Custom-Printed Items
By stickergal
@stickergal (58)
United States
May 19, 2008 5:22am CST
I sell custom-printed bumper stickers on eBay for advertising online businesses and websites, expressing opinions, or just having fun. One problem that frustrates me is buyers who don't read the details in my listing. I keep them brief with clear headings, but I still get buyers who send me their wording after making a purchase, and then after I have done one or two time-consuming setups of their sticker and emailed samples for them to view before processing their orders, they decide to change their wording or want to include images. My listings and all correspondence they receive from me clearly state that "buyers are to know exactly what they want printed before requesting a setup". The commercial printers I used before starting my own business charged for each additional setup. I can't do that on eBay because I'd be putting myself out of business. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help me deal with this problem?
3 people like this
3 responses
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
19 May 08
You need to state your conditions very clearly and in large type, so buyers know exactly what to do. Keep it simple but make sure that you state this very clearly at the top of your listings.
@kykidd (6812)
• United States
19 May 08
If there were any way to determine what people were thinking a lot of sales people would be rich. Unfortunately, in life we have these customers that we have to please even though we know they are wrong.
Good luck to you in your ebay sales, I hope you find a lot of good customers in the future!
@stickergal (58)
• United States
19 May 08
Thanks for the comment. You are so right. Most of my customers are terrific people. But you get some who can be really frustrating to work with. Since positive feedback is so important to our success, we have to take a deep breath and try to keep tempers under control even when we are being pushed to the limit. I think by finding ways to anticipate and minimize problems before occur, will cause us less grief. That's why I asked for help with this one. Thank you again. Wishing all of you who offered me suggestions a Terrifically Happy Day!
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
19 May 08
Write it clearly and consisely, as you have done, but put your paragraph about knowing exactly what they want IN BOLD LETTERS IN A DIFERENT COLOUR (red, perhaps?) BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS that stand out from the rest of it. Then if they try to make the changes, say that they obviously didn't read the thing, and it's not your problem.
@stickergal (58)
• United States
19 May 08
Hi, Thanks for the comment. In the details section of my listings, I have a box entitled "PLEASE READ" in red lettering. The box is also outlined in red with a different colored background. But all my wording is in lower case letters, and the same font style and color. I should capitalize the portion my buyers are overlooking to make it stand out. I didn't do this previously, because all of the information in my PLEASE READ box is important and necessary for the transaction to be satisfactorily completed. In addition to using caps, I think I will underline that section also. Thanks again for the advice.
