Honesty when selling online

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Shonver

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These thoughts came to me when participating in another thread where the original poster hinted (in jest, I thought) at hiking his price due to the overwhelming response he had gotten to his posted advertisement. So, it is not directed at anyone in particular, just sharing my thoughts.

When selling goods online (or even in the print media), a certain level of trustworthiness and integrity is required (or at least expected). I have done a few such transactions both ways (buyer & seller) and my overall experience has been positive. As South Africans (or should I say Africans?), many of us are new to e-trading, so it is natural to feel a certain sense of suspicion when doing so. I am happy to report that more than 9/10 transactions I have done have been with honest persons*. About half of these transactions have been international. Without knowing or seeing the other person, it requires a lot of courage to take the plunge. But I think that if you are part of an e-community, it is easy to figure out who can be trusted by gauging that person's standing and activities in the community.

Now, about price-opportunism:

The fact that an item you sell may have more perceived value to others than you had initially estimated can tempt you to adjust ("rectify") your original price. I sell things regularly. Sometimes I can tell by the buyer's reaction that they would have been prepared to pay much more for the item. Other times I have put a value on items that others just aren't prepared to pay (worse is realising that the person thinks you're trying to rip them off  :p ). If this happens, I reassess my reasons for asking that price. I put myself in the customer's shoes and ask myself "how do you justify asking that price?". If I can't justify the price, I know I have to adjust it to a level that is reasonable. That being said, often the buyer is not sufficiently knowledgeable to make a fair value assessment...

What has worked for me is simply to be truthful and honest. Making a killing on something has very short-lived benefits. Making a friend has much more lasting value! OK, now I'm preaching. Short message: if you discover too late that you're "practically giving it away", suck it up, take your medicine and move on... there'll be other opportunities to make your millions  ;). Fortunately (unfortunately for some),  one's online activities can be researched on the internet, so there's no sense in behaving unscrupulously.


Just a thought...



*Actually, the very first such transaction I was nearly part of, ended badly. An e-buddy was buying some electronic parts from an overseas seller. It was a Very Good Deal, so I asked to get in on it. Well, he payed the guy for his goods and mine, but then found he could not get in touch with him. Needless to say, the goods never arrived. The perpetrator strangely had been using his real name, and even owned an audio business. But I have never since encountered him on any of the e-groups I participate in.




 
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