Newsletter #3 - featuring; offering a guarantee, account restrictions

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Help My Auction Free Newsletter

www.helpmyauction.com

Date 9th July, 2007 Issue #3

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In This Issue:

1. Offering a guarantee - Is it worth it?

2. A thought about account restrictions.

3. Subscriber question

4. "Visit Amanda's Blog!"

5. Tell us what you think.

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1) Offering a guarantee - Is it worth it?

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FEATURE EDITORIAL

Offering a guarantee - Is it worth it? In a word... YES!

Let me explain. How many times on eBay or Oztion have you seen all "sales are final" "bid carefully - no returns", etc. Does it make you want to place a bid on the item? Well unless it's something you really want or a super cheap price, probably not.

When you don't offer a guarantee on your items, you are telling your buyers that you are not confident in your product or service. If your not confident, there is no reason for your buyers to be either.

If you are running a business rather than a hobby you will also have legal consumer obligations under the trade practices act in your state. Since you have to comply with the law when dealing with any sale, yes even online sales, you may as well turn it into a feature of your service and a way to stand out from the average eBay/Oztion seller.

There has been allot of research done on offering guarantees and the results are all very similar. The longer the guarantee you offer on your products the fewer returns you will have. Obviously there are some items that are time sensitive or have been customised just for that particular customer, in these cases you will need to work out an individual way to satisfy your customers.

If you are selling a general product, then by offering the longest time period for a change of mind or general return on an item, you will;

• Increase your sales - the buyer have nothing to lose if they know they can get their money back easily.
• Decrease your returns as a percentage of your sales.

It's basic human nature that the longer people have to return something the longer it will take to evaluate the item and then to return it if they don't want it.

People are busy and many tasks are done "when they can get around to it", so if you offer for example a 1 year guarantee with your product, no-one will be in a rush to get it back to you. The longer the time period that goes past the less the money spent means to the buyer.

If you don't have a guarantee on your listings, it's time for you to think about how you can incorporate one into your terms of sale. Once you have done it, make sure you make your guarantee known to your buyers, it may be just the last little push they needed to commit to the sale.

 

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2) A though about account restrictions.

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This section is just for eBay sellers. It would seem that in the last few weeks eBay has decided to get tough on their sellers and have been placing restrictions on some seller accounts, where they don't feel the seller is living up to their standards.

This as a whole is a good thing. When someone buys something from eBay and gets a less than ideal trade, it can be enough to turn them off of eBay completely. Especially new buyers who perceive the site as a whole rather than as a collection of different sellers. Once someone is burnt by a seller, not only will they generally not return to buy again, but they will tell people that they know not to buy from "eBay" as well.

The problem seems to be coming from the fact that while eBay has defined their expectation of seller performance for US sellers, they have refused to disclose to Australian eBayer what is expected of them to ensure they don't get a restriction.

Using the US explanation and a bit of detective work, it seems to be based on the number of negative and neutral feedback, plus the number of disputes you have compared to the amount of positive feedback in a 90 day period.

Whilst there is no 100% guarantee to protect yourself from getting a suspension or restriction, by keeping your customers happy, delivering way you have promised them and responding to them promptly and in a professional manner, there is little chance you will have any trouble.

 

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3) Got a question?

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Well last issue I asked if you had any questions that you would like answered. Normally if you want to know, chances are there are other people who do as well.

Sadly no-one had sent me any questions, I'm hoping it's a sign that my writing is so comprehensive that you don't need to, but there must be something you guys want to know about.

To get thing kicked off I am offering a copy of my brand new course "Advanced auction marketing made simple" to anyone who gets their question published.

It can be any auction or internet marketing related question, you like. Be it software, ethics, marketing or just general, nothing is off limits.

Don't be shy, we are all learning all of the time, so all questions are worth asking.

Send your questions directly to me - amanda@helpmyauction.com and I will answer and publish one each newsletter.

 

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4) "Visit Amanda's Blog!"

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Check out "The Help My Auction Blog Spot!" with Amanda Callbutt
at: http://helpmyauction.blogspot.com/

Here Amanda shares her thoughts, ideas, insights, and
strategies with you, our customers and subscribers.

Every week, sometimes even a couple of times a week, Amanda shares...

1. Updates from the Help My Auction! website: What is
happening at HMA?

2. Cutting-edge industry updates: Every month Amanda meets
extremely successful online and offline business owners who are using
the hottest new moneymaking strategies and industry insights...
and now she'll be sharing them with you.

3. Announcements! Be the first to know about new courses and
resources, sometimes even BEFORE they have been created,
so you can beat your competition to the punch!

4. Amanda's personal opinion, thoughts, and insights on many
different auction site and e-commerce topics.

If you want to get to know Amanda and what is going on in the
day-to-day world of internet auction selling, then this is the place to be!

Go to: http://helpmyauction.blogspot.com/

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5) Tell us what you think!

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I would love to hear other people's views on the stars, or on anything else auction related. This issue has centered around eBay, but you can comment on anything you like.

Please send your comments, questions, and ideas for
upcoming issues to us at:

mail to:suggestions@helpmyauction.com

Your feedback matters to us!

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Regards,

Amanda Callbutt, CEO

Help My Auction!

Copyright 2005-2007 by Help My Auction!
All rights reserved.

www.helpmyauction.com

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