How to sell on E-bay

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Selling goods on e-bay

by Norma Holt
Best Home Income Solutions

Selling on eBay and Customer Service Resources

Customer service is important not only on eBay but anywhere that one does business online. As buyers rate their satisfaction with sellers your rating can make a difference on whether potential customers are willing to buy from you. Your reputation depends largely on your presentation and credibility with the Company, and that translates as standing with the Customer Service part of the Organisation.

How you build your reputation and credibility is worth paying strict attention to. Customer service strategies on eBay start by providing an accurate product description. If you cheat and are caught you will never get credibility again. Displaying clear pictures and describing any imperfection shows the buyer what to expect. If you are selling second hand goods you should make that very clear as photographs lie and can be doctored to hide fading, tears, shodding manufacturing, and so on. It's much better for customer satisfaction if the buyer receives a product in better shape than he expected than if you oversell and disappoint your customer.

After sales service is vital to maintain credibility. Customer service strategies on eBay include acknowledgement of the winning bid and prompt shipping information. Use an automated response to let the buyer know you have received his bid and how goods will be packaged and delivered. A time scale for delivery should also be possible. Acknowledge payment quickly once it is received. Send an immediate receipt by e-mail if possible. Ship immediately, and inform the customer when the product is shipped. Customer service strategies include providing a tracking link to the product whenever possible. You can go a step further and in your acknowledgement e-mail ask your client if they would like the goods insured if they are going by transport or post. You should then negotiate the fee for such.

Some eBay sellers offer free shipping as a customer service strategy. If you charge for shipping, don't charge much above shipping costs. Customers notice the postage cost and will likely complain if the shipping and handling is several dollars over. They understand the cost of materials, but they don't want to pay for your time to package the product. If you are selling several items of the same weight then it is easy to get costs and figure a rough amount to cover just about anywhere in the world. Remember e-bay is global.

Customer service stategies on eBay include a return policy. It is worth it to accept returns any time a customer asks. You can probably resell the item, and receiving a good rating is worth the cost and hassle. The same policy applies with most companies, such as Paypal and Clickbank. While this is a risk overall it is just good business.

Customer service strategies on eBay are not any different than traditional online stores. Make sure the product is as good as you say it is, don't inflate shipping and handling, ship quickly, and have a liberal return policy. This is the way to achieve high customer service ratings.