Trading for other people
Many people trading in online auctions are acting as agents
buying or selling on behalf of a third party (eBay has a register of Trading Assistants who will sell things on your behalf).
While this can be done as a favour etc, it is more common for a fee or commission to be
being charged by the agent.
This article will deal primarily with sellers but many of the points raised also apply to buyers.
Here are some things to think about before you start trading
- The Fees
- Who is going to be paying any fees involved in the transaction - Listing, Final Value, PayPal (etc)? The third party for whom the items are being sold should at the very least be paying the listing fees. If they are able to reclaim expences then they maybe able to reclaim these fees
- Listing Details
- Do you have the necessary info for the listing? Are all / some of the items rare, collectable etc.
Do you need photos of the items?
- Despatch
- Who is going to post the goods?
How will the goods be posted (do they need to be Insured or go via Parcel Post / Courier)?
Where are the goods going to be stored?
Who is going to provide the packing?
What is the returns policy?
- VAT
- Is the person you are acting for VAT registered?
If they are then maybe the the user id being used should be in their name so they can also be VAT registered with the Auction Site.
- Will it sell
- Is there a market for the item?
No matter how enthusiastic your seller is you will need to decide if the item will sell at the proposed price.
- Auction Type
- How should the item be sold - Fixed Price, Auction, etc?
- What Price
- What prices do you set - Start, Reserve, Fixed?
You may need to try selling the item, with a high reserve price to gauge likely interest.
- Which User ID
- Are the items going to be sold from your user id?
If a new id is going to be used whose name will it be in and who will be registered to pay the fees?
- Shop / me
- Would an eBay shop and/or a me page help sell the items?
- Categories
- What categories are you going to use and should you use more then 1 category?
- Listing Enhancements
- Would it help if you used listing enhancements like the Gallery or Highlights for the item?
- Which Site
- Which Auction site(s) do you list the items on?
- How many relists
- How many attempts are going to be made to sell the item if it does not sell?
- 'Legality'
- Is the item allowed on the proposed auction site. If it falls into a questionable category is it worth the hassle of dealing with the results of people reporting it? Is using another more liberal auction site a better option?
- Commission
- What commission / fees are you going to get?
Once the points above have been decided then it is wise to make & sign a written agreement so that
all parties know where they stand, what is expected of them and what they are going to get
out of the arrangement.
 Trading Assistants |
Your Comments / Thoughts / Additions / Corrections etc 
