There are so many wonderful tools, guides and groups for sellers on Ebay but I've seen very little that focuses on what I consider to be the  most important. Customer Service  .  Our Customer Service attitude shows up in many areas without us even realizing it. 

We need to stop and think what potential buyers think when they see 'deadbeat bidders will be reported to Ebay and prosecuted beyond Ebay" or what they think when they view  our feedback and see a neutral stating 'the item is great but   it was slow arriving'. They then view the buyer's feedback to see we left a red saying 'beware of this buyer" or much worse.   There is also the push to have buyers leave feedback before we will leave feedback.   Some sellers won't tell you how much it will cost to ship to you until after they see how much the item sells for.  Some sellers charge excessive shipping fees.  I had a seller charge me $65.00 to ship a package of lingerie, the actual postage was $6.10.  I have had sellers misrepresent their items and others send less than I paid for. The list goes on. Many of us refuse to sell to buyers new to Ebay.

I am new to selling on Ebay, but much of my career has focused on customer service and creating a win/win situation.  If we wish to make selling on Ebay something we enjoy as well as maintain a healthy bottom line,  we need to focus on our customers.   Its safe to assume that the majority of our customers will be great, I know mine are.  To make Ebay an exceptional place to shop, we not only need to find the right products our buyers will enjoy at hopefully a great price but we need to stand behind our products and if/when something goes wrong, fix it.

I am going to lay out two scenarios -

1.  The buyer wins two items in separate auctions, pays immediately with paypal. With seller one:  She waits approximately 10 days and contacts the seller but no response or an automated response that is obviously dated.  She waits a few more days, emails again, getting the same response. A few more days go by and she is totally frustrated and files a complaint with paypal. Within the next week, her item arrives and she loves it, she may or may not leave feedback.  Quite possibly it will be neutral or negative and its highly unlikely she will add that seller to her favs.

2. With seller two: Within 48 hours of winning her item she receives a notice from paypal stating her package has been processed for shipping and a notice from the seller thanking her for her purchase, her package has been mailed out that day and to contact her if she has any questions or concerns. When the package hasn't arrived she contacts the seller and gets a personal email back within 5 business hours stating its quite often a problem with the two postal services and customs, the package should be arriving within xxxx time frame and has been insured so a claim will be processed if it hasn't arrived by xxx time. Seller also apologizes and asks buyer to keep her up to date. (this letter can be created in selling manager by the way) Just add the person's name and sign it with yours. Use first  names.  Even though the package make take a week longer to arrive this customer is more likely to leave positive feedback for this seller and to purchase from her again.

Return Policy - Many of us have a 'you buy it, its yours' policy.  When I am browsing I always wonder if there is something wrong with the items. If we believe in  our products then it should be safe to stand behind them.  Saying this I have to admit that there are some items that would need to be exempted from this process. However with most items I don't understand why we can't accept returns especially if we have the choice to charge the customer the relisting & final fee costs.  I never spend the money I receive for Ebay purchases until after I know the buyer is happy with their purchase.  I offer a full refund or store credit. Its stated in my store policy, usually in the listing, in the email I send when I send  the 'your item has been shipped' notice and on a card that I insert in their package.  I want them to feel safe shopping with me and I want them to keep coming back.  Some of us make the buyer pay shipping costs to return an item we shipped in error. I'm not sure how we can justify that to ourselves let alone the buyer.  One seller shipped in error to me and another buyer. The buyer contacted me and we shipped to each other.  The seller re-imbursed us and gave us each an additional $10 for our trouble. What a GREAT move and it saved him money.  He got great feedback!!

Feedback - Once a buyer has paid within a reasonable time frame, has been a good customer and has notified us that they have received their item(s) and is happy.  We should leave feedback.  They have done their part.  Even if they say it was slow shipping or poorly packaged, if its the truth they are entitled to leave that in the feedback.  If we respond with a negative, it just makes us look bad.  I had a buyer leave me a neutral for slow shipping but stating it was well packaged. I contacted him and discovered that he didnt realize it could take up to 3 weeks from Canada and that getting it in a week was actually fast shipping. So I just wrote that beneath the neutral he gave me and I gave him good feedback. He had paid quickly and wasn t a problem other than my first neutral (sob).  I don't know about the rest of you but when I see a negative feedback, I check out the person who posted it and what the response was.  I'm impressed with the sellers who state the facts and don't attack. It reflects on them.  If I have problems with a buyer and they leave me good feedback once they realize they were in the wrong but they were HORRID prior to realizing that, I will simply leave a positive saying 'Thank you for the business' and block them.  Its a strong contrast to what I leave for the rest of my buyers.

One of the studies I read in my customer service career said that attitude makes a HUGE difference.  They had done research in a huge hospital on why some doctors even though they were better technically (meaning they made less mistakes) were being sued over 90% more than other doctors who made lots of mistakes.  They had someone shadow the doctors, watched how they interacted with patients and talked with patients after, asking for feedback on what they thought of the doctors.  The bottom line was that the technically competent doctors that were getting sued lacked a good bedside manner. They didnt make the patients feel like they cared so when something when wrong they sued.  On the other hand, the less competent doctors who were warmer, more caring weren't sued because the patient felt they cared and tried their best. We need to feel that we are cared for.  Everyone does. 

Our Buyers  need to know that we arent just going to take their money and not worry about getting their items to them.  So we need to confirm that we have received payment, that the package has been shipped and when, if there needs to be a delay, explain why, if not ship promptly. Respond to all emails they send. The questions may not seem important to you but are important to the buyer.  I found a buyer who has great prices but won't buy from her again because she didnt respond to either of 3 emails I sent over a 2 week period asking when the items would be shipped. The items are great but customer service wasn't. I don't trust her.  Once the buyer confirms they are happy with their purchase leave feedback, save the note they sent if you feel insecure that they might be negative later.  Its been my experience that most of the time we find what we look for. If we look for the good in people we will find it, if we look for bad, thats what we will find.

We should also not harass our customers to leave us feedback. I've had sellers send requests for feedback and I didnt' even receive the items yet and the funny thing is even though I paid and was a no trouble customer I hadn't received feedback from them.    I had problems with another seller when I told her I didnt wish her to leave me feedback because I wanted the items to resell.  I was using her BIN items. She got really upset because she said feedback was almost as important as the money from the sales.  I said I was ok to cancel the $200 in sales if she wished. She gave me such a hard time that I have not bought from her again even though I would spend $200 on BIN items every two months in her store.  Instead of watching out for my needs as a customer she was telling me that hers were more important. 

Of course like many of you this is a full time job and I need to pay the bills. Thats the wonderful thing about great customer service.  It makes customers want to come back again & again.  So Happy Buyer = Happy Seller

Happy return Buyer = Happy fed Seller loll 

I would love it if you would vote if you enjoyed my attempt to be helpful. 

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