19/3/10 Powerseller Profiteer Newsletter

How not to get bogged down when your eBay business takes off

Hello!

Several weeks ago I received an update from a Powersellers Secrets customer of mine – for privacy purposes, let’s call her Rebecca - who very kindly gave me some very positive feedback on how well her eBay business has taken off. As you know, I love hearing your news, and so I settled down to read what was quite a long email.

Rebecca’s enthusiasm was literally spilling from the page as I read, and I found myself reading faster and faster and sharing in her obvious excitement as her words gathered speed in her haste to let me know just how well she is doing. She is obviously enjoying herself and there is no doubt that her business is going great guns and she is making the kind of income that a few months ago she could only dream of.

But a little later, re-reading Rebecca’s email for a second, less breathless time I noticed some points of interest that really struck a chord with me.

Rebecca is doing really well, and she is extremely busy. So busy that each day she barely has a moment to draw breath, what with listing, packing, posting and everything else involved. Indeed, her email was sent to me at 11.43pm one evening and she admitted that she was still ‘sat at the computer dealing with eBay stuff’.

Now, I clearly remember when I started my own eBay business I, like Rebecca, was literally glued to my computer night and day. Seeing those orders coming in has always been a great motivator for me and it’s also justification to me that I’m getting it right. But at the beginning, it was like an addiction and at one point I had over one hundred products listed, all selling day in and day out – I loved it though and this is exactly what Rebecca is going through right now – the pleasure of knowing that what she has worked so hard to set up is bearing fruit, long hours or not.

I know first-hand that an eBay business is one of the best home-businesses you can consider. It’s so flexible, easy to start up and can be worked part time or full time. What I found though and what Rebecca is discovering is that it is not effortless, especially at the start. Don’t worry, once things are set up it does get easier and will give you the lifestyle you deserve, but, my point is this - you can’t go on for ever burning the candle at both ends, because you will become exhausted or lose your motivation as things end up become less enjoyable and begin to seem like a chore.

As Rebecca’s business grows and she becomes more adept at listing and honing her time management skills, she will find that she is able to run her business with the minimum amount of admin and effort each day, freeing her up to really start living her dream lifestyle.

Learn to wear ‘many hats’ 

So, this week I want to give you a little bit of help with time management. A subject that some of us are very good at, others absolutely terrible. But there doesn’t seem to be anything in-between! Running a business by yourself can seem daunting but I am sure that I don’t have to tell you that time management is a very important factor especially if you are running a ‘kitchen table’ business like selling on eBay because there’s only little old you to do everything. You haven’t got an administrator, you haven’t got an accounts person and you certainly haven’t got a very lovely PA who makes you endless cups of coffee and runs your errands at lunchtime. So you do need an element of organisation or the ability to wear ‘many hats’. I don’t mind admitting that this is something that I wasn’t very good at when I worked for other people, but something that I am extremely good at now – because I have to be. 

I run a very successful eBay business, but I am also a wife, mum of two and a dog owner! And with this not very glamorous title comes a whole host of things that need to be done besides working on a daily basis like school runs, cooking, dog walking, washing, ironing – I could go on, but I am pretty sure you already know what I’m talking about. The important thing is that I make sure I combine my work and my leisure time in equal measures so that I have a great work/family balance.

I have commented in previous newsletters that eBay buyers are amongst some of the most demanding customers in the world – they expect their goods to arrive at their door 10 minutes after they have ordered and have notions that you are sat glued to your desk 24/7 just waiting for their order to arrive so that you can label up their parcel within seconds of their payment arriving and get it on to the private jet that you have waiting outside. Perhaps that’s a little far fetched but you get the idea and it’s not that far from the truth! I have also stated that you do need to be prompt with your dispatch and your answering of questions and so on, in fact that is something that I bang on about quite a lot – but that’s because it is basic good customer service and is absolutely true – I stand by that 100%.

However, there is a limit to what you can actually do in a day without spontaneously combusting and what Rebecca’s email reminded me of was that I too used to find myself checking my emails and answering eBay messages as late as midnight or the early hours of the morning, worrying that if I didn’t answer right now, the buyer would toddle off and buy from another seller. The truth is though, that if an email arrives in your eBay messages inbox at 9pm and you don’t answer that email until the following morning, the chances are the buyer won’t have bought from someone else, so it’s really not a big deal.

To do or not to do? That is the question 

Most eBay buyers will expect a response from a seller within 24 hours and the funny thing is that if you do answer any quicker buyers will actually start to believe that you really are glued to your desk and that’s when you are making a rod for your own back. You’ll find the same buyer will start rattling off question after question (often stupid ones too) because they know that you are at the other end of the email and will answer their queries straight away!

So, you can stop worrying about answering emails as soon as they pop into your eBay messages. Within 24 hours is time enough. You can set time aside each day for different tasks including answering those emails. Write a ‘to do’ list each evening, prioritise and stick to your list daily so instead of interrupting another task to read an email that arrived 3 seconds ago, only check your emails at set times throughout the day with a reasonable cut off point in the evening when you can stop, relax and have some leisure time – for example 9.30am, 1pm, 5pm and 8pm or whatever times suit you. If it puts your mind at rest you can always state in your eBay listing descriptions that messages are checked 4 times a day and to expect a response within 24 hours, or similar. This way, your potential customers are always kept informed.

Decide what your working hours will be and try and stick to them as closely as possible. I know there may be times when this isn’t achievable – we all have days like that - but believe me, you’ll feel more in control if you know exactly what you are doing on a daily basis. If you are employed during the day and running a part time eBay business, schedule a couple of hours each evening to deal with your eBay admin – this is perfectly possible, I’ve been there and done that too. If you have packing to do, pack up a whole batch of products in to individual jiffy bags one Saturday morning – get the kids involved and make it fun – my two children know all about this. I think they called it slave labour at the time as the going rate was a packet of Wotsits – but this way, when your orders come in you just have to label the parcel and post it which will save you time every day.

What’s important to remember is that if you offer a good service and keep your buyers informed at all times then they really have no cause for complaint. You won’t get a negative feedback comment for not answering an email immediately.

Dispatch times are slightly different. If you feel you can only dispatch orders once or twice a week because you are employed and can’t do a Post Office run daily, make sure you state your dispatch times on your eBay listing descriptions so that buyers will be aware of when to expect their goods. Likewise, if you dispatch daily then state that too. But do make sure that you pack orders up ready for posting each evening so that you are not rushing the day before your dispatch days.

At the end of the day, buyers like honesty and to be kept in the loop and if you give your buyers and potential buyers as much information as possible within your listings, this will also cut down on the number of questions people will ask you through eBay messages because they will already have the information. To cover frequently asked questions, you can set up ‘Auto Answers’ on your listings to make sure every eventuality is covered – there is an option to set this up when you fill in the sell your item form for your products. Auto answers are questions and answers that eBay generates automatically from the details you provide when you create your listing. This provides your buyers with key information they may have missed in your listing and saves time for you and them.

Like anything, good time management does takes practice and comes easier once you are in a steady routine that suits you. But, if you really still can’t fit everything in each day, there’s only one thing for it - try getting up an hour earlier – you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve whilst the rest of the household are still fast asleep!

Now, I’m off to write Monday’s ‘to do’ list….

As always I wish you the very best of success, 

Amanda 

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I produce this newsletter on the understanding that these are my own personal opinions and experiences, which are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. I cannot be held responsible for any error in details, accuracy or judgment whatsoever. 

© Amanda O’Brien 2010 

 

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