THE FUNNIEST AND SILLYIST BUYERS YOU HAVE HAD ON EBAY

[joethenuts]

THIS IS JUST A FEW

I sell paint and for the odd colors i take off the lid to take a photo of the paint and had a message does this can of paint come with a lid.

or get a message saying what color should i paint my house.mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

or how much paint do i need to paint my fence  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

or a friend of mine sold a computer the buyer a couple of days later sent a message stating that the computer does not turn on ,so he rang the buyer and said maybe 1 of the plugs have come loose   ,could you check all the leeds in case you unpluged them with your foot ,so she said hang on i will check all the leeds,about 15 minutes went by and my friend said what took you so long and she said she had to find a torch ,my friend said why would you need a torch  and she said i needed a torch to see under my computer table if the plug was in the wall socket as we have a power failur for the last 2 hours at the moment   my friend just hung up

[nevillesdaughter]

I sell new and used skiwear and last year had some new with tags kids' ski suits listed. The listing had all the waterproofing, windproofing and insulation ratings qouted, and about 8 photos including close up off all the tags which had a picture of a child wearing the suit and STANDING IN THE SNOW.

A lady emailed me to ask if I thought the suit would be warm enough for a holday in Melbourne!!!

I also get a lot of queries about items (for which I always list manufacturer's sizing and full measurements I have taken) asking questions like "Would this fit a 6 year old?  My son is an average-sized 12 year old but he is very skinny and tall with it - would these pants fit him?  I love these pants but they look too small for me - if I buy them but don't lose enough weight before my holiday, can I return them for a refund?"

I always have difficulty trying to compose a reply that informs without offending - drives me to strong drink sometime!!!

Cheers,

Marina.

[joethenuts]

if i was you i would go to there place and make sure they stick to the diet   saves all the hassel of a refund  lol

[simone4010]

Joethenuts

does this can of paint come with a lid?

Where I agree that the above question is a little odd, I have to say that I think the other two questions are quite reasonable for a seller who ONLY sells paint. These are both questions I’ve heard people ask at the local hardware store. Some people (not myself, I have a good eye for colour) have absolutely no idea as to what colours to choose and are probably asking your advice as they would assume you would know what colours are in at the moment. As far as the how much paint do I need to paint my fence question, If I was you, I would have asked what size the fence is in square metres. I would have told them that x amount of litres would cover x amount of square metres but it would only be a rough guide as it would depend on whether they need 2 or 3 coats. As I said before I would assume as a paint seller that that question would be an easy one for you and not a SILLY one, as you put it.

In my opinion, a good business person should know their product.

Hopefully those SILLY buyers don’t read this thread as you may have just done yourself out of some future business and just remember there’s no such thing as a stupid question, if you don’t know the answer.

[cathyjoyjoy]

Lol ....... you just cannot make this stuff up ........ hilarious

[joethenuts]

to simone i did answere as i aswere all messages up to 30 a day   with what size and what color is it now.

but how am i sopose to know how big there fence is and what colors she likes..

its the ols saying how long is a piece of string

99.9% of people ask my fence is so long so height or so many square meters    o0r do you think this green will go with my blue edging or so.

[i-love-my-sheep]

---

@joethenuts wrote:

to simone i did answere as i aswere all messages up to 30 a day   with what size and what color is it now.

but how am i sopose to know how big there fence is and what colors she likes..

its the ols saying how long is a piece of string

99.9% of people ask my fence is so long so height or so many square meters    o0r do you think this green will go with my blue edging or so.

---

Well, I have the answer to that one! One of the doctors I work with was being bombarded with questions by his then 6 year old son. He dropped the question to the son "how long is a piece of string?". The son came back with a quick reply "twice as long as what it is from the middle to the end". The kid's a genius!! I loved that answer and often use it when people use that line. I usually get a look of amazement when the person thinks about it. I always give the kid the credit for it though.

I don't get a lot of questions from buyers because even though my descriptions are short, for what I sell, it tells it pretty much how it is. I got one question from a buyer asking what colour the green malachite was. Another asked how heavy the 150g quartz was. The weights and most of the colours are all in the title, but I still answered their questions while laughing and rolling my eyes. Both went on to buy the items so it was worth me answering.

A few months back I sold an item, the buyer paid and I posted it the same day. A week or so later I got a message from someone else who said they had been watching that item and they really wanted it. Was there any way I could get the buyer to send it back so they could have it! Ummm, that would be a no! I did tell them that I had a similar one which I hadn't listed yet and offered to send them photos, which I did. They wanted it, so I listed it as a BIN for them and they snapped it up.

Sometimes answering the silly questions can actually lead to a sale.

[digital*ghost]

I think a lot of the time people ask questions without realising they haven't given the seller enough detail to answer properly - i.e. they see/think about the full context of their question, and don't see that they haven't provided that to the seller. 

It worries me sometimes when I get questions like "is this real silver?" on an item that is definitely not priced at real silver prices, titled with 'silver-tone', and described as zinc alloy. I guess I could reply with "it's real silver tone zinc alloy' , but I usually explain when I have genuine sterling silver items, they are titled with words like genuine, solid, .925 etc, and priced accordingly. I often also get asked if my stainless steel items are real stainless steel, but I can more understand that because there's quite a few items on eBay listed as steel but they're usually a cheaper alloy with glossy plating on them. 

The one that I sometimes wonder about is when I'm asked if certain jewellery is "for men" or not (most of my handcrafted stuff I consider unisex). I'm never quite sure if this is a sizing-related question, or if they're worried they like a "girl's" necklace. o_O

[arlottstreetstation]

My biggest "bug bear' are people that don't read instructions.... Yes I know we all do it... and alas men are the worst for it BUT IT DRIVES MY CRAZY !!!!!

I sell Sound Cards for Model Trains & with every sale I send an E-Mail saying in BIG RED LETTERS saying "I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO FULLY READ & UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO INSTALL & USE YOUR NEW SOUNDCARD"....

The most common message I receive after they get it is "It doesn't make any sound" & my reply is always "Have turned it on as per the Instructions?

One person kept ringing me for days saying it didn't work & each time I'd go through some trouble shooting with him & he'd say "OK, I'll try that & get back to you"..... On day 4 he asked "What if I put the Train the Track & power it up?" !?!?!?!? At first I thought he was joking.....BUT !?!?!?!?

[everard6920]

Some of the items I sell are add-ons for more expensive items, and are priced between $2 and $5 (pretty much zero profit . .  but they are add-ons for my main items, so I sell them for that reason).

I love it when someone messages me, wants to buy 2 x $2.00 items, and asks if there is a discount.

My day job is also retail, so I get the same thing there. Today someone wanted to price match a $3.10 item with our $3.25 one . . . we beat by 10%, so they got it for $2.80  and they waited a good 5 minutes to save 30 cents, because I had to verify the match as per our policy.

Just amazes me how much trouble and time people waste trying to save a few cents (on eBay and off).