I’ve been selling in e-commerce for over 25 years, used, new, repeatables, non-repeatables. You name it, I’ve probably sold it. During this time I’ve encountered so many different personalities, mostly kind people, thousands and thousands of transactions, and rarely the rude word (it happens though).

Here’s what I’ve learned. Sellers can be the worst. Small sellers. Small Businesses. They have this attitude, it’s all about them. It’s not about the customer, it’s not about how to fix an issue, it’s about them. Not everyone, in fact, not many, but man, those who complain, they are LOUD!

I belong to many seller groups and those complainers are, well ‘interesting’. For example, recently I read a post from a seller complaining about a buyer who asked too many questions. Now, never mind that the seller had made an error in the listing, and the buyer was kind enough to point out it, without being rude. When the potential buyer asked a second, and then a third question, the seller decided it was ‘too much’ and shut them down. Telling the potential buyer that perhaps they should shop elsewhere. No THANK YOU for pointing out their error, not helping the customer, just shutting them down. The seller’s reason for shutting them down? “well it was probably just going to be a return”.

Now, personally, when I list an item for sale, my goal is to get buyers to see it, make offers, and buy the product. Not to tell them to shop elsewhere. Do you have a few questions? No problem.

Here’s the issue. Not everyone lives on a computer. Not everyone is comfortable shopping online. Some people are using a mobile device, they don’t see a product the same way a person on a computer sees the product. Other times a monitor or display device may cut off part of a photo, or words.

Or, maybe life just got in the way. We don’t know what the customers’ life is like, we don’t know what they are going through, or why they are asking the questions. Would it kill you to take 20 seconds and be kind? Answer a few questions. If that is an issue for you then maybe you should hire someone to handle your customer experience.

The customer is not always right, but they are always the potential customer/buyer, treat them with respect and provide a little bit of service.