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Do you guys respond to this question? Do you handle those questions differently on eBay (after auction close) and Craigslist?
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Is it still available?
- Thread starter supratentorial
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Respond politely the correct answer. Whether you have it or not. If it's still for sale/trade or not. I've had people ask me for knives that were in the "wanted" section of my trade threads before. Although slightly annoying because it's pretty clearly listed and I have pictures of the knives that I do own, I just respond that I don't have it.
Be polite and respond to the question. It only takes 30 seconds to send an email usually.
Be polite and respond to the question. It only takes 30 seconds to send an email usually.
kootenay joe
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I am a small time occasional seller but think it is important to reply to others in a respectful manner in all of one's interactions.
Treating the "is it still available" person in this way might have him returning when a knife you have listed is still available.
I recently listed 2 identical knives. Posts showed both had been spoken for. Still, i received an "is it still available" message. I happened to have 2 more of the same knife and i ended up selling 4 knives instead of 2. The "is it still available" message worked to my advantage.
kj
Treating the "is it still available" person in this way might have him returning when a knife you have listed is still available.
I recently listed 2 identical knives. Posts showed both had been spoken for. Still, i received an "is it still available" message. I happened to have 2 more of the same knife and i ended up selling 4 knives instead of 2. The "is it still available" message worked to my advantage.
kj
braillediver
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I mark my listings as Sold when they sell so No I don't answer those questions. Especially for listings marked "Sold: XXXX XXXX XXXXX".
^^^^
This. I do notice that a lot of sellers do not bother the mark their sale thread as SOLD. A member just says "I'll Take IT" and the seller does not respond, or close the thread. If I were interested it that knife then YES, I would ask the seller if it were available.
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I just politely answer whether it is or not. I've sold a similar knife before, and once resold the same knife that I'd bought back.
I have sent seller's the "is this item still available" message before, usually on Craigslist. But if the thread or listing clearly states "item sold", or the listing is removed, then there is no need to ask. I only have done this in the past if the sale is ambiguous as to whether it is sold or not. Craigslist is notorious for sellers not going back and removing their listing after it is sold. The Exchange listings that I have read are always marked SOLD after the sale, I think most members here are good about that.
:thumbup:
Responding kindly and politely is always the best way to go. Some folks get annoyed to no end by the question, but kindness is free and literally takes a few seconds.
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I usually mark my Exchange listings as sold and it's usually not an issue on Bladeforums. Just curious.
On eBay, most folks don't wait until the auction is over to contact you unless they want to buy for less than the minimum bid amount. There are some guys that trolling for handouts this way. Some guys send out dozens of these emails.... when you reply, some even say they don't remember the auction since they sent out so many messages! On some high demand items, I've gotten quite a few of these emails.
On Craigslist, "is it still available" is commonly used for phishing.
Asking "if it's still available?" is sort of like asking "can I ask you a question?". If you want $5, then I'd much rather someone directly ask for $5 off in the same email. I may or may not have wiggle room. But I will be more likely to accommodate an offer if a person is straight with me.
On eBay, most folks don't wait until the auction is over to contact you unless they want to buy for less than the minimum bid amount. There are some guys that trolling for handouts this way. Some guys send out dozens of these emails.... when you reply, some even say they don't remember the auction since they sent out so many messages! On some high demand items, I've gotten quite a few of these emails.
On Craigslist, "is it still available" is commonly used for phishing.
Asking "if it's still available?" is sort of like asking "can I ask you a question?". If you want $5, then I'd much rather someone directly ask for $5 off in the same email. I may or may not have wiggle room. But I will be more likely to accommodate an offer if a person is straight with me.
Hey Jake, did you run into a bad experience asking this question or having someone ask you this question? Just curious if something happened.
Like the others, I always try to make sure I clearly mark items sold and that really limits getting asked for an item after it's gone. I do on occasion get asked if I have another of the same knife that I'd sell and I have made sales like this before, like KJ pointed out.
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I think one person is contacting me from multiple accounts on eBay. All of his emails are basically the same.
Ebay is a different game all together. People get a lot of one word answers from me there unless it is a genuine question about the item. Lowballers get "no". People who don't pay get an unpaid item case. One person committed to buy the item and then sent an offer after hitting buy it now. I immediately relisted the item and let ebay deal with them.
The only time I've got an "is it still available" question was when I forgot to go back and edit the original sales thread to indicate the knife was sold (there had been a couple weeks between the sales thread and the sale).
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On eBay, the email sequence is usually...
email 1: "is it still available?"
reply: "Is which item still available? Your message did not include the item number or description."
email 2: "the pink my little pony doll" (hypothetical example
)reply: "yes"
email 3: question that is answered in the description.
reply: response to question
email 4: "What's your best price?" or "What's the best deal that you can give me?"
...But no matter what your response, you never hear from them about the item again.... unless you relist it. Then you may get the same series of questions. And if you don't reply, then you may get the same questions from other email addresses... but mysteriously, the content is always the same.
I suppose they are hoping that if they wear you down then you'll give them a low enough price that they can resell for profit. But I just prefer not to sell to anyone that wants to play games.
I don't know who this works on but I think they'd have a much better chance at success if they didn't play the games.