Organizing Your Merchandise and Shipping Department
The more items you sell, the more confusing things can get. As you build your eBay business, the little side table you use for storing eBay merchan-dise isn’t going to work. You must think industrial. The packing materials that you use for your shipments can either make or break your bottom line in the shipping income/expense column of your busi-ness reports. Pay attention to packing. It’s only expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. You can ship your items in quality packing, keep buyers happy, and still make a dollar or so on each item for your handling fees.
Shipping without Going Postal
Shipping can be the most time-consuming (and dreaded) task for eBay sellers. Even if the selling portion of your transaction goes flawlessly, the item has to get to the buyer in one piece. If it doesn’t, the deal could be ruined — and so could your reputation.
The best way to avoid shipping problems is to do your homework beforehand, determine which method is likely to work best, and spell out in your item description exactly how you intend to ship the item. When should you ship the package? Common courtesy says it should go out as soon as the item and shipping charges are paid. If the buyer has followed through with his or her side of the bargain, you should do the same. Ship that package no more than a day or so after payment (or after the check clears). If you can’t, immediately e-mail the buyer and explain the delay.
Insuring Your Item’s Delivery
When someone buys an item from you, the buyer assumes that the item will be shipped in 24 to 48 hours. A little-known rule of theonline world is the Federal Trade Commission’s 30-day mail-order rule. This rule applies to all online sales, as well as mail-order businesses. It states that unless you state a specific shipping time, all items must be shipped within 30 days. When you’re shipping a large amount of merchandise on a regular basis, you’re going to have to deal with the issue of whether or not you offer buyers insurance against damage or loss.
