posted on July 1, 2002 07:03:56 PM new
I was sitting here wondering....
What do others do to save time? What short cuts do they have?
One of my super time saving tips is I copy my daily listings from ebay into excel do a little clean up and paste them into my excel spreadsheet where I track everything. I remember the days when I typed each one into it.
posted on July 1, 2002 07:26:39 PM new
I put everything (almost) in AW inventory management. I know not everyone uses AW, but I find their system to be a HUGE timesaver. I just look at it as I have hired a person to help me (and of course the tax deduction). Now if they would only stop deleting my pictures after 3 months I'd be set. I don't have time to go through 7000+ pictures every week to click on them and save them again.
posted on July 1, 2002 07:56:55 PM new
I'm sorry, ihula, but I wouldn't put up with that. I pay an ISP $25 a month to host my domain, handle my mail and provide oodles of disk space for the pix. Once a picture is on the server it stays there.
One reason I have never stuck with an auction management system is that I won't give up control of my pictures. Seems they all want to do weird stuff with them in some Image Vault or such. No thanks.
This week's timesaving tip: Instead of slavishly and humbly researching each WISMO (where is my order) I now have a boilerplate response that asks for certain key pieces of information and requires them to quote previous email in future replies. Put the onus on them, I say. They want information from me, they can start by providing some. I don't have time to figure out that [email protected] is really some customer from six months ago who just woke up out of a Rip Van Winkle-like sleep. Give me the auction number, your first and last name (so I can check my scans of payments) and your eBay ID. *Then* I'll check on it.
People who give the information on the first go-round get lightning fast service.
posted on July 1, 2002 10:19:44 PM new
My best time-saving tip: Use Endicia or other online postage service, and PIC for your package insurance. I am able to give my packages to my mail carrier and avoid wasteful, mind-numbing trips to the post office. I only go once or twice a week to pick up my mail from my PO Box. Luckily, my husband works near the PO, so I run in when I'm picking him up from work. Five minutes, tops.
My second favorite tip: Set up email templates for EOA email, "Payment Received" email, "Item Shipped" email, etc. Most auction management programs have this built in, but if you don't use one, you can still set them up in the Draft section of your email program.
My third tip: If possible, have a dedicated shipping area that is clean and well-organized, with all necessary supplies in easy reach. You'll save time by not having to hunt down your supplies, or drag them in and out of a closet. My family knows they will be strangled if anyone touches my shipping desk. It is a strict "No Kids" zone.
Other than that, I'm a mess. It'll be interesting to see what I can learn from y'all. Great topic.
posted on July 2, 2002 09:53:47 AM new
mypostingid: I used to use PIC for insurance...then I wondered why I was sending them $80-$100 a month and not making any claims (and this on items where sales were typically $9-$25).
I would have had to have had 6 or more losses per month to have PIC make sense. Self-insurance started to look real attractive. Looked at realistically, I have perhaps 2 or 3 lost packages per year.
posted on July 2, 2002 11:21:44 AM new
Ihula, I wish we could get Auctionwatch to LISTEN!
I would return in a minute if they would just leave our pics alone -- I'm talking about premium full service, not the smaller fee ones. I love their templates and clickable photo's, but just couldn't handle their decision to delete our photo's after 90 days.
The service I use now keeps photo's forever, and lets us schedule auctions 6 months in advance. But, the templates are the ugliest I have ever seen! And, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell which ads have sold and which have not as they all get lumped together.
Why can't one service take the best from all and give us what we need?
