front porch trash

front porch trash

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Can you read this? ONE SHOE ONLY

Apparently some buyers have a problem with this.

You may remember a while back at an auction I purchased several pairs of shoes only to find a large discrepancy in the size. I had only paid $2 a pair for the shoes, but nevertheless I wanted to get my money back and make a profit. That's why I do this.

Since listing the single shoes I have had 3 sales. The first one to NYC only to be returned when the buyer contacted me and wanted to know where the other shoe was. He shipped it back for credit. And not a peep about me paying return shipping!!The second sale I was a little wiser and emailed before shipment and pointed out that this listing was for ONE shoe. Oops, the buyer made a mistake and we canceled the sale.

Now, today I have another sale of one shoe. This is a NWT golf shoe. I just emailed the buyer to make sure that he knew that he was getting ONE shoe only. I wouldn't be surprised if I get an oops message back asking me to cancel the sale.

I don't want to seem insensitive when I ask the buyer if they know they are purchasing just one shoe, but damn I'm tired of mailing out one shoe, only to get it back later in the week.

Does this sound insensitive?
 " Hi, I would like to verify that you understand that you are purchasing the RIGHT SHOE ONLY
 in this listing. This is for only one shoe.
Recent single shoe sales appear to be confusing to some buyers. The listing clearly states
in the title and the description that this is for one shoe only.
I don't mean to offend anyone by asking this question, I just want to make sure that
everyone is aware of this detail before shipment.
Thank you"

I can assume by the buyers names that they probably do not speak English as their first language. But in my listing I only show the one shoe that I am selling, not a pair. And I state several times that this is one shoe only.

I don't know what else to do. I can't read the listing for them. I would assume that they are looking at how nice the shoe is and the price and saying, "wow a good deal", purchase now.

On a similar note I have also had difficulty with replacement electric blanket controls. I have sold 3 from a recent purchase at the GW outlet store. The first was what the buyer wanted. The second one the buyer thought he was getting an electric blanket for $8.99. Really?

Now today I shipped out another one. I only include the photos of the control. No blanket photos or size of the blanket or any mention of a blanket included. Control only stated several times. I hope this one sticks. I mean, if you don't see a picture of a blanket why would you assume that the control came with one?

***UPDATE*** Sure enough, while I was composing this the buyer emailed me and said "I'm not interested in purchasing one shoe. Thank you for the information"  (Oh, you mean the information that
was stated in the listing?)

Ain't ebay just peachy?

4 comments:

  1. oh I feel your pain too well....(but thanks for the post I was actually wondering how many you would get buyers that don't read :D )

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK - I'll say it. People are lazy idiots. Clearly your listing says you are selling ONE shoe. Pictures show ONE shoe.

    If you get tired of dealing with these ding dongs I think there is an organization that collects shoes for people who only need one shoe.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that I might just have to donate them if I am to save my sanity. I find it hard to believe that people buy stuff by just looking at the picture. Have you seen some of the pictures of stuff, with the clutter in the background. I have clutter but I am not about to take pics of it and put it on ebay.
      Don't ask me how, ding dongs just find me!!!

      Delete
  3. I have had the exact same issues. I bought a pair of shoes that appeared to be a match but ended up being different sizes. I listed them very clearly as one shoe only. The listing title starts with: RIGHT SHOE ONLY, etc. Well, I sell one, ship it off, and get an e-mail back from a gal saying she had ordered it but didn't realize it was just for one shoe. She was actually super nice, asked to return it but made it clear she didn't expect shipping costs to be refunded because it was her mistake, etc. I e-mailed back saying yes, of course, return it. Well, I never heard from her again. She never returned it, I never refunded her money, and the window has long since passed. The other shoe, however, has sold several times but has never been shipped as people apparently don't read the description but do read the e-mail confirmation of their purchase? I've gotten several e-mails quickly after purchase asking me NOT to send the item they just purchased. I just refunded another "oopsie I just bought one shoe?" purchase last week, and I haven't relisted it this time. I think it's not worth the hassle.

    ReplyDelete