Is there any point to accepting questions on items for sale?

[gwzcomps]

So I grow very weary of the lowball offers, and pointless questions.  I would say 2/3 of the messages I get are people trying to offer me 30%-50% less than my listed price.  Another chunk is questions that are answered in the listing.  The occasional message is a question about compatibility or something genuinely important.  Of all these messages I get 99% of the people don't even buy anything.  I have just now disabled questions, but I am not sure if that is the right decision.

If the majority of the questions I get are pointless is there any point in accepting questions?

[paradiso*bella*a*venire]

This is a very interesting topic...

Firstly, I didnt know sellers could turn messages on/off...will buyers know they arent on? For example, will someone messaging the seller get some kind of message statung messages arent on?

The reason I ask is this...

Every spring I buy a certain item that needs replenished. I went to the seller I always buy this product from and noticed the price went up. I started  to calculate how much I needed and seen it would be a few  dollars less to buy each box of product seperately rather than add to cart and pay for all three together.

When I noticed this, I emailed the  seller and asked if I was seeing the shipping costs right. The shipping  on buying the three boxes seperately was less than buying all through the shopping cart. I asked the seller wouldnt the fees be more on him selling three units versus selling three units together. I didnt want him to be hit with three  transaction fees because of me buying three units but I needed three...it was all he had left.

I never heard back from him. He has never not responded to my emails.

Do you think he didnt remember me and thought  I was some numpty buyer who was questioning his selling techniques?  Ive bought from him for over three years.

This is what interested me with this  discussion. Is it possible  he has messages off or would I know if they were  off by being presented with a message of some sort?

Apologies for nudging in like this  

[fashunu4eeuh]

Every contact with a prospective customer is an invaluable opportunity to close the sale.

[gwzcomps]

Yeah I have been asked legit questions in the past and have gotten no response. I ended up not buying the item. I need to find a balance between good questions and time wasters.

Sometimes it helps to mention you are a repeat buyer to a seller. I save all my emails, but I only know if they are a repeat buyer if I look them up. It would be nice if eBay showed if a buyer was a repeat buyer.

[fashunu4eeuh]

@paradiso*bella*a*venire wrote:

"..Is it possible  he has messages off or would I know if they were  off by being presented with a message of some sort?.."

Hi, yes, eBay has a canned response that appears when the seller does not answer questions. It says, "We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately due to the high volume of messages this seller receives, they are unable to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing." This appears as a banner at the top of the page.

[pinksakura2000]

Once a transaction has been conducted, the buyer can message you. I once had a very annoying buyer that kept asking me about her package, and I already provided her the tracking number and link to the shipping company's website. Eventually I tried to blacklist her, but her messages still shows up because a transaction has been taken. Once blocked she won't be able to message me on other listings or bid/buy my other items in the future. So if you have certain buyers that annoys you or kept making inquires but never buy, you may simply use the blacklisting function for certain buyers, instead of turning the question option off entirely for all potential buyers.

Based on personal experience, I found that answering questions help with my sale 90% of the time. Therefore I wouldn't turn the questions option off, even if my items mostly only sell for $10-20.

I think it's really up to you on how much you value your time. If you get hundreds of messages in your inbox daily and it takes you 30 seconds to go through each one, simply reading through the messages would take up an hour of your time. And getting no sale from spending even more hours of your time answering questions can be very discouraging. If you are in this situation, then I would agree to turn the questions options off and only serve those buyers who had bought from you.

[paradiso*bella*a*venire]

@fashunu4eeuh 

Thanks for that info. I sure hope the seller isnt sick. I would rather the case be that he temporarily lost his wits and forgot who I am than to know he was laid up sick or worse 😵

I havent seen that message youre talking about when emailing him, so I guess he doesnt have messages off

[funnymaniac2]

I love questions! When they have substance and meaning and require information I should have put in the listing. I'm always fixing listings. Good questions help me make better listings.

[jconnor315]

I am not the OP. I no longer sell on eBay. I mean, when I did, I was pretty amazing. 🤗

[rpalma]

I occasionally get a question that leads to a sale or multiple sales.

I was not aware you could turn off questions.

I just ignore any that won't lead to a sale unless it's a general question and I'm in the mood to be helpful.

[walwalwill]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

If the majority of the questions I get are pointless is there any point in accepting questions?

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I feel like you answered your own question there. The reason to accept questions would be for the minority of questions you receive that aren't, as you say, "pointless".

I message sellers for 3 reasons:

1) Because I want to buy the item and there's either a lack of clarity or a discrepancy in the listing/pictures & I want to verify that I'd be buying what I believe I'm buying

2) Because I know the item that the seller is selling far better than they do & I feel like doing a good deed and pointing out an important detail that they missed or got factually incorrect (I've seen more than 1 listing for a signed book where the seller isn't familiar with the subject matter, and, for whatever reason, opts to guess at whose signature is in the book, rather than looking it up, and gets it wrong--often to the detriment of their bottom line & listing visibility)

3) Because the seller made a typo or used an old template & neglected to proofread, resulting in a listing that could easily end in a neg & a SNAD, and I again feel like doing a good deed & helping them out

If you feel your listings say all there is to say & do so completely & totally accurately, with no mistakes or discrepancies whatsoever, then, sure, there's no reason to accept messages. Otherwise, turning them off may not be the wisest idea.

[adkhighker]

This could be why you see so many sellers with the stipulation at the bottom of their description that says "PayPal Only."  I would guess that so many sellers, including yours truly, have added that stipulation in bold font to their description because they finally got tired of answering that age old question: "Will you take a check for this item?"

[sin-n-dex]

I get lots of questions. Half of the questions are to score the item at a better price. I'm aware of this tactic so my prices are generally a little higher to allow me to give some type of discount (but lots of items sell at full price).

I sometimes get messages from someone who I'd rather divert to someone else's listings (just because I know they won't be happy no matter what).

And lately I've been getting lots of messages from people who I think are very lonely and want to talk to someone, even if it is just about buying coins.

C.

[adkhighker]

"Half of the questions are to score the item at a better price"

Well, if it's a BIN listing with no BO, you could prevent such questions by adding a clause at the bottom of your description that says something to the effect, "Please do not message me with offers to buy this at a cheaper price. My price is very fair and cannot be lowered."

"And lately I've been getting lots of messages from people who I think are very lonely and want to talk to someone, even if it is just about buying coins."

I would bet you're right about that. I also think that there are people who ask unimportant questions just because they want to make sure before they bid that they will be dealing with someone who gets right back to them quickly and professionally. Maybe the way a seller answers them makes them feel more confident about dealing with that seller. I don't take any chances. I get very few questions, but I answer them all as quickly as I can, even if the answer is already right there in front of them right in the description.

[gwzcomps]

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@walwalwill wrote:

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@gwzcomps wrote:

If the majority of the questions I get are pointless is there any point in accepting questions?

---

I feel like you answered your own question there. The reason to accept questions would be for the minority of questions you receive that aren't, as you say, "pointless".

I message sellers for 3 reasons:

1) Because I want to buy the item and there's either a lack of clarity or a discrepancy in the listing/pictures & I want to verify that I'd be buying what I believe I'm buying

2) Because I know the item that the seller is selling far better than they do & I feel like doing a good deed and pointing out an important detail that they missed or got factually incorrect (I've seen more than 1 listing for a signed book where the seller isn't familiar with the subject matter, and, for whatever reason, opts to guess at whose signature is in the book, rather than looking it up, and gets it wrong--often to the detriment of their bottom line & listing visibility)

3) Because the seller made a typo or used an old template & neglected to proofread, resulting in a listing that could easily end in a neg & a SNAD, and I again feel like doing a good deed & helping them out

If you feel your listings say all there is to say & do so completely & totally accurately, with no mistakes or discrepancies whatsoever, then, sure, there's no reason to accept messages. Otherwise, turning them off may not be the wisest idea.

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Not gonna lie if most buyers were that meticulous about their questions I wouldn't care how many I get.  Otherwise the annoying questions annoy me enough to want to hire someone to manage the customer service aspect of my small business.

[walwalwill]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

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Not gonna lie if most buyers were that meticulous about their questions I wouldn't care how many I get.  

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That's the thing, though. It's not about the majority. If you get, say, 25 stupid, annoying, it's right there in the listing in black & white, using the same wording you're using in this question, for crying out loud, questions & 1 "Hey, just so you know, you're opening yourself up to a SNAD & neg on this listing', isn't that worth it?

Short of actually hiring someone, there's no way to filter messages like that. They're a package deal. You can either stop them all, missing the good ones, or you get them all--the good with the bad.

To shut down messages, you have to be willing to say, to everyone, "There's nothing you can say that I want to hear". Not to 75%. Not even to 99%. You say it to everyone.

Ironically, tonight I actually encountered my first seller who doesn't accept messages. They even went so far as to say that everything they had to say about the item was said in the listing. That's their right--but it's also their loss.

Could I message them another way instead of through the listing? Sure. Will I bother? No. Which of us is going to be worse off for that? Not me.

Anyone who turns off their messages like that stands to risk making the same mistake. You'd have to be extremely confident to be able to make that change.