OK, you want to participate in the Internet Auction Marketplace that is eBay, but you lack the experience. Maybe you do not have a digital camera, scanner or high-speed Internet connection available to make selling on eBay easy. Or maybe you just want to remain anonymous and keep your name, address, phone number and bank/credit card information of off the Internet. You can still participate in the world of eBay by using a third party that will do most of the work. This agent or third party, what eBay refers to as a Trading Assistant, will sell your items for you and take a cut (or commission) from the final selling price.

Trading Assistants are available in many communities in the USA and in many other countries. Some Trading Assistants have drop off stores. Other TAs will operate as a home based business and will come to your home or office to pick up items. I know some people may not like strangers coming into their homes and picking up items, but often the TA can make arrangements to meet you in a public place where other people are around.

If you decide to use a TA, all you do is provide some items for the TA, give a little history, provenance or description of the item and the TA will take it from there. They will perform further research, take digital photos of the item, write a description and list it on eBay.

If you have a particular item where you want a minimum price or have other requirements or restrictions on selling an item, you should discuss these with your TA when you hand over the item.

Also, a TA is an experienced seller, so you need to let them do their job. Micromanaging the auction process usually makes it a less than enjoyable experience for everyone. Even if you have some eBay experience and a TA does not do things like you would normally do or have seen done by other sellers that does not mean the TA is doing anything wrong. There are many successful ways to set up listings on eBay, so please give the TA some latitude.

Choosing a TA is often a scary proposition. You decide to hand over your valuable items to a complete stranger and let them sell the items for you. If you have an issue with this, please discuss it with your TA. Many problems arise due to lack of communications and failure to provide your expectations. That being said, a TA often has multiple clients and many items to list. While communication is important, you should not be calling your TA several times a day to get updates.

You should also make sure your TA uses a contract that spells out your relationship, the fees they charge and even discuss what would happen if your sentimentally priceless china that belonged to your great aunt was damaged while in the TAs possession. Also, make sure you get a receipt for all of the items you turn over to the TA. One important thing is to discuss the timetable with payments. After all, you give the TA some items and you expect to get your share of the proceeds in a timely manner. And make sure you decide on what will happen to any item that does not sell.

OK, you great aunt’s china may be priceless to you for sentimental reasons, but the value of an item is often difficult to pinpoint. You may see another internet site offering this china at 100 bucks a plate. Of course, they may have been offering that particular plate for five years and it is still for sale. Or you may have seen a collectible book that stated that the value of your item was 150 dollars. Book value is often not an indicator of what the item will sell for on eBay. If you want an estimate of what to expect, have the TA do some research on the item. They can usually provide a range of prices for similar items that have sold recently on eBay. That is often a good indication of what you will receive, but some prices are volatile and what sold on eBay last week for between 75 – 100 dollars may bring less today. My basic philosophy is that your item is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it.

One thing I advocate is to start small. If you have a 500-piece collection of something that you want to put on eBay, give the TA a few pieces and see how well they do. If you are happy with the results, then you can give a few more items. You do not have to give up your 500-piece collection all at once. And I would be leery of anyone who suggested otherwise.

If you are not comfortable with the TA or have other concerns, then you should perform some due diligence and check out your TA. You can ask for references from other clients they had. You can check out the TAs feedback. Do not just rely on the percentage number, but read the feedback. One thing I think is important is to look at feedback that indicates there was a problem to see how the issue was resolved. A good eBay seller will stand behind the items they sell. I would not expect anything less from a TA.

OK, you are interested in using a TA, what do you do next. You can always go right to eBay and use the Find A Trading Assistant Directory to find a TA. The following eBay link will provide more information on the TA program as well as a link that you can use to find a TA in your area:

http://pages.ebay.com/tahub/index.html

If after using the above link, you have any questions or concerns about using a TA or wish to learn more, I would suggest a visit to the TA Discussion Board. They are a friendly bunch of folks and I am sure would be happy to address any thing you may wish to bring up. Just remember to follow eBay policy if you choose to post to the discussion board.

Thanks for reading. Please note that I am a registered TA on another ID, I do participate in the eBay community and discussion boards using what is usually called a posting ID. This ID was also used to publish this guide. It is mainly used for buying and occasionally testing out some new functionality to allow me to become a better seller. I have been successfully selling on eBay for over 5 years and have thousands of successful sales on my main selling ID. Happy eBaying!