Posted By:
Bruce MorelandI disagree that feedback needs to be left at point of payment, but that's a different topic.
I agree with you that any auction seller who doesn't keep his bidders happy is an idiot.
If you sell for fixed prices, having a good customer doesn't always end up being that big a deal. If you have finite stock, and more buyers than you can service with that stock, adding more buyers won't help you. Even if you have infinite stock, the amount you make from each buyer can never be more than some percentage of what they spend on your stuff. Meaning, that if someone walks in with $100, you make $100 minus your total costs.
If you sell via auctions, a happy customer can be a tremendous asset. Every item he wins is an item that you made more money on than you would have otherwise.
Furthermore, for every item he's the underbidder on (and this can be a huge number of items), he has the same effect, even though he saves his money and can bid on another of your items.
I think about this sometimes when I bid $75 on an item and lose, when the third-place bidder has bid $25.
bruce