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Security cameras will do nothing more than show you a movie of your merchandise getting taken away and provide evidence of the thief for maybe prosecution.
The caller’s story lays the ground work for having business insurance or adding a rider to your homeonwers umbrella policy. Business insurance will covers you in a lot of cases like theft, fire, water damage, hurricanes, tornado’s, roof collapse and things like that depending on the type of policy or rider you have. If you are in an apartment or condo, what about damage from above affecting you down below.
Just a thought and something to check into.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
Jay you are correct, WonderLister and SixBit both keep all information on a buyer forever. Even if you cancel your 3rd party subscription, every little bit of history on every sale you have ever made is still available to you as long as you own your computer and still use it. The database that these programs create and save all your data including the photos is yours. You own the database and can even transfer that database to a new computer.
The complete listing sold and unsold, pricing history, edits, buyers name, address, phone number, city, state, scale weight, shipping weight, final value fees, shipping costs, offers, numbers of offers, amounts of offers, every single thing about your life and existence on Ebay and even other selling platforms is saved in your SQL database that the app creates and saves too. And if you sell on Etsy, Shopify, etc. it also cross synchs those sites, if a sale is made on one platform, they delete from the other platforms, everything.
Our subscription is $25 a month for up to 5,000 listings. But the Etsy and Shopify platforms do cost a little more as add-ons. WonderLister has a $5 per month plan for up to 1,000 listings. This is a great plan to get started and for small stores.
Michael at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
08/31/2018 at 9:38 am in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48225We have two for a short period until we can build up the store faster to the level we are targeting. It was just too slow for Susan and i doing it ourselves.
The two assistants do the same thing only on different days. Christie does Mon.-Wed. 9 to 1 pm. and Lisa does Fri. and Sat 8 to 12.
They work in the middle of the process flow. We have two computer set-ups in the office area.
When we come in from estate sales or auctions we place the newly acquired items at the beginning of the “line”. We have a long 3′ wide x 56′ long table type set-up in a “U” configuration. We have it set-up like an assembly line. I do the unloading the car and bringing up to the office, unpack the items and stage them on the first tables and section them off with dividers from other sales usinh a short 2 x 4 piece of wood. I create the paper ID Tag and create the SKU number on that tag then do a “Qucik Entry” into WL. That is a short title, sku number just to have a template of that item.
Susan does the inspection, cleaning if needed and then does the photography. The photography station is in line with the tables, so in other words, the item begins it’s journey down the assembly line. On that small paper tag she will note any flaws see finds during the inspection process. The photos are uploaded in monthly folders and named with the SKU number for easy reference later.The object then moves on down the line to the listing station which has a laptop computer at it. This is where the assistants come into place. They are in the WonderLister program so they type in the first 4 digits of the SKU and up pops the Quick Entry template I created the day the item came into our office. Here they fill in all the blank fields that the template has [colors, sizes, descriptions and a few custom fields such as date bought, where bought, and scale weight. A scale is right beside the listing area. [we also have a second scale down at the end of the line at the shipping section]. They also attached the photos by just typing in the first 4 digits of the SKU and they pop in.
The assistants and that computer station also has two monitors attached to it, so on the right one they have 3 or 4 of tabs open to the places we most frequently research for prices and keywords on. They do some research on the items and place a few notes for me in the NOTES section of highest prices seen and where.
Then the item goes on down the line to my station. Here I will take items one by one and open the listing up and review what the assistants have filled in and drop the price in and decide if I will take offers or not then upload it. I also at this point place it in the plastic storage bin and enter that bins number in the Bin Location field. We keep empty storage bins that are pre-numbered right here at the end of the assembly line. I slip sheet everything with bubble wrap and then when full take the bin to it’s prenumbered shelf location.
Of course when something sells all I need to do is look at the SKU number on the sold area of WL or Ebay and the last 4 digits of that number is thew bin location. So I go to that bin, pull the items and bring into the office and go to the end of the table assembly line. The last 10 ft. is the shipping section and end of the line. Here we have all the various boxes on shelves and labeled according to size, misc. bubble wrap hanging over head to pull down as we need it. a large roll dispenser of 50 lb. brown kraft paper, and of course 4 different sizes of newsprint and mailers. There is a laser printer here also and packing lists and labels are printed out here and matched with the boxes as packed. Then all is placed out for pick up.
The assistants are utilized in the mid section of the whole assembly line process and all are 10 finger speed typist. They can out type us 3 times over and all the while have a second monitor screen with multi tabs open for research to copy and paste into the listings or paraphrase from.
We decided to invest into the labor to help us get to the 2,500 +++ size of store we are targeting as quickly as possible and to also allow me time to get down into the art studio and create new paintings, prints, sculpture and lamps. AND the big push is for one of them to start the Cross List onto Etsy and Shopify. Even though I have already started that to some degree during my tests, all indications are that Etsy may perform as well as Ebay or maybe even more as others here on SL have also reported.
So we are currently getting about 4 hrs per day of listing help x 4 to 5 days a week so about 20 to 25 hours per week at this point. This will only be temporary. The second assistant knows that come the first of next year we are going to maybe drop back to only Lisa our first assistant unless things really start to pick up and sell.
The one assistant Lisa is a trusted friend who has access to our house and the system. If we are out of town, I can text Lisa the SKU numbers and she can pull, pack and ship for us if needed.
Take Care guys.. Hope everyone is feeling much better.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Here’s a new one on me.
I have noticed that WL is including in a list of standardized Item specific a field for the Cal. Proposition 65 Act. I assume this may now be showing up on regular Ebay listing forms as well.
Here is alink to what is suppose to take place as of August 30th. Question is, now are we suppose to identify the materials older, vintage items are made of and state if the content in the material, resign, plastic contains any harmful or possibly toxic ingrediants?
Here is a link to an article about it. https://www.law.com/therecorder/2018/07/05/new-prop-65-warning-requirements-are-coming-on-aug-30-are-you-ready/?slreturn=20180730195500
Just curious and wonder what others know of this.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
08/30/2018 at 6:30 pm in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48202AF: Thanks very much for the information. Now that we have 2 assistants working on liostings for us, things don’t get as much attention to detail and research as they used to. We appreciate it very much.
Going to share your comments with the both of them starting tomorrow and use it to indicate that some buyers will and do know about the items we sell than we do and that good solid research will help us keep the bases covered.
Another example we had a very knowledgable person that knows about Fiesta colors and their release dates nailed down a production date of a Fiestaware water pitche to 1983 beuase that was the year they introduced the “Sunflower Yellow” color.
So thanks again and we will do some rework on that listing tomorrow. Appreciate it very much indeed.
BTW, I jump off topic with Jay and Ryanne a lot. Jay sometimes calls my posts “walls of text”. Sorry, as a Sotherener I write as I speak and that is with a lot of details, try to paint a picture with words and usually an OK, that’s fine will do. 🙂
Mark, we too appreciate where your head is at. And having an organized system will do what you state. But also almost any good, thorough, well thought out SKU, storage and organized system will accomplish all 7 of your goals.
We have all of our inventory from 6 closed down antique booths all in numbered bins, numbered rows, numbered shelves and each item has a tag with our SKU number. That single 23 charcater SKU number also tells us what item it is, what we paid for the item, where we bought it, how long we have had it, what storage facility it is at [garage, attic, basement, booth, or paid storage unit].
We can be a thousand miles away and tell in an instant if we should accept an offer and what the Gross Profit Margin is and if it is time to accept an offer. If an item sells we can text one of our assistants and with that SKU number they can go and pull, pack and ship any of our 1,100 items in a few minutes.
But that organization came from years of working in the manufacturing industry and having to track thousands upon thousands of fullfillment parts for Stanley Hardware, Home depot, General Electric, Westclox, Walmart and dozens of other clients. All we did was crush down the “system” and incorporate that into our small business.
We could even use a scanner and generate barcode tags if we wanted but no need for that heavy expense. we just do a hand written SKU tag during our quick entry process as we unload and bring items into our office to begin the process.
The main point is good for you, you got a system and it seems to be the thing for you. Just remember to take your time and log and place everything correctly. Inverted numbers are demons, clean your glasses 🙂 and be careful where you replace anything if you pull it for some reason. Organization is key to a good clean process, and always remember what some of us talked about a few weeks back… KAIZEN !!!! If that eluded you do a SL search and check out the discussion. Fellow Six Sigma Lean Mfg. guys on here know exactly what it is and most likely apply KAIZEN Daily to their processes.
Good Luck Buddy,
Mike at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDCGFASo di I. We are in the process now of creating listing templates for the whole US Mint single stamps from about 1925 forward, complete. Also have plate blocks from about 1930 Mint forwad along with some full pages.
I listed and sold the Citation world stamp album a few months back. Listed for $400 took $200 for that but not many stamps in it and most were used, canceled.We think we are going to list by year so about 60 years [60 listings] on the US Mint Singles and then about 50 listings on the US Mint plate block. The intersting thing about US Mint stamps is they still retain and have their face value. An 70 year old $0.02 [2 cent] stamp is still worth 2 cents today and the same goes for all the newer stamps as the prices go up per stamp. A mint page of $.25 stamps is still a $25 dollar value. Now add to that the collector or delaer value.
I have a subscription to the Scott Catalog and will list everything by the Scott’s number and list them at 60% less than the catalogue prices. So, don’t know how much everything is going to come out to but we will see.
Already have some US Commemorative Albums listed by year in our store. Maybe about 10 or 12 or so.Will be a wait and see.
Happened to us also but to a higher degree. We have 1057 items in our Premium Store. Active listings in our dashboard confirmed that number but when we log out and go to our store there were only 561 showing. But as the day went on, that number showing went up AND also went back down. It was Yo-Yoing up and down all day.
Some research was showing where people were saying what you have said here and that Ebay said just wait it out. If I had to call Ebay and read to the what was missing that would take forever. Our WonderLister program was saying the correct number that matched the accurate dashboard number. I even synched WonderLister to Ebay and did what WL calls a “Refresh”. 1,057 listings refreshed and confirmed back by Ebay, but again only a few hundred showing in the store.
So this morning, the dashboard is confirming the 1,057 total listings but the store is showing more at 1,047 but still off by 10 items. I will give it a while then try another refresh from WonderLister and see if I can drive those final listings to the store.
So, La-Te-Dah onward and upward, go get another cup of coffee and another day in the world of online reselling.
Michael at MDCGFA
I think that seems like it. I also am sure I saw an Amazon logo on the side of the box. again, not paying full attention until it dawned on me what the concept was. But it was a full blown TV ad.
But just think if Amazon really starts pushing this. Full scale TV campaigns could change the way shopping is done. You think Malls are dieing and declining now. So now, order up a box full of everything, what the kids may need, what you and hubby or wifey may need, maybe a gift or two and a few chocies for that special dinner function Friday night. Use what you want, keep what you want, then just drop the rest back in the box and a return label is right there. Put on your porch for pick up.
A SL slogan is “List It and Forget It”. Well, now the new Amazon slogan .. “Order it for FREE, Wear it for FREE, Send it back for FREE!”
They can’t even use what software companies use. Put in a package and then say if you open the package you have to keep it and pay for it, because they say you get to try it on to see if it fits. Boy talk about abuses to this system, especially if you just need a fancy blouse, outfit or suit for a special occassion. Who says how “long” the garment can stay on for the try it on portion. So try it on at 5PM go to the special function at 7PM, back home at 11PM, then back in the box for a return.
Who wants to buy used clothes on Ebay, even for $9.99 like Cyndi’s Amazing Taste store when you can get anything or everything you want on a short term loan program.
At least in our niche or hard goods, home and interior decor, the buyer is not going to want to buy altar or side table decor, keep it for 3 days just to look at it, then pack it back up the way it needs to be to keep from breaking then returning it. I think, long term, clothing sellers may have an even harder sell to the public.
But just my opinion, and that and $1.75 will get you a third of a cup of Starbucks coffee! LOL 🙂
Michael at MDC Galleries and fine Art
Hey did anyone see the new [I think] ad from Amazon about buying clothes? I was having lunch and was half listening and watching but the jist was a box arrives and a guy brings it into his house / bedroom. Opens the box saying something like, just have got to have a selection of something to wear this weekend, or whatever something like that. Didn’t hear it all. He opens up the box and it has several folded shirts, sweater, tie, a few other things. he pulls them all out, try’s them on in front of a tall mirror. Smiles and puts a few things over on his bed and the rest back in the box and the Big Caption over reads Only Pay For What You Keep and Return the Rest!!.
I didn’t catch it all but then it struck me, is Amazon advocating buying clothes on consignment like the old stamp collecting companies used to do? Are they going to let you select a bunch of clothes, get them shipped to you, you try them on, keep what you like, send the rest back and then they only charge your card after you send them back or something similiar?
That is oing to put the hurt on a bunch of clothing sellers. Order up 30 clothing items, Amazon sends them to you, try them on, send back what u don’t want and pay for what you keep.
The stamp companies used to send collectors envelopes of mint stamps off of a want list you would send them. They would let you go through them, keep what u wanted and send the rest back. Only catch was you had only had a few days to make the return or you got invoiced for the whole lot.
So wonder what Amazon is up to? Did anybody else seen this ad yet? What are the details I missed? OR DID I JUST MISS the whole thing and got it totally wrong??
Just curious.
08/28/2018 at 6:09 pm in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48125Thanks man. Appreciate your time today. How does it feel to be a “Real Estate Tycoon”. Conrad Jay. Has a ring to it doesn’t it? LOL 🙂
Seriously, I just went ahead and accepted the return. The label was only about $12 bucks. So as Sonia and Ebaymom said, who knows, they may have just been phishing and won’t send it back. If they do, then like I have always said to others here on SL, it is just a cost of doing business. Just like all the times we went to our antique booths and found broken items or stolen items. It Happens!
And since they said it arrived damaged, I will just take my own photos after it gets back and submit it for an USPS Insurance claim. It was insured for the full amount. So as long as the USPS doesn’t try to claim I didn’t pack it well enough, then maybe they will pay the claim and I will be whole.
But as Ebaymom said, just hope a negative doesn’t come out of this whether they send it back or not, because the buyer was indicating they thought we had tried to glue it together and pass it off as an unbroken or non-repaired piece. That is when I guess I will have to call and work it out with ebay.
Thanks for all the help, support and input SL. So much great support here with the SL members. Appreciate everyone.
thanks,
Michael Collins at MDC Concepts, Inc.
MDC Galleries and Fine Art
SmartParts Small Equipment Parts divs.[this is our formal corporate name and Dba’s… fun to just use it and see it in writing occasionaly 🙂 :-)]
08/28/2018 at 2:36 pm in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48109Thanks EbayMom:
Will probably call Ebay and just ask like T-Satt suggested, but also it is a very nice, heavy all meatk, double handled urn. If I accept the return and it comes back then iether I came repair it, since it is all metal and relist it staing it has been repaired, or remove the other side ornament and list it agagin as damaged or repaired and get something out of it, or as i mentioned in an earlier post, just claim damaged in transit which I think it may have been and get an insurance reimbursement.
Very interesting Troy. You da man. Also maybe this could hit on the caliber of buyer. Those buyers looking for good, solid vintage, unique pieces and have been doing it for a long time on Ebay, know that FREE SHIPPING is built in and in most cases a guestimate and or based on worst case scenario like zone 8. So being savy, they figure they may get a better price by going with Cal. shipping which may be more realistic based on actual weights and also maybe they don’t trust the Free Shipping Sellers. And it could also include the fact that those just wanting free shipping and not knowing these things and just looking for something for free are not quality buyers.
Who knows what mentality is also swirling around in the buyers minds as they peruse the Free vs. Not Free and what makes then go for the Paid, Calculated shipping items???
08/28/2018 at 1:20 pm in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48100Hey Sonia and Jay…
Here is the original message Ebay sent us.
Respond to return request
Hi Michael,
downe-susa let us know that something is wrong with Ornate Polished Cast Aluminum Urn Vase w/ Handles Raised 3-D Leaf & Grape Design. As a result, they requested to return the item for a refund.
See request details and be sure to reply to the buyer by Aug 29, 2018. Note that if you accept a return, you’ll be charged for return shipping. Starting on that day, the buyer could ask us to step in and help by opening a case – this can affect your seller level.
You can ask us to step in and help if there’s a problem with the buyer’s request.
and this is what the buyer said in his request for a return and our options. We clicked contact buyer and requested photos. And we sent another photo request 2 days later..Notice Ebay says if we accept the return we pay for return shipping, but guess also if they step in we pay for return shipping but it may affect our status-standing
There’s something wrong with the item your buyer’s received, so they’d like to return it.
Please respond by Aug 29 or we may approve it for you.Info from the buyer
Reason
Arrived damaged
Comments
Vase arrived broken Broken piece has glue all over the back of it, so you must have known that it was broken when you sent it. Send me a label so I can return it and get my refund!
Select a reply
Accept the return
You pay for shipping and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.
Offer another item just like it
The buyer can still decide to get a refund instead.
Offer a different item
The buyer can still decide to get a refund instead.
Give a full refund
You fully refund the buyer to close this request. The buyer keeps the item.
Offer a partial refund
You have one chance to offer an amount. The buyer keeps the item.
Send the buyer a message
You can reply to the buyer.08/28/2018 at 1:09 pm in reply to: Question on the Hassle Free returns and Supporting Photos on a Return #48099Hey Jay: Here is same question I posted below for Sonia. It has been 4 days now and no reply from the buyer or any photos coming. The dealine was the 29th so tonight at mid-night I suppose.
So should I let the dealine come and go and let Ebay step in or should I go ahead and accept the return which Ebay is going to do anyway but by accepting it will keep Ebay from having to get involved.
This is the buyer who said the item arrived damage in the box BUT also accussed us of applying glue all over the ornate metal trim and gluing it all on. We never did, but who knows if it was glued on originally during mfg. or by another dealer at some point since we buy all our stuff third and fourth hand at auctions or estate sales. we never saw anything out of the ordinary during photography, listing or our other 2 inspections.
mike at MDCGFA
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