If you have been selling on eBay for awhile you will find out soon enough that your buyers want to know when and if their purchase was shipped. if you are using Pay Pal for your shipments they will receive a notification from Pay Pal with that information, but is this enough? I think not and over the course of my 7 years on eBay and many thousands of transactions I have come up with some great email templates I use to notify my customers the merchandise is on its way.

First take a look at your email program you use. Outlook Express has a nice feature that enables you to save "Signature Files" Well a signature file can be as long as you want it to be, in fact it can include a full email message. In the beginning when I used Outlook Express I used this method to make up many template emails. I have a ton of them from every subject including, thanks for your order, thanks for your feedback and the subject of this Guide, "Your Order Will Be Shipped Today" templates.

I now use Thunderbird for my email client and Thunderbird handles Templates a different way. They have a directory in your account set up called "Templates" This is where I now keep my Templates for all my eBay business. You can save sub-folders in this Template folder so you can have some called: Ship Notification, Problems, etc.

I go in and write all my templates that I need and then simply go to the File menu and save it as a template and low and behold it appears in my Templates folder. When I need to use it I scroll the list in that directory, find the one I need and simply double click on it to open it up as a new email message. I then only have to paste the buyers email address into the address line and maybe change a few items in that template like the name of the item they bought or the day it will be shipped. My default day is "Today".

So what does the shipment confirmation template look like? Here is one I use for shipping an item via First Class Mail:

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Subject: Your purchase will ship today via First Class Mail

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Message:

Hi;

I have received payment for your _______________ and it will ship today via First Class Mail with Delivery Confirmation.

On receipt it will be important for you to email me to let me know it has arrived safely and that everything is in order so we can leave feedback for each other. As a way of making sure my customers are satisfied, I prefer to leave feedback on notification of safe arrival of the product.

If you have any questions about my feedback policy, guarantee or any other business matters please visit my Terms & Conditions Center located at:

http://mtigrp.com/ebay/terms

I think you will find it can answer most of your questions.

I know there are many choices today in buying just about anything and appreciate your business and prompt attention to payment on this transaction.

Sincerely,

Len Rapoport

A Proud eBay Silver Power Seller Since 1998

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Mailing Address: Your Address Here
Tel: Your Phone Number (Important)
Fax: Your Fax Number
You want them to be able to reach you if there is a problem. Prevents poor feedback.

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Visit Some of My Other Web Sites
*I like to show them my photo work and other web sites http://stores.ebay.com/Lens-Friendly-Auctions

http://internationalpress.com

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My Photo Web Sites Located At:

http://mtigrp.com/africa
http://mtigrp.com/bryce-zion
http://mtigrp.com/italy
http://mtigrp.com/amazon
http://mtigrp.com/spain
http://mtigrp.com/ireland
================================================================ Now I have one of these templates made up for all shipping options, UPS, Priority Mail, Air Mail to Canada, Air Letter Post, etc.

I also have templates prepared for specific items I sell. I do a big business in Custom Grow and Aquarium Lights and they have a lot of information about the lights, breakage issues, optional insurance, links to my site for more information etc. I have prepared these extensive templates in HTML using bold and colored type, etc.

Once I have these made up, I again save them as templates. If you receive positive feedback or comments from a buyer you can use this template to thank them or remind them to leave the feedback. I have found many customers will email me that the parcel has arrived and they are happy with it, but some have not left the feedback yet, so this is a good email to send them.

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Subject: Thank You For Your Feedback

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Message:

Hi;

Thanks for the email confirmation of safe arrival, your business and of course the positive feedback, it was my pleasure serving you.

I will be sure that my system has left positive feedback for you as well.

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Note: If you have not left feedback yet, it is important you do so now so we can complete our transaction. Please go to your Feedback Forum located at:

http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback.html

And leave it there.

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I am always searching for new and exciting products to offer my eBay customers so please check my store from time to time to see the new items.

http://stores.ebay.com/Lens-Friendly-Auctions

You can also choose to bookmark our store and eBay will send you a notice each time I offer a new item. It is a great way to stay in touch.

Hope to see you again at another auction or sale, I appreciate your patronage, quick payment and of course your positive comments.

Sincerely,

Len Rapoport

A Proud eBay Silver Power Seller Since 1998

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Mailing Address: Your Address
Tel: Your Number
Fax: Your Number

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So that is it guys and gals...if you read the comments on my profile, you will not only see that the following comments keep coming up: Fast Shipping, Good Communications, Great Product, yadda, yadda, yadda....

The way you get these Good Communications comments is to do just that, practice good communications and always, I mean always bend over backwards to be cordial and polite in all your correspondence, no matter how hard it might seem at times.

More templates to follow. Please feel free to use these, they are of course all © Len Rapoport, but I do give you permission to use it for your own personal use. All rights reserved on these and they should not be reproduced on any web sites or publications without my express permission.

Happy eBaying and thank you all for voting me one of the top 25 Guide Authors on eBay and all this in one week. I appreciate your votes and your interest in my guides.