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Sadly, on the internet there are all kinds of people who are looking for something-for-nothing! Somehow, they believe that they are "entitled" to free resources, help and advice - just because they want it. They are the same ones who are indignant if they don't receive very high prices for their own products.
A recent email from an eBay seller is just so amazing and so filled with helpful lessons for us all, that I can't let it go by without comment.
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(1st EMAIL)
> I visited your site and went to your link for the "Wholesale
> Database", at this time I do not have the money to get this database
> from you but I am saving so that I can. I have been trying to sell on
> Ebay since June of 1999 and still not having much luck with it. I
> don't have a lot of money and run this business from my home. The
> wholesaler's that I try to find seem to either inflate their prices or
> their shipping costs and I have yet to find a good wholesaler to deal
> with. In your link to this Wholesale Database you stated that you
> would be willing to share the name ofyour favorite wholesaler who
> sells all of the products you listed on that page, and offers blank
> catalogs to their customers. Would you care to share this wholesaler
> with me until I can get up enough money to access your Wholesale
> Database? I sure would appreciate the help if you can provide me with
> it.
- - -
(MY REPLY)
>I'm sorry but the name of that particular wholesaler is a bonus given to
>my students and customers. It wouldn't be fair to them to give out this
>information to others.
>Good luck with your eBay business.
- - -
2nd EMAIL)
>I see. The way you word it on your site makes it sound like you will
> give it to any serious ebayer. Maybe you should reword it on your site
> and state it is only for your customer's and students. I was going to
> try and save what little money I have for your database, but I think
> you're just trying to make a sell here and I'm not even sure what the
> database is like. On your site you sounded like a nice and helpful
> person, but I guess I read into it wrong.
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1. First of all, I can't imagine why she thinks I will “give it to any serious ebayer"? In fact the copy states:
- - -
To Sum It All Up ... you get:
1. The database with hundreds of legitimate, real wholesalers
2. Frequent additions of new wholesalers
3. Our Wholesale Guide
4. The name of our favorite wholesaler
5. Advertising Gold
- - -
How is that confusing?
2. How can I possibly know if someone is a “serious ebayer"? Just because they say so?
3. She says “ I was going to try and save what little money I have for your database" but “I'm not even sure what the database is like". Does that sounds like a serious buyer or do you think she just wanted free information?
4. But the real point of this entire rant is the comment, “I think you're just trying to make a sell here".
Of course I'm trying to make a “sell"!!! That's what I do for a living ... I sell on the internet. Am I supposed to be ashamed of that? Why does she want the name of the wholesaler? Isn't it to make a 'sell'. Why should we be ashamed of that? That's the way our system works: you have a widget that someone values and they give you money in order to own that widget.
She says I'm not a “nice and helpful person" because I won't simply give away this information. I don't know what she sells but let's say it's a bracelet. What if I wrote her and asked her to send me a bracelet? Just because I want one? And for free? She would refuse, I suspect.
Yet, how is that any different from requesting information?
Many people would say that it's different because the bracelet cost her “X" numbers of dollars to buy, yet the information costs nothing. 100% wrong! If you have struggled trying to make money on the net (and who hasn't?) then you will know exactly how valuable information and skills really are. I spent a LOT of time and money to acquire the knowledge that I have. If I lost everything today, I could rebuild my business in a relatively short time, simply because of what I know. Now, that's valuable!
And what about my concern for the students who have paid their money for information? Should I create competition for them just because someone asks? Here is an email from a Genius student named John who is using this exact company in his business (to protect his income stream, I am not revealing what he is selling):
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Those {{products}} I buy for 99,....I'm selling them all day long...for
$10! Every morning I get up and there's another notice or two that I've
sold more. Now I've got a cub scout troop in Ashville, NC that wants
quantities. I wish I had three or four of me....then I could really crank
this up. I can see how you can stay very busy doing this kind of work."
- - -
Do I owe my paying customers nothing? Would John think that I am “a nice and helpful person" if I create more competition for him just because someone asks?
If this lady has been selling on eBay since 1999 – and can't afford the modest sum of $39.95 – then she needs to take a long and hard look at what she's doing. She doesn't have a business – she has a hobby.
The moral to this particular story: if you sell on the net:
1. Be PROUD of what you're doing! It is an honorable business and never apologize for trying to make a sale.
2. Value your skills and knowledge! You earned them with hard work, many hours and much labor and you're entitled to the fruits from all those work.
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