Message to potential buyers

[downeyas]

Buyers, do you read the description that sellers put in their listings?

I know some of them can be a bit long, or short, take your pick - an example - a buyer ordered an item from me this morning  that I cannot & won't send to WA - now it states quite clearly in my Sub Title 'THIS ITEM NOT TO WA OR TASMANIA - NO EXCEPTIONS'  & I had to cancel the order.

Details that are in listings are there for a reason - to be read and not ignored. This is definitely NOT a whinge towards buyers, after all where would sellers be without them - just a small point that can make life a touch miserable for us - defect for cancellation, come and find meeee lolol - Sandra 🙂

[i-love-my-sheep]

How frustrating!!! I think I read on the sellers forum that if you subscribe to Business Policies that you can exclude locations in Australia, which i took to mean that if you sell plants, you can exclude WA and Tas. I'm not sure if it's a paid subscription or not, or even if you have to be a business seller. I think Digital Ghost or Phorum Junkie knows about it (I'm 99% sure it was either one of them that mentioned it). 

I truly believe that there are a certain percentage of buyers who only look at the title. I had one buyer send me a message asking what colour the green Malachite was. Another sent me a message asking what the 110g piece of quartz weighed (and even wrote the weight in their question!). I have weights and colours in my titles as well as in the description, so not sure what planet these 2 buyers were from!

Thankfully, 99.9% of my buyers are wonderful and it's an absolute delight selling to them.

[go-tazz]

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@downeyas wrote:

Buyers, do you read the description that sellers put in their listings?

I know some of them can be a bit long, or short, take your pick - an example - a buyer ordered an item from me this morning  that I cannot & won't send to WA - now it states quite clearly in my Sub Title 'THIS ITEM NOT TO WA OR TASMANIA - NO EXCEPTIONS'  & I had to cancel the order.

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Maybe change it to: Can not sell to WA or Tasmanian members due to quarantine restrictions.

That way they'll also get the reason that you can't send it.

[downeyas]

Oh, WA & Tassi buyers already well know what they can and can't expect to receive - Tassi buyers know that Tomato seeds can't be sent to them and the majority of WA buyers already know that it's next to impossible to receive a lot of asian seeds. One of the really stupid quarantine regulations of both states is Lupin (Lupine) seeds - the biggest Australian Lupin farm is in WA for goodness sake lol

[go-tazz]

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@downeyas wrote:
Oh, WA & Tassi buyers already well know what they can and can't expect to receive - Tassi buyers know that Tomato seeds can't be sent to them and the majority of WA buyers already know that it's next to impossible to receive a lot of asian seeds. One of the really stupid quarantine regulations of both states is Lupin (Lupine) seeds - the biggest Australian Lupin farm is in WA for goodness sake lol

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The ordinary gardener will have no idea that certain plants can't be sent to their location,(they just see a listing

and buy it with no regard to quarantine laws).

They believe they are a part of Australia so they can receive plant items from any other state,(we've had friends

move interstate and they have taken all their plants with them).

Some of those were regarded as being illegal/pest species for the state they moved to and were destroyed after

they were reported,(that's why some states have quarantine stations on their borders).

Restriction are in place because of things like the Lupin farm/s in WA as they don't want other plants to impact

on that industry,(which might happen if local gardeners planted Lupins and then they got diseased).

The same goes for Tomatoes and other plants in Tassie as well as other plants in WA.

That's probably why you are getting those type of buyers and why I stated the bit about quarantine,(so they

know they aren't allowed to buy those items).

.

[zanadoo_56]

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@downeyas wrote:

Buyers, do you read the description that sellers put in their listings?

I know some of them can be a bit long, or short, take your pick - an example - a buyer ordered an item from me this morning  that I cannot & won't send to WA - now it states quite clearly in my Sub Title 'THIS ITEM NOT TO WA OR TASMANIA - NO EXCEPTIONS'  & I had to cancel the order.

Details that are in listings are there for a reason - to be read and not ignored. This is definitely NOT a whinge towards buyers, after all where would sellers be without them - just a small point that can make life a touch miserable for us - defect for cancellation, come and find meeee lolol - Sandra 🙂

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I read the descriptions....though I will admit my eyes start to glaze over when it is too wordy, badly spelt, sometimes irrelevant to the item (good old copy and paste....sigh) or the list of rules re payment, packaging charges, preferred payment methods et al sound more like threats to buyers.

I guess when it comes to quarantine issues (I assume...I'm no gardener) BIG RED CAPITALS at the top might work....but you never know.

And since you mention descriptions.....if I have any gripes against sellers re descriptions it is when they fail to mention your purchase will be sent by registered/signed for (or whatever it's called this week) mail...especially as it's not mentioned in the postage section either.  Grrrrr.  I have to get parcels redirected which causes delays.  When a listing says Standard Post, I cross my fingers and hope it is.  You never know that either.

[downeyas]

Wish I could leave it there in BIG red letters but only black & white can be inserted there 😞

Go-tazz I don't sell plants darling, just seeds - sorry if it sounded like I was 'putting you down' , I wasn't, appreciated your reply, thank you - Sandra 🙂

[kopenhagen5]

Business policies are free and you don't need to be a business.

They are just a different form of layout in postage n payment details.

You just need to opt in or out at any time.

[go-tazz]

I knew you sold seeds as I always check the listings before replying(so I would hopefully know what I'm talking

about),

My replies were with that in mind and amateur gardeners are known for being lacking in knowledge in regards to

plant diseases,(hence why quarantine is in place).

I suspect that gardeners that do know about the quarantine will think that it does not apply to seeds so will order

them.

Why can't you leave it in big red letters.

My listings are always in colour and I can use a variety of colours by using the colour palette.

[downeyas]

I meant in the title and the sub title box underneath that, you can't use colour in them - have tried, typed it into word, made the colour red and copied and pasted it into the subtitle box - just went black, but that's no biggie really. I use and pay the $2 fee for the subtitle area, mainly for buyers that don't scroll down to read the descriptions - at least when it's up the top they are 'supposed' to see it lol

Have a great weekend everyone - gotta pack more seeds now, I don't have a life lolol - Sandra 🙂