heres another one...betting on the come

[greenoak]

this one still gets me!!! dumb dumb dumb.....betting on the come means giving some super deal or price or service in the hope of some future good thing from the person....

i have done this once this month....a big buyer , supposedly, is coming and wants me to hold something for him... totally against our policy..... i really want his business...etc etc..and we emailed lots over the time and sent pictures etc etc....so i do it on 2 800$ pieces....... it drags out for a couple of weeks....and isnt happening .....
then it happened again this month,,,i take one day off and dh and son jon let some big time [???] dealer, lay back 3 items....just 2 days on a promise from her..... but it doesnt happen....
and worse one of the pieces was in the pile a very good prospect is coming to see and it would possible have tempted this very interested customer to fly here..it actually put off her trip to us...... i had to tell her i didnt have one available....which gets to slowing someone out of the deal....
our policies are so tested and thought out...and for such good reasons....as proved when we get stuck or messed up by betting on the come....

this is also a phrase from the antique world...where you might buy junk from someone who easily says ...when i get this great thing you will get first dibbs.....
my good customers know our rules and dont buck them...they are the ones who should get the extras ,,,not some unknown person....another bad thing about beting on the come...is the framework of the first deal with someone will easily be expected in all future deals....
hope this helps someone out there....
im not mad at either potential customer...i never blame anyone for asking anything....its our response thats the key...
ann

[KristineS]

It's hard to find the balance between being too skeptical about what someone says and not believing anyone. We get a lot of that from people who see us at trades shows. We follow up after the show and we get "oh, we're definitely placing an order, I just need to do inventory" or something similar. So we sit and wait and the order never gets placed. Sometimes it is difficult to separate out the customers who really mean what they say from those who are just saying something to get you off the phone or out of their hair.

[Dan Furman]

As far as holding stuff, money solves that issue nicely. And with credit cards and Paypal, there's no reason an interested party cannot make a small payment to hold something.

[greenoak]

we dont have holds at all.....and i think that has saved us all kinds of hassles.......we dont allow a small payment to hold something...why? to me its either sold or not..if you come with money i dont want a small payment to stop the sale, i want to sell it to you.......
nobody owes us anything ...no accounts recievable...no keeping track of any of that, nobody dodging us becasue they have someting in layaway they dont want anymore...no storage of unpaid items etc etc....
lots of our stuff is one of a kind...
also we have gotten cash from many people who have things on hold other places....
but we did ignore our policy this month.and it was so wrong!!! for us....and we are sorry we had to learn the lesson again...

[Ad-Vice_Man]

Greenoak,

If you took a small non-refundable deposite of say 15-20% in those rare instances where you break your policy. Then if that deal didn't happen, you could offer a 15-20% "Discount" to the buyer who had to wait which would possibly "un-slow" them back into the sale. Which of course isn't really a discount at all but the Deposit from the first buyer.