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October, 2011

  1. “Selling Manager Pro” Will Change Your Life

    October 25, 2011 by Webster

    Don’t even read this post. Just log back into eBay and pull the trigger on this thing. I’m dead serious. But if you’re curious as to why I’m so adamant about it, feel free to continue.

    First of all, you can try it out free for 30 days. I went ahead and decided to give her a little taste, and within a few minutes I was immediately sold. Go ahead and let my credit card roll in the very minor $16 cost per month when my trial is up. It’s well worth it. Here’s why:

    Organization – Once you enable SMP, you’ll immediately notice that your “My eBay” page has a whole new look. It’s now tailored to your role as a seller rather than a buyer. Notable features include the At A Glance Table, which shows your sales volumes over the previous 24-hrs, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, and 120 days. Hell yes. You’ll also get a snapshot of your current Sold Items standings from the previous 90 days–what’s been sold, what’s awaiting payment/shipment, what’s in the resolution center (in case someone’s dropping the ball on payment), and how your product/inventory categories measure up (in case you also have an eBay store). Also awesome. You’ll also get a look at your listing activity, to-do’s and alerts, and be able to quickly manage your eBay store–I particularly like that it shows you who actually subscribes it. All extremely handy information that you’re interested in the moment you log in to eBay.

    *Note: Most of these features are also available in the “Selling Manager” option, which is free. At the very LEAST, you should enable the basic selling manager.

    Bulk Edits – Did you accidentally set all of your listings to allow international shipping? Need to change the handling time to 3 days instead of 1? Maybe you picked the wrong Product Category for a handful of your listings? No big deal. Now you’ve got a little check box next to each of your active listings, which allows you to select multiples and then choose Edit… –> Edit Selected (#)…. From there you can change just about any aspect of those listings. Or all of your listings. Instead of taking up half of your day it only takes about 30 seconds. SHAPOW!

    Automation options – Alright, this might sound like a bit of a cop out, but once you’re selling a lot of items it will be a huuuuuge help. You can create automated feedback options for your sold items–either when someone pays you for that item, or after they hit you with positive feedback first. You can list as many different variations of “THANKS!” as you want. Before using this feature, I pretty much included the same types of responses anyway. Sure, some buyers might deserve a little more personalized message than others, but at the end of the day it’s really just about the positive feedback stamp you’re providing each other. You can also create automated emails to the buyer when payment is received and their item is shipped, as well as schedule certain listing to automatically recur or relist if they don’t sell. Sweet right?

    Sales Metrics – SMP also allows you to create business reports to analyze/measure your performance AND export your sales data to Quickbooks. When it’s time to put on your CFO hat, this information will be crucial. Now I’ll be honest, I haven’t used these features through and through (and I’m assuming PayPal does a great job integrating with Quickbooks as well), but I plan to cover this in more detail in a later post.

    A couple other things you should know — if you are planning to have an eBay Store, you will automatically get Selling Manager Pro for free with a Premium Store Account. The thing is, a Premium Store costs $49.95 a month–whereas a Basic Store is only an additional $15.95. One of the main differences there is that your Fixed Price listings for a Premium store are only 5¢, while they’ll be 20¢ in the Basic Store. Depending on how many listings you plan to make each month…well, I’ll let you do the math, but it may make more sense to just go with the Premium guy.

    Okay fine I’ll do the math. If you’re listing more than 120 Fixed Price items per month, you’ll save money with a Premium Account. The difference between a Premium Store ($49.95) and Basic Store + SMP ($31.90) is $18.05. You’ll spend 15¢ less on each listing with a Premium Store, so $18.05 / $0.15 is just over 120 listings. You’re welcome, and I need a drink.

    More to come on this topic, I’m sure. For now, just do it, and if you’re digging it, be sure to check out the Selling Manager Pro User Guide.

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

  2. Always Include A Packing Slip / Thank You Note

    October 21, 2011 by Webster

    Some buyers could really care less if you include a thank you note with their package, but [in my opinion] you should ALWAYS throw one in anyway. Here’s why:

    Generally, people tend to appreciate the extra effort. Even though your note may not be totally personalized, you’re at least letting them know that you care about their overall experience. All it takes is a big, bold “THANK YOU”, and perhaps some steps to take if they’d like to contact you for any reason. It’s the LEAST you could do from a customer service standpoint–and I think it’s best to try to mimic Zappos‘ culture of WOW any way you can (which also means beating expectations at every level possible).

    A quick note to the buyer also gives you the opportunity to actually ASK for positive feedback. Honestly, I don’t consider this a big deal at all. It’s like a little reminder to the customer–Hey man, everything cool? Totally happy with that purchase? Okay, just making sure…. And then they’ll be like, Oh yeah, yeah you’re totally right, my bad. Let me hit you with some kind words and 5 stars in every possible category. At least that’s how I imagine it goes down. As soon as they give me that positive feedback, I return the favor immediately. I guess it’s just may way of saying…you go first, please.

    Another obvious reason to include thank you notes in your packages…is the opportunity to re-market yourself! Think about it–how many times do you think the buyer is really impressed enough to take the time to go back and find you, the seller, and see what else you have available. It’s too laborious, and let’s be honest, people are lazy (myself included). With a quick note, you can remind them WHO YOU ARE and WHERE TO FIND YOUR STUFF. So easy, and in some cases very much appreciated by happy customers. Why wouldn’t you do this?

    As a final thought…we all know it would be really nice if you could ALWAYS include personalized information regarding each transaction. Item numbers, purchased/shipped dates, item descriptions, first/last names, etc would all be awesome to utilize as a seller. But at the end of the day eBay does an excellent job keeping track of all of this information already. It’s just not necessary to go into that much detail. Plus you’re just printing out more paper and using more ink. A simple, concise, and considerate message that speaks to ALL of your potential customers will work, and it’s almost sure to bump up your sales performance and feedback ratings.

    Category Customers | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Nobody Likes To Pay For Shipping

    October 4, 2011 by Webster

    So don’t charge for it.

    That’s right, I’m telling you if at all possible you should never charge your customers for shipping (the only exception being international orders). There are several reasons why I’m advocating this.

    First – It’s pretty easy to build some or all of your shipping costs into the price of the item anyway. If your item costs $4.95 to ship, just tack that amount on to the cost of the item. OR just go a bit lower and undercut your competition. Most buyers out there can do the math in their head (I hope) and will easily see your price TOTALS are identical (or preferably less) than comparable products. Might give you a slight advantage.

    *I realize that this principle only really applies to Fixed Price listings, but in my experience auction participants will usually add a little cushion to their bids BECAUSE of the free shipping. There’s probably some kind of fancy psychology term that applies to this kind of buying behavior, but basically they’ll help you out without even knowing it. Bidders are strongly committed to winning that item…and won’t let an extra $5-10 stand in their way–especially since so many other sellers are charging for it anyway.

    Second – Buyers are more attracted to it. Your item will get more attention and you’ll be perceived as the preferable (and more professional) choice next to the guy who’s charging for the exact same thing. If I’m buying an item on eBay and the seller charges some random number for shipping, the first thought through my head is…How much is this guy skimming off the top of this shipping cost?. With free shipping, you eliminate any of those questions for the buyer. The total price is as cut and dry as it can possibly be, and I like to think that buyers appreciate that.

    *This is especially helpful for auction-style listings. You want to get as many eyeballs and early bids on your products as possible…and early bids ultimately mean more traffic, more bids, and a higher sale price.

    Third – When your buyer comes back to give you positive feedback, eBay AUTOMATICALLY gives you 5 stars in the Shipping and Handling Charges category. The buyer can’t even make a selection–it’s grayed out at 5 stars. Pretty sweet, right? Yes, definitely, because high feedback in ALL categories is CRITICAL as a seller, which I plan to write about in a later post.

    *Here’s another fun fact–you also receive 5 stars in the Shipping Time category if your item arrives before the expected delivery date. So if your tracking info shows that the item is delivered earlier than eBay estimates (handling time + shipping service/method average), you get another automatic 5 stars. As long as you’re a solid communicator, that only leaves the Item As Described category to worry about.

    To be honest, I was a little reluctant to offer Free Shipping at first (as I’m sure you are), but now it’s a no-brainer. At the end of the day it only translates to more traffic, higher feedback, and in some instances even more money than if you charged for it.

    Category Listings | Tags: , | No Comments