SolveYourProblem
Article Series:
Start
An eBay Business
Your
eBay Shipping Box:
What Else Belongs On It?
by Jeff Cohen
The quickest answer I feel I should give to
this question is this: not your handwriting! Scrawling addresses
on boxes with a pen is extremely amateurish, and you shouldn’t
do it. Print your own labels instead. But what should you put
on them?
The
buyer’s address: This might sound obvious, but you need
to make sure the full address is there, including country and
zip or postal code. Make sure you spell their name correctly,
too, as they might be a little insulted if you don’t.
The
eBay item number: Write this somewhere discreet and quite
small, in this form: ‘Item number: 123456789’. Under the address
is a good place. This makes it easy for the buyer to find the
auction again if they need to look at it for any reason.
Your
logo: Putting your logo on the shipping box looks professional,
and lets your buyers see what it is that has arrived. A good
logo can make the whole package look very nice, and can help
build recognition of your business.
Your
address: It’s worth putting your own address on the box
in case the item can’t be delivered and needs to be returned
to you. It looks good to write this under your logo, as it
reinforces the impression that you’re a real business with
a real address, not some shady operation.
Stamps: If you start to sell on eBay in a significant quantity,
you might consider buying a postage meter. Again, this is a
matter of looking professional – it looks much better than
having stamps stuck everywhere. It also saves you from having
to weigh your items at the post office and buy stamps there.
The
‘eBay Items’ Debate
Some sellers like to mark their shipping boxes with a phrase
like ‘eBay items’, while some feel that this is an unsafe practice
that could mark their boxes out to get stolen or interfered
with in the post. Whether you’re willing to risk it is up to
you – it’s probably better to be safe than sorry, though, and
there will be few of your customers who get so many packages
that they won’t know what yours is.
And Inside?
You’ll probably find it worth printing off a ‘receipt’ from
eBay – the confirmation of payment page – and putting it in
the envelope. If you want to make your customers feel even
better about having ordered from you, you can also include
a compliments slip, featuring your logo, your website address
and a message like ‘Thank you for your order. Please contact
me if there are any problems. [Your name].’
Always
remember: the more they like what they get, the more
likely they are to come back and order again from you in the
future.
You
can make backend sales over and over again, simply by emailing
buyers with good offers
for things you think they’re going to need.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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