eBay Hacks

Diplomacy 101: Answering Dumb Questions

Good and bad ways to handle communications with seemingly lazy or dim-witted bidders.

No matter what you do, you’ll never get all your bidders to read your auction descriptions, shipping terms, or payment instructions as carefully as you’d like them to, if at all. As a result, you’ll occasionally get a bidder who looks at an auction entitled “Antique Royal-Blue Vase,” sees the large photo of a royal-blue vase, and then writes you to ask what color the vase is.

OK, it’s not usually that bad, but sometimes it seems like it is. The first thing to remember is how easy it is to miss even the most obvious piece of information. Instead of antagonizing your bidder with the all-too-familiar, “It’s blue, like it says in the description,” try one of the following:

• “The vase is a deep royal blue that almost looks purple in low light. The glaze seems a little darker at the bottom.” Not only does this answer the bidder’s question respectfully, it presumes that the bidder was looking for more information than simply, “it’s blue.”

• “The vase is royal blue. The photo in the auction actually has a pretty good reproduction of the color, so please let me know if it doesn’t come through.” This not only (kindly) reminds the bidder that there is a photo, but it helps inspire trust that the photo is accurate, a fact the bidder may not have wanted to take for granted. It also suggests a legitimate reason for the bidder asking the question in the first place; namely, ...