how some work habits can dampen your productivity

[peter-green]

I Like to get rollin early

up at 3:45 am...............….get the coffe on

go down and do my searches

yeah .................I goof off till 430AM

then I write 10 auctions..................takes me an hour

by 545 am roughly...……………….. I start  to pack-----------maybe 6-8 pieces per day get packed at a slow 5 minutes per package..............i can average 18 an hour at top speed

if all goes well I am back in bed by 630 AM to collect my thoughts for 30 minutes

that's it...………….I am done for the day...………...almost...……….later on about 10:30 or so I will take the next days pictures...….that might take me a half hour depending upon what I am listening too on youtube red

not quite done yet...............that evening my auctions might end.

I send out out plenty of combined invoices all week long...…...my auctions only end 3 nights a week

I have to do plenty of manual invoices

my charge for EDELCON international is $21...……………..the label costs me $12.19.the rest is in  my pocket

yeah I know...…..I upcharge on the shipping but someones got to pay for my lost  stuff...........thats what the extra shipping money goes to ..when I get my friends up north in CA I cuttem a break and make the shipping  only $14

lotsa people running scared of there email........afraid to look at it in fear of somone getting back to them with a problem...……...I see the posters talk about it all the time

now for my main point which I am sure many reader will agree with

if I were to look at my email before I start wrighting  auctions I might be too upset with a buyer/complainer

yeah that's it

have you ever been so upset with an email that it made all your work take twice as long as it normally does

do not let this happen to you..................get your work done and then look at your email

[mam98031]

How would we know that you pad your shipping to cover some items that get "lost" unless you tell us as you don't post with a current selling ID.  But with that revelation by you, I would just say that padding doesn't belong in your shipping costs, but in your product price.  And do you lose so many things with the carrier of your choice that it even requires such an up charge?  

For myself, my "lost" items are no where near at a level that I need to increase pricing on anything to cover my losses.

Why are you doing so many "manual invoices"?  Ebay auto sends the buyer an invoice if you have the information set up in your listing.  The only time I need to send an invoice is when I need to do combined shipping.

Your shipping pricing for international packages I wouldn't advise to anyone.  IMHO that is outrageous that you overcharge your customers by that much.  That is a 72+% mark up.  Ebay does allow for reasonable costs to be added to shipping for handling charges, but that is a bit over the top.  Then to brag about how you are stiffing your customer says so much more.

I have never been "running scared" of my emails.  Never happen.  My buyers are welcome to email me anytime with a question, concern, problem or whatever.  Then I try to take care of whatever it is they need as quickly as possible.  The vast majority of transactions go off without a hitch.  Good and speedy customer service promotes return customers.  And return customers are AWESOME!

You must get a lot of emails from concerned customers.  I must say I don't get that many.  So I suppose for you it can be overwhelming and give you cause to resist looking at your inbox.  My suggestion would be to look for common issues as it may give you hints on things you might be able to do to prevent at least some of these types of emails.

Answering emails IS part of your J.O.B. as a seller.  It isn't something to be put on the back burner until you feel like getting around to it.  It is part of your JOB.

[itsjustasprain]

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@peter-green wrote:

now for my main point which I am sure many reader will agree with

if I were to look at my email before I start wrighting  auctions I might be too upset with a buyer/complainer

yeah that's it

have you ever been so upset with an email that it made all your work take twice as long as it normally does

do not let this happen to you..................get your work done and then look at your email

---

Sorry but that makes no sense. I cant imagine going thru all my packing & shipping and THEN looking at my email. Unless youre a fan of voiding labels that you just bought becuase a buyer has changed their mind or has some other issue. You need to get a clear picture of all your incoming sales and messages and emails & ect. BEFORE you go to work spending your money on shipping and other things. Otherwise you will just end up having to redo things or void labels or deal with whatever other surprises were waiting for you in your email that you did not look at in time. You always clear your In box first before you are ready to deal with your Out box.

[peter-green]

I tend not to wory about emails,......….why would you,if someone has paid,......you ship

why on earth would you need to void a label

I pack my stuff.........i know where its going......its going to the address with payment today.not tomorrow,not next week.I know lots of my customers habits

if somone has paid me its all spellerd out

it will be shipped.no ifs and or buts

snoozers are gonna lose trying to combine my shipping if they have already paid for something.....

I am really unsure why you  think reading an email is going to change something having to do with an already paid item............

the time for special shipping instructions …….

changing shipping classes, needs to be done before payment.not after

do not let a buyer ever dictate terms after payments.you are in the drivers seat.not them

[mam98031]

I tend not to wory about emails,......….why would you,if someone has paid,......you ship

You obviously are free to do as you see fit.  This certainly isn't something I would even consider.

why on earth would you need to void a label

Printer error, human error, my dog got hungry, there are many legit reasons.

I pack my stuff.........i know where its going......its going to the address with payment today.not tomorrow,not next week.I know lots of my customers habits

I believe most sellers ship within their stated handling times.

if somone has paid me its all spellerd out

it will be shipped.no ifs and or buts

You have such a way with words.  I hope you are more careful with your listings.

snoozers are gonna lose trying to combine my shipping if they have already paid for something.....

I am really unsure why you  think reading an email is going to change something having to do with an already paid item............

Because it can.  I'm not sure how you can make such a statement, since you've already stated you don't read them, so you just would not have any way of knowing one way or the other.  And I for one most certainly do not think so little of my buyer as to call them names.  

the time for special shipping instructions …….

changing shipping classes, needs to be done before payment.not after

do not let a buyer ever dictate terms after payments.you are in the drivers seat.not them

In a perfect world you are correct.  But in a world full of humans, honest human errors happen.  

[peter-green]

Policies.... I prefer not to use buy it now.I have many repeat customers who want my watches just as much as you do
Buy it now will only be considered for a relisted auction
QUESTIONS
ALL MEASUREMENTS DO NOT INCLUDE THE
CROWN BOX AND PAPERS ARE NOT INCLUDED UNLESS THEY ARE PICTURED

DOMESTIC SHIPPING DELAY Once a watch is paid for in the USA,it will need to be shipped
I can not hold watches after they have been paid for.Ebay keeps track of all late shipments
once a watch is paid for,it is going to be shipped,there will be no vacation delays
please hold off on paymentif you need a delay

this the sum total of all of my terms.its short and sweet.lookin complete

I am not knocking anyones TOS

I do find it amusing that many sellers like to mention customs...…….

ther is no rason at all for it to ever be mentioned

ebay has many many ambiguous terms for this

taxes

customs

import fees

duty

the list can go on and on

everyone on these boards should be familiar with these terms

the international buyer community mat have a diiferent idea of the tems

cusoms ingo does not belong in terms at all

ebay instructed me to get rid of all the terms

all ebay members were instructed to remove it

its simply not needed

why have somone confuse your TOS with what ebay has just told them

that is the logic behind ebays asking for it to be removed

it simply is not necessary at all

ebay mentions to every single buyer the customs fees etc

this is always a misunderstood problem with buyers

don't let it be yours...………...all foreign buyers are informed of of whats goig on in regard to customs fees

[peter-green]

I make my fair share of mistakes

truthfully ......….I do not really recall telling anyone  that I do not read my email at all

I try not to let it color how I feel

some people live in fear of a buyer from 10 days ago popping up in there messages

email is a very important part of my business

I write my auctions in the early AM

if I had looked at my email first I may get a visceral reaction

you know...........smoke coming out my ears...........ready to rant......I need to keep that in check......

my productivity goes way down when I am agitated

its just unproductive for me to do anything first but getting some work done first

I prefer to answer email by 7am

I do it 30 seconds after packing

as far as name calling...……...are they my buyers or my customers

I try to think of them as neither

the ones I get upset with are the ones that feel entitled to waste my time

I try to accommodate all my customers.especially the newers ones...……...ya know low feedback

I go out of my way to hold their hands.cater to evey whim...….you name it.....

I do not care if my customers really waste my time...…...I am just feeling them out

lots of good reason for waisting time...........i tend to think its a little bit of a tech thing, but actually it just not being familiar with how to navigate ebay……. that can surely frustrate a recent member of the ebay community

I my self have somewhat of a fear of tech..not really but its just that  others also can have this

fool me once…....blah...... blah...…….. blah

fool me twice and its .........….no soup for you!

I am happy to see you have noticed my prose

I am considering a new career in writing trade articles

[mam98031]

We have two completely different business approaches and therefore I just don't think it will serve any good purpose to discuss it more.  We see things quite differently.  

[dtexley3]

getting back to your original topic, I might say that all the time spent posting on the forums reduces your productivity.