If you opt for an official store on eBay you can take advantage of the Turbo Lister program. This program allows you to create your listings while you're offline and then upload the listings to eBay at your convenience.
And the program works slightly faster than creating listings on the eBay site. For example pictures load a bit faster, although not quite as fast as they really should. One of the best features, though, is that you can create listings that use the same format each and every time.
One of the most disconcerting and confusing issues that new users may experience with eBay is the lack of uniformity with forms; go into a listing via the catalog and you get certain data, go in another way and you get another set of data to complete altogether. Sometimes you are required to set your listing and then go back through to get all the fields that are necessary for the listing to appear in the search engine properly.
Not so with Turbo Lister. Each and every time you are presented with the data fields that you need to complete the listing and it's efficiently on just one page---all present for your preview. You can make templates, keep track of items for sale, and monitor sales records. And the program creates a database that you can use to generate all sorts of information.
There are some issues, though. If you make an error for example, and try to list something with the same title, the program doesn't generate an error message, but simply crashes. If you have trouble with the program crashing it is more than likely a problem with the listing that you're working on. This is, hopefully, something that will be fixed in future versions of the program.
If you manage an eBay store, the Turbo Lister is worth a try.
Showing posts with label eBay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBay. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Product not as Described
If you're planning on selling on eBay then you need to know that eBay can and will hold your funds from a sale sooner or later. Your funds will be held even though your shipping costs have been paid out of your own pocket. And even if you are in the right and even though your customer has not contacted you regarding the problem or issue first.
Most customers don't realize that filing a claim with eBay freezes funds in the sellers eBay account. A customer who has difficulty using a product will file a claim stating the "product is not as described." EBay then freezes the money and sends an email to the seller stating that the matter should be resolved. This leaves the seller out the cost of shipping and without the product in the interim.
The more detailed and complicated your product, the more likely you will receive this type of claim against your eBay store. A customer receives the product, can't get it to work properly, and files the claim without contacting the store for help first because they feel more protected through eBay.
The faster the issue is resolved the better---eBay doesn't release your money until the issue is resolved and eBay reserves the right to arbitrate. You'll then receive a letter stating the good news that your seller rating was not affected and your funds are released.
Most customers don't realize that filing a claim with eBay freezes funds in the sellers eBay account. A customer who has difficulty using a product will file a claim stating the "product is not as described." EBay then freezes the money and sends an email to the seller stating that the matter should be resolved. This leaves the seller out the cost of shipping and without the product in the interim.
The more detailed and complicated your product, the more likely you will receive this type of claim against your eBay store. A customer receives the product, can't get it to work properly, and files the claim without contacting the store for help first because they feel more protected through eBay.
The faster the issue is resolved the better---eBay doesn't release your money until the issue is resolved and eBay reserves the right to arbitrate. You'll then receive a letter stating the good news that your seller rating was not affected and your funds are released.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
eBay selling
As an addendum to my series on internet commerce without a website; I need to add one more tidbit. If you are accepting payments through Paypal, know that Paypal is also owned by eBay. If your buyer, right or wrong, has a problem with the product---anything from buyers remorse to didn't read the listing or store policy, and the buyer invokes the "isn't as described" clause; the amount of the sale is put on hold.
This occurs even when it is past the returns are accepted time as indicated in writing in your store policy. This occurs even if the money is not in your Paypal account---remember Paypal has access to your bank account or credit card.
eBay then apparently acts as judge and jury in the case. The internet is full of angry, frustrated, and disgusted sellers who have been cheated out of the merchandise and the money. In contrast, rarely do you find a disgruntled buyer.
Beware of this pitfall when merchandising on eBay. As an eBay staff member put it "if you don't like or agree with our policies too bad don't do business here."
And that is indeed the kind of customer service you can expect whether you sell $1 or thousands of dollars.
This occurs even when it is past the returns are accepted time as indicated in writing in your store policy. This occurs even if the money is not in your Paypal account---remember Paypal has access to your bank account or credit card.
eBay then apparently acts as judge and jury in the case. The internet is full of angry, frustrated, and disgusted sellers who have been cheated out of the merchandise and the money. In contrast, rarely do you find a disgruntled buyer.
Beware of this pitfall when merchandising on eBay. As an eBay staff member put it "if you don't like or agree with our policies too bad don't do business here."
And that is indeed the kind of customer service you can expect whether you sell $1 or thousands of dollars.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
E-commerce without a website of your own Part four
One thing I can say about eBay is that it gets results. If you're willing to sell a product at a good price, it will not last long and will be sold in a reasonable time.
Sales, however, are expensive and energy intensive compared to other places on the internet. For every sale on eBay you may receive twenty or more inquiries. Where consumers on other sites will go to a manufacturer's page to obtain information, customers on eBay will go to you.
EBay's fees are some of the most expensive there are; 7% to a whopping 13% of a final value that includes the amount you charge for shipping. And you may not do business with eBay unless you hand them the keys to your paypal, bank account or credit card to automatically deduct their fees from.
On eBay when a customer clicks buy they do not automatically pay. Your item is removed from the listing and listed as sold even though you are not paid. As difficult as it may be to believe you as a seller are directed by eBay to send an invoice. You can't initiate a cancellation of a sale due to non payment for 5 days and then the customer has another few days to respond. In addition eBay charges you, from the automatically deducted bank account, for the 7%-13% fee EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PAID.
I currently have a sale that's been up in the air for nearly two weeks, the customer has been unresponsive and eBay is charging me almost $100 on an item that hasn't been paid for. EBay is unresponsive via email and lacks customer service skills over the telephone.
If you have a choice between a site of your own and eBay----my advice would be to see a web consultant. You'll be money, and a bunch of aggravation ahead.
Sales, however, are expensive and energy intensive compared to other places on the internet. For every sale on eBay you may receive twenty or more inquiries. Where consumers on other sites will go to a manufacturer's page to obtain information, customers on eBay will go to you.
EBay's fees are some of the most expensive there are; 7% to a whopping 13% of a final value that includes the amount you charge for shipping. And you may not do business with eBay unless you hand them the keys to your paypal, bank account or credit card to automatically deduct their fees from.
On eBay when a customer clicks buy they do not automatically pay. Your item is removed from the listing and listed as sold even though you are not paid. As difficult as it may be to believe you as a seller are directed by eBay to send an invoice. You can't initiate a cancellation of a sale due to non payment for 5 days and then the customer has another few days to respond. In addition eBay charges you, from the automatically deducted bank account, for the 7%-13% fee EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PAID.
I currently have a sale that's been up in the air for nearly two weeks, the customer has been unresponsive and eBay is charging me almost $100 on an item that hasn't been paid for. EBay is unresponsive via email and lacks customer service skills over the telephone.
If you have a choice between a site of your own and eBay----my advice would be to see a web consultant. You'll be money, and a bunch of aggravation ahead.
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