Work Smarter Not Harder - Don't Shoot The Messenger

This was my third installment on making online transactions - mainly eBay successful. Parts one and two are right below. I should have done this first..but it is early and I was stupid.

Ebay Is A Two Way Street - Some Really Ugly Facts - Don't Shoot The Messenger

There is no question that sellers are obligated to try and be the best seller they can for the buyer and the ebay community. There are ebay, federal, state, and Paypal laws/regulations to follow as well as ethics. Every seller is obligated to follow them, no doubt. It is in the best interest of the seller to always try go above and beyond the call of duty when able.

Likewise, there are ebay rules for the buyer. The world does not revolve around the buyer alone and all things apply to both sides.

Fact is -

Buyers are on ebay for a reason. That reason may be to find the widget they simply cannot find anywhere else, the much greater ease of using ebay and having things delivered to their door rather than using their own time and gas going to the mall, wanting that great deal they cannot get locally, or can simply be addicted to ebay. .......................................................See how this works?

It is very easy to say ebay sellers would not be here if it weren't for the buyers, but the other side of the coin is that the buyers would not be here if it weren't for all the sellers doing the footwork for the buyers. Appreciation is a two way street and both sides share the responsibility of making ebay a great community for all.

Fact is-

A seller will have to pay fees to list whether the item sells or not. It is the seller that keeps ebay flowing, not the buyer. I know this will not sit right with many people who want to believe the buyer is the reason the earth moves. But in the ebay world; there are thousands upon thousands of sellers giving millions of dollars to ebay who never see a profit or barely sell anything at all. Only ebay, the product wholeseller and Paypal see any profit. The buyer had very little to do with that part of the process. And if buyers dropped off the face of the earth tomorrow eBay would still reap the benefit of millions in listing fees before drying up.


.........Is this who you want to be?


Yes, you can say that if all the buyers leave, ebay will tank. Yea, you can say that, but that will never happen. Fact remains, there will always be new buyers and new sellers........................


And good sellers have to get paid to remain on ebay.


A buyer cannot expect good sellers to consistently take losses so the buyer gets the long end of the stick. And if the buyer does have this mentality or does not understand this, then they are frankly not an asset to the ebay community. There are thousands of buyers on ebay looking for that penny deal with free shipping who will scream bloody murder to you and the world if they win their $50 item for .01¢ and have to pay a $10 shipping fee. don't believe me? Spend a couple of days on the ebay chat boards.....................

......................Are these the customers you want to deal with?

How many times have you heard 'The customer is always right?'

Well, back in the day when a much larger portion of society was raised on ethics, they were usually right. Let's face it; our society and all the societies we can work with on the wide world of ebay, don't exactly run on the same moral and ethical structure and this greatly needed structure is quickly deteriorating more everyday.. Add in the fact we do not have to deal with people face to face and can secretly be a pain in the butt = a recipe for disaster.

Contrary to popular belief; Paypal and Ebay buyer fraud is MUCH higher than seller fraud. The ratio of sellers actually here to defraud a large amount of people compared to the number of buyers who will do a charge back when the seller did not add on delivery confirmation, switch your item with a broken one they already have and try to get a full refund while keeping your item, claim tiny flaws to get a partial refund, buy a size without checking the measurements needed and demand a refund at a loss to the seller when the buyer did not do their homework, do a credit card charge back months down the line, etc. is MUCH higher.

Fact is -

Many large shopping chains have just about eliminated the ability to return things. Target will no longer allow returns at all without a receipt. Walmart will swipe the driver's license when returning anything over $10 without a receipt. Walmart also implemented much stiffer rules for items like electronics. Kmart and Walmart have both eliminated lay-away plans due to to many flaking customers. Credit card companies keep raising interest rates due to the amount of defaulting users and credit fraud. Stores are supposed to check signatures and picture ID when accepting checks and credit cards. Paypal Seller protection requires sellers to use a proof of delivery on their items to cover themselves. And guess what?? 99.99% of ALL auction houses have an AS IS YOU BID YOU BOUGHT IT NO MATTER WHAT POLICY. All of this has been mainly put in place due to fraud on a buyer's part.

Do not misquote me by saying there is no seller fraud, there is. But buyers have a much better ability to pick their sellers carefully by choosing sellers who accept safer payment methods, buying from safer categories rather than picking the first IPOD they see, buyers are able to check feedback scores, etc, When the truth remains; just about anyone can click on a seller's auction or Buy It Now button and mess with the seller without seller recourse. A seller has no protection compared to a buyer's protection.

Yes, some of that buyer protection comes from common sense. Common sense is a needed component when using ebay. But sellers have no ability to block bad ebay users until it is usually too late. By that time, the seller is open for a fat undeserved neg due to the buyer's unethical or unfair demands.

What is my point?

You cannot run your business with the main goal of trying to please everyone all the time. You cannot and will not be able to, ever. For most of you reading this; you are here to learn how to sell on ebay to make some money. This means your bottom line comes first and foremost WHILE adhering to the rules and laws of the land and protecting yourself the best you can.

No matter what you hear from anyone; all businesses run on costs, total costs.

Your business will either run bad and fail or run well and succeed due to money. This includes everything it takes to keep a business running. This is why the tax man allows you to deduct a portion of you taxes for things like a home office, business meals, travel expenses and everything you use for your business, including gas and tape. It does not matter how much anyone whines about you *charging for a trip to the PO and a tiny bit of tape* those things will still impact your bottom line. Fact is, if they want to whine about you being paid for your time to package their $100 item they got for $35 delivered to their door while they stayed in their pajamas, so be it. Those are not customers who have everyone's best interest in mind, they have THEIR best interest in mind and no one else's.

YOU do not need those types of customers and neither does ebay.

Example: American Airlines removed one olive from each plate after realizing doing so would save $100,000 a year. Who can claim that olive was free to American Airlines?

If you do not run your business with your bottom line in mind, you will most likely fail. If you run your business and think taking losses over and over again to make people happy will guarantee your success, you will most likely fail. If you run your business with a hidden need to please everyone, you are on a very wrong path that can never be fully paved. If you run your business thinking you are fulfilling a need but not getting paid to do so; you are working for everyone else and not for yourself....................................

......................................................................Is this what you want?

Picking items to sell means keeping all of this in mind. This means what you buy, how you package, what you can sell it for, how much time is involved, what it costs to package, what the market can handle, and who your customers will be for that type of item and what they will expect from you..

Something to think about...

Part 4 will include; Ebay Misconceptions & Time Stealers

I hope this Part 3 made you think and you learned something new.