The Fatal Mistakes Of Selling On Auction Sites
Selling online can be an exhilarating feeling. The concept of selling a product to someone across the country or even across the world gives the new entrepreneur a feeling that unlike many of his contemporaries, he or she is not tied solely to the whims of the regional market. The world indeed is their market place and the possibilities are endless. Many individuals start their online selling by using auction sites or market places. This can be advantageous but also very harmful to the inexperienced seller.
The larger name auction sites and market places are exceptional starting points because their popularity ensures that potentially millions of possible customers can see the products you are selling. This is where the strength lies and why so many sellers start their businesses there. The simply truth is that drawing customers to your website or store apart from them can be a very expensive trial and error endeavor and most entrepreneurs in this area, simply do not have the cash to test the market indefinitely.
Many new businesses selling in these venues do so as drop shippers. Not having to have stock allows hundreds if not thousands of people to take their opportunity and sell item without having to invest in inventory. This is very desirable and reduces the investment of most people to a question of time and the set up fees required by each site.
A very serious setback can arise from this practice however. Drop shipping companies can be problematic, precisely because of the inventory issues it seeks to solve for its customers. While many drop shippers provide inventory updates, they may not always be accurate nor be timely. Selling an item you do not have can cause serious problems on the major sites. Customers can complain, leave damaging feedback and can result in accounts being canceled. Auction sites are often very strict regarding the percentage of sales that are refunded. The policies are not always evenhanded. For example refunding an order that costs ten dollars is viewed the same as refunding an order that costs a thousand dollars.
Mistakes made by the drop shippers are in the end still attributable to the seller. Harmful feedback left by customers is also often weighed disproportionately simply because many customers who have successfully received their items do not bother to leave positive feedback. Carrying some degree of stock can be a solution to part of these issues, though if your product line is quite extensive, you may be challenged in the cash investments required
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