Judy:

The easiest answer is "it depends" because if they reply to an email and their invoice is still active I reply back and it is associated with the invoice.

If, as some people are famous for doing, they keep the email well past the end of the transaction and they use it to get in contact with us - well then there is no association made. The invoice from that email has long been archived and it isn't possible to associate it anyway. So in this type of instance the email is handled - replied to etc. After it is sent it is filed in the email area of aw2k in a folder called awaiting action or non-live-auction messages.

Usually that type of email is "i want another one" or "here is my want list for stamps from Japan" etc. That is where the FAX number in the email template has helped - one less email to deal with.

I've found that the customer does get tired of emails after a while. It all depends on their definiton of spam. About a month ago I changed a couple of templates to try to fix that problem. For years when a customer paid they got a "Payment received" email that gave the amount of payment, payment type, and the ususal verbiage of thanks and hugs etc. Then once I went through the remainder of closing out the sale - feedback left and all ready to pack and ship they got a Shipping eMail. That had the expected date of shipping, the method of shipping, the address we would be using, and a clickable link to any tracking information if it applied to them. Then it finished off with more thank yous and hugs.

I've now combined them into one email. After all is done and everything is ready to ship the one email is sent and it is a combined version of the two. It took some getting used to here as I had a rhythm for checking out and was used to the two emails being sent. Once I got over that hitch it seems to be going smoother. I can choose between 5 different "Final Shipping" emails. They are dependent on tracking, repeat buyer, etc. I try very hard to treat a repeat buyer differently by letting them know I'm aware they have returned to us (of course aw2k has their address already and that sure helps impress them) and their acknowledgement of purchase, and shipping emails are different.

Whew, lots of unnecessary info there I guess. Sorry, got carried away. You're right - sharing templates may make a difference in that it could help out someone else or give all of us an idea that we may not have stumbled across without having looked at someone elses email template.

Garry