Buyers who are confused or feel mislead can become angry. You won’t like them when they’re angry.
The store terms page in a BrickLink store is one of the most important pages for a buyer to read and for a seller to write. The seller describes their policies about order payment, shipping, returns, cancellation, etc. It’s vital that sellers keep Bricklink store terms as clear and concise as possible. The last thing you want is a confused buyer. At best, confusing store terms will earn you more questions from buyers. At worst, buyers will feel mislead and even angry.
1. Vague or Ambiguous Wording
Keep your store terms as clear and unambiguous as possible. I once bought from a Bricklink seller who wrote, “Orders above certain weight and price will need this service [Priority Mail].” What does a “certain weight” mean? Whatever the seller wants it to mean. The seller charged my 8 ounce order $5.99 for Priority Mail shipping (packages that are 13 ounces or under qualify for the cheaper First Class Parcel rate).
2. Hidden Fees
Buyers shouldn’t feel like a fee unexpectedly popped out at them. I once ordered from an Italian seller whose store terms said, “For payment by Paypal from Europe, the charges are 5%.” The terms made no mention of Paypal fees for buyers outside of Europe (like me). Surprise, my order got slapped with a 5% fee. The seller later changed his store terms to include the rest of the world.
3. Unnecessary Complexity
Keep your store terms simple and to the point. If the words are not absolutely essential, cut them out. Some Bricklink sellers will ramble on unnecessarily. For example, a Bricklink store terms page might say something like:
Due to rising fuel and envelope costs (who knew bubble mailers were so expensive?), I must add a $1.50 handing charge to every order over $20 or $3.00 for all orders under $20. The handing fee also covers the time it takes to sort, count, pull pieces from my inventory. Time is precious, don’t you think? On the first Wednesday of every month I will waive all aforementioned fees, but charge $1 toward the electricity cost for using my computer.
Instead of that long, meandering paragraph, just say something like, “I charge actual shipping plus $1.50 for handling.”
4. Negative Tone
Read through your store terms and count the negative words like no, not, never, etc. For example, some sellers will say, “Absolutely NO order cancelations. We are NOT responsible for uninsured lost packages. We NEVER accept returns, NO exceptions.” Try to minimize negativity.
5. Poor Layout and Visual Appeal
What do run on sentences, long paragraphs, and ALL CAPS have in common? They’re hard to read! The last thing you want to do is irritate your customers and hinder them from buying from you.
6. Outdated Information
I once placed an order in a store with terms that stated, “OUR STORE WILL BE CLOSED FROM AUGUST 1 TO AUGUST 19, 2013”. I placed that order in May 2015. Other stores highlight old shipping price increases, writing something like “Shipping rates will increase in January 2013”. Make sure that all of your store terms are up to date.