Keeping good communication skills with online buyers for successful auctions

Shipment Location

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

Page Six

This is an important page in that you will see the summary of your auction. This is your last chance to make any changes before your auction goes public. Take your time to read through everything two or three times before hitting the final button. Sometimes having a friend or co-worker scan through your information can help find things tired eyes miss.

Corrections

Once you post your auction, if you see an error that would make a huge difference in the sale, there is an option on the online site where you can add information. Although you cannot go back and correct the actual error, you can point out the error and provide the corrected information. Using the fabric scenario, if you were selling 12 yards but in your description, you said 2 yards that would make a big difference in the bidding. In your additional information, you could state, My apologies in my original description I stated this auction was for 2 yards. The actual amount of fabric is 12 yards. Thank you.

Communication with Buyer

It is your responsibility to contact the buyer at the end of the auction congratulating them on winning the item's. Issue an e-mail requesting their shipping address. Once they provide that information to you, let them know when the shipment will go out, which should coordinate within the timeframe provided in your auction description. If you know the shipping charges, advise them in this same e-mail. Once payment has been made, send another e-mail to the buyer confirming that you received their payment and that the item's will be shipped on X day via (US priority mail, UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.).

Once you have a tracking number, send that to the buyer as well. This will allow them to follow the tracking themselves.

Package & Shipping Tips

Most online auction sites are  in the process of creating a Package and Shipping Tips page that will help you with the entire shipping process. This should be up soon and will be yet another valuable tool for sellers and buyers alike so keep your eyes open for this.

When to List

The time of day you list your auction is important. The start time will be the same as the end time, which is why it is so important. If you want your auction to end at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, you need to have the auction start at 10:00 p.m. For this reason, be sure to set the start time accordingly.

Do your Homework

In addition to researching what other people are selling similar items for, you need to conduct your own research outside of the online site as well to determine the going rate for your item's. As an example, if you are selling artwork, jewellery, or collectibles, you need to state in your description the going price. Although you may or may not get that price from the buyer, it shows buyers that you have done your homework and will stand a little more firm in your price. It also tells buyers that they are getting quality for a good price.

Seller Assistant Pro

When and if you get stuck in the process, use the auction Seller Assistant Pro, which is yet another valuable tool offered to help you find all the answers to your questions.

Appearance

The appearance of your auction is important. Auctions that are designed with loud colours or hard to read fonts can push buyers away. Use colours and fonts that are easy on the eye. Remember that not everyone will have perfect 20/20 vision so you want to make sure the fonts can be read by all buyers. It would be the same for graphics a few added to the auction is fine but too much is a distraction. You want your auction to interest buyers not lose them in all the fluff.

Jargon

Although you may have tremendous knowledge of something you are selling, not everyone will. Avoid language that is too techie and stay away from acronyms. Keep the language simple and easy to read.