eBay

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-13-2018

I sell women’s clothing accessories and some home goods, and have filled about 4000 orders in a little over a year. I realized that less than 2% of people that ask questions actually buy. I have people asking for more photos...more than once because they forgot they asked me and call them out in it, Im not sure if the potential buyer thinks it demonstrates real interest vs it being a PIA?Also, I think knowing sellers can make an offer in a reply drives stupid questions that waste time. As an experiment I turned off the ask questions feature tonight and will see if my sales decline. I would be more inclined to offer a discount if someone asked me upfront versus have me do extra measurements and photos then to follow up with, will you take xyz for the item? i’ll buy now..you know the lines buyers give thinking it actually makes a difference. Curious if anyone else has encountered some nutty serial question shoppers and if there is an alternative pathology/psychology I am missing

bigdeals.etc · ‎03-14-2018

Being a one man operation at that scale is tough. You have to make tough choices on what to spend your time on for the sake of your business. I battle with it everyday. Forego processing returns/refunds immediately and let them pile up just before the deadlines (so you can process a group of them vs individually) and use that saved time to ship out your packages on time. Sacrifice updating your existing listings in order to list new items that you got to generate more sales.

You can't do everything flawlessly so you have to make the choices that have the biggest impact and benefit. And sometimes that does mean writing off a buyer who has too many concerns to free up some time.

And btw, I do get a good amount of the buyer who asks a question (sometimes even trying to negotiate) only to see them buy the item minutes later without any reply from me.

So I'm curious now OP, how many messages do you get a day on average?

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7606dennis · ‎03-13-2018

Actually, I found that if a potential buyer asks a question but then does not buy, it is likely that you failed to sell them with your listing or the answer to their question.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-13-2018

Also I’m phasing out, just selling inventory on hand so I am trying to minimize the amount of time spent since I returned to full time career since the dramatic ebay changes over the past 14 months are not inspiring, and I realized they will keep doing it and sellers have no recourse

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-13-2018

not in my case. I respond with all answers and politely and provide photos..just they want a lower price.

yuzuha · ‎03-13-2018

@7606denniswrote:
Actually, I found that if a potential buyer asks a question but then does not buy, it is likely that you failed to sell them with your listing or the answer to their question.

That or the answer made them realize that the item wouldn't work for them. As an example, I once had a potential buyer ask me if a coin purse I was selling was big enough to fit credit cards/an ID into. I checked and told them that no, it wasn't, and they ended up not buying it because they were obviously looking for one that could hold their credit cards and ID as well as their change.

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-13-2018

7606dennis, you do not sell any volume, or at least not in a while. I think that’s why you may have a different perspective. I have 1100-1200 listings on this site at all times, approx 10-15 orders a day, 20+ on weekends, it’s busy

dairywyfe · ‎03-13-2018

Exactly! That's what I figure when someone who asks, doesn't buy.... it wasn't going to work out for them afterall.

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-13-2018

Yes those reasons I understand and spot. But the flurry of questions I receive that are less specific or just more photos please I find to be hopelessmost of the time. I was waiting until someone asked twice, and that helped weed out some, but I’m looking to save time.

7606dennis · ‎03-13-2018

@calistas_closet33wrote:
7606dennis, you do not sell any volume, or at least not in a while. I think that’s why you may have a different perspective. I have 1100-1200 listings on this site at all times, approx 10-15 orders a day, 20+ on weekends, it’s busy

True. Actually, selling online has never been my first interest. I much prefer conducting live auctions.

Of course, there are quite a few potential buyers that are merely shopping. However, if they had to ask questions about the item's features or benefits after reading the listing, it may be that the listing isn't as efficient in getting the message across as it could be.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

calistas_closet33 · ‎03-14-2018

dennis, I rarely if ever ask a question when buying, typically I know what I want and search and buy. Only time Ive asked a question was for an item that is over $3000..I think people who buy will buy, if i lose 5% in sales but save time to list more items and fill orders, I think my ROI will be greater since I will have not wasted a lot of time on questions that typically do not result in a sale. If I had a lot of spare time it would be different, but doing the buying listing and fulfillment as one person is time consuming since I am constantly maintaining 1100 or more listings, which means adding 75-125 a week

reallynicestamps · ‎03-14-2018

I would be more inclined to offer a discount if someone asked me upfront versus have me do extra measurements and photos then to follow up with, will you take xyz for the item?

Asking for measurements is one type of question.

Are the questions consistent? For example, are they asking for bust/waist/hip/ length and are you putting those measurements into your lisitings?

If you are not, what is probably happening is that the questioner needs the measurement to compare to her needs.

If the measurment does not work, she won't buy.

I really don't think these customers are being a PIA (well, maybe some) but they need more information and the answer tells them the item won't work for them, they just quietly move on.

The only way to deal with the question is to make sure all those numbers are already in your listings.

And the other type of question is covered by the Best Offer option.

If you don't want to deal with those, or with most of them, you can set an automatic refusal on Offers that are too low.

vintagecraze50 · ‎03-14-2018

Gene

@calistas_closet33wrote:
I sell women’s clothing accessories and some home goods, and have filled about 4000 orders in a little over a year. I realized that less than 2% of people that ask questions actually buy. I have people asking for more photos...more than once because they forgot they asked me and call them out in it, Im not sure if the potential buyer thinks it demonstrates real interest vs it being a PIA?Also, I think knowing sellers can make an offer in a reply drives stupid questions that waste time. As an experiment I turned off the ask questions feature tonight and will see if my sales decline. I would be more inclined to offer a discount if someone asked me upfront versus have me do extra measurements and photos then to follow up with, will you take xyz for the item? i’ll buy now..you know the lines buyers give thinking it actually makes a difference. Curious if anyone else has encountered some nutty serial question shoppers and if there is an alternative pathology/psychology I am missing

rally speaking it's a good idea to answer questions to be certain the buyer knows what to expect. When we have gotten a buyer who goes on to ask numerous questions and seems hesitant then tries to bring down the price we have usually ended up with a return, or some other dissatisfaction.

7606dennis · ‎03-14-2018

@calistas_closet33wrote:
dennis, I rarely if ever ask a question when buying, typically I know what I want and search and buy. Only time Ive asked a question was for an item that is over $3000..I think people who buy will buy, if i lose 5% in sales but save time to list more items and fill orders, I think my ROI will be greater since I will have not wasted a lot of time on questions that typically do not result in a sale. If I had a lot of spare time it would be different, but doing the buying listing and fulfillment as one person is time consuming since I am constantly maintaining 1100 or more listings, which means adding 75-125 a week

Of course, I've heard many a salesman consider sales clerks and online sellers to be merely order takers as opposed the salesmen. Was it "How To Win Friends And Influence People" that contains the story of a sales manager, when his staff were not making sales, of asking them why neither they or the buyers were not doing their job. The buyers weren't buying and the sellers weren't selling.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

bigdeals.etc · ‎03-14-2018

I think what @7606dennis is saying is true... If a buyer doesn't buy my item after I respond to their question, then I failed to make the sale with my answer and/or listing. I think he may agree with me here too that not making that sale isn't necessarily a bad thing. There may be nothing wrong with my answer or listing. For example, I sell a black shirt. A buyer asks "hey is this shirt red?" I say no, it's black. The buyer obviously doesn't like that answer and doesn't buy. I failed to make that sale. I would prefer to fail to make that sale than to twist my answer around to convince the buyer to still buy and end up having to return the item afterwards.

@calistas_closet33How many questions do you get in a day? I also sell in the womens clothing category, about 40 sales a day, and also a one man operation. So we are pretty similar, and I totally understand what you mean about time management. I think I get at most about 10 messages a day. Many of them are super easy to answer. But the questions that require more digging, I tend to put them off until the next day too. And I do also get the buyers trying to negotiate. I try to never say no or negative words in my messages (can't, don't, etc) so I always reply to offers by saying they can see the already low price in the listing and are welcome to purchase at any time. Some don't get the hint and still mention they want a bigger discount. I just stop responding to those.

I've always wondered about the effect of stopping all messages but I'm sure you know you would need a longer trial period to know how it will change your sales. I'd say at least two weeks. And even such, it wouldn't really impact your sales immediately. Let me know how it goes.

kaelykat · ‎03-14-2018

Interesting. I ask questions before buying a lot. In fact I just bought an item yesterday, after asking a question because I wanted to make sure the item was a certain brand as the listing just said generic.

I was asking about an item I had just bid .99 on and, due to the seller's answer, I bought the item outright for 8.99 (same item and seller just one listing was auction one buy now).

I would never buy from a seller who couldn't be bothered to answer a question.