Marketplace Etiquette

I agree with that last part 200%. As someone who's allergic to cigarette smoke and the residual stench it leaves behind, this is a HUGELY important deal. SAme with pets. Some people are so alergic to animals that anything that comes from a home with them could have serious effects on their health. It's just a smart idea in general to give full details when trying to sell something.

 

Despite there being a thread and I perhaps missed it: I can't agree with this enough. I have complained about this time and time again, where I have paid A LOT (like $35-65$ for a shirt) of money for something, that did not state it had any problems and I get it home and there's a gaping hole under the arm or on another item I had the zipper was stuck because it had been severed when it was closed. No one likes being lied to, especially when they pay a lot of money for something. I've gotten to a point where I'm screen-capping descriptions and photos of people's items so if I receive an item damaged that wasn't listed/pictured I can file a complaint with Paypal (because most of the seller's I buy from - and even i do it too - take the description/pictures away once the item is sold) e_e

I don't know nor do I care if these damages are the seller's fault or if they got them that way. But I feel these damages need to be listed and people need to be honest about the condition of their items. It's just not fair to people.

I also think people really should make more effort about notifying sellers when they receive items, because sticky situations can come up later from sellers just assuming the buyer got the item because no one ever notifies them of receipt ^^; And it's just common courtesy

 

I agree completly!

I might add that I expect to hear back from the seller within the next day or so, and three days from when I PM:ed at the latest. I expect the same time frame from the seller.

 

Just a thought about the smoking/pets thing... I have pets in my home, however, when I craft things, they are not in the area where my pets are and they do not come in contact with any of my pets or areas where my pets are.

I make sure of this as I know about allergies, my whole family has them - even the dog! We are all highly allergic to cats, as well as mold, etc.!

So I am very careful about being clean & working in a clean, animal free environment. I'd like some ideas about how people think I should explain this to people? I worry about people descriminating just because I own animals (1 Rat Terrier, 2 Poodles, 7 Chinchillas, & 9 Fancy rats).

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

well about the pet thing, even if you do work in a "pet-free" enviornment, because you have animals in the same house as you, you should at least note that a stray hair or two MAY end up in the package or something. Just make not e of it in a PM or somethign to interested buyers. ^-^

 

IMO, if you as a seller are very clear that yes you do have animals in your home, but no they do not come in to your craft area, it should be okay. When I've sold items I've made, I try to take things like that in to account. I had two dogs but while they didn't come in to my craft area either, dog hair has a way of finding its own way in!

So just state it simply that you have pets and before sending items out give them a really good once over for any stray pet hairs. A tiny shot of Febreeze helps too. *g*

 

I couldn't agree more with this. Once you've said "Yes, I will sell this doll/outfit/whatever to you" then as far as I'm concerned that's a written contract - you don't say yes until you've ironed out prices, timescales and such until you're both happy. Beyond being incredibly rude, I've lived places where it's actually illegal.

Of course, that doesn't mean that buyers can mess sellers around - if you agree to sell an item to a buyer on the grounds that they can pay the given asking price within ten days, and then they turn around and say they can't afford the full price or they need you to hold it for two months or whatever, then it's perfectly reasonable to say that no, you can't do that, and relist the item for general sale if they don't put up the money when they said they would or whatever.

In general, I think there would be fewer problems if everyone was just as polite and honest as they possibly can be.

 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let your buyers know you have animals! I'm one of those who is severely allergic to cats! (Clawing out my eyes within 10 minutes of opening a package from a cat home, its so bad!) It doesn't mean I won't buy your things, just lets me know I need to be careful where and how I open the item and give it a was ASAP!

I'm less likely to buy again from a seller who failed to mention there were cats around items than a seller who did mention it.

 

In regard to the pets/smoking issue, I have to agree that pet hair can still contaminate clothing, wigs etc if there are any animals in the house.
I also know of several major human clothing lables in Los Angeles who have 'in house' pets around the factories, so I wouldn't worry about descrimination persay. But I do think it is good to be free with that knowledge.
I list in my auctions/sales that my items are from a smoke free environment, but do not ever claim it to be a pet free environment since it is always possible that a cat hair could get onto a clothing item even if the animal isn't allowed in the room.
What I suggest to help with this, do what I do.
As soon as any piece is completed, it is cleaned, lint rolled and sealed in a clear plastic bag to prevent any possible contact with allergens.
It may not save everyone, but it certainly helps combat it.

 

Yeah, I think when it comes to pets, it's not that people don't mention they have them because they think it will help their sales... I think people just don't think about it.

I know that doesn't help people with severe animal allergies... but I would hope that if you did have such severe allergies, that you'd ask if a person had pets in the first place. (of course, if they don't tell you then, then yeah, that's crazy)

I have 2 cats... but I don't mention them in sales threads usually because I never think to mention them... if you don't have allergies, and don't know a lot of people with allergies... it's just not something you think about.

 

I agree on keeping your items clean and stating if there are pet hair or stains to be aware of. No one wants a damaged item and pet hair allergies are growing really rampant these days. I grew up with no allergies and now I have so many as an adult that I wouldn't have thought possible so I try to take care with the items I'm selling and keep them in the condition that I know I would want items that I paid for with hard-earned money to come to me.

 

Oh, that is a good point about pets! I have cats and dogs and it never occured to me to mention it when I am selling things. I kind of just assume that unless a seller says "pet free home" then there is the possibility that they might have pets, since SO many people do. Smoking is a different matter though imho, since it almost always leaves a residual smell that can't simply be "lint rolled" off and there are way fewer smokers than pet owners out there. And I always try to get off any stray bits of fur I find on clothing before I send it, though I try to keep my doll clothes fur-free anyway, lol. Anyone with bad allergies could be bothered though! So if allergies are REALLY bad I would hope the buyer would ask the seller, just like someone who has a bad food allergy would ask the cook about a food's ingredients before eating it.

 

1) A close friend and I have both been in situations where a formalized transaction has been renagged upon. He as a buyer, when the seller decided to later accept a higher offer for a SD Kurimi, and I has a seller, when the buyer asked to back out to pursue another transaction. Neither of us have a very high opinion of this type of practice.

2) Please don't use MSD, SD, etc as a generic terms. ABJDs have been inspired enough as it is by Volks' SDs without appropriating their brand names. Members have the option of using height, scale, brand name acronym, type (large, mini, tiny), and so on. This is not to say that Volks is necessarily superior than any other ABJD manufacturer, but these other ABJD manufacturers should be seen in their own light. ...and before anyone calls me a 'Volks Elitist', I very much like the BJDs put out by companies other than Volks (Notdoll Labs Naripon, Limhwa Half-Elf...).

3) I think that sellers with allergies particularly to pets have a responsibility to ASK buyers if their items come from a home with pets. Buyers have the same responsibility in my mind to TELL sellers if their items come from a home in which smokers reside.

 

I think the biggest problem has been touched on, which is communication, but I think another huge hurdle is setting expectations. People walk into transactions with all kinds of preconceived notions about how it will go, and if you don't explicitly state those, there's probably going to be hurt feelings. ("But it's common sense/everybody knows" doesn't cut it.)

When is payment due, what forms of payment will be accepted, when will the item be mailed, how it will be mailed - all boring details, but if you state them up front, then people know exactly what they're walking into. I've done business with some people who have taken what others would consider an inordinately long time to mail things, but because they stated up front how and why this would happen, I had no problem with it. I knew about it and made the choice to accept it.

And back on communication: ignoring any form of communication which you stated you would accept is BAD form. I know everyone can't be on top of all their messages 24/7 - but if you're in the middle of a transaction and can't get back to people in 24 hours, you need to state that up front. Again, it's setting the expectation - TELL people you're on vacation, that you have a sick dog, whatever. Most people will be astoundingly understanding.

Changing subjects, a personal pet peeve is when people say that items will fit a certain kind of doll when they've never tried them on that exact doll. I've received so many shoes that are like boats on my dolls' feet - just because you can stick the doll's foot in it doesn't mean it fits! I can stick my doll's feet in my own sneakers and they don't fit worth a darn . Please, give me measurements (for shoes that's length AND width) or just say what dolls you've tried it on and let me make my own decision from there.

(And the inverse peeve is with buyers who get mad when you can't tell them if an outfit will fit their doll when you don't have that doll to try it on. Sellers do not generally own or have access to every BJD ever made.)

I didn't realize that pets were such an issue for some people - like other pet owners, I don't even really think about it because they live here, it's just a normal, everyday thing for me.

Marcia.

 

I TOTALLY agree with this....nothing is more aggrivating than finding out some buyer hasn't even TRIED to contact a seller before starting wank on the feedback forum.

Communication is key.

 

Don't harass potential buyers who just happen to be looking through your sales thread. Nothing screams asshat more than the seller who lets loose with a barrage of PMs and IMs at the slightest inkling of interest.

 

It's funny because a lot of this is common sense! But yet still people get it wrong. I've only just started getting access to the marketplace so I'm really fortunate right now that the three people I'm discussing transactions with have been really good with communication.

But I know from past experiences on selling communities on Livejournal and Ebay, that sellers and buyers can be such a pain in the arse. It seriously doesn't take two minutes of your day to quickly email the person you're doing a transaction with to make an update on the status of an order. Like you, I can forgive delayed postage etc if someone keeps me informed. I hate having to keep contacting people to get any kind of updates, I shouldn't have to personally speaking!

Thank you for posting this. It's a great, gentle, reminder of how things should be done and will make things so so much easier when buying and selling ;3

 

LOL pictures please XDDDD!!

 

As a seller: Most buyers I dealt with here have been really nice, honest, people.

Only thing I do wish people who request a hold then change their mind would tell me so I can take it off hold. (I promise I wont bite)