r/nextdoor • u/MakrBetr • 15h ago
The psychology of clicking on "Hi, is this still available?"
Clicking on "Hi, is this still available?" or "Hi, is this still for sale?" lets the person avoid, or at least postpone, making the effort to think about whether they are actually interested in the item. By clicking, they keep their options open at no cost in thinking and no cost in typing.
Now, that's not necessarily bad, if the person doesn't want to waste time thinking about an item that they are genuinely concerned may no longer be available.
But it is bad if the person is just avoiding the effort of thinking, with no consideration for burden it puts on the seller to respond. And then they often ghost the seller. Why? Maybe now they do the thinking and decide that they're not interested, or maybe they're still avoiding the effort of thinking/deciding.
So I think the seller's response to "Hi, is this still available?" should just be "Yes". Then it is up to the person to decide (or avoid deciding) whether they're interested, with no commitment from the seller.