posted on April 26, 2003 11:03:10 AM new
I don't know if anyone else is interested in these, but they work pretty well for me so I thought I would share them. I would be interested in hearing other selling "tips" so thought I'd start a thread:
KEEPING TRACK OF RELISTS, STORE ITEMS AND CURRENT AUCTIONS: I don't always relist but when I do I look at the PostSale "unsold" items in Vendio or eBay "Unsold" items to determine which items I should relist. So that I don't try to relist an already relisted item (incurring yet ANOTHER fee) I price all my relists with digits ending in "8"..ie: 5.98...and know at a glance it's time to stick it in my store (if I ever have a chance that is) and then change the price to a digit ending in "7" ie: $ 5.97. When store sales come through I know right away by the price where the sale came from.
KEEPING IMAGES IN VENDIO: I sell postcards and like to keep my images around for reference, relist etc LONG after the auction closes so I don't have to rescan. I upload about 400+ images/week so in order to keep the most recent ones (the ones I am listing that day) on top of the Vendio file I use a declining numbering system..the newest images have the lowest number...I use a combination of letters and numbers (declining alphabetically too) and figure I will probably not be selling anymore when the numbers/letters run out. I just let VENDIO delete the old images automatically when they have aged.
STAYING AWAKE AT NIGHT TO LIST: Triple espresso, oldies on the media cranked up about as loud as they will go and a sense of humor!
posted on April 26, 2003 03:07:19 PM new
Great ideas neglus.
I especially like the one about changing the price for relists. I keep things around and relist till sold. After years in this business, nothing makes me madder than to toss something only to find it go for xxx six months from now.
As I have said before, I firmly believe someone out there is looking for everything we have to list. You just have to have it listed when that someone is looking.
But, I start my postcards at $5.00 and after two relists I up the price to $5.50 etc. I have had a heck of a time coming up with a way to know how many times things have relisted and you have just told me how! I think that is the best tip I have heard in a very long time.
BTW, I keep manual records of relists now, and I have only had a handful of items not sell by the 4th relist. I always wait a full 90 days once I have done the "free if sold" relist. How nice it will be to be able to just take a look at closed auctions and know immediately how many times they have been listed
And, I like to keep EVERYTHING for FLD's. I'm always surprised at how well I do on them with some of the older items. Thankfully the auction service I use never deletes our photo's.
I like the "Staying awake at night to list" hint too. Especially the sense of humor!
For my contribution: I have found it works well to always change the title just a little before relisting. I had one postcard that stated: The red line leaving some town in Vermont at the top. That was what I put in the title, but obviously no one knew what red line meant. I changed the title to read: train leaving "city", Vermont, and it sold the first day.
To keep up with inventory items for months in advance after ad is made, I number each postcard I have listed and put a sticky on the back with that number before putting it in the sleeve. I use the same number for the name of the photo so I always know what photo's I can delete and what I have to keep.
posted on April 26, 2003 04:08:21 PM new
I number my pictures and descriptions in
the same way, month-year-item #:
042003a0.txt
042003a1.txt
042003a2.txt ... 042003a9.txt
description html, saved as text because I
use NoteTab Light to create the files since
it isn't bloated software and it allows
LOTS of files to be open at once.
042003a0.jpg
042003a0b.jpg
pictures (say the fron and back of an item,
but I can use as many as I need)
I have a form I created to keep track of
listings and re-listings.
With this system, I can list 260 unique items
each month (26 letters * 10 numbers). If you
need to list more items, change the number to
2 digits (ie, a00, a01, a02...) or more!
Whatever way you do it, find what works for
you and stick with it!
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on April 27, 2003 07:48:29 AM new
Love your ideas here! What a great thread!
With three computer crashes over the last six years I've been on eBay, I've found hard-copy record-keeping to be a must! Auction management services, too, have come and gone.
A little background: When I started selling way-back-when it was new home deco products purchased from a wholesale source. Everything had an inventory number which made organization easy. Today, however, I am left with three large storage units full to the brim following the death of my parents about a year ago. Through sixty five years of marriage they managed to accumulate quite a bit, and I can't keep it all! But how does one sort through so much variety and still keep one's sanity?
So here's my method...
Categories! Primary and sub-categories.
Household (appliances, lamps, kitchen, furniture, etc.)
Music (LPs, CDs, sheet music, song books)
Crystal (by manufacturer)
Collectibles (Precious Moments, Boyds, Charming Tails, etc.)
Books (fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, etc.)
Which equals:
Household appliances = HH-A-1001, HH-A-1002, HH-A-1003, etc.
Household lamps = HH-L-1001, HH-L-1002, HH-L-1003, etc.
Music LPs = M-LP-1001, M-LP-1002, M-LP-1003, etc.
You get the idea...
(Wish I'd thought about the declining numbering system when I started this project!)
As I inventory these items I enter the basic info at the top of a 3 x 5 file card, then enter the listing title when I list it, followed by the activity record as it occurs:
LP-2123 - ARTIST - Title Ship Weight/S&H
Listing Title Condition
List Cat# Producer - Year
List -Thru (Days) Auction # @$ BIN Fees SOLD@
4/10-4/20 (10) 25228xxxxx 4.99 9.99 .40
When the item sells the file card looks much like this. Parentheses are "understood" and not written in...
If the item does not sell, the next listing cycle is written beneath the first, with new price/fees/etc.
With low-net items like I'm selling now they do not get a re-run after 2 listings, but go into my eBay store for an 'until canceled' run. As I sell at our local Flea Market on Saturdays, these store items get their first go there, after 30 days in the store. The file cards are easy to carry with me to the FM, so I just pull the 'solds' out and mark how much they sold for on the card, delete the item from the store, and enter the info in the ledger.
Yes, the file-card system is a little more work, but these are just some of the reasons I've maintained this method.
I can:
1) Take them to the FM, as noted above.
2) Donate them to the local Shelter/Goodwill/Desseret/Church/Fund Raiser, etc. with the credit value right on the card. (Great come tax time!)
2) Group them and sell as lots on eBay.
3) Enter the closed info in the ledgers when I have a moment (procrastination!)
4) Items do not get forgotten in the 'abundance'.
5) Additional info can be entered on the back of the card when necessary.
(IE: Customer queries/answers. Research takes time. Why do it twice?)
6) Records are still available should this temperamental computer crash — again.
I have a three-stack 8 ½ x 11 file rack on my desk...
At the close of an auction that SOLD, I print out the EOA notice (first page only) on GREEN paper and paperclip the file card to the printout. (There is sufficient room on the right margin of the EOA to keep records of activity on the page. When a customer notifies me they are sending a money order I can note that in the margin, along with their address. If a reminder is necessary — seldom, fortunately! — I can note when it was sent and the number of the reminder. Two reminders, ten days apart, and an NPB is filed with eBay.) I have PayPal set to send their invoice, so the customer has received two notices of their win, eBay's EOA and the PayPal invoice. This green EOA goes in the top file rack until paid.
If the buyer pays through PayPal, the PayPal page, with customer address, payments & fees is printed out on WHITE paper and clipped to the EOA. If the customer sends SnailMail payment I cut off the top part of their envelope (with return address, posted date, and when I received it written on the strip), then clip it to the EOA. (This has come in handy when the customer wants to know where their package is! I can tell them exactly when they mailed it, when I received it and when it was shipped.) The stapled pieces of paper (EOA, PayPal or envelope clipping) are then placed in the second file rack...to be packed and shipped.
When shipped, the postage is noted on the file card and the file card removed and filed in a 3 x 5 file index box.
As I use USPS e-DC, the bottom half of the printout (with the ship-to address, print date and DC#) is also attached to the EOA pages. (I do not use pre-made labels. I use a standard 8 ½ x 11 page and tape the label to the package. Labels are expensive, and need to be protected by tape anyway, so cheap paper by the ream works just fine for me.)
I do send 'when-shipped' notices and include the DC# in the e-mail. At that time I also leave feedback and note it right on my half-page copy of the e-DC. The three (completed) stapled pages are placed in the third rack of the stack- file. They stay there for two weeks or until the customer has left feedback. Once the feedback is left by the customer, the sale is closed and the paperwork filed in the current month's transactions (a large file box that can go to the garage at the end of the month).
This is where the file cards come in handy. When quarterly tax statements are due, it is no major problem to total the three months of sales from the cards and send in my statement. (No wading through records of customer notes, etc. which have already been 'shipped out' of the office.) It also tracks my income from auction sales, less, of course, the listing fees for items that did not sell. The difference I make up in the Flea Market sales. With the file cards I know how much I have invested in the item, and the rock bottom price I will accept for it. If it won't sell for that low fee- cost, charities will take the stuff and give me a higher tax credit for the item. Nothing lost except my time, and the net profits are pleasantly acceptable.
This got more lengthy than intended, but do hope there is some help here for those who are selling miscellaneous items and are not major sellers in need of seller management services. I'm not a big seller, obviously, but do like to keep records should a problem arise or Uncle Sam ask.
posted on April 27, 2003 08:48:17 AM new
Pat, you sure do keep good records but you must spend a lot of time doing it. Mine is simpler than that as I don't keep the original price I pay for an item unless I buy it for a large sum of money. I do copy the EOA notice and if they pay by PayPal or snail mail I print that on the back of the EOA notice. I also use eDC but never mail their number to them unless they say they never received the package. I staple that on to my EOA notice. When I send out my WBN all I copy are the email addresses in my outbox to show that I sent the email. Sometimes I print the Sell part of the area in my eBay and I have a way I check them to show I did everything. Takes about 1/2 hour to do 20 auctions this way.
posted on April 27, 2003 10:08:46 AM new
Thanks, Libra, for the suggestion about printing the PayPal info on the back of the EOA. DUH! Why didn't I think of that!?
Yes, the file cards do make a bit more work, but as most of the things I'm selling off are in storage (and there is no investment costs involved other than storage rent), it is much easier to take file cards, make notes and take pics while there, than it is to tote the stuff from storage to the office for descriptions, etc. The file card system evolved from that challenge, and proved useful for the Flea Market sales. I would never remember what sold at the FM without the cards, and hence, what to remove from my eBay store. (Hopefully, a particular item will not sell — on the same day — at both the FM and from the Store!)
Please, though, tell me more about "I print the Sell part of the area in my eBay and I have a way I check them to show I did everything. Takes about 1/2 hour to do 20 auctions this way."
Please! Tell me if I'm understanding you correctly...
You print out the "Items I've Sold" section, using your printer 'selection' option, from your My eBay page for a specific number of days (7, 15, 30), then add info as the activity occurs (Paid, Shipped, FB, etc.)?
About your WBN: Do you create a new one and send it for each item, or do you use the eBay 'Send Invoice' option? Do you use the PayPal invoice option, too?
And all of this poses another question:
Do you list so that items come off on a given day(s), or do you list daily?
I can see where your system would work well for my twice-a-week postings, all to come off on the day before I ship (twice a week as I live far from town). As most of my customers pay immediately through PayPal, the 2-times-a-week shipping works out well. The slower pays can wait the extra day or two for shipment.
