Silk Road forums
Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: googleyed1 on June 26, 2013, 09:29 pm
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Hello to all you Noobs!
Googleyed has taken it upon himself to share some words of wisdom with all you new comers regarding the way in which the SR system works from the point of view of a vendor. Unless you know what we see on our end and how we work, it occurs to me that the SR system could be a little confusing at times, and with that in mind I would like to share some insights with you:
1. When you place an order, the information comes through to our orders page, and is added to the Unshipped Orders list at the top of the page. We are then able to view the order number, item, quantity, address, customer username, and so on. We take this information, and go about processing your order, weighing, packing, labeling, and finally posting your order off. Whilst we are in this process, the order status will be "processing". SR allows us up to 4 days to process your orders. After this time limit, you, the buyer, will have the option to cancel the order, regardless of whether we have sent it already or not. It is our responsibility as vendors to send out orders and mark them in transit within this 4 day period. Of course, we try to do this as quickly as possible, but the allocated maximum time is 4 days. Furthermore, as with Googleyed, some vendors will have an external shipping department, meaning that the order information will be forwarded to the shipper responsible for the product, they will pack and ship the product, and then they will send confirmation back to the vendor who will then mark the item "in transit". This is the reason that sometimes it can appear as though a vendor has not sent your item, when in fact it is most likely already on the way out, but confirmation has not yet been received from the shipper, and thus it has not yet been marked "in transit". In these instances, do not panic and hassle your vendor. Wait the 4 days, and if they are really slow, you have the opportunity to cancel, and you might even get some free product if they have messed up and sent the order but not marked "in transit" ;)
2. Once your order has been sent out and marked "In Transit", the order leaves the Unshipped Orders list at the top of the Orders Page, and joins the Shipped Orders list at the bottom of the Orders page. As soon as this happens, we vendors can no longer see your address information! This is can be rather inconvenient for us, but it is designed to protect your privacy. From this point on, SR allows 17 days before the order will be automatically finalised, and your payment released from escrow to the vendor. Or of course, you can confirm receipt of the order and release payment yourself. Your third option, in the event that the package does not arrive within the 17 days, is to move the order into resolution. This option however is only available in the last 5 days before the package is due to auto finalise. If your move the order into resolution, it will appear in the Resolution Center area in the middle of the vendor's Orders page (see point 3b).
3a. Whether you finalise your order manually, or the order is auto finalised, all that happens from the vendor's point of view is that the order disappears from the list, and the funds are released into the vendor's account. This is worth noting. Unless you inform us via a message or you put the order into resolution, we will have no idea of any problems that may have occurred with the order. And f you let it auto finalise, you will no longer have the ability to bring it to resolution. In this case, you need to inform the vendor of the problem via a message, and they should try to help you.
3b. If your order does not arrive, or does not arrive as expected, in the final 5 days before auto finalise you can bring the order into resolution. Once you do this, the order will move from the Shipped Orders list of the vendors Order page, and into the Resolution Center. It is worth noting that no automated message will be sent to the vendor, and they may not notice that this has happened immediately. Therefore it is a good idea, and also just plain good manners, to message the vendor before you put the item into resolution. This way, they will be able to attend to your problem immediately, and you can start the resolution process on good terms, having spoken to the vendor in person before bringing SR staff into the mix. In resolution, both parties will have the option to put forward either a due date extension, or a refund % as a resolution. Again, if you put forward a resolution option, no automated message will be sent to the vendor, so it is always best to message them directly to discuss how to move forward. In the case of a reship, the vendor will put a due date extension in the resolution center which you should accept, or you can do this yourself and the vendor will accept. In the case that no resolution can be reached, the case will go to SR staff, who will force a resolution either way. In reality, this should never have to happen, and their time should never have to be wasted. If you politely discuss the issue with the vendor, you should be able to come to an agreement between the two of you, extend the due date or agree on a refund, manage the resolution yourselves, and SR Staff need never be bothered.
4. Whether through resolution, auto finalise, or manual finalise, once your order is finalised it will disappear from the vendor's Orders page. The only trace of it at this point will be in the Account History section of the vendor's control panel. Here the order number can be located and the order information viewed, minus the address, for a further 3 months before being automatically deleted. However, as there are only 35 records per page, locating an old order manually can be a real headache for the vendor. With this in mind, it is always best if you keep your own records of your orders if you feel you might need to reference them at a later date.
The main thing I would like you all to take from this post is, above all, always message your vendor if you have any problems with orders. We are very busy people, and often we may not even have noticed that something is wrong. Be nice, be polite, and raise the issue in an amicable way, and we will always try to help you to the best of our ability. We are humans too, we make mistakes, and issues arise that are out of our control. Just a little communication and a friendly attitude and 99% of the time these issues can be solved very easily.
Also, please guys, don't be assholes and leave us a bad feedback rating if there has been some issue. We all deserve a clean sheet and a 5/5 if we are doing our best to provide a good service. It makes a difference to our business, and it's not OK to abuse that. If you have had an issue, and the vendor has worked with you to solve it, they deserve a 5/5. If they have been an asshole and told you to get fucked, then OK, that is a different story. But when something out of our control has gone wrong, or we made a mistake, but we rectified the situation, don't leave us a 3/5 because you were inconvenienced in some way. That just makes you an asshole. And nobody likes an asshole!
I hope this has been helpful and insightful, and that it will make SR a nicer place to be for all of us. Have a great day you guys!
Kind regards, GE
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Thanks for taking the time to post this valuable perspective. The whole customer is always right mentality does not apply here but of course carries over due to the feedback format. This is not ebay and or amazon.
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This is very helpful, considering Im thinking of doing the whole vendor thing, I just have to weigh the pros and cons of everything...
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Bene, Bene! Molto Bene!!
I hope I won't have to deal with buyers who don't think to contact their vendor before raising hell, but it's bound to happen. Even the best of vendors meet the harshest of buyers.
Do you mind if I stick this in my signature, for good measure?
Thanks for this, really
~ST
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Great write-up.....+1
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Yes thank you for those details, it can help buyers understand things from the point of the vendor.
I think what might help is if we had a list of things to do to be a model customer. I.e. if you really like your vendor(s), how can you be the perfect customer to them? I'm just guessing at a few, but maybe vendors could add more:
1. Don't ask dumb questions? If the information is in the product page or the vendor page, don't send a msg to the vendor asking for that information. Even worse, don't PGP encrypt it if your address isn't in it. Such actions take extra time on the part of the vendor to process.
2. Don't msg the vendor after 2 days asking where your order is. USPS is having issues in some parts of the country/certain origin zip codes.
3. Don't ask for discounts, at least not on the first order?
4. Vendors are people too. No need to get ticked or irate in any messages. Keep it cordial with please and thank you.
I don't know I'm just rambling.
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I find that insightful and exceptionally useful.
Yes thank you for those details, it can help buyers understand things from the point of the vendor.
I think what might help is if we had a list of things to do to be a model customer. I.e. if you really like your vendor(s), how can you be the perfect customer to them? I'm just guessing at a few, but maybe vendors could add more:
1. Don't ask dumb questions? If the information is in the product page or the vendor page, don't send a msg to the vendor asking for that information. Even worse, don't PGP encrypt it if your address isn't in it. Such actions take extra time on the part of the vendor to process.
2. Don't msg the vendor after 2 days asking where your order is. USPS is having issues in some parts of the country/certain origin zip codes.
3. Don't ask for discounts, at least not on the first order?
4. Vendors are people too. No need to get ticked or irate in any messages. Keep it cordial with please and thank you.
I don't know I'm just rambling.
I also want to say that mcguire brings up good points too!
what are your thoughts on finalizing early?
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Very helpful and insightful. Thanks!