SELL ME YOUR SOUL

i've noticed that all my posts lately contained questions. always wondering and seldom experiencing... do i still have a life? let's not discuss that. here are some stories for everyone to snack on.

for a few years now i've been into selling. i've sold accessories, bags and diapers through my multiply site and i joined at least two bazaars. i went through different experiences selling my products. there are customers who acted superior to me just because i'm a seller and i saw them transform right before my very eyes when i happened to mention what i really do for a living and that this was just a sideline.

there are cheapos in the world of selling. there was once this lady who made us go to her house so she can pay me. thankfully her house was just across the Valle Verde bazaar area. she wrung me dry with haggling and i thought she was rich just looking at her house but mother of all surprises, she paid me with a cheque. who pays 1 thousand pesos with a cheque? and asks for change? in her mind, i agreed to her abusive price. now i know why they're rich. and i'm not. *sniff... sad.

soft-hearted as i am, i cannot resist a customer who haggles but sometimes i just get so damned abused. by the end of a negotiation, both parties should end up happy. i read this somewhere. ha! i read it in a romance novel!

so, why am i the one who's always stressed out?

i also joined a bazaar organized by my egroup. i was so busy with work that i wasn't able to prepare. so i arrived late and couldn't even fill up my tiny table with merchandise. i did sell a few things and even had a small reunion with a former driver from work. the people there at the QC Circle made me sad. i sold all my junk and it made them happy. i felt terrible. i should have just given them those shoes for free.

what i don't like about bazaars is how the people criticize your merchandise. the default setting of a customer is to think that even if it's a bazaar and the prices are supposed to be looowww, you're still pulling their leg because your mark up is still very high. customers make snide remarks about why is the price like this, in Divisoria it's only blah blah... but they don't realize that you've lowered the price enough to give you a decent mark up. besides, they can go to Divisoria for all i care because they won't find my products there. A seller who happens to be a customer also understands another seller. most of the time, at least. there are also sellers who use their experience as a seller to thrive on other sellers' lack of experience.

i have customers who say that my products are fake but they've no proof. they ask and they ask but they don't have the budget to buy your stuff. they make wrong comparisons. and sometimes this makes me look bad to other customers.

online selling is okay. i call the courier and send the stuff to the buyer once payment is confirmed. the transaction is built on trust. but with nappies, it's a different story. we really have to meet up considering the bulk of the product parang di ka na rin nakatipid if ipapa-courier.

bottomline is, selling is very addictive.