Including a note with a delivered item!

[erockid]

I recently moved and thought maybe eBay would be a good way to make a few extra bucks as I got accustomed to my new living and financial situations.  I sold some currency, was satisfied, and think I'd like to continue selling in the future.

I bought a few wholesale items (neckties and DVDs) and am trying to unload them without much luck. (Maybe a little more research was in order--oops!)  I'm curious if it's worth the labor of including handwritten thank you notes and/or coupons for my buyers.  I've been doing it because my sales have slowed down so much that it's not a big deal, but is this something worthwhile if I am lucky enough to increase my sales to a higher frequency?

erockid

[collectionsbytaylorlane]

My volume is moderate - 170 to 200 sales per month - and I do include a handwritten note with each delivery. The response is heartwarming, and I enjoy helping buyers know that they're customers to me. One thing I NEVER do is to mention feedback - it destroys the whole concept IMHO. Yes, it takes time and my customer group is primarily women, but the retention is worth it for me at least. Good luck!

[reallynicestamps]

Good point about women. "Stroking" like a quasi-personal note works well with us. With men, not so much.

However, keep in mind that much of men's clothing is purchased by women for their men.

DVDs? Probably not worth a personal note, but a business card or printed note about your business with you eBay and personal website addys would make sense. There is less personal investment in purchasing these with price and availability being paramount.

I don't put a personal note into my items (on this ID my customers are mostly male), but on another I sell vintage SF paperbacks. And into those packages I put a bookmark that advertises the annual SF convention I help organize here in Ottawa Canada. Even to the packages heading to Netherlands or California or Australia. I know of one con-goer who mentioned getting news of CAN-CON 2013 because of the bookmark, and was happy to introduce myself at Registration.

[erockid]

Do either of you folks ever use coupons? I was thinking about putting "codes" in the package or something like that to encourage repeat sales. 10% or 15% off, which I could reflect in the invoice.  The greater my volume, the greater success I suppose such a scheme would have, but I'm not sure if an unbranded account like my own would benefit much from that until I increase my sales numbers, which are quite low.

[pianone]

I always include my business card in each package I ship; on the back of my business card it states '15% off on next purchase' ; often it makes no difference, but sometimes they do come back mentioning the coupon; it really pays off, return customers are very valuable.

[gothicsteam]

I WOULD, and it IS a great idea. However, I am hesitant at it because our prices are already really low for what we sell. That's the only thing.

[erockid]

That's true! I sell (at least currently) low mark-up items, so it's cutting into already-small margins, but if I could get a few return customers to follow me, maybe it'd be worth it?

[femmefan1946]

For your used DVDs, you are competing with much larger sellers with the same prices on NEW DVDs. Are you sure this is a good product for you? I hope you are divesting your own unwanted items and have not put money into buying stock. You are right the markup is too low.

BTW, since DH has a necktie collection I peeked at yours. You should consider working on your titles. You have 80 free keystrokes to entice a customer to open your listing. So I would suggest not 'designer' but "Don Loper' and say that it is silk, pink and blue.

I've found only a few return customers, but most of my items over several IDs are unique, or nearly so, so I don't expect them. I sell a lot of Canadian postage to repeat buyers, mostly Canadian eBay sellers, and I've had a few repeats on postcards when I have an estate to sell and the cards are from a defined area, like South Africa, Japan, or small town Canada.

[collectionsbytaylorlane]

Enjoying this discussion with good ideas, and I posted earlier that I send a personal note with every sale. It's really something that I do because I enjoy it and do get terrific feedback from customers. Yep, they're mostly women & I'm selling mainly clothes and jewelry. Just want to add my return customer rate runs from 12 to 16% monthly. Honestly don't know if this is average, above, or below but thought I'd share. Hope everybody has a grand January!!

[erockid]

Thanks femmefan!

I actually did buy the DVDs. I got them for $0.75/DVD and have average $3.03 in profit so far after all fees, purchase price, and shipping costs (though only after 10 DVDs). That's pretty much where I had hoped to be so I don't think it's too bad currently.

Thanks for your advice on the neckties. I have even more of those (400) and have been a little overwhelmed listing them all. Maybe I should slow down and put a little more focus into them.

[mettlle]

It is really a good idea to recall our B2C customers, if they converted only 5-10% then it is worth to do. It will increase the quantity of repeat customers.