This tip is specifically written for those who sell on Ebay, but can apply to other situations as well:
Communicating in a decent manner within your listing and in your terms is just as important as communicating with buyers in a professional, kind and courteous way via email.
Buyers turn away from auctions with words written such as this: I DON’T TAKE PAYPAL SO DON’T EVEN ASK!!!!!!!!! Even such comments as this are taken as rudeness: “DUE TO THE INCREASE OF NON PAYING BIDDERS IF PAYMENT IS NOT RECEIVED IN 10 DAYS, NEGATIVE FEEDBACK WILL BE POSTED AND ITEM RELISTED!!!” Once you become a seasoned seller, you understand that this type of statement makes no difference – if someone is going to be a non-paying bidder, they're going to anyway, whether you said anything about it or not.
I did a search for “non paying bidders” in sellers' description text – can you guess how many listings came up which use those words? Not 1,000 – not 2,000, not even only 3,000 – are you ready for this? In 2002, the search for those words yielded 59,315 items found which included the words "non paying bidders" within the text. A new search performed today yielded 354,539 listings. Phew.
Is it just me, or do others see those words as being a turn-off? It has always been a turn-off for me, and still is. It just puts a negative "taste" into the whole thing.
Now not all of the comments are quite as bold as the one above – and some are actually quite worse! But the point is, it doesn't matter. These people are made aware of the rules when they sign onto Ebay – if they don’t care about it then, they won’t care about it when they get to your auction. The point is, those words and others can turn off potential GOOD bidders. I never, ever, ever bid on any auction where the seller comes across as being nasty.
Basically, if you just state in your terms what you WILL do, and leave out the comments about what you WON’T do (or about how you're going to make their life so miserable if they "disobey" you), you’ll be in fine shape. Save your details about what you do as far as non-payment for your invoice, rather than placing them in your auction listing, and you’ll get more bids. If you insist on putting something in the auction itself regarding non-payment, it can be worded in a very nice way – simple and sweet: “Payment reminders are automatically sent from Ebay on the 8th day if payment has not been received, and we are under no obligation to hold your item for you after that time - however, if there are special circumstances, and you communicate with us, we always try to oblige!”
InJoy,
Jai
Author of Marketing Miracle Phrases
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