Lately I have been seeing some ffk cases happening right after Chinese New Year... Not sure why it happened but I would probably guessed that some parents wouldn't want their youngsters to spend their ang pau money on cards. Well you can't really blame them because they have their own reasons to think otherwise. This would mean that they'll cancel most of their dealings and then a ffk case begins. Some are just small cases which not much of us would want to spend their time reporting the case but it does cause some signing depression which not many of us would like to have. So here are a few tips on how to avoid ffk cases which I think it might be helpful for you all. I'm pretty sure many of you have heard of these ideas but just to help out in case if you missed out some :)
1. Whenever a buyer wanting to reserve some cards, give them 3-7 days and if they go beyond that, ask them to at least pay a little deposit. within that period, keep in touch with them and see whether is everything fine over their side. Don't leave them be until the deadline for payment because they MIGHT have some minor issues coming up last minute. Simply start a small little chat to see if they're alright.
2. If you have many buyers that wanted the same item but they all say they'll bank in on some time later, you can either A.) Apply the "first come, first serve" basis as in whoever pays the money first, gets the item first or B.) turn it into an auction and start seeing who gives the highest price and the highest bidder gets the item (risks: option B would have a slight chance of ffk occuring so if it does happen, you just move on to the second highest bidder). Do ask why they ffk and hear their reasons, it might be helpful for you in controlling the bidding price in the future.
3. Whenever you got a buyer that offers an odd price for your item (high price, which is a good thing) do ask them for their age and which state they live in. And if they're 12 years old or below, request them to ask their parent's permission and have a little chat with their mother or father to see whether they are really fine with their child buying your item with such a price. (obviously you should try to convince them that your item is good and rare to find (promoting)).
4. If you're not sure whether a buyer is trustable or not (maybe they deposit half of the amount and wanted you to do postage on their item first, and then they'll only bank in their other full amount), you can copy and paste their FB links on the UTCC facebook group to ask whether if they're trustworthy or not (I know most of you did this, but just to leave it out here).
5. When a person is ABOUT to ffk or show signs of their plans to ffk, you know that you don't have to waste your time or persuade them anymore, just make this quick and see whether they want to ffk or not right out straight. You can either A.) Tell them that you have another buyer offering a higher price than his/her price and is planning to bank in today. This can make them decide a little faster and if they do ask for some time to think about it, give them 24 hours (standard). B.) back to Tip 1, ask them to pay a little deposit if they still want to keep the deal going longer.
6. When a person ffk, you can either report them or ask them why and hear their reasons (if they're just trolling around, next time just avoid dealing with them)...
7. If you do plan to meet up with them f2f, obviously ask for their contact info and by right, you should decide the location for the f2f. If they really could not meet f2f and does not know how to do a bank deposit, provide free postage (common courtesy to encourage them on doing a bank deposit) to give them specific instructions on how to do a SIMPLE bank deposit:
ATM deposit:-
step 1: Give them your bank details: Name of the bank, bank account name and bank account number and ask them go to the bank (the bank you specified).
step 2: Stand in line at the "Deposit" machine, NOT ATM machine (huge difference) and (if there is no queue, walk to the front of the machine).
step 3: Press some random buttons and wait for the machine to respond, follow the bank instructions which will lead you to key in the seller's bank account number.
step 4: The deposit machine will confirm with you on the account by showing you the user's bank account name. If it's correct, press "yes" and put in the money.
step 5: wait for the receipt and take a picture of the bank deposit. Send it to the seller to confirm your payment and wait for your item to arrived in 1-4 working days.
Counter deposit (for some reasons you might have sens or RM1-RM9 in you total price, maybe GST???? these are the instruction for them to do a counter deposit):-
step 1: (same as the step:1 from ATM deposit).
step 2: Take a number and have a seat. (if you don't know which button to press for the number, ask the service guy (the person standing in front of the number machine) to help you press the number for cash deposit).
step 3: Wait for your number to be called (while waiting, go to the "fill-up form counter" (the table with lots of paper and pen), take the "cash deposit" form/slip and fill up the seller's bank details.
step 4: When you're called, go to the counter and tell them the seller's bank details / give them the slip that you have filled up and hand over the amount that you wanted to deposit according to the seller's price.
step 5: Take the bank receipt and send a picture of it to the seller for confirmation on your payment and wait for your item to arrive.
I know, these things sound so easy and yet most of you thought that the buyer was trolling with you. (no offence, I thought the same thing at first) But turns out they really don't know how to do a bank deposit and sometimes you just gotta help them. Simply copy and paste these instructions if they really don't know how to do a bank deposit. And if they give some lame excuse like they're lazy, then don't bother meeting up with them (because if they can choose to walk out of the house to meet up with you, by right, going to the bank should be the same amount of effort).
With all that in mind, I do hope these tips help you in solving some of your major ffk problems and do share some of them here if you think that I might have missed out on some of them. Thank you :)
