We've often discussed what is a small seller.
By now, the answer is clear as a bell.
A small seller is a seller who is scared to death of accepting over $20,000 in payments from Paypal in a given year.
I think it would be well worth Ebay's investment to help small sellers past this barrier.
The height of the barrier is, for many, not the requirement to actually pay taxes on profits. We'll leave those sorts to their own small world.
Rather, the barrier involves record keeping. The vast majority of small sellers have no records beyond what Ebay shows them. Ebay can do better, far better, to encourage small sellers to become medium sellers, by building IRS oriented record keeping into selling.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Free Listing Day
Yesterday (14 Mar) was a free listing day, the first such since 7 Feb.
That 5 week interval was the longest (as I recall) since the current arrangement began last spring. 50 free listings, plus an occasional free listing day.
I suspect I'm not alone in actively managing my free listings. The technique I use is to not relist something which went unsold until a free listing day. I sell basically random stuff, auctions beginning at low. I seldom have something which is "worth" $100 and I'm not taking less than that for it. I do have a minimum transaction, usually $10, a bit higher for larger, harder to ship items. The random nature combined with the minimum transaction yields a fleet of items which have sparse demand at the minimum transaction. These get combined with "low excitement" items waiting for a free listing day.
I realize that for ebay there is a tradeoff between predictability of free listing days vs paid listing fees. However, I'd suggest to ebay that they understand the business models created by various actions, so as to better be able to manage FVF profits. FVF profits are good for ebay and good for sellers. For me, two free listing days per month yield maximum FVF.
That 5 week interval was the longest (as I recall) since the current arrangement began last spring. 50 free listings, plus an occasional free listing day.
I suspect I'm not alone in actively managing my free listings. The technique I use is to not relist something which went unsold until a free listing day. I sell basically random stuff, auctions beginning at low. I seldom have something which is "worth" $100 and I'm not taking less than that for it. I do have a minimum transaction, usually $10, a bit higher for larger, harder to ship items. The random nature combined with the minimum transaction yields a fleet of items which have sparse demand at the minimum transaction. These get combined with "low excitement" items waiting for a free listing day.
I realize that for ebay there is a tradeoff between predictability of free listing days vs paid listing fees. However, I'd suggest to ebay that they understand the business models created by various actions, so as to better be able to manage FVF profits. FVF profits are good for ebay and good for sellers. For me, two free listing days per month yield maximum FVF.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Local Pickup yields TRS strike
TRS requirements are being stiffened. I have no problem with that, but, as usual, the implementation has side effects.
One of the stiffenings is that 90% of one's sales must have tracking information posted to Ebay within 1 day of payment. That's fine with me in general, but apparently there is no way to designate a sale as "local pickup", which of course has no such tracking information. Freight might also be similar, depending on whether the freighter offers qualified tracking.
Such sales are scored as "slow shipping", and threaten one's TRS status (and discount).
Solutions:
1. just make sure that your non-trackable sales don't exceed 10% (or, to be careful, 8%)
2. Don't mark the item as paid.
3. Create a 2nd account which never will achieve TRS status. Sell all LPU, freight, and other out-of-favor items on this account.
One of the stiffenings is that 90% of one's sales must have tracking information posted to Ebay within 1 day of payment. That's fine with me in general, but apparently there is no way to designate a sale as "local pickup", which of course has no such tracking information. Freight might also be similar, depending on whether the freighter offers qualified tracking.
Such sales are scored as "slow shipping", and threaten one's TRS status (and discount).
Solutions:
1. just make sure that your non-trackable sales don't exceed 10% (or, to be careful, 8%)
2. Don't mark the item as paid.
3. Create a 2nd account which never will achieve TRS status. Sell all LPU, freight, and other out-of-favor items on this account.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Selling page suggestions
The Ebay selling page is basically very good for small and beginning sellers. However, there are some traps which just seem unnecessary.
1. "Second Chance Offer". This feature is useless for 98% of sellers, and exists as a trap for beginning sellers who think it might be for when the original buyer hasn't paid for two days.
Solution: for the 1 or 2% of sellers whose model makes 2CO useful, enable it via some advanced setting.
2. Feedback for items not yet paid for. There is no logical reason why a seller would leave feedback before being paid. This is an anachronism from way back. As it is, it's simply an invitation to leave mistaken feedback.
Solution: don't enable feedback until the item is paid for, or marked paid.
3. Print Shipping Label for items not yet paid for. Similar problem as to early feedback, but the consequences are far worse.
Solution: don't enable printing shipping label until item is paid for, or marked paid.
4. Glitches remain with the selling page reporting that an item has an open question from buyer. Example I've seen involves seller contacting buyer, buyer replying, end of sequence.
Solution a: stop counting every contact as a "question". It makes things read screwy and confuses those who don't know the translation.
Solution b: if you're counting something as needing action, always give a way to mark the action satisfied.
1. "Second Chance Offer". This feature is useless for 98% of sellers, and exists as a trap for beginning sellers who think it might be for when the original buyer hasn't paid for two days.
Solution: for the 1 or 2% of sellers whose model makes 2CO useful, enable it via some advanced setting.
2. Feedback for items not yet paid for. There is no logical reason why a seller would leave feedback before being paid. This is an anachronism from way back. As it is, it's simply an invitation to leave mistaken feedback.
Solution: don't enable feedback until the item is paid for, or marked paid.
3. Print Shipping Label for items not yet paid for. Similar problem as to early feedback, but the consequences are far worse.
Solution: don't enable printing shipping label until item is paid for, or marked paid.
4. Glitches remain with the selling page reporting that an item has an open question from buyer. Example I've seen involves seller contacting buyer, buyer replying, end of sequence.
Solution a: stop counting every contact as a "question". It makes things read screwy and confuses those who don't know the translation.
Solution b: if you're counting something as needing action, always give a way to mark the action satisfied.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Coming: 12 free pictures
Random recent listing creations foretell the future: all 12 pictures free.
This is a welcome improvement from ebay which will benefit both buyers and sellers. Come July, they will go to free for all listings.
Some sellers report seeing the free 12 feature appear already, and then disappear as quick as it appeared. My guess, ebay is both testing and teasing.
This is a welcome improvement from ebay which will benefit both buyers and sellers. Come July, they will go to free for all listings.
Some sellers report seeing the free 12 feature appear already, and then disappear as quick as it appeared. My guess, ebay is both testing and teasing.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Free Listing Suggestion
The cost of listings is a bigger barrier than some imagine. Ebay recognizes that by giving away 50 free listings per month to small sellers.
However, not everyone uses them equally to ebay's advantage.
Ebay, and small sellers, would benefit if Ebay were to reward productive sellers with more free listings.
One nice way to do that would be to give back one free listing for every free listing which generated a $9.99 or larger sale. Then cut back to say 25 free listings.
This would give the cheapskates real motivation to make ebay money. Use them to make sales, not just trot out overpriced stuff. Buyers would benefit as well, by seeing more attractive listings.
However, not everyone uses them equally to ebay's advantage.
Ebay, and small sellers, would benefit if Ebay were to reward productive sellers with more free listings.
One nice way to do that would be to give back one free listing for every free listing which generated a $9.99 or larger sale. Then cut back to say 25 free listings.
This would give the cheapskates real motivation to make ebay money. Use them to make sales, not just trot out overpriced stuff. Buyers would benefit as well, by seeing more attractive listings.
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