Question:
I get back to customers within 8 hours (or atleast I have up to this point: 231 auctions) I cannot STAND customers that freak out when I don’t respond within 1-2 hours. These customers need to take a Xanax and chill…. I think 8 hours MAX is cool. I try to get back to people within minutes, but sometime "god-forbid" I have to get away from the computer…. 
8 hours! That’s pretty fast. Do you do this for a living? Dave
Response:
I cannot STAND customers that freak out when I don’t respond within 1-2 hours. These customers need to take a Xanax and chill…. I think 8 hours MAX is cool. I try to get back to people within minutes, but sometime "god-forbid" I have to get away from the computer….
LOL… I was pregnant and went into labor right before one of my auctions ended – I had my sister complete the transaction for me while I was in the hospital – But it took about 24 hours before the initial contact was made with the high bidder as it was a CRAZY situation needless to say. That freaking buyer – When My sister got to my e-mail I had received 10 e-mails from the buyer within 24 hours wondering where I was and threatening to leave negative feedback if they didn’t hear back soon. (all turned out Ok in the end though)
Response:
LOL… I was pregnant and went into labor right before one of my auctions ended – I had my sister complete the transaction for me while I was in the hospital – But it took about 24 hours before the initial contact was made with the high bidder as it was a CRAZY situation needless to say. That freaking buyer – When My sister got to my e-mail I had received 10 e-mails from the buyer within 24 hours wondering where I was and threatening to leave negative feedback if they didn’t hear back soon. (all turned out Ok in the end though)
I am definitely going to follow the advice in this thread and explicitely say what response standards I’m going to follow! And it’s not going to be 8 hours! 
One of the customers who took me to task (in this case about not providing a final shipping price based on her address) wanted me to give her the final price very quickly and then sent me a check (which will take days to clear)! I expected her to do Paypal in which case a few days of delay on my part might have been significant… Dave
Response:
One of the customers who took me to task (in this case about not providing a final shipping price based on her address) wanted me to give her the final price very quickly and then sent me a check (which will take days to clear)! I expected her to do Paypal in which case a few days of delay on my part might have been significant…
I don’t think the delay would be insignificant merely because it was additional–it’s more significant to *you* if she’s paying by PayPal, but not to her . In general, though, I agree with those who are saying that your two or three day response time should be perfectly acceptable. You might want to try to respond to questions on open auctions more quickly than that if you can, so that you don’t lose the interest of an uncommitted possible customer through delay, but if that’s more trouble that it’s worth, that’s hardly obligatory either. Deborah Stevenson
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – One of the customers who took me to task (in this case about not providing a final shipping price based on her address) wanted me to give her the final price very quickly and then sent me a check (which will take days to clear)! I expected her to do Paypal in which case a few days of delay on my part might have been significant… I don’t think the delay would be insignificant merely because it was additional–it’s more significant to *you* if she’s paying by PayPal, but not to her . In general, though, I agree with those who are saying that your two or three day response time should be perfectly acceptable. You might want to try to respond to questions on open auctions more quickly than that if you can, so that you don’t lose the interest of an uncommitted possible customer through delay, but if that’s more trouble that it’s worth, that’s hardly obligatory either. Deborah Stevenson
What Deborah says. I’ll add one thing: if Dave puts some self-prescribed response "standards" in his auctions, that’s just something else he could occasionally not live up to — then he’s back to square one. I think doing your best is all anyone can expect. Everyone fails occasionally – it’s just how important the failure is that counts. Kris
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I concur with everyone else. It sometimes takes me a few days to respond or get to the post office as well, but I have only had one looney buyer who seemed to have an issue with that (they sent repeat e-mails after only a few hours wondering why I hadn’t responded yet!!). I would make every effort not to let it go beyond 2 or 3 days, but I think that’s a more than reasonable turnaround time. Mike I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
If you are unable to ship within 30 days, you are supposed to send a notice with the delivery date. Beyond 60 days, the notice is supposed to demand a positive response from the buyer. — Many thanks, Don Lancaster Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 Please visit my GURU’s LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
Response:
I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. snipped some post to make it easier to reply..
As a buyer I do sometimes find it frustrating when I receive no reply to a question. I don’t mind if it is just a minor clarification point, but having been stuffed by postage before I now always e mail the seller and ask for postage amounts if it is not quoted. So many times I get no response and can’t bid and then have to watch the auction close at an amount lower than I would have bid in at. Incidently I am in the UK and tend to only bid on UK only auctions where postage could easily be quoted as prices don’t vary within mainland UK. I have one at the moment that I am following that finishes in a couple of hours. It is a dutch auction and I would have liked to bid on several (there are no bids so far), however, I e mailed the seller 5 days ago and got no response. I have decided to take a risk on bidding for just one item without knowing the postage costs as I really want these things, but if I knew that postage was reasonable I would have been tempted to bid for a larger quantity. I suppose, going back to your question (I seem to have gone off on a tangent) I don’t mind a delay in replying as long as I get a reply in time to place a bid. Lx .
Response:
I get back to customers within 8 hours (or atleast I have up to this point: 231 auctions) I cannot STAND customers that freak out when I don’t respond within 1-2 hours. These customers need to take a Xanax and chill…. I think 8 hours MAX is cool. I try to get back to people within minutes, but sometime "god-forbid" I have to get away from the computer….
Response:
…also, what’s with the FREAKY BUYERS that are up at 3am in the morning and expect ME to be up at that hour too??? Man, I sometimes get up around 8am PST only to find an ANGRY buyer saying, "wow, I thought I would NEVER hear from you… People are strange….so the song goes…
Response:
My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies?
Ebay explicitly allows people to take up to *3 days* for first email contact after the auction ends. If 3 days is reasonable for email, at least 3 days should be reasonable for something like shipping, which may require a trip to the post office. And if you only ship once a week, say that in the auction, then nobody can legitimately complain when you do exactly what you said you would. Dave
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
I have noticed some sellers put a little blurb in thier description letting buyers know thier schedule for replying to e-mail etc….. Might help. Mike
Response:
I don’t always log on every day either. I have never had anybody complain, but I have seen several people send the message 2 or 3 times. I usually just say "Sorry this is late – I haven’t been on-line for a couple of days" and most people seem to be fine with that. Maybe something in your FAQ text that reads "All questions happily answered, but sometimes it might take a day or two…." Either that or hire someone….. Angie
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
Response:
I concur with everyone else. It sometimes takes me a few days to respond or get to the post office as well, but I have only had one looney buyer who seemed to have an issue with that (they sent repeat e-mails after only a few hours wondering why I hadn’t responded yet!!). I would make every effort not to let it go beyond 2 or 3 days, but I think that’s a more than reasonable turnaround time. Mike – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
Response:
I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
Response:
shows that I have caved in and started bottom-posting, except when I forget: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I strive to respond to my customers within hours of their asking a question. Sometimes I’m not available to contact the buyer for as much as 48 hours. Sometimes I need to wait until the beginning of next week to ship something because of the logistics. Twice now my customers have been distressed by this "delinquency" (my term). That is, a 2-3 day delay seems to them to be completely unreasonable. I think this is because they are used to dealing online with companies who have people working in shipping and customer service every day. The problem is that I am only one guy, I don’t make my living at this and, while I would never allow anyone to be harmed by an auction, I simply can’t do it this fast (given children and other things in my life). My question: has Ebay become a serious business to the extent that serious but not professional people like me should simply find another venue? Or are these customers simple anomalies? Thanks Dave
I’ll bet the majority of serious sellers on eBay are exactly like you. Don’t flee yet. You may need to make your shipping conditions more clear in your auction. (Don’t apologize; the worst way to start off a speech is to announce you’re not a public speaker, and the worst way to kick off an auction is to apologize for something before you close the sale.) Turn your negative into a neutral or optimistic positive. Say something like "Shipment guaranteed within two-three days of receipt of payment." I’m not sure that would work, but it’s a step in the right direction. The big problem is that people who pay by PayPal or BillPoint probably expect that you’ll ship the next day. If you’re very clear that shipment may take up to three days, you may head off problems (assuming your disclaimer is read.) The other thing you can do is to send an e-mail when the item is shipped, if you don’t already. That might dislodge the "day I paid" date from your buyer’s mind and start them counting from the "day it was shipped" date instead. EBay needs people like you who are concerned about customer reactions even after they’ve received their money. EBay is a perfect part-time job for those who want to make some extra money if they can give it a reasonable priority in their life, as you seem to have done. Good luck.
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