Would you call back a buyer if they asked you to?

[bigdeals.etc]

Would you call back a buyer if they said "I would like to talk to you about an order. Please call me back (xxx)xxx-xxxx." if they

1) Purchased something from you already? yes/no

2) Didn't purchase anything from you yet? yes/no

[Anonymous]

1) Yes (and I have...on other account) 2) Absolutely Not

[chapeau-noir]

No to both.   There is no hard record of the exchange and we're working on someone else's platform.

[little*blackdog]

No and No.

No good can come of either situation.

Ignore the request.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

No to both.   There is no hard record of the exchange and we're working on someone else's platform.

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How likely would it upset the buyer if you followed up with a re-worded "no, but just ask me here in messages and I'll help" reply?

[soh.maryl]

No.  There are other ways you can be contacted.  There would be no record at all of any part of the conversation.  

[48hrs-clothing]

No to both.

Because best protection for both buyers and sellers is their messages on eBay.

[Anonymous]

Explanation on mine, although none is needed and I don't feel compelled to, just sharing...

Mine was many many years ago. I still remember the transaction. I sold a large unimat dental drill and the buyer lived close. He had selected local pickup so wanted to make pickup arrangements. No big deal. I think we ended up talking on the phone maybe 3-4 times.

This is well before the QR code confirmation, etc.

[buyselljack2016]

No, and No.

that is what eBay messaging is for, and for me, outgoing phone calls, other than local, and toll free, cost me extra money on my phone bill.

[1tuna]

I would not be calling lookey lous because if someone has already bought from me then they just want to save us both some money on something thats listed

they want a better price and of course to heck with ebay and there cut

taking the sale off ebay can end not well for the future

if a looker wants me to call them and has never bought from me I woud say email me

[chapeau-noir]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

No to both.   There is no hard record of the exchange and we're working on someone else's platform.

---

How likely would it upset the buyer if you followed up with a re-worded "no, but just ask me here in messages and I'll help" reply?

---

I've told people before that it's the rules of the site that all messages regarding transactions need to be kept on the site (which it is), and it's better anyway to have a record of our conversation so we know we're both on the same page, or some such.  I would not worry about upsetting anyone, you're not refusing to communicate - you can end with saying that you're prompt with your messages.  Oftentimes, it's the communications lag that troubles people, and if you take that out of the way, they're fine with whatever.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@1tuna wrote:

I would not be calling lookey lous because if someone has already bought from me then they just want to save us both some money on something thats listed

they want a better price and of course to heck with ebay and there cut

taking the sale off ebay can end not well for the future

if a looker wants me to call them and has never bought from me I woud say email me

---

Agreed. But there are ebay newbies (or tech illiterates) who bought something from you and may be overwhelmed by the process and want to defer to something familiar (phone call), right? I'm not commenting if I consider that call worthy... just that it happens. Do you guys consider those instances call worthy? I'm just curious what the consensus is.

[48hrs-clothing]

I suspect in the first instance Vast majority of buyers will not ask you to call them and it is more than likely that buyer who did would get upset simply because he did not get his wish.

Buyer had his reasons which he expected you to accommodate without question and by him getting upset would imply that he did not wish to consider let alone accommodate your reasons for refusing to call.

In my view conversation between buyer and seller should end when it gets to this point

[chapeau-noir]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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@1tuna wrote:

I would not be calling lookey lous because if someone has already bought from me then they just want to save us both some money on something thats listed

they want a better price and of course to heck with ebay and there cut

taking the sale off ebay can end not well for the future

if a looker wants me to call them and has never bought from me I woud say email me

---

Agreed. But there are ebay newbies (or tech illiterates) who bought something from you and may be overwhelmed by the process and want to defer to something familiar (phone call), right? I'm not commenting if I consider that call worthy... just that it happens. Do you guys consider those instances call worthy? I'm just curious what the consensus is.

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No - I would simply direct the buyer to the message seller (under the item).  If they needed instructions to do so I would be happy to help. I make my living online and if it was my own website I'd be cool with chatting on the phone, but it's not - I'm just a seller on a managed marketplace and don't have a lot of latitude for breaking rules (even if I bend them).

[Anonymous]

Like I said I would only do it to arrange local pickup, etc. You are not losing anything by doing this and this doesn't have to be in writing. Ebay doesn't care if your written ebay messages look like this, they only care about the QR scan:

buyer: I'd like to come pickup the item on Tuesday

seller: I'm not available Tuesday, how about Wed

buyer: Wed doesn't work for me how about Thurs

seller: I'm not available Thurs, Friday?

buyer: OK Friday. 3pm

seller: cant do 3pm how about noon

buyer: cant do noon how about 9am

seller: OK 9am works

buyer: Can I come to your house?

seller: No, let's meet at Walmart

buyer: I hate Walmart, let do Staples

blah blah blah

You guys honestly telling me that you wouldn't just pickup the phone in this case rather than torture yourselves.