Friday, March 30, 2012

I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Bible today

Over the last several weeks, I’ve had a run of bad luck regarding my online endeavors.  On top of slow sales, I had several returns for various reasons, with the potential for bad feedback hanging over my head.

This perfect storm of negativity reached its height on Monday when I received my latest return in the mail from a buyer who claimed that the Bible did not match the Amazon product description, and wasn’t what she wanted.  As per my policy, I refunded her purchase price, and to forestall any bad feedback, I even refunded her return shipping.

Since Amazon had disbursed my funds on Sunday, there was no money in my account.  So, I went into the hold to the tune of $113.  Yes, it was an expensive Bible.

To be fair to my buyer, after examining the Bible again, I found that it actually didn’t match Amazon’s description perfectly; there were several subtle, but apparently important to my buyer, differences.  Unfortunately, there was no exact match on Amazon, and no ISBN number with which to create a product page to sell the book.

So, I thought about eBay,  a route that I should have taken first.  Amazon is just so much easier for books, though.

After researching the Bible via Terapeak, I discovered a fairly good sell-through rate at a price that was significantly more than I received/refunded on Amazon.  Have I mentioned that I love Terapeak?

Anyway, I listed it Monday night.

To my amazement, it sold Wednesday morning, and I sent an invoice. After a follow-up email yesterday prodding payment, I got a message late last night saying that he would pay me on Tuesday, almost a full week after purchase.

Perhaps it’s just me, but when I buy something, I’m ready to pay, and the seller usually has his/her money before they can even send an invoice.  Not so with many of my buyers lately, including this customer, obviously.  

March 2012 has really tested my patience. I’m glad April is upon us.

4 comments:

  1. I have had several slow payers on eBay lately as well as several that don't pay at all (and don't communicate, they just ignore). You got me.

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  2. Do you not have immediate payment required? I know there is some fluke where buyers can work their way around it, but I have that set for all of my BIN. I want my money now.. WTG on that bible..WOW

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  3. I have IPR on all my BINs and it's stated in my listing. Nice sale though! Maybe your buyer needs to wait for payday or maybe the person is a seller waiting for some sales to pad his Paypal account. (I had a buyer like that once). At least your buyer responded. I can wait for payment as long as there is communication and it's all on record.

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  4. I don't use IPR, but I'm considering changing this as recently, buyers have been getting slower to pay - and on auctions too.

    I did have one customer whose e-check bounced three times. When I tackled her about it, she cancelled the order - it was for a very high-end pair of sun-glasses and a hat. I later learned that she had many Ebay accounts and often did this. I barred her of course.

    Most customers are fine, it's just the odd one that takes up time, money and energy!

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