SolveYourProblem
Article Series:
Start
An eBay Business
An
eBay Seller’s Checklist
by Jeff Cohen
Being a seller is a lot of responsibility,
and sometimes you might feel like you’re not doing everything
you should be. This simple checklist will help you keep on
top of things.
Have
you found out everything you possibly could about your
items? Try typing their names into a search engine – you might
find out something you didn’t know. If someone else is selling
the same thing as you, then always try to provide more information
about it than they do.
Do you monitor the competition? Always keep an eye on how
much other items the same as or similar to yours are selling,
and what prices they’re being offered at. There’s usually
little point in starting a fixed price auction for $100 when
someone else is selling the item for $90.
Have
you got pictures of the items? It’s worth taking the
time to photograph your items, especially if you have a digital
camera. If you get serious about eBay but don’t have a camera,
then you will probably want to invest in one at some point.
Are
you emailing your sellers? It’s worth sending a brief
email when transactions go through: something like a simple
“Thank you for buying my item, please let me know when you
have sent the payment”. Follow this up with “Thanks for your
payment, I have posted your [item name] today”. You will be
surprised how many problems you will avoid just by communicating
this way.
Also,
are you checking your emails? Remember that potential
buyers can send you email about anything at any time, and not
answering these emails will just make them go somewhere else
instead of buying from you.
Do
your item description pages have everything that buyers
need to know? If you’re planning to offer international delivery,
then it’s good to make a list of the charges to different counties
and display it on each auction. If you have any special terms
and conditions (for example, if you will give a refund on any
item as long as it hasn’t been opened), then you should make
sure these are displayed too.
Have
you been wrapping your items correctly? Your wrapping
should be professional for the best impression: use appropriately
sized envelopes or parcels, wrap the item in bubble wrap to
stop it from getting damaged, and print labels instead of hand-writing
addresses. Oh, and always use first class post – don’t be cheap.
Do
you follow up? It is worth sending out an email a few days
after you post an item, saying “Is everything alright with
your purchase? I hope you received it and it was as you expected.”
This might sound like giving the customer an opportunity to
complain, but you should be trying to help your customers,
not take their money and run.
Being
a really good eBay seller, more than anything else, is about
providing genuinely good and honest customer service.
That’s the only foolproof way to protect your reputation. Of
course, you might be wondering by now whether it’s really worth
all the hassle to get a good reputation on eBay. Won’t people
buy from you anyway, and couldn’t you just open a new account
if it really comes down to that?
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
> Home > Start
an eBay Business: Main Page
|
