eBay® PowerSeller Business Practices FOR DUMMIES®

Chapter 35. Communicating with Your Buyers

One of the best parts of running an eBay or online business is that you rarely have to deal with customers. I mean, you don't have to go face-to-face (or worse, toe-to-toe) with another human being. The majority of your communication goes through e-mail, and your remaining comments see life through your feedback and Skype.

Your e-mails are your ongoing contact with your prospective customers and buyers. Skype has become an excellent tool for the same reason — using Skype is like having your own toll-free number. Your customers can reach you with a click of the mouse button. (Very 21st century.) Later in the practice, I show you more about Skype and how it works. First, I concentrate on the importance of Feedback — you always see it capitalized on eBay — and how it affects your bottom line.

Feedback Graceful Reviews

eBay's success is largely due to the community's participation in a Feedback system. How else could strangers feel comfortable sending their hard-earned money to a stranger halfway around the world? In 1996, eBay's founder, Pierre Omidyar, proposed the Feedback system to eBay's six-month-old community. After personally ending up in the middle of a few member squabbles, he felt that the community could police itself by leaving comments after transactions. "Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate," he posted on the eBay message board — and so it began.

Every eBay member, when buying an item from another member, ...