"What To Do When Your Auctions End and the Importance Of Customer Service" by Jason James
HOW ARE MY AUCTIONS DOING?
Just log-in to your eBay account and go to My eBay. Or visit: http://my.ebay.com On the left hand menu just click on "All Selling" and there you will have a snapshot of how your auctions are doing. This screen will list all of your auctions and tell you the numbers or bids you have for each item, the number of people who are "Watching" your items, and the time left before the bidding ends.
THE AUCTION'S OVER, NOW WHAT?
Well, you’ve sold your first items on eBay, and you are excited!! Now, you see that this stuff can really make you some money. The first thing you do is send an e-mail out to the winning bidder, letting them know where to send the money and any other special instruction that they may need.
Let them know that you will notify them when you receive their payment, and also that you will let them know when the item has been sent. This will accomplish two things, first it will help your money arrive more quickly, and second it will make the buyer feel more at ease. Everyone is a little cautious when dealing with someone new for the first time, so good communications are a must. If you are delayed in getting an item out for any reason, let the buyer know via e-mail.
Once you receive the buyer's payment, it is only fair to leave them some positive feedback on the system. After all, a lot of people use this factor to decide if they want to do business with someone. If they have been good to deal with, please let other people know, and perhaps they will do the same for you in return!
It does not hurt to mention where they can leave feedback for your auction and your service to them. You might leave a note in their package that you sent, or you might send a follow up email to them telling them when you shipped their product with a reminder that you would appreciate feedback.
Of course all of the tedious work I just mentioned above can be automatically done with a good auction management service. As I have mentioned in earlier parts of this guide I highly recommend Vendio for an auction management service.
WHAT IF THE HIGH BIDDER BACKS OUT?
There is not a lot you can do if a bidder backs out on you. What you can do first is contact eBay and let them know that the item did not sell for the high bid. Remember that eBay takes a percentage of the highest bid, so let them know that the highest bid backed out on you.
If the high bidder refuses to respond to e-mail inquiring about their reasons for backing out on the bid or is rude, then, by all means, leave negative feedback about the user on eBay. Most problems can be settled via e-mail, so be sure before you affect the online reputation of a buyer through negative feedback. The buyer's hard drive could have crashed or have been shorted out by lightening. Family emergencies can also cause users to be away from their computers. Also remember, that if you need to re-list your item on eBay, you can probably do it for free! Just look at the link that eBay points to in the e-mail it sends you after the auction is over if for any reason you need to re-list the item.
========Customer Service=============
Always answer a customer's email. Whether the customer is praising your product or complaining, whether he is offering his input or asking a question, he or she deserves an answer. Particularly on Ebay, where feedback really counts!
If you fail to answer emails, you may receive such comments as "unresponsive seller" or "ignored my repeated inquiries" in your feedback file. You will also earn yourself a poor reputation and lose respect in the online trading community.
My recommendation: Keep your answers short, courteous, and to the point. Provide all relevant information and be friendly, but don't get bogged down in long email conversations back and forth, and don't let the customer lead you on an irrelevant tangent. Your time is money. Also, you should create a classy signature file that inspires confidence in you as a seller and looks professional.
Finally, I strongly recommend creating a folder in your email program entitled "pre-written messages" in which you have template messages already created to answer common questions such as:
1) When has my item been shipped?
2) When did you receive payment?
3) How long does shipping take? Etc, etc.
Customize your pre-written messages to fit your particular product, as you will notice very similar questions and comments from customers as time passes. It is MUCH EASIER to send out a pre-written form email than write a specific answer to each inquiry. However, make sure that it doesn't sound like you are using a form email and make sure to add a personal touch when possible.
Once again, once you get going and selling items, you will definetely want to use an auction management service. The one I recommend is: Vendio
When considering email customer service, you must balance time, efficiency, and courteousness to maximize your working potential.
Congratulations! You made through my 14 day learn how to sell on eBay guide. As you can see there is a lot to learn when selling on eBay, but the fun you'll have and the payoff will be well worth it.
Now, its really up to you if you just want to make an extra $50 or $100 per week, or if you want to make this a full time venture. I know when I started it was with just selling household items, such as my old cell phone, and an old digital camera. After those 2 items sold, I was hooked! eBay is such an amazing website, and online auctions are such an amazing concept. The sky is truly the limit.
Yours in success,
Jason James
Consultant and eBay Power Seller
Founder, Auction Resource Network
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Jason James is originally from Boston, MA. and has spent time in the U.S. Marine Corps learning some of the discipline that is required for a successful home-based Internet marketing business.
Jason has built a long track record of success mastering eBay and building profitable membership websites.
His first Internet success was selling products on Internet auction site eBay, becoming a power seller then eventually putting together the website www.auctionresourcenetwork.com which detailed the exact steps a person can take to make money on eBay.
Jason's most recent venture is putting together a series of Online videos made by some of today's top Internet marketers to help budding entrepreneurs get trusted information to help their online businesses grow to phenomenal levels.
Jason has kindly allowed us to post one of his articles about how to be successful on E-bay each day for the next couple of months. Thanks Jason.