If you are running an eBay business, you may not  realize that the need for great customer service still  exists – even for online auctions. When a buyer  receives quality customer service from you, they  will potentially do one of two things – or both. They  will give you great feedback, and they may look for  more of your auctions in the future. If you hope to  make a living from eBay, you have to stop thinking  of it as an ‘auction’ and start running it like a  ‘business.’

If you owned a brick and mortar business, how  would you treat your customer while they were  standing at your counter, waiting for you to finish  ringing up their order? You would be helpful and  respectful of course! You would do everything that  you could to guarantee that customers return to  your establishment in the future. You would bend  over backwards to make sure that their buying  experience with you was both satisfactory and  enjoyable. Why would you do any less at the  close of one of your eBay auctions?

First, act quickly at the close of your auctions.  Contact the winner, and congratulate them. Describe  the item they have won and how the item will be  shipped – even if this information is already part of  the description for the auction. Remind them of their  winning bid amount, and give them payment options  and instructions. Let them know when the item will  be shipped.

Close your email by thanking them for participating  in your auction. You might even take this opportunity  to tell them about other open auctions that you have  as well. Think of this contact with the winner as a  conversation that you are having with a customer  who is standing at your counter in that imaginary  brick and mortar store.

Once the payment and shipping details have been  taken care of, contact your buyer again. Let them  know when the item was shipped – the exact date  and time – and when it is expected to arrive on their  end. During this contact, let them know that if they  have any problems or questions, that they should  contact you through the eBay site. If they do  contact you in the future, make sure that you  answer promptly, and that you do all that you can  to make them happy with their purchase – even if  it means issuing a refund.

Yes. You should be open to issuing refunds,  depending on what the item is. Furthermore, you  should issue refunds promptly. Of course, it is  reasonable to expect the buyer to return the item to  you, at your expense, before the refund is issued –  but once you receive the item, issue the refund  promptly. This is just good business!

 There are numerous eBay courses that are available  on the Internet today. These books and courses are  designed to help you become more successful on  eBay. Unfortunately, not all of these courses are  worth the money that you will pay for them. Some of  them are full of what used to be good information –  when it was relevant – and others are simply junk  information, written by someone trying to make a  quick buck.

Before you purchase any eBay course, find out when  the course was written. If it was written in 2004, for  instance, you don’t want it. Even though that hasn’t  been very long ago, eBay changes so fast that much  of the information will not be relevant. However, if the  original issue of the course was written several years  ago, but the course is updated each year, this will  probably be a good course for you.

Again, use care when purchasing eBay courses.  They can be quite helpful and enlightening, but only  if the information in them is still good. Talk to other  eBay sellers – preferably successful ones – to find  out what courses are recommended.

 Many new sellers don’t realize how important pricing  is when it comes to eBay auctions. Many don’t even  realize that ‘pricing’ needs to be done. eBay is an  auction site after all! But eBay auctions are not quite  the same as the auctions you attend in the offline  world. In fact, quite a bit of work goes into  determining and setting prices.

Essentially, there are only three prices that can be  set for an eBay auction: the ‘buy it now’ price, the  reserve price, and the starting bid price. Of these  three, the starting bid price is the only one that is  required for an eBay auction. The reserve price and  the ‘buy it now’ price are optional. The starting bid  price is fairly simple – never set it higher than $50 or  so – no matter what your item is really worth. This  low opening price will get bidders to your auction.

Setting low starting bid prices creates the need for a  reserve price. A reserve price is the absolute lowest  price that you want to get for your item. You may sell  the item below the reserve price, but you will not be  required to. In other words, if you set your reserve  price at $100, and your highest bid is only $50, you  do not have to sell the item to the highest bidder.  You can close the auction without any negative  feedback or repercussions. Set your reserve price  at the absolute lowest price you are willing to sell  your item for. Keep what the item is worth, as well  as what it cost you in mind.

The ‘buy it now’ option will allow you to set a price,  and buyers can buy the item immediately, without  bidding, for that set price. This option can be used  for any type of item, and it should be set to match  your reserve, give or take a few dollars. This option  is great if you have multiple identical items to sell.

Shipping has a price, and potential buyers take this  into consideration when they are looking at an  auction. If you can see your way clear to offer free  shipping, you will find that people are placing more  bids. Make sure that your potential buyers realize  that you are offering free shipping!

Before setting any prices, you need to determine  what the item is really worth. The value of the item in  different markets might be quite high. However, you  are selling on eBay, and it is a different world  altogether! Find out the price that similar items sold for on eBay before setting any prices. If it is a  collectable, or a high ticket item, have the item  evaluated to ensure that you aren’t going to lose  money! 

 While it is possible to earn a full time living on eBay,  it is a mistake to depend solely on eBay for your  income. You could be using your eBay auctions to  generate a huge amount of business for other  products and services! Many people, however,  fail to fully utilize eBay’s resources to this end.

eBay has over 100 million members, and they  gained those members by continually running major  marketing campaigns. Essentially, they do your  marketing for you. But you have to help yourself as  well. The key is to drive people to your auction page,  which in turn can be used to drive traffic to your  website.

You can sell many different items on your website,  including items that are up for auction at eBay! This  is a fabulous way to earn income that does not rely  on eBay auctions. You can easily accept website  payments with a Paypal account, so there is no  need for an expensive merchant account!

You are not allowed to include the website address  of an outside website on your auctions – you are,  however, perfectly welcome to place a link to your  website on your eBay ‘About Me’ page. Invite your  bidders and potential bidders to view your about me  page, and watch the website traffic roll in!