Ghosting Vendors

No

I remember reading a thread here before where I think for the most part people said, no, but it'd be courteous to do so anyways. A lot of times vendors that you've contacted will follow up with you, so it could be nice to give them the heads up so they take you off their list, so to speak.

I say not unless you have met with them in person or exchanged multiple emails. If they reach out again, then politely let them know that you are going elsewhere.

I think it's much more important in the case where you've actually met with the vendor.

Thanks everyone! I kind of planned on ghosting everyone except follow-up emails or people whom I had met with, called, or exchanged multiple emails with.

I've shamefully ghosted via email. But I haven't with anyone I've talked to on the phone or met in person.

The polite thing to do would be telling them you aren't interested. If you see an email, why not just reply and say no thank you instead of ignoring them?

They spend numerous hours trying to follow up with potential clients, thats time that is wasted when someone doesn't simply reply back with a "no thanks".

Would you appreciate it if someone inquired about your business or services but didn't have the common decency to take one minute to reply back after you spent your time giving them information and following up?

@MTMA9917 I see your point, but on the other hand I see a "no thank you" email as kind of useless. Do vendors keep track of all the customers that have emailed them and then cross them off their list with that email? Or is it just another email to clog up their inbox? I'd love vendors opinion on this! I'd totally reply back to every email, but "No thanks!" seems kind of harsh and pointless. I feel like either way it's wasting their time because I'm unfortunately not going with their business.

Yes, most vendors do keep track of who they've followed up with and who they haven't. I know I do with my photography business. I don't mean a literal no thank you, more of a "we decided to go another route, we found someone who was within our budget, etc".

It's better that they know you aren't interested than waste time sending emails that they don't need to.

If it's someone you spent time talking with or was a strong contender to earn your business, it's the polite thing to do. That also saves more follow ups and wasted time on both ends.

@Livthenurse, we can remove in our system any leads that respond back as booking someone else so we don't wonder if they're still interested. It's helpful. I don't expect answers to everyone who inquires....but when I take an interest in someone and spend time with them, it's a slap in the face when they just ghost.

@JayFarrellPhotography Thanks for your reply! If it's just an availability check/price quote (one response to my initial email), is it common/okay to ghost then? I'm still not at the stage where I've narrowed down who I want, but would like to be courteous/appropriate when I've come to that decision.

If the dialog doesn't continue past that, nothing else is necessary. Correct Don't be surprised if the vendor follows up to check to see if you're interested. At that time, you can let them know if you want to let them off the hook and prevent further emails.