Why is it so hard to buy ponies here?!?

[Eternia]

I don't get it; I have had several sellers on here totally ignore my Pms. They will post a sales post, I'll pm them and reply to the post, my pm will be read but I won't ever get a reply. This has been happening to me a lot lately and it's so so annoying!!! If you want to sell your stuff you need to reply to buyers- duh! The arena used to be my #1 place to buy ponies, now it's like the last place I check :/
I just wanted to buy some ponies 

[Duenia]

I've found when sellers don't reply to me it normally means there's something else going on in their life making it difficult. I've had a few where I've gotten replies with an apology so late that I forgot I even PMed them to inquire about their items in the first place. Maybe it's just coincidence that you're running into this with so many right now?

[Tak]

I've had that happen a few times when the sellers were super busy, away from home, or having some rl troubles. Most I haven't had a problem with. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. 

[bluerose9978]

It's too bad these sellers can't send you out a quick pm to say these ponies are sold or they are away or something.

This is a busy time of year with school starting and athletics for kids. So maybe they check and forget. I would keep trying or post in the wanted forum. You're bound to get better bites that way.

[Taffeta]

I would send a followup to check if they got it okay. I've missed PMs sometimes because my PM box is a messup and keeps telling me I have unread messages when I don't. It also then marks ones I haven't read as read, so I don't see them right away. If it wasn't that I got emailed when I get a PM, I wouldn't always know.

So it might be that. And also, people not checking in here daily. You could leave a message on their post saying you've sent a PM. That might give them a second nudge?

[tulagirl]

I think part of the problem is our PM system.  When you open one mail all get opened whether or not you have read them yet.  It is super easy to miss a pm on the Arena because of this issue. So, say you are a seller and 15 people write you pms about your ponies.  You open the first one and get involved in a conversation with that person.  Then life around you takes you from the computer so you have to log out.  It looks to the prospective buyer that you have read their pm when in actuality you have not.  It is very easy when selling here to miss a pm because of the way the system works.  I am sure their might be some setting to fix it, but I don't know. I have found it difficult to buy from sellers on the Arena also because, people are working, in different time zones and some sellers do not communicate quickly and get a sale completed in a short period of time.  I have had some drag me out a week or more in which case I often just give up.  There are thousands of people on this forum.  It is a great place to sell and buy if you catch a seller with a lot of time to manage their sales thread.  So, if you see a pony you really want send more than one personal message.  Just in case they missed the first one.

[Breyer600]

I think part of the problem is our PM system.  When you open one mail all get opened whether or not you have read them yet.  It is super easy to miss a pm on the Arena because of this issue. So, say you are a seller and 15 people write you pms about your ponies.  You open the first one and get involved in a conversation with that person.  Then life around you takes you from the computer so you have to log out.  It looks to the prospective buyer that you have read their pm when in actuality you have not.  It is very easy when selling here to miss a pm because of the way the system works.  I am sure their might be some setting to fix it, but I don't know.

Just a tip that may help you out with this - above the list of your messages there is an icon that changes the view.  There are three options it cycles through.  I believe the default works the way you describe, but the other two only open the first message on the list rather than all of them.  The one I use displays the messages as conversations - the first pm of a conversation and all replies (yours and the other persons) are open at once so all the information regarding that transaction is all in one place.  Of course that won't help you know if the person you sent a message to has read yours if their messages are still in the default view, but it should help you keep track of your own.

[tulagirl]

I think part of the problem is our PM system.  When you open one mail all get opened whether or not you have read them yet.  It is super easy to miss a pm on the Arena because of this issue. So, say you are a seller and 15 people write you pms about your ponies.  You open the first one and get involved in a conversation with that person.  Then life around you takes you from the computer so you have to log out.  It looks to the prospective buyer that you have read their pm when in actuality you have not.  It is very easy when selling here to miss a pm because of the way the system works.  I am sure their might be some setting to fix it, but I don't know.

Just a tip that may help you out with this - above the list of your messages there is an icon that changes the view.  There are three options it cycles through.  I believe the default works the way you describe, but the other two only open the first message on the list rather than all of them.  The one I use displays the messages as conversations - the first pm of a conversation and all replies (yours and the other persons) are open at once so all the information regarding that transaction is all in one place.  Of course that won't help you know if the person you sent a message to has read yours if their messages are still in the default view, but it should help you keep track of your own.

Thank you so much. In all the years I have been here I have never seen that. Or at least I don't remember seeing it. LOL  I have already changed it.

[Duenia]

Just a tip that may help you out with this - above the list of your messages there is an icon that changes the view.  There are three options it cycles through.  I believe the default works the way you describe, but the other two only open the first message on the list rather than all of them.  The one I use displays the messages as conversations - the first pm of a conversation and all replies (yours and the other persons) are open at once so all the information regarding that transaction is all in one place.  Of course that won't help you know if the person you sent a message to has read yours if their messages are still in the default view, but it should help you keep track of your own.

You just made my life so much easier

[Khayman81]

Should try it too, since I noticed today l had PMs l did not even know they were there... must be careful l guess.

[apanda0622]

I have noticed during my years here on the Arena, that sellers will make a sales post and then say they are going out of town or won't be available to answer Pms possibly.  Then why even make a sales post?  Just do it when you are available.  It makes no sense.  I rarely buy on here either anymore BTW.  And some don't update their posts if a pony is pending so then you are still waiting for a PM for a pony possibly claimed  :/

[Stormness_1]

The only reason I don't buy on here much is shipping, being in Australia, and not being able to search by poster's location just makes it a fair bit harder and more expensive (and heart-wrenching when you see something you want desperately for cheap, but shipping is just.. no.). So I prefer ebay. But in saying that, the transactions I've had here (I usually just do grails and trades, etc) have been fantastic. Sometimes PM's get missed or forgotten about - heck I do tend to forget a bit as well, but most peeps will get back to you at some point. It's always a good idea to pop a "PM sent" on the sales thread, or send a follow-up PM if you get no response.

[True]

I think part of the problem is our PM system.  When you open one mail all get opened whether or not you have read them yet.  It is super easy to miss a pm on the Arena because of this issue. So, say you are a seller and 15 people write you pms about your ponies.  You open the first one and get involved in a conversation with that person.  Then life around you takes you from the computer so you have to log out.  It looks to the prospective buyer that you have read their pm when in actuality you have not.  It is very easy when selling here to miss a pm because of the way the system works.  I am sure their might be some setting to fix it, but I don't know.

Just a tip that may help you out with this - above the list of your messages there is an icon that changes the view.  There are three options it cycles through.  I believe the default works the way you describe, but the other two only open the first message on the list rather than all of them.  The one I use displays the messages as conversations - the first pm of a conversation and all replies (yours and the other persons) are open at once so all the information regarding that transaction is all in one place.  Of course that won't help you know if the person you sent a message to has read yours if their messages are still in the default view, but it should help you keep track of your own.

Oh... My... Gosh! If I ever ignored a PM then this is why.. Sometimes when I clean out my PM's I see something marked as read but I KNOW I never read it. So Im sorry if Iv ignored people. :c Ill have to fix this

[DazzleKitty]

Wow. I never knew about changing the settings for this. This makes it so much easier. I never sell anything but I know I've missed some messages because of the default settings. Thanks for sharing this info.

[Nella]

I also changed these settings from the beginning.

I also use labels in my messages. When I have read one, I label it and it goes away from my inbox. That way my inbox is all 'to do'. The most irritating thing to me is that you can't see if someone has read your message....