Buyer Etiquette

[max506]

I hope that you guys don't mind if I blow off some steam. I believe that there should be proper buyer etiquette when dealing with sellers. Why do I say this? I've encountered several buyers who were supposed to get the items that I was selling up to the extent of having them already reserved and saying that they'd get the items on a said day. When the day comes, can't reach 'em. I won't name names, but people you know who you are. It's frustrating 'coz in the first place if you're not sure about getting the items don't have 'em reserved, plain and simple. Bad trip kasi for the seller eh. Pano kung nagcommit yung seller to get something else from someone 'coz you've had the items reserved tapos di din pala kukunin, kawawa din naman yung seller 'di ba? All it takes is a simple text message stating why you're not getting it na or better yet don't have it reserved. Ganun lang yun ka-simple.

[metalmuhlisha]

marami talagang ganyan sa philmusic. a lot of musicians have bad buyer habits, i guess? saka tulad narin nung mga hindi marunong magbasa, kapag sinabing last price tatawad pa ng sobrang laki, pati yung meeting place kahit na fixed gustong palitan, et al.

the customer is always right, but then again, there is such a thing as respect ie. going out of line.

[gammapolaris]

you mean you allow buyers to reserve an item even without  a downpayment?

[mondi99060451]

reservations for me should only be 1 or 2 days... 

[spyroghyro]

Pareho din naman yan sa mga sellers, meron din dyan seller na saying na naka-reserve na sa yo yung item but when you're ready to get the item biglang nawawala na parang bula and hindi man lang i-update yung post nya. Pero mas marami talagang buyer na ganun compared to sellers. Kaya I suggest don't post your cell number yet just let them sent PM to you and if you are sure na mukhang serious siya with the deal then that's the time you give your cell number.

[atong_damuho]

naganyan na ako.
naihanda ko na ung cash na pambayad kaso the day before the scheduled transaction tinext ko ung seller tas un, nabenta na raw. kailangan ko pa naman ung snare na yun the day after the transaction, kaso wala. nag offer pa sya sakin ng ibang snare kaso way above the budget ung presyo. kaya yun nabadtrip lang ako.

pero ok na rin un. kasi pinangdate ko na lang ung pera na dapat pambili ng snare

[max506]

Thing is, it goes both ways for buyers and sellers. I think that ot all boils down to responsible buying and selling. For whatever the reasons are I think that both parties should be considerate enough to the other person para maayos yung transaction. 

[jeva]

I hear you sir.

But i think mine was worse. Somebody asked to buy him a pair of TAMA IC beaters. I did, to help a fellow drummer get a gear, since it is much more expensive back home. All of the sudden, I saw him dealing for the same item with a different person without even telling me that he is not interested anymore.

There is also another one for a Sabian HH Dark crash. He said he is a confirmed and sure buyer. When the transaction date was nearing he wanted to bargain. Up to the point of telling me "Sabi ng Friend ko di daw maganda tunog ng dark crash. Kung gusto mo 3K ko na lang kunin."

This prompted me to ask for a deposit, just to protect my side and a gesture of  sincerity from the buyer. 500 is relatively small for a 9k item.

For me, if you dont have the money to buy, or if you are unsure, PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR RESERVATIONS. To ask the seller for Testing the Item, is totally different from Reserving it.

Anyway. I had a good buyer of my Tama Starclasic B/B snare last Feb. Sana lahat ng buyers ganun. I would like to make his name known so that sellers have reference of him as a buyer, but he wanted to be anonymous.

Happy drumming to all.

[IncX]

what? you guys still accept VERBAL reservations?

i think sellers in general should learn about human nature - that it is truly inconsistent, most of the time uncertain, possibly deceitful and individuals are annoying hagglers more often than not.

solution: NEVER ACCEPT VERBAL RESERVATIONS

the "honesty and trust system" are better reserved to those active forum members who post meaningful threads and replies ... those 'mushroom forumers' or 'buy and sell vultures' (you can tell who they are when you are a philmusic regular and you dont know them) don't deserve to be trusted.

the one who throws money first in your hands wins the item... simple as that.

-*-

demanding/asking for buyer etiquette is like telling your employees to not steal while you are not in the store... hell, you dont ask them to "not steal," what you do is you install video cameras on your store, that would keep them from stealing.

you cant change ppl, you can however make a system that would make them conform to you.

[metalmuhlisha]

solution: NEVER ACCEPT VERBAL RESERVATIONS

tama. first come first serve lagi kung walang downpayment.

at para sigurado, pickup nalang sa lugar na di mo na kelangan mamasahe. para kung di man kunin, di ka nagsayang ng pera.

[atong_damuho]

mas maganda sana kung makapgisip ng isang magandang paraan para maiwasan na ung mga nangyayaring ganyan. kung meron lang way para makapagdownpayment for the reservation nung item, parehong buyer at seller din ang magbebenefit sa ganun. kaso medyo malaki ung risk pag ganun

[max506]

IncX: I get where you're coming from bro. Just needed to vent, can't help but hope against hope that there are still a little good in this world 

[abyssinianson]

the customer is always right, but then again, there is such a thing as respect ie. going out of line.

nope. the customer is ONLY right when they have the intent to buy and have the money to do so. the way i see it, if you can't buy something, why bother others pretending to put something on reserve and then not pick it up? this is unprofessional, inconsiderate conduct.

if I sold something, i would require a deposit of some sort as a sign of faith that you - as a responsible customer - will follow-through with your intent to buy something, otherwise, what are we even talking to each other for? you may inquire about a product but don't waste my time, or yours, putting something on reserve when you aren't - at least - 80% sure you want to pick it up. if in the event, you don't decide to buy an item and never put a reserve down, have the decency to inform the seller that you've found a better deal - who knows? maybe they would be willing to win your business and cut a better price. this is standard good business strategy if you want to win and retain customers.

[max506]

Amen to that 

[barabbas]

    But honestly we cant control that, sad to say.. huhuhu. mostly sa mga big stores. like us Audiophile, JB music, perfect pitch etc. But its our job theres nothing we can do about it.

Yeah. its very annoying to those people na magapapareserve and all of the sudden no show na sila without informing us that they will not get the unit anymore. sobrang bad trip talaga. pero yan ang buhay ng salesman. You have to be patience in this kind of work. kahit ano gawin natin may mga ganyan situations. on my experiences i've encountered a lot of clients, who is arrogant, obnoxious, Bossy, matapobre, etc.. i've seen this people. Thats why sometimes we are too hesitant to order from our suppliers everything. Nakakatakot dahil baka matulog lang yung mga products namin, just incase na may magorder or magrequest na magpasok ng ganitong model. pero hindi naman kukunin, titignan lang. thats why it's so risky, so we have to study and survey first. before we get or order the units. Make sure na kukunin tlaga ng client nyo yung Inquiry nila. in that way we can prevent the loss of time and money.

Yan lang muna yung share ko. Kung tutuusin marami pa ako dapat sabihin. pero yan na lang muna... Enjoy lang mga dude.. Patience is a virtue... God Bless...

[bangbus]

the woes of retailing. mine is not really venting but more of sharing my experiences:

i hav no experience in dealing musical instruments on a massive scale but i am also a salesman by trade coz i've been involved with a company that sells products to businesses for quite some time now. And in some cases, we do get the 'tingi' inquiries which the company does not cater to. At first i reacted to this policy in a way that said 'hold on this are also prospective customers'. but the anti-tingi policy stands. so on my own pace and as a side line i catered to the tingi buyers and i realised then why the company has such a policy.

i could clearly distinguish the 2 markets right away by the culture/personality of the firms or individuals who bought or at least inquired. sa business to business walang hassle sa inquiry (serious intention from the start), payment and delivery. they protect their reputation and seriously avoid being seen as 'jologs'. and they are very polite and professional pre and post transaction. sa tingi experience ko naman, medyo walang pakialam ang iba kung isipin na jologs, barat, tacky or whatever sila. and dyan pumapasok yang mga problems about reservation, payment as in bouncing checks. shameless, nakakahiya and kadiri talaga. its true that yung iba abnoxious and feeling nila diyos sila just coz they could afford such a thing or just coz they firmly believe that 'customer is king' and 'customer is always right'. i got the best out of the situation most of the time coz i also dont accept verbal reservations. its either you place a deposit or pay in full. it was difficult for me to deal with such people but it was my choice then and i love taking risks. so i decided to focus on the more professional dealings in b2b transactions instead. but im still engaged in straight-up retailing sites where i dont entertain ever entertain 'reservations'.

as a way of getting rid of personal items, i also advertise and sell via the internet and hell, my experiences are even worse, but not all. there are still those hassle-free and honourable buyers which i strongly admire, look up to, accommodate and who simply warms my heart. but there are those who tend to be really tacky and shameless or are plainly pretending to be stupid or cant read and follow directions. so my way of dealin with such is simple and employs a bit of market segmentation. i try to specify everything about the items and transaction conditions such as delivery locations, no reservations/first-come-first-served, no swaps and etc. if a certain query has been answered by my listing, i simply ignore them. that way i can immediately identify who can clearly read and follow instructions. those who can, are part of my internet 'market'.

i do get the odd comments and criticisms such as: 'ser ang mahal eh kaya ko naman bilihin yan sa xxx seller or yyy foreign internet website.' i simply laugh them off and clearly you probably get by now how i am able to segregate my market. i really couldnt care less if one can get my item for a cup of vomit or Mars bar somewhere else. im not forcing them to buy anyway.

bottom line: Try your best to specify everything about your item and transaction conditions. Do not accept reservations.

sorry its a bit of a read, i notice that i can type faster and carried away when im passionate about something. just sharing my piece of mind. 

[rubb3rduck]

To be fair to both buyers and sellers, it may be downright absurd to say things in absolutes. "The customer is always right" or "always ask for a deposit" or "never entertain reservations" will just won't work in every situation since everyone here is ultimately after a good deal and would definitely want to accomodate one another.

I only have two things to remind everybody of about this issue:

         Courtesy and common-sense.

If any dealings defeat these two in any way, I bet it's gonna be another screwed up deal.

Just my two cents.