speedy listing?

[keziak]

Until recently my main site was Amazon (books and media) and now I"m only on Ebay and it takes me around twice or more time to list here which frustrates me. Sometimes people are interested in more of what I am selling and unless it's a small amount I have to say please make me a Saved Seller because I am not sure how quickly  l will list more of a certain thing (example: wood working DVDs, thank goodness for patient repeat buyers. Also Osprey books).

Any tips on speeding up the listing process? I use a template for my TOS and trying to mostly use the description field for condition and use the other item specifics for title etc. 

[lux.ra_14]

Speed isn't necessarily a virtue, and there's no comparison between selling books on eBay and Amazon.

Most Amazon sellers don't provide images of the actual book for sale, and there's little in the way of description. That doesn't fly on eBay, especially for better books, so it just takes longer to list on eBay.

[chapeau-noir]

What is your listing process? And how many listings a day is your goal?

Sometimes it helps to go through the steps and see where processes can be streamlined. I was selling a lot of books last year and found listing fast and easy, but then I wasn't looking to do hundreds a day lol, just maybe 30 listings or something.

[keziak]

I lack much of what I'd call a process unless it's listing books singly. I also do not do well at setting daily goals.  What I AM doing is pushing myself to list more than I used to, use some of my better time in terms of focus and energy. Since the election I spend way less time online and I don't drive all over the area picking up Marketplace stuff like I did through the end of last year.  I am getting more listed but asking myself if there are strategies that will speed things up. When I can, I use Sell Similar which helps a little.

[chapeau-noir]

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@keziak wrote:

I lack much of what I'd call a process unless it's listing books singly. I also do not do well at setting daily goals.  What I AM doing is pushing myself to list more than I used to, use some of my better time in terms of focus and energy. Since the election I spend way less time online and I don't drive all over the area picking up Marketplace stuff like I did through the end of last year.  I am getting more listed but asking myself if there are strategies that will speed things up. When I can, I use Sell Similar which helps a little.

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I block tasks - choose how many books/media I want to list, and if I can go by genre (all statistics books, all math books, etc.), I do:

Assemble the pile of books.

Take all photos, put all photos through post. I make sure that the sequence of photos on my roll corresponds with the sequence of books in my pile.

Place the pile of books on one side of my desk chair, bring up my template and my directory of photos, and just start through each book, using sell similar. 

Grab the book, do title, item specifics, a sentence or two of description, price it and launch the listing. Put the book on the other side of my chair. 

Then take the next one.

If I needed to do any research on those books, I go through the pile FIRST and do that, jotting down price point on a post-it and stick it on the book. Then when I go through the pile while I list, I have the info right there. 

Do you have a general goal? Having a set one and getting those books together is a good way to complete that goal. But blocking tasks and having that goal are the two things that really help me.

[keziak]

Our process is much the same.  I guess there is just no getting around adding a photo or several, filling out IS and proving a condition statement. 

I should think about setting a goal for myself and making sure I carve out time. Maybe set the clock to go off earlier. As the day goes by there is much to do, especially since I am trying to swim then. Today was warm and I sat on the porch doing needlework. More to life than work. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@keziak wrote:

Our process is much the same.  I guess there is just no getting around adding a photo or several, filling out IS and proving a condition statement. 

I should think about setting a goal for myself and making sure I carve out time. Maybe set the clock to go off earlier. As the day goes by there is much to do, especially since I am trying to swim then. Today was warm and I sat on the porch doing needlework. More to life than work. 

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I have to fit this around a research job, plus a task putting a ton of photos through post - I bail onto here when  start getting a little crazy lol, so I understand distractions!

Maybe set a block of time to get it done first thing in the morning. Don't get distracted, don't let it creep into more and more of your day. If you swim first thing, do it as soon as you get home.

Then, when you're doing needlework, reading a book or doing other things you enjoy, you can rest assured that work is done.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Adding a listing to an Amazon catalog page is always going to be faster than creating an Ebay listing, even if you use offer specific images on Amazon. It will be true even if you use a template.

I can list almost as fast on Ebay because I group the items I am listing to include similar items and use Sell Similar. I also tend to list items in similar condition because the ratty items which require long condition descriptions are not worth the time and effort of selling online.

[keziak]

Last year I swam very early and it was great to check it off the to-do list. Other than that I had a lot of trouble with sleep deprivation. Due to my condition a spell of sleep deprivation leads to...insomnia. So this year I am trying to train myself to swim in the afternoon. Maybe get up a little earlier than I have been lately. The time and energy for work is so limited as is time and energy for other pursuits.

[keziak]

I hardly ever have books I would rate Good or Acceptable though there are a few.  This is a little ironic in that when I want a book I will search out the crummiest, cheapest copy from companies like  Thrift Books. Yet I expect to find customers who want to pay much more for LIke New and New.  Or even buy via auction. 

Sell Similar is great and I use it when I can but the bulk of what I have are not similar enough. 

[reallynicestamps]

One reason I stopped selling on AZ was that the listing form was so difficult and time consuming.

I suspect the real problem was that I am used to eBay and have a few templates set up since my products, although OOAK, are similar.
(EG I have a template for Commonwealth and Empire stamps, another for philatelic literature, another for postcards. )

And like you I have cut and paste information for my Descriptions, with HTML coding, that I can drop into any description that doesn't fit a template.

[reallynicestamps]

Take all photos, put all photos through post. I make sure that the sequence of photos on my roll corresponds with the sequence of books in my pile.

Books are flat.

I scan the cover (occasionally an inside page or six) and it is automatically on my desktop, squared off and with a blank background.

And the title of the book is the name of the scan.

And then I can drag the scans into the listing form.

I use my phone camera for the odd clothing item I sell on another ID, and dealing with photos is one reason I don't often bother with those.

[dhbookds]

I find setting up a reasonable limited time or a limited # of listings as a goal and then completing them.........helps prevent the "I should be listing" guilt when I'm doing other stuff........

[keziak]

My dislike of the SYI form is all the redundancy. I was inputting the title and author in three places. I am experimenting with using the IS as much as possible and not repeating the same information in the description, only the condition. It helps some. 

To be honest, I find listing so boring and tedious that it's very easy to let myself keep busy doing other things including errands because "after all, I work from home". 

[keziak]

That takes me back so long ago I don't remember details just that I did scan. I also started out taking photos of the books on film and getting them printed. Not sure how I got those photos online, maybe scanning?