Social Media is Scary.. Please Help me figure it out! « Auction

Social Media is Scary.. Please Help me figure it out!

December 18th, 2009 |

Author: admin

Dear eBay Queen;

I’ve been selling on eBay for several years. I’m trying to understand social media. I don’t think I’m young enough, or cool enough to identify how posting on a social networking website equals traffic to my eBay site. Could you explain it to me? What are the sites I should be a member of to effectively market myself?

Old Coot; Lawrence, KS

Dear Coot;

Social media can be a little daunting. There are many ways to be connected through social media. Here are a few:

Blogs or weblogs; like WordPress, LiveJournal, or Blogger. A blog is like an online journal. You can write about any topic, post photos and give your opinion. Blogs are very popular these days. I have a blog, and I talk about everything from eBay items that didn’t sell, to weird stories involving my family. Blogs are fun to read and write. If you aren’t interested in writing a blog, you can just post comments on other people’s blogs and leave a link to your eBay site.
Internet Forums or chat rooms. This would be on any site you post your opinion, ask questions, or respond to someone else post. To do this you simply chat, or answer questions. When you sign your name, put a link to your eBay store.
Picture sharing; like Flickr, Photobucket, or Picasa. Host and share your photos with your friends and the world. Make sure you add a link to your eBay items.
Social Networking sites: Facebook, My Space, Twitter or Linked In. On these types of sites you create your account, find friends or followers (on Twitter). Post to your wall, or page, and it is automatically broadcast to your friends or followers.
Video sharing; like YouTube, Viddler or Vimeo. This is similar to photo sharing. Upload your videos, share them with people, link your stuff you’re selling to it. According to most online marketing experts, video will be one of the hottest ways to connect with customers. http://smub.it/dnfi

I do advertise my items occasionally, but I could do a much better job than what I am doing currently. My favorite social media sites are Facebook, Twitter and Blogging. I did find a new site that will automatically update your Twitter status with eBay items you list or sell. http://thetweetbay.com/home Just sign in for free, and your new listing and sold items will post to your twitter account.

Good luck navigating the waters of social media! It’s not hard, and can actually be a lot of fun.

Dear eBay Queen;

My computer crashed a few months ago. I lost a lot of data including my eBay inventory. I purchased a program that would recover my data, and for the most part, it did its job, but some of my inventory numbers were off. I went over this with a fine tooth comb and thought I had fixed all of my inventory numbers, but one of them was purchased today.

A guy in Canada, with one feedback, bought something that was sold two days before the crash. I called him to explain the situation, and he's cool with it (he hadn't paid yet). The only problem is, he didn't understand the request to cancel the transaction that I submitted, and he responded by refusing it (he hadn't yet read my email explanation; this was before I phoned him). I received a message from eBay saying no FVF credit (which is not a problem), and telling me to complete the transaction.

Can I resubmit the request to cancel? The "Resolve a problem" button is no longer on the auction page. If there's no way to resubmit the request, does it matter? My only concern is that this newbie will keep seeing the reminder to leave Feedback on his My eBay page, and will eventually leave a neutral or negative, even though I'm shipping him a similar item at no charge.

Joe; Kansas City, MO

Dear Joe;

When this kind of thing happens you’ll need to email eBay directly. To do this go here: http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ContactUsNextGen Fill out the online form, making sure you explain how the buyer clicked the wrong button, and the transaction was not cancelled.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 300368938953 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). Swarovski Christmas Ornaments SOLD $1575.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300368938953

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com.