Ebay Sellers Please Reply To Messages From Buyers

I find a growing number of sellers on ebay simply do not have the courtesy to reply to a message you send to them. This annoys me and I am sure it does annoy other buyers on here. At least sellers should respond when they get a message. Some do then there are those that don't. Waiting for a combined invoice for a week and no communication from seller after I messaged him several times is no good. What sort of customer service is it when they ignore you? Any other buyers on here having this trouble from sellers?

That has happened to me several times. I don't buy from a seller who will not respond to a question/message.

But what happens when the stamps are really good, you want them, they don't respond

I suppose if it were something that may be a once-in-a-lifetime item(s), or a really high catalogue item that was miss-Identified or something else along those lines, I might bid/buy. It would depend entirely on the item(s) and what the need of the question/comment may be, but generally speaking, I'm a bit overly cautious of a dealer unwilling to be open when questions/comments require an answer. Without the ability to have the item(s) "in-hand", its best to use a cautious approach--at least in my opinion--which comes from being "burned" in the past

Some questions may refer to unclear picture or photo of item not showing everything. Some seller refuse to list faults and its easy to get burned bidding from a listing where damage has been hidden. Especially if its an old letter and they don't show all the pages and don't respond to message about condition and don't state condition either in the adds. Get the said letter only to find multiple fold splits or brown toning on the inside pages. Have seen blurry pictures of stamps to which I would be very cautious bidding on. Sometimes an answer by seller is required before you decide if you want the item. I tend to not bid if they don't reply but really nice item one wonders why they wouldn't respond to a message.

Part of the generation of society that never stops working. They have a full time job and rather than just enjoy the hobby in the evening they think I can turn this into a profitable business. They have no business selling. There knowledge is the worst kind, they know a little but think they know it all.

Totally agree with Duncan. The level of communication often correlates to the quality of the stamps.

and why would seller offer blurry picture of stamp and not show the back and not state faults unless he was hiding a fault? In todays stone age clear pictures are dead easy. Its annoying to receive item with defects I think all sellers should be forced to use the item condition section and not leave it blank. Every listing should have clear pictures or be removed. No communication from a seller really gets me. Even if they have full time jobs they could reply in the evenings.

Some of these complaints seem naive to me, or at least self-inducing unnecessary stress. Unclear images, or no image of the reverse? Move on, don't buy from that seller - why bother sending a message, getting no reply and getting "upset"? There will be other examples of the stamp you want. If the seller can't be bothered to post two clear scans, why would you think they can be bothered to reply? Faults are not mentioned, or there is an incomplete item description? Move on, don't buy from that seller. The structure of the ebay dispute process now creates an incentive for sellers NOT to describe anything in writing; some are so bold as to say "see images for description." In other words, to them, the images ARE the description. If you buy from them and then find a fault, they will say, you bought it as described because you could have seen the fault in the images. The only solution is not to buy from sellers who play that game, and stick with long-established dealers who take the time to state that the stamp is "sound", or describe faults.

Finding more sellers that do not respond to a question or requesting a better scan say of the reverse to determine color type. Important on some Beer stamps I collect. Even had one major seller ban me for asking a question. Upset me but I have learned to move on. Mainly replying to show off my new avatar.

And it's a dandy, Randy

I have a standard message that I send asking if there are any faults and requesting that they post a scan of the back of the stamp. If there is no response before the auction ends I take it as I sign that I shouldn't deal with the seller. If they do respond they are on record with something more than "see the scan for condition." So far it has been a pleasant experience with most sellers cooperating.

Terry

I agree that sellers should respond to questions but there are a couple circumstances where I may not respond timely. I occasionally receive a question an hour or 2 before my auctions end. At that point my auctions are "frozen" and ebay allows no changes to the auction. In addition I am very busy getting the following weeks auction ready to go, so a question might not get answered until the next day. I would suggest asking question before the last 12 hours of an auction if you want a useful answer.

The 2nd group of question I don't respond to are those that indicate a very bad attitude on the writer's part. Occasionally I will receive messages that are just nasty. For example one bidder wrote that he was going to buy my item just so he could cause me trouble. If the message indicates a future problem I will not respond I will just add them to my blocked list. In my opinion messages can an should be congenial.

I think some of this is a reflection of society in general today. I cannot begin to say how many times just in the past several months I have sent a question to a business via their website or email asking to clarify something about a product, their shipping, etc- and never heard back. Companies are sealing themselves off from any input from the people they are supposed to be catering to. It is not deliberate rudeness. It's more like indifference, of a clueless kind.

It's hard to know if it's indifference. A successful business needs to focus on buyers, not "questioners" who do not turn into buyers. They may be inundated with questions about low-dollar items, so it's not worth incurring the costs of replying. And Terry's reply highlights another concern: creating new warranties or guarantees. He notes that "If they do respond they are on record with something more than 'see the scan for condition.'" Well, that's the problem. They don't want the e-mail or Q&A dialog to create an assurance of condition that isn't already in the item description. It's better for them to slightly tweak the item description, or change the images, or wait for a buyer who doesn't express concerns, than reply in writing in a way that creates a basis for a future refund. Collectors can be fussy and unreasonable, so ignoring questions may be a way for the seller to focus on "easier" customers who just buy and are done with it.

cjpalermo1964: I'll pass on buying if the seller's motivation for not responding is to avoid fully disclosing the condition of the item.

As a general comment let me say that I haven't encountered a seller who failed to respond. In fact, in two cases when I asked about what I believed to be a fault the seller responded by thanking me for pointing it out and immediately updated the listing. They are both in my Favorites list.

Terry