# The Three Questions Every Buyer Asks
Wednesday's card says it in six words: measurements, flaws, what's included. Read a week of buyer messages and most of them are one of those three questions asked a different way. How long is it? Does the lid have a crack? Does the cable come with it?
Each message costs you a reply and costs the buyer a delay. Some buyers wait for the answer. Many move on to a listing that already had it. Answering the three questions in the listing itself is the cheapest customer service you will ever provide.
Measurements Replace Guesswork
Sizes on a label describe the manufacturer's intent, not the item in your hands. A buyer who has been burned by a "large" that fit like a medium will ask for the chest and the length no matter what the tag says. The same goes for furniture, picture frames, shoes and anything that has to fit a space.
Measure once, the same way every time, and write the numbers in the description in a consistent order. Put the unit on every figure. If the item is odd in shape, say what you measured from and to. Buyers do not need the measurement to be flattering. They need it to be true.
Flaws Are A Promise, Not A Confession
Sellers hesitate to list flaws because they feel like reasons not to buy. Buyers read them the opposite way. A listing that names the scuff on the back corner and shows it in a photo tells the buyer there are no surprises waiting in the box.
Describe each flaw in plain words and point to the photo that shows it. "Small chip on the base, pictured in photo six" is better than "some wear." If the flaw affects function, say so. If it does not, say that too. The buyer who still buys after reading that paragraph is a buyer who will not open a case over it.
What's Included Is Where Returns Come From
The most expensive message is the one that arrives after delivery: "I thought the charger was included." Everything the buyer receives should be listed, and everything they might assume is included but is not should be named as well.
Write it as a short list. Console, one controller, power cable, no HDMI cable. Game, case, no manual. Jacket only, belt not included. When the item has parts that could be mistaken for a complete set, a photo of everything laid out together settles it before the buyer has to ask.
Put The Answers Where Buyers Look
A buyer skimming on a phone reads the title, the first two lines of the description and the photos. If your measurements are in paragraph four, they are effectively hidden.
Lead the description with the three answers. Then add the story of the item, the model details and anything else. Repeat the most important point in a photo caption or an overlay where the marketplace allows it. The goal is that a buyer who reads nothing else still has what they need.
Make It A Template, Not A Chore
The reason sellers skip this is time. The fix is to stop writing it from scratch. Keep a short template per category with blanks for the measurements, a flaws line and an included line. Fill the blanks while the item is in front of you, before it goes back on the shelf.
Once the template exists, the three answers take less than a minute per listing. The messages they prevent take far longer, and every one of them is a buyer who might not have waited for a reply.
Check Your Own Messages
If you are not sure which questions to answer first, look at your inbox from the last month. The questions buyers actually sent are the questions your next listing should answer before it goes live. Fix the listing that generated the question, then carry the fix forward into the template.
That loop is the whole practice. Answer it once in the listing, and you answer it for every buyer who comes after.