Online Auctions: How to Deal with Customers

From the seller's viewpoint, an online auction can be a quick way of starting a business. Best of all, it can be done without the financial overhead of a storefront. What a cool and easy way to make a living. Selling products in the comfort of your own home. Dressed in a robe with a cup of coffee in the other hand, you can picture in your mind the money rolling in. What a life!

Sounds good? It sure does to most people. Heck, there is even automated computer software to sell someone else's new products that can do it all for you! You do not have to know a thing about the product either, because product information and images are already supplied! There are millions to be made out there in the vastness we call the Internet. Okay now wake up, you were dreaming.

It is okay to dream and fantasize about prosperity, but before you go and commit to something that may be more trouble and expense than you think, take a deep breath and pause. First of all, our online business has never been associated with the auction recipes of success you see on television. It is not hard to figure out though, and is nothing new. It has been done for decades in print media with 'mail-order' or liquidation sales. It is all the same thing. Tell me if there are any similarities with what you have seen on TV about online auction or web site riches. It goes something like this.

You purchase product from a supplier, liquidator, discounter, importer etc. at a low cost in mass quantity. You may not even have to stock the product yourself. This is sometimes known as the 'drop-shipment' method. In other words, you sell the product at a profitable price, and they ship it to the customer directly from the warehouse. Easy, huh? You become the proverbial 'middle man' (or woman). So you sell their products in print, at the flea market, or on the Internet via a web site or online auction. They provide software tools, and/or web space to make the whole thing a breeze. Has this covered it so far?

It is very possible to earn a good living being a power seller, which is what this type of seller is known as. The successful ones have auction ratings in the thousands, but they have been doing it long before you saw the commercials on television. Personally, we have been holding online auctions since 1999. Online auction have been going on for that long. All it takes is a sellable, popular or hard-to-find product, and more importantly, a lot of time and effort. You may not be working from eight to five, but you are indeed working if you want to be successful. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of others out there, who bought into the same methods on television. They are now your competitors. Next time you go to the flea market, count how many vendors are selling the same new cheap, or 'artsy' products. The same goes for web sites and online auctions only there are literally thousands of sellers out there worldwide.

Yes it is possible to make money holding online auctions, but whether you are a power seller, reseller or someone just cleaning out their closets, we all have one thing in common. We all deal with customers, and customers come in all forms. Do not think that you will be escaping eye-to-eye confrontations with customers, because some people can be very insulting with the written language in an email. It is not that incidences such as these occur regularly. They are only the few, but customers should be taken into serious consideration before selling anything online or otherwise.

The common goal in selling online merchandise is to sell your merchandise to a customer, who will then be satisfied with your product, service, and your quick response in completing the transaction. These are necessary factors to achieve in your goals for online business success. The purpose of meeting these goals is so that the customer returns to purchase from you again. The customer may tell others of their satisfaction, and just might even give you a positive rating. If you cannot achieve these goals as a seller, you will not be very successful, or make much money regardless of what you are selling. Remember the first rule in business? "The customer is always right. Even if they are wrong." This is a difficult rule to obey when first starting out in any business, online or otherwise.

A customer can be a cankerous irritant when not pleased. When a customer asks a question, they expect a quick and informative response. After payment, a customer wants what they purchased as described, and on time. These are demands by the customer, not requests. Customers have hard-earned money in their hands, and know that the seller needs their money. Treat an online customer as if they do not matter, and they will shop somewhere else at the click of a button. No matter how rude they are corresponding with you, regardless if they did not bother to fully read the ad or not, they are always right. You must swallow your pride and reply with polite responses. The customer is your bread and butter, even the few obnoxious ones you will come across.

It is a difficult learning curve to overcome, but a necessary one to become successful. A seller must put themselves in the shoes of the buyer. How would they like to be treated as a potential and eventual purchaser of their product? Most of this information does not apply to power sellers, because they have software to make their lives easier. They can take an order and ship it out within a day or two. The only complaints we hear about power sellers is communication, but this is very understandable when you think about it. Their software tracks hundreds of auctions per week, creates fully detailed information pages about product, payment policies, and shipping prices. Every question can be answered on most power seller's auction ads. That is, if a customer just takes the time to actually read them.

If a customer asks a redundant question of a power seller, why should they expect any response? Power sellers may even have automated responses, and can avoid answering questions all together. As for other sellers like us, we handle customer questions in a number of ways. We personally grew tired of answering questions, so we include every detail we can think if in our auction ads. The questions have mostly subsided during our auctions now. Then there are sellers who do not take the time to offer details in their ads, and have different approaches in responding to questions.

Most of it depends on when, the customer's question is asked. It begins there. I can tell you from experience as a seller that I am not around at the last minute of my auctions. With over a hundred ending at different times, I will wait until everything is over before I look at the results. The same goes for power sellers I would presume. If a customer asks a question one hour before a seven-day auction ends, they cannot very well expect a prompt answer. So we will disregard customer questions (and complaints) such as these.

That leaves customers who ask questions in a reasonable amount of time. The question may be about information the seller forgot to include. The fault lies with the seller in this instance. Look, you can take the time and describe your item to begin with, or spend even more hours answering questions from all over the world during your auction. The choice is yours, but if you want to answer questions, be prompt about it. Just do not be rude to a potential customer because they are bothering you, or worse still, not even answer at all. That is a red flag for us as buyers. Even if the question is already answered in the ad, and seems inconsiderate or foolish on the buyer's part. This is something that occurs to us regularly during online auctions. Remain composed and politely refer them to the advertised information. Do not be a smart aleck and point out their blunder. Nor do you have to re-explain the information. With just a few polite words you can gently guide them over to their answer, and hopefully to a purchase.

Then there are the jerks. These customers whine about your policies of doing business, even though they submit to your perceived thoughtlessness, and still buy your product. They make snide remarks and comment on how your business practices impose on their lives. Man I tell you, it makes you feel like snapping right back. Our methods in responding vary sometimes, but we recommend politeness and gently guiding the customer, as I wrote before. Do not attempt to respond or worse, respond negatively. This only makes the transaction a pain for all concerned, especially if the purchase does occur. Responding to customers like this requires thoughtful and careful writing skills needing years to develop. Personally I have some of this experience and know how to respond politely, while simultaneously and subtly pointing out a customer's rudeness or stupidity. Again, do not attempt this approach with irritating customers unless you possess a certain amount of diplomacy, grace and skill in the written language.

Thankfully, customers like these are few and far in between. Most of the time our transactions have been completed with everyone satisfied. One final thing should be pointed out if you plan on selling used merchandise. Be very honest and descriptive in your ads, even if it takes time and makes your product appear flawed. Most customers are well aware that they are purchasing a used item. If you avoid informing the customer of any small defects in your description, you may have an unsatisfied customer as a result. As sellers of mostly used merchandise, we have found that describing every little scratch and defect will result in a customer being overly satisfied, because it is not as bad as they thought. More importantly, they come away with the satisfaction of getting a better deal than they were expecting, and willing to spend money on.

Above all, the web customer has the final say as to their experience in how the transaction occurred. The online customer can give your business a shining great review and tell others about their experience with you and your product. Or they may give your business a lousy review or bad rating in the end, and tell others about their experience with you and your product. Sometimes they may not respond at all, which always implies to us that it may be something we did to cause their non-comment. This usually requires a reexamination of our business procedures, to see if they are conflicting with customer satisfaction. This is something every business does regularly. It is part of doing business online or anywhere else. Just remember, a customer's satisfaction is the goal. Good luck with your online auction or web site adventures!