The Top Ten eBay Buyer Personalities!
In my years of selling on eBay I have come across all sorts of
people. For the most part these people have been very nice and
easy to deal with. Having said that, there are always a small
percentage, like in any business online or offline, who you'll
have some degree of problem with. As explained in my book "eBay
Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" you will need to be as polite as
you possibly can and have a little patience when dealing with
these people. Below you will find my Top Ten List of eBay Buyer
Personalities and how to handle them.
10 - The Manipulator: There will be times when you have an
auction end with no bids. When this happens watch out for the
Manipulator. This is an individual who will email you once you
auction ends wanting to purchase your item off eBay at a
ridiculously low price. He/she will often try to manipulate you
into believing the product will not sell but he/she will be glad
to take it off your hands. Forget about them! Do Not sell the
item to them. Instead relist the item for auction on eBay with a
new headline. If he/she wants it bad enough, they will have to
get the item through your auction. And trust me 99% of the time
your item will sell.
9 - The Impatient Buyer: This is someone who has won your
auction today and is wondering why it wasn't shipped yesterday.
This individual wants what was purchased fast, real fast. Just
have patience, be polite and explain your shipping policy to
him/her. Getting the product out quickly with a thank you note
for purchasing will give you a happy customer.
8 - The Disappointed Buyer: There are some people you just can
not please, not even if you were to stand on your head. They
will be disappointed no matter what you do. Sometimes these
people can be down right rude and take up a lot of your time.
Learn to recognize this type of person and don't get caught up
in an on slot of emails. Remember that time is money, and once
you have done all you can do to rectify their problem move on.
If the emails continue simply ignore them.
7 - The Invisible Buyer: This is someone who has won your
auction but you never hear from them. Ever! They pay you right
on time without any problems. So you send the product they won
off to them. And that's it! They do not leave feedback, and do
not return any emails. They just disappear into thin air. If you
send a couple of follow up emails asking if they received their
item and requesting positive feedback and you get no response,
just forget them and move on.
6 - The Interrogator: This individual could drive you crazy.
It's not their fault, they just have questions. Lots of
Questions! For these people even if every question imaginable is
answered in your auction description, they'll still manage to
find a reason to email you a question. Be weary of this type of
individual they can, and will waste a lot of your time if you
let them. On your first email to them be polite, answer their
question then refer them back to your auction description
telling them all the answers are there. Suggest they read it
again. Don't get caught up in email after email. Always remember
that time is money, and if you've done your auction description
correctly there should be no questions left to ask. Your auction
surfer should be ready to make a bid.
5 - The Late Payer: This customer has no clue about deadlines
and they really don't seem to care about them either. Their
attitude is you'll get paid when I am ready to pay you. You will
need to set guidelines for when payment is due. If payment is
not received you may choose to give your buyer one extension. Be
specific giving him/her a date as to when the balance is due.
Also tell them if payment is not received by that date you will
have no other choice but to relist the item for auction.
Sometimes a month or so down the road you'll end up getting a
check in the mail from this person with a note as to why they
were late. Simply return the payment with an explanation that
the item was re-listed as he/she failed to meet the payment
deadline and it has been sold to someone else.
4 - The Deadbeat: There is no buyer more irritating than the
one who is always telling you the check is in the mail. Of
course the check never arrives. Unfortunately there is not much
you can do about this. Like above give them a deadline and if
they don't make it relist the item for auction again.
3 - The "I'm Sooo Confused" Buyer: This customer does want to
buy from you. Really, they do! If they could only figure out
how! How to bid, how to pay, how to... All this high tech
computer stuff is just way to confusing for them. Have patience
and be polite. Explain what they should do next. If you find no
matter how you explain things it just doesn't register with
them, suggest they read over eBay's tutorials. Remember your
time is money and you can only spend so much time with any
potential customer before you must move on.
2 - The Spender: This individual can spend a lot of money with
you. And often will return as a repeat buyer usually purchasing
a little of everything you have up for auction. This person will
also spend $100.00 in merchandise in order to save $10.00 on
shipping. Bless him/her!
1 - The Perfect Customer: This individual is simply a Happy
Person. He/she has won your auction and they are just ecstatic
about it. The great thing about this type of buyer is if you run
into a problem they are always understanding and easy to deal
with. If looked after correctly, very often these people will
become a customer for life. Now, don't we wish all customers
were like this.
So, there you have it. The Top Ten eBay Buyer Personalities. If
you already sell on eBay I'm sure you will recognize some of
these personality traits in your own customers. If you're just
getting started with your eBay Auction Business no doubt you'll
be running into these people soon. Whatever personality your day
brings you, always be patience, polite and just have fun with it.
Happy Selling! Joe Clare