eBay Consignment Sellers:  Save Time & Money With Automation

By Brendan Coveney

Time is a valuable commodity for eBay Trading Assistants. Therefore, they should deploy business practices that allow them to reduce the time they spend on low-value tasks (administrative), and allowing them to refocus their energy on high-value elements, such as recruiting new business and marketing. Automation software tools not only can tackle the administrative and repetitive tasks, such as re-inputing data and managing emails, they can also help you organize the two sides of your clientele.

Prior to becoming a Trading Assistant, you most likely only had one type of customer: the buyers. But now you have to cater to a second set: consignors, i.e. the people who provide you products to sell. These two sets of customers have totally different needs and trying to satisfy these disparate needs will make the difference in the success or failure of your business.

First, let’s address the consignors, the pull side. Even though you’re listed in the eBay Trading Assistant directory, an even better marketing tool is through what is now often referred to as viral marketing, or simply word-of-mouth. Make consignors happy and they’ll market for you by telling their friends and business associates. Making them happy will depend on your business skills as well as the competent software tools you use.

Your software program should be able to calculate consignor fees, whether you’ve agreed on a fixed fee, commission scale, sliding scale or escalating scale. Your marketing skills will determine how to advertise their merchandise, when to post it for maximum exposure, at what price to post, what template to use, etc. The end goal, of course, is obtaining the best price for the merchandise.

Your software program should ensure that your consignor is kept up to speed with the sales progress, informed on exactly how much money they will get in return and when. Ideally, the automation program should also facilitate the payment to the consignor through a service, such as PayPal, upon completion of the auction. Of course, the post-sales communication, such as e-newsletters and follow-up emails, which a good tool should automate, ensures that you are always on the consignors’ mind if they are in need of your services again or if they’re asked for a recommendation.

The buyers’ side is the push side. Even if you’re selling a wide range of products, it is imperative that you build a large customer database. Quality software programs, such as MarketBlast, allow you to build and categorize all bidders (successful and not), allowing you to proactively market your new listings to them.

A good tool will allow you to customize emails targeted toward people who previously have shown interest in a particular type of product. Of course, the very best software programs will allow customers to opt-out, ensuring that you’re not labeled a spammer.

The two sides of your clientele – consignors and buyers – work hand in hand. Having a large database of clients and their eBay transactions will make you a better seller, and therefore, it will enhance your reputation as a Trading Assistant who really gets the job done.

Note from Skip:  Another great eBay Auction Management System for eBay consignment sellers is EZ Lister
 

Brendan Coveney is the president and CEO of 4D Inc. 4D's recently launched MarketBlast has made life much easier for high-volume eBay sellers. This powerful new software tool simplifies the way you bulk list items, post photographs, manage inventory, invoice winners, calculate postage, ship items, report sales and much more. MarketBlast is one of the few eBay applications with an integrated function to address consignment selling. (http://www.marketblast.com).