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tictictic_OnEbay
(addict)
06/09/09 00:37 AM
Contacting buyers new  

How does everyone deal with buyers who block your AW-emailed invoices and sit there waiting for eBay-generated invoices to arrive? This happens with about one out of every four or five of my sales, even though with the shipping clearly stated or easy to calculate, they ought to be able to just pay without an invoice (and the savvy ones do, of course).

These clueless buyers wait two or three days, then go back to the auction page and click to request an invoice. I reply via eBay as well as AW email telling them I sent their invoice the day the auction ended and that I'll resend it. Then I wait.........and wait. Two or three days later, they send another eBay-generated request for the total due (now they're thinking I'm a deadbeat seller). Apparently they don't even read their eBay messages. Sometimes, it takes over a week to get their attention.

It seems like the vast majority of buyers have no clue that some sellers don't use the eBay Checkout/invoicing system. They are totally brainwashed about email scams and phishes and are afraid to even look at mail from unknown sources. There's also the buyers who have set up auto-responders that say, "Sorry, but I must ask you to go to [link] and type in your name and email address to confirm who you are." On principle, I never follow these instructions. I just post a note at eBay saying if they wish to see what I've sent them, they can contact ME!

How do you all deal with buyers who don't read their mail?

Sue



mouse
(member)
06/09/09 07:04 AM
Re: Contacting buyers new [re: tictictic_OnEbay]  

Hi Sue!
I know just what you mean...I have the same problem and was wondering how others handle it! I'll be watching for some answers!


Mickey

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http://stores.ebay.com/MickeysMarvelousMall?refid=store














bluepennylady
(Carpal Tunnel)
06/09/09 12:16 PM
Re: Contacting buyers new [re: tictictic_OnEbay]  

Sue,

first let me say, this is not specific to AW2000. It is happening to anyone who is using a third party tool to manage their auctions. When I poke around other software forums, it is a chronic issue.

Secondly, we have discovered since we are submitting feedback as soon as the shipipng notices are sent out that far more buyers are receiving the emails from us than we knew were. It is amazing. They dont say a word. Never respond or even grunt. But they leave "Excellent communication" feedback comments.

We eliminated just about 99% of the problem by putting in a hyperlink that opens an email client in our template. It says, Have questions, email me. Or something like that.

When the buyer is poking around on the listing invariably they mouse over the image and see the email addy. So far it is working pretty well.


Judy/blue

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moonstruck22
(member)
06/09/09 09:03 PM
Re: Contacting buyers [re: bluepennylady]  

I added the "email me" hyperlink as well and would have to agree that about 99% of the issue has went a way!
Some still refuse to use anything but the eBay avenue, and it drives me crazy when they complain about response times. I don't really check My messages on eBay but maybe twice a day. Email me and you'll get a response way sooner!

Marty
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Moonstruck Antiques and More
Visit my webpage!
Moonstruckacres.biz
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tictictic_OnEbay
(addict)
06/11/09 11:16 AM
Re: Contacting buyers new [re: bluepennylady]  

In reply to:

first let me say, this is not specific to AW2000. It is happening to anyone who is using a third party tool to manage their auctions. When I poke around other software forums, it is a chronic issue.


Yes, I know that's the case. Didn't mean to single out AW; just wondering how others deal with this annoyance.

In reply to:

Secondly, we have discovered since we are submitting feedback as soon as the shipipng notices are sent out that far more buyers are receiving the emails from us than we knew were. It is amazing. They dont say a word. Never respond or even grunt. But they leave "Excellent communication" feedback comments.


I guess you are referring to the buyers who figure out how much to pay on their own. Yes, fortunately there are lots of those. At your suggestion (a bunch of months ago), I no longer make a point of sending invoices right away. I wait a few hours, then print them for my records, but send only those that haven't been paid already. I'd say around 80% of my buyers pay almost immediately. The rest wait politely/ignorantly/timidly for an invoice, and if it doesn't come from eBay, they don't see it.

For any newbies reading this, it should be mentioned that in AW, there are Invoices and there are invoices....... When our Lots are updated, the program generates Invoices as a record of the transaction. When we contact the buyer with payment information, we send an invoice (small letter i) based on an email template we've created.

In reply to:

We eliminated just about 99% of the problem by putting in a hyperlink that opens an email client in our template. It says, Have questions, email me. Or something like that.


I've had an email link in all my listing templates as far back as I can remember. It's at the top of every description, and it amazes me that eBay still allows it. However, almost no eBay shopper uses it -- they all just click the "Ask a Question" link. Weird.

I don't see how this helps eliminate the problem of people waiting for the standard eBay invoice to arrive. I don't think this is an issue of their not knowing how to contact us; I think they are just blocking mail from all unknown sources. Their email settings just send mail from "strangers" to a spam folder. I've told buyers to check their spam folders, and some of them reply that, yes, indeed, the invoice was there. Unless the email says "You won this item on eBay," it will be shuffled off to Buffalo. The subject headings of my invoices are like this: "(1234) eBay #110398499999 Vintage Thing You Must Own." Unless I put the invoice number first, it'll get cut off. So Judy, do your invoices have a subject line more like the eBay-generated invoices? Do you include the invoice number in the subject line?

What is your procedure if a buyer sends multiple requests for the total due and is obviously not getting/seeing/opening your email?

Sue



bluepennylady
(Carpal Tunnel)
06/11/09 01:25 PM
Re: Contacting buyers new [re: tictictic_OnEbay]  

Sue,

Yes I changed the subject line of most emails. Especially the initial contact emails to include Item you won from ebay. I'll have to look to see exactly what I did use

Yes the Invoice number is in the subject line.

For those that don't respond, I send them a message in MY messages requesting they check their spam folder. I tell them my staff cannot access my eBay account or My messages as they do not have my password for security purposes. And their total amount due was sent to their email account registered with eBay.

It is a rarity they don't respond to us.



Judy/blue

Visit my eBay store!
http://stores.ebay.com/bluepennylady?refid=store
Visit our website too!
http://www.pennyworthsales.com

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http://www.bonanzle.com/bluepennylady

tictictic_OnEbay
(addict)
09/09/09 10:48 AM
Re: Contacting buyers (another wrinkle) new [re: bluepennylady]  

Almost every day, I get a buyer whose email address isn't working. They've changed their email since registering on eBay and never thought to update their contact info, so all my messages come back as undeliverable.

Here's a typical comment once I finally get the buyer's attention with posts to their My Messages:


That is my old email address and has not worked for several years. How did you get it? Why do you need to contact me?


They are totally clueless about this. Even the message eBay sends on their behalf ("You've received an answer to your question....") inserts the old, defunct email address if you just click Reply.

So other than this just being a rant (why doesn't eBay require buyers to update their contact info?), I don't understand how eBay is able to contact these members (to send various notices, ads, whatever), if the email they have on file is no good. Assuming eBay has a working address for every member, why do we get the old email when we update our auctions?

Sue



bluepennylady
(Carpal Tunnel)
09/09/09 11:43 AM
Re: Contacting buyers (another wrinkle) new [re: tictictic_OnEbay]  

Sue

I have wondered the exact same thing. It makes no sense to me at all. And here is something that is scary..

Lately the addresses providedon the Paypal payment notification is incorrect. When the irrate buyer contacts me to find out why in the world I shipped to an address that is at least 6 years old , I forward the Paypal payment notification to them.

Only to find the buyer has moved five times, changed their address at Paypal but the oldest address is what is showing up.

Now if it was only one buyer, I would think it was a buyer error. But it is numerous buyers. Plus it happened to my husband. He went to pay for an item he won on eBay, and there address in our personal Paypal account was an old address that had not been there for years and years. Like maybe 17 years or more. The address had been removed from our account.

We have no idea how the old address got back in.

But I want to know where eBay and Paypal are storing our old information. When we "remove" the old address, it must not actually be "removed".

So the same thing could be happening to our buyers on eBay.



Judy/blue

Visit my eBay store!
http://stores.ebay.com/bluepennylady?refid=store
Visit our website too!
http://www.pennyworthsales.com

Visit me at Bonanzle!
http://www.bonanzle.com/bluepennylady

tictictic_OnEbay
(addict)
09/09/09 12:25 PM
Re: Contacting buyers (another wrinkle) new [re: bluepennylady]  

I wonder if it's a matter of old data being inadvertently restored when the sites -- Paypal or eBay -- update their systems or reboot hard drives or some such.

Sue



bluepennylady
(Carpal Tunnel)
09/09/09 06:28 PM
Re: Contacting buyers (another wrinkle) new [re: tictictic_OnEbay]  

Sue

I don't know but you know it seems strange that the old information is suppose to be removed and replaced by new information. I could not 'see" the old address in my Paypal account. Nor after we changed the address back could we see the old address again. So where in the world is that stuff retained at..



Judy/blue

Visit my eBay store!
http://stores.ebay.com/bluepennylady?refid=store
Visit our website too!
http://www.pennyworthsales.com

Visit me at Bonanzle!
http://www.bonanzle.com/bluepennylady


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