Don't become an eBay Selling Hoarder
Space; the final frontier, the untamed wild filled with black holes which will swallow your internet business whole if you let them. Space; something you used to have until you started to search for and collect inventory for your online store. Now your friends call you a hoarder and someone mentioned seeking help. “No, no.” you reply, “it's not like that, I have an internet business you see and....and …..one thing led to another.......and......
You have a problem. The internet business has taken over your home. You now live in a storage unit and you long for the clutter free days of yesteryear. This can be disastrous to your business and your peace of mind. It is not good to be overwhelmed with too much inventory all at one time. You have to regulate it as well as your time. It would be good to go through things and keep only the good stuff if you are overwhelmed with too much. Sometimes it takes a little research to find out what the good stuff is but it's worth it in the end when you make a good sale.
It's best if you can designate an area just for inventory because you will need it. You will be best served with heavy duty industrial strength adjustable shelves which can support the weight of all your stuff. Adjustable shelves with sturdy shelf brackets are a must because of the variety of sizes and weights the items you will be selling over time.. Once your shelves are full you know it's time to stop shopping and start selling. You should be shopping, listing, selling and shipping simultaneously on a regular basis actually so if you spend more time shopping than anything else then you have a problem unrelated to selling.
You want to be sure to keep your listed inventory separated from your unlisted inventory also. It is helpful if you are able to find your sold items without a lot of trouble. Sometimes you can lose an item and not know that until it is sold. Then you scurry around in a panic looking high and low for it when you knew that you put it in a particular spot. Mixing up you sold, listed and pending inventory can be disastrous if you are looking to grow your business into something that generates solid income.
Next it is good to have an area designated for shipping materials such as priority boxes and packing materials. These need to be neatly stored in their own designated area that is readily accessible.
Having a good, organized shipping system is a must for a successful internet business. Having a packing area and a packing supplies storage space separate from your inventory area is very beneficial. It is even better if the packing material is stored very near to your packaging station. It is best to keep all boxes broken down for empty card board boxes take up tremendous amounts of space. Also you can use “green” shopping bags to store and have packing materials such as bubble wrap and plastic bags ect.
Overall organizational skills are an important part of a successful business owner’s bag of tricks. Being able to list, pack, and ship quickly and efficiently is the only way your business will grow for true success depends on the satisfaction of the customer and getting their items in a timely manner is important to your customers. So I am hopeful that these tips may help you generate many satisfied customers and a successful internet business.
2 Comments
Sarah13 says:
As far as buying/saving on eBay goes:
If you see an item that you want listed in auction format, send the seller a message asking if they will accept $x to end the auction early and sell the item to you. If that doesn’t work, use a sniping service such as Bidball.com to bid for you. It’ll bid in the last few seconds, helping to save $ and avoid shill bidding.
If there is a particular item that you want that is relatively rare on eBay or goes fast when one is listed, use ebuyersedge.com to set up a saved eBay search for it. You’d get an e-mail whenever a match is listed. You can use the price, category, exclude word, etc. filters to narrow down the results that you get in the e-mails. Excellent for “Buy It Now”s priced right.
If the item that you’re looking for is difficult to spell, try a misspelling search site like Typojoe.com to find some deals with items that have main keywords misspelled in the title. Other interested buyers may never see them.
Rosemary Horner says:
This is a super article. I think we also have to assess our selling personality and passions. I personally enjoy the treasure hunt and research more than the listing and shipping. Yet, there must be equal time given to each. I know that in my head but my natural inclination is to focus more on the areas I enjoy more. Hence, it becomes a matter of discipline to NOT do the fun part as much and focus on the things that MUST be done. Now, to go out and get more shelving!
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