is common courtesy dead?

[kevinkk]

Twice lately, I have been completely ignored by sellers. Exactly what is the purpose of posting an ad if you don't communicate with people?
Are you that important, self-assured and busy? I return every single email no matter what. I don't get indignant, or self-absorbed.
I am not a newbie, and even so, isn't it new people that might need a little understanding?

I do not believe that anyone is so busy and overwhelmed by responses that a simple response can't be typed out.
These things are a real disappointment, over time, new species are hard to come by, and when something does come up, I
make a request for a reason, and not because I don't have other things to do. Super. Run your operation your way, and I will not forget
who is worth my time to write to in the first place.

Not only are some persons too pre-occupied to answer email, they are also too busy to take down their old ads, for material that is clearly either
been sold, dead, or in a different life stage.

Any response at some point would be nice, say something that would make Don Rickles proud, but say something.

[papilio7119]

I must admit I have done this and afterward felt bad and and questioned whether I should still answer long after the initial inquiry or not. It was out of exasperation because the last two times I have created ads for time sensitive livestock (non-diapausing pupa). I had an immediate response wanting to purchase. I responded, gave a total and payment info. After that I had other inquires, but waited to respond waiting for the first person to say whether or not it was sold. After waiting 3 days, the initial potentially buyer contacted me again asking if they could get a discount, after responding several more days past then they said they were going to send payment, and then never heard anything again. By this time the time window had passed. I was frustrated but I suppose at the least, I should have told the other inquirers that it was "pending".

[kevinkk]

Yes papilio7119,
I can make good guesses as to what typically happens. The issue you describe happens to me often as well, people make inquiries, and never
follow up, all the while, other people are wanting to purchase. The only way I deal with that is to do the "first pay, first served" ,just the
last time I sold ova, 2 of the first persons that made inquiries never bought anything.

The guesses I can make?- people sell out and that's that, they have what they wanted and move on. The other thing I have run across are the sellers that have no patience, in that they expect the inquiry to be made in a particular way, and those that don't get ignored. Now, I get it, endless emails
from the same person(s) are exasperating, Unfortunately, dealing with the public isn't always that simple, if you can't handle a question you deem
stupid, perhaps you need to think about being a hermit.

[Chuck]

I'd think you were describing me, if it weren't for the fact that we'd not corresponded on that topic.

I'm busy. Busy at work, busy with family, busy with $40k in home damage due to a storm, busy w/ auto insurance w/ my wife's hail-trashed vehicle, busy downsizing stuff so we can move, and busy in the field.

I don't have time to play around. I'm typically no-nonsense, so as the DEA agent said in Leon: the Professional "I don't have time for this Mickey Mouse BS."

Stuff I'm selling off gets offered first to a small group of people. It may or may not have a photo. They can take it or not.

Then it goes on a forum. Short description, no photo. I'm not going to dig it out unless someone buys it. Of course, the forum has the old guard who don't screw around, and they may grab it. Or it may be some newer guy who wants photos; probably not coincidentally, if I do bother to dig it out, take photos, and post them, THIS guy is never the one who buys...in other words, I wasted my time.

I have a pretty good feel for tire kickers based on the questions they ask. So sometimes I don't bother to respond; we both know they're wasting my time. Someone else will buy.

Some internet sites (whether sales sites or forums) have different rules. Several forums forbid deleting an ad, wanting it for future reference. Sometimes the ads get updated (sold) sometimes not. Sometimes people will reach out to me years later on a long-sold item, and while I don't have that specific item, I can offer similar. So it works to leave the old ad up.

But mostly I don't have time to entertain questions and back-and-forth. Simple as that.

[kevinkk]

Yes Chuck,
looky loos are annoying, I had to deal with countless persons when I was operating my contracting business, I think over time, we do get
a feel for what is going on with potential customers, yes, a few I had to ignore, or actually block numbers or email, people that apparently
never heard the word "no" before.
This is where familiarity is helpful, as well as experience, and, as you said, there is nearly always another customer.