Forgive All Ebay Sins!

Over the years, I have been amazed at the "blinding"would not hesitate to purchase from me. They can
greed and reckless approach to commerce thatcount on me to accommodate their needs, instead of
some business owners have employed. Lying tocatering to my wants. Creating this type of good will
customers, selling inferior merchandise, and notinstills trust, and the knowledge that you have the
offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customerscustomers best interest in mind.
in their wake. Without fail, all of this "ill will" led most
businesses to bankruptcy, and in some cases, Federal
Prison.
"Me thinketh thou doth protest too much!
I realize that not everyone engages in "business
criminality" that rises to the level of fraud and
incarceration. Most people try to be good stewards,
and approach their enterprise in an honest andDo you accentuate the positive? Or, do you run on
forthright manner. For those of you who own thrivingnegativity? Negative Ebay feedback is a tool that
business concerns you already know that in mosteveryone should use with restraint, or not at all. As a
cases the customer is always right. You make surerule, I never leave negative feedback. Unless
that you communicate effectively, refund monies ifsomeone has blatantly lied about your product, or
the buyer is truly unhappy, and try to meet theattacked you personally without merit, then I would
needs of the people who buy your goods ornot leave any feedback in the "minus" side of the isle!
services.
However, there are more than a handful of Ebay
sellers that are of the mind that customer service
and effective communication is not something that"Flame" wars are not pretty. I have seen a lot of
they need not participate in. Take the case of aunnecessary back and forth "banter" that could have
woman named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) whobeen avoided, if they (the seller) just resisted the
recently posted her disappointment on the Ryzeurge to make their "two cents" known. Sometimes it
Business Network:gives customers the impression that you are more
concerned about arguing, then conducting your
Barbara Cerda wrote:Greetings Everyone,business.
"When will sellers on Ebay understand that customer
service is key? And when will Ebay sellers learn using
customer friendly approaches can only make theirI have also witnessed seller feedback that has
business grow?" Again today I've bought from a lessincluded some pretty foul language. Engaging in this
than friendly seller.type of verbal sparring is not much of a confidence
builder either. It is more telling of what you are, then
about revealing the sins of your customers. Don't go
out of your way to register a negative response if
Thought I was placing a bid and instead bought theyou can help it. Heed the sage advice that our
item at the buy now price. Of course the sellerMother's use to tell us: "If you can't say anything
refused to allow the retraction, nor was I allowed tonice, don't say anything at all!"
place a bid. I always pay for my winning bids
immediately upon email confirmation.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate!"
And did so in this case. But it would have been
customer friendlier for this seller to accept my
retraction to be replaced with a bid. He would haveCommunication with your customers should not
gotten repeat business from me and my friends. Hisamount to the sound one hand clapping! Bottom line,
"Buy Now" price is 30% over the retail price for thisif someone e-mails you with a question--answer it!
item. Lesson learned by me again - that there areHere is an example of the type of feedback I
way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a buckobtained by doing just that......
and the hell with fair practice.Lesson learned yet
again."
BobAnn
End quote..."He was very Helpful and cooperative in answering
questions. Follow-up: Will DEFINITELY use his services
The operative phrase here is "repeat business fromanytime he has items of interest! Great Seller!"
me and my friends". There is no better endorsement
of your product or service than word of mouth
advertising. Lack of flexibility on the part of the seller,
not only cost them one customer, but also
destroyed the possibility for future business. Good
news travels fast, but bad news travels faster!The gentlemen who left this positive review, wanted
to know about some of the particulars of a "Mickey
Mouse" clock I had up for auction. His wife is a
collector of all things Disney, and thought it would be
As an auction seller, (Ebay auction ID: LevelBest77) Ia nice surprise for her birthday. The clock, to say the
would have accommodated her request right away.least, was in sad shape. It was incapable of keeping
And while I have never had anyone use "Buy Ittime, and the only part of it in working order was the
Now" by accident, I have had several people oversecond hand. I thought for sure that he would be
the years ask me to retract bids. The number ofdisappointed with the item despite full disclosure of all
people who have made that request can be countedof it's imperfections.
on one hand! Some, did not even understand the
process, (bid retracting) and I was more than willing
to guide them through it.
To my surprise, not only did I receive positive
feedback, but he also told me that his wife
absolutely loved it! In this instance, one man's junk,
People make honest mistakes, and you should nevertruly, is another man's treasure! I never thought this
"abuse" a buyer for doing so. If you plan to get intoitem was worthy of any praise! The time it took to
Ebay auction selling for the long haul, always practiceanswer his questions-all of five minutes!
good will toward your customers. Unless someone is
totally unreasonable, and you have done everything
in your power to accommodate their request, never
deny people the ability to change their mind, returnI know that some of you will say that I am not
an item, or retract a bid! Developing good will alsobeing realistic. You just can't answer e-mails all day; "I
requires that you anticipate customer needs.....have a business to run!," you might proclaim. If you
plan on making a living on Ebay, then you better think
about hiring someone to help you answer your daily
inquires if it is just too overwhelming. If you specialize
For instance, I had a few overseas customers bid onin a particular product, set up a Frequently Asked
a wireless router. This particular item needed to beQuestions page to any Auto-Responder.
powered with a Universal Adapter, since voltage
requirements in France and Australia are obviously
different from those here in the United States.
If you use Ebay on an infrequent basis, and have less
than thirty listings a month, then you really don't have
any excuse not to provide great customer service
and e-mail communication. You shouldn't be inundated
with questions regarding that many items, unless the
I made this abundantly clear to both bidders beforeproduct you are selling is technical in nature.
they sent me any payment. The purchase of such an
adapter, not to mention the shipping price, would
have doubled the US retail cost. I told them that
they could probably get the product cheaper at theirIf you ignore your customers, they will go away.
local electronics stores. Without hesitation, I let themGood customer service should be woven into the
out of their obligation to pay for the item. I thenfabric of every good business. I cannot overemphasis
contacted the next highest bidder and offered thatthe importance of this issue. I continue to be
person the chance to make the purchase.perplexed by the fact that it is last on the list of
business priorities for some Ebay sellers!
Will good customer service and communication alone
Both bidders thanked me for my honesty. They hadmake you rich on Ebay? That would be a resounding
forgotten about the electrical differences. I could"no". You will have to understand your market, and
have ignored that little detail, and sold them the itemprovide products that the Ebay community will bid on
anyway. I just had to put myself in their situation.consistently. There will be "bidders & buyers" out
Think of how frustrated they would have been if Ithere that will make mistakes and commit some
did not reveal that information. Buyer's remorseauction sins! Forgive all Ebay sins and you will be
would have set in quickly, once they realized thatrewarded with happy, repeat customers!
they could have purchased the same item for a lot
less in their native countries.
Robert C. Potter is the author of "The Ultimate
Guide To Products For Resale." Over 300 Wholesale
While the benefits of these actions may not have an& Surplus Supply Sources, For Ebay Auction Sellers,
immediate effect, you can be sure that should I everE-Commerce Websites, Flea Market Vendors, and
have another "item of interest!" these two gentlemenRetail Store Owners!