Archive for November, 2011

Dear eBay Queen:

I am frustrated with eBay today. I happened to check my dashboard and noticed that I received a 1 star rating for shipping charges from a US buyer. I don’t know how this happened, as I have free shipping on my entire eBay store. I called eBay and the representative tells me “it appears that the buyer chose to upgrade their shipping, so they were able to leave you a low rating.”  Since I offer the choice of upgrading to Priority (for $2.95 by the way) and the buyer opted to do so, they then had the opportunity to ding my stars. Nice… To top it all off, the order was shipped within 10 hours of purchase for $2.95 (and my cost was $4.95) and it arrived at their post office in less than 48 hours. I know exactly who it was because I had precisely 1 person upgrade their shipping during this time period. To top it off, I just lost my TRS (Top Rated Seller) over shipping.

I was encouraged to contact Jim Griffith who I have never had any dealing with, I did contact him and I received a “canned” email in response and then never heard another word. The truth of the matter is that the feedback DSR system is set up in a way that puts tremendous power in the hands of buyers, many of which have no knowledge of its importance and others who know too much and abuse it when they don’t get what they want. It is a system that looms over the heads of sellers and makes us jump through hoops when in the real world this would not be going on. I really love selling on eBay, but the DSR/feedback system is very anti-seller and a total moral killer that needs to be revised seriously.  Thanks for listening to me complain.

Jessica

Dear Jessica:

That really stinks! I wish I had a solution for you.  Unfortunately if you’ve already spoke an eBay customer service rep and emailed Griff, there isn’t much more for you to do, beside prevent it from happening in the future.  I would consider upping the price of all of your listing to reflect free shipping for priority, that way this situation will not repeat itself.

One other option is to call into eBay Radio and speak directly to Griff.  eBay has two radio shows a week. For more information http://groups.ebay.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1278

Dear eBay Queen:

I think I received a phishing email that I’ve heard about from so many people.  I recently received an email from PayPal requesting for my social security number.  Do you think this is a scam?  How would I know for sure?

I feel very uncomfortable typing my social security number into a box at a website, secure or not.  I think this request must be based on my sales of a few years ago, as it can’t possibly be based on recent activity (virtually nil).  Either that or they are sending the same request to everyone who’s ever received a payment.   I don’t qualify to get a taxpayers ID number, so it’s got to be my SS#.  Could you help me with this?

Just a Number

Dear Number:

Starting in 2011, PayPal will be required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report sales information to the IRS about sellers who receive payments for the sale of goods or services through PayPal.  The requirements are as follows:

•   Applies to sellers receiving over $20,000 in gross payment volume AND over 200 payments
•   Applies only for sales on or after January 1, 2011

I understand being a little leery of putting your Social Security Number online. I did a little research, and according to PayPal’s site:

“PayPal automatically encrypts your confidential information in transit from your computer to ours using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128 bits (the highest level commercially available). Before you even register or log in to our site, our server checks that you’re using an approved browser – one that uses SSL 3.0 or higher.

Once your information reaches us, it resides on a server that is heavily guarded, both physically and electronically. Our servers sit behind an electronic firewall and are never directly connected to the Internet, so your private information stays private.”

If you still don’t feel secure about giving your personal information online, you could call PayPal at 1-888-221-1161 or check out the link here:  https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_us/IRS6050W

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 130596417265 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.)  Do you like old cars and pie?  Check out this 1904 Curved Dash Oldsmobile Pie Wagon. SOLD $51,350.00  HERE

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? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I love eBay!  After reading your blog, I guess you do too, huh?  I’m having a hard time with Turbo-lister and the logistics of getting all my stuff organized, but I’m making lots of money and I get to shop without guilt, which is cool.  I’m really into vintage and unique stuff.  Could you give me a few tips to keep me on track and organized?

I’m thinking I want to do this full time.  It’s such a rush!  Last week, I sold a wicker doll carriage for $100.99 plus shipping that I bought at a garage sale for $5.00.  How cool is that?  A few months back, I sold a silver baby cup with someone’s name already engraved on it for $70.00!  I bought it for .50 cents.  I think I am the garage sale queen!  I also had great luck the one and only storage unit I bought for $140.00.  It wasn’t that great, honestly but it had 6 industrial European hinges that sold for more than I paid for the whole unit!  I’m still selling that stuff.

BTW, It also contained a 1947 WORKING Singer Sewing Machine that’s sitting in my garage.

Since I’m into the vintage stuff, research takes up a lot of time but I’m good at it.  Please give me a tip or two………

Marcella dreamrich on EBAY

Dear Marcella:

Congratulations! eBay is a great way to make extra money, or to earn full time money. Your sales have been phenomenal! You’ve got a great eye. My downfall to selling on eBay is the research. I enjoy researching things, but it takes up so much time for me to do it that I’m just researching and not writing stuff up.

Here are some tips to help you stay organized.

•  Use Turbo-Lister’s Item numbers as your inventory numbers.
• Have a separate place for wrapping packages and photographing your items.
• Have specific times you wrap packages, write up eBay items, research, etc.
• If you are going to do this full time, make sure you allocate the proper space and time for your eBay business.  Both of those things can get out of hand quickly.

Turbo-lister is a great program to keep you organized, plus it’s FREE.  The one drawback to Turbo-lister is that it doesn’t schedule listings for free.

Dear eBay Queen;

Someone who owns a donation thrift store wants me to sell items for them. They are in Colorado, and I am in Western Kansas. I was thinking of having them set up their own eBay ID, and I would use my listing program to list the items for them. They would send me pictures for the listing, I would list the items and then they would ship and take care of everything else. I feel uncomfortable selling out of state like this and with not being able to handle the items and take pictures like I normally do. That is why I think they should use their own eBay ID. I just wonder if you have done anything like this before.

If I decide to use my ID, should I specify in the listing that the item is coming from another state, or do I change the location box. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don’t think the person selling the items has had any experience with eBay, so that is another concern. The store is about 100 miles away.

Lisa, KS

Dear Lisa:

This could be quite a tricky situation. You would be covering yourself by having the seller use their own eBay account, but they still could quite possibly not ship items out as fast as they should, and their photos could be a complete mess. Would there be any way for you to make a trip out there once or twice a month? That way you could have the stuff in hand, and make sure it was packaged correctly and shipped on time.

If this isn’t feasible, I would consider referring them to a Trading Assistant in their area.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 270838009628 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.) What was your favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon?  Mine was Scooby Doo.  Check out The Mystery Machine, Scooby’s Van.  SOLD $9,900.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=270838009628

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? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I am a seller but also a buyer.  I bought and paid for 4 different pairs of jeans from a seller and asked for combine shipping.  The seller gave me an invoice for all 4 pairs of jeans, but the invoice did not have a discounted shipping rate. I emailed the seller and asked once again for a combined invoice, and a discounted shipping rate.  She sent me an email back and told me that it is not stated in the listing that she gives a discount.  I wrote her an email back and explained to her that I hope these jeans are shipped individually since she would not give me a discount on the shipping.

The seller shipped the jeans out, and they were of course shipped together in a Tyvek type envelope. I looked the jeans over, and I noticed that one pair had a tiny hole in them. I went and checked out the listing and noticed that it did not say ANY WHERE in it there was a hole in the jeans.  I emailed her to let her know, and she emailed me back saying she did not take returns!

I do not think I should have to pay individually priced shipping rates when a seller ships the items all together.  The seller charged me 34.95 for shipping each of these jeans individually and really paid 14.50 to ship them all together!

This seller has 100% feedback rating, but if I have anything to say about it, she won’t for long.  Do you think I should leave negative feedback for this seller?

Rebecca; Dallas, Texas

Dear Rebecca:

From everything you’ve said, I would be pretty miffed at this seller as well! Negative feedback is probably warranted in this situation, but I believe in giving someone every chance to do the right thing.  Before leaving negative feedback on the jeans I would send her an email similar to this:

I purchased four pairs of jeans from you.  Three pair are as described, but one pair had a small hole in them.  I see from your listing that you do not accept returns, I am hoping in this case you will make an exception as I they were not as you had listed them.  I am also unhappy that you charged me for shipping each one individually, when in fact you shipped them all together.  I requested that you ship them individually to me since your shipping charges reflected that.  I am not as happy with this transaction as I should be, and hope that you will rectify this.  The other 3 pairs of jeans are perfect, and I really like those. 

I hope your seller will do the right thing.  If she does not, you can always open a “not as described case” though eBay.

Dear eBay Queen:

I’m pretty new to selling. My sales have been steady and consistent for the last couple of months, but here lately my sales are in a slump. What can I do about this? Wait it out? Revise my auctions? I know it’s been only a short time, I just need some reassurance, and to see if maybe you have experienced the same thing.

Currently I’m running just auctions.  I don’t have a store yet (sitting on the fence until I learn more).  I try to have at least 20 items listed at any given time.   I’m listing several times a week.  My current inventory is dolls, books, rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies.  Recently, I added some Christmas ornaments.  I think my listings are pretty diverse, to say the least.  Do you have any advice for me?

Lilly; Ottawa, KS

Dear Lilly:

I’m impressed with your 20 listings each week!  Selling slumps happen no matter what you sell.  It maybe the wrong time of the year, the price may not be right, the photos may not show a good representation of the item, or there may be no discernable reason as to why it hasn’t sold.

An eBay Store is a great way to go if you have the product to put in there. To have a basic store, I would say you need at least 100 items. This is a nice amount of inventory, and will make for a more successful store.  Do you think you have that many items to list?  A basic store is 15.95 a month, plus the listing fee.

If you send me a link to one of your auctions, I would be happy to check out your listings to see if there is something you could do spruce them up.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220870022893 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.)  Do you have any Dinosaur fossil in your backyard?  Check out this Hell Creek Dinosaur Fossil Large Ugly Tyrannosaurus Rex Tooth SOLD $660.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HELL-CREEK-DINOSAUR-FOSSIL-LARGE-UGLY-TYRANNOSAURUS-T-REX-PREMAXILLARY-TOOTH-/220875219456  

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? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com