Do you ever get those e-mails?
You know.
The ones that you think must be someone trying to joke around or super-spam or scam you if you reply. The ones where the word "you" is a one letter word. The ones that ask you for product prices and in the next e-mail want to order TWO HUNDRED House Tape Measures?! And it all sounds so ridiculous that it just can't be real! Of course you have to bring to their attention that your "company" is really only ONE little you, with orders booked until the end of October; with a house, a husband and a 3 year old to take care of. Then you realize if you finish one each day for the next seven months of your life you could actually fill the order!
There is always a chance that it could be real so you try to be polite, friendly & helpful but tread cautiously. You require a 50% deposit on a small sample batch and do NOT accept payment by cheque in the mail or credit card by phone. Paypal is my friend.
I await the next e-mail...
Please be very careful! robin atkins in her blog, beadlust, just mentioned a scammer who almost cost her a bundle!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Oh yes, I am definitely being very careful. I have told the man that I am only accepting payments through Paypal. He even asked after that if he could do payment by phone but I said no... only Paypal. I have not heard from him since. Off to read about the scammer. Thanks :o)
ReplyDeleteThe man was almost certainly a scammer... I've had several like that. The give-away about them being a scammer is that they have no concerns or questions about your product EXCEPT the want to know the cost and payment. It really irks me. Good idea about PayPal and requesting an advance payment... That's what I'll do next time. As your husband says, you don't want to turn away ligitimate business, and it's always possible it is ligitimate. A friend of mine makes artsy pot holders. The inquiry she received was real, and now she has a steady income from this customer. Thanks for visiting my blog... no problem about the glass rings... I think they're already spoken for!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Robin A.