#donbee recently shared a "feel good" story in the Fruitcakes thread - I really enjoyed it, especially since I had a few recent experiences like it myself. Thought a thread highlighting positive might be worthwhile (perhaps even stickied?).
Shipping SNAFU. Two weeks ago sold a small $3 PAB item to a buyer in Michigan. Timely, accurately, securely shipped. But in reviewing my "paid and shipped" queue, I noticed the tracking had stalled out at my local (Minnesota) USPS hub.
Messaged the buyer to let him know I was unsure of the reason for the delay, but assumed responsibility for it, and would gladly refund his shipping costs (if it showed up late) or a full refund / replacement if it didn't show up in the next week.
Buyer messages me back immediately and says how grateful he was for my attention to the status and offer, but was happy to wait a week or two to see what happens.
After 8 days stalled out in MN, it starts moving again, and seller messages me saying it arrived in perfect condition, he refuses any partial refund, and sang my praises in positive feedback.
The Moral: proactive follow up on shipping issues may cost you the occasional shipping refund, but buys you immense customer loyalty.
Fellow Brickpicker Courtesies. Had a guy offer 67% my BIN OBO price on a Ninjago Enter the Serpent (no minifigs). Said up front he knows its a low offer but its for his kid and the most he has in his budget.
I politely countered, letting him know 80% of the list price is my bottom "break even" dollar. He declined, but alerted me to a mistake I had in the listing (I had forgotten to enable combined shipping). Went on to mentioned he recognized my store name ("Veritas Bricks") from the BP forums and thought I might wanna make the correction to boost my chances of selling the listing to someone else.
He never did mention his BP name, but I was so grateful for his heads up that I'm going to offer him the set at his price if I can make up for it in selling the parted out minifigs for an extra buck or two.
The Moral: BPer's looking out for one another is a win-win for all of us.
Anyone else have some recent good experiences? Where you start out with a grimace, sensing a headache is coming, only to be left feeling encouraged that there are some honest people out there who aren't just looking to screw you the first chance they get? I don't know about you, but a string of 2-3 fruitcake encounters leaves me wondering if eBay is even worth the trouble. But even 1 gem like these inspires me enough to outweigh the headaches of dozen fruitcakes, so lets hear about some more!