A Common Mistake by eBay Sellers New to the Dutch Auction Selling Technique

A friend also selling on eBay told me about a mistake she made that innocently caused four people to bid on and pay for one solitary item available. It was an easy mistake, especially for new eBay sellers, and basically she had just one product for sale, she listed it, four people bid, four people bought. One product means one happy buyer and three potentially disgruntled eBayers. How did it happen? I actually made the same mistake myself in my early eBay days so this is definitely not a case of the frying pan calling the kettle black. She had one item comprising four pieces and innocently in that part of the eBay listing where it asks you to list number of items available she put ‘4’, rather than ‘1’. At this spot the number she should have entered is the number of potential buyers for her four-piece product. 1 item! By putting ‘4’ and running an auction she had inadvertently listed her product as a Dutch Auction which means people can bid up to their maximum and the top bidders get the goods down to the number of items available in this case One lot of Four Matching Items, not Four different One lot items as indicated in her listing. It’s an easy mistake, but our friend was distraught, she had worked hard to build positive feedback and all she saw now was negatives blotting her hard won reputation. It should not be a problem, we all make mistakes, and that’s why they put rubbers on the end of pencils. The solution is to accept you will get it wrong sometimes but, hey, we’re not selling to people who never make mistakes themselves. People understand we all make mistakes, most will happily accept an apology and an explanation, it’s a very odd person – and a nasty one – who takes revenge by leaving negative feedback. In such a case this is what I would do: * Work out who should actually get the item. This should be the highest bidder and you can find this information from your eBay ‘Items Sold’ listing. * Write to that person, congratulate them on the win, send the invoice if they have not paid already, send out the product. * To the remaining bidders I’d right something like this: ------------ Dear (Actual Name) I am so sorry but I have made a mistake in my listing which has resulted in my listing more items than I actually have available. As you know the item was a four piece (ornament, pictures, whatever) set and I have just one set to sell. Due to my own inexperience of Dutch Auctions I indicated four items were available rather than just one lot comprising four items. Consequently four winning bidders emerged and I feel honour bound to fulfil the product to the highest bidder. I am truly sorry that I can not fulfil the product to you but I am sure you will appreciate this is an innocent mistake. I hope it does not inconvenience you in any way and to compensate I hope you will consider bidding on my items again one day when I will be pleased to give you a ten per cent discount on your first buy. Let me know if this is acceptable to you and please accept my apologies. Customer care is paramount to me but I guess we all make mistakes sometimes. Best wishes Your Name --------------- * If the three unsuccessful bidders have paid I’d refund them right away and maybe offer a little discount on whatever else they buy in future. If they paid by PayPal go into your PayPal account, find the transaction, go to the bottom of the page, press the ‘Refund’ button and add another apology referring to your earlier explanation. That’s it, now get back to selling. Avril Harper is an eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com . She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com