Question
"Treat Customers Right … They're Yours For Life"!
Let's say a new customer of yours purchased a widget and s/he honestly told you the item was dropped and it is broken. If you send a replacement free of charge, you would be out $100.00. Would you do it? What factors would you consider in providing service beyond the customer's expectation, investing in a life time customer?
Some factors I've been considering to gauge this:
1) Does the buyer frequently on eBay? (see bidding history).
If they do, I'd want the buyer to send more business my way. So, the motivation would be for him/her to remember me in a positive light and return for more business.
2) What is their feedback number?
If buyer has low feedback or they do not buy often, are they worth the investment?
3) Is the buyer personable, or do they seem like they are angry with the world?
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Answer
I think a lot would depend on how much money ebay is bringing into your life.
There is no customer that I have, that I would willingly eat a $100.00 order for.
If I was in no way at fault.
Yet in my RL job, I was told by a manager to smile and eat a $900.00 bill, with the idea that we would get it back and more in the future.
I have learned the hard way that life is full of these little grey areas. I think if the chances were great that you would get this money back and more, it can honestly be considered an investment.
If this is a one-shot customer, than I'm afraid the answer just has to be tough-noogies. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_frown.gif
The best I would do for a one shot buyer is sell the item at my cost plus shipping.
My ebay listings
Answer
I would probably compromise and let them have a replacement at cost, and eat the shipping, but then I can be a bleedheart at times.
But again it would depend a lot on the above considerations, and as doffy says, the whole picture is the important issue...
I just gave a customer a hundred dollar credit to shop with because one of her boxes from a shipment didn't arrive after 2 months......she makes me ALOT of money with her bidding activity and she buys 300-500 dollars per month....bet your booty she gets a refund....
she also makes a lot of money off my stuff when she resells it on her website, so this is a win-win situation.
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Answer
would i? yes.
I double my money on everything, so sending them another one would really only cost me the postage.
I have loyal customers though.
Answer
Most people I know who talk about eBay buying never mention a seller's name.
They think they are buying from eBay. (And some emails I get complaining about glitches in the eBay site bear this out.)
So, before I gave someone a new item, I would ask myself if I would mind them giving the credit to eBay, not me, and sending more customers to eBay, not me in particular.
OTOH if it was one of my proven regular customers, I would go out of my way for them. Even though my average sale is in the range of $25-30, it has been increasing over the years as my happy buyers are obviously sending me more business.
Larry