Agent query etiquette- give names if someone offers of rep?

mentacle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
66
Reaction score
4
Hello ! Quick question. I don't know how this all works, and I apologize for any etiquette breaches here, I'm new to the forum as well.
In case you get an offer of rep, do you have to inform every agent you queried ( that's a LOT of emails)? Or just the ones who requested fulls? And if you do tell them, should you give the agent's name (the one who offered)? Or would that be a faux pas? Thanks!
 

ReadWriteRachel

Probably drinking coffee.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
271
Reaction score
18
Location
Hands on the keyboard.
Heya — welcome to AW!

Yes, it's polite to inform every agent you've queried that you've had an offer of rep as long as that query (or partial, or full, or R&R) is still active.

You do NOT need to tell them the name of the agent who offered representation. Some do ask, from what I've heard, but I don't think you have to tell them. (People who've had offers of rep — please correct me if I'm wrong.)

This blog post by Susan Dennard (author of Something Strange & Deadly and Truthwitch) might be helpful for this question. There are even e-mail templates in there you can use and tweak if you find yourself in this situation and don't know what to say.
 

mentacle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
66
Reaction score
4
Thank you very much for the advice and link.
 

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
4,584
Reaction score
1,412
Location
The land from whence the shadows fall
Website
www.sunyidean.com
I wasn't going to tell them, but EVERY agent asked me who offered.

I think because there has been a steep increase in the number of people who try to "fake" an offer, and also because my offer came in very quickly, many of them were a trifle suspicious. I did tell them in the end, because I could see no reason to keep it secret, and that seemed to be Janet Reid's advice from what I remember.

Turns out, one of the agents was asking because she was friends with the one who'd offered, and she had suspected that but wanted to confirm. When she found out it was definitely someone she was friends with, she withdrew to be polite.


Edit to say, I did chase up agents I'd only queried and not yet had a request from, since the timeframe was short and most hadn't had a chance to look yet.
 
Last edited:

mentacle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
66
Reaction score
4
I see. Congratulations on your swift offer, and thanks for the advice!



I wasn't going to tell them, but EVERY agent asked me who offered.

I think because there has been a steep increase in the number of people who try to "fake" an offer, and also because my offer came in very quickly, many of them were a trifle suspicious. I did tell them in the end, because I could see no reason to keep it secret, and that seemed to be Janet Reid's advice from what I remember.

Turns out, one of the agents was asking because she was friends with the one who'd offered, and she had suspected that but wanted to confirm. When she found out it was definitely someone she was friends with, she withdrew to be polite.


Edit to say, I did chase up agents I'd only queried and not yet had a request from, since the timeframe was short and most hadn't had a chance to look yet.
 

Shoeless

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
2,308
Reaction score
295
When my agent made an offer, I let other agents reading know, and only one other agent asked who it was that was making the offer.

I'm pretty sure that, as Harlequin says, this is sometimes asked just as a way to verify this isn't trying to accelerate/fake a representation offer. Many of the agents do know and interact with each other, so it's not really a big deal to "Trust, but verify."

It's sad that we've gotten to the point where agents need to check to see if an offer of rep is actually real, but there have been some pretty well-documented instances where desperate queriers have tried to game the system by faking an offer and letting other agents know, in the hopes of jump-starting a real offer of rep.