An eBay Army of One …… A Day in the Life of
eBay has proudly touted their statistics claiming the large number of people in the United States who are “earning their living” by selling on eBay. What they have failed to mention is that selling on eBay is a tough job that requires each seller must be an “Army of One” – one seller who must face the challenges alone with no help from eBay and where the enemy sometimes is eBay itself.
The battle to survive on eBay, where sellers are faced with the ever-changing eBay landscape, the abuses of the VERO program, the fraudulent and scammer buyers who are allowed to run rampant, the PayPal injustices, and the inconsistent application of the eBay rules which are rarely announced, make it necessary for sellers to be on the defensive 24/7.
Having served two tours in the Middle East, I can honestly say that most days I would rather be fighting Al-Qaeda than fighting to make a living on eBay.
Full-time sellers on eBay are each as unique as the product they sell so no two sellers have the exact same experiences on eBay. This blog post describes MY typical day as an eBay seller (and fortunately for me I am also an Amazon seller as well as the owner of my own ecommerce websites).
A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN EBAY SELLER
4:30 am – 5:30 am
Wake, run & exercise, shower, make coffee.
Note: My “coffee” consists of 8 cups of espresso (that is REALLY strong coffee)
5:30 am – 6:30 am
Start with the good news first by checking the orders that came in for our ecommerce websites and for Amazon. Wonderful orders from both. Life is good. Turn the music on in the background and enjoy the moment.
Time for eBay assessment for the day
1. Review Seller Dashboard – No policy violations noted today for eBay”s announced or unannounced policies. Search Standing downgraded overnight to “Standard”. Who knows why?
2. Look at Feedback – One neutral received from a newbie because we didn’t ship an item to an address that the post office declared to be incorrect and paypal stated was unconfirmed. Despite 4 emails and 3 phone calls where we left voicemail messages telling the buyer that we needed confirmation of an address because the address appears to be incorrect. A quick review of the buyer’s recent feedback left shows numerous neutrals and negatives given to sellers who did not ship.
3. Scan Items with bids – One eBayer has placed 14 separate bids despite the block we have limiting the number of items to 10 that one person could bid on at any given time without prior approval (perhaps another eBay glitch?). A quick review of the feedback the buyer has left in the last 30 days shows 27 negatives left for sellers, some of them sellers’ names that I recognize. All Stop. Quick drink of coffee in preparation for some fast work. Buyer blocked then buyers’ bids on all 14 items are cancelled — no bulk way to cancel so it takes a few minutes.
4. Review all known blogs, bulletin boards, and announcement pages to determine what new information was released – Just the usual spin by eBay owned sites and the usual reports of negative publicity about eBay from everyone else.
5. Review all incoming emails from vendors – One manufacturer has announced that they want all items sold online to be sold anywhere BUT on eBay and that action will be taken against anyone selling the product on eBay. They also announced that they have formed a relationship with Amazon to better support their own online sales of the product. All stop. Been down this road before where the manufacturer abuses the VERO system to have items removed from eBay and it is a long struggle where we “win” the ability to sell the product on eBay in the end but our inventory sits idle in the interim. Mental note to get an immediate inventory count of manufacturer’s items to liquidate in the next 30 days
6. Scan all incoming emails from buyers and potential buyers that came in overnight –
* 4 emails from buyers hoping to get a better deal than the Buy Now price,
* 3 emails from buyers telling us that they meant to give us a different address in the PayPal payment they made a day or two ago (and whose items have already shipped),
* 9 emails from buyers asking what the shipping cost for the item is (even though it is a flat rate shipping cost stated in the auction description AND in the required section down below),
* 2 emails from buyers demanding to know why they haven’t received their item (even though they paid by an echeck which has not cleared),
* 3 emails from buyers telling us that they cannot pay for the item (very unoriginal excuses today),
* 5 emails from buyers asking if they can change some term of the auction (the method of payment or how much they must pay for shipping, etc)
* 1 email asking where we buy our inventory because they want to start an eBay business
* 3 emails from buyers informing us their items have arrived and asking if they could get some kind of discount AFTER the fact (ie the color of the item is pale sunflower yellow instead of the yellow we advertised)
* 2 emails informing us that there is some problem with Paypal which will not allow them to pay
* 24 emails from buyers who want an invoice (because they do not know how to use the eBay checkout system)
* 2 emails from buyers who received their items but think there has been a mistake
* 13 emails asking if we had some type of product (maybe a different color or a whole different product) other than what we have listed
* 2 emails asking for clarification about product description or functionality
6:30 am – 7:30 am
Spend time with the family eating breakfast, making lunches for the day, driving children to school or other activities, and arriving to the office and getting settled in.
7:30 am – 8:00 am
Answer emails from buyers that have the highest priority.
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Print all eBay orders and attach paperwork that will be placed in the outgoing package. Print Amazon Orders and ecommerce website orders and prepare paperwork as well.
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Pull all items to be shipped.
10:30 am – 1:00 pm
Thoroughly inspect and carefully package items that were sold.
1:00 pm – 1:05 pm
Lunch (Note: stop for 3 minutes to accept incoming shipment of inventory product from UPS – sandwich eaten in two bites to allow for both hands being free)
1:05 pm – 2:30 pm
Print labels for all packages and affix labels to packages.
2:30 pm – 2:40 pm
Help postal employee load truck with mail bags and carts we have filled.
2:40 pm – 3:30 pm
Mark items as shipped in the eBay system, Amazon system, and ecommerce websites. Email eBay buyers who haven’t paid and file nonpaying bidder alerts for those who haven’t paid and haven’t responded to numerous email inquiries.
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Administrative tasks – place order for boxes and packing peanuts, place orders for inventory. Unpack boxes that arrived by UPS and match packing slip with items received. Input inventory into system.
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Scan all emails from buyers for an afternoon eBay assessment. Answer emails that have the highest priority.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Spend time with family, eating dinner, doing laundry and other household chores.
8:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Take pictures and list new items, relist items that didn’t sell, and sell similar on other items.
10:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Scan all emails from buyers for a nighttime eBay assessment. Answer emails that have the highest priority.
11:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Wind down, reflect on the day, and gather my thoughts. Turn on the music in the background to have another enjoyable moment for the day.
11:30 pm – 4:30 am
Sleep… but not soundly. Have nightmares about dancing stars that beat me over the head with carrots and then throw me off the side of the cliff into the abyss.
2008 is the Year to Finally Become eBay Independent
eBay sellers have been hit incredibly hard with the changes eBay is making in 2008. For more than 10 years eBay let their community pretty much run itself and now, all of a sudden, eBay is afraid for its own survival and is changing the rules on an almost daily basis with no apparent regard to what their changes are doing to the good sellers on eBay who have built their business around eBay. It is clear that eBay 2008 is operating in crisis management mode and folks whose livelihoods are dependent on eBay are frightened and angry because there is absolutely no stability in the eBay community. My suggestion for all eBay Sellers is to become “eBay-Independent” by taking things one step at a time.
Many sellers cannot simply stop selling on eBay overnight. We have families to support and we do that by selling on eBay. But what we can do is reduce our dependence on eBay to the point where we are no longer affected, emotionally or financially, by their chaotic whims. With Fourth of July right around the corner, I came up with the “4 Steps to Becoming eBay Independent”:
1. Get control of your emotions
Many eBay sellers feel anger and fear concerning the eBay changes of 2008 and it is crucial to find a way to deal with these very real emotions. Good eBay sellers are being punished often times with no warning and for no logical reason, are being kept in the dark about changes, and are tired of the years of abuse suffered on eBay. And most eBay sellers are flat-out exhausted from working harder and harder each year just to pay their eBay and PayPal fees.
As an eBay seller, getting control of your emotions is the first step to becoming eBay Independent. Nothing we can do, either individually or collectively, will alter eBay’s course of action and so we have to give up the idea that we can somehow convince eBay, threaten eBay, or beg eBay to do what we know is right for the community. Having said that, we can still make it our mission to educate the public about the facts. Creating blogs (such as this one!), communicating with our eBay buyers (when and where appropriate), and talking to people wherever we go about eBay can be a healthy outlet of emotion as long as we keep in mind that we are doing these things for OUR benefit, not as a way to punish or shame eBay. We have to let out the steam a little at a time so that our anger does not impede our ability to function well with our customers or with our own families. And anger and fear, not dealt with properly, can keep you immobilized and unable to go forward with your plan to become eBay Independent. People deal with anger, grief, depression, and fear in a variety of ways. You will need to find a way to deal with your emotions so that you can move forward. The eBay of Yesteryear is gone and we have to be willing to say goodbye to the past. The eBay of 2008 is here to stay and we must learn to survive in the new eBay temporarily until we are eBay Independent. Get emotional, get control of your emotions, and then get moving on to something better.
2. Find ways to save time & money on eBay
You will need time and money to invest in securing alternatives (step 3). Don’t put off becoming eBay Independent with the excuse that there is not enough time and money to do so. I am sure you have the extra money and time already, you just haven’t thought about how to find it. I suggest you evaluate your eBay selling actions from top to bottom to find those areas where you can save time and money. Start with your eBay and Paypal expenses and review those.
eBay.com fees: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html
eBay store fees: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/storefees.html
After you read and study all the fees, ask yourself how you can use your understanding of the eBay and PayPal charges to lower your fees. For example, if you have been paying $1.00 insertion fee to list your item at fixed price for $25 Buy Now, you could save 45 cents by just lowering the fixed price to $24.99. Or if you have multiples of a $49.99 item and you expect to sell 3 a week, you can save yourself $1 in insertion fees by listing one item with a quantity of 3 (total $2 insertion fee) rather than 3 individual listings for $1 fee for each one. Also, take a look at your sales and if you notice any particular store inventory item selling well, you might want to consider listing it as a fixed price rather than store inventory item because the final value fees will be significantly less.
Depending on your volume, you may also find that you could save yourself hours every day by simply increasing the level of your eBay store. A premium eBay store, $34 more than a basic eBay store, allows you the flexibility of having your customers emailed at several points – when payment has been received, when items have been shipped, etc and allows you to send automatic payment reminders and leave automatic feedback. For our company, the automated services of a premium store save us approximately 10 manhours a day so $34 a month is well worth it for us. And make sure you are getting good value for all the fees you are paying to eBay. If you pay for a premium eBay store, you get a free monthly subscription to Selling Manager Pro and Markeplace Research but the key point is that you have to turn on the subscriptions to these services. And, of course, make sure you are filing nonpaying bidder alerts to recoup fees on items that buyers do not pay for and that you take full advantage of listing fee credits for items that do not sell the first time.
Now would also be a great time to evaluate all of your expenses – cell phone, internet service connection, shipping supplies to determine other ways in which you can save money. If you insure more than a few packages a month, you should check into third-party insurance services like U-Pic to help you save money.
U-Pic shipping insurance http://www.u-pic.com/
And paying for your shipping using a credit card, rather than through PayPal, may earn you some sweet rewards points with your credit card company. Every eBay seller can find many ways to cut costs and become more efficient. Using your new-found savings of time and money to invest in securing alternatives is the next step to becoming eBay-independent.
3. Invest time and money in securing alternatives
Reinvest the time and money you are now saving into finding and securing alternative solutions for every aspect of your business. Start first with the product you sell. If you are relying on only one type of product and only one supplier then your business is using a recipe for disaster. You may have one main supplier of a product that you prefer to do business with I recommend you do a small amount of business with another supplier. The time to locate a new supplier is BEFORE you need them. Being loyal to your supplier is a wonderful thing but you need to make sure that you have a “Plan B” should something happen to your supplier that is out of your control. If you have been purchasing small amounts from an alternate supplier for many months or years and something happens to your main supplier you are in a much better position to suddenly shift the bulk of your orders to “Supplier B” to avoid an interruption in your business.
Securing alternate venues is probably going to be your biggest challenge. And it’s scary to venture out and do something different, especially if you have been comfortable selling on eBay for many years. But besides selling on eBay, there is a whole world of choices available now that were not available 10 years ago. There are specialized venues like Etsy and there are places to become a third party seller such as Amazon. Of course, you can create your own ecommerce website and possibly find places local to sell your product face-to-face. Using eBay as a customer farm to draw them to your own ecommerce website works very well if you sell items that are typically purchased by repeat buyers. Total dependence on eBay for all of your sales is, without a doubt, incredibly risky. Just ask the sellers who offered ebooks and digitally delivered items. Their businesses literally closed overnight when eBay gave no notice of a policy change to discontinue digitally delivered items.
Most eBay sellers probably accept Paypal. In addition to Paypal, I recommend you establish other payment services like Google Checkout or a direct merchant account. Total dependence on Paypal means that you could be out of business overnight if PayPal puts your account on hold for any reason. Without cash inflow most businesses could not survive very long.
Another area in which an alternative should be secured is for delivery services. It doesn’t cost anything to establish an account with UPS or FedEx Ground services. There have been instances in the past where delivery services have actually refused to open new accounts — for example, when UPS went on strike FedEx literally had a hold on opening new accounts because their systems could not handle the sudden and overwhelming increase in business. Establishing both a UPS and FedEx account takes very little time and no money but provides choices should you need them.
4. Stay connected, become educated, and be ready to change on a dime
Of course my recommendation to stay connected and become educated would include checking out my blog every day (and saving it as one of your favorites!):
TheBrewsNews http://thebrewsnews.com
There are LOTS of eBay blogs of interest. Here are just a few:
Tamebay http://www.tamebay.com/
eBayInkBlog http://ebayinkblog.com
Myblogutopia http://rksmythe.blogspot.com/
There are also some great resources available for the eBay seller:
Auctionbytes http://www.auctionbytes.com/
Professional eBay Sellers Alliance http://www.gopesa.org/
Powersellersunite http://www.powersellersunite.com/
Channel Advisor http://www.channeladvisor.com/
Make the commitment today to yourself to take the necessary steps to become eBay-Independent. Your independence from eBay will make your business much stronger and more stable and will bring great peace and happiness to you personally. Good luck, Happy Independence Day, and be sure to let me know how it goes for you!
TheBrewsNews 