Selling Coins on eBay - Trading Assistant Client Care

We have a number of clients who have been supplying us regularly for years. These people become online and phone friends who you get to know well, and their trust increases with every successful sale. One client buys coin collections on eBay almost weekly, removes what he wants for himself, and then sends the collection to us to sell again. We usually sell it for more than he paid for it in the first place!

You too will develop such business relationships as time goes on - but only if you give close attention to customer care. This will include immediate e-mail or phone acknowledgement for the arrival of an item, sending accurate information on auction timing, sending e-mailed links as appropriate, and quick notification of results.

Prompt shipping of the item to the high bidder is also good Trading Assistant client service, as any ‘return’ period will expire more quickly, enabling payment to be sent as quickly as possible.

It’s almost impossible to over communicate with your client. Let them know when their item arrives with you, and give them a definite date for the start and end of their auction. This doesn’t have to be the same day, or the next day, but it does need to be in a reasonable timescale. We try, and usually succeed, in listing all items within one week of them being received.

A nice touch is to let your client know when the first bid is received. Unless there is a hidden reserve price (much disliked by bidders) your client will then know that barring a disaster the item is sold, and of course the bidding may take the price much higher.

As soon as the auction result is known, send that information to your client. We find clients are often interested in the locality of the high bidder, and telling them the buyer comes from New York, Hong Kong or the Australian outback is fine, but never, ever breach client confidentiality to either your client or the high bidder by giving away names and addresses. Doing so also increases the risk that they will bypass you for future business by dealing directly with each other.

First and foremost, never send a Trading Assistant client payment until you have been paid for the item, and are 100% sure the payment is going to stay in your bank account. Nobody expects you to do other than this. If you are offering a return period on the sold item (expect your sales to suffer if you don’t), make absolutely sure this has expired, and then add on a few days just to be even more sure.

Once the deal is 100% secure, and cleared payment is received, mail payment to your client.