Messages from buyers

[zelly888]

Why are so many buyers contacting me that if they win the bidding will I combine postage? when these potential buyers never ever even make a bid when I tell them yes I do combine postage as it's in the listing.Have any of you sellers out there had this happen too you?

[cq_tech]

I've just received two emails from a prospective buyer who is asking if I'll accept $9 plus $2.10 postage for a couple of DVDs instead of the $10.90 plus $2.10 that I have in my listings. They are both BIN (no best offer) and I feel a little insulted that he would try to haggle me down when there is so little margin after fees and charges, particularly as they are both virtually unused double-DVD music videos which were very expensive when bought new.

The problem I have is that I don't want to just ignore him, but neither do I want to accept his rather unwelcome offers yet if I do reply I don't want to appear rude or dismissive in case he ultimately buys them at their listed price and marks me down on my DSRs out of spite, or worse, says there's something wrong with them and negs me. Things must be getting pretty bad on eBay when you can no longer trust your buyers to do the right thing any more.

[treasuress.4207]

Could you maybe answer him that it would breach Ebay's rules for you to do that?  I mean it's hairy but would it work?

[i-love-my-sheep]

I had a buyer contact me last week saying they were interested in an item that was $15.99 with $8 postage. He asked if he could buy it now at $9 including postage!!!!!! I just replied saying he would need to elaborate on which item it was as I had a few things listed for that price. Thankfully, I never heard back. NO WAY would I have accepted that. If he did reply back I was just going to say that I would prefer for the auction to run its course. Some people really have a hide.

[cq_tech]

I'm not sure that it does breach any of eBay's rules and I didn't want to tell any blatant lies so after giving it a lot of thought, I simply said that if I'd been prepared to accept offers, I'd have had "Best Offer" enabled in the listing. I also said that the DVDs were virtually new 2-disc editions which cost me $30 each when new and I was already selling them for much less than I considered them to be really worth.

If I'd told him what I really thought of his cheapskate offer (what sort of a grub tries to haggle a $10.90 item down to $9 anyway, to save a lousy $1.90?), I'd have had to add his user ID to my BBL, so I'm hoping that by being polite and diplomatic, if he still buys them at the listed price he won't be tempted to mark me down on my DSRs, although that still remains a possibility. Maybe I should block him anyway, just in case? What would you do sheepy?

[i-love-my-sheep]

I'd block him if it was me. Sadly, we have to play it safe these days.

[cq_tech]

When lack of trust in buyers reaches that level, I think it's close to time to pull the plug and leave eBay. It's bad enough already, knowing that I've done everything correctly yet I still can't completely relax until the buyer's feedback comes in and it's positive with 5s on all the DSRs. I had that buyer last week who gave me 4s on comms and postage, even though we didn't exchange messages and I posted the same day he ordered and paid. At least my stars are back up to 5s again, but I was pretty upset and annoyed about it at the time, and I'm sure it won't be the last time it happens either.

[ydgonline06]

Or just be honest and say that you are selling a really good item at a great price, and you are making little profit on the sale.
You would prefer to leave the price where it is.
Presuming here that you feel that someone else will buy it anyway, and it's not something that you need to get rid of.
This works for me, as the person making the offer actually probably already knows that, as they have shopped around.

[2106greencat]

I know it used to be considered rude to make an offer if the option to do so was not on the the listing.

Not sure if it was against the rules per say, or if it is still that way, but I think it is a bit of a cheek.

I used to just reply and say I am away ATM so would prefer to let the auction run it's course.

[cq_tech]

That's pretty much what I did and it made no difference anyway as he ordered and paid for both items very early this morning. I just hope I don't live to regret not having blocked him, but given that he's Asian, it's probably just a cultural thing as they see nothing wrong with quite openly asking for a lower price, and let's face it, I reckon it would probably work more often than not, especially these days when sales tend to be very few and far between on eBay. I've only made 18 sales this month, which is an average of just one a day so it's a damn good thing I'm not relying on this place to earn a living.

[cq_tech]

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@i-love-my-sheep wrote:

I'd block him if it was me. Sadly, we have to play it safe these days.

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Well sheepy, I wish now I'd taken your advice and blocked the ba$tard when I had the chance. He left me feedback for the 2 DVDs this morning and he absolutely destroyed my DSRs in the process. I can't believe he'd mark me down on postage time when he ordered them on the 18th and they were posted the same day, arriving today, just 3 days later. Even worse, I actually undercharged on postage - it cost me $5.40 with eBay's cut, and I only charged him $4.20, yet he marked me down on postage cost as well. 😞

All because he asked for a 20% discount on items which didn't have Best Offer listed, and I said no. Until today my DSRs were all 5s except for item description, which was 4.9 and now they are all 4.9s, with item description now 4.8. I'd complain to eBay but they couldn't give a toss, even though I can prove that his DSR scores were malicious, so all I could do was leave a follow-up to my feedback for him warning other sellers to be careful. In fact, I suggest that you add him to your BBL. If you want his ID, just check my feedback for others where I've named him.

I'm just about ready to throw in the towel as I'm sick of having to deal with scumsucking buyers who think of nobody but themselves. It's not as if this is the first time it's happened either. Only a couple of weeks ago another buyer scored my DSRs low despite next day postage and I was pretty upset about that. Now this mongrel has decided to ruin my reputation simply because I had the gall to refuse a discount.

I really wish I'd taken your advice and blocked him, but silly me decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well never again. No more Mr Nice Guy. I won't be doing any bloody favours for anybody from now on, because as far as I'm concerned, most buyers are dodgy thieving scumbags who'll rob you blind given half a chance. This used to be enjoyable but it's no fun any more, so I'll be letting my listings run down and won't be putting up any more after this month. Between eBay and the buyers, they've completely ruined this place with their outrageous demands and their greed.