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One
of the most common pieces of advice for online auction newbies
is to avoid doing business with users who have little or no
feedback. Feedback, after all, is how buyers and sellers rate
one another and determine whether they want to conduct a
transaction with a particular user--think of it as the
checks-and-balance system of online auctions. But there's a bit
of a catch-22 here: As a new seller, how can you amass feedback
when people are less likely to bid on auctions from sellers
lacking feedback? So what should you do if you're a new seller
looking to get your feet wet in the online auction world? Read
on for advice on building feedback as well as how to develop
buyer trust.
Buy
First, Sell Later
Feedback is like a résumé--it's the first impression a seller
makes on a buyer. That said, the simplest way to avoid listing
an item and having to endure the scarlet letter of a goose egg
next to your username is to become a buyer first. When you
settle on your auction site of choice, go ahead and place some
bids and make a few purchases; then leave your feedback, and,
hopefully, the sellers will reciprocate and leave you feedback
as well. That way, even though the feedback relates to your
buying activities, your potential buyers will at least know
they're dealing with someone who followed through with multiple
transactions and can be trusted.
Up
Close and Personal
Once you take the plunge and start listing auctions, there are
some other things you can do that won't actually increase your
feedback but will assuage fears and hesitations that buyers
might have about bidding on items from a seller with little or
no feedback. Consider putting together a personal or
AboutMe-style page. Basically, you want buyers to become
familiar--and comfortable--with who you are and how you present
yourself as a seller. Personal pages offer a glimpse of the
"face" behind the auction.
Work extra hard to let buyers know
that you're a seller they'll want to do business with. Respond
to emails quickly and always be forthcoming with information and
help. Offer perks, such as free shipping or an additional item,
to lure in possibly reluctant bidders. Sometimes that little
extra incentive is enough for a buyer to get over any
reservations he or she might have about your lack of feedback.
Be specific on shipping and auction terms, be flexible with your
payment options and time-frame expectations, and write engaging
and accurate auction titles and descriptions. In short, do all
the things that a good seller should do. But in the beginning
it's especially crucial to establish your professionalism. This
will help bidders get over their understandable concerns about
buying from an unrated or low-rated seller. You don't have a
past record to lean on, but you certainly can prove to buyers
that they're dealing with a top-notch, albeit beginning, seller.
The
Don'ts
When it comes to building feedback, there are some dishonest
tactics that you'll definitely want to avoid--namely, feedback
shilling and feedback padding, both of which involve the posting
of false feedback to inflate a user's feedback rating. Don't
obtain multiple IDs and post feedback for yourself, and don't
ask friends or associates to leave you fraudulent feedback (in
response to this problem, many sites allow transaction-based
feedback only). These are major no-nos, and if you engage in
such practices, you'll get feedback all right--but it will be of
the negative variety. Worse, if caught you could face expulsion
from the auction site.
Don't feel like you have to resort to
such dastardly tactics--you don't, even though the situation
might seem to call for drastic measures. Yes, it will take a
while to build up your feedback record legitimately, but realize
that it's just part of the process that all newbies must go
through--we've all been there before. Be patient. At some point
in time, every seller had to start with a 0 feedback rating.
Back to Auction tips &
tactics
by Vendio Services
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