Identity Crisis Avoided by using Multiple eBay IDs

I know...the title seems a bit alarming but it does drive home the point I want to make. It makes a lot of sense to use multiple eBay IDs if you are a buyer and seller. Not only do I recommend creating separate buyer and seller IDs, it may also make sense to create multiple seller IDs too. Here are some of the reasons why you should avoid an "Identity Crisis".

• Create a "Buyer Only" ID: There are multiple reasons for doing this. The most important reason is if you run into a dispute with a seller. If problems arise with your purchase you can feel confident that any negative retaliatory feedbacks will not affect your seller account. Another benefit of separate accounts is you can be more personal and fun with naming your Buyer ID. Seller IDs are typically named after the business or type of products you sell.
  
• Create a "Seller Only" ID: Establishing a selling ID is definitely a smart business move. This is especially true if you are also buying products on eBay to resell. It's best not to advertise to your buyers where you are sourcing your products from. A seller only ID also looks professional when potential buyers are reviewing your feedback. Just remember to keep the satisfaction rate of your customer's feedback as high as possible. This is your reputation that they are creating.
  
• Multiple Seller IDs: In some instances it makes sense to create multiple seller IDs. You may be selling two major products but in entirely different categories. For example, say you sell a lot of camera equipment and computer laptops. Separating these products under two different eBay Selling IDs makes sense and helps organize things, thus preventing an identity crisis. One minor setback of multiple selling IDs is in the eligibility of PowerSeller (PS) status. You may run into the situation that you would be eligible for PS status if selling under one ID but not using multiple accounts. PowerSeller status has never proven to be beneficial to buyers and doesn't affect your final values, so I still recommend multiple IDs for the buyers benefit vs. PowerSeller status.

Is your eBay selling schedule independent of holidays?

Back in the early days of eBay selling most sellers thought that all your auctions should end on a weekend night. It does seem logical since many people are not at work during the weekend, but the reality is it doesn't really matter what day of the week your auctions ends on.

This makes even more sense for volume sellers and eBay Trading Assistants. Ending all your auctions on a Sunday night would create quite the bottleneck in the work flow process. Effective sellers try and balance out their workload so they are not spending two whole days packing and shipping after each weekend.

But what should you do about the holidays?

That depends on several things. If you sell worldwide, then a holiday in the USA doesn't necessarily mean a holiday everywhere (i.e. 4th of July). If you do sell only in the states then maybe it would be a consideration to not end your auctions on that holiday. Then again, with more people at home and the stores closed...shopping on eBay is only a click away.

This topic has been discussed many times on many different forums. Some say it doesn't matter if they end on a holiday, others say it does make a difference. I think it is really a matter of preference, but if you really want to know then run some auctions and record the results.