posted on October 18, 2001 04:02:01 PM new
I want to ask experienced ebay sellers out there who have been approached by other people asking you to help them "do" ebay?Sort of like giving them ebay tutorial lessons? Do you charge an hourly rate for it or just avoid giving out lessons altogether? The reason I ask is I have been approached numerous times & had helped others "set up" their ebay business. A few times I had been burned wherein the "friend" ended up almost copycatting what I sold & ended up competing with me. In other words I am leery of giving away my business. nevertheless, I still have lots of people who want to be ebay sellers out there. Lots of them dont realize that this is real hard work & although very profitable & fulfilling its still hard work (you experienced sellers know this. )Then they realize its too much work & give up.
Anyhow how would you handle all the people asking? I am thinking of charging $50 an hour to help set them up. But on the other hand I am seriously just thinking of referring them to a how to book as I am too busy & think it may really not be worth my time & may be more trouble in the end if I show them how to ebay.Not being paranoid or anything but I am just trying to protect my business. I've been selling on ebay now for 2 years & have been fairly succesful at it. Any thoughts? I would appreciate it.Thanks everyone.
[ edited by ebay555 on Oct 18, 2001 04:04 PM ]
posted on October 18, 2001 04:26:51 PM new
I would charge $50 an hour. You can also teach someone how to use eBay without giving them information about your own business.
Tell them if they want specific business consultation, the price is $150 an hour.
posted on October 18, 2001 04:57:21 PM new
Quickly learn how to say NO. I will never again give advice on selling etc. online to anyone. I point them here to AW and the message boards, and I tell them to register on eBay and read the fine print. That is all I am willing to do. I am not afraid to just say NO, or "Go to www.ebay.com and read all about it".
When I first was interested in selling part time, I spoke to a good friend of mine. I did a ton of reading before formulating some questions for her. Then I just did it...
edited for really bad grammar
[ edited by Meya on Oct 18, 2001 04:58 PM ]
posted on October 18, 2001 05:15:52 PM new
Fwiw - we have seen several of our local "old-timers" on the yard/estate/curb sale circuit take someone under their wing.
It invariably came to grief. The "wise-one" would be ging after what they would usually buy...and after a short time the novice would take a lioking to it and run faster than their mentor.
Screw the newbies.........let them find their own way. There are no friends at this.....if they are good enough to do it,. they will figure it out on their own.
posted on October 18, 2001 10:09:09 PM new
The most important stuff people need to know about eBay is how to run a service business. You really can't teach that--it's an attitude adjustment and it changes how you live and think about what business means to the people you are dealing with--infinitely beyond the mechanics. Most "sellers" never grasp it because they are caught up in the doing of business.
posted on October 18, 2001 10:47:19 PM new
When I first wanted to start selling on Ebay and was trying to learn on my own a small computer store posted a notice "Classes for online auction selling". I called to find out the price. $300 for four 2-hour classes. Needless to say, I taught myself. I have given advice but have never actually had to teach anyone yet.
posted on October 18, 2001 11:36:29 PM new
dont do it, there will come a time that it will come back to haunt you. I tried that once and turned out to be a horrible experince. I had the same experience as the above poster. Seems they wanted to mirror my business.
That wont happen again! It is easy enough to learn on your own with trial and error. As the other poster noted service cant be taught anyway. Service is the real name of this game, it's not what you sell or how you sell it really, but how you treat customers and handle their transactions. Just offer a few tidbits of advise, buy as cheap as possible, take GOOD pictures, describe as ACTUARATELY as possible!
If you do this they will become your competition for merchadise and customers.
posted on October 19, 2001 01:58:04 AM new
Let them learn the ebay trade themselves. I felt my way through the woods and made it to the other side. They can too! If you help them, you may be asked more questions than you are comfortable givinng the answers to, i.e., where do you get your stuff to sell?
There is a book on the market called Ebay for Dummies. Gently point them toward this book. I think that AW has published a book also. Another option for them.
If you do anything for them, if it were me, I would offer to sell maybe 2 or 3 of their things and show them how. And that's about it.
An example of finding my way through the wood is, on the very first thing I every listed, I didn't show a picture. The item never received a bid. The description was more than adaquate. No pic, No bid. I put a pic and it ended with a 26.00 bid. Not bad for an item I paid a buck for!
Sometimes a degree from Hard Knocks University is the best lesson.
posted on October 19, 2001 04:32:01 AM new
The ony help I would offer is maybe the image hosting end of it. I will be happy to show someone how to use a digital camera and explain about image hosting sites. As far as my tricks of the trade, I try to keep my lips sealed when it comes to telling people just how much stuff you can make money on just doing garage sales. I have done countless hours of ebay "homework" searching out thousands of completed auctions learning what is worth buying and what is worth leaving. Searching completed items starting "highest prices first" is quite a tool. Luckily I have a good memory and now walk around with this info insted of whipping out a sheet of paper at a flea market. It is hard to fail at ebay if you do the studying. It is bothersome enough that my ebay buddies know my screen name, my homework can easily be thier reward when they browse my listings. Besides a few technical tips, no, dont set someone up.
posted on October 19, 2001 09:19:00 AM new
From what was stated by OPs, it seems that those who taught someone else actually used their own business as a teaching tool.
You can teach someone how to use eBay WITHOUT revealing your own business or strategies.
However, if they want business strategies, you can still charge $150 an hour and not reveal your own strategies.
