Ebay.

[AT700]

Recently I opened up an ebay account to sell off some old stock and a dormant e-commerce website I've had lay around.
Pretty much everyday I received messages asking questions like:

"Why should I buy this when I can buy your item cheaper from China"
"I really want this, would you accept an offer of £xxx (60% cheaper than the sale price)
"I want to buy this but I'm not willing to offer you any money, would you accept an exchange for something I have"

Also, buyers would ask me literally 10+ questions that weren't really relevant, all I would answer positively without any problems and then they'd disappear without purchasing.

The buyers who did purchase, did so without asking any questions at all.

I was thinking before this experience to may be open up an ebay shop and launch a small side business but I've decided against it now!

I wondered if many of you professional ebay traders on here have to deal with time wasters regularly?

 

[Alan]

I traded on ebay in the past as part of my e-commerce business. And like you, I now list occasionally leftover stock when I can be bothered.

But I have never experienced what you experienced. Maybe its the type of product you are selling that attract these time wasters, or maybe you just had an unlucky patch.

What sort of things are you selling?

 

[Chris34]

The ones who ask the questions are the ones who will give you the most problems and the majority are time wasters that have no intention of making a purchase.

The ones who do make the purchase are more likely to return the item if they have asked questions beforehand. They are not all bad people, some are really nice, but the reality is that you will send about 3 or 4 messages to them, be out of pocket for the outgoing postage cost and basically have just wasted your time and money, so it doesn't matter how polite they are, you have still wasted your time.

I don't know why it is like this, but it is. So if you are not intending to use Ebay for a mini business then I would advise you to just ignore all the questions you get. The ones who really want the product will just buy it without asking you anything and they are the customers you want.


Chris.

 

[silvermusic]

I've been an active seller on eBay for many years.

Top tips of the day.

1) You don't have to answer questions, it OK to ignore idiots and chancers. I do it on a daily basis.

2) Know how to block idiots who you'd rather not deal with. I have that one bookmarked. http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin

3) Never use eBay's "Best Offer" option, it'll drive you insane.

 

[IanG]

My worst experiences are with buyers who have made offers. I don't tend to offer the opportunity these days and if I get an offer via message it normally gets ignored.

 

[e-vulture]

Sounds about right for ebay! Although I'm amazed they're offering as high as 60% of going rate, it's usually much lower than that.

Ebay gives buyers the carboot mentalitly - ie haggling on a 5p item, even if it's clearly worth £10.

 

[Matt Thorpe]

Hi AT700,

I sell a lot on eBay through another business. We don't offer the 'best offer' option because take the mickey. I know they are trying their luck but it can get quite irritating. Also, some people do want something for nothing.

My advice to you is:

• Make sure you listings are high quality, have excellent images, descriptions and also have an FAQs section in the listing. In here you can include the sensible questions that you get.
• Test product titles - Include keywords and try to gain as many page views as possible. Try to measure and tweak this.
• Set your listings to end on a Sunday or Monday evening at around 8pm. There are most people online during these periods.
• Don't list using 'best offer' as an option.
• Make it clear that you are a UK-based seller. This gives people confidence. Many buyers won't buy from Chinese or other foreign sellers.
• Highlight the speed of your delivery. i.e Get it in 2 days. People are impatient and won't wait 2 weeks to get it from China.
• If you are one, tell people you are a Power Seller. This also breeds confidence.
• Remember, that many people impulse buy on eBay so you products can go in the last few minutes.

Good luck.

 

[Pish_Pash]

I sell on ebay...I don't receive many emails from time wasters at all. For those that want to haggle, if the product is slow moving, then I'll offer them a token amount off, else they 'can go away quickly'.

 

[RepricerExpress]

If you're using the eBay Best Offer function, you can set a min price which will automatically reject offers below your set min price. Might save some time.

 

[Maxwell83]

Hi AT700,

I sell a lot on eBay through another business. We don't offer the 'best offer' option because take the mickey. I know they are trying their luck but it can get quite irritating. Also, some people do want something for nothing.

My advice to you is:

• Make sure you listings are high quality, have excellent images, descriptions and also have an FAQs section in the listing. In here you can include the sensible questions that you get.
• Test product titles - Include keywords and try to gain as many page views as possible. Try to measure and tweak this.
• Set your listings to end on a Sunday or Monday evening at around 8pm. There are most people online during these periods.
• Don't list using 'best offer' as an option.
• Make it clear that you are a UK-based seller. This gives people confidence. Many buyers won't buy from Chinese or other foreign sellers.
• Highlight the speed of your delivery. i.e Get it in 2 days. People are impatient and won't wait 2 weeks to get it from China.
• If you are one, tell people you are a Power Seller. This also breeds confidence.
• Remember, that many people impulse buy on eBay so you products can go in the last few minutes.

Good luck.

This is a 2 year old thread, I'm guessing the OP has either figured it out or given up by now

 

[silvermusic]

This is a 2 year old thread, I'm guessing the OP has either figured it out or given up by now

No idea where you're getting that date from, I see the thread started by and at
"AT700, Yesterday at 9:14 PM".

 

[Pish_Pash]

Perhaps Maxwell83 is typing from a wormhole entrance to the future.

 

[Maxwell83]

No idea where you're getting that date from, I see the thread started by and at
"AT700, Yesterday at 9:14 PM".

Oops! Yes sorry, ignore me - I was looking at the member since dates! I must stop drinking so early!

Perhaps Maxwell83 is typing from a wormhole entrance to the future.

Or perhaps it's this - I hope it's this!

 

[AT700]

Thanks for your comments.. Seems like it's not just me then!
To answer your questions, I have been selling some surplus electronic items that have been sat in my storage such as portable speakers etc.

I've never offered best offer, all of my listings have been 'buy it now', it's just some have messaged me with offers or exchanges.

I was speaking to a guy in the gym last night who sells 600 items a day via ebay and amazon, he seemed to have it all sussed in terms of dealing with time wasters and returns (He said his return rate is 5% of his sales).
He said ebay is a pain but he's managed to grow a profitable business from it in 4 years so he can't complain. He told me to stick at it as I'll get used to the 'time wasters' and the longer you stay in it the more your business grows.
The only complain he did have was his customers loyalty! Many of his items aren't worth sending via recorded delivery and he often receives messages from customers who say they haven't received the item.

Thanks for all of your comments, I'm definitely not going to launch a micro ebay business, it's not worth it for me!

 

[JackThomas2015]

Its a shame about the selling fees on eBay as the market is great!

 

[DontAsk]

Its a shame about the selling fees on eBay as the market is great!

What are you comparing against?
For auctions, they are far cheaper than a local auction house and potentially attract a much wider audience.
For "buy it now" what would your overheads be for a bricks and morter shop?

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

I would advise you to just ignore all the questions you get. The ones who really want the product will just buy it without asking you anything and they are the customers you want.

That's odd. I regularly buy car parts and the like on eBay and always ask questions about the product to make sure it's the correct fit or whatever.

I'd highlight that it boils down to what type of product you're selling. If it's a kettle, then you don't expect questions asking how long it takes to heat up or what sort of plug it has. If it's a coilsprings for example, you'd expect genuine ones, 'the customers you want', to ask if they fit X, Y or Z model of this year or that year.

I'd say that applies to pretty much most things tech too.

Personally, if I ask a question about a product and don't get an answer back, I avoid the seller and go elsewhere.

 

[Chris34]

Personally, if I ask a question about a product and don't get an answer back, I avoid the seller and go elsewhere.

That's the whole point : ) People who ask the questions are not the customers you want so I and many others are very happy to let them shop elsewhere.

Regarding your comment about tech items, I used to sell pc parts, total nightmare. The questions start off asking basic stuff and then they lead up to you having to identify if they are purchasing the correct product for them. If you answer the first question then you are effectively sucked into answering them all. You can't be nice on the first question and then tell them to F Off (in a nice way) on the second question, that is worse than ignoring the first question to begin with.

The ones who really want the product will just buy it. The ones who ask the questions are really only asking the questions because they 'aren't to sure' about buying it. You don't want people who 'aren't to sure' because the next time you hear from them they are wanting to return it to you which costs you more money and more time.


Chris.

 

[14Steve14]

If you have good product titles and descriptions there should be no need for people to ask questions. Make sure you include all relevant information that a customer may need, then they wont have to ask questions. You will still get some though. Saying that so many people still don't read product descriptions anyway and will try to return items to you at your expense.

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

That's the whole point : ) People who ask the questions are not the customers you want so I and many others are very happy to let them shop elsewhere.

I think you missed the whole point... I ask questions about car parts before I buy them because it's imperative to know certain things. Not because I'm kicking tyres. It should be pointed out that in most cases, better descriptions from eBay sellers would be useful.

In any case, that's a poor blanket statement: "people who ask questions are not the type of customers I want so I let them shop elsewhere"

Every eBay seller should be fighting for every customer. Can you imagine how a high-street retailer like Boots for example would get on if when someone in store asked about hair conditioner and they said 'you're not a serious buyer with all these questions so I'm not going to answer them. To be fair, you're not really the type of customer we're looking for here. Try Semichem."

More so, can you imagine how you'd feel if you emailed a company with a query never to be answered?

Proof if ever there was some, that it's better for everybody if some businesses never grow out of eBay.

And I take note that there will be a large majority who maybe do waste the eBay seller's time. I just find it odd how a small business can actively pick and choose customers and throw away potential profits because it doesn't fancy dealing with time wasters though. Welcome to retail.

 

[Alan]

Counter argument. A big business can afford to have a 'customer is always right' policy, as it has the scale and management to take the hit on not profitable lines and the management processes to deal with them.

For a small business, it is essential that they pick the 'right type of customer' and reject the 'wrong type of customer', otherwise the losses (effort) will kill a small business.

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

Counter argument. A big business can afford to have a 'customer is always right' policy, as it has the scale and management to take the hit on not profitable lines and the management processes to deal with them.

For a small business, it is essential that they pick the 'right type of customer' and reject the 'wrong type of customer', otherwise the losses (effort) will kill a small business.

A small business who's ethos is 'customers who ask questions are time-wasters and not the customers we want so they can shop elsewhere' will never become a big business. Boots from my previous example started small many years ago.

My previous argument is based on the assumption that businesses want to grow and have outstanding service as part of their competitive advantage. If that isn't the case and these businesses are happy plodding along, that's totally fine.

I'd suggest a better way of picking the 'right type of customer' though. I've bought nearly £2000 worth of car parts on eBay this year (from across two or three sellers actually), all of which involved questions being asked (again, I understand if you're selling certain products it's black and white and no questions are needed ergo some customers can be wired to the moon and time wasting).

It's the world wide web - thriving with competition. If you don't want the customer because their don't fit your exclusive customer profile, the listing below you will take him/her.

 

[Alan]

I opened up an ebay account to sell off some old stock

Is the OPs original message, which isn't really some one looking to become a Boots.

Whilst your argument maybe sound for retailers wanting to grow their business, it may not be appropriate for people wanting to dump stock as cheaply (in term of effort) as possible.

Traditionally in the offline world, that is what auction houses do. Allow people to get rid of stuff without having to deal with the consumer, returns etc, people look and they bid and they probably get a bargain. Imagine the middle of an auction £10 - £15 - new buyer yells 'can I just ask what size the base is'

The fact is ebay has split in to two segments - 1) an auction market place when people can get rid of stuff 2) some sort of professional retailer software platform

If you are a small business using ebay for 1) then it is perfectly sound strategy not to bend over backwards to satisfy the buyers demands.

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

Is the OPs original message, which isn't really some one looking to become a Boots.

Whilst your argument maybe sound for retailers wanting to grow their business, it may not be appropriate for people wanting to dump stock as cheaply (in term of effort) as possible.

Traditionally in the offline world, that is what auction houses do. Allow people to get rid of stuff without having to deal with the consumer, returns etc, people look and they bid and they probably get a bargain. Imagine the middle of an auction £10 - £15 - new buyer yells 'can I just ask what size the base is'

The fact is ebay has split in to two segments - 1) an auction market place when people can get rid of stuff 2) some sort of professional retailer software platform

If you are a small business using ebay for 1) then it is perfectly sound strategy not to bend over backwards to satisfy the buyers demands.

My Boots comment wasn't directed to the OP. More a hypothetical for anyone with planning to adopt a 'lets ignore customers' strategy...

If you're using eBay in a personal context, fine - ignore people. If you're using it as a business, I'd argue it's not OK to ignore people, regardless of whether you want to get rid of stock as effortlessly as possible or not. Because if that attitude rubs off on wherever you conduct most of your business (not just when you want to be lazy about selling left-overs), you're screwed. (Again, assuming you want to grow).

As for your example, (and touching on what I said earlier), if the seller offers even a semi-decent description, questions like that wouldn't need answered. And there's the whole personal vs business use - I wouldn't expect people shouting out in a private auction where people pay commission to get rid of their junk - it's not practical offline (vs online)

However, if the offline auction was a business selling its own products and the auction was running for seven days - I wouldn't call it unreasonable for someone to phone up with some questions.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I'd rather businesses like the one's we're describing ignored me when asking questions so I had an interested retailer who valued my business should I run in to any issues, or have any* questions in the future about new products.

Maybe we need to realize all markets are different and I use eBay typically for products that aren't as straight forward as king-size beds & kettles. Time wasters are part and parcel of business.

 

[Maxwell83]

The value of the items/number of items you have/demand for items will determine whether it makes sense answering buyers' questions, but I understand completely why some (even professional sellers) do not respond to queries.

I'm thinking of the very cheap items (under £10) with very low margins that are always in demand and generally sell out. I know from experience that if you get 10 questions, 8 or 9 of the questioners will be the type that you know will be the problem customer (delivery not fast enough for them, they changed their mind, it doesn't pick the winning lottery numbers etc) and 1 or 2 of them will be genuine folk who just wanted more info.

The problem is, you can't always tell which is which and so you would have to take on 8 problem customers for 1 extra genuine sale. When you have already sold 200 of these items and your stock is running low, with no slow down in demand, it doesn't make business sense to answer those questions due to the time required to respond, and the losses you will make from the problem customers.

You don't take the same approach with high value items or those with big margins that you sell in small numbers - with those you try to foster a good relationship with your potential customers.

You can get away with it on ebay because the truth is, most people don't look at the seller name so won't have marked your card when you don't respond to their question, they will just buy elsewhere on that occasion.

 

[Patrick @ BIG in the UK]

The value of the items/number of items you have/demand for items will determine whether it makes sense answering buyers' questions, but I understand completely why some (even professional sellers) do not respond to queries.

I'm thinking of the very cheap items (under £10) with very low margins that are always in demand and generally sell out. I know from experience that if you get 10 questions, 8 or 9 of the questioners will be the type that you know will be the problem customer (delivery not fast enough for them, they changed their mind, it doesn't pick the winning lottery numbers etc) and 1 or 2 of them will be genuine folk who just wanted more info.

The problem is, you can't always tell which is which and so you would have to take on 8 problem customers for 1 extra genuine sale. When you have already sold 200 of these items and your stock is running low, with no slow down in demand, it doesn't make business sense to answer those questions due to the time required to respond, and the losses you will make from the problem customers.

You don't take the same approach with high value items or those with big margins that you sell in small numbers - with those you try to foster a good relationship with your potential customers.

You can get away with it on ebay because the truth is, most people don't look at the seller name so won't have marked your card when you don't respond to their question, they will just buy elsewhere on that occasion.

100%, it does come down to the item on offer.

As for marking your card... I think I would... But then again, I've never experienced that ignorance on eBay (so if I was creating a black list it's not like I'd masses of people to avoid anyway!), and I only really use it for the car (typically high-value, car/engine-specific items). I'm not a fan of buying penny items on eBay, they just lie about the house.

Out of curiosity, I wouldn't imagine cheap, every day items would receive a lot of questions... I'd imagine it would be the more complex items (and those of high value) which attract inquisitive people. Does anyone care to share examples of these 'time wasting questions' which couldn't be solved with a generic 'See FAQ/Description' template message which would take all of a minute to send?

 

[Parcelhub]

If you're reselling bulk lots of old stock, buyers are bound to be more probing. Maybe offer more clarity / better pictures on your listing?

 

[Alan]

But I have never experienced what you experienced. Maybe its the type of product you are selling that attract these time wasters,

To quote myself. I was selling items between £5 - £50 with reasonable descriptions / pictures, and items that they buyer would know what it was by the part number in 90% of cases.

 

[JackThomas2015]

What are you comparing against?
For auctions, they are far cheaper than a local auction house and potentially attract a much wider audience.
For "buy it now" what would your overheads be for a bricks and morter shop?

I'm comparing against having my own eCommerce shop. If you can the same amount of sales through your site, your not paying any commission to anyone...

 

[silvermusic]

Counter argument. A big business can afford to have a 'customer is always right' policy, as it has the scale and management to take the hit on not profitable lines and the management processes to deal with them.

For a small business, it is essential that they pick the 'right type of customer' and reject the 'wrong type of customer', otherwise the losses (effort) will kill a small business.

Exactly right, and I'd also add that not every business owner want's to be the next Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Amazon. I'm quite happy trading at a level that provides a decent income with minimal aggro. I have no intention of working 100 hour weeks chasing every last penny. I put up prices by 30% on my lowest priced items late last year too. End result was profit neutral but with fewer orders taking less time, but each one now makes more money. The old "work smarter not harder".

Speaking for myself I don't ignore every question, that would be silly. Answering a few genuine questions I have no problems with. But anyone who's been on eBay for any length of time will know about the pointless, stupid, idiotic questions that really serve no purpose being replied to as they won't result in a sale or if they do will be nothing but a pain in the neck. Hence I put this on my original reply.
"1) You don't have to answer questions, it OK to ignore idiots and chancers. I do it on a daily basis."
Some of my best product ideas have actually come from people's questions via eBay.

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

I find that excellent pictures a brief but detailed description and a few benefits work well. I also use 'make an offer'. I find I get very few questions and little time wasters. But that could just be my niche and the type of person buying should know what they are buying!

 

[Tom Porter]

I have had the same problem before, and actually found the people who did ask the questions in the first place... were more likely to complain or send the product back as opposed to those who didn't. As a result I have been a little "lazy" when it comes to replying now.