Meeting all of your buyers at once in the same room
Many of us sellers don’t really meet our buyers in person. I don’t even communicate with them if I don’t have to. I wonder hypothetically how would I feel if I personally met or at least saw all of my buyers in the same room. Sometimes I’d like to think that I can kind of guess what kind of demographic I sell to, but honestly I could be very wrong.
Would I be happy, sad, scared, pumped up, disgusted, weirded out, or proud when looking around the room? What about you guys and all of your buyers?
And I also wonder what my buyers might think if they actually met me. For some reason I think many would not want to buy from me anymore if they met me. That’s why I love online selling 😀
47 comments
gatafish
·8 months agoI used to say I hate sales. After 10 years of selling on Ebay I realized I love sales, I just don't like in person face to face sales. I have a small niche market and have gotten to meet a number of my customers as we go to the same swap meets and auctions. Its about a 50-50 mixed bag if its someone I would be friends with or not. About 13 years ago I did a 3 week trip of Europe and reached out to some of my customers and went to a International flying event and got to meet 3 or 4 of my customers. One elderly customer passed away about 5 years later and so glad I got to meet him. A few years later I did a 3 week trip to Australia and met about 6 of my customers. One was instant connection and great friend and the rest probably not best friends. The best and worst is meeting people in person at swap meets who follow me on Ebay or know my Ebay name. The best is when people know who I am by my Ebay name or my face and hold items back for me as they know that I am very honest when I buy things and will usually pay 50% of retail for quality items and they are OK knowing I will make money on the items I buy from them. The worst is when they know me or follow me on Ebay and see some of the prices I get and want me to pay 90% of retail for the items they have for sale. I've had a few people actually refuse to sell me items because they know I'm going to resell them and make a profit. I asked one person who wouldn't sell to me where he gets his great items. He said from estate sales. I asked him if he makes money on the items he sells. He said of course he does as he wouldn't sell stuff at swap meets if he didn't make money on the things he sells. I just walked away hoping he would hear what he had just said. I sometimes wish I could be just an anonymous guy at a swap meet and fly under the radar but if I did that I would miss out on the hundreds of great people that I have met over the last 25 years through Ebay that are in this hobby.
sakic92710
·8 months agoI feel it would be a benefit for some. I sell on Marketplace & meet a lot of my buyers in person. A few are return buyers because they like me & can trust in what they purchase. Seeing a return buyer on eBay has been very rare for me.
adamcartwright
·8 months agoI hate to hear you talk about yourself that way.
iamthecrosseyedcow
·8 months agoBack in the earlier days of eBay, it seemed to be much more social. I would end up messaging back & forth with my "buyer friends" frequently. It was fun, especially with international customers - I had several who bought large quantities of clothing from me monthly and had it shipped via surface mail (slow boat, literally) which no longer exists. We got pretty friendly waiting for those shipments to arrive. I specifically remember one lady from one of the Scandinavian countries who would tell me all about her ski trips and travels through Europe. (I guess she had to do something while waiting for the boat with the clothing to arrive each month or two...)
I also had brick & mortar shops at the time and was always friendly with my customers. Good business, obviously, but I also enjoyed it.
Nowadays, I tend to be more standoffish. My husband does all the marketplace selling for us. I don't like meeting people in the driveway, but I think he could chat up a rock.
simply-the-best-for-you
·8 months agoI would LOVE it! I have the best buyers ever! I think I can guess the demographic, but I'd bet there would be some surprises. I have the kindest buyers & I would love to meet them
sin-n-dex
·8 months agoI have some pretty good buyers too (kind of depends what's being sold, certain things attract certain types).
I did meet some of the buyers already, they are members of the local coin club.
C.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoI have buyers who have been my buyers across multiple websites and marketplaces. I feel I know them. We have communicated on many topics.
I care about some of them, including a couple who were affected by the LA wildfires, and we have been in touch since them even though they are not currently buying.
I have met some of my buyers at auctions and at special events, and even visited some at their homes when I was in the area.
I do not ever want them all in one room. Some I like more than others, some I treat better than others. I treat individuals differently than I treat groups.
I'd like the members of my BBL in one room, with a locked door, with me on the outside. But that is because I am vindictive.
top-shelf-heavy
·8 months agoI'd bet 95% of my buyers are wealthier than me. LOL
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoMy buyers are cool...I'm a bit twitchy, though and don't want to start twerking with excitement or babbling so I'd probably pass. 😟
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright
The interactions I've had with a number of my buyers have been so nice. There are some great people out there.
But I'm not sure hosting a meet-up would be responsible, given that one of my buyers is a felon convicted of a crime against a child. Maybe if I hired an armed guard?
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months ago😲How in the world did you come to know this? Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@tarotfindsandmore
The buyer left me nonsensical FB about my listing that I got removed.
When I checked out the buyer's own listings, they were really bad, like examples for an instructional video about how NOT to create a listing.
At that point, I wondered what kind of nutcase I was dealing with and googled the buyer's name. It was right there at the top of the search results.
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoWow. That's nuts. Certainly makes you wonder who we're all dealing with.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@tarotfindsandmore @iamalwaysright
These are the reasons I am happy to pay for a PO Box address.
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoOh yea definitely. I would never sell out of my home address. I had friends who did that and told me some confrontational people just show up unannounced. I don't even like it when my wife has all these people come to our house for the facebook buy nothing groups. I'm like it'll be better in the long run to just donate or junk our old crappy baby dinosaur toys than have strange people coming up to our porch looking around.
Like what if one of those guys falls into our decorative fish pond and sues us for it? I wouldn't put it past anyone whose willing to drive miles and miles just to pick something half functional just to save a buck.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright
Your wife needs to stop that immediately.
Read the recent news stories about Facebook murders, the most recent being in Illinois.
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoI don't blame you! I sell to so few males that I don't even think about personal safety. I am aware there are plenty of female predators these days, but I doubt too many of them are buying hello kitty brooches or fancy tarot decks.
I have a had a few kookie buyers but no one that stood out enough to look up. Guess the days of meeting buyers really are over.
sin-n-dex
·8 months agoI wonder if you have the same felon buyer I have? Well my felon is in Canada, and he's not a buyer, once he's done buying in initiates chargebacks for everything he bought in the previous months to get his money back, create a new ID and start over. (I've come to know all this because he crossed me, and I make it my business to find out about people who deliberately steal from me).
C.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@sin-n-dex
It's maddening that these people are not stopped.
sin-n-dex
·8 months agoIt's hard to stop them when they keep being punished and not learning the lesson and doing it again.
I said once before if this guy ever bothers me again, I'm turning over everything I have on him to local police. He bothered me again, that's what I did, and I had quite a file of other victims in Canada that he scammed. (He didn't seem to know he could make his feedback private and the profile had lots of information of sellers he bought from).
Unfortunately I probably won't the learn the outcome, but I don't think he'll ever be bothering me again.
C.
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoI think I mentioned here before that I sold to a guy that I found out has been arrested multiple times in my state for impersonating a cop, harassing people, and possession of illegal firearms in his vehicle. Think I might skip him on the evite.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoI would much prefer having 3 teeth pulled without any Novocain.
evry1nositswindy
·8 months agoOn the other hand, what would they think of me??
I sell a wide variety of items, so I would see a wide variety of people. But I'm shy and wouldn't enjoy that at all! I do ship local items to people locally and would like to meet them and tell them I have more items they would be interested in, but haven't had the time to list them!
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoI have! Back in the late 90s, the collectibles conventions were where you went to get a lot of your best inventory. Harmony Kingdom and Wee Forest Folk were a very big part of my inventory at the time so I did meet quite a few of my buyers. I posted about one of them about a year ago, with a couple pics of one of the items they'd purchased from me. It was an odd encounter, but nowhere near as weird as it would be today.
The ebay world was much smaller back then and the niche collectors were truly niche. You might have a couple hundred for a particular line in a given category so you did get to know many of them. The only thing that I was a bit surprised by was how "robust" many of them were. Morbid obesity wasn't as common three decades ago, but most of the people I was selling to were technology's early adopters and, as a result, only left their desks a few times a year for events. The most frequently heard observation I heard (in regard to myself) was some version of, "wow, you're so tall" (I'm 5'11") lol.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoI have mixed feelings on that, as I am more introverted but still enjoy meeting people, but our clientele is definitely varied, and it would be an... interesting gathering, no doubt.
ten_o_nine
·8 months agoI would love to meet all the buyers who left me negative feedback... one at a time.
sakic92710
·8 months agoI want to meet the ones who left negative feedback when they received their items AND got a refund.
gloryglorygifts
·8 months agoI met all of my early customers because we started doing flea markets and fairs back in 2008. It was awesome to meet and chat with them and there were quite a few memorable moments and stories I experienced and heard too. Two of my favorites was when a woman came running across the street (at an open air venue) to meet me because she had never seen such a bright aura around anyone ever. She had to come and speak to me and touch me. The other one met a saint when she was a young girl, who cured her mother of a lethal disease and herself of a mental disorder. Her mom was still alive 30 years later.
I do still love getting the occasional dm from customers who tell me what they are buying the product for. I welcome them and appreciate hearing from them, but that's the closest I get to them now, which is sad in a way.
aeparts1
·8 months agoI'm anti social, so the last thing I would want to do is meet my buyers.
That's the beauty of eBay for me: I love sales, people not so much. So eBay work fantastic for me.
I will say I have met some of them on pick up only items, & I've talked to some of them on the phone & all were really good people.
sakic92710
·8 months agoI hope you mean you are unsociable. Being anti social is a severe mental condition that means you are a potential danger to society.
smilekc
·8 months agoYes, your choice of words is better! That is probably what aeparts1 meant.
loose_goose_garage
·8 months agoI sell on FB/ CL as well and meet plenty of buyers through there, 95% of the time they are good people and have a quick chat about common interests, they purchase, and we both go on with our days. The other 5% will talk your ear off for much too long, and cannot take a hint. And half of those don't even buy anything, it seems like more of a social hour for them to tell you their whole life story.
A seller I buy from occasionally has this at the end of their description and it rings true to me, although more so for people on FB Marketplace that always ask for your phone number instead of just messaging through FB, not so much for eBay itself.
"Sorry, I don't give out my phone number. Most of the time people just want to call to try and talk me into ending the auction early, or "work out a deal"- usually ends up with hearing your life story and the cool chopper you had "back in the day", or everything you're "going to do" to your bike. I'm not really as big of a butthead as it might sound, but I sell on Ebay to get the best price without having to go through all that talking, haggling, negotiating, etc. Over 25 years selling on Ebay- I simply don't have the time or patience for long conversations and emails anymore. Ebay is open to the whole world 24 hrs. an day,7 days a week, and I get loads of emails daily. Actually, I would probably enjoy chatting with most of you, but it's just not possible."
jewelbiz
·8 months agoI tell this little story sometimes.
In the early days of eBay maybe 26- 27 years ago I sold an antique platinum diamond ring for $750.
Got email back and forth from the buyer + he asked me if I was willing to meet him that day he’d pay cash 1/2 way in a Westchester mall don’t remember if it was in Yonkers or White Plains as he lived in Connecticut.
Sounded like fun and I said yes.
Arrived there by car + no sooner did I arrive at the coffee shop in the mall that I fainted dead away on the floor.
He walked in and somehow knew that the woman stranger lying on the floor was me with a diamond ring 💠in my pocket.
You know what this Blessed man did? He became MY wonderful husband for that day.
He spent the entire day 100% ministering to me taking care of me getting me water walking me to the bathroom etc., etc., etc.
Finally it was late at night and the mall was closing they kicked us both out and I still was completely out of it, so this Blessed man drove me home to my apartment in my own car 🚗 which necessitated the man to take a cab then to the railroad station and take a cab back to the mall to pick up his own car and then drive himself back to Connecticut.
The following day he left me positive feedback.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@jewelbiz
What a sweet story.
I'm not sure someone would be so helpful today, for a bunch of reasons.
rugerskick
·8 months agoNice story 🙂
roccotacodad54
·8 months agoA gentleman....................
casprrr
·8 months agoI have personally met a number of my buyers. As I sell Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG) almost exclusively, and currently serve as Secretary for the Early American Pattern Glass Society (EAPGS), it isn't surprising that I should meet them in person. I have also done a few "local pickup" sales during which time I am meeting my buyer.
worldcoinauctions
·8 months agoMeh, most of my business is brick and mortar so I meet most of my customers all the time!
inhawaii
·8 months agoHave you ever heard the phrase "you have a face for radio"?
Well, I have a face for e-commerce. 😉
aeparts1
·8 months ago"Have you ever heard the phrase "you have a face for radio"?
Well, I have a face for e-commerce."
I've always pictured you as Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole. Love his version of Over the Rainbow.
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoFor me I picture him or maybe Kunu from Forgetting Sarah Marshall 😀
meme6253
·8 months agoInteresting thought, But I don't know if it would really matter one way or another, They are who they are & we are who we are, I do know there are some I would not like to meet because it may involve an altercation!
sakic92710
·8 months agoI befriended, online, a buyer long ago & we still share messages over 20 years later. We speak to each other as though we are great friends, but I have to admit I do not think we could be friends in real life. lol
mcdougle4248
·8 months agoMe, Me, Me! I would love to meet any of my buyers.
I think it would be a blast and could be very beneficial for my business. I would have to ask them questions like did you buy for yourself? Did you buy to give as a gift? Are you working on a project using my ornaments? Are you reselling your purchases? What are your favorites?
Some of my buyers share the answers to the questions above via eBay messages or in their feedback without me ever asking. I enjoy reading those messages and feedback. I get the feeling my buyers are fun-loving, happy people who get excited at the small pleasures of life.
wisconsin88
·8 months agoThat's an interesting thought. The randomness of how people stumble onto someone's postings would make for an interesting variety of people if they all got together I think.
Generally my buyers haven't been too chatty (no reason for them to be) but the few I have talked with all have seemed like quite nice people so far. I'm small-time though and haven't had nearly the sales numbers that many of you other have.
purchase1212
·8 months agoI sell a lot of Barbie (not on this ID) and many of my buyers , from what I've been able to glean over the years, are in their 60s and could be possibilities for friendship!
(not that I would try to initiate anything of the kind, mind you)
fullers_uk
·8 months agoCant think of anythng worse than meeting some of my customers, they want to talk all day about the industry and then make a silly offer, thats why I dont have a retail walk in shop.