topic Re: please ask questions...yeah right! in Selling

please ask questions...yeah right!

onekiwi0 — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:00:05 GMT

so the seller states in their description please ask questions, and again on the next line if you are unsure please ask questions....however when I attempt to I get this

" We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

so it seems I cannot contact them to enquire about their item, what an earth is this about?!!

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

cherry*135 — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:04:15 GMT

I read somewhere in ebay stuff the other day that sellers don't have to answer questions when the item is up for sale. They DO have to answer questions from the buyer after the item is sold... doesn't sound right I know. I will try and find where I read it.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

ms_aussie — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:07:55 GMT

I have been selling on eBay since 2002 and I answer ALL questions members ask. It always upsets me when people lump ALL sellers into one heap. We are not all alike.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

cherry*135 — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:08:29 GMT

Here it is ( I have enlarged the text and coloured it,underlined it)

Contacting your seller

Click the Ask a question link.
On the Find Answers page, choose the topic that best fits your question, and look for your question in any Q&A that appears.
If you can't find your question, under Did you find your answer?, select No, I want to contact the seller, and then click the Continuebutton.
On the Contact Seller page, enter your question in the space provided. Depending on the topic you selected in Step 2, you may be asked for additional information related to your question.
Enter the verification code for security purposes, and click the Sendbutton.

Note: Not all sellers accept questions before you buy an item, but all sellers will accept questions after you've bought an item.

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/buy/contact.html

Bizarre

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

imastawka — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:15:31 GMT

Well then, what happened to

'The time to ask questions is before you buy, not after'

That's the advice posters always give on the buying thread

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

kopenhagen5 — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:40:21 GMT

That's one of the responses I have had when a seller doesn't post to the location of the potential buyer.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 13:05:12 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
I read somewhere in ebay stuff the other day that sellers don't have to answer questions when the item is up for sale. They DO have to answer questions from the buyer after the item is sold... doesn't sound right I know. I will try and find where I read it.

doesn't sound right because it is not right. Even on your next post it states that

Note: Not all sellers accept questions before you buy an item, but all sellers will accept questions after you've bought an item.

Accepting questions is different from having to answer questions. Sellers can block questions from certain members i.e. members on their blocked bidder list, members in countries they do not post to . . . . . . . but once someone has bought an item from them they are contactable through means other than the directly from the listing.

Some sellers do not answer questions because they can get auto 5 stars for communication if there is no two-way communication between the seller and the buyer.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

found-in-australia — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 14:49:40 GMT

Okay, while I disagree that sellers should be able to disable the ability to accept questions from buyers, if Ebay offers that option and you are going to use it to protect your star ratings, then why on earth would you include in your listing that buyers should ask questions

Some people's (and corporation's) logic defeats itself

Regards, Kevin

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 15:17:49 GMT

@found-in-australia wrote:
Okay, while I disagree that sellers should be able to disable the ability to accept questions from buyers, if Ebay offers that option and you are going to use it to protect your star ratings, then why on earth would you include in your listing that buyers should ask questions
Some people's (and corporation's) logic defeats itself
Regards, Kevin

I agree . . . . . and if anything on eBay needs an overhaul it is the feedback system! However, as eBay have now heavily invested in their "defect" system for sellers they are unlikely to abandon the DSR ratings for sellers or have any significant modification of the DSR ratings system.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

pennyforum14 — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 23:09:09 GMT

Some sellers do not answer questions because they can get auto 5 stars for communication if there is no two-way communication between the seller and the buyer.

What the....? In what world is good communication defined as no communication at all? Why would Ebay grant automatic five stars for communication for NOT communicating with buyers at all? This defies all logic! Do they honestly think that any two way communication is an indicator poor performance issues? They really have lost the plot!

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

bigbrickshop — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 23:16:35 GMT

@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:
Some sellers do not answer questions because they can get auto 5 stars for communication if there is no two-way communication between the seller and the buyer.

Are you sure that's correct? I think if a buyer asks a question the auto 5 stars is disabled, whether the seller answers or not. The seller would be pretty stupid not to answer because that would only result in a lower Communication DSR.

The only time I've come across the OP's message is from an international seller who had selected the option in their Buyer Requirements to not allow contact from blocked buyers and the seller had blocked shipping to Australia.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

foxette-in-sox — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 23:26:56 GMT

@kopenhagen5 wrote:
That's one of the responses I have had when a seller doesn't post to the location of the potential buyer.

I reckon you have hit the nail on the head Kopes and would like to see OP return and confirm if your theory is correct.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

beach_and_home — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 00:34:24 GMT

@foxette-in-sox wrote:
@kopenhagen5 wrote:
That's one of the responses I have had when a seller doesn't post to the location of the potential buyer.

I reckon you have hit the nail on the head Kopes and would like to see OP return and confirm if your theory is correct.

yep, was just gonna say that the buyer is probably blocked for some reason. Could also be too many unpaid items etc.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

zanadoo_56 — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 00:48:10 GMT

@onekiwi0 wrote:
so the seller states in their description please ask questions, and again on the next line if you are unsure please ask questions....however when I attempt to I get this

" We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

so it seems I cannot contact them to enquire about their item, what an earth is this about?!!

Then there's the seller I struck recently who also encouraged buyers to ask questions, so I did and it went through OK. The seller however didn't answer. Tried again....no luck. So (naturally) no purchase either. Perhaps some sellers should amend their listings to say: "We encourage buyers to ask questions....but we may not bother to actually answer them."

The automatic 5 stars for communication doesn't seem to bear any resemblance to whether there has been communication or not. I've seen automatic stars for communication in instances where there's been none...and where there has been extensive discussions between myself and a seller. The reverse also applies - I can award stars where there's no communication or lots. It seems to be a lottery. I don't know under what circumstances the option to give stars is disabled, but when I see lines of messages between myself and a seller (all with good outcomes and a definite 5 stars from me) yet apparently there was no communication (!!), it's rather bizarre.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

digital*ghost — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 02:48:24 GMT

@pennyforum14 wrote:
Some sellers do not answer questions because they can get auto 5 stars for communication if there is no two-way communication between the seller and the buyer.

What the....? In what world is good communication defined as no communication at all? Why would Ebay grant automatic five stars for communication for NOT communicating with buyers at all? This defies all logic! Do they honestly think that any two way communication is an indicator poor performance issues? They really have lost the plot!

Communication is not limited to direct or manual messages between buyer and seller.

The entire point of a listing is to communicate something (or rather, several somethings) to potential buyers. Including (but not limited to) the item the condition, postage costs and handling times, return policies and other terms of sale.

If a buyer can confidently purchase something and not need to communicate via direct messages at any point of the transaction, eBay have decided the seller's communication can be rated at 5.

That's not the only factor for an auto-5 though - handling time has to be 0-1 business days, and a tracking number must be uploaded within 24 hours. (Marking an item as sent, as well as providing a tracking number for the package, is also considered communication).

That system also doesn't suggest that communicating directly with buyers is a bad thing, it just means eBay has no place or basis to assess the nature of that communication, so the buyer does.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

digital*ghost — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 03:10:00 GMT

@bigbrickshop wrote:
@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:
Some sellers do not answer questions because they can get auto 5 stars for communication if there is no two-way communication between the seller and the buyer.

Are you sure that's correct? I think if a buyer asks a question the auto 5 stars is disabled, whether the seller answers or not. The seller would be pretty stupid not to answer because that would only result in a lower Communication DSR.

On the US site, sellers have the option to block all messages from all members, it's only if the member buys something from them that messages become possible.

I imagine it's more for high volume sellers who would otherwise have to field hundreds of questions a day from people who may or may not buy - they probably lose some sales, but the tradeoff is likely that they also don't have to pay someone a full-time wage to answer questions from people who don't buy, IYKWIM.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

onekiwi0 — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 04:53:57 GMT

ms aussie I don't understand your comment. I'm a seller too , I'm not disputing the fact that we're all different. thanks all for your advice. pity this one missed out on a sale.

Re: please ask questions...yeah right!

onekiwi0 — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 04:58:03 GMT

and in reply to kopenhagen, pretty sure they posted worldwide. but I can't find the listing now, I didn't save it in my watch list as I was so peeved. and also that it was time waster at my end (not theirs) and I tried several different ways to send a question, picking the different subjects.