ANSWERING QUESTIONS

[inalaboy1961-9]

IT ANNOYS ME THAT  EXPERIENCED SELLERS EITHER CAN'T OR WON'T ANSWER QUESTIONS

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@inalaboy1961-9 wrote:

IT ANNOYS ME THAT  EXPERIENCED SELLERS EITHER CAN'T OR WON'T ANSWER QUESTIONS

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Can you define "experienced sellers" for me?

Do you mean sellers that:

- have been on eBay for a long time, OR 

- have high feedback score, OR

- have lots of items listed

[enigmabear]

Are you yelling at them too?

Are you giving them enough time to respond?

Is what you are asking already covered in the item listing?

Are the sellers registered in China (if so, it is not uncommon for them not to repond to messages at all)

[brerrabbit585]

IT ANNOYS ME THAT SOME BUYERS ASK QUESTIONS THAT ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME AND EXPECT ME TO ANSWER THEM.

Yes, I always answer genuine questions but if they're rude (unsolicited offers, etc) or really stupid I feel absolutely no compulsion to answer them. 

[kopenhagen5]

[springyzone]

I haven't struck that problem at all. In fact, quite the opposite. If I ask a straight forward question, I usually get a clear answer within 24 hours.

Could you give us an example of the sort of question you have had unanswered? 

[countessalmirena]

Some reasons why a seller may not answer your questions:

• The seller is a major retailer, and their eBay "arm" is not tasked with responding to questions. In most cases, this is because the listing contains the same amount of information as is on the major retailer's own website, and if a buyer has a specific question, he/she can phone the major retailer and ask for the relevant department to get any additional information.
• The seller is quite a large seller in Australia, the US or the UK, and expends all energy and time on processing orders, packing them and getting them sent out. Questions tend not to be answered except for post-sale "I haven't received my item" questions or things of that sort.
• The seller is a Chinese eBay seller, and volume of sales on the listed items is the primary focus. Possibly the seller hasn't the English to respond to "Does this item have blah blah blah? Does this item do blah blah blah?" questions. The only sorts of replies you could expect is if you tell the seller the item arrived damaged or hasn't arrived, in which case the seller may have pre-canned or google-translated responses such as "Dear, best assure your item will arrive! Just in kindly response please wait another 10 days. Always if problem after this time you will get full refund, we give honesty guarantee!"
• The seller is a hobby seller and isn't on eBay often. This is particularly the case with auctioned items.
• The question you asked should be clear from the listing, and the seller has long since made a policy not to respond to questions which really just require that the potential buyer read the listing clearly.
• The question you asked has already been answered very clearly in the listing with a "No, we do not etc., etc."
• The question is considered by the seller to be amazing cheek - for instance, asking for an outrageous discount or something extra.
• The question is completely silly in the seller's opinion, such as "Will this fit in my cupboard?"... with no measurements of the cupboard given... or "Will this suit a petite blonde wearing a spangled top?"
• The seller simply could not be bothered to respond, for whatever reason it may be.
• The seller is undergoing health issues and is limiting their interaction to only the absolutely necessary.

There are no doubt other reasons.

[*tippy*toes*]

I am an experienced seller and I answer questions promptly, even in the middle of the night. However, if I got a message screaming at me like the one you left here, then you would be ignored, and immediately put on my blocked buyer list. If this is how you speak to sellers, then it's no earthly wonder you are being ignored.

[countessalmirena]

I should have included that...

If the question was something like "WHY DON'T YOU SAY WHETHER THIS IS CREAMWARE OR YELLOWWARE???", it is unlikely that the seller will respond other than by considering that the buyer is trouble, and acting accordingly.

[jellybirddesigns]

In 16 years of online selling on Ebay and other platforms, I have only ever not replied to a handful of questions out of the thousands that I have had.

There are a few reasons I may not respond:

1) The buyer is completely discourteous and/or the tone of the message is rude. I just won't waste my time and energy.

2) Buyer feedback shows a pattern of negatives left for sellers - they go straight on my blocked list

3) Writing in ALL CAPS is considered "shouting" on the internet, and unless your message is polite, I may not answer it.

4) Buyers who do not read my descriptions and ask several questions all of which are answered in the listing. If they're not reading what they should be reading it's not my job to re-write it all out again for them.