Best Item Question of the Week.

[byto253]

I am sure everyone gets some interesting questions about items for sale.  I actually don't mind as IMHO it shows that it is getting some attention.  But now and then some questions give me a chuckle.

Listing Title:  Sony WM-EX60 Walkman Cassette Player. Requires Belt, Servicing.  

Condition: For parts or not working

“Requires a belt, untested. No cracks, breaks or signs of abuse.”

Message Question:  Does it need belt replacement?   

I just answer politely, no upside is responding that maybe they should read the title, or the condition section, or the description.  I know, I only have it in the listing 3 times that it needs a belt.  😎    It was good for a chuckle anyway. 

Ah well.  Ends up I am seeing my tech guy this weekend so I ended the listing and will see what a servicing will cost.   

[busybeas_books]

All my advertising page listings say "ad, advertising" or someing like that 6-7 times in each listing. I stoppd selling old watch adverts years ago because buyers were angry that they did not get an actual Rolex for $7.50 plus postage.

[ricarmic]

I do think that questions and offers against an item do positively impact search visibility.

I think this because it is surprising how many times someone asks me a question or sends a crazy low offer on an item that has been instock for years and soon after that it sells to someone else. I'm particularly fond of the times when an item sells to someone else for full price after a lowball offer, even more fond of when it happens so fast that my response to the offeror is that it is already sold.

[pjcdn2005]

It's amazing how many people ask questions about something that is already answered in the listing.  I've always found that it's best to answer politely and not point out that the info is already there.  Quite often that buyer ends up making the purchase.

But it amazes me even more as to why some sellers will block a buyer who asks a question like that. I've seen tons of posts on other discussion boards from sellers who figure that someone who asks an 'already answered' question is just going to be trouble.  I haven't found that to happen although it does seem that someone asking more than one or two questions can tend to be high maintenance if they do make the purchase.

[ricarmic]

I've heard of buyers saying that they ask questions simply to see if/how the vendor responds. They are looking to see how the vendor answers, if they're rude and/or don't answer the buyer knows they will be the same if there are any issues.

If I'm buying I look at negative/neutral feedback responses, one can learn a lot about a seller based on how they respond very quickly....

[byto253]

So true.  I find about 20% buy, and who know what else they are looking at.   Blocking makes no sense, just take it as an indicator that someone is reading your listing.    

[brettjet38]

...as the saying goes "BDR"!

It's the short attention spans of the general population nowadays. 

"Buyers don't read"

Like the other posters, I am also astounded by the number of questions I get about "things" in listings that are clearly stated 2-3 times. But, I usually always answer with an "as stated in the listing" added in my reply...

[rocketscollectibles]

It's just human. People can be distracted, lazy, shopping fast, or maybe english is not their main language, or many possible other reasons. In no case it means that it's not legit buyers or that they don't have money to spend. Happenned to me a few times to ask things to sellers that was already in listings. When i scroll, click and swap 500 listings from 450 different sellers while buying here and there, watching a tv show at the same time and maybe eating doritos who knows, sometimes i miss infos. We're in 2022 everyone multitask. Blocking for that is dumber than the questions themself. I'm amazed to read around the net the crazy number of sellers blocking for thousand different reasons, we are supposed to offer a service, some are really on a power trip

it is surprising how many times someone asks me a question or sends a crazy low offer on an item that has been instock for years and soon after that it sells to someone else

This is accurate and so stange at the same time. I can relate recently i had an item (2 available) listed for around 3 months at $14.00. No one buying, no one interested. Someone offered me $10.00 i gave up and sold one to him, 3 days later someone bought the 2nd at $14.00. Ebay is a strange place