E-mail replys to classifieds

[Wilbur James]

Does anyone ever have problems knowing if an E-mail was recieved replying to adds in the classifieds?

[barrangatan]

I never know if replies are getting delivered, but I know that Scott maintains such a great system that should the seller put in an incorrect email address and responses are bouncing, he'll let the seller know (or at least let the responder know). Also, not all responses are necessarily answered, and you'll find old threads discussing this phenomenon. A lot depends on the seller. I once replied to an ad with a 'I'll take it' message but never heard back.

[P.D. Kirby]

If the Item had been listed for a long time they may have given up or forgot about running the Ad. Most folks (me included) use a separate e-mail address for on line buying and selling just because once you put the e-mail address out there, which you do the minute you respond to an Ad your Spam mail count goes up by 1000%. But then again I'm not sure if I completely understand your question as written. :confused:

[JEStanek]

As barrangatan it depends on the seller. I've used my primary e-mail address for every sale I've done (5-6 here) and never gotten spam or other junk as a result of it. I've gotten replies to the ad and I usually got them answered within a day. My primary e-mail isn't accessible through my work so I would have to wait until the evening to get messages.

As Scott has said in the past, most sales don't happen very fast. Usually my ads would trickle off to the second or even third page before I closed the deal.

Jamie

[Scott Tichenor]

Does anyone ever have problems knowing if an E-mail was recieved replying to adds in the classifieds?

Not sure I understand exactly what you're asking but I think I know. However, done enough support to know the two don't always match. You're going to have to go to me for a straight answer on how the Classifieds really work. I set them up about 13 years ago and spend time with them daily.

I think you're asking how do you know if your reply was received. The short answer is, you aren't going to know. Once it leaves the server there are a lot of things that can happen. It can just never arrive due to interim points that might tag it as spam, it might hit the recipient's spam folder and never be opened, and some don't give a darn about an item if it's sold, don't pull the ad, don't update, just walk away. Some have second thoughts and decide to not sell and think it's easier to just delete replies. It's no different than any email sent. Relies on the recipient and their response.

I'm always amazed at how many people won't pick up the phone and call a seller even when they list their phone number. Often an option you shouldn't bypass.

[Ole Joe Clark]

I know one of my emails was received, just today. An individual had a request for an item, and I replied in a reasonable manner that I had the item he was looking for, at least I thought I did. About a minute later I received a very rude response letting me know my item did not meet his specifications and he indicated that he thought I was trying to rip him off.
I just figured he hadn't had his coffee yet and didn't even bother to answer.

Joe

[John Uhrig]

Scott hit the nail on the head there. I just sold one of my mandolins in the classifieds and out of the dozen or so people who e-mailed me only one person actually called me. He is also the person who bought it.

[Kip Carter]

I'm always amazed at how many people won't pick up the phone and call a seller even when they list their phone number. Often an option you shouldn't bypass.

Scott,
In this day and age of unlimited long distance (in the USA) being a common part of most peoples phone service I have to agree. I work from home for a major corporation and it is almost comical how we can get into a flurry of emails flying back and forth and by picking up the telephone and talking for 5 minutes we resolve everything we'd spend hours composting messages on.

There is no substitute for face to face communications and the further we get away from that the more difficult good communication is and the greater the possibility of errors and omissions. It makes perfect sense to pick up the phone and get as clear of a picture as you can of the situation.

Kip...

[greg_tsam]

I once replied to an ad with a 'I'll take it' message but never heard back.
Me too!

[Marcus CA]

I've used my primary e-mail address for every sale I've done (5-6 here) and never gotten spam or other junk as a result of it. I've gotten replies to the ad and I usually got them answered within a day.

As Scott has said in the past, most sales don't happen very fast. Usually my ads would trickle off to the second or even third page before I closed the deal.

As an infrequent buyer and seller, I've had the same experience. The Classifieds here are tremendous!

[KarlM]

A lot of email systems allow you to send a message with a delivery or reading confirmation receipt. It doesn't always work, because usually it asks the recipient for confirmation to send the receipt (because they can be used by spammers to confirm valid email addresses) and they can say no. Also, Gmail doesn't support them at all.

[Mike Bunting]

Scott,
we'd spend hours composting messages on.
...
I guess that would account for the high levels of corporate.....manure.

[Wilbur James]

Thank you Scott, and everyone else, My question was about knowing if sent message was recieved, your replys make sence also good point about phone numbers, I dont always see a number to call, a matter of privacy. but I will look in the future for phone numbers to ads I am interested in.

[Kip Carter]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter
Scott,
we'd spend hours composting messages on.


I guess that would account for the high levels of corporate.....manure.

To my point exactly! That would be an error. If it had been direct you would have had that to point out would you?

Of course I had meant to type composing...
And of course spell checker highlighted a typo...
And of course I was doing 5 things at once and clicked on the wrong correction...
And of course you had to rub it in my face...

the... corporate manure...

Enjoy,
Kip...

[Scott Tichenor]

Here's a tip to anyone using the Classifieds. Steer clear of Yahoo addresses if you're placing or replying to ads. They are hands down the worst and most aggressive at attempting to identify spam, and do in my professional opinion a terrible job at effectively evaluating it. Hence, since this site sends a lot of email from forum and classifieds they often won't deliver emails further downstream to a Yahoo mailbox or send it to spam. My life on the web got a lot easier years ago once I dumped Yahoo. I get why people are addicted to a certain service and if you love Yahoo with all your heart, God bless ya, but for effective email, they are the last free service I'd ever recommend.

Tip: Get a GMail account and have your Yahoo mail delivered to it if you just can't dump it. GMail will do a far better job at hosing the spam mail for you, but it won't deliver messages they block in the first place. The massive and continuing lay-offs at Yahoo should tell you where there priorities reside, and it ain't with staffing their email division.

[MikeEdgerton]

Just to add a little e-mail information beyond what Scott has put forth. If you use your company e-mail as the address on your ad there is a chance that your employers own e-mail filters might stop a response from the cafe. Part of my job is to maintain a corporate mail system and I am forever amazed at the stuff that gets stuck. The vast majority of it stays stuck as I'm really not interested in taking time to release non-business related e-mail to people that should be smart enough to go to www.gmail.com and get a free Google mail account.

[Steven Clarkson]

I have never had a problem.

[Keith Witty]

I've only used the classifieds twice.

First time: Emailed, didn't get it.

Second time: Called, Got it.

Moral of the story is: Call them. You might even make a friend. The guy I bought from talked music with me for half an hour before we even talked about the mandolin.