Well we all have those weeks. Being in the reselling business, we know we can't all have Dansk/Polaroid/sterling silver/Lego/Bakelite finding-at-rock-bottom-prices kinds of weeks...not every week. And forget the slow finds, I have enough inventory anyway. There's also slow sales weeks...and returns...and sales that fall through...and other disappointments.
But if you're in reselling for the long haul, you gotta make lemonade out those lemons.
So I'm dubbing this my learning week.
Lesson #1
Don't purchase used plastic tumblers to resell. Even if they're by Starbucks.
Now I usually avoid the plastic tumblers. They just don't sell high enough or fast enough...usually. Unless they are rare enough...or new. I like to stick with stainless steel. I do have a few plastic ones in my inventory jumble cabinet, so I will have to get around to listing them eventually...but I think they are obscure ones from Japan.
Anyway, I saw this white Starbucks tumbler and was swayed by its to-go cup look. Listed it and it actually sold pretty quickly. The interior is black and it looked clean to me.
Couple days later, I got an "Item not as described" email from the buyer. Sigh.
I don't have a problem with the fact that I missed something. It happens. It was the WAY the buyer emailed me. She used the incredibly rude ALL CAPS to basically scream at me about how dirty, unsanitary and nasty the cup was. It was A HEALTH HAZARD!!!! Then I was instructed about the refund...yada yada. The cup was actually on its way back already.
Fine.
Just don't be rude about it. And she is a seller too. Huh. Wonder if she talks like that to her buyers.
Which brings me to
Lesson #2
Don't engage and don't respond to a rude email/complaint with a rude message. Don't drop to their level.
I basically apologized she didn't find the tumbler satisfactory. And that we wouldn't intentionally send a defective item...(which would be a silly way to run a business.)
I kept it professional and it looks like it may have worked. I got her package back, and yes, in the black interior there were hairline cracks...not exactly the nasty, dirty item she described..but still. I wouldn't have listed it if I had seen them. I promptly processed the refund and sent a cancel transaction notice. She agreed to cancel. Case closed. So far no negative feedback. We'll see.
Lesson #3
If something seems too good to be true...it probably is.
I had some credits on a selling site and quickly went there to see what was for sale. A seller was offering 6 Starbucks city mugs for $13 plus $5 shipping!!! I hit 'purchase' so fast... My credits basically covered the shipping. I did wonder what kind of shipping job they would do, since this seemed to be an inexperienced seller. I kinda felt bad...I knew shipping 6 mugs across the country is NOT cheap. I don't think her total even covered her shipping.
So sure enough, I get the package on Monday and you can feel things moving around inside the box. Bad first sign. Sure enough, only 4 of the 6 mugs made it. Which I know is not bad...and I'm still happy enough with those...but it could have been avoided with a tad bit more packaging...and common sense. Oh well.
I had another couple lessons (read disappointments) this week..but this post is long enough. I'm gonna take my lessons, learn from them and move on!!
