by Kathy Terrill | Oct 21, 2019 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
It’s always been good to be a Top Rated Seller on eBay.
You want to be an eBay Top Rated Seller!
But since new Seller Protections for a Top Rated Seller (eTRS) went into effect on October 1 , 2019 , it’s better than ever. So if you’re not already a Top Rated Seller , now it’s time to step up your game. You don’t even need a store to qualify!
Why should you strive to become Top Rated Seller?
Consider the benefits:
- Newly enhanced Seller Protections (more about those in a moment)
- A boost in search results
- Increased credibility with buyers
- $30 quarterly credit for Promoted Listings
- Eligibility for meeting Top Rated Plus standards, thereby getting the Top Rated Plus seal on your listing(s) along with a 10% discount on your selling fees
With all those goodies to be garnered, why wouldn’t you want to be a Top Rated Seller?
And with a bit of effort —plus perhaps some tweaks to your business practices — you can and will be!
To further whet your appetite for eTRS, let’s take a quick look at the new protections enjoyed by US-based Top Rated Sellers as of October 1st, 2019.
They can be broken down into two categories:
- Protection from abusive buyers
- Protection against events beyond your control
Whichever it is, eBay will automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and/or open cases in service metrics. The new protections were first announced at eBay Open 2019.
eBay Open 2019 announced a multitude of updates for sellers!
To qualify for these newly enhanced protections, you must be a Top Rated Seller.
Also you need to reside in the USA and offer 30-day or longer returns. Easy-peasy! And they apply whether you ship the item to a domestic buyer or internationally, with or without the Global Shipping Program (GSP). Get the details here.
You don’t need an eBay store; all you have to do is to consistently deliver outstanding customer service and a great buying experience. That’s your goal in any case, right?
However, eBay has very specific criteria for “outstanding customer service” and “a great buying experience”. First, your eBay account must have been active for at least 90 days. You’ve also got to have racked up a minimum of 100 transactions and $1,000 in sales with US buyers during the past 12 months.
Once you’ve qualified in those two respects, there are more detailed requirements to be met. You can find them by going to ebay.com/TopRated.
There’s only one thing as important for your business as achieving Top Rated Seller status, and that’s maintaining Top Rated Seller status. You especially don’t want to lose it right now, going into Q4! So keep a sharp eye on your Seller Dashboard (linked from Seller Hub or your Feedback Profile page). Monitor it on at least a weekly basis, and nip any negative trends in the bud ASAP.
By the same token, if you haven’t yet earned eTRS, take a close look at your business practices as reflected in your Seller Dashboard metrics.
Figure out what’s holding you back. Are you chronically late shipping? Perhaps you should adjust your handling time. Do your buyers frequently open INAD cases? Maybe you need to improve your photos and/or descriptions.
Once you’re Top Rated, consider qualifying some or all of your listings for the Top Rated Plus seal by offering same- or one-day handling plus 30-day or longer free returns.
The extra effort needed to up-level your customer service will be amply repaid by a 10% discount on your final value fees and the extra traffic that the TR+ seal will drive to your listings.
Don’t be intimidated by eTRS. Achieving and maintaining Top Rated Seller status is imminently doable. You’ve got this — now go get it!
Are you missing out by NOT being Top Rated on eBay?!
by Kathy Terrill | Sep 29, 2019 | eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
eBay sellers Christmas is less than 90 days away. That is less than 12 weeks. That may seem like a long time to you. It is not. So, eBay sellers that means it’s time to start preparing for a profitable Q4 right now.
Not sure exactly where to begin for a successful eBay sellers Christmas selling season?
Relax, because I’m here to help you have your best Holiday selling season ever! The first thing to remember is that there’s really no wrong way to tackle Q4, as long as you tackle it. It’s your business; you get to be in charge of how you run it.
So don’t waste time and energy comparing yourself to others.
What works best for another eBay seller may not work for you — and vice-versa. Make the best decisions for your business and your life. It’s your eBay business.
If you’re like most eBay sellers, there are probably 3 things on your eBay sellers Christmas Q4 wish list:
- More sales than last year
- Get more done in less time
- Enjoy the holidays with family and friends
My proven Q4 success strategies can help you achieve all 3 of those goals to have a great eBay sellers Christmas!.
Go to your Active Listings page in Seller Hub, and click on Current Price to sort items by what’s most expensive. Which of your items are new with tags?
You may think an item is not a gift. Remember not everyone has your lifestyle. Your family may not gift power tools, but for someone else, it’s the perfect Chrostmas gift. Think outside the box when it comes to what you think is just right for a gift. Many, many items are giftable! Christmas present are not just dolls, teddy bears and video games!
The perfect Christmas gift is more than toys!
Don’t forget that used items also sell as gifts, especially if they’re vintage and/or collectible.
Next, check your unlisted inventory, and get gift-worthy items listed ASAP.
Make a list or spreadsheet, so you can easily keep track of your Holiday listings. Then cast a critical eye at your active listings. Do any of them need their photos redone? Or maybe put into a different order? Make sure your listings are still optimized for search, too, as item specifics may have changed. This recent video Lost In eBay Search shows you how invaluable correct item specifics are.
By now you should be pretty well organized. Check your holiday inventory at the beginning or end of each week, whichever works best for you:
- What’s selling or sold?
- Do you need to run a sale?
- What needs tweaking?
Create promotional campaigns, and make a note of what works — then do more of it!
Finally, to have the ultimate eBay sellers Christmas, plan to enjoy yourself
In between all of the above tasks, take time to bask in the company of family and friends and participate in holiday events.
Build that time and those events into your Holiday plan. You’ll be making memories while your business is making money!
Break out the wassail, and let’s share a toast: Here’s to your best eBay Christmas Holiday selling season ever!
by Kathy Terrill | Aug 17, 2019 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
eBay Back To School shoppers are here sellers!
It may feel as if Summer will never end, but it’s already time for eBay’s Back to School (BTS) retail moment. That’s right: The eBay Back to School selling season is NOW. And it’s going to be HUGE on eBay.
Just how big is eBay Back To School you ask?
So, how big is eBay Back To School Shopping?
For starters, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts record spending this year: Families with children in elementary through high school will shell out an average of $697 (up from $685 in 2018), while families with college students are expected to ante up an average of $977 (up from 2018’s $942).
Best of all, those families plan to do roughly half of their shopping online. That includes eBay Back To School shoppers!
Furthermore, 85%-90% of those planning to shop online intend to take advantage of free shipping. (There’s a word to the wise!)
But the potential for profit doesn’t stop there.
Back to School encompasses everything from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. It includes children, teenagers, and adults. It’s kids and teachers, but it’s also parents, who shop for themselves while shopping for their offspring.
How can you attract these eager eBay Back To School customers?
If you think you have nothing to offer Back to School buyers, think again! BTS items go way beyond school supplies like pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. They run the gamut from electronics to apparel to accessories.
My complimentary downloadable Ultimate Guide to Back to School Products will help you discover coveted BTS goodies that you already have on hand — and maybe even already have listed!
You’ll be surprised to find out how much of your available inventory is popular with Back to School shoppers.
Once you’ve got a handle on your best BTS items, if you have an eBay store, now is the time to promote those items.
This is one retail moment during which every major retailer offers deals and savings. You can, too! So get smart, seller: Google some of those major retailers for inspiration. Then use eBay’s Promotions Manager to create deals of your own.
For example, you might offer a percentage or dollar-amount discount for buyers who spend more than $X with you.
Create a Promotion with Promotions Manager. Group you Back To School items together. That way, when your shopper lands on one of your products, they’ll be encouraged to buy more from you. Here are more possibilities that might pay off.
Put certain Back To School items on sale, and make a sale event for them.
Consider bundling products together to attract even more shoppers. Feature those special bundles on your social media. You might even want to make a dedicated store category for Back to School Deals and use eBay’s bulk-editing tool to stock it with selected items from your current listings.
In short, offer savings to get sales!
The Back to School selling season runs through mid-September, but the time to take advantage of this retail moment is NOW. Download your free copy of my Ultimate Guide to Back to School Products today to jump-start your BTS selling and cash in on Back to School!
Here’s How To Attract eBay Back To School Shoppers!
by Kathy Terrill | Aug 11, 2019 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
Good news from eBay Open 2019: Policies and initiatives announced at the conference place sellers front and center! These policies impact sellers at all levels.
First, these new policy updates and initiatives unveiled at eBay Open 2019 are important. Furthermore, there are fine points to them that you might overlook.
For all sellers, with or without stores
- New photo-editing tool! eBay has launched in beta a new photo-editing tool that whites out the background of your pictures. But please note the following important caveats:
- This useful tool is still in beta. That means it’s not yet perfected. It also means that not everyone can use it yet.
- Only eBay Open attendees currently have access to the beta. To get it, you had to sign up in the Seller Hub area. If you neglected to do so, reach out to customer service to see what, if anything, can be done to enable you to access the beta.
- You can only use the white background photo-editing functionality through eBay Mobile for the iPhone. Once the background is whited out, your listing can be saved as a draft and then completed from your desktop or laptop computer. The new whiteout tool will eventually be available on those devices as well. As of right now, the beta version is in a very early stage.
- Multi-User Account Access! All sellers — with or without a store — can now utilize eBay’s new Multi-User Access (MUAA). Right now, the only part of your account to which you can apply multi-user access is listing. This means you can give an assistant access to the listing section of your Seller Hub.
eBay will add more areas as Multi-User Account Access rolls out, e.g. shipping and customer relations management. The company plans to include all aspects of selling in future iterations of MUAA. The steps to grant access to your seller account are in my complimentary Exclusive eBay Open Update Guide.
Complimentary Exclusive eBay Open 2019 Update Guide!
New and better seller protections!
- The biggest news for sellers is the MASSIVE improvements in seller protections. ALL sellers have new protections.Top Rated Sellers have BIG protections that actually put money in those sellers’ pockets.
Top Rated Sellers who offer 30-Day Returns get TWO financial as well as other protections.
Please note that for the following new protections, you DON’T need to offer free returns. However, you must be TOP RATED to receive these protections:
- If you get a false Item Not As Described (INAD) return, eBay will credit your invoice up to $6 to cover the cost of return shipping.
- If an item is returned in a different condition than when you shipped it (returned without tags, damaged, etc.), you may issue a partial refund for up to 50% of the item’s price.
- Negative feedback, defects and opened cases in Service Metrics connected to false INAD claims will be removed.
- Negative feedback and defects for transactions in which you give a partial refund will be removed.
- This process will be automated in your Seller Hub.
- You’re always welcome to call customer service. However, IF YOU’RE A TOP RATED SELLER, it’s not necessary to do so in order to receive the aforementioned protections.
For small to large sellers with eBay stores
Terapeak Product Research! Terapeak has rolled out to ALL sellers subscribing to a Basic or higher-level store. This justly popular and beloved marketplace research tool offers incredible data that will help you with your listings in a variety of ways. Different sellers are finding Terapeak via different routes, as simple access via Seller Hub seems to be in some kind of gradual roll out:
- You may now have a Research tab (replacing the Growth tab) in your Seller Hub; you’ll find Terapeak in the drop-down menu under the Research tab.
- Google Terapeak, then log into Terapeak using your eBay user ID and password. You’ll see prompts for doing so on Terapeak’s website.
- Some sellers can log in through My Account > Subscriptions.
For Large Sellers With eBay stores
eBay Managed Delivery! For large sellers looking for an end-to-end fulfillment service, Managed Delivery is now available in beta to select sellers. eBay plans to roll it out site wide starting in the US in 2020. Managed Delivery is intended for very big sellers. My best understanding is that you’d want to have more than 1000 SKUs of inventory to send to the various fulfillment centers to make this option cost effective for you. I know one seller in the beta, and he is very, very happy.
Multi User Accounts are live on eBay!
In closing, Devin Wenig and his team have knocked the ball out of the stadium this time around.
There is excellent news for all levels of sellers! eBay leadership clearly has been listening to the seller community. At the same time, they also are responding to the needs of shoppers.
Finally, what is a savvy eBay seller to do now?
With my complimentary Exclusive eBay Open Update Guide. Dig in and study the policy changes. You’re on the fast track to equip your business for more sales!
by Kathy Terrill | Jun 4, 2019 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
There is selling pain at times for most eBay sellers.
There is too much to do, in too little time. Your home or office is full of unlisted inventory. Furthermore, shipping takes too long. Social media is time consuming. Additionally,how do you sort out what needs to done each day? What’s a seller to do?
The pain from struggling with time management is ongoing! Even here in NYC the city that never sleeps, it can seem as if there are not enough hours in the day. So what’s a busy seller to do? What really works?
Here are my top 3 tips to remove selling pain:
First of all, figure out where your time is going. You can’t begin to manage your time until you know what you’re doing with it. For one week, track what you do with your time each day.
Grab my complimentary time trackers. I’ve developed these exclusively for you, my eBay seller friend.
Relieve eBay selling pain with complimentary time trackers, just for sellers!
Be ruthlessly honest in this initial assessment. Here are the Top Five Time Wasters eBay Sellers Face.The whole point is to figure out where you are wasting or otherwise making inefficient use of your time. Just remember that nobody works at maximum productivity every minute of every day, and you’re allowed to take breaks. So, don’t be too hard on yourself at this point! There is enough selling pain without adding to it!
Second, review your week-long timeline.
Now you can be judgmental: Is your time being spent where you’d like it to be? Is it being spent on the right things? Is your timeline aligning with your priorities?
Chances are you’ll find room for improvement. For example, could you spend 30 less minutes per day on Facebook and instead use that half-hour to take photos of items to be listed? What other bits and pieces of your day are being frittered away that could instead be devoted to getting something done?
Lost seconds add up to minutes, add up to hours, faster than you might think!
But still, don’t be too hard on yourself. Sure, we could all probably benefit from a little more self discipline; however, it’s equally likely that we could all probably benefit from scaling back what we expect of ourselves. Because when all is said and done, there are only so many hours in each day…and probably something not yet done by the end of every one of them! So, try to be realistic when you plan how to more effectively utilize your time. Additionally, streamlining choices, and getting 30 minutes back each day is a HUGE win. 30 minutes is a lot time for shipping or listing!
Third, set and write down 3 goals for your week. For instance:
- List 120 items
- Clean out storage closet
- 1 product-sourcing trip
Look at your calendar and figure out when and how you can accomplish those 3 things. Then go forth and do them!
At the end of the week (or the beginning of the next week; whichever works for you), take a few minutes to assess: Did you meet your 3 goals? Maybe 2 out of the 3? Maybe only 1? Yes or no? Again, be ruthlessly honest, but stop short of beating yourself up for any shortfalls. If you didn’t get everything done, then you just need to re-tweak your initial plan.
Without looking at what is working and what isn’t, you’ll go in endless circles, repeating the same errors or bad choices.
Maybe you really love Facebook, and it’s a bit of a mental health break for you as well as a marketing opportunity. So give up just 15 minutes, not 30. Furthermore, scale back your listing quota for the week to 100 items instead of 120. It’s important to succeed. You get MORE done that way.
Or say you love product sourcing, but personal and/or household errands are falling by the wayside. How can you bundle errands with sourcing? Is your grocery store close to a favorite thrift store or outlet mall? You get the idea!
So there you have it. Time management can be as simple and easy as 1-2-3. It reduces selling pain!
Complimentary time trackers to end eBay selling pain!
- Honestly assess how you spend your time.
- Set goals for using your time most productively.
- Take action; then reassess; and repeat.
Just remember when you’re setting your priorities that sleep is essential, as is eating, LOL. In addition, be sure to carve out time to spend with family and friends as well as give yourself some time to pause and smell the flowers along the way.
In the long run, you’ll not only get more done, you’ll also be happier doing it.
