When you're trying to sell multiple items at once, it can be invaluable to enlist the help of an auction service: a business that assumes the responsibilities of managing your auctions for you. A program like Auction Helper (http://www.auctionhelper.com ) sends notices and invoices to high bidders and maintains records of your sales so you can add up totals at tax time. The eBay Services: Buying and Selling Tools page (http://pages. ebay.com/ services/buyandsell/index. html) contains links to services that can help manage your sales, such as Selling Manager. UK Auction Help (http://www.ukauctionhelp. co. uk/sitemap. php ) provides a Web page full of tips for auction buyers and sellers alike, including suggestions on how to manage auctions and build volume.
Schedule Your Sales Experienced sellers know that, if you have an especially desirable item, it's likely to sell no matter when the auction ends. However, they also know that auctions that end when the majority of bidders are available are more likely to gain the highest prices. Here are some suggestions for when to schedule your auctions:
- Sales that end on weekends are more likely to get bids because many more bidders have the time to shop.
- Sales that end on Sundays particularly, Sunday nights tend to get more attention at the end of the sale.
- Some sellers start sales on Thursdays and schedule them to last for ten days: that way, they'll end on a Sunday, and bidders will have two weekends to shop and place bids. Recapturing the Spirit of the Chicago Entrepreneur Chicago, which is my home town, has a rich history as a center for manufacturing and commerce. Those of us who love to buy and sell treasures of all sorts benefit from that history. We fondly remember a place called the Maxwell Street Market, a huge open-air flea market where you could find virtually anything for sale, and which lives on in a smaller (not to mention cleaner) form every Sunday morning. As a child, Bob Kopczynski used to visit Maxwell Street with his father. Today, he and his wife Katy keep a little bit of Chicago history alive with his eBay business, which goes by the User ID of maxwellstreetmarket. Bob, who works full-time as a construction manager and runs his eBay business in his off-hours, first became interested in eBay when he was looking for computerequipment and souvenirs related to the rock group Van Halen.
At least five Kopczynski family members help with crating, packing, cleaning, and the many other duties that are required to sell anywhere from 20 to 50 items per day on eBay. The business has expanded along with the Kopczynskis' suburban Chicago home. First, Bob and Katy worked out of their basement. They made enough on eBay to build a pool and a deck. Then they had to build a garage just so they could store their eBay inventory (Bob calls it "the garage that eBay built"). Now, they rent warehouse space in several locations. The Kopczynskis put a premium on credibility and customer service.
They have built a steady income by putting customers first. "I have a goal to make people feel comfortable," Bob explains. "Eighty percent of people are still not comfortable with buying online, even though they love auctions. The big hurdle is, why would I send someone I don't know money? I set a goal to become a licensed state auctioneer; I have to take classes and pay $500 every year to keep my license.
I sometimes do auction off high-end items like cars or boats on site, but 99 percent of my auction business is on eBay. I mention that I am a licensed auctioneer in my eBay listings, and I think that tells people they can rely on me. It's well worth the expense because it tells people I am well established. " The family's eBay operation is a business in many other ways. For one thing, it's part of KMK Management Co. , Inc. , Auctioneers and Estate Liquidators, a company of which Bob is President and CEO. Bob says one reason he decided to incorporate was liability; the corporation has limited liability if a customer decides to sue for some reason. "I pay a CPA to do our taxes, we do collect sales tax charged to Illinois residents. Besides that, we pay our employees' payroll taxes, too. "
The businesslike emphasis pays off in customer relations. Bob and Katy don't run into too many deadbeat bidders. They estimate that only two to three percent of their customers fail to follow through with sales. More than 99 percent of the feedback they receive is positive. When they do run into problems with customers, they don't make a big deal about it. "We're not going to chase you if you don't pay us. We'll send you a couple of reminders, and then we tell eBayto pursue you.
Then, we just wait 10 or 14 days and relist it. " The matter-of-fact approach to the business applies to sales, too. Bob has a policy of selling everything on a no-reserve basis even highly desirable items for which he may have paid $100 or more. "I'll put up a Tiffany lamp at a starting bid of $1. 99 with no reserve. Almost all of our auctions are conducted that way. The no-reserve policy quickly eliminates competition that sets an opening bid. My items tend to sell higher than ones with a reserve. Personally, when I'm shopping on eBay, I pass up any auction that has a reserve. You don't always get your cost back. You don't always make money on everything you sell. But it's a matter of volume and turnover that's what counts. If you pay $200 for something and if it sits on a shelf for six or eight months, it's no good. Volume is the magic better to get the money quickly and build up lots of sales. " Bob doesn't specialize in one particular type of item, although he personallycollects vintage toys, radios, and musical instruments.
He says he is "continually surprised by how much some things will bring. We even sell empty toy boxes people who know what they are and who collect toys will pay for them. " Bob estimates, in fact, that a high percentage of his own customers are antique and collectible dealers who buy on eBay and resell items in their own brick-and-mortar stores. "I would like to have 90 percent collectors and dealers as my customers because they will pay a higher price, and they're not likely to turn out to be deadbeats. " In order to turn around 600 to 700 items a month, Bob uses an auction management service called Auction Helper (http://www.auctionhelper.com ). "The auction management service does the shipping. They send an e-mail to the high bidder that says, "Click here to get your invoice and your seller's address. " The buyer has a printable invoice with all of the details printed right on it. " Bob's number one tip to would-be eBay businesspeople? "Don't get hung up on making a ton of money on every single item," he says. "You have to let it go. Not everybody makes money on every investment. If you had brick and mortar store stuff, you'd run into losses too something might get damaged, or your employees might take stuff. It's the same on eBay. You just have to let it go and move on to other sales. "
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