Are your required to respond to every question?

[mozartbach1971]

I heard that you need to respond as soon as possible to a buyer's question in order to improve your ranking. Sometimes I respond and then the buyer sends back several more messages or questions after. Sometimes I don't respond. When you don't do this does this affect your ratings?

[mozartbach1971]

Sometimes I will just mark answered depending on the issue such as too many questions as if the buyer is trying to set me up. I then add to my block list. 

I heard you can mark a question as answered without responding before, however I've never been able to find out where you do it. Can anyone tell me where it's located?

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, it’s good business and shows strong customer service skills to answer promptly and professionally—i do so even if the information is contained in the listing. (It could be my info is not as clearly defined as i think.) So i do not get annoyed answering multiple questions, nor second-guess a buyer’s motive in asking them. 

Blocking an interested shopper who has reached out would impair my ability to make the sale. And i do not fear getting a problem buyer as they have been few and far between. 

As stated, my purpose is to sell, and i generally act on what will maximize my profits.

[baantiques]

I don't think there is, but it's always a good idea to reply because it may end with a sale. 

I try to reply to every message but I'm a one man show and sometimes I just can't get to them

[fern*wood]

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@mozartbach1971 wrote:

I heard you can mark a question as answered without responding before, however I've never been able to find out where you do it. Can anyone tell me where it's located?

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On the item with a question, click on the drop down list of actions available and select "mark as answered". 

[errkl]

this isn't an answer to you particularly but to all sellers regarding buyer questions. I have been buying and selling on ebay for about 22 years. I buy a lot of clothing. When the seller doesn't take returns and doesn't answer my questions about the item - sizing issues mostly, then I will not buy from them. First of all you want to sell your item right? If a person takes the time to ask a question then they at least have some interest in buying it, if you don't answer then they lose interest. If a buyer doesn't know if something will fit and you won't take it back or answer their questions why in the world would they buy from you? If a buyer has questions and the seller doesn't answer it means to me that they aren't a good seller and I should move on. One thing about ebay - there's ALWAYS something else.

[rockyroadtradingpost]

I think the more descriptive your listings are and the more photos you post, including close-ups, you'll see fewer and fewer questions.

[dhbookds]

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@fern*wood wrote:

This came up a few months ago when some sellers started seeing average response time on their listings somewhere.  I never saw it, but someone that was opted in looked at my listings and told me my response time was showing as 3 hours.   I haven't heard much about this since, so the test may have gone away.

Anyway, a rep was tagged to answer whether or not subsequent "unanswered" questions that appear, which were only thank yous or didn't need a response, would hurt this metric and the rep said no.  They also stated this wasn't going to be a metric used against us, but just some info for buyers or something like that. 

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I saw that a wk or so ago.......it was in the "header" for stores on a listing......where the dsrs show.......  Better half showed "answered in average of 6 hrs".........mine showed 12 hrs.......which, of course griped me.  Gone now.....so must have been a test.......  Kind of redundant in my mind as there is a dsr for communication.......and I wondered how they counted the "thank you" answers and the "please pack carefully" post from buyers...... 

[javiations]

It would my ratings as my questions are to ensure I get what I could have to pay for an items; it is called responsible purchasing.

[javiations]

So you aren't a responsible trustworthy seller?

[jonathanbrightlight]

Old thread.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.