today (between when I checked at lunch and now).
But there's one that sold for $219 - but with best offer, so less than that. So I guess it's not a good argument to talk about what they sold for.
One of my lines is that items are on consignment and there isn't much room for a discount. That tends to get most of them to either pay what i want, or go away.
C.
maxine*j
·3 years agoWhy not just ignore offers that do not interest you? Or reply only to the initial offer with, "Thank you for your interest but I must decline the offer." No further back-and-forth after that one message. Why let people "push you around" by engaging with them? And if you know a particular item will attract hardcore hagglers, and you don't want to send them even a one-reply line, just do Fixed Price, Immediate Payment required.
-
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoIgnoring seems like a good idea, then they don't know if I've read it or not. I probably unintentionally ignore at least one message every week or two because it gets completely buried in my inbox.
I'll give it some thought between now and when I list it... it won't go up until Saturday at the earliest, so I have a couple days to think about it.
The bottom feeders that contact me are sometimes repeat customers that launch into a diatribe of "remember me, you sold these to me before at X price" (maybe true, I don't bother to verify because it's based on my cost today, not what I was paying for them 10 years ago... some of the buyers have been around for these sets that long).
C.
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoThe more valueable expensive and desirable the item is for resale the more bottom feeding you get because they want to sell it somewhere else or here.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoMost of what I have is not desirable for resale... these sets seem to be because there are dealers who are interested in buying them.
I found out one of them sold for about $270 (I didn't see that when I was checking for solds earlier, I was trying to report to the B&M store if what they paid was reasonable compared to what we can get for it). So if someone got $270, then my $250 should be a bargain.
I'm so looking forward to photographing that set on Saturday and getting it up there to see what will happen.
C.
12345jamesstamps
·3 years agoI got someone asking for a discount because...some sort of traffic accident and injured and such. This is the 3rd email I got from this person. I get the I am bedridden and such. I looked and notice buyer had 85 positive feedbacks the last month. Sounds like buyer is buying a lot. Its an unusual item for sale.
I am not hooked up for best offers...an email from a buyer with questions come with the "make an offer" or something like that. I am thinking of blocking the person.
skate_man1000
·3 years agoLol. That old gag. Tell them they should be saving their money for medical expenses.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoIt's quite tempting when someone writes me a sob story for me to reply with one of my own. I guarantee I'll win. Not very professional though.
They need to save money buying a coin or stamp because they have medical expenses... how about I can't give them a discount because I have medical expenses? It kind of goes both ways. Selling on eBay doesn't make you immune to financial hardship. In fact I think lots of people sell here because they have financial hardship and need the extra few dollars to make ends meet.
I've often told buyers that discounts are economical and do not depend on any particular buyer's circumstances. I don't care why they want a discount or what they can afford to pay, if it doesn't make sense for me to make a deal, I just don't.
Also what buyers seem to think sometimes is that if I can't sell it I will take any price because I need the money that badly. In reality if it doesn't sell, it goes back to the B&M store and becomes their problem. I don't care if any one item won't sell at my asking price, I have many more items to list. There is a never ending stream of stuff in the store, so much so that I need to pick and choose what I want to spend my time on (because I'm short on time, not inventory).
C.
coolections
·3 years agoWhat I do is set my listings to no offers and immediate payment required. Once in awhile someone still makes an offer through messages but I delete it and never hear back from them again. So I actually never deal with those so called bottom feeders.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoIt's going to get watchers and to get it off the offers list, I'll send out an offer, so I guess mark it up by 5-10% when listing. I would take offers of 5-10%, but when I don't want to deal with the buyer in question, I just send the offer with my ask price and tell them "you got my best offer", and then I generally never hear from them again.
I got a winner yesterday from the Dominican Republic. Asked about a note, wanted to know if I accepted offers. So I said "make me an offer". He said "no I want you to send me an offer". So I sent one for $35. He writes back $30. I said, sorry, you asked for my best price and I sent it.
Then he creates another account and contacts me again for an offer. Well like I don't know it's him... no one asks me about this item for months and now twice within 30 minutes? So I sent it again, for $35. The second account went away.
If you want to offer $30, start there, don't ask for my best price, once I send my best price, I stick to it. The item will vanish from my list for sending offers, so it's not like I'll be bothered with that offer ever again.
C.
sin-n-dex
OP3 years agoOh BTW, I like the immediate payment required option (which will get these sets going out one at a time instead of in quantity, once I have several listed). A couple of these can exceed $750 and it's a complicated situation when it's all on the same invoice (plus Chit Chats won't let me send more than $800 to the same customer on the same day).
I worry less with repeat customers on non-scam items (there's a UK guy that's spending quite a bit. I did my custom listings for him to ship separately but he buys and pays altogether for them even though it's designed as two shipments). He's not quite at $750, but I also know he's not going to scam me. Not after spending over $1000 in my store.
C.