Seller questions

alt.marketing.online.ebay FAQ

3.0 Seller questions
Often times, selling on eBay is quite similar to aiming at a moving target while blindfolded. Hopefully, these selling tips can help you learn some of the finer points.

3.1 Listing
Deciding what to list, how to list it, and when to do so are so dependent on your own resources and preferences that no one can really give you definitive answers on what works. All anyone can really say is what has worked for them in the past and what hasn't worked. Keep in mind that the Internet and eBay are constantly changing and things that went well yesterday may not go so well today. You'll need a constant and watchful eye to track those changes and ensure you are getting the most out of your selling experience.

3.1.1 What items should I sell on eBay that can make me a lot of money?
If you figure it out, please let me know. ;-) Take stock of the resources you have for obtaining merchandise. Make a list of what you can readily obtain and then research the heck out of it by searching eBay's closed auctions.

Your best bet when you are just getting started is to run an eBay garage sale. Find things around the house that you no longer need. Not only will you build feedback, but your cash flow is high since you aren't having to buy merchandise. This also gives you the opportunity to fine tune your listing templates and establish a solid method to stay on top of your auction sales and customers. Once you have things down, you also can reinvest your income in items that you think might be profitable.

3.1.2 What items aren't allowed on eBay?
We try to keep up with the constant policy updates regarding allowable items on eBay here, but the final authority is eBay. You can view their current policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html.

3.1.3 What should be in my auction listing?
At a minimum, you should list a clear and concise description, a clear picture of the item being sold, and any necessary terms of sale. Terms should include details about shipping, payment types accepted, and contact information in case a bidder has further questions. If possible, list a fixed shipping price for the item.

3.1.4 What shouldn't be in my auction listing?
Background music, large or dark backgrounds, animated images, and huge photos of the item for sale all can take a long time to load and buyers are often too impatient to wait. Also, if the listing is too "busy" visually, bidders will have a difficult time figuring out what you are offering and may move on.

Complicated backgrounds, particularly with small text, are extremely difficult to read. If the background has a pattern containing colors similar to the text, the text may be illegible. The bottom line to consider is the value of the graphic, image, or other elements in helping to accurately describe your item. If it doesn't help the buyer determine what they are bidding on, leave it out.

Sellers should also keep abreast of listing violations that may cause your auction to be cancelled by eBay or cause them to NARU your account. Current listing guidelines can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html.

3.1.5 Auction Pictures
It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. Items with clear pictures generally receive higher bids.

3.1.5.1 How do I put more than one picture in my auction listing?
You can do this two different ways. If you don't want to spend any time learning html (the language of the web), you can take advantage of eBay's picture services for a nominal fee for up to six pictures. For those will basic skills, you can upload the pictures to your webspace and then link the pictures into your auction description using an IMG tag.

3.1.5.2 Why are my pictures broken?
If the links you provided to your pictures don't match the actual URL of the picture, your pictures will appear broken. Also, some free webhosts block links from eBay's servers and don't allow picture hosting from their sites. Try cutting the URL for your picture and pasting it directly into the address bar of your browser. If the pictures still don't work, you'll get an error message stating why. If they suddenly work, your web host is probably blocking the link from eBay's site. You'll either need to upgrade to a paid service or switch to a different web host.

EBay provides some additional help here.

3.1.5.3 Where can I get free picture hosting?
There are a number of sites that provide free web and picture hosting. A relatively current page listing free and low-cost web hosts can be found at http://www.free-webhosts.com/free-image-hosting.php.

3.1.5.4 Someone is using my pictures. What can I do?
If they are linking to a picture in your webspace, you can always replace the picture. A great gag would be to use a picture of your item, but horrible destroyed. Be sure none of your current auctions are using the same picture! If the seller was smart enough to copy your picture before using it, you can complain to ebay or the seller. This is mostly ineffective since eBay takes 2-3 days to respond and you'll need to prove somehow that you indeed own the picture. If you consider your artwork and auction listings valuable, register with eBay's VeRO program and state your rights on About Me page. I haven't heard any feedback on how effective this tactic is, but the VeRO email address is looked at quicker than safeharbor.

A good way to discourage people from using your pictures is to put your name or eBay handle in the graphic image with an editor. For example, put the text "Copyright 2004 -your ebay handle-" in the image using your favorite paint program before posting it. Someone could always edit it back out, but it takes much more effort, especially if your background is multi-colored.

3.1.6 Can I use my About Me page for my auction terms?
Many sellers do, but this practice is actually prohibited by eBay. EBay states that all terms must appear in the auction listing. The problem with putting your terms elsewhere is that they can be unilaterally changed by the seller during or after the auction leaving little recourse or protection to buyers.

3.1.7 Should I use reserves in my auctions?
Reserves perform two important roles on eBay. First, they protect the value of your item. Second, the BIN price is maintained until the reserve is met preventing a buyer from eliminating your BIN price with a low, starting bid.

Many sellers believe that reserves reduce the number of bidders and hurt your final fee. Other sellers believe the opposite-by starting an auction with a low price and a reasonable reserve, you will attract early bidding and bidders will gravitate to your auction (i.e. bids beget bids). You'll have to experiment a bit to see what works for you.

Remember that your fees are higher for items that don't reach the reserve price. As a general rule, if you are selling items that have a large bidder pool, reserves are unnecessary since the bidding usually reaches a fair price. If your items only receive a few bids, you'll either need to use reserves or start your auctions at the minimum price you are willing to accept for the item.

3.1.8 When is the best time to start/end an auction?
Again, it depends on what you sell. Ebay seems busiest on Sunday nights, but there are numerous reasons why ending auctions at that time may not be a good idea. For instance, if many of your competitors are ending auctions at the same time, the bids may be split between those competitors and the final values might be lower. Also, keep in mind that holidays are generally a bad time to end auctions.

Also, consider your audience. Some items sell very well during the daytime since the bidders for those items are surfing from work or when the kids are at school. Other items sell better with evening closing times for similar reasons. Experimentation is strongly recommended. And don't forget that you'll need to retest your assumptions periodically since buying habits change with time as well.

3.1.9 Are those extra-charge options worthwhile?
The answer to this question greatly depends on the type of items you are selling and the type of buyers you attract with your listings. The more exclusive your item is, the less important these features become. Remember that these features are designed to increase your exposure by making your item more visible or prominent when a potential buyer is looking at lists of auctions that they might be interested in.

Before you consider paying for extra features, you should first make sure the best possible keywords are present in your auction listings and titles and that you are in the best categories. Buyers find auctions two ways - by browsing categories and by searching keywords. If your keywords are inappropriate or misspelled, your item won't even make it onto the list and those paid features are worthless. I recommend you fine-tune your listings before you start paying for extra features.

If you don't use counters on your auctions, start right away. You don't have any other way to measure the results.

The key to making effective use of features like bold, highlight, and the various incarnations of "Featured" placement is to experiment and to pay attention to what your competition is doing. Unless you can differenciate your auction listing in some meaningful way, your customers won't notice your auction buried on page two of a category with 120 featured auctions. If you are relatively exclusive in your products, skip the extra features.

The only real exception is the Gallery. If you product is very visual in nature, a clear gallery thumbnail can make a huge difference in your auction results. Keep in mind the goal is to entice the buyer to click through to your auction, so make sure the gallery image you select is eyecatching and the title gives enough information to reinforce the image. With the other features, bold is bold is bold (as an example). With the gallery, you can do a lot for your auction by making sure your gallery pics are better than the competition's.

Finally, experiment. Watch your click-throughs on your auctions and track how many people view your auctions with the various features enabled. Be sure to keep other variables (such as auction length and ending day/time) consistent to ensure your numbers are as meaningful as possible. If you aren't selling multiples of an item, compare your results to your competition by searching closed auctions. See if your selling price is in line with others that using different options. If the selling prices aren't improved by using the optional features, drop them.

3.2 Getting Paid
You'd be amazed at how fussy some sellers are about what forms of payment they'll accept. After all, why wouldn't you take live chickens? As a seller, you should make it convenient as possible for your buyers to pay you.

3.2.1 What payment services should I accept?
The more payment services you accept, the less likely someone will pass on your auctions. With that said, there are perfectly valid reasons for NOT accepting certain forms I payment. For instance, I have no place to store live chickens and won't take them. I recommend at least one option that the buyer can use without getting out of their chair. For online payments, some current choices are PayPal (owned by eBay) [https://paypal.com], Yahoo PayDirect [http://paydirect.yahoo.com/], and BidPay [http://bidpay.com] (listed in order by payment volume AFAIK). All of these services allow buyers to use their credit cards or bank accounts to pay the seller electronically.

3.2.2 What is PayPal?
PayPal is the most popular payment service accepted by sellers on eBay, as ranked by the number of auctions. They started as a person-to-person payment service with the premise that you can send and receive money via email or wireless via your Palm handheld. They are now wholly owned by eBay and are eBay's preferred method for accepting online auction payments.

3.2.3 What is eBay Payments (formerly known as BillPoint)?
EBay payments was discontinued and no longer exists.

3.2.4 What is BidPay?
BidPay is a bit unique in that payments arrive in the form of Western Union Money order rather than electronic form. Many International buyers find it very convenient when paying US sellers since the money order is easily converted to cash and is present is U.S. funds.

3.2.5 Can I charge a fee if someone pays me with one of these services?
No. Not only is it against eBay's terms of service on the U.S. site, it probably also violates the terms for your payment service (You should check with the payment service to be sure). With that said, many sellers include it in their handling fee which is spread out among all buyers and thereby ok. Laws regarding credit card surcharges may vary from state to state. More information on credit card surcharges are available at http://www.gofso.com/Premium/LE/06_le_ic/fg/fg-merchants.html#C.

3.2.6 What if my bidder doesn't respond?
(update needed)

Have you given them at least 3 working days to reply? If so, try using a different e-mail service to contact them in case your messages are being blocked by their ISP. If you still aren't able to make contact after at least 7 calendar days, you can go to eBay's Non-Paying Bidder Alert Form [http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CreateDispute]. You can file the NPB anytime between 7 and 45 days after the auction closes.

You may also wish to obtain the buyer's contact information from eBay. If you have a current or recent transaction with someone, you can have eBay send you their contact information comprising their name, phone number and city/state. You will not receive their address. Keep in mind that the user will also automatically receive your information when you make the request. The contact request form is located at http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?UserInformationRequest.

A special note should be made regarding dutch auctions. When filing the NPB Alert, the seller must file all NPB's for the auction at the same time. Any NPB's not filed at this time are forfeited and the seller will not be able to recover fees.

3.2.7 What if my bidder responds and refuses to pay?
Go directly to the NPB form after the 7 days have past. Remember, you only have 45 days to file a NPB report and 60 days to request a FVF refund. Once you file the NPB alert, you have to wait 10 days to file the FVF request (for most NPB Reasons).

Once you've completed the FVF request, leave appropriate feedback for the buyer.

3.2.8 How long do I have to wait to relist my item?
Technically, you can relist the item if you haven't heard from the buyer in the three business days. Most eBay users would probably agree that this is MUCH too soon. It's not uncommon for a buyer to send a payment without contacting you first. EBay recommends you send a payment reminder between three and thirty days from auction close.

3.3 Shipping

3.3.1 How much should I charge for shipping?
If you want to see a spirited flame war, ask this question on a.m.o.e. Since your basic choices are to charge more, less, or exactly your cost of postage, you have to decide for yourself how to market your auctions. However you decide, make sure it is clearly spelled out in your auction listing. If you are unable to put an exact figure in your listing, give enough information so the buyer can request a shipping price or look it up for themselves.

3.3.2 Can I use Priority Mail boxes for other types of mail?
The USPS provides certain Express Mail, Priority Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Global Express Mail and Global Priority Mail® packing materials at no cost to the consumer specifically for use in shipping via these services. For information on usage restrictions: http://supplies.usps.gov/disclaimer.htm. No one knows how many federal laws you would be breaking by misusing those supplies and the postal inspector probably won't be knocking on your door (and then, they might . . .), but you are certain to get hassled by your local postal employees if they catch on.

3.3.3 Should I ship to International bidders?
Another hotly debated topic. The tough part about international shipping is the potential for fraud, cost of shipping, establishing acceptable payment terms, and language barriers. It takes a bit of work initially and a little experience to get used to these types of transactions, but the potential for higher profits is tremendous.

If you want to dip your toe a bit before plunging in to the world-wide market, eBay lets you select certain regions giving you some control over your exposure on the various worldwide eBay sites. From the United States, you might want to try just Canada for a while until you have a level of comfort with International sales. Once you feel you've mastered Canadian sales, expand to Europe or Australia.

When you decide to offer your goods to International Buyers, you'll want to be sure to specify how you want to be paid. If you get a request from a potential buyer asking if you'll accept payment type X, it's always a good idea to check with your bank to make sure you aren't going to be hit with any outrageous fees. As a general rule, it you are taking payments in U.S. dollars and the payment instrument is drawn on an American bank, your bank shouldn't be charging extra for these types of deposits. If they are, shop around and find a bank that doesn't.

3.4 After the Auction
Service after the auction is twice as important as the service you provide before and during the auction. First impressions go a long way, but keeping in contact with your customers and handling their orders professionally is truly where the rubber meets the road.

3.4.1 When should I leave feedback?
Incendiary topic #1!! Opinions vary greatly. Many sellers don't consider the auction to be complete until the buyer acknowledges receipt of the item and states that everything is in order. Other sellers feel that once a buyer has paid, they have fulfilled their obligations and feedback is in order. Whatever your decision, stick with it and don't keep it a secret. Post your feedback policy on your 'About Me' page so that buyer's can know what to expect.

Keep in mind that many buyers consider themselves 'feedback hostages' when sellers employ the strategy of leaving feedback only after the other party has done so. Good sellers generally only receive feedback on about 50-60% of their sold auctions. Many buyers will react strongly if they feel pushed and an otherwise smooth transaction can end up with poor results for the seller.

3.4.2 What if I don't hear back from the buyer?
See Section 3.2.6.

3.5 Selling tools
(update needed)
If you intend to sell in any volume on eBay, a number of selling tools can greatly improve your organization and reduce your time spent managing your burgeoning auction business. Here is a brief list of tools and services:

TurboLister [http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/]. Ebay's free bulk listing tool.
Sold [http://timbercreeksoftware.com/]. Complete auction management and listing tool.
Shooting Star. Intelligent Auction Management Software.
Auction Watch. The Complete Sales Management Solution.
ChannelAdvisor. Consumer marketplace management services and technology.

3.6 How do I become a PowerSeller?
Powersellers get that way by selling a minimum of $1000 per month through eBay. That amount doesn't include shipping and handling. You can't apply to become a power seller, you are invited. Criteria for the various power seller levels can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/powersellers.html.

3.7 I'm new to eBay and want to sell. How can I convince others of my honesty?
Start small, selling relatively inexpensive items, that can be shipped cheaply. Deliver them promptly, and pack them carefully. It's a whole lot easier to sell a $5 to $10 item when you have no feedback than it is to sell a $50 or $1000 item. Count on not making too much if anything on that first group of auctions. When you've built up a few positives, start selling more expensive merchandise.

People want to see a pattern of transacting business in an honorable fashion. Starting small is the easiest way to establish a record of honorable behavior. Admittedly, some people do the same thing to sell nonexistent $2000 laptops, but if you're selling books and toys, starting with the cheaper stuff first, and gradually moving into the higher priced but still similar merchandise, people are less likely to automatically assume you're a scammer.