Hey, today I will tell you about the mysterious world of e-commerce from a seller's perspective, which is also me. Yes, it's me, the one on the other side of the screen, who makes sure you can click "buy now" at 3 in the morning. And I have to tell you - customers can be... amazing! Looking at it from both the viewpoint of the person who creates online stores and owns them.

Fasten your seatbelts! It's going to be fun!

Firstly, there is a group I named "creative accountants". Those are people who can conjure up discounts where there are none. They use magic tricks like "But it was cheaper yesterday!" even though the promotion ended two weeks ago. Some even try to convince me that their cat accidentally clicked "buy", so the price should be lower. Cats, as we know, love hunting for promotions.

Then there are the "detectives". They know everything better. "Is this sweater really made of alpaca wool, and not a blend of alpaca with polyester?" I politely reply that the alpacas in our company have higher education and do not agree to blends.

Let's not forget about the "hard negotiators". You know them – those who start the conversation with: "For this much I can have two!". Well, life is full of mysteries, one of them being why they don't buy where it's cheaper.

And recipes for this - screw you, seller!

But the real cherry on top are the "return record holders". They buy, wear for three weeks and return, claiming that "it's not it". I don't know how they do it, but sometimes I get the impression that it's an Olympic discipline. Do you know what's the funniest thing, though? The seller has obligations! Of course, "internet lawyers" would get activated here, experts of all sorts of regulations... but - a lot of people know what it looks like from both sides and will agree with me!

Over all these years in the e-commerce industry, I've learned one thing - customers are like a box of surprises, you never know what you'll pull out. And me? I am like that uncle at the family reunion, who listens to all the stories and tries to keep his sense of humor. Sometimes there's a return you just can't refuse because the customer has the right, sometimes the customer forgets to pick up a shipment he urgently needed the day before yesterday to arrive before the weekend. Not to mention when the "package arrived in such a condition", especially when the same customer stated that they don't need that package and order after all! You could go crazy!

Of course, despite all these colorful characters, most customers are really wonderful people who appreciate our work. Unfortunately, there are lots of groups on social media where people even compete about who got more from the "innocent" seller... For what? Because the box came damaged but there was no time to write a report with the courier, on the other hand the product met the requirements, but for the principle, the seller got a lower rating or fewer stars (especially on one Polish portal), so the same seller sent an email an hour later with a proposition for a "settlement"...

And responsibilities? Ah, those multiply like rabbits. From managing inventories, through marketing, customer service, to fighting with a demanding algorithm... Buh... Not the algorithm of the sales platform! Not even Google's algorithm! The algorithm according to which customers everywhere try to fight with the shops! You could write a whole saga about this.

But remember, behind every product that lands in your virtual cart, there is a person – with blood, sweat and sometimes tear (out of laughter, of course!). So the next time you're wondering whether the "cat accidentally clicked", remember that on the other side somebody is spilling coffee from laughter.