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September, 2011

  1. Too Legit

    September 28, 2011 by Webster

    This whole eBay experiment is starting to scare the hell out of me. Why? Because it’s no longer an experiment. It’s working too well. I’ve created a monster. And now I’ve got to face reality and starting getting serious with it. I can’t keep pretending that my personal PayPal account will actually work in the long-term. I’m making terrible decisions like purchasing supplies and equipment under my own name. I’ve got taxes to worry about in a few months. Our pets’ heads are falling off. The list goes on.

    However, I am aware of what I need to do to legitimize the business and get organized. Here’s my current to-do list to start cleaning up my mess.

    1. File for an LLC with the state (legitimize the situation)
    2. Set up a business checking account (separate from personal finances)
    3. Acquire accounting software (shoot myself in the face)
    4. Use accounting software as though I have severe OCD (and find PayPal integration tools)
    5. Talk to a CPA?
    6. Get a P.O. Box?

    To be honest, I should’ve done this on day 1. Probably prior to day 1. All those posts I made about purchasing supplies and equipment to save time/money…could’ve counted as business expenses to write off at the end of the year. Instead they’re just lost purchases I’ve made for myself prior to legitimately starting the business. But what can you do?

    Also, in 2012 PayPal is going to start reporting all user transactions to the IRS. Not that this news changes anything in terms of accountability and ethical decision-making, but it’s certainly something worth noting if you’re an occasional eBay seller.

    As far as #5 and #6 being questionable to-do items…I think that talking with a CPA right now would serve as a helpful and precautionary task that will help me down the road. I’m sure the guidance and insight acquired from a CPA would be extremely beneficial, both throughout the business year and during tax season. I hope to dedicate a post toward this experience soon.

    The P.O. Box would just change my return address from my residence to an anonymous. I’m not sure that this would enhance or degrade my appearance as a legitimate seller, but it may be something worth looking into. At least until I can buy a giant warehouse and some of those cool palette movers you see at Lowe’s and Home Depot, which deep down everyone secretly wants amiright?

    Of course, all of these action items cost money. Quite a bit of money actually. But in most cases they’re just one-time set up fees, and once they’re all established I’ll have a much clearer head on my shoulders and be fully confident with the road ahead.

    Category My Story | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  2. Going Global?

    September 23, 2011 by Webster

    Every once in a while, someone out there asks:

    “Hello. Do you ship to [__extremely obscure Asian country__]? If so how much it cost?”

    My general response is an internal *sigh*…dammit. I REALLY want to be the best and most flexible seller possible. But truth be told, shipping internationally is generally more trouble than it’s worth. Here’s why:

    Super High Shipping Costs — This should not be a surprise. Your package needs to go a looooong way, through customs bureaus and possibly different shipping services. Those additional costs add up FAST, so you’ll probably just end up wasting 10 minutes to tell the guy it will cost $50 just to ship the box (which is clearly a deal-killer). **Go ahead, try out this International Shipping Calculator if you want, but it almost always spits out arm+leg caliber figures.

    However, USPS does offer international flat-rate boxes & envelopes that can be relatively reasonable. Like the commercial says, if it fits–it ships, so definitely make use of that. Also note that it costs a little less to ship to Mexico or Canada.

    If you do decide to move forward, you just need to notify the buyer of the increased shipping cost and be sure to include it in a new invoice to complete the transaction. It’s really not a big deal, except for the…

    Extra Work Involved — First, you’ll be prompted to fill out a US Customs Form. You can walk through this process online and just print it out, or fill it out by hand. Also not a huge deal, but some of the criteria may have you scratching your head regarding the description/value/nature of the shipment.

    Then you have to deal with the lines at the post office. I know, wah wah wahh…but depending on your luck, this could take between 5 minutes and what feels like an entire afternoon. Usually with a crying baby behind you and several people ahead of you who take ten minutes longer than normal. It’s miserable, and you know it.

    Other aspects to keep in mind:

    • You might end up paying extra excise taxes for your “exports”
    • Tracking ID Numbers only go so far as the USPS services go…so there really isn’t any delivery confirmation
    • You run a higher risk of the package getting damaged or lost along the way

    So really, in the end it’s up to you. If someone in Hong Kong is willing to pay the shipping costs and happens to want some of your less-wanted items you’ve been dying to get rid of…then yeah, go for it. But if this person is asking you for a discount or any kind of favor…I say avoid it.

    My stance on this may change in the future, but for now my listings state that I DO NOT provide international shipping of any kind. The thing is…a lot of people ask all the time anyway. And sometimes I say yes. It really just comes down to whether or not you think it’s worth it.

    Category Logistics | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  3. Multi-Order Shipping Is #WINNING

    September 21, 2011 by Webster

    To quote Shooter McGavin, here’s a free lesson:

    If you’re selling a lot of items at once, use PayPal’s MultiOrder Shipping Tool.

    PayPal MultiOrder Shipping Options

    It’s super easy and a HUGE time-saver, but there are a few things you need to know to know to make the process as care-free and seamless as possible.

    MultiOrder Shipping Link

    First you need to know how to get there. To do so, just log in to your PayPal account and look on the right side of your screen (adjacent to your recent transactions on the main My Account page). It’s right there under My Account Tools. This might seem extremely obvious, but I always seemed to rush through the process without noticing it until a friend pointed it out to me. If you know me personally, this would not be a huge surprise to you (as I wander through life obliviously ignorant of many common-sense practicalities). Hopefully you don’t share this affliction, but sometimes we all need a little hand-holding.

    After you click on the link, a new full-screen window will open with a list of all your “ready to ship” items. If this the first time using this tool, you might need to import your items from eBay…but usually they just show up automagically. Also, if at any time there are items there that you’ve already shipped (which can happen), just delete them from the list. Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine–and if you accidentally delete something that DOES need to be shipped, you can just look up your deleted items and quickly re-trace your steps. No sweat.

    A couple other things to keep in mind…

    If you’re using a label printer (which you should), be sure to select it from the drop-down menu at the top before finalizing the process. Otherwise you’ll waste a bunch of labels when it tries to print as though it were on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. I struggled with this at first, and if you accidentally DO choose the wrong printer, you CANNOT go back and correct it. Just switch to a regular printer, deal with the cutting and taping BS for those labels, and move on. You won’t repeat your mistake again after that, I promise.

    Also, if a lot of your items end up going out with similar weight/dimensions/shipping-methods, you can create and apply presets to help speed up the process in the future. For example, right now I’m selling A LOT of items via USPS First Class Shipping, and they’re all 3 ounces (size dimensions don’t matter with First Class Mail). To print them all at once, I just highlight all of the similar items (hold the Command/Control button and click each one), and then choose the “Apply Preset” drop down option that coordinates with those items. You only need to create the preset once and give it a memorable name. It will stay there forever until you decide to delete it.

    Now, instead of taking 2-3 minutes to print out each label individually, it only takes 2-3 minutes to print BOATLOADS of shipping labels. It’s one of the most convenient tools I’ve found throughout my experience as an eBay seller, and I highly recommend using it.

    **One last note. The MultiOrder Shipping Tool also automatically generates packing lists, receipts, and what-goes-where address lists. You don’t have to print any of them out, but it’s another cool and useful feature of the tool (and keeps me from creating another nightmarish label-swapping scenario).

    Category Logistics, Time-Savers | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  4. Get A Label Printer, Now

    September 14, 2011 by Webster

    Buying a specialized label printer is easily the best decision I’ve made so far as an eBay seller.

    Let me explain why.

    When I first started selling items on eBay, I knew I wouldn’t want to waste time standing in line at the post office to send my packages. So I printed out each of my labels on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper, cut off the bottom half of the sheet (which serves as a receipt of sorts), and taped them to each package.

    This process works fine, and you actually save a few cents on each shipment made online (it seems to be about 5 cents per item for me). Plus everything just seems to work best when you go through eBay anyway–the buyer is notified right away, it includes tracking info automatically, and the item stays accounted for in the system.

    However, taping down all of those paper labels suuuuuuuuuuuucks. If you’re in a rush to get out of the door, be prepared to spend at least an extra few minutes per package to get the labels attached (which can turn into a half-hour+). Plus you just get sick of taping and taping and taping and taping!

    It became clear to me fairly quickly that I’d be a lot happier if I could just print out sticky labels, peel them off, and slap them on each package. 1-2-3 and you’re done. No cutting, no awkward placement, no tape whatsoever.

    So I went to my favorite online resource for other shipping and logistics materials–eBay itself. I actually buy all of my shipping supplies through other eBay suppliers (bubble mailers, sticky labels, a weight scale, and the printer). It’s nice to support other sellers out there in the community, and they usually have the best prices anyway.

    The clear choice in label printers is the Zebra LP2844 Thermal Printer (or LP2844-Z). It uses rolls of 4″ x 6″ labels (which you can also buy online or get free from UPS if you have a special account–more on that in a later post), and prints them out instantly.

    I found one online (seller refurbished, with labels) for about $70 total. It was fairly easy to set up, but I did have a few issues with it…which I’ll outline now.

    First, it’s for Windows users only. This stung a little bit when I finally made this realization (AFTER buying it). I use a Macbook Pro for all of my day-to-day work and internet activity, and I love it. Unfortunately, there are no existing Mac drivers for Zebra printers, but I happened to have an old desktop PC that rarely gets used. I’ve since converted it into a dedicated print station.

    YOU CAN still use the Zebra printer through a Mac, but you need to run and print through Windows. One way to do this is through Bootcamp (which comes ready in most newer Macs and loads Windows as a partition of your hard drive). It’s like having two computers in one. Another option is to download a software package called Parallels Desktop. This allows you to install any version of Windows onto your Mac and run it SIMULTANEOUSLY, as either its own “Windows window” or full-screen to switch back and forth from. You can also share files, copy/paste between the two, etc. It’s pretty amazing, but you still need to own and install a copy of Windows to use it.

    Second, the set up process is a little convoluted. You need to set this printer as your default printer in the Windows Control Panel, and you also need to change your PayPal Print Settings so it will react appropriately when you finally click “Print Label”. You need to download the latest version of Java to your web browser, and I’ve noticed that it’s not super friendly with Google Chrome.

    Once you smooth all of that out, it’ll be your best friend for your eBay business. No longer will printing labels feel like a burden…it actually gives me the sudden urge to start giving out hi-fives. Long story short, it’s a huge time saver and WELL WORTH the dolla dolla bills required to put up for it.

    Category Logistics, Time-Savers | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  5. Multiple Variation Listings Are Pretty Sweet

    September 13, 2011 by Webster

    The next time you’re selling a bunch of the same item…but there might be a small difference between each of them…try out Multiple Variation listings.

    I recently used this when selling a number of identical shirts at different sizes (the obvious example), and it was super easy.

    The plus side? You only get charged one listing fee from eBay. So if you have 10 blue shirts in 10 different sizes, you’ll only pay 50 cents for that single listing instead of $5.00 for all of them. You can also charge different prices for each item (say if one is more rare/popular/whatever than the others) and use unique pictures (if necessary).

    The down side? If someone searches specifically for a dress shirt and uses “15-33” in their search phrase, your listing might not show up. I wouldn’t worry too much about this, though. My guess is that a lot of people do a generic search for what they want and then drill down the specifics anyway (via the left-side navigation).

    Now, when I first tried to do this, I couldn’t find this option at all. It’s not really hidden, but it may not show up as a blatant listing option when you’re filling out the item description. It turned out to be right below the first box at the top, below the Categories box. If it’s set to hidden (which mine was by default), you simple click the “Add or remove options” link in the box and change the radio button to “Show the create variations option when listing”.

    When you click the button to Create Variations, it will take you to a new page. From here it’s very straight forward how you can create the listing. Select the different options that make each item different (shirt size and sleeve length, for example). Add all of your variations, and then continue to the details part (which will be shared features, such as brand and color). If your item is New With Tags, you can even add the SKU number, which will help you populate the variations as well.

    You’ll then be re-directed back to the normal listing description where you can continue to fill out shipping details, return options, handling time, etc. Then continue…continue…and boom you’re done. X number of items available for sale at one listing price.

    Now when bidders/buyers go to your listing to see what you have, they’ll be presented with a nice drop-down box to pick their size (or whatever other option variations you created).

    Then they’ll be like “ooh you fancy, huh!” and beg for another reason to put money in your PayPal account.

    Category Listings | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  6. I Just Saved 15% On My Car Insurance

    September 12, 2011 by Webster

    Not really.

    But I did save 15 cents on every listing I put up yesterday, which multiplied by 100 or so comes out to about $15 in my pocket. That may not seem like a huge accomplishment, but it IS equivalent to roughly two Chipotle burritos. And multiplied by 52 weeks a year that’s a savings of nearly $800 annually.

    Here’s how I did it.

    *I must preface this with a slight warning. My method for accomplishing this is a bit technically advanced, but I will also recommend methods that are simple and user-friendly as well.

    Some items let you add as many pictures as you want to the listings, depending on the category. In this instance I was listing clothing items & accessories, for which eBay charges an additional 15 cents per picture (the first is free).

    To avoid paying the additional 15 cents per image, just put one up the normal old-fashioned way (with the eBay image uploader). Then you need to host the other image files somewhere else and place the appropriate HTML code for those files into the listing.

    *Hosting means you have a dedicated place to put your files so they can be shared or viewed on the internet. Everything you see on the internet can be nailed down to specific files (images, html, etc), all of which are hosted on some server. Certain people/companies choose to buy their own servers for this (or they have so many viewers that they have to — i.e. Facebook), but a lot of people just pay a small fee per month and get shared space on a server at a large hosting company.

    In my circumstance, I just hosted them on the same server this site uses. If you’re familiar with the term FTP, this is pretty much the exact same thing. I placed them in a specific folder on the server (so they can be viewed in a web browser from anywhere), and then placed the HTML code pointing to those pictures in my eBay listing.

    This is what that the HTML code looks like:

    <img src="/EXAMPLE_FOLDER/EXAMPLE_PICTURE.jpg">

    Works like a charm. And you can add as many as you want.

    One caveat is that these pictures don’t appear at the top of the listing heading (where the main pictures normally appear). They will only show in the actual body of the listing details itself. Your main image will (the one you uploaded the old-fashioned way), but the rest won’t.

    If you don’t have access to an FTP account to host the files yourself, you can just as easily upload them to a photo sharing service like Flickr. You’ll just need to find the URL (same as you’d type into the address bar at the top of your browser) that points specifically to that image file (it will end in a “.jpg”, or whatever image type you used).

    I also notice some people use dedicated services like Auctiva, but I have no personal experience with it, and I’m pretty sure you pay a monthly fee to use it.

    The pictures I put in also went up at a much larger size than the regular ebay hosted files do (ebay resizes them for disk-space reasons), so they ended up looking much better and more detailed. I’ve already noticed these are getting way more traction than some of my previous listings because of that.

    I’m sure there are many, many variations of how to accomplish this “free extra pictures” method, but this worked great for me and I’ll be using it until I come across something better/faster(stronger).

    Category Listings | Tags: ,,, | No Comments

  7. The “…or Best Offer” Dilemma

    September 9, 2011 by Webster

    Guess what I just found out.

    It turns out…if you decide change any of your “Buy It Now” items to ALSO allow people to make a best offer, you CANNOT change them back to Buy It Now only.

    [**UPDATE** Turns out you can, but not if you are selling multiples of that item and already sold to a “best offer”, as was the case with my listing. See update explanation below.]

    This may not seem like such a big deal, but now I’m screwed.  Here’s why.

    This guy wanted a handful of my items (set at 30-day Buy It Now’s), but all at a slight quantity discount.  Overall it sounded like a good deal to me (I’d rather make a slight profit now and re-up then wait for those uncertain full price sales).  So I offered to add “Best Offer” options to each of them he wanted.  That way we could stay legit and go through eBay at our agreed-upon total price.  [Note: you are not supposed to sell a listed item outside of eBay — details here]

    So everything went great; mission accomplished.  But I happened to have MANY of those items left to sell on the listing, which are now forever stuck with a Best Offer option.  Now NOBODY is going to But It Now at the set-price.  It only serves as a comparison point so people can send an enticing offer.

    **UPDATE**
    Well, I found a part of my answer.  It turns out you CAN change/remove Best Offer options on your listings, but only under certain circumstances.  The Best Offer FAQ states:

    Can sellers remove the Best Offer option from their listing while it is still active?

    Any content changes to the listing are subject to current listing revision rules. However, Sellers may revise their listing to turn off the Best Offer option if they have 0 Best Offers already made and 0 pending Best Offers.

    So since I already accepted one best offer, my listing is locked for the remaining time period (making it fair for other buyers).  Poop.

    Now the question is…how can I still make bulk deals with buyers without using my ill-advised Best Offer method?  Expect another update soon.

    Category Listings | Tags: ,, | No Comments

  8. Just Sold to a Dude With (0) Feedback Rating…

    September 8, 2011 by Webster

    The Zero Feedback Buyer: Either (a) first-time eBay user or (b) former eBay user starting fresh with a new account.

    Kind of a scary scenario.  First of all, he’s got no basis for comparison for prior purchases/sales.  So my awesome transaction could still end up looking like dog sh*t compared to his 9 million previous experiences with Amazon and Zappos.  He really doesn’t have anything to lose, and thus holds pretty much all of the bargaining power.  Plus if he somehow blows it and destroys his account/reputation , he can simply just delete the account and start fresh.

    Was this a bad idea or not???

    Well, to be honest, I didn’t realize he was at zero until after he already paid.  So I really had no choice (and probably would have anyway).  In the past I’ve noticed some sellers put a note in their listing that says, “IF YOU HAVE 20 OR LESS FEEDBACK PLEASE CONTACT BEFORE BIDDING”…or something to that extent.  I feel like that might be a bit much, and probably turns away quite a few new (and honestly, gullible) buyers.

    Here’s what I did with my guy:

    The dude paid immediately. So already I’m feeling good about it. I quickly reciprocated his kind gratitude and proper etiquette by printing out a shipping label and sending tracking info ASAP (which if you don’t know, tracking info is added automatically when you ship through eBay/PayPal). So he’s probably about as comfortable as he can be so far.  Then I sent him an email that said exactly this…

    Hi there,

    I see this is your first eBay purchase (or perhaps your first opportunity for a feedback rating). If so, welcome. Your item will be shipped tomorrow and should arrive within the next 4-5 days. Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything else I can do.

    I hope you enjoy.

    Thanks!

    This guy would have to be a mega-huge a**hole to turn malicious after this kind of treatment.  But again, you never know.  I’m just trying to cover all my bases.

    Category Customers | Tags: , | No Comments

  9. Sending the Wrong Item

    September 7, 2011 by Webster

    I did this last week, and it sucks. Here’s how it went down.

    One buyer (Buyer A) notified me that their item was “not as described”.  When I saw the email I made a irritated pshh sound and went to investigate. Then I realized I actually sent the completely wrong item and was like OOOOOOH F*******K!!!  Because that meant that another buyer out there (Buyer B) was about to receive the wrong item as well. A terrible case of label swapping.  How could I let that happen?

    Well I did, and it’s only inevitable that I’ll do it again. Here’s what I’m doing about it.

    It turns out that Buyer B hadn’t yet paid for his item by the time I realized the swap took place, which meant that I could still send Buyer A his “exactly as described” item along with a return envelope. As soon as Buyer B made payment (which was way late but whatever) I immediately notified him that I had sent his item to the wrong buyer. I gave them the option for a full refund (in case they really needed it before the expected time), and a small discount for the inconvenience if they still wanted the item.  I got an immediate response thanking me for the update in a nice no worries kind of tone. I’m guessing Buyer B will definitely hit me with some positive feedback.

    I also made sure to notify Buyer A that if they went ahead and paid the postage to return Buyer B’s item, I’d have the amount credited to their PayPal account as soon as I received it. He also responded with minimal hostility.

    BOOM.  Total flip from the dumbass label swapper to the smart and considerate (yet still human) PowerSeller.

    Category Logistics | Tags: , | No Comments

  10. Going On Vacation?

    September 1, 2011 by Webster

    It’s Labor Day Weekend!  Time to do a little partying, maybe travel to a nice sunny part of the country.  Me–I’m heading up to Chicago/Michigan for a little lake-house + golf action with some friends.  I’m super pumped and can’t wait to get up there and have a good time.

    The problem is…I’ve got about 80 items up for sale on eBay right now, 60 of which are Buy-It-Now items.

    What do I do?

    Obviously I don’t want any buyers to get pissed at me and leave me negative feedback (which we all know is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you as an eBay seller). I won’t be able to send anything until I get back on Tuesday, but some of my auctions end on Sunday night and the Buy-It-Now products could go at any time. Surely there must be some way to notify your buyers right?

    Well here’s what I found:

    It turns out the only way to find/edit “Vacation Settings” you need to have an actual eBay STORE.  Which means you need to pay about $15 a month. From there you can set everything so it notifies buyers of your absence, etc.  You can set “Out of Office” replies, but that’s pretty much pointless unless you’re too lazy to respond to random questions about your items.

    So what did I do?

    Nothing.

    And it turned out to not be a big deal AT ALL. I simply notified each buyer as soon as they made their purchase and told them I wouldn’t be able to ship until Tuesday (a few days later). Some people didn’t respond, but most were extremely understanding. Plus it was a holiday weekend so there was a certain expectation level–which was appreciated even more with my email update.

    One thing I did do, however, was change my “handling time” on some of my more popular items to 3 days. Now I don’t particularly like this move for day-to-day business, but in the circumstances of a holiday weekend it seemed to make a lot of sense.

    If I get to the point where I’m doing all of this full time and I want to leave the country for a week or more, then sure, I’ll either hire someone to manage my stuff OR I’ll put the vacation settings in place. Until then, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that your buyers won’t be particularly flustered by a small vacation delay. Just do your best to communicate and handle their needs while you’re away and as soon as you get back.

    Category Logistics | Tags: , | No Comments

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