Frustrating things I see as a buyer

[steelernation2007]

There's a lot of posts lately about how sales are down or very slow so far this year. So I'm going to offer some personal insight into the problems that bother me most, when I have bought an item or am considering buying something. I am mostly experienced with buying and selling collectibles, so my advice  pertains to that category. These are the things you want to avoid as a seller, in my opinion:

1. Vague open-ended descriptions of only one sentence, that say little about the item or the condition of it.   If it is a used collectible you need to be transparent about any defects or issues it may have. This prevents you from getting a SNAD later.

2. Using only one photo, a stock photo, or blurry poor quality cell phone photos. Also dark photos. It makes you look lazy as a seller and gives the look that you really don't care if your item sells or not. Ebay gives you 12 spots for photos, so make the most of them!

3. Charging ridiculously high shipping fees that are way higher than it actually costs to ship the item. This will turn off a LOT of buyers.

4. Copying and stealing the ad of another seller, word for word. Again, this is a lazy look, and also against Ebay rules.

5. When you sell an item, mark it as shipped, and then it sits at your house for 2-3 days. It satisfies the Ebay service metrics but drives your buyer crazy!

6. When you ship an item and don't include any tracking info at all. It's very annoying when I have to beg for the tracking from a seller. Then one time I find out my package ended up taking a long detour to Florida on it's way from NJ to PA. I had no idea what was going on until I was finally given the tracking after 4 days. 

7.  When you don't leave the buyer feedback after purchasing. It's a show of goodwill and starts the transaction off on the right foot. If you don't leave feedback how can you possibly expect to get it back?

8. When you pack a condition-sensitive item inside a flimsy plastic bag or mailing envelope. It's  a cheap-out on the shipping fee but sets you up to get a damaged item complaint.

9. Offering info that is inaccurate or poorly researched. An example- calling a vintage bottle Pre-Prohibition when it's actually post-1933. This can also set you up for a SNAD case. Some sellers intentionally call an item older than it is to get more money from it.

This is all I can think of at the moment. If others have more to add to this, feel free. I hope this helps.

[city*satins]

While there are many things on your list that are useful and valid, the complaints you are reading about from sellers are about the CHANGE (decrease) in sales volume.  

When sales plummet without the previously successful seller having changed his or her selling practices, the problem is unlikely to be solved by implementing the recommendations on your list.

[city*satins]

Since you are a seller yourself, may I offer you some feedback on the feedback you leave for your buyers?  Since you say you believe that you should leave it "after purchasing"   "to start off the transaction on the right foot"  I hope that you mean after the buyer has paid at least.  

You often make two types of statements in your feedback for buyers:

1. you say that the transaction was smooth or pleasant or excellent or great. 

But since it has only just 'started off', this seems disingenuous.  The buyer has paid.  The transaction is a long way from being over.  You know the old saying There is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.  A week or two from now you might not think that the transaction was all that smooth or pleasant.

2. you praise the buyers' Great Communication.

Maybe your business is really different from mine.  I don't get much communication from buyers. I get paid.  Very few questions. Very few notes or messages.  Are your buyers really communicating a lot with you?  

As a seller, I don't say either of those things, and definitely before the buyer has done more than pay.  And as a buyer I don't expect to read such high praise of either my communication or my still unfinished transaction and am apt to think the seller is trying to manipulate me.  In short, that would put me off.

[divwido]

I agree with all of those except feedback.  Feedback is dead.  It should be automated.

I was shocked yesterday to get a plate in a container made of folded cardboard wrapped in paper.  People have no idea how to ship.   It's like getting a ten inch plate in a 12x12x10 box.  Plan ahead and buy boxes to fit what you are going to sell.

[steelernation2007]

I don't go by the email message. I go into the purchased items list and look to see if there's a tracking number yet. Even if the label has been printed and the item isn't picked up / dropped off, there should be a tracking number anyhow.

[steelernation2007]

I've received some shipments like that. Then also received many that were packaged wonderfully. I try to pack things the way I'd expect to receive something.

[steelernation2007]

If I say there was great communication then it's because there really was communication. Otherwise there is nothing to mention. I really feel you are overthinking this feedback thing way too much. Like I said I leave it to give things a positive start rather than being passive aggressive about not leaving any, and then possibly having a customer wonder why I didn't. Also, if I've sold an item then it's most definitely been paid for. Because my settings are made for immediate payment and I generally do not even do auctions at all.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

For what it's worth, if a buyer has to email a seller to ask questions (unless weird and unexpected) then the seller is not doing their job as well as they could. I don't want to have to email to ask whether they offer reduced combined shipping for instance. If you sell in a category where people like to combine (jigsaw puzzles for instance) then you should say upfront whether you do or not.

If I have a question like combined shipping I usually just move on to a seller who answers those common questions right in the listing.

I agree with you. Back in the day there were plenty of buyers to go around. Now that the buyers seem to be more scarce, sellers need to be more mindful of the quality of their listings and behavior.

[city*satins]

---

@steelernation2007 wrote:

 I really feel you are overthinking this feedback thing way too much. 

---

OK. That's funny right there.

[city*satins]

Say, a quick question about that buyer who negged you.  Your feedback left for the buyer - you know if the buyer reports it it'll be removed, right?  It's not allowed to leave bad comments for buyers.

But my more important question....did you call that buyer a troll right after he paid, to start the transaction off on the right foot?  Or did you leave it after he negged you?

[uncseniorsportsfan]

I'm a long time collectibles seller - have never been great with taking pictures.   I don't see the need for more than one or two photos on the majority of the items I sell.  How many photos of a t-shirt does one need?  I haven never used a stock photo.

I try not to sell items with flaws, but if there is one I can see or feel - it will be described in the listing.  Most of my descriptions are short, and even at that there is no gaurantee a buyer will read it.  In 20 years I have received only a handful SNADs - a size issue,  an authenticity claim,  a buyer not reading the description.

As to shipping, I offer no choices - everything is shipped USPS based on cost and safety. I rarely offer "free" shipping.   Most items ship next day, but I have always listed a 3 day handling time, because occasionally life interferes with eBay.   However, I never create a shipping label until the day I ship.   All items have tracking - I no longer ship international.

I treat feedback the same way as a buyer or seller - I leave it when the item arrives, and the transaction is complete to everyone's satisfaction.  If feedback is important to a buyer they will let me know the item arrived and all is well.  After all feedback is voluntary.  

If a buyer wants more information,  I will try to answer their questions.  If they want more photos they have to be specific about what those photos need to show.   I rarely respond to offers.  

What buyers need to understand is that not all eBay sellers are professional sellers attached to their online device 24/7.   Many of us have a busy life outside of eBay.  

[writertypes]

A buyer has one job -- Pay. If they've done that, there's no reason to withhold positive feedback for even a minute. The opportunity to demonstrate generosity of spirit should never be missed. It comes back multi-fold.

[city*satins]

no reason to withhold positive feedback?

That's c'mon baby I bought ya dinner - get in the back seat  talk.

[drkenb]

reallyhardtofind:  Re leaving feedback for sellers - I used to fully participate in eBay's feedback system until they stopped allowing sellers to leave negative feedback.  (As a seller, I do not leave feedback for buyers because it is meaningless.  As a buyer, I only leave negative feedback to alert others to problems I've had with the sellers.)  The ability of sellers to leave appropriate negative feedback is important for sellers to be able to judge a potential customer.  Furthermore, eBay has been removing negative feedback left for sellers for a variety of reasons.  As someone who has been on eBay for a number of years now, I can say that the feedback system used to be valid and valuable, but no longer is.  Very recently I purchased two identical electronic items from a seller, one was functional and the other one was not.  I returned the non-functional one, and the seller refunded me only part of the cost of one.  So I left negative feedback for the seller & filed a complaint with eBay.  eBay refunded me & removed my negative feedback.  Plus eBay removed negative feedback from two other buyers in the same 3-day period so that the seller now has a 100% positive feedback rating.  The three negatives had absolutely no policy violations in what they said.  So as a buyer I have absolutely no faith in the feedback ratings of sellers on the platform.

As a buyer, I now go first to the Big A and other platforms, and eBay is the last place I look for an item.  And I no longer buy any items other than inexpensive items on eBay because I have no trust in the eBay platform.  And the comments I receive back from customers of my webstore is that many feel the same way.

One other thing:  It takes an awful lot for eBay to ban a seller, but when they do, they immediately allow the same seller back on the platform under a new account.  You would think that eBay would have checks in place that could catch such things.  Not difficult at all - If a seller is banned from the platform, their name, phone number, address, and PayPal account ID should all be in a database so that whenever a new eBay account is requested, it is checked against that database to make sure its not someone/some company that has been banned before.  Every eBay ID account should have a flag set - either its a buyer-only account or a buyer/seller account.  (My accountant directed me to separate my business and personal activities on eBay, so I have an account for my business and another one for me personally.)  So, if John Doe selling under JDIndustries is banned from eBay, John Doe can apply for a buyer-only account. 

As a seller on eBay, it is in my vested interest that banned sellers not be allowed back onto the eBay platform - bad sellers reflect on ALL sellers.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

For the 99% of good buyers who have never deserved a negative, the feedback system is working exactly the same as it always has. Amazing to me how many sellers refuse to give feedback to their good buyers just because they can no longer punish the bad ones. 

seems like a wonky business principle to me. Why are good buyers leaving again? How many buyers get warm fuzzies when their seller leaves than a positive? How much does this free marketing cost?

seems like in their ire over losing their stick, some sellers are punishing good buyers for no reason.

[city*satins]

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

Why are good buyers leaving again? How many buyers get warm fuzzies when their seller leaves than a positive? How much does this free marketing cost?

seems like in their ire over losing their stick, some sellers are punishing good buyers for no reason.

---

Are there buyers still so addicted to receiving feedback that they would leave eBay because they're not getting as much of it as they used to?  Even if they like the product, price and service?  Where are they going instead to satisfy their desire for feedback?   Maybe someone needs to start a site devoted to positive feedback, where that's the only product on offer.  

How is the absence of feedback a form of punishment?  Oh feedback, where is thy sting?

j/k but only a little.  

Unclear about the free marketing bit....are you suggesting that feedback for buyers is a form of free marketing?  For whom?