Do you avoid working with someone who takes a week (or more) to respond?

[Guest hanashivoice]

You know the type; they contact you inquiring about your services, you give them a quote, and they don’t respond until more than a week has passed. To me, that seems a bit iffy. Suppose a problem arose during their order. How can you be sure they’ll respond in a timely matter when they waited ages to respond to your quote?

What say you, fine people? Do you consider this a red flag?

[Guest offlinehelpers]

Nope - I had a buyer who asked me about a project back in September and ordered today.

Not a problem! 🙂

[roots282]

I usually don’t. There could be a million reasons for buyers to take long to respond.

A few months ago, I contacted a seller regarding a book cover, talked to her about it a bit, and then the whole project got delayed so I didn’t order. When I’m finally ready, I’ll definitely order from her as she was able to understand what I wanted and had excellent samples and past deliveries. I hope she doesn’t consider my absence a red flag. I doubt she remembers me at all. 🙂

[catwriter]

I don’t see it as a red flag, either.

However, if they disappear for a month or more, and then come back and say they need it in 24 hours, I will most likely turn down the project.

[misscrystal]

That happens two out of three times. They ask a question, get a quote and then disappear and a week later they come back and order. It’s not a problem.

I do that myself sometimes with sellers when I’m interested but not quite ready to order.

[Guest uxreview]

I add expiration time to my offers because my schedule is constantly changing.

If they come back 2 weeks later then offer has expired and I will make a new one, which might have a different price or delivery time. I don’t see it as a red flag because no matter when they come back I choose the delivery time and cost.

I’m guessing that in most cases they are just doing their research. They are asking offers from multiple sellers and making a decision when they get all the offers. In my experience these buyers usually tend to be more pleasant to work with:)

[misscrystal]

I raised my prices recently so when they come back they get a new offer with a higher price, so it’s fine with me if they didn’t order previously. 🙂

[mariokluser]

I see it as annoying and when somebody annoys me, I don’t work with that person.

[eoinfinnegan]

I often get quotes and offers from sellers that I don’t need for some time. Do you have any idea how long it can take to get the right seller? Why would planning in advance be a negative?
It can also be because buyers are waiting on responses from other sellers. Something that many sellers forget or are unaware of is that the order they get can be the tiniest part of a much bigger project. Not being available to discuss the finer details of a $5 order can be because the other $995 worth of orders which make up the full project take priority.

[misscrystal]

I have projects in mind that I don’t act on but gather information for the future when I have the time and inclination to go forward with my ideas so that’s one reason I ask questions and get a quote without placing an order.

[therighttwo]

Depends on whether I think dealing with the potential client is going to be difficult or not. The reason I’m picky is because sometimes I’ve had orders and then the customer just hasn’t responded. So, then I’m forced to dispute it. Again, it all goes on how I feel about the person. If I get a good vibe, then yeah it’s all good.