The majority of bidorbuy buyers and sellers agree: good communication is of utmost importance at all stages of the shopping process.
Here are some of the best practices to stick by:
Before the sale
Buyers and sellers may not exchange contact information before a sale is concluded. However, they can still communicate via bidorbuy. The buyers can – and should – ask questions if anything is not clear to them, by clicking on the Ask the seller a question link, included in every item listing page.Sellers should respond to each and every question, even if it has been already answered in the description. Annoying as it might be, you as a seller need to accept that prospective customers might be too lazy to read. Your responsiveness – or non-responsiveness – can make or break a sale: some shoppers will pose a question simply to see whether the seller replies and base their buying decision on that.
Immediately after the sale
When someone wins an auction or makes an order on the site, the bidorbuy system will send an email to both parties. The buyer and the seller will now have each other’s contact details and should use them to communicate off the site. As soon as a sale is concluded on the site, the seller will usually send a thank-you message and details about the expected shipping date.
When the item is shipped
The seller should inform the buyer that the item has been shipped and give the tracking number, if applicable.
Some time after the sale
Sellers may add new customer’s email address to their own emailing database only if they obtained the customer’s permission to do so. In case that the new customer did not opt to receive promotional messages from the seller, it is sometimes acceptable to send a personalised message. For example, buyers of collectible Superman comic books would probably welcome a message telling them about another book from the series. However, neither sellers nor buyers (yes, the latter sometimes happens too!) should send unsolicited emails as a matter of course, and should stop sending them immediately if the recipient asks to be removed from the mailing list.
Sellers need to remember that new users, or users buying from a specific seller for the first time, may feel sceptical about buying online. Good communication will put the buyer’s mind at ease and take away the stress of buying something online.
