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An eBay power seller is an official designation provided by eBay to those sellers who have reached a certain sales performance and have a high level of total feedback. To be considered an eBay power seller, you have to attain at least a 98% positive feedback rating by other eBay users.
For a real-life example of an eBay power seller, there’s Ted Corriher, a home, farm equipment and garden dealer in Newton, North Carolina. When he started four years ago, he didn’t know much about computers or the Internet. And, he didn’t even have his own email account.
Around that period, many of his friends were buying on eBay, and he didn’t want to be left behind. He asked one of his employees to conduct some research on eBay and find out how he could sell his equipment on eBay. Four years later, he now sells about $100,000 worth of equipment on eBay each month. His business selling mostly tractors has grown from $4 million to $10 million, according to his yearly sales.
Since joining eBay and becoming part of the millions of registered users on eBay, Corriher claims that being an eBay power seller has been a rewarding and enlightening experience for him. It also aided in rejuvenating his grandfather’s business. He has also started to expand his business.
For those of you who need the motivation to become an eBay power seller like Corriher, you should understand that it’s not impossible for a startup seller to reach the eBay power seller level of achievement in a short time of four years, like Corriher did.
So, as you aim for the recognition of being an eBay power seller, begin focusing your efforts first on being a better eBay seller. Here are ten pointers that can help you to become a better seller.
Once you’ve come this far, you’ve already mastered the fundamentals of eBay. There are, however, several little but significant steps left that you may not yet have thought of trying.
Some of these tips may go against the recommendation that others offer for eBay selling. Some are a bit risky and some are a little unusual. However, there’s no harm in trying these tactics. Best of all, you can simply discard the things you don’t agree with and apply those you want to keep using.
1. Mail the item without payment – doing so might sound a bit risky, but it means that the buyers get their products more quickly than the standard process of waiting for payments to clear and be received. Do this mostly for small products, and you might find it worth the occasional loss to give such quick service. Buyers are most likely to remember you positively for it.
2. Mail items every day — if you have started shifting on high volume items, mailing them daily should help you keep your customers satisfied. By mailing your items daily, your customers will receive them quickly, thereby making them very happy. If you sell products that are small enough to drop in a mailbox, you might consider doing this.
3. Foster an auction mentality. Encourage bidders by boosting them to place a bid on the item and not just buy quickly. Make it very clear, however, when the item is the last or only stock you’ll be getting in. Additionally, heighten the bid winners’ confidence more by referring to them as ‘winners.’
4. Include every defect your product has. Or better yet, have an honest, good, and detailed description of your item in the search results listing. By doing so, you effectively build credibility and convey an image of trustworthiness. People are more likely to place a bid when they trust the seller.
5. Tell buyers how you obtained the item. This information should be part of the detailed description you have to prepare. Tell it all, such as the fun details of how you got hold of what you’re selling. Offering this bit of information gives your auction character and, once more, builds trust.
6. Accept unusual payment schemes. Be flexible on whatever forms of payment your buyer would choose.
7. Don’t be afraid to sell low. By occasionally allowing an item to go for a really low price to a good buyer, chances are you might be merely breaking even on it. However, you have secured a buyer who’ll buy from you again and again.
8. Give free shipping for a certain number of orders, or orders over a certain amount. Sometimes, people purchase some items they don’t want, just to take advantage of the free shipping. Why don’t you give it a try; it is an Amazon tactic.
9. Ship globally. Be pleasant to international clients and get more market by this. Take time to research the costs. Just think about how much your market will expand once you ship worldwide.
10. Keep more records — even if it needs more time, it would most probably keep your job of tracking down checks, delivery and shipping receipts and other such paper work, easier in the long run.
Try to put to use some of the many eBay tools that are available. If you are more open-minded and see the long-term benefit of several of the pointers mentioned, then in no time at all, you might just be the next rising eBay power seller.
Tagged with: eBay • home business
Filed under: Ebay Business