There are two principal reasons to take care when packaging and sending items to buyers. The first is that sellers are responsible for items until the buyer receives them. If an item is damaged during transit, the buyer has the right to request a refund based on the item not matching the description in the…
Posts by Gemma
Getting Shipping Rates Right
Listing an item on eBay isn’t only about providing great photos and an accurate description; the cost of shipping is also an important factor for interested buyers. Buyers hate getting ‘ripped off’ by extortionate postage costs. There are three main ways to communicate to the buyer how much shipping will cost for an item. Calculated…
What to Do if Your Buyer Does Not Pay Right Away
The excitement of selling an item can soon dissipate if payment is not received quickly. The good news is that buyers are obligated to complete a purchase if they win an auction or uses Buy It Now to purchase an item. Here’s what you can do if the money is slow to arrive or not…
How to Get More Buyer Feedback
Whenever something is sold on eBay, a buyer has the opportunity to leave the seller negative, neutral or positive Feedback rating plus detailed seller ratings. The Feedback system develops the seller’s reputation on eBay, which both buyers and eBay itself take note of. A strong Feedback profile enables the seller to receive better search result…
To Ship Free, or Not to Ship Free?
eBay actively encourages sellers to offer free shipping and handling on items via rating rewards, higher search placement and initiatives such as “Fast ‘N Free.” While these benefits are undeniable, providing free shipping is not necessarily advantageous to every eBay seller’s business as I will explore here. Free shipping = lower fees? One important point…
Common Post-sale Buyer Requests
Selling the item is only the start of a seller’s interaction with a buyer. As with other online purchases, buyers may have questions or concerns following the sale. Here are some of the most common requests to expect a variation of. Changing the shipping address It is inevitable that at some point sellers will be…
Understanding Returns and eBay’s Money Back Guarantee
Returns are part of selling on eBay whether sellers advertise that they accept them on a listing or not. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee (MBG) allows buyers to return an item if it is ‘not as described’ and also assists when an item is not received. eBay sellers should understand the limits of a return policy…
What Time is Best to List (and Therefore End) Your Auctions?
There are twenty four hours in the day, seven days in a week….but when will your item sell best? There is unfortunately no perfect answer for all eBay sellers, but here’s a head start in creating your own ideal formula. Auction duration basics Sellers have the option to make auction listings last 1, 3, 5, 7,…
When to Open an eBay Store
An eBay store (or ‘shop’ on eBay.co.uk) is a subscription-based service that enables a seller to have a customisable ‘storefront’ on the website. A store presents all of a seller’s listed items together in one place, offering a more ‘traditional’ online shopping experience to a buyer. Read on to learn about the advantages and drawbacks…
Whether to Sell with Auction or Fixed Price Listings on eBay
It’s official; auction sales are falling fast on eBay, the website originally founded as ‘AuctionWeb’ in 1995. Numbers of eBay auctions have been falling for years, with it being claimed that less than 15% of all eBay listings are auction style in a Stanford University study. This change has an impact on both new and…