A Little Advice for eBay Sellers

Remember this one thing if nothing else….never make assumptions, ever about a buyer.  Just because you as seller have some hard and fast policy of being paid within 3 days of the end of transaction, doesn’t mean that buyers can always meet that due to limited access to eBay.  What specifically do I mean by this?

Simply, that many companies have blocked employees having any access to any site that is an auction or a social networking site and it makes it hard on buyers to pay from work.  Add to that many buyers are tired and at the end of a long day sitting in front of the computer, go home and have to now “work” at home dealing with kids, family, possibly other jobs, small businesses, and whatever to make it successfully through another day. Like sellers who have a hard and fast shipping policy of only shipping on certain days of the week, buyers typically have a policy of paying bills and eBay sellers on a weekend day. 

For me, this usually mean Sunday afternoons are reserved for paying bills and eBay sellers because as a traveling consultant and business owner who works weekends – it means that Sunday afternoons are the only time I have to make payments. And when traveling and working at client sites, I too am blocked from accessing all suction and social networking sites using company LAN lines – the most secure way to make a transaction. Public “hotspots” are susceptible to hacking at best and by the need of a 14-16 hour day of work it is all a person can do to make it through a fast food line and get back to the hotel, eat and fall into bed for another “exciting” day of 14-16 hours of consulting work.

So, next time a buyer doesn’t pay according to your version of “promptly” – instead of canceling their bid, or taking some other drastic silly action – instead shoot them an email asking when you should receive payment.  Opening lines of communication goes a long way in preventing “false assumptions” and creating smooth, friendly transactions online – where good communications skills are the only thing you have to connect with your clientele – which you hope to make into repeat customers.

So, take it from a past eBay Power Seller – take a moment to open lines of communication instead of stepping over dollars to pick up pennies over wasting your time on simply assuming that buyers are somehow being negligent in and disrespectful of your payment policies.

And if I don’t pay according to your policy, just send me an email.  But if I can’t get access to eBay during the week, then you can bet you will get your payment on the upcoming Sunday.

Copyright 2009 J.E. Kessans