Running your own eBay business can provide a means of bringing in a decent second income, or with some careful planning and good business sense, you can turn it into a full time money making venture. Whether you sell your own products, or you buy from others to sell at a profit, one area that you should never overlook is that of your packaging and postage.
Ensure that your packaging does the job it’s meant to. You don’t have to spend a fortune and include multiple layers of protection, but appropriately sized boxes and cartons not only help reduce postage costs, they also require less filling and will provide greater protection for the items inside. You can sell just about anything on eBay, but you may need to get creative with packaging for some items.
Be realistic with your postage options and costs. Artificially inflating your postage costs to try and turn a greater profit is against eBay terms and there are limits for items in certain categories. What’s more, it will put a lot of your buyers off returning to you in the future. Check costs, use your previous courier receipts for similar items, and then pass the costs on. If you want to offer free postage, then you should consider only doing so on standard delivery, because the costs of free next day delivery can quickly mount up.
By all means brand your receipts and invoices, and even include a business card, but don’t get carried away with the extra items you include. By the time you’ve added a brochure, a catalogue, and a handful of flyers, you will risk alienating the recipient and pumping up postage prices beyond a reasonable amount.
When getting quotes from companies like TNT Direct, ensure that you are realistic about the number and frequency of deliveries that you require. If your sales are sporadic then you may not be able to benefit from bulk or volume orders, but this is arguably better than being left to pay for deliveries that you don’t need in order to meet a specific quota.
Similarly, always check whether additional services that you might need are included. Express delivery, next day delivery, and Saturday deliveries can help you to secure some customers that would have been forced to look elsewhere. If you receive free tracking with express deliveries, then this means that you can offer the tracking number to your customer, not only providing transparency but giving you another opportunity to keep in contact with them.
Always ensure that you meet the deadlines and promises that you make. If you intend to guarantee next day delivery, ensure that your delivery service can meet these demands before you boast about it yourself. If a customer wants Saturday deliveries, bear in mind that not all courier delivery services will provide this.