I have written this guide with the help of my clients in hopes that people will do a little research before they choose a trading assistant.

I have been a trading assistant for quite some time here on ebay. Ive met a lot of great people doing what I do and of course, the occasional hard to please, never happy, difficult to work with individual.....but never had  I heard such a story as this one!

I was contacted by a local lady wanting some advice on trading assistants. She was not specific on what exactly she wanted advice on but was adamant about making an appointment to speak with me. We agreed to meet the following day at a local cafe.

After giving her the basics of what a trading assistant does, she broke down and told me her story.

She explained that she had found a flyer on the wall of a local grocery store for an ebay trading assistant. She said the flyer looked legit and the person/s even had a name and logo for their company. Upon meeting these individuals, she agreed to hand over her possessions expecting to have money in her hands very soon.

Days went by and she heard nothing. She decided to call them to see what was going on. She got the run around. She tried looking them up on ebay..nothing. She couldnt find them in the trading assistant directory. Of course, she started to panic. She realized that they had not given her a contract to sign, they didnt really explain what they were going to do with her stuff, and now she couldnt even find them on the web.

She contacted the police thinking she could file a report, which she did. The police told her without a signed contract, there was nothing that they could do as the "trading assistant/s" said they had no idea who she was nor did they have her stuff. It was basically a he said, she said kind of deal.

She got some advice from an attorney who also told her the same thing. Without a contract, there wasnt much she could do. There was no way to proove that she had given her items to these people.

She finally called me after getting my business card from a co-worker.

I didnt know what exactly I could do for this woman, but upon hearing her story, I knew I wanted to help.

Being fluent in ebay, I started to look for these people myself based on the info that she gave me. They were not listed in ebay trading assistants. I could not find them by simply searching for the ebay name they had given her. I had the list of all of the items she had given them so I worked with that next. Some of the things she had given them were pretty hard to find items that she had inherrited, so I started typing in key words I thought would match, and sure enough! There they were! And there in the auction listings was every single item she had given them!!

They obviously thought that being vague about their ebay name was going to help them fool some poor people. They had given this woman the right ebay name but what they neglected to tell her was that the name contained underscores and that a word in their name was spelled differently than it sounded.....Not nice!

I do want to note that they were still not listed under trading assistants!

I printed off the list of their auctions and presented it to my new friend. We then went to all of the local grocery stores to see if they still had flyers sure enough, we found one.

With the list of auctions, the flyer, and a copy of her grandmothers will, she was finally able to press charges!!

Her day in court was last week and she won by a land slide!! The judge awarded her the return of her items plus a healthy sum of money to compensate her for the 3 items they had sold and sent out (they even sent them out after they were already charged with theft mind you)

One thing that amazes me about this ebayer is that the day after the court case, they became listed among the trading assistants in our area! Beware folks!

Now I told you that story to tell you this.......

#1 RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH!

      Do as much research on your potential trading assistant as you possibly can! Dont be afraid to call or visit with them to get their ebay info.  Check their feedback rating. Read their about me page. See what kind of auctions they have been selling.

#2 Make sure they are listed on ebay as a trading assistant.

#3 Do they have a formal contract that outlines the basics of what they do.

     What services do they provide? How much do they charge? When can you expect payment? Do they cover loss or damage? It may help if you have a contract or agreement of your own with a list, description and value or reserve price of your items. Make sure you state somewhere that they are taking possession of these items to sell them for you. And above all, make sure they sign it!

#4 If you decide to sell your items with a trading assistant, watch your auctions! Keep track of what each items sells for and verify the payments and info they report to you.

#5 Read over ebay's policies regarding trading assistant conduct. Follow the guidelines given to you by ebay and your seller.

#6 Dont be afraid to ask questions!

Most trading assistants are very easy to work with. They will bend over backwards to help you understand what exactly it is that they do. They know that if it werent for their clients, they would be out of business.

If you happen to be a fellow trading assistant, make sure you are having your clients sign a contract. Be honest about what you do. Explain all the little details not only for the clients, but for yourself!

Oh and as an end note.......Always Always Always! Explain to your clients that they cannot bid on their own aucions! Put it in your contract!

If you find my guide helpful, be sure to leave a review:) And as always, feel free to contact me regarding any questions you may have:)