GOing1nce.com - eBay PowerSeller & Designer

eBay Trading Assistants Info...

Potential clients of a Trading Assistant should also be aware of how to work with a Trading Assistant. Please see this eBay guide if you're a potential client of an eBay TA.

eBay Trading Assistant (TA)Info
(& a few other eBay-related comments & some opinions)

I often participate on eBay's TA discussion board. Many questions are asked over and over. And, because I'm opinionated and an experienced TA, I figured I should have my comments in one area - thus, this page.

WHAT WE, AS A TA, DO FOR CLIENTS

Photographs or Scans of item(s)
Host items' photos on our website
Write complete descriptions (and do research, if needed)
Host a web page about the clients item (for select items)
Submit eBay auction listing and track sale
Correspond with prospective buyers
Financial transactions with buyers
Packag& Ship
Follow-up with buyers
Pay and report transactions to client

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A TA

First, get a good amount of experience selling your own stuff - collectibles you have around your home & nifty items you picked up at the flea market. And, buy some stuff from your fellow eBayers to get an idea how sales are handled from the customer point of view and to build up your feedback. Of course, to be a registered eBay TA, you must meet the requirements.

AM I A REAL BUSINESS?

ABSOLUTELY! We full-time TAs probably work more hours than our friends who have "real jobs" do. We're entrepreneurs! We have systems in place to take photos, do research, write descriptions, do our accounting, package and ship, etc. We treat our clients and buyers with kindness and professionalism. We collect sales tax when we must. We are licensed as our governments require. We don't have time to watch the neighbor's kid just because we're home - we're at our home office and work is what we do in our REAL JOB!

HOW DO YOU FIND CLIENTS?

As with most businesses, finding clients is crucial to your success. You may first approach friends and family who have items they'd like sold - ONLY IF you and they can maintain a professional relationship (ie: get paid for your time, have a contract).

When I first started TAing, I made up some business cards & brochures about what services I'd provide and my fees. My partner and I went to many businesses (cold calls) which we thought might have the types of items we could sell on eBay - collectibles, antiques, electronic equipment. Out of the 18 businesses we visited on our first "run", we acquired 7 new clients. We got a couple clients by talking up our business to friends and associates. Our biggest client (thankfully) overheard me telling someone about our biggest eBay success to that point and she tracked me down. (I tell EVERYONE what I do...or at least tell someone loud enough so eavesdroppers will follow me out the door and ask for a card.)

I do a press release when something occurs which I feel may be of interest to the local media - we're 3 for 3 on press release success - all 3 have brought us new clients.

AND, of course, I'm listed on eBay's TA directory. Your TA listing should be comprehensive and very professional - I suspect I'm the most successful TA in Tucson because our directory listing is more professional than others'. (Okay, I'm cocky, too - but that helps exude confidence to potential clients!<G>)

I've not done any newspaper or flyer advertising thus far, but I certainly expect to when things slow down for our biz. I imagine I'll put a small display ad in our neighborhood paper to start when the time is right.

CONTRACT

Having a contract with your clients protects both of you and contributes to your professional appearance. There are probably as many contracts as there are TAs, so you'll have to modify yours to fit your business. A copy of my contract is here. Sure, my contract is quite lengthy, but I want all bases covered in my business dealings.

FEES

How much should you charge? First, consider how long it takes you to do each of the necessary tasks related to listing an item and know how much you want to make per hour. Do you want to charge your client for the eBay and any paypal fees in addition to your own fees or will you include them in your fees? (I find it's less confusing for the client and less nit-picking work for me to include those fees in my own.) Should you charge a setup/listing fee regardless of the item's possible sale? Should you have a flat rate or graduated ones? My usual fees are here.

On occasion, I've had a client with many items which I've been certain will sell on eBay. I've charged them a flat commission rate with no setup fee. I've also listed a home under eBay's real estate ad format. For that, I charged a flat fee based on the amount of time I estimated it would take me to shoot & optimize photos, write up the description, create web pages on my site and deal with all the email.

KEEPING TRACK

Again, there are probably as many ways to keep track of your eBay clients, sales and buyers as there are TAs. I use BTPro (eBay's Blackthorne Pro) to create and upload my auctions to eBay, to track auction activity and to email high-bidders. I handle all my consignment tracking and reports in BTPro. (See this ebay workshop I presented on using BTPro for consignments. An auction management program, such as BTPro, will save you much time over using a listing program or eBay's Sell It Yourself (SIY) form, sending our emails one-by-one and other activities. (I have a BTPro Quick Start Guide here.)

INTERNAL FORMS

We have a form we've created to use when we pick up items from a client. We make 2 copies of such forms - one for us, one for the client. Our old "consignment log" looked like this:

Granted, there's not enough room on the above form for details about the items. So, we have a description form which includes spaces for all the details about each item.

ADVERTISING/MARKETING MATERIALS

A business card is a must! Have many with you always - and give 'em out to anyone who shows the slightest interest. Someone who received a card from you 6 months ago may still call.

A brochure outlining your services and fees can be given to or mailed to prospective clients. It's worth your time and money to produce very professional-looking marketing materials - potential clients will judge the "book" of your business by the "cover" of your materials.

A flyer should also be professional, even if you're only going to post it in your local library - you want clients who want to deal with a real business, not a fly-by-night operation.

eBay provides some marketing materials you may use if you're a registered TA.

Another important marketing hint: Create your own brand. Get a professionally-designed logo and put it on your listings. Have a consistent look to your auctions. The color & design theme on this page is repeated on all our eBay listings and this website.

GET PRESS

You've sold a deck of cards for a client for $2500? Heck, that's news! Figure out the angle that'll appeal to a reporter and send him a brief press release about it. Imagine a pyramid outline for your press release. Most important feature 1st, a bit of detail, then a bit more. If I were to write up such a press release about that, it would look something like this:

Press Release

Deck of Cards Sold on EBay for $2500!

Tucson eBay seller, GOing1nceLLC, sold a 100-year old deck of cards on eBay for a local client for $2500. The Boman deck of cards features hand-colored images of Swedish royalty. According to the eBay buyer, a Norwegian cards collector, a Boman deck has not been offered for sale anywhere in over 27 years. Several bidders from around the world contacted GOing1nceLLC throughout the auction.

GOing1nceLLC, eBay Trading Assistant, started the bidding at $19.99. Neither they nor their client suspected they had such a collectible deck of cards. GOing1nceLLC (going1nce.com) has been in business for 2 years, selling items for local individuals and businesses on eBay. Sally Milo of GOing1nceLLC has managed the eBay auctions for Arizona Stamp & Coin since 1999.

-30-

Sally Milo may be reached at Sales@GOing1nce.com or at 520-555-5555.

You want to tantalize the reporter and give him just enough info to use the text as is, but provide your contact info in case he wants more details.

Okay, you didn't sell a $2500 deck of cards? Did you just open a drop-off location? Got a new client who wants you to sell the estate of her celebrity relative? Nope? You know eBay really well? At least drop the reporter an exciting-sounding release about what you know - offer to be the reporter's expert when he wants some eBay info. Find your angle and MILK IT!

PHOTOS & SCANS

We shoot photos of all items that aren't flat & small enough to fit on the scanner. I made up a 30"x30"x30" table-top photo studio out of pvc pipe with white fabric on 5 sides to diffuse lights.

After shooting the photos, I open them up in Photoshop & create a montage of all images of one item into one larger jpg. I adjust color and brightness as needed. I also put our logo on the jpg.

We host our photos on our website. eBay's picture service limits you to a certain size and just doesn't provide as good quality as you can do by yourself. For a few bucks a month, you can use a photo host service which will give you enough space for a couple thousand images. PictureStorage.net and Pair.com are two good, inexpensive picture hosts to consider using.

RESEARCH

When we get a new-to-us item to list, we consider our research time a benefit to us for similar items we may have in the future. Most items don't require much research, but if, for example, a client asks you to sell a 100-year-old bisque head doll, your chance of selling it are greater when you can provide the details bidders will want. We do online research for most items, but in the case of a bisque-head doll, we asked our client to wait for us to get a book to research it thoroughly before we put it on eBay.

Not only do we research many individual items for info about the particular details of items, but we look at past eBay sales of similar items. On eBay's completed auctions, we discover the price range items sold (or didn't) sell for. We especially look at why item X sold for 3 times what it's twin, item X1, did not sell for. Look at the listing categories, title, description, photos, seller's feedback rating. Often, you'll find a bit of info about the item which will guide you to further item history info online. Many times, because of our research of just the eBay details, we've received the highest price among like items. On occasion, we'll post to one of the eBay boards related to an item we have to list. Other eBayers often will provide info or at least point you in the direction of info.

Of course, it's not worth our time to research everything beyond doing a cursory look at closed eBay auctions. But - if a client has 4 dozen Marklin toy trains, you'll want to see what the market is and how you should price each one.

DESCRIPTIONS

We try to be as descriptive as possible on items we list. Brand names, hallmarks, age of item, materials, measurements are necessary. Condition is a must. If you don't know, for example, about pottery, do a bit of research to educate yourself on the terms. Then, in your description, write something like "I'm not very knowledgeable about pottery, so my following description of this piece's condition is as picky as I can get: there's a pinhead-sized black spot on the rim (I believe it's referred to as a flea-bite), a 1/8" chip on the handle and what looks like crackling on the surface. Please email me with specific questions." We've found our un-educated descriptions of condition such as this do mean something to people who are knowledgeable.

Have fun with your descriptions! "We don't think it'll hurt the value because some guy named Joe wrote on the cover" is one line we put in about a Joe Dimaggio-signed Life Magazine. About a stamp book, I wrote "Unfortunately, I'm not a stamp collector, so much of what is in this book is indecipherable to me. BUT - if you want to read about coil packets, departmental issues, imperforates and more, this may be of interest to you!" I've had to veto a few of my partner's more irreverant words, as bidders don't care to read about our political views and just won't appreciate his sarcasm. (His puns usually stay in.) Folksiness is something I've enjoyed when I read auction listings, and that's just the way I am. I believe our buyers like to know they're dealing with a real person.

Proofread!!! Check your spelling and grammar. To those who care about such things, nothing says "careless seller" as obviously as butchering the language. Your keywords, especially, will not be easily found if they're spelled wrong - except by savvy bidders who know they can find good deals by looking for mis-spellings.

TERMS OF SERVICE (TOS)

A clear description of your policies can protect you and inform your bidders. You may want to state this in your description on each auction listing. Describe payments you accept, your return policy, any shipping policy you may have and other info you'd like your bidders to know. Do NOT say "We don't do this. You shouldn't do so and so. We penalize for xyz." A positive spin on these things will make you appear easier to deal with than a bunch of "NOs". (You can see my TOS on all of my listings which you can find thru this page.)

eBay TIPS

Please visit this page for a few eBay tips.

YOU WANT TO OPEN A DROP-OFF LOCATION?

If you're not already listing dozens of items a week out of your home office(s), I don't think you're ready to do dozens or hundreds out of a store front. By running many, many auctions a month in your cramped little space, you'll learn to pare back your systems and activities to save you the time you'll be needing when you're in a storefront.

Get all your systems, work-flow, procedures in place before you do TAing full-time. Have a client contract (see mine on this page), define your fees clearly (mine are here), know how items will be photographed and have a somewhat-professional space to take photos and then a good photo-editing program to make your pix look as good as possible. Have all your boxes, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc. ready for getting items out the door. Have a supply of USPS or other forms needed for shipping. Have shelving to hold items and have a system in place so you can easily find item X when needed. Know just what your costs really are - not just rent and utilities, but eBay & paypal fees, supplies, your software management program's monthly cost, the kid you pay to do such-and-such.

Another good business "must do": Create a comprehensive business plan. Even if you don't need one for prospective investors, it'll sure assist you in planning well and will remind you of all you need to do to get up and running and stay running. Do a google.com search on "business plan". There are many free outlines on the web to guide you.

KEEPING TRACK

Sure, you could keep hard-copy records and enter every bit of info onto paper ledgers, but why??? There are many software options - produced by eBay & 3rd-party vendors - to use online or on your own computer. I use eBay's Blackthorne Pro and recommend it highly! I can quickly print out a log out of Blackthorne for client items I've received (an electronic version of the sample above), can do a quick search for client items currently running on eBay or for any particular period & can print out a report of transactions with fees to give to clients with their payment.