- Your Sale/listing is a contract. Selling is not a game. Use the golden Sellers Rule. "Sell onto others how you would like to be sold to".
- Do a little research on similar items to yours by doing a "Completed Items" Search if you are going to set a Reserve or us Buy it Now (BIN). Get an idea on layouts what "displays" are good and you like and what are bad so you can avoid making your Bid Description/TOS a disaster.
- Make a "mental" list of what you like to see in a listing. A neat and pleasing itemised layout, Good positive description, payment methods, shipping/postage rates, additional charges with Sellers terms and conditions coupled with a good picture(s) of the item on sale.
- Your listing should say when somebody looks at it, "heh spend a little while looking at this." It should be neatly laid out in paragraphs/sections - Description, Payment methods, Shipping/Postage and your Terms of Sale (TOS)
- Description: Your Description should be as accurate as possible and say whether it is new or used. You should list the condition of the item and any flaws, imperfections and/or damage. You should list the size and dimensions and if it is heavy, the weigh as a pre-warning of large postal costs.
- If you have not got the item for sale but you are going to receive the item yourself within 30 days, you are allowed to sell this item BUT you must list it as a "Pre-sales item" stating that you will send out the item within 30 days from the end of the auction.
- Payment: You should clearly state what forms of payment you will accept. If you are going to accept cash you should put in a statement "sent at Buyers Risk". International Money Orders (IMO) cost you money to change at a Bank so if you do not want Money Orders, put in a statement "No Imo's please". You can use
Auctionpix for that (they are also another source for HTML help too).
- If you are going to allow payment by Credit Card using PayPal, Billpoint, Nochex etc. make sure that you have these payment systems up and running before you list items for sale. If you are going to make surcharges for accepting these facilities make sure that you fully understand what you can and cannot charge for and these charges must be listed in your Bid Description.
- It is wise to make the following statement, "Please DO NOT send any payment until I have sent you the final bid price + postage figure".
- Shipping: If you do not put the postage/shipping rates in you will get "Question for Seller" e-mails as Buyers like to know up front what they are going to have to pay for that. Buy a set of kitchen scales (£7.50 Argos) and use the link below to calculate the postage remembering of course to put the packaging/box etc on the scales and go to the next rate above the indicated one to quote. If you are using jiffy bags don't forget to add that on to and be prepared to justify the cost you put on the listing. Do Not rip off Buyers with excessive postage.
- If you are willing to
combine shipping on multiple bids by the same Buyer DO NOT assume that you can reduce the cost of significantly to the Buyer by combining two or more bids. E.g. Two separate videos won - separate bids, so you have to use a larger envelope, more padding/protection or use a box. Extra weight, envelope costs more. By all means put in a statement regarding combine shipping but say, "IT MAY" reduce the cost.
- Terms of Sale: These are your conditions you want to set to let the Buyer know how you will conduct your sale.
- You should have a statement as to when you expect the Buyer to contact you by, this can be combined with a payment statement e.g. "The Buyer must contact Seller within 3 working days of End of Auction and payment must be received within 7 days".
- Many sellers may place restrictions on Buyers with a low feedback rating and may not take bids from someone with no feedback or minus rating. Some sellers will not ship Internationally.
If you are not prepared to sell to these Buyers you must put it clearly in your Terms of Sale (TOS)
- If you are Selling in UK only, it is advisable to put in large bold lettering
"NOTE: UK Sale Only- Overseas Bidders will be reported to eBay"
- If you wait for Cheque/Billpoint clearance before sending off the item put in a statement. "Items will not be send off until payments have cleared into my bank i.e. Cheque/Billpoint payment."
- You need to decide and state your Refund Policy CLEARLY. Most sellers put in "Refunds will only be given if the item(s) are returned to me with the original packaging and are the original item(s)"
Listed it:
- If you are worried about "funny bidders" check your listing occasionally through out the listing run checking bidder's feedback for excessive negatives or who have no feedback. If you are unhappy you can cancel and/or block them bidding using the links below
- At End of Auction contact the Buyer within three days but as near to the End of Auction time as possible.
Use the Bid Number and Description as the e-mail Subject Title, this will help to separate individual Bids. Never rely on the Buyer contacting you first, you are in control ALWAYS, it shows the Buyer that you are keen to get on with the sale and it sets off the transaction on a good footing.
- You do not know for sure where they come from so in your initial e-mail you can remind them of your payment methods you accept and you should ask them for their address. This achieves two things, shows that you are in control of the bid and you get their address off them and maybe in your spare time you can start to parcel the item up ready to go.
- Once you have got their address you can send them your address/account number/ID for them to send their payment (electronic payment different) asking them to include a slip of paper with their name and Bid Number on it. Electronic payment, ask them to put their name and address in the remarks box.
- Of course, if you manage to get a Bid above £27 then you should offer the Buyer a better method of sending the parcel to get it insured above the Royal Mails standard £27 if the parcel is lost. For example "Special Delivery". If the Buyer declines this then you will have it in writing that they did not want the extra insurance and that any refund by you will be limited to £27.
Payment Received:
- Let the Buyer know you have received payment and when you are sending off the parcel.
DO NOT SEND OFF THE PARCEL until the payment has FULLY cleared into your account unless you know the Buyer i.e. you have dealt with them previously and you trust them. Ask the Post Office to give you a Certificate of Posting to cover you this being an acknowledgement that you did post off the parcel, ALWAYS, or a receipt if you use a different delivery scheme.
- If there is a problem, stay calm and friendly. Remember it is your bid and YOU are in control. You have not been trained to deal with angry customers and will likely become angry yourself but rise above it to try and resolve the problem. If you need a 2nd opinion try the community Q&A
discussion board.
- Feedback: When does a Seller leave feedback, when they receive payment and it clears or they have to raise a Non Paying Bidder Alert or wait until the Buyer leaves their feedback or e-mails the Seller that they have received the goodies.
- The first is fine but you never know what the Buyer will leave you especially if they do not get the item(s) or there is a problem. Leaving it till the Buyer tells you at least gives you a chance to resolve the situation if needed, its really up to you which you feel comfortable with.
- Leave appropriate feedback and avoid misleading feedback. Do not be afraid of retaliation feedback. Good eBayers investigate feedback when they want to buy something. They know when someone has left you a negative out of revenge and they will not hold it against you. Feedback is the primary means of protecting Sellers from bad buyers. If you withhold a neg out of fear, you've allowed that buyer to get away with it, not just to you, but to the next guy that wasn't warned off by your feedback.
- If you have a Non Paying Bidder follow the process through to get your Final Value Fees refunded. It puts an NPB mark against them and another two from other Sellers will get them suspended.
- Keep ALL e-mails appertaining to the Sale until it has been received AND you get Feedback from your Buyer or in the case of dispute, until it is resolved. This is the only evidence of your transaction with this Buyer so keep all data safe until you are happy that the sale is fully completed to your satisfaction.
Refunds:
- The cases of refund question on the eBay Q&A Board have increased recently. Before you pack the item you should carefully inspect it again to see if there has been any damage to the item(s) since you listed it and/or the condition which you put in your listing is still accurate. YOU clearly need to know what the state the item(s) are when you put the item into the parcel.
- If the item has a serial number or any special ident i.e. security postcode make a note of it because Buyers do try it on claiming the item was damaged and substituting another part for yours.
- If a Buyer claims that the item is defective, broken or damaged then you should ask for them to return it to you BEFORE you give a refund. You should never send a refund without seeing the item unless you can afford to "write off" the sale in a gesture of goodwill.
Correspondence:
- Your emails should be friendly, informative and used to keep your Buyer informed as to the progress of the listing. You should try and acknowledge receipt of emails from them as soon as possible.
- The Buyer needs to know when you received their payment and when you have sent off the parcel/item to them. If it is an Overseas sale, get the delivery time from the Post Office and let the Buyer know.
- If there is a problem and the emails get heated try not to respond in kind and manner. You are the Seller and YOU are in control. Abusive emails should be reported to eBay and you also have the option of reporting the Buyer to their ISP usually abuse@ ****.com
Article submitted by
bearalltosee
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