How much to pay a lister?

[bghtrade]

I have an ebay store that has just under 600 items in it. I keep getting close to 1000 items but then life gets a little busy and I cannot keep up. I've heard of hiring a lister to help out. I really only need someone who can measure clothing and I have a template on paper that they would fill out for each item such as brand, materials, made in, style etc. What is a good fair price to pay someone for this? I would take the pictures in my studio and list the items myself because I can do that part pretty quick. I can do 10 items or more in an hour. I would rather pay somebody per item and not per hour as to motivate to do more. 

[slippinjimmy]

The minimum wage in Michigan is $9.45 an hour, in a piecework situation you still must pay at least the minimum wage.

If you want someone who is not a total screw-up you should probably be prepared to pay at least $10/hour. Maybe a bit more if you want to have someone with a brain.

Be careful with a piecework situation, it could lead to a situation where speed rules over accuracy and while you are doing the important stuff (the actual listings) you definitely want accurate information or you will end up with not as described claims because the measurements are not right.

[dippitydoo]

Howdy bghtrade!......

     Great advice from slippinjimmy!!  I would agree that hourly wage is better...I would stop by a retirement community and see if they have a way to get the word out that you'd like someone (probably a gal?) to come work 2-3 hours once a week (or whatever works for you).  A retired person is actually ideal as they don't have work scheduling to contend with, and they would love an extra activity, no doubt.

-Dippity

[mansons2005]

Until VERY recently I wrote descriptions for listings on a freelance basis. I specialized in luxury goods, couture, and jewelry. My standard rate was $10 per listing, which included full measurements, any features or special mention aspects, size conversions, stone sizes in mm, condition issues, etc., and a short but descriptive paragraph regarding the style of the item.  I created the templates I used and my clients had to agree that the information called for in the template was what they were getting - nothing more, but most definitely nothing less.

At one time I tried to do the same for lower market goods at $5 per listing, but it was not financially rewarding. It takes just as much time, research, and effort to list a low-end Kate Spade or Coach as it does to list a Chanel or Vuitton. So it was $10 or nothing..................................

[anthology-of-treasures]

Wouldn't it be better to hire the third party as a independent contractor and not as a employee so as to avoid minimum wage laws and other obligations? You never know what the state or federal government are going to force you to do if you hire them as an employee. Next week, it could be 4 months of paid vacation time.

[anthology-of-treasures]

You should really reconsider the whole process for creating listings.

As the old saying goes - "Work Smarter, Not Harder!"

The best tool I have found for that is GarageSale, a inventory and auction listing tool for eBay. They are a small company from Germany with their own help forum that produces a tool that is far ahead of anything eBay offers. They have excellent response time and are eager to hear new ideas for improvements. GarageSale is for Macintosh computers only. If you don't currently have a Mac it would be worth buying one just to use GarageSale as it would pay for the computer and itself in no time. You can manage multiple eBay accounts from one application.

You create customized templates in GarageSale based upon various shipping scenarios, categories, product types and various other customized settings. To reuse any of these templates you simply press the Command and "D" keys to duplicate it. There would be no filling out of paper forms as you simply create reusable templates in GS into which you directly enter your data instead of first entering that data on paper and then having to type it over again.

You organize your templates and listings into custom folders as you wish. This open folder has a series of templates that offer Priority Mail & Parcel Select as shipping options at the most commonly used weights without any package size entered as its assumed any items using these templates will not exceed any postal regulations incurring additional fees.

Here is a simply template that uses customized CSS & HTML to display a simple table with the header titles already entered. No retyping commonly reused information again and again. You make one template with that information one time and simply duplicate that template to use it for a new listing.

See the bit of text below the table in brackets. That is where I've instructed the program to insert my Terms of Sale after the item description when the item is uploaded to eBay.

Here is one with a table for LPs without a border.

Here is an old experiment that inserts a repeated flowered background and images in the description with a light purple around the images from back in the day when eBay allowed external image galleries. The user would click the images or the link below them to view images in an external gallery. This allowed you to show images at a larger size than eBay Pictures. You simply customize the template's CSS and HTML as you want.

How you arrange your inventory is up to you.

I like this arrangement:

• Numbered Folder - Corresponds to a numbered folder on computer backup drive containing the original images used for listings. GaragseSale stores images internally; however, this allows you to easily find the original images again.
  • eBay Account 1
    • Listing Type - 7, 10 Day Auction or Different Groups of Fixed Listings
  • eBay Account 2
    • Listing Type - 7, 10 Day Auction or Different Groups of Fixed Listings
  • Sold Items
  • ---- Items Removed From eBay and Sold at a Retail Locations or Removed for Internal Business Use

You can drag listings from one folder to another folder as you wish.

You can export your templates and completed listing from GarageSale and import them into another copy of GarageSale. 

Here is one with a larger box size and weight with Parcel Select as an option.

Perhaps consider hiring someone as a independent contractor rather than a employee!

Consider paying them a commission on sold items on top of base pay?

[misfitfun]

I would be very cautious w this as you are responsible for the content of the listing so any incompetence or error your assistant makes you have to fix.A couple wrong measurements could put your account in jeopardy and be costly

[city*satins]

If you're going to hire or contract someone to take on some of the tasks for you, and any of those tasks include actually handling the inventory you need to be sure that:

1. they don't smoke

2. they keep their nails short,  clean and buffed. 

3. if they have pets they keep a change of clothing handy that is pet hair and fabric softener free

4. they know not to wear perfume/edt when coming to work with your clothing

5. they don't fold garments by tucking an end under the chin to hold it steady - as this can get skin cells, lipstick, make-up on the garment

6. you give them a work area that is ergonomically sensible.  Like a table at the right height.  Don't have them measuring/folding clothing on too low a surface like a bed - kills the back 

If all of this sounds obvious, or common sense, I assure you it's not!

[coolections]

Unless you are making a killing in sales there is no way you could afford to pay $10  a hour for someone to help with listings. Just keep your listing numbers at a manageable amount and do it yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself as most of the time adding more does not equate to making more.

[slippinjimmy]

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@coolections wrote:

Unless you are making a killing in sales there is no way you could afford to pay $10  a hour for someone to help with listings. Just keep your listing numbers at a manageable amount and do it yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself as most of the time adding more does not equate to making more.

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I could easily double or triple my volume if I had someone to prep listings for me even one day a week, used to have one but he was a partner not an employee and in the end he moved on. It's not that I can't DO the work myself, I just don't want to and so I don't. Affordability is not really an issue, availability is, it's not easy to find the right person with the right skills and knowledge since most of my items require both, it's not just slug work like measuring and reading label that the OP needs.

[inhawaii]

$10 per hour starting. Raise to $12 per hour after a probation period if you decide to keep them.

[extrememobility]

From looking at your feedback profile i see you have a 100% positive which is excellent for a seller of your size and in clothing too which is a tough online market , Hiring someone else could change that for you very quickly by half doing and incomplete descriptions, your call as what is more important to you?