Hey everyone! I think it’s important to remember that honesty is the best policy. Not only does this apply to multiple areas of life, but it can also be applied quite often in our reselling businesses. We get all excited when our new shipment of inventory arrives, or perhaps we’ve made plans with a local friend and reseller to make a trip to the best thrift shops in the area. Then, we bring our items home, discover that everything is in pristine condition, (what?!), and get to listing everything on our platform(s). Unfortunately, all this haste can often lead to flaws going unnoticed. Let’s talk more today about what to do if you find a flaw only after your item sells.
My Item Sold! But I Found a Flaw.
Ahh, the sweet *cha-ching* of the eBay app is like music to your ears. Or the beautiful sound the auction brings when someone else places a new bid on your item.
You get ready to start packing and shipping as soon as payment has been made, and are ready to get the item en route to the customer. But wait! A flaw has been found that definitely wasn’t there before!…or was it?
I’ve had this happen a good handful of times. It’s not the most fun part of reselling, I must admit. Perhaps the lighting at the thrift store was bleak, so you picked up the item unknowing that it had a giant hole under the arm.
Or maybe once you brought your item home, you went through your pile too fast and didn’t really give all the items a really good look over. (This is essential!)
Low and behold, here you are with a new sale, only to be heartbroken while you fold it up all nicely when you discover a new flaw that just seemed to magically appear.
Now what?
Honesty is ALWAYS the Best Policy
This goes without saying. Especially in business. If you can’t be honest with your customers, how on Earth do you expect them to want to return to your store?
Gaining a nice following of repeat buyers is essential to keeping your store growing the way you want it to. When flaws are repeatedly going unannounced, this can be detrimental.
Stay true to your store, yourself, and most importantly, your buyers, as they are trusting in your and your business to provide them with quality and truthfully described items.
If you find a flaw mid-fold before shipping it out, reach out to your buyer to offer a partial refund (if you wish), and explain to them the situation at hand.
Most times customers are more than appreciative of your honesty, and would still prefer the item. There’s some pretty crafty people out there that may be able to remove a stain or stitch a hole that you may not have been able to fix before. Don’t underestimate them!
If for any reason they decide that the item is not up to their standards, simply refund them/cancel the transaction and move on. No need to linger on this as we are all humans and make legitimate humanoid mistakes. For real.
- Related: How To Avoid Returns On eBay
Try not to get upset about these issues, as they do, (and will) happen from time to time. That’s okay! Keep it in mind for the next time around and learn from your mistakes.
Grow with your business and create new paths around these situations to ensure that they don’t happen again in the future. Trust me, both you and your customers will thank you for it!
P.S.! A friendly service announcement that Monday Posts will from now on be moved to Tuesday! Thank you kindly for your understanding and for your continued readership!
Thank You!
A giant thanks to everyone that has supported me this far into my journey! I greatly appreciate you returning to read my posts hope that you will continue to drop by in the future.
Please feel free to drop any comments below that you would like to add! I am always open to advice, suggestions, or even hearing related stories of your own!
I stay as active as possible in the comment section, therefore I will reply to any questions asap.
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Happy selling friends!
-Shelby
