Check your PMs

[Joe Bernard]

...because I see this constantly on this forum where one person has an item to sell and somebody mentions later that they PMed and got no response.

Also, if you tell somebody you're going to buy something and change your mind, tell them you've changed your mind instead of just wandering off.

I'm not a moderator but I've been around since the beginning of RBW Bunch and bought and sold a ton of stuff, and I see the same messes between buyer and seller over and over again. Once that FS ball is rolling it's the responsibility of both sides to keep communication open, clear and prompt until the deal is done. Ya hear??

Joe Bernard

[Adam Leibow]

i agree with this a lot. i sell bike stuff on instagram @adom_sale and it's super annoying when I list a hot ticket item, one person responds with "extreme interest" and says they can pay soon, only to go MIA for three days while four other buyers are lined up, ready to send funds. it's gotten to the point where i won't hold an item for someone who does this; i just sell it to the next person in line. too bad for the person who was first in line. 

[Joe Bernard]

The disappearing buyer drives me CRAZY. I get that good intentions to buy a bike or parts can go from "yeah I'm in" to "I've lost interest" or the always fun "I forgot my wife would kill me", but you gotta TELL the seller. It's not hard!

[Frank Brose]

Courtesy. Not that tough. I can deal with someone changing their mind but radio silence really bothers me. Communicate. If you can tell me you'll take it, you can tell me you changed your mind. It won't send me into a tail spin.

[Eric G]

As a counterpoint, I have responded to folks selling items multiple times and not received responses. Most recently this occurred even after multiple messages. Is there any sort of mail filtering issues with google group messages? I can only assume that it was unintentional on the sellers’ part and something else is amiss — is this a common issue or is it peculiar to me?

[Joe Bernard]

Eric, sometimes PMs get dropped in Spam filters and the person you tried to contact never sees it. It's much less common if you have a direct email address for them.

[Joe Bernard]

Adding: The trick there would be to go to the FS thread you were interested in and add a "trying to reach you" comment if the item is still available. They'll probably see it.

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I had a direct email address my Betty buyer and I had been using and the buyer still fell off the face of the Earth. Really disappointing. I checked my spam every day and more than once.

[Craig Montgomery]

     I've been sitting here the last couple of days wondering if I should email this guy and lecture him about common courtesy.  He left me hanging. As the seller I'd like to know what I'm going to do with what I'm selling within a reasonable time period. Am I going to sell it to him or has he lost interest? Which is OK. He doesn't even have to give reasons as long as we both know what's happening. Then I know if I can a) keep it or b) put it back on the market. As a buyer I have the responsibility to either complete a transaction or let the seller know I'm changing my mind so he can move on. 

     Fortunately, in my two decades experience on our lists, a no response has been a very rare occurrence. Most the time we are all just like guys hanging out in the garage. Keeping that in mind makes it easier to blow off those individuals off who were raised improperly. Thank goodness we don't need an Ann Landers hanging around all the time. 

Craig in Tucson 

[Joe Bernard]

"Most the time we are all just like guys hanging out in the garage."

And girls/ladies/women. We've since an increase in not-guys around here the last few years and it's been nice to have them hanging around in the garage, too!

[Steve Palincsar]

"Guys" started gender-neutral, referring to one of these Guy Fawkes Night effigies, became male in the late 19th century,

then in the more recent past has become gender-neutral once again.   ( https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/430448/when-did-the-word-guys-become-popular-as-a-gender-neutral-word )

On 2/15/20 1:38 AM, Joe Bernard wrote:

"Most the time we are all just like guys hanging out in the garage."

And girls/ladies/women. We've since an increase in not-guys around here the last few years and it's been nice to have them hanging around in the garage, too!   

-- 
Steve Palincsar
Alexandria, Virginia 
USA

[Alex Wirth- Owner, Yellow Haus Bicycles]

As long as we're venting....the buyer who emails you 16 different times with questions and compatibility and expects you to work out all the kinks associated with a build is.....not nice.

And add insult to injury these are the people that are most likely to pass after all the back and forth.  *sigh*

Thanks, that was therapeutic.

😊

Alex in Rochester, wishing it wasn't 9 degrees out.

[Craig Montgomery]

And if you're lucky you may get a "Thanks for all your work" from one of these "guys"...

Craig "just one of the gender-neutral guys" in Tucson

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[Joe Bernard]

I have a contrary view about questions, it's all talking bikes to me and I enjoy it. But I understand it's not for everybody.

Joe "any questions?" Bernard
Marin County CA.

[Neil Doran]

OK, here is a question from a generally Luddite sorta 'guy'...

How does one check PMs in this group? I am viewing this content on a 'Google groups' platform. I see no control or toggle for 'PM'. 

In messaging back and forth with other users, messages have always flowed seamlessly via email (gmail, in my case, and for most others)...is that what you mean by 'PM'?

Hope I have not missed a whole raft of messages!!!

On Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 2:23:19 PM UTC-8, Joe Bernard wrote:

[Joe Bernard]

Yep yep, PMs is email you get from people in the group. We call it PM for Private Message because that's how it's labeled in the subject header when you get one.

I started this thread after seeing the 537th conversation on this forum between a buyer and seller apparently not connecting on email. It's a common problem here that often occurs when a PM lands in a spam folder. "Check your PMs" means check everywhere in your email frequently if you've posted something for sale.

[Dave Small]

I'm with Eric.  It seems that 4 out of 5 times I send a message, I don't get a reply.  It's got to the point that I rarely send the PM now.  I don't know if the recipient doesn't get it, or gets it and ignores me, the result is the same.  The futility is frustrating, so I usually avoid it.  

Dave

Boston/Indy