Honestly, I dont think he was being rude at all. I think he was responding to what he felt as an insult in a not so friendly way. If anything you were being rude calling his auction sleazy. If I were in his shoes I would probably give you attitude back as well. Ebay is set up to automatically reject offers below a certain amount. That is a fact. That is not only his little system. Many many people use that system. If he doesnt want to sell them for less than a certain amount then hes not going to. Its simple. If the price isnt right in your opinion, you have the option of shopping elsewhere. If you wanted to ask him what the deal was you could have done it without insulting him in the process. I know you think you didnt directly insult him but reading your first email I think he felt you were. Thats just my opinion tho.

 

OK, I read that you claim you now found that kit for $20 less then this company you're unhappy with. BUT, you earlier made this statement. So, if they are already pretty cheap OR the cheapest game around, then they probably have the auto-reject "best offers" set to a high number.

I agree that it's crappy if the auto-reject option is set really close to their "buy it now" option (it is almost self defeating, I've seen some of those where the threshold was about $10 from the Buy It Now on a $150 item).

I'm not going to say that company is good or bad, I know I would have approached them differently (as you basically accused them of being "sleazy" which in turn probably turned them off from working with you, they may have been willing to tell you the lowest they would go but now don't see it worth it).

I see one kit with painted for $950 and the unpainted for $595. Keep in mind, though it claims "free shipping", shipping is probably costing them say $100. So after shipping that sell it really for $495. These kits can be pricy and if they aren't producing them in-house (another words buy them from a supplier), we don't know the supplier cost (maybe $300-$400, so after all the eBay and PayPal fees leaves a limited profit margin).
It appears to me they are trying to offer a reasonable price and might go down say another $50 (or less) for those willing the "play the game".

It's hard to say, but next time contacting a company, if you would like a more helpful response, approach them more openly (worked for me NUMBEROUS times).

 

Honestly i think that auto reject thing should only regect offers of the like 20% less than the buy it now so that was reasonable offers can be seen

 

Even though I might have come off as insulting them, the #1 rule to any business is kill the customer with kindness. For him to react that way with a simple question is totally unacceptable. I deal with people directly face to face everyday in my buisness and would never react like that to anyone. Even if they were unhappy with something in my store.

 

people are so rude sometimes. being rude gets you no where! maybe theyll learn!

 

This reminds me of a salvage yard in stl they had the high sport rocker panels i need i think they were $400 well i called them & told em to pull em off & ill take em if they wernt broken well they said they would call wen they had em off in a few days well i waited a week nothin, so i called them & they guy got smart with me & said well have we called u yet & said if we havmt called than we havmt taken em off, so i waited anotjer week & called em & he said the same thing so i told him to forget it id go somewhere else, i dont care if i gotta pay more for somthin, even a hard part to find like that ill wait cuz i dont do busimess with ppl like that

 

You did well.
When I worked in retail, I was taught "The customer is always right" ... "they keep us in business"... whether they were right or wrong.
Word of mouth spreads like wildfire, also...i've learned people will tell their bad experiences with a company faster than they would their good experiences.
Very well, and keep us updated with the kit.

 

Personally, I would've left the sleazy part out of my email to them. But I too think the Make An Offer option is often times set too high. Some people seem to think their stuff is made of gold or something. But realistically, a lot of ebay sellers don't like the buy it now, or make an offer features. They know that if the item gets into a bidding war, they can make a ton of money.

 

I'm not saying their reaction wasn't right, but you certainly did not set yourself up for success. Since you say you deal with people face to face, which do you prefer when dealing with an angry customer:
1 - a customer that states the facts and makes no accusations against you
2 - a customer that states the facts but is pre-determined you are a dis-honest vendor
Personally, I would opt for #1. You're also NOT dealing with a face-to-face retailer, there is a LARGE difference, everyone is a tough guy behind the computer screen.

Bottom line, I agree, the seller did not help foster a sale, but he knows he is in a limited market, feels he has a fair price on the product already and probably has dealt with people in the past who had pre-conceived notions of his business and most the time, killing an Internet customer with kindness doesn't work. Not to mention, he does not know what your offers were, since they were below his auto-reject, he probably assumes the way you addressed him the offers were WAY low. Just a possibility.

I completely agree the seller could have put forth a better effort, but I if your customer service skills were as keen you you claim, you would have left the sleazy comment out of your initial communication (perhaps inquired what is his bottom line). I guess better luck next time.

 

Honestly, you both acted wrongly.

You accused him of not accepting or looking at offers, it is an offer, which means it doesn't have to be accepted.

He was wrong for coming back at you like that. After he came.back like that I would have just not said a thing and called it a day.

Not worth either persons stress in the end.