I am quite sure this subject has appeared here before, but I believe it is time for a re-run.
One of the most frustrating times after responding to a posting, is waiting for a response. I fully realize people don't normally sit around their computer waiting to see if anyone sends them an email.
However, that being said, I believe when someone posts an item for sale/trade/or whatever, they have a moral responsibility to the ham community to at least check their inbox on a regular interval during the time their ad is active.
The second point I wanted to bring up is the courtesy of a response. If someone takes the time to respond to your ad, its common courtesy to respond back. If you don't like their offer, a simply, "No thanks" only takes a moment to send.
We are supposed to be "professional communicators" yet often times we fail terribly when we communicate with each other. Hopefully that attitude doesn't carry over when we communicate outside our hobby.
Email considerations
Forum rules
As of Dec 9, 2013: ONLY BUYERS AND SELLERS directly involved with a transaction can post here. Do not post replies in any topic if you are not the buyer or seller in the transaction being discussed! If you believe you can help the buyer or seller, please use the Private Message system to communicate with them. NOTE: if you have been scammed by someone pretending to be a ham, please post in the Scammer Reports forum instead. See viewtopic.php?f=2&t=136 for additional rules.
As of Dec 9, 2013: ONLY BUYERS AND SELLERS directly involved with a transaction can post here. Do not post replies in any topic if you are not the buyer or seller in the transaction being discussed! If you believe you can help the buyer or seller, please use the Private Message system to communicate with them. NOTE: if you have been scammed by someone pretending to be a ham, please post in the Scammer Reports forum instead. See viewtopic.php?f=2&t=136 for additional rules.
I am going to take both sides of this discussion and remain fully non-committal about it.
I think that it is OUR responsibility to ensure that things enable us to hear back from emails. In another thread, it is noted that an email address on file with the site is wrong. Therefore, it would be unlikely to get a decent or quick reply.
Does your email deserve a reply? If I put a radio listing up for $100 plus shipping, I would probably not bother to reply to an email offering $50 to include shipping. On the other hand, if I got an email that said, "I'll take it" that would guarantee a reply -- either to close the deal or to tell the writer that it had already been sold via an earlier email.
If you want a reply, you can even ask for one. "Please let me know either way" can go a long way.
There are probably some folks here that I would not bother to respond to anyway. I just don't want to do business with them and think it's better to just keep silent than reply with what I really think of them.
I think that it is OUR responsibility to ensure that things enable us to hear back from emails. In another thread, it is noted that an email address on file with the site is wrong. Therefore, it would be unlikely to get a decent or quick reply.
Does your email deserve a reply? If I put a radio listing up for $100 plus shipping, I would probably not bother to reply to an email offering $50 to include shipping. On the other hand, if I got an email that said, "I'll take it" that would guarantee a reply -- either to close the deal or to tell the writer that it had already been sold via an earlier email.
If you want a reply, you can even ask for one. "Please let me know either way" can go a long way.
There are probably some folks here that I would not bother to respond to anyway. I just don't want to do business with them and think it's better to just keep silent than reply with what I really think of them.