Possession is 9/10ths of being an eBay Trading Assistant

I am still amazed by how many newbies get in to this business of consignment and get burned by their client. Many start off selling for friends and family and assume it is okay to not take possession of the items they are selling. It is too easy for clients to not release the items sold if they are not happy with the price.

So let me say this once again:

"Do not sell items unless you have possession of them!"

By nature, most of us are trusting individuals...but when it comes to business and money it should be used with restraint. There are certain situations where you cannot take possession (i.e. large furniture, industrial equipment, etc.) of the items but the TA should understand the risks involved and do their due diligence to prevent such problems.

Trading assistants should also have clauses in their TA contract about clients backing out of the deal with monitary penalites if such a situation occurs. If the item was already sold, then the trading assistant should be able to collect their commissions too even if the client refuses the sale.

Trading Assistants rejoice...We have a New eBay Pink Leader!

Well, it has been about a year since Walt Duflock (eBay's TA Program Director) left the eBay nest for greener pastures. For those of you who don't know Walt, he was the eBay Pink who helped create and shape the TA program to what it is today. I met Walt at the eBay Live show a few years back down in the Big Easy. He is one heck of a nice guy and it was sad to see him go. Since his departure, the Trading Assistant program as been stagnant with no one taking his place...until now.

Drumroll please...welcome Sharon aka eBay ID:newton@ebay.com. She recently announced on the TA Discussion board that she will be taking over for Walt. This was defineatly a pleasant surprise because I was starting to wonder if eBay forgot about us TAs. Another nice benefit is that Sharon also runs the eBay Education Specialist program and is heavily involved with eBay University. Hopefully, Sharon will be able to inject a much needed boost to our struggling program.

Already there has been a flurry of activity on the board with Sharon. Many new TAs and old timers (like myself) are posting up suggestions to help improve the program. Only time will tell how dedicated eBay will be with supporting Sharon and the TA program. I remain optimistic that good things will come out of this. Welcome aboard to our TA family Sharon!

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.

Proper Use of eBay Logos for Trading Assistants

One of the first things a new Trading Assistant should do is create marketing materials to promote their eBay business. It is very tempting to just start downloading logos everywhere and use them on all your literature. The problem is you could be breaking the law by using registered trademarks without permission. So here is the lowdown on the proper use of eBay logos.

First off, the main ebaY logo is completely off limits to everyone without eBay's written permission (and don't hold your breath for that one). Of course you can use the word eBay in your materials as long as it doesn't follow the logo color scheme (as shown before) and is should be all lowercase with the exception of the letter B as follows: eBay

There is one main TA logo (shown above) that can be used for some printed materials like flyers & ads (but not on business cards) and websites. The eBay staff told us in the discussion boards that this logo cannot be used on business cards because it would be too easily construed as TA were employees of eBay. But I guess their legal staff thought it was okay for flyers...go figure!


This logo has been nicely integrated with some TA marketing materials already created by the staff at eBay. These can be accessed via the eBay Trading Assistant Toolkit (of course you must be a registered TA and sign in to see the marketing materials).

The blue logo above is also another eBay Trading Assistant logo that can be integrated with your listings and on websites. It should be linked to your TA profile. Click Here for my tutorial on how to utilize this logo for your listings.

Another useful logo that you may be able to use is the eBay PowerSeller logo. Although, you must be a Powerseller to use this logo. Powersellers have been given permission by eBay to use this logo on all printed materials including business cards and online websites.

One final note about the use of business cards: eBay requires TAs to include a disclaimer stating something to the effect of:

"Trading Assistants operate independently as eBay sellers, and are not employees, agents or partners of eBay"

Is the eBay Trading Assistant business model dead?

That is the question many Trading Assistants are asking themselves after attending the eBay Live 2007. Even though I wasn't able to attend this year, other TA's who did attend stated that eBay had no TA booth as they did in the past. Also, there was a noticeable lack of eBay Drop shop franchise presence that dominated many of the vendors booths of past years.

This may be a sign that the TA business model has matured to the point that many of the snake oil salesmen have disappeared. Most have seen the retail only franchise "Drop Shops" come and go. Most of these shops have never seen a month in the black and corporate franchisees are re-evaluating their operations or just closing down.

So where does that leave us fellow TAs? No different then when we first started. For as long as people have items to sell and no time or knowledge of eBay, our services will always be needed. It has and always will be up to the individual to determine the direction of his/her TA business. TA's relying on eBay & retail stores to make their TA business successful will be painfully disappointed. While the definition of success is different for each person, the bottom line is to make a profit, help others and enjoy what we do.

New eBay Trading Assistant Book Available.

Just wanted to let everyone know that a new book called the "eBay Entrepreneur: the Definitive Guide to Starting Your Own eBay Trading Assistant Business" is now available. This book is written by Powerseller Christopher Matthew Spencer who contributes regularly to the eBay Trading Assistant discussion board. I highly recommend you pick up this book if you are interested in running an eBay TA Business! Click on the link below to order from Amazon.