eBay and Customer Service

If you are running an eBay business, you may not 
realize that the need for great customer service still 
exists – even for online auctions. When a buyer 
receives quality customer service from you, they 
will potentially do one of two things – or both. They 
will give you great feedback, and they may look for 
more of your auctions in the future. If you hope to 
make a living from eBay, you have to stop thinking 
of it as an ‘auction’ and start running it like a 
‘business.’

If you owned a brick and mortar business, how 
would you treat your customer while they were 
standing at your counter, waiting for you to finish 
ringing up their order? You would be helpful and 
respectful of course! You would do everything that 
you could to guarantee that customers return to 
your establishment in the future. You would bend 
over backwards to make sure that their buying 
experience with you was both satisfactory and 
enjoyable. Why would you do any less at the 
close of one of your eBay auctions?

First, act quickly at the close of your auctions. 
Contact the winner, and congratulate them. Describe 
the item they have won and how the item will be 
shipped – even if this information is already part of 
the description for the auction. Remind them of their 
winning bid amount, and give them payment options 
and instructions. Let them know when the item will 
be shipped. 

Close your email by thanking them for participating 
in your auction. You might even take this opportunity 
to tell them about other open auctions that you have 
as well. Think of this contact with the winner as a 
conversation that you are having with a customer 
who is standing at your counter in that imaginary 
brick and mortar store.

Once the payment and shipping details have been 
taken care of, contact your buyer again. Let them 
know when the item was shipped – the exact date 
and time – and when it is expected to arrive on their 
end. During this contact, let them know that if they 
have any problems or questions, that they should 
contact you through the eBay site. If they do 
contact you in the future, make sure that you 
answer promptly, and that you do all that you can 
to make them happy with their purchase – even if 
it means issuing a refund.

Yes. You should be open to issuing refunds, 
depending on what the item is. Furthermore, you 
should issue refunds promptly. Of course, it is 
reasonable to expect the buyer to return the item to 
you, at your expense, before the refund is issued – 
but once you receive the item, issue the refund 
promptly. This is just good business!

(word count 455)

PPPPP
