ANSWERING QUESTIONS

[inalaboy1961-9]

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

[jellybirddesigns]

Just to highlight what I was referring to in my post above - in the 40 minutes from when I posted the message to doing a shutdown of my mail, I had an enquiry asking me if a cushion cover they are looking at just includes the insert.

1) The title tells them it's a cushion "cover"

2) The description mentions that the insert is not included, cover only.

And yet I still get the enquiry.

When I get questions like this and I do bother answering, inevitably they don't buy because they go back and read what they should have read the first time and then probably feel foolish.

[countessalmirena]

I know what you mean; people may feel that they've lost face, and head off to another seller without asking any questions.

You could always reply with a simple, "Thank you for enquiring; this cushion cover is cover only. (No insert.)" without pointing that your listing description states this same information... but it's hard to feel that there's any point in replying to those sorts of questions where clearly the eBay member hasn't bothered to read the description at all.

It is possible that ebay's ruthless insertion of "Similar sponsored items" and "Related sponsored items" (two rows of other stuff) give buyers the impression that there's no further information under the Postage / Delivery / Payments / Returns section. Was your questioner a relatively new eBay member?

[jellybirddesigns]

Thanks Countess - the enquiry came from another platform, where there is no indication of how long they have been a member.

I have written back to her, but I'm not holding my breath for a purchase.

[*tippy*toes*]

I feel your pain. Some people are complete idiots and I'd rather not sell to those people. A few years back I listed a "Vintage Green Malachite Pendant on a Silver Chain". I got a message from a buyer asking what colour the green Malachite was. My first thought was, are you for real? I replied with "the green Malachite is Heliotrope". They bought it before I could block them. Obviously Heliotrope was an acceptable colour to them. These days I block before I reply. That said, they did leave great feedback and 5 stars for everything (in the days when you could check what stars buyers had left).

I also had another buyer asking what colour the yellow tea cup was. I replied that it was purple. 

[countessalmirena]

I think I may just have found it irresistible to go "full lyrical":

❝Have you ever seen a fresh young buttercup, tenderly rising from the sweet grasses? Have you ever churned the new butter in the morning when the sun has just opened its sleepy gaze over the rumpled bedsheets of the sky?

I have wandered in the wide garden where bright lemons hang gaily from the low-hanging branches among the sharp green of the leaves. The pretty goldenrods flower with quaint courtesy and charm along the creamy weathered stones. Nesting overheard is a great horned owl with its magnificent eyes of golden yellow. I ruffle the head of an indignant hen as I take one of the freshly laid eggs. When I crack open the shell, out spills the vibrant xanthophyll-rich yolk and swiftly frilling half-transparent white. Within minutes the omelette is done, and I slip it onto a creamy yellowware plate. I note idly that the unrest in France is still ongoing; how enraged those gilets jaunes are!

The yellow of this tea cup is none of these. I would perhaps describe it as "tea-cup yellow". I hope that you find this reply informative and a blissful journey among the tender-to-glorious shades of yellow that dot the landscape around us.❞