Making eBay a Family Affair
Growing an eBay business can be challenging while raising a family at the same time. Everyone has different priorities and different goals. For me, my goal was to work from home and to be involved with my children 24/7. Thanks to eBay I was able to achieve that goal.
Today I wanted to encourage parents to get their children involved with the eBay selling process. Teaching them responsibilities in different areas as age appropriate will help build character and an eBay business.
Simple tasks can mean so much in the life of a child. Sometimes as sellers we get wrapped up in our business and children tend to hear the words “Later, I will help you or look at that later.” Keep in mind the privilege to work from home. Not all children have parents available to them 24/7 so please don’t take this for granted and do appreciate the family unit.
Set a working schedule and get the entire family involved in the eBay business even if it’s an hour a day. Here are a few suggestions to brainstorm from:
Shipping Department:
- • Make “fragile” labels
- • Create Thank You Inserts
Photo Department:
- • Stage eBay Items
- • Take Photos
Marketing Department:
- • Socialize
- • Promote
Listing Department:
- • Research Items
Taking a look at the many different steps of selling on eBay, there are ways to include the children. Younger children can make fancy “Fragile” labels for the boxes. Allow them to draw color and get creative. One time I had a child write “Fragile” on my box so many times the mailman hand delivered it to my eBay customer saying “I think this is really fragile!” The carrier made a special trip to their house treating the package like gold!
Ziploc baggies work great to hold business cards, special notes and additions. Have the children prepackage the inserts. You could even create a flyer letting the customer know more about your family business such as sharing a photo of all the “helpers” bragging on the eBay business as a “Family Affair!”
Photo taking can be fun for children. Teaching them to take photos using different angles and lighting tools can be an awesome experience for everyone involved. Even if you give them the computer and allow them to do the photo editing it will become an appreciated involvement. Older children can manage the marketing aspect of the business. Have them connect and engage on all the social sites using your brand and logo in a professional manner.
Teaching the teens and/or tweens to research products can save you listing time in the end. Create a research report and send the little detectives on a mission. Include all the important keys on the form such as: top listing category, suggested keywords and the title to use. Simplifying life at the same time as bonding with the children can not only increase selling production time it’s all about setting good examples. By teaching our youth to be responsible will create habits that will last a lifetime.
Life is far too short. Appreciate the moments because one day, they will grow up and move out. Then all of these little tasks will become fond memories in your eBay life and you will be grateful that you did take the time getting them involved. Plus you never know, they may follow in your footsteps and become an eBay Top-Rated seller paying their way through college!
Family Photo Lesson
1 Comment
Richard Stubbings says:
I like the concept, but why restrict it to EBay? Let them get involved with your web site too. I love the idea of getting the children to take the photographs.
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