Here at Auctiva EDU, we often highlight Auctiva features that we think bring value to eBay sellers, but maybe aren't as well known or understood as our popular lister or free Scrolling Gallery. This time, we thought we'd ask Auctiva employees about their favorite tools to use when they sell on eBay.
As it turns out, many of the folks who work here currently are or have been eBay Power Sellers. So it's no surprise that the top tool picks of these busy people are those that help them get more done in less time.
Jason Hair, a member of Auctiva's Customer Success team, says his favorite thing about Auctiva is the ability to save listings. As a PowerSeller who has been selling part-time on eBay since 2001, Hair appreciates the ability to keep all his Auctiva listings for as long as he needs them, as he often uses closed listings as starting points to create new listings.
"I can list a very similar item within a matter of minutes, and save it as a brand new one," he says.
The listings were still in our Auctiva Saved Listings folder when we were ready to relist them, long after eBay deleted them
"The saved listings feature came in handy when we were selling items we bought in a storage unit auction a couple of years ago," agrees Olga Munoz-Moore, Auctiva's content manager.
That sourcing experiment proved to be a lot of hard work, but Auctiva tools helped ease the burden.
"There were several vintage 1920s hats that didn't sell right away," she recalls. "The listings were still in our Auctiva Saved Listings folder when we were ready to relist them, long after eBay deleted them."
Many ways to save time
There's a lot to like about Auctiva tools, according to James Ross, an Auctiva developer and Top-rated Seller. He likes how easy it is to create an ad with the One-Page Lister, and he values the ability to schedule listings, set them to automatically relist using custom criteria, and also save listings to post or reuse later—a very popular Auctiva feature, as we've learned.
"It saves time to copy an old saved ad, update it and relist," he says.
Ross sells a variety of new and used items, including closeouts, seasonal clearance items and salvaged computer parts. He takes advantage of eBay's free listings and Auctiva's bulk posting feature to quickly get as much inventory online as he can.
"Most of the time I bulk list and use up all of the 50 free eBay listings," he explains. "I was listing weekly, but now that eBay allows fixed-price listings for 30 days, I bulk list once a month."
Free tools add value
Free marketing tools add a lot of value to your eBay business when you use them to their fullest potential, as Hair does with Auctiva's Scrolling Gallery. Working full-time at Auctiva means his time for eBay selling is limited, so Hair makes the most of what he's selling at the moment by cross promoting the most relevant items to buyers who look at his listings.
To do this effectively, he segments his eBay sales using two accounts—one for "random" items, the other for his eBay Store—and uses the Scrolling Gallery to display other items he has listed.
I wanted to focus on those categories so I could maximize my cross-selling with the Scrolling Gallery
"In my store account, I sell clothing, shoes and accessories," he explains. "I wanted to focus on those categories so I could maximize my cross-selling with the Scrolling Gallery."
Hair uses free marketing opportunities he finds on eBay, too, like putting links in listing descriptions to the About Me page and other eBay pages that give buyers more ways to access his listings.
"You can have a link to your eBay Store, 'Add me to your favorite sellers list' and a couple more. (See eBay's Links policy)," he notes. "You want to make it easy for the buyer to find you again."
List more in less time
As an avid eBay seller for more than 13 years, Auctiva.com Product Manager Rebecca Miller has tried just about every third-party eBay tool out there. Her favorite, she says, is Auctiva's Multi-Variation Tool.
Much of what Miller sells on eBay is retail arbitrage, and she commonly finds products in multiple styles, sizes, colors or other variants. She prefers listing with Auctiva's Multi-Variation Tool because, compared to similar tools available, it's the easiest to use—easier even than eBay's version.
"It gives you flexibility to create variations the way you want," she explains. "The default view is where we pull in eBay's suggested variations for your category and you select the appropriate ones for what you're listing. Or you can create your own variations using our custom variation tool."
Miller notes that eBay has been nudging sellers toward multi-variation listings for some time, and recently began contacting sellers directly about opportunities to consolidate their listings. So, if you list items that qualify for this listing option, it's worth the time to check out Auctiva's Multi-Variation Tool.
I use the Auctiva app to send the pictures from my device directly to my Auctiva account. It's very easy
Add a professional touch
Kelley Moore, another Customer Success team member, lists five to 10 items a month—usually sporting goods, baseball cards, vintage Transformers and things he finds in the garage. He likes using Auctiva's templates and profiles to make his listings look more polished in less time.
"I like the designs and the professional look templates portray to my customers," he says. "Also, Auctiva Profiles make my life simpler and a lot quicker to get listings up on eBay."
The Shipping and Checkout profiles are his go-to tools. He saves variations of these in Auctiva for those times when he wants to offer a certain shipping service or return policy.
His tip to make listing faster using profiles: "Make sure to name the profiles in a way that you'll know what information is contained in them." Then just click to load the appropriate profile into the lister and go.
Moore also likes using Auctiva's mobile app to upload images. Because he uses his iPad and iPhone to take photos, uploading with the app saves the step of having to transfer pictures to his computer to upload them, he says.
"I use the Auctiva app to send the pictures from my device directly to my Auctiva account," he says. "It's very easy."
These are just a few of the ways Auctiva employees use Auctiva tools. What's your favorite Auctiva tool? Please share in the comments below.