Some buyers could really care less if you include a thank you note with their package, but [in my opinion] you should ALWAYS throw one in anyway. Here’s why:
Generally, people tend to appreciate the extra effort. Even though your note may not be totally personalized, you’re at least letting them know that you care about their overall experience. All it takes is a big, bold “THANK YOU”, and perhaps some steps to take if they’d like to contact you for any reason. It’s the LEAST you could do from a customer service standpoint–and I think it’s best to try to mimic Zappos‘ culture of WOW any way you can (which also means beating expectations at every level possible).
A quick note to the buyer also gives you the opportunity to actually ASK for positive feedback. Honestly, I don’t consider this a big deal at all. It’s like a little reminder to the customer–Hey man, everything cool? Totally happy with that purchase? Okay, just making sure…. And then they’ll be like, Oh yeah, yeah you’re totally right, my bad. Let me hit you with some kind words and 5 stars in every possible category. At least that’s how I imagine it goes down. As soon as they give me that positive feedback, I return the favor immediately. I guess it’s just may way of saying…you go first, please.
Another obvious reason to include thank you notes in your packages…is the opportunity to re-market yourself! Think about it–how many times do you think the buyer is really impressed enough to take the time to go back and find you, the seller, and see what else you have available. It’s too laborious, and let’s be honest, people are lazy (myself included). With a quick note, you can remind them WHO YOU ARE and WHERE TO FIND YOUR STUFF. So easy, and in some cases very much appreciated by happy customers. Why wouldn’t you do this?
As a final thought…we all know it would be really nice if you could ALWAYS include personalized information regarding each transaction. Item numbers, purchased/shipped dates, item descriptions, first/last names, etc would all be awesome to utilize as a seller. But at the end of the day eBay does an excellent job keeping track of all of this information already. It’s just not necessary to go into that much detail. Plus you’re just printing out more paper and using more ink. A simple, concise, and considerate message that speaks to ALL of your potential customers will work, and it’s almost sure to bump up your sales performance and feedback ratings.