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These are some of the practices I have seen in use by beginning eBay sellers which I consider to be major roadblocks in their success. There are many more, of course, and there are some you might well disagree with. But for me, these are some that I think will help a new seller fail before he ever gets his foot firmly in the door.
1. Ignore questions sent by potential customers
3. Do not list your shipping costs or provide shipping calculator
Tips
1. Ignore questions sent by potential customers
Questions from potential customers are often asked as a way of gauging potential satisfaction with the transaction. Ignoring these questions opens you up to a couple problems.
i. Your potential customer will simply shop elsewhere
ii. Your customer will assume that the lack of response to their question MEANT something.
Example: Question: If I purchase this shirt, will you be willing to ship it directly to my uncle Sam?
If you do not respond to the question, the customer could decide that this would present no problem to you. When he sends his payment with his instructions to send it to an unconfirmed address, you will be left with a dilemma….better to take care of these things up front.
2. Respond to questions in condescending or rude manner
Again, the potential customer is often gauging his likelihood for satisfaction. A rude response is a huge turn-off. You might still make the sale if you are the only game in town, but don’t be surprised when your feedback is in-line with your response. Rude usually reaps rude.
3. Do not list your shipping costs or provide shipping calculator
When making a decision to purchase an item, you would prefer to know your total cost before committing to the purchase, right? So would your customer. If you don’t have a scale, get one. If you don’t have the packaging, get it. Being prepared is 99% of the key to customer satisfaction.
4. Do not weigh your packaged item prior to listing
So, you have the scale, but you are just too tired to determine the actual shipping weight before you list the item. Not a great plan. You certainly CAN estimate the weight. You can even ensure that you do not get stuck holding the bag by underestimating the weight. But, the results will be the same. You will lose. If you over estimate the weight, your shipping charges will turn the customers away. If you underestimate the weight, you will lose money on shipping. (Be prepared)
5. Do not take clear pictures of your item
Some items are very hard to take clear pictures of. I have many items that I simply cannot get a GREAT picture of. But I take the clearest pictures I can. Sure it is nice to have the feedback that says, “Much nicer than the picture,” and “”Better than expected,” but the truth is, I got less for my item than I would have had I had good, clear, representative pictures of the actual item.
6. Do not perform research on the item you are planning to list (do not check completed items to see what similar items sold for and how many sold)
Because an item sold last week for $100 does not mean that it will sell this week for the same. But certainly, if over the past two weeks 18 of the 20 similar items sold did so for $90-110, you can feel confident that yours will sell similarly. If you take the time to look at the MOST successful sellers of your item, you can begin to see the things that you can emulate….not steal…do NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES copy another member’s item photo or write-up…it is against eBay policy and violates copyright laws. But to emulate a successful seller is to learn from a worthy teacher.
7. Do not concern yourself with eBay rules…there are WAY too many to read and remember anyway! Just wing it and cry when your listing is pulled for TOS violations.
How many members have been shocked and frustrated to find their listing has been pulled by eBay? I have. I had no idea that the words “like new” were no longer allowed in the title of the listing. I came home one day from the office to find a message on my answering machine from eBay, letting me know this was a violation. When I logged into eBay, I was greeted with the messages that four of my listings had been canceled for this violation. I can assure you I immediately revised any of the remaining listings with that phrase in the title or description. And then I set about recreating my listings…for when eBay pulls them, they are not neatly housed in the “unsold items” list with a convenient link to relist. They are “poof” gone! There are indeed MANY rules by which sellers must abide. Take the time to learn them for your particular items at the very least. It will save you much stress and heartburn.
8. Always include a sob story in your listing. You are the only single mother of 12, with major medical bills, trying to save the family dog from sure death.
While eBay offers a venue for supporting legitimate charities through listings governed by MissionFish, every single seller on eBay is selling for similar reasons. We want to turn unused or no longer used items into cash to pay bills, better our lifestyle, etc. None of us qualifies as a legitimate charity, so including the sob stories of how BADLY you need the money is simply a turn-off to potential customers. Sure, you will get a few who will fall for the sob story and buy something for more than they should, but, if you are trying to become a consistently strong seller on eBay, you have to consider that these sob stories will eventually become stale. Other sellers will not buy from you, and believe it or not, most sellers are also buyers. Why cut out a huge portion of your potential customer base?
9. Add lots of threats to every auction. Make certain that though you are too lazy to read the eBay rules, your customers are made well aware of YOUR rules.
I do believe in setting your seller’s policies. You must decide on things such as return/refund policies, shipping and handling policies, acceptable payment methods, etc. But you cannot expect success if your listing contains three pages of rules bordering on threats, and a two-line description of the item for sale. Balance. This is what I am suggesting. And there is a polite way to word your policies. And if your rules are not enforceable, if an eBay/PayPal dispute would find in favor of the customer, you are better off throwing that rule in the trash. You will spend a lot of time trying to prove that your terms were in the listing and the customer did not read them….and you will still lose the dispute 99% of the time.
10. List items you have never actually seen or touched. You can trust YOUR selling reputation to the drop shipper of the day.
I won’t say there is a blanket problem with employing the use of a drop shipper. I can see far too many successful sellers who use drop shippers to believe that to be true. But, certainly for the beginning seller, knowing what your customer will be receiving for his money is paramount. Pictures in catalogs always look good, but I want to be the first to discover that the lovely dress I am selling is made with sub-par fabric. I personally have never used a drop shipper, but, should I ever consider doing so, I would first purchase at least one of every item I intended to list. I would also ensure that my drop shipper did not have a “substitution” clause. eBay customers expect to get what they see presented in the listing, not a substitution.
Thank you
I hope this has been of some help to you. Even if you are not a brand new seller, I hope some of these will at least give you cause for consideration. Agree with me? No, I don't expect everyone will. I offer these up as my own opinion formed on the nearly eight years I have been and eBay buyer and seller.Guide created: 12/13/07 (updated 04/04/09)
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