ebay shop start up

I know what you're thinking and these are your questions...

Why do I need someone to help me set up my ebay shop?

The short answer is if you are not fazed by

the ebay's listing and selling methods
ebay's terminology and jargon
multiple (and ever-changing) policies that you need to understand
strict rules that, if broken, could cause account suspension
the ebay Best Match search system that is designed to help the buyer find you
the limited shop design and logo options

then you don't need me. You can get the shop open, decorated and be ready to trade just as soon as you've listed your products - but I know that a few days, weeks or months down the line you'll be wondering why you aren't trading as well as you hoped.

If you then asked me what was wrong I'd probably suggest that;

the selling strategy was wrong for your product
your listings didn't look professional enough to give your potential customers confidence to buy from an eBay newcomer
perhaps the shop name wasn't memorable so a browser can't find you again when they decide to go back for a second look the next day
your templates are too fussy and distracting the viewers attention from your product
maybe your shop design theme is the same as hundreds of others so you get lost in the crowd
the shop 'mission statement' doesn't inspire confidence and confer permanence
you hadn't grasped ebay's Best Match search system and your products weren't being seen by the customers

By now you may have committed yourself to some expensive printed promotion items or racked up £100's of excessive fees on listings that failed to sell because you didn't have good advice from the start.

If you start by yourself you'll learn by trial and error what will work and what won't, but I'd be surprised if, over course of the first few weeks or months you don't make serious errors and misjudgements resulting in much frustration and high fees - if you get me on board from the start I can quickly get you up and running with the minimum of fuss. Don't forget a potential buyer can move off your page with one click of the mouse and buy from someone else so you want to use all of your skills to make that purchase.

How will you set up my ebay shop?

You'll tell me what your product is, I'll show you the best way to research it's saleability so you pitch in with the right selling price and listing type. I'll decorate your shop, I'm not a web designer but I know my way around the ebay design options and add in a bit of my own flair to make your shop look different to the others. I'll make sure that you know all the behind the scenes workings of your shop so that you can edit it yourself at a later date, there is no HTML to learn.

So the shop looks good, now what?

I'll write up your first 5 listings to get you started off on the right track because you really need to know how to use keywords in the listings to help your buyers find you
I'll advise on taking your photos, shipping options, overseas transactions, getting your titles and descriptions to be the best buyer magnet they they can possibly be
I'll advise how Best Match works so that your listings don't get lost in hundreds of other listings.
I'll also advise on setting up your 'office' automations so that your mundane routine email and relist tasks are done for you so you can concentrate on selling, not admin.
When I've done that I'll make sure that all of the other promotional tips and tricks are all set up

All of the information that I pass on is documented in my 'New Shop Keepers Manual'. This is in 4 sections with instructions on how to list the products, run the shop and keep on the right side of the ebay rules. The Manual has useful links too to help you navigate around the maze of information that is available to ebay sellers

I've got my own ecommerce website, surely ebay selling is the same?

I'm afraid not, with your own website you are your own boss. So long as you obey the normal selling laws such as the Distance Selling Regulations etc then it's your site, your rules. Coming over to ebay means that you gain a HUGE worldwide shop window with millions of users that are potentially your next customer, you don't have to spend on pay per click to entice them to you, they are already there BUT you just have to allow yourself to be moulded into their methods of selling.

What if I hit a snag?

Just the one snag? you'll probably hit many! - such as buyers that forget that they've bought things, parcels that get lost in the post etc. I've got the experience to help you out and get it turned around.

One more thing, how do I know that you're any good at this?

Fair point

I've been selling on ebay for over 10 years now, I've got over 8000 feedback comments that I'm very proud of
I spent time as an ebay-trained Education Specialist and took the ebay message out onto the streets. Well, maybe not the streets exactly but ebay and the Post Office had a joint inititative to put an Education Specialist into a number of Post Offices to answer ebay questions and offer general help and advice about buying and selling on ebay
I do other consultancy work such as ebay shop troubleshooting so I'm used to looking at other ebay shops and seeing where problems lay. I also have experience as a mystery shopper so I've got an eye for detail and will view ebay shops from an unbiased buyers perspective
I've helped shops that sell products as wildly diverse as fishing bait to baby clothes with many others in between.

The fees? I have 5 levels of help for you

Level one

If you are already an experienced ebay seller with over 20 recent* selling feedback scores my fee is £70, this includes 30 days of email and phone support

Level two

For an experienced ebay buyer with over 20 recent* buying feedback scores the fee is £100, this includes 30 days of email and phone support

Level three

If you don't have the relevant ebay experience to put you into level one or two but you are registered on ebay as a business seller and have your paypal account set up and verified then your fee will be £200, this includes 30 days of email and phone support

Level four

If you are a complete ebay novice that will need a great deal of hand-holding the fee is £300, this includes 30 days of email and phone support

Level five

This is a bespoke service, you may want me to list all of your items or look after your shop for you because you have other business interests. We'd need to chat about what you'd like and we'll see where we go from there

*recent means within the last 90 days

All fees paid will be invoiced for you to show as a business expense for tax purposes

I think that it's fair to say that with an experienced ebayer guiding you, you are not going to make expensive and time wasting mistakes and the money you spend on my fees will be quickly saved in other areas - that's quite a compelling reason to get me on your team for your new shop from the start