I wish there was a way to screen buyers

[C(-)ris]

I wish there was a way to screen buyers on Ebay/Amazon like you can with Craigslist. I'd really like to be able to pick and choose who to sell to. I suppose I could do Ebay and put a stupid high price with the make an offer option, but that will probably scare away a lot of people. I'm more concerned with hassle free transactions than getting the absolute maximum dollar out of something.

[The Grim Ninja]

I want to be able to administer a 'pop quiz' to my buyers. A couple simple questions to see if they read any of the description before they can check out. I'm so tired of having to tell buyers things I've already said, even in the first sentence.

[Carm]

Problem is that a lot of buyers are lazy and &*&^%$(. I think you still have the option of canceling bids on ebay. Amazon is a different beast.
Here is what I would do. Not saying its the best option or would limit the bidders/buyers, but it might help.
Ebay screening would be easier than Amazon because you can actually cancel the bids before the sale is completed.

On ebay, I would post something along the lines of "DO NOT BID UNLESS YOU READ THE TERMS OR YOUR BID WILL BE CANCELLED and you will be blocked" Then have a sentence embedded somewhere that says something like "SEND THE SELLER A QUESTION AND MENTION THAT YOU HAVE READ EVERYTHING AND YOU ARE A SERIOUS BIDDER/BUYER". Make them work for your product. LOL
On Amazon, it would be a little more difficult because of their messaging system.

[Racer X]

The Grim Ninja wrote:
I want to be able to administer a 'pop quiz' to my buyers. A couple simple questions to see if they read any of the description before they can check out. I'm so tired of having to tell buyers things I've already said, even in the first sentence.

When I sell on CL, if the person asks a question plainly answered in the ad, I wait a day or two to see if the item sells. If they can't be bothered to comprehend what I wrote, I'd rather do business first with someone who can. If there are no takers, I will get back to the less than "bright" as a back-up plan.

"What color is it?" "How many doors?" Well, I took 2 full exterior pictures of the red car, and 2 interior picks of the gray interior. :facepalm:

[Speedy]

I would just take their money and send them the item. Pretty much what I have always done.

[Will Collier]

I've only had a couple of really bad buyers on eBay (and I've been selling there since 1999), but those two were bad enough to put me off adding new listings for quite a while.

Some moron listed a PS4 on Craigslist last Christmas and put my phone number on the ad, I assume by mistake. He ignored repeated emails to fix it, so did the CL admins. That was not a fun couple of weeks.

[deckeda]

On CL, whenever someone contacts me with a question already addressed in the ad it never results in them wanting to look at it, let alone buy. Never. I think some people prefer an alternate reality, where "the phone price" is magically cheaper or the thing is "really" a different color.

[Black]

Carm wrote:
Problem is that a lot of buyers are lazy and &*&^%$(. I think you still have the option of canceling bids on ebay. Amazon is a different beast.
Here is what I would do. Not saying its the best option or would limit the bidders/buyers, but it might help.
Ebay screening would be easier than Amazon because you can actually cancel the bids before the sale is completed.

On ebay, I would post something along the lines of "DO NOT BID UNLESS YOU READ THE TERMS OR YOUR BID WILL BE CANCELLED and you will be blocked" Then have a sentence embedded somewhere that says something like "SEND THE SELLER A QUESTION AND MENTION THAT YOU HAVE READ EVERYTHING AND YOU ARE A SERIOUS BIDDER/BUYER". Make them work for your product. LOL
On Amazon, it would be a little more difficult because of their messaging system.

I do basically this, but it's not hard to word it such that you don't come off like a horrible nasty grinch.

[Fred_Also]

Will Collier wrote:
I've only had a couple of really bad buyers on eBay (and I've been selling there since 1999), but those two were bad enough to put me off adding new listings for quite a while.

Some moron listed a PS4 on Craigslist last Christmas and put my phone number on the ad, I assume by mistake. He ignored repeated emails to fix it, so did the CL admins. That was not a fun couple of weeks.

When they call tell them you work 2 jobs and get home at midnight. They are welcome to come see it after you get home (at midnight). And then give them HIS address.

Fred

[Will Collier]

Fred_Also wrote:
[quote=Will Collier]
I've only had a couple of really bad buyers on eBay (and I've been selling there since 1999), but those two were bad enough to put me off adding new listings for quite a while.

Some moron listed a PS4 on Craigslist last Christmas and put my phone number on the ad, I assume by mistake. He ignored repeated emails to fix it, so did the CL admins. That was not a fun couple of weeks.

When they call tell them you work 2 jobs and get home at midnight. They are welcome to come see it after you get home (at midnight). And then give them HIS address.

Fred
If only I'd had his address, I'd have done something at least this evil.