Having a lot of experience in buying and selling online for the last 6 years, I have come across a huge variety of people both buyers and sellers from all around the world. Different people have different personalities and react in diverse ways in a specific situations including online trading. Among the different factors that shape the relationship between buyers and sellers that came into my attention the hardest one to build was trust. In this short article I am going to try to explain the most important factor in online trading today which is “Trust”.
Like traditional trading, trust is a major factor to attract more sales and build a healthy relationship between you and your buyers. Throughout my online trading activity, I always build on this fact but I was unaware of how hard it would actually be to achieve it. The internet provides anonymity for users thus buyers are more careful from whom they buy items from and extra vigilant in trusting anyone that they have not met in person or seen their items. As a seller in an online marketplace, you are essentially inviting people to buy your products based on just a description, several images and a profile page, so to achieve trust you will need to provide just a bit more than that.
Among the most important aspects of trust is personalization. Even though is important to have a corporate identity, try to answer questions and inquiries from prospective buyers in a more personal way. Introduce yourself not “as a shop” or “just another seller” but as a normal person. Buyers respect that and will feel more comfortable talking and interacting with you about trading possibilities.
Most online marketplaces allow sellers to write a short bio and build a customized profile page. Take advantage of this option and provide a background about you or your shop. Studies have shown that the vast majority of buyers browse and read through the seller’s profile page almost every time before they proceed with a transaction.
Last but not least, answer questions. Do not get frustrated even at the most silly ones. Stay calm, answer questions politely and most importantly provide extra information and images if asked. Almost every time a buyer asks a question means he or she is interested in purchasing your items.
Having in mind the above factors will surely enhance your ability as an online seller and help you in building trust with your buyers.