Sellers Too Lazy To Answer Questions

[buytodayshipnextday]

As an 18 year ebay seller I do buy on ebay as well, maybe 5 purchases at best a year & it amazes me how frequently sellers do not answer questions.

As a seller, I get my share of STUPID questions. STUPID? Yes, they're questions that are answered in the description &/or item specifics if the buyer would just READ! I get it. It's easier to look at a photo or photos than to READ but when a buyer asks a legitimate question & you don't reply, quite honestly you don't deserve to make the sale.

One of the biggest complaints buyers have are messages or questions not answered. How hard is it to reply to a message?

Too often sellers can be L A Z Y with bad photos &/or little to no description & because of that a buyer needs to ask about size or quality etc...& you're so lazy you can't reply.  Maybe you do deserve to make the sale! Only to have the buyer ask for a refund because the item wasn't as described forcing you to pay for return shipping or worse, ebay steps in refunds the buyers & let's them keep the item.

[grayirongolf]

Theft of a seller's item should solve the problem or maybe it's what causes the problem in the 1st place?

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Ebay has become labor intensive to sell here for vintage items, and I think a lot of sellers are taking the easy way out and not finding it worth their time. yes a lost sale is probable. Maybe a lot of vintage sellers find questions annoying because of the workload just to keep up with ebay constantly changing practices? 

[mypostingid15]

Go to any online retailer and ask a question, see how quickly you get a response.

[jason_incognito]

eBay came onto the scene about 20 years ago. At that time it was someplace that didn't have a reputation, and many, many people gave it a try.

Some rode it for a few years and made alot of money selling things for a good price.

Over time, issues came up and the site became less and less a viable option for those that treated it as a business.

People with great customer service found other avenues to pursue. Some opened physical businesses, others went to work for others etc.

Sure, some stayed around, but for the most part the truly professional found that eBay isn't a moneymaker and that there are much greener pastures. 

The pool of sellers that is left..... Well, it seems that all the sellers that skate by are still here, but the good sellers are greatly reduced. 

[jason_incognito]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Ebay has become labor intensive to sell here for vintage items, and I think a lot of sellers are taking the easy way out and not finding it worth their time. yes a lost sale is probable. Maybe a lot of vintage sellers find questions annoying because of the workload just to keep up with ebay constantly changing practices? 

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So why are they still here then?

They want all the rewards, and complain about low selling prices and "high" fees, but do none of the work to get sales? too many just think that eBay is responsible for sending them buyers.

[jason_incognito]

Huh?

"theft"

If I buy something and it is not what I expected and I return it how is there a "theft"?

Someone listing a "dinner plate" that is 9 1/2" across when the manufacturer made a "dinner plate" at 10 1/2" across is fully on the seller for listing a "dinner plate" with no other info. 

[rdj831]

I try to answer questions as soon as possible. With the cell app I don't even have to be in front of my computer to do it. This policy has resulted in several sales to people that became repeat customers.

Customer service is the key to business, whether the internet or brick & mortar. If a seller doesn't have that, they might as well quit wasting their time.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Ebay has become labor intensive to sell here for vintage items, and I think a lot of sellers are taking the easy way out and not finding it worth their time. yes a lost sale is probable. Maybe a lot of vintage sellers find questions annoying because of the workload just to keep up with ebay constantly changing practices? 

---

So why are they still here then?

They want all the rewards, and complain about low selling prices and "high" fees, but do none of the work to get sales? too many just think that eBay is responsible for sending them buyers.

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I don't know. Maybe they've dug out their inventory 4 feet deep in the past to answer questions on a low profit item and then the buyer hasn't come through, so they felt their time was wasted. I know I answer questions speedily on quality questions on higher profit items, lower profit items get lower priority. 

[lindyslucky]

We as sellers make an effort to answer questions.

But, some slip by. We don't see them, or the answer is in the description, a small dollar item. Or, the question leads us to believe maybe it's a buyer we prefer not to deal with. (As in, in photo 5 there appears to be a small spot, in photo 6, is that a pull, in photo 8 the color appears different...)

However, it appears, you have answered your own question,

Wanting "all the rewards", but "do none of the work". 

There is no way that the amount of work selling on ebay is "none" .  As ersatz mentioned, keeping up with ebay policies and practices takes a lot of time....with NO immediate reward. At the minimum, the workload is never ending, overwhelming.

Yet, "all of the rewards" can add up to a loss of time and money.

Working for very little profit is not a big motivator. 

As sellers, we seek to provide very good customer service, but that does not extend to wasting our very precious time for no income.

And ebay does not "send" buyers. 

The items and presentation is what draws buyers. 

As a buyer myself, I would like to have presented what I am searching for.

Particularly in vintage items, digging through pages of chinese items who clog every category. 

ebay very often doesn't "send" me items or sellers I am interested in. They make it harder for me to find them.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

I'm ok with it. It shows me which sellers to avoid. I don't care if it's the greatest deal in the world, if you buy something from a careless seller you risk getting a SNAD item.

I don't buy anything I need to ask questions about. If the info isn't in the listing (measurements etc) then I hit the back button. This is likely someone I don't want to deal with.

Ooh, when people show you who they are, believe them!

[juststuffisell]

lol, someone got your cheezed I think...lol

I had a buyer last night during the football game hammer me with 4 questions on an item. One - respond, two - respond - three - respond - finally after the forth time, I ignored him. I have guests over, and a house full of people and frankly, have no time to deal with people who cannot look at the photographs or read the listing that provides all the answer to their questions.

Getting to be a common theme. Had one on a pocket watch Sunday. Same **bleep**. repair area clearly shown in the photograph and I get the - where is the repair question.

The reality is - don't ask questions in which the answer is provided in the listing. Most people don't sell enough on eBay any longer to justify interrupting the evening family time which only irritates said family.

I will add to this - it seems like to me - and it is about a 99% chance it is only in my own head - that those that just throw up a picture or two and a one sentence description sell a hell of a lot more than the people that take time to put 8 to 12 photos in the listing and spend 30 minutes providing specification and the like and have an overall quality feedback score as a seller. So in my small mind, if buyers are going to reward the activity from said sellers that have less than stellar feedback, why bother trying to stand out. Seems like eBay has made it such that it's not worth providing to much information.

Cheers

[castlemagicmemories]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

I'm ok with it. It shows me which sellers to avoid. I don't care if it's the greatest deal in the world, if you buy something from a careless seller you risk getting a SNAD item.

I don't buy anything I need to ask questions about. If the info isn't in the listing (measurements etc) then I hit the back button. This is likely someone I don't want to deal with.

Ooh, when people show you who they are, believe them!

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Asking questions can be useless not only in the case of no response, but even when there are responses, if the answers are inaccurate as they may be. 

[hillbillymedia]

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@juststuffisell wrote:
lol, someone got your cheezed I think...lol

I had a buyer last night during the football game hammer me with 4 questions on an item. One - respond, two - respond - three - respond - finally after the forth time, I ignored him. I have guests over, and a house full of people and frankly, have no time to deal with people who cannot look at the photographs or read the listing that provides all the answer to their questions.

Getting to be a common theme. Had one on a pocket watch Sunday. Same **bleep**. repair area clearly shown in the photograph and I get the - where is the repair question.

The reality is - don't ask questions in which the answer is provided in the listing. Most people don't sell enough on eBay any longer to justify interrupting the evening family time which only irritates said family.

I will add to this - it seems like to me - and it is about a 99% chance it is only in my own head - that those that just throw up a picture or two and a one sentence description sell a hell of a lot more than the people that take time to put 8 to 12 photos in the listing and spend 30 minutes providing specification and the like and have an overall quality feedback score as a seller. So in my small mind, if buyers are going to reward the activity from said sellers that have less than stellar feedback, why bother trying to stand out. Seems like eBay has made it such that it's not worth providing to much information.

Cheers

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I am getting to feel the same way. It is pretty discouraging to see sellers doing thousands of transactions a month with stock phots, one line descripts(at best) and a slew of negative feedback a month while I am trying my best to provide my best, list honestly, answer questions etc. to get sales.

I`m starting to think "quanity over quality" may be the way to go.

[3714508518]

My problem is ebay encourages buyers to make offers so my message box gets loaded up with lowball offers and requests to offer Buy It Now on auctions. I sometimes read a legit question that I cant answer right away, and end up forgetting about it after reading a bunch of lowball offers and dealing with the millions of other headaches associated with selling on eBay. 

My suggestion would be to ask twice.