eBay Selling – Use Good Customer Service to Get a Better eBay Seller Rating
By Elaine Currie
Everyone who sells goods on eBay receives a quality of service rating. This rating is based on feedback from your customers during previous sale transactions. A good feedback rating will show you to be a trusted seller and people will be more likely to purchase from you. A poor rating will adversely affect your sales.
There are plenty of sellers to be found on eBay so, if you earn a poor rating, you will lose potential customers to people who have a proven track record of good customer service. It is, therefore, essential to develop a good customer service policy and ensure you maintain good customer service standards throughout all your dealings with customers on eBay.
The first thing to do before you plan your customer service strategies for selling goods on eBay is to read the rules. The regulations and policies that govern eBay transactions are clearly set out on the eBay website. There are a lot of them but it is worth spending time to get acquainted with any rules that will apply to your eBay sales. Once you have a fair grasp of the rules, you can develop your own customer service policy.
Your customer service strategies for eBay sales should start with product description: eBay is not the place to use hype or exaggeration. A clear photo of the item for sale is a great aid. You must be completely honest and accurate when describing items for sale. If applicable, include the manufacturer’s name and model identification number.
The provision of a full description is doubly important when you are selling used goods. If an item has a flaw, describe it fully. For instance: If you are selling an article that has sustained a minor scratch, don’t describe the damage in words such as “minute” or “insignificant”. State the exact position and dimensions of the mark. This way your customers will never receive less than they were expecting and, if the item exceeds their expectations, you will have satisfied customers to boost your feedback rating. If you try to play down the extent of any defects when describing items for sale, people will not trust you enough to make a purchase; if the goods are sold, you are more likely to receive complaints, requests for refunds and negative feedback.
You must provide customer support and service during the time people are bidding. Prospective buyers often want more information than you have provided in your description. If a potential customer contacts you for further details, make sure you reply without delay and give clear answers. An inquiry that may seem immaterial to you might actually be the one factor that persuades a purchaser to buy from you rather than a competitor offering an almost identical article.
Good customer service must be kept up right through to the delivery stage. This means dispatching the items as soon as possible (this should be the same day unless it is a weekend or public holiday). To ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, make sure you never ask for an inflated sum to cover postage and packaging. Your customers will know how much the postage and packaging materials cost you and they won’t mind being asked a fair price to cover those expenses. It is not unusual for the cost of postage to exceed the price of the goods and people don’t mind this because they still feel they are getting a bargain. One thing nobody likes is the feeling that someone is trying to rip him/her off and that is the impression you will convey if you ask an excessive amount for postage.
Customer service policy on eBay should be no different from good customer service in any online transaction. The key is to maintain honesty, provide fast service and make it clear you have nothing to hide.
To learn more about eBay selling and top work fro home ideas, visit Elaine Currie’s Work at Home Directory.
