Episode 66 || Shipping Best Practices

[doug@ebay]

On this week’s episode, we focus on shipping best practices. The Buzz covers topics of conversation in the Community and on social media. In the Main Story eBay seller Lynne Dralle shares her packing and shipping expertise. On Inside eBay we speak with Cathy Foster, Vice President, Global Government Relations who tells us about eBay’s various government relations programs, and how they advocate for sellers. We also introduce a new segment hosted by our very own Dominique Hollins called eBay Cultural Moments. This week, veteran and eBay employee Matt Drazba interviews veteran and eBay seller Liz Grajeda. To have your questions answered on eBay for Business, call us at 888 723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com.

Links

eBay for Business Podcast (ebay.com/podcast)
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The eBay Community (ebay.com/community)
eBay Seller Center (ebay.com/sellercenter)
Weekly Community Chat (ebay.com/communitychat)
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eBay Help (ebay.com/help/home)
eBay System Status (ebay.com/sts)
eBay Seller News Announcements (ebay.com/announcements)
UPS (ups.com)
eBay Main Street (ebaymainstreet.com)
Office of Veterans Business Development (sba.gov/ovbd)
VetsinTech (vetsintech.co)

Hosts

Griff, Alan Aisbitt, Dominique Hollins

Guests

Cathy Foster (eBay Staff), Matt Drazba (eBay Staff), Lynn Dralle (eBay Seller), Liz Grajeda (eBay Seller)

This week on the eBay For Business Podcast, eBay seller Lynn Dralle shares her packing and shipping expertise.

You know, even though we do one day handling during the holidays, we will try to get it out same day because I know how much a customer and me as a customer on eBay, I know how much we appreciate getting that item before we're even supposed to. That's the number one thing we do first is we get those packages out the door.

We'll talk to Cathy Foster, VP at eBay Government Relations.

Every May, we have what we call our DC Seller Fly In. And we bring about 25 sellers to Washington from across the country and we match up with their representatives, Senator or a member of Congress to talk about postal reform and trade issues. And it really truly makes an impact. If they're hearing from a constituent in a small business from their district versus a GR professional, they're really going to take notice.

And in honor of veterans everywhere, we'll introduce a new segment hosted by our very own Dominique Hollins called eBay Cultural Moments.

I served four years in the U S Marine Corps as a musician stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. I think military service lends itself to entrepreneurship as a whole. There is a lot of uncertainty in the startup phase, a lot of problem solving and having to wear multiple hats. I attribute my mental tenacity, confidence, and sense of community to my military service and that has served me well in my business.

I'm Griff and this is the eBay For Business Podcast. Your weekly source for the information and inspiration you need to start, run and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode 66. Alan, we have a very full episode this week, so I thought it best that we try something new in zip right through this intro and get into it.

Sounds good. Without further ado, let's hear what eBay sellers are talking about on the eBay community in The Buzz.

What's The Buzz in the community this week, Alan?

I thought we'd highlight a couple of conversations from the community recently that tie in with the Shipping Best Practices Theme.

Oh nice. What do you got for us?

On our selling discussion board, Seller LGonzalez28 asked, could anyone offer advice on how to set up my listing and shipping options to calculate two separate packages? For reference, I'm listing a set of four Sunbrella pillows, two smaller 16 inch squares and two 19 by 13 sizes. Combined weight, seven pounds plus a large box. My concern is the dimensions make shipping pricey. I can ship in large poly mailers at three pounds of four pounds for each set and I believe this may be less for the buyer. How would I go about that if it is possible? Also, I am assuming I would have to manually upload the second tracking number with the same item number. Am I causing myself a headache?

Yikes. That's a great question.

Shipping in two packages this way can be tricky and it is possible, by the way, but I'm curious more than that to know. What advice did the readers on the community give to the seller?

Well, the good news is there were many responses to the question, but I'm gonna focus on the response that LGonzalez28 accepted as the solution. Here we go. Nobody's perfect responded. Alas, the eBay shipping calculator is not capable of handling more than one package. There are various strategies to fudge it. For instance, set up the calculator to charge for the more expensive package and then as a handling fee add a flat postage cost to ship the second package. Other strategies include setting up your own shipping tables in your site preferences based on the combined cost to each zone. Some sellers figure out the actual postage costs for each zone. Then enter a weight in the shipping calculator that yields approximately the right total postage for two packages. The good news is that it's easy to print more than one label for an order. After you print the postage for the first label, the next screen will have a link where you can choose to purchase another label for that order. It brings up a fresh label prep screen where you can adjust the package weight dimensions, et cetera, as needed, and the limit is five labels. Nobody's perfect went on to say before you commit to shipping in two poly mailers check that the volume of each package still doesn't go over the threshold for dimensional weight. Ie one cubic foot.

I have to say that's a lot of great information shared by nobody's perfect. I would say nobody's perfect is pretty perfect.

Yeah, they are, aren't they?

Yeah, it's really good.

Sellers are in pretty good hands on the community boards, especially when we have responders out there who can share that level of knowledge. So if you're not going to get an answer out of us, you can always go to the community. You'll probably find someone a lot smarter.

That's true. That's true. I agree Griff. I'm always in awe of all of the great seller knowledge out there being shared for free on the community boards.

So that was one thread and there were a lot of responses in that thread, if I remember looking at it.

Yeah, I think there was about 25 or 30 and lots of great information. But this one was actually accepted as a solution. So what that means on the community is that from a host of answers that you might get you as the author, the person who posted the question, you can select the one that was most appropriate or answered your question best than that highlights that one as being the main accepted solution. So a great way of recognizing someone who has given you a great answer on community.

That's terrific. Did you get another thread for us this week?

I did. I did. Well, the next one is actually quite unusual. It's titled "buyer sends return to herself."

Well, my sounds like me except for the pronoun, except that even then sometimes I wonder. Do tell us more!

Well, this is a, yeah, interesting one. So the author, epowerbargains explains, I've never had this happen before. A buyer purchased an item, left positive feedback, and then a week later the buyer opened a turn with a message that she would like to return because she accidentally purchased the wrong size. The return was auto-approved. The reason for return was a buyer error. So the buyer was responsible for return shipping costs. The buyer had to return the item by November 5th. epowerbargains then went on to explain that they had been watching the return open to the evening of the fourth no tracking was uploaded and then all of a sudden the tracking was uploaded and it showed that the item was returned on the fourth and received on the fourth. And eBay immediately informed me via email to refund the buyer. I live in another state, so immediate USPS processing is not possible.

This is curious, do go on!

So the problem here is that the tracking shows the buyer mailed the item to her own home address and not epowerbargains.

Such a great deal for a return.

So tracking shows that the entire return from start to finish happened in one day. November fourth. epowerbargains goes on to explain that they reached out to the buyer and the buyer stated that she handed the package to the mailman today and that she had obtained a return label from eBay and that somebody might've made an inadvertent mistake.

I'll say!

Yeah, sounds like it. The poster then went on to ask for others for advice on how to handle this strange situation.

What were some of the advice or responses that people posted on this thread? I'm dying to hear this.

7606dentists responded and said it's probably a case of the clerk at the PO or the mailman having set their scanner wrong. And MVLS1 said yes, they may have scanned the package as delivered instead of accepted. That happened to me once.

Actually, I've heard from other sellers of this happening. It's rare, but it does happen.

Yeah. I have to admit, it's the first time that I've heard of it and I was very surprised to hear that. Maybe that's what happened, but yeah, but you can imagine the amount of scans and items that go through the mail every day. These things do go wrong.

So those are the suppositions. But how did this end up?

Right. Well, to bring an end to the story, let me tell you what epowerbargains posted after contacting eBay support. So I came back to the community and they advised that they called eBay and eBay closed the case in their favor because the buyer did not return the item by the return deadline. They then went on to explain that the buyer emailed them and stated that they went to the post office and was told by the mailman that they made a scanning error.

So that was what happened!

There you go and that is why the item shows as mailed and delivered the same day to the buyer's home address. The buyer stated that USPS told her that the item is on its way back to the seller's address. So the seller checked the tracking and it shows no progress to date.

Well it wouldn't would it? Cause the tracking number has been closed out. Although the packages in transit, it's all messed up by the UPS.

It is all completely messed up. So probably the first time they'll hear about it is when it's on their doorstep.

So what's the seller going to do?

Well, the seller advised that they emailed the buyer and gave them all of the information and told them that when they get the item back they will issue a refund for the purchase thru PayPal, and they went on to say that they will watch the tracking to monitor what happens with the package. So although eBay ruled in the seller's favor, epowerbargains feels that it was unfair or it is unfair to keep the buyer's money and the product and it's definitely not a good business to force the buyer to consider filing with PayPal or potentially doing a charge back.

Ah, this is a good seller.

It really is. I mean, it's not the seller's fault, it's not the buyer's fault. You know, somebody messed up with the scanner and the buyer could have ended up having a really bad experience, but it sounds like the seller is going to do the right thing and refund.

Yeah, it was definitely great to see really made my day. epowerbargains was commended by all the sellers on the community for providing great customer service. So thank you epowerbargains.

That is really cool.

Really cool. That's about all we have time for this week, Griff. We'll have more Buzz from the community next week. So stay tuned.

We're going to talk today about Getting It Out The Door. That's our headline theme and who better to talk to when it comes to any subject related to selling on eBay, especially shipping during the holiday season than the person who probably ships more than anyone else in her city. Lynn Dralle the queen of auctions. Hello Lynn.

Hey Griff!

Thanks again for taking time out of what I hear was a little bit of a trying day for you down there in Ventura, California. You want to tell us what happened?

I do, very trying day. High, high winds and you know Southern Cal Edison has been turning off power to prevent fires and so we got to my store this morning, no power. And then it had gone out at my house as well and we didn't know whether to be open or not. And then people just started pouring in. So we sold about a thousand dollars in the dark. It's not dancing in the dark, it's selling in the dark.

Well, congratulations. It's a Testament to your power of positivity. I will definitely say plus your shop is a dream I've seen photos of it.

Thank you. You are so sweet.

When we were thinking about, well shipping but also packing your name came right to my head. Because I thought Lynn has so many different types of items and a lot of them are breakable. And if you're increasing your sales during the holidays, which we've talked about, I think in the past, you do see a bump in sales.

For sure. For sure. October, November, December, January are all really strong months. Gotta be ready.

So how are you ready for shipping during the holidays?

Griff, I have this great assistant that does all my shipping but you've got me on a good week cause she's actually on vacation and I've been shipping this week.

Oh no! So lots of moisturizer, wearing the gloves?

I mean it's so nice not to have to do it and she does such a good job but you should see all our supplies are marked. We have certain places on every shelf for certain sized boxes. So it really makes shipping a dream. I mean we just start out like with a four by four, a six by six and eight by eight a 10 by 10 then we go to like the 12 by 12 by fours and the priorities and then all the envelopes, the tissue, the big brown wrapping paper, the popcorn, we have every box you need. And it's always filled in. So we're ready to ship. And it really makes it a dream.

And it's ergonomically organized so that you don't have to do too much moving around to find stuff?

No, seriously, we have everything on to Costco bakers racks, and then we have a shipping table in front of it. And you literally can sit on a stool and just swivel either left or right and grab what you need.

Oh I want to work that job. You had me on swivel on a stool. So are there special considerations or changes that you make to your business practices when it comes to shipping during the holiday season to accommodate the volume plus a few special requests that come in?

Absolutely. And we want to be there for the customers. So you know, even though we do one day handling during the holidays, we will try to get it out same day. Because I know how much a customer and me as a customer on eBay, I know how much we appreciate getting that item before we're even supposed to. And when you're shopping for the holidays, it's really nice to have those actual gifts in house ready to go ahead of time. That's the number one thing we do first is we get those packages out the door.

Do you use one day handling or or same day handling during the holidays?

You know, I've never changed it. It might be something to try, but I really want to keep my metrics with eBay good. So I'll probably leave it at one day, but try to do the same day.

I know that during the end of the holiday season you've got all these people that are procrastinating and then making last minute purchases and they come in with the " can you get it to me tomorrow?" requests. How do you handle those?

Oh, you know what, Griff, we bend over backwards. Do you know how many times I've been like driving at like 4:30 trying to get there before FedEx and or USPS picks up and you know, and you're just sweating and you make it. You just hope your customers appreciate it. Cause we really do. We bend over backwards. If they need that we're going to do the best we can to get it to them.

So do you do anything extra in the packaging during the holiday season? Like I know some people might put a little extra stuff in. Do you change the nature of the packaging to reflect the time of year?

I think it's a really cute touch when people do things like that, you know, put it in a little chocolate candy or something, you know, festive. I always do put in a note in every box that says, you know, we want you to be happy. Please reach out to me. Here's my cell phone number. Let me know as soon as possible if there's a problem. So yeah, I'm very transparent and I want them to be able to reach me. So I do give them my cell phone number.

It's funny that you mentioned the chocolate thing, cause I remember a few years back on the radio show, we were talking about putting extras in boxes and somebody had suggested, and I've actually received like a little chocolate bar, right? And some people have branded, they changed the wrapper and they use one of their company logo.

That's cute.

And then one person, there's always that negative Nellie who says, well I would never do that. What if you're sending it to a diabetic? It could kill them. And I wanted, of course I didn't say it at the time, but the first thing on my mind is right. Sure. So the diabetic is so stupid. What they're going to do is go "look a chocolate bar. That'll kill me. I think I will eat it."

Or they will give it to their dog. Right?

But the point being is that you're going to dismiss a potentially great customer experience, just because of the hypothetical, what if I kill someone with a chocolate bar?

We can't have any time for that kind of negativity. It's all gotta be positive.

So hopefully. What's the most challenging item that you've ever had to pack and ship Lynn?

Can I share more than one?

Sure.

Okay. So this one just sold yesterday. So can I give you an eBay item number?

Yeah, sure, please. Yeah.

Okay. It's 401930038091. Are you going to pull it up?

Yeah, you have to go to the sold items though. So once you type that in, you have to sort by sold or you won't find it. Oh, I just, I just saw the price! Okay. So I know what that the item is, is Royal Copenhagen China and it's highly collectible, but I've never seen a piece like this.

Okay. Griff, me neither. And I was at an estate sale last Saturday. Anyway, it was Royal Copenhagen. I said how much? She said five bucks and I looked it up on replacements.com and it was an open, ruffled candy bowl. Well, I listed on eBay for $29, 99 literally within 30 minutes. It was up to $152.50 and I'm like, okay, I gotta figure out what's going on. And a nice eBayer emailed me and said, it's not a candy bowl, it's a holder for egg cups. So in those big deep ruffles you would put the pedestal part of an egg cup. So then he sent me a picture of what it looked like with those egg cups in there. And he said he had seen one sell for $2,000. And so I got very excited and this is just a little tiny piece, but talking about challenges and shipping. So my shipper is out this week, my mom's in town, she goes, I'm not touching that.

Well because she saw the price it sold for.

Exactly $580.

For a $5 dish.

Yes. You got to get at least a hundred times what you pay Griff.

Thus the key to Lynn's success.

That's what I've been missing in my business plan. Um, yeah, a hundred times. I would love that every time. But no really I do shoot, I do shoot for 10 times. So you know when you get the a hundred times, more power. But this was challenging and I don't normally double box, but I did double box this. I haven't double boxed for probably 15 years of shipping, but this thing I just didn't want to trust it in a box. So wrapped it really carefully. Bubble wrap in one tiny box, then put the packing peanuts all around it in another box and of course insure it. That was a fun one. I want to tell you about one that was really, really hard. It was a baccarat prism chandelier and every little prism was individual and it went to Japan. It sold for $2,284.

Yikes. There's a lot of responsibility in a price that big.

Yeah, to pack that thing and to price it.

So what did you do?

Well, you know my assistant Mo, it was her like her first or second day working for me and I'm like, you need to ship this. She's like, I'm not touching that. So I had to take each prison down and there were strings of prisms and I bubble wrapped them all separately. It was huge. And then we did layers in the box. We did peanuts and then we did the bubble wrap and peanuts. Oh my God. It got there safely. But yeah, that was so tedious. I think it took me three or four hours, which is crazy.

But it's money we'll spend to ensure that a $2,200 item is going to get there intact and the buyer's going to be happy.

Absolutely. Griff, and that's a really good point too. You should wrap every item you sell with the same care though, because that person that's getting it is so excited to get it. So treat everything like a $2,200 chandelier when you wrap it. You know what I mean? Because those pieces do mean something to someone, so don't just throw them in a box. Okay.

You buy on eBay as well, right?

I sure do.

Have you ever, or do you remember a package where you said, boy, I wish I could teach this seller a few things.

Oh my God, Griff. When I buy dinner sets on eBay, you would be appalled at what some of these, literally the, it's just everything in a box with no wrapping or anything. The plates, the mugs, the everything. It's amazing to me. Seriously.

Alot of breakage that way.

Tons of breakage. And it's just really frustrating cause you're, you know, you're doing your research and I buy to resell, so I'm doing my research, I find a great dinner set and then it comes and like half the pieces are broken and you're buying it for an investment anyway. It's, it's frustrating as a buyer to have a package delivered that's, that's not wrapped well. So as a seller we do try to wrap it really, really well.

Say your audience is a group of sellers that are hanging on your every word. So what bit of advice do you want to give them when it comes to the holidays and specifically about shipping?

Always be really, really careful and package it really well. Don't mix up labels because this just happened to my new assistant who's been with me a year and a half. She put one label on one box and the wrong label on another. Yeah, they were two egg cups. One was an egg coddler and one was an egg cup. And so she got confused. Labels got switched.

So the coddler got the cup and the cup got the coddler!

This call is all about, eggs! We have a theme and hysterically enough, well this lady texts me, she goes, I got a coddler, I ordered an egg cup. So immediately we start unraveling it and then we make shipping labels for each of the ladies to ship to the other person. So we don't have them ship it back to us. They just put the labels on. We pay for it of course. And um, we fixed that one. But that's, that's a tough one. Another thing too is remember to add insurance. Like that bowl that I shipped today, I did the insurance button and then before I shipped it I went back and double check that I'd click that. Because wouldn't that be terrible to have a $580 bowl go missing?

Yeah, that would be yeah.

Yes. So make sure you're buying that insurance. I also really recommend that they use a shipping service like a ShipStation. It just makes it easier for me because I'm doing such multiples. It's a lot easier for me than the eBay system. So another really great tip too is so many people take their packages to the post office and you can put in for a free pickup and I schedule mine out for six months out every day back door they know to come and they pick them up so I don't waste any time going to the post office.

So you can spend all of that time you would have been spending driving to the post office to be wrapping prisms.

Yes. Or egg cups.

That's what I'm going to call this segment. Prisms and egg cups. How do they go together? Well, hopefully they're separated by bubble wrap.

Exactly.

Lynn, it's always a pleasure.

Thanks Griff.

Thank you so much. And we hope to talk to you after the holiday season to check in and find out how it went for you there down for both the queen of auctions but also Lynn's consignment, one of the best if not the best shop in Ventura, California. She literally overnight changed the whole downtown and has revitalize an entire city simply by opening up her shop. Am I, is that exaggerating?

Oh, you're so sweet. Actually, we're in Midtown, which is right above downtown and actually we really have had a big, big part in revitalizing it. I think we just got second best um, home furnishing store in Ventura. They voted for us.

See, I was right. You did revitalize it. And who wants to go downtown? There's no parking. You're much better off going to midtown.

It's so true. We have five spots in back.

There is parking in the rear.

There is parking in the rear.

Okay. Lynn thanks again and have a great holiday season and we'll check back with you in January.

Thanks Griff.

You've heard us talk about government relations. Cathy Foster is the Vice President of Global Government Relations and Policy and she's joining us today to talk about the global government relations and policy initiatives and what they mean for you as a seller. Welcome Kathy.

Thank you. Happy to be here.

So for listeners not familiar with the eBay Government Relations Team, can you tell us again what your team does on behalf of eBay customers?

Sure. Government relations policy efforts support eBay's purpose to empower people and create economic opportunity. Since eBay success depends on the success of our sellers, we focus on the public policy issues important to our customers. Issues like internet sales tax, trade and postal reform. Every day around the world we educate policy makers, legislators, and regulatory authorities to understand our business model and the important role our customers play in the global economy. We work hard to prevent legislation that could harm your business and advanced legislation to encourage small business growth. Our key differentiator is definitely our sellers. No other business has such a passionate customer base that is willing to engage in public policy issues that will affect their small businesses as eBay seller.

We talk a lot about those issues, especially lately internet sales tax. What's the current state of this issue, by the way? Can you bring us up to date?

Sure, so the current state is the Wayfair decision completely altered the sales tax landscape. Nearly every state has moved forward with requiring out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax applicable transactions. 37 States so far have enacted marketplace facilitator laws that put that requirement on market places like eBay to collect and remit sales tax. A few States like Florida, Missouri, and Louisiana have so far stayed away from marketplace requirements. That is unclear how long that will last. Ultimately, a federal solution that provides clear, stream lined rules and exempts small businesses is the best solution and that's what we're aiming for. This is something we've been actually fighting to see happen on the federal level.

Correct. At the federal level, GR is working with Congress to explain the negative impacts of IST and the complicated patchwork of state by state laws. We're trying to build support for a Senate and House bill, which would help small businesses. Unfortunately, given the politics right now, it's unlikely that it's gonna happen in the next couple of years.

So we're kind of stuck with dealing on the state level. What's the status of that? How do we do this? What are we doing on the state level?

So at the state level, we're engaged across the country with lawmakers on internet sales tax by educating them on eBay business and the impact on sellers of all sizes who utilize our marketplace. We have pushed hard as a team to make state by state legislation, less burdensome by limiting seller liability, extending implementation dates and clarifying what transactions on marketplace sellers are reasonable for.

Cause this is new to most of these folks, right? They have no concept of what it means to run a small business online.

Right. So we're actually trying to explain that in detail to many lawmakers across the U S right now.

Is this effort going to continue?

It'll, as such as States continue to move forward with some of these laws.

Okay, that's good to hear. So many of our sellers in the US Kathy rely heavily on the United States postal service. And there has been some scary predictions and news. Luckily nothing came of it so far, but this is really been a concern of our sellers. So tell us what is the GR Team working on in that area?

Sure. So this fall we were heavily engaged as a GR Team to avoid a major crisis at the international postal delivery by advocating for the U S to find a compromise and remain in the Universal Postal Union, which is also referred to as the UPU. This is the organization that helps facilitate the global mail system and it's very important because it's much more about rates for shipments into the US. The UPU also covers outbound rates for us sellers and set standards for clearance procedures.

So as part of the reform rates, inbound shipments for China will go up, which has been important to U S sellers. We're also advocating for small businesses in Congress as it looks to reform the us postal service. And we're fighting against dynamic rate increases for package delivery.

That is something that's always been threatened. And this will directly impact our sellers and our buyers eventually cause those costs usually get passed on in some form. Trade issues have also been in the news quite a lot lately and no one's quite sure where that's gonna end up, but can you tell us how the team works and advocates for sellers on eBay in this particular area?

Absolutely. Trade is very important to all of our sellers and to eBay in general. Many people are surprised to learn how important trade is. 96% of our commercial sellers on eBay export to buyers around the world and we're always working to make sure that trade rules ensure that small businesses can compete and succeed in the global market. We're all about reducing barriers to trade and cutting red tape at the border for packages and that's been a major focus of the GR Team's work around the world. Right now, we are working hard to make sure the U S maintains the current de minimis threshold, which allows for low value goods to enter the country without customs duties and with less paperwork. This is really important for U S sellers who import parts of what they sell from other countries and for sellers who sell globally and want to be competitive by offering the options of returns. A high de minimis threshold in the U S is also an important signal to those countries who look to the U S as a leader on e-commerce.

Actually has a direct impact on how trade functions to have that high minimus.

Exactly. And most of our sellers have no idea what that means. Can you redefine that in, in kind of layman's terms so they know?

Sure. So again, de minimis is the value threshold, which allows for goods to enter through a country without customs duties and less paperwork. So again, it's just trying to reduce the friction at the border for low value goods to be able to be exported.

The lower that threshold is the more goods would get stuck at customs being assessed. And this would really impact global trade.

Exactly, yeah. I mean, our goal is to have the highest de minimis levels we can for sellers.

So how can our customers and our eBay sellers in particular learn more about these issues and perhaps get involved?

We'd love to have more sellers get involved on our GR efforts. One way you can do that is to join the 1.1 million members of eBay Main Street at www.ebaymainstreet.com. eBay Main Street provides an Up to date information on legislative and policy related matters that can affect our customers and eCommerce. And it's the home for all of our grassroots campaigns that allow you to have a say in the legislative matters and issues important to internet enabled businesses. We do a lot of grassroots campaigns and it allows you to send an email to your member of Congress on an issue. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at eBay Main Street.

Where do I have to go to learn how to get involved as part of this initiative as a seller on eBay?

Sure we'd love to have you get involved in that. Again starts by joining main street, www.mainstreet.com/JOIN. And you can apply to become a small business ambassador. This select group of sellers represent internet enabled small businesses in meetings with elected officials, members of Congress, senators, and they have the opportunity to directly impact public policy. Benefits include opportunities to promote your business on social media channels. And if you're interested, go to www.ebaymainstreet.com/SBAN and fill out the application form. We'd love to have more sellers join our SBAN program. It's really our differentiator in terms of being able to advocate for policy issues at the state and federal level.

I went to the first one of these in 2005 when Government Relations started this program. It was called the United States of eBay back then. And I don't know if you've heard of this, it was an amazing, memorable experience. My job along with several of the volunteers was to shepherd sellers to different representatives, both in the House and the Senate so that they can make their case for how their businesses run and how legislation they may be considering can impact those businesses negatively and positively.

We still do a similar event like that. Every May, we have what we call our DC Seller Fly In. We bring about 25 sellers to Washington from across the country and we match up with their representative, Senator or a member of Congress to talk about some of the issues we just talked about, postal reform and trade issues. And it really truly makes an impact if they're hearing from a constituent in a small business from their district versus a G professional, they're really going to take notice from that individual.

So if somebody is interested in maybe being a part of the DC Fl In y every year, they have to become an ambassador first. So you want to go sign up again, you go to www.ebaymainstreet.com/S B as in boy, A, N. Fill out the application. And hopefully you'll be chosen.

We'd love to have you!

Kathy. Thanks so much. It's a pleasure to learn more about what the GR Team is doing for our eBay sellers.

Thank you for having me.

Cathy Foster is the Vice President of Global Government Relations and Policy and we've been talking about what their team does to help our eBay sellers.

Coming up next, we have a new segment. And today that new segment is kicking off with a celebration of Veteran's Day. Let's welcome our colleague Dominique Hollins. She's the Senior Manager of Marketplace Diversity to tell us more. Welcome Dominique.

Well, thanks Griff. As eBay furthers its commitment to creating economic opportunity for all, we're excited to launch our cultural moments segment, beginning with Veteran's Day. Cultural moments are key periods in time that allow us to celebrate the accomplishments of diverse communities across the U S and around the world. This includes moments like LGBT pride month, Internationals Women's Day, Black History Month, and many others. We're happy to launch these cultural moments in partnership with employees and sellers who reflect these cultural experiences today. I'm very excited that we're going to begin by celebrating Veterans Day. And I'm happy to bring to you today two vets who are discussing how their eBay experience has and is contributing to their individual success. Let me first introduce to you, Matt Drazba, Chief of Staff for eBay's Mobile and Development ecosystem and proud veteran of the U S Marine Corps. He will tell you a little more about himself and welcome our second guest speaker. Matt.

Thank you Dominique. I'm honored to be here today. My name is Matt Drazba and I'm the Chief of Staff for our Mobile and Developer Community here at eBay. I'm also a community leader for Honor, eBay's community of inclusion that's focused on creating an inclusive space for employees who are military veterans or who are interested in supporting veterans on our marketplace, on campus and in staffing decisions. Prior to coming to eBay, I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps including tours and amphibious assaults, convoy, security and infantry, and I continue to serve in the Reserves. But that's enough about me. I'm excited to introduce our guests. Liz Grajeda, a veteran who happens to also be a Marine. I just wanted to note that we didn't plan it this way. We just happened to get two Marines, but we do want to send a shout out to our sisters and brothers of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard, Liz. Hello and welcome to the show.

Thank you Matt. I'm excited and honored to be here today.

Tell us a little bit more about your time in the Marines and what Veterans Day means to you.

I served four years in the U S Marine Corps as a musician stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. As a flutist, I performed throughout the Western United States in concerts, parades, the military changes of command. Veteran's Day to me is both a day to honor those who have served or currently serving as well as a celebration of our brotherhood and camaraderie.

Can you share how you came to eBay and how your training and experience as a veteran contributes to how you run your business?

Sure. After the military and college, I worked for an eCommerce marketing agency and that's how I got my feet wet, managing listings. After I had my daughter, I started my own business as a paid media freelancer and a few of my clients make a substantial amount of their income from eBay. Often I get asked to set up data feeds or manage inventory or pricing tools on eBay and sometimes promoted listings. I'm in the process of launching my own musical instrument brand and eBay is a very popular place to buy and sell instruments, so it's a big part of my launch plan. I think military service lends itself to entrepreneurship as a whole. There is a lot of uncertainty in the startup phase, a lot of problem solving and having to wear multiple hats. I attribute my mental tenacity, confidence, and sense of community to my military service and that has served me well in my business.

So your values and some of the experiences that you've had in the military translate over to starting your business and being on eBay?

Yes, definitely.

Would you mind sharing why you think eBay is a valuable resource to the veterans community and or friends and family of veterans?

eBay is a source for military members and their families. Whether you plan on private labeling, making your own products or purchasing wholesale, you can test those products on eBay with very little risk and a lot less red tape compared to trying to sell on Amazon. It's a great secondary income for a veteran or military spouse. It can even become your sole source of income. I know several sellers who grows four to five figures per month shipping out of their home office or garage. You don't have to be tied down to a boss or a place and unlike multilevel marketing, you control where you sell your products and have more margin for advertising. I wish more veterans and military spouses would give eBay a shot.

Yeah, it definitely feels like there's alignment on the entrepreneurship and being able to work from anywhere. Veterans have that and then eBay supports that as well. What eBay tools or suggestions do you have to help sellers go gangbusters for the holidays?

I think last week's podcast on promotions covered the big ones. Codeless coupons and free shipping are huge. Anything that builds average order value like upsells, buy X get Y. If you're selling on Shopify or other eCommerce platforms, it's important to make sure you're updating your eBay inventory through the holidays because eBay advertises prominently on Google shopping. If you run Google product listing ads, you can show up in search engine results for both your stores listing and your eBay listing, so that's a great opportunity that doesn't cost extra money. It'll help you be more visible during the holiday season. Scarcity is my last and favorite tactic, showing only a handful of products in stock at a time or running 24 or weekend long flash sales.

I would like to encourage everyone to take a look at Liz's store that's at AZUL Music Shop. That's A Z U L music shop when you're shopping for the holidays. Liz, thank you so much for coming in today. It was great to meet a fellow Vet who's also a member of the eBay community. Your story is important, especially on Veterans Day and I'm glad that we're able to help you share it.

Thanks so much for having me. It was a pleasure to be here.

Finally, to my fellow brothers and sisters in arms. There are many resources available to you to help you grow your business. One set that I want to highlight today as a Small Business Administration's Office of Veterans Business Development. They have resources available to help veterans network, start a business, apply for loans and grants and bid for contracts. Their website is www.sea.gov/ovbd. For all sellers, be sure to check out the main small business administration page at www.sba.gov for information on all resources available through the SBA.

And just to throw in there. There's also vetsintech.co that's V E T S I N T E C H. dot C O in San Francisco. They specialize in entrepreneurship programs and also hooking mentors up with other veterans.

Thank you, Liz. I'll check that out as well. To all my fellow veterans out there, thank you all for your service. To our allies in the community, especially to our families. Thank you for your support. You make our homes and our communities something worth defending. Happy Veterans Day and Semper fi. All right, Dominique, back over to you.

Thanks Matt and Liz for your powerful stories. We hope you enjoyed our first edition of eBay Cultural Moments. Until next time, happy Veteran's Day.

Well, that's all there is for this week's episode. I hope you'll join us next week.

We'll continue with our theme. Get It Out The Door when we talk to eBay seller Joey Rufallo about the right packing for the right item at the right cost and we'll hear about jargon jar. And we'll listen into a conversation with a UPS representative about what UPS has to offer eBay sellers.

Jargon jar? Is that like jargon Jar Jar Binks?

We need a Jargon jar on our desks.

Yeah. Every time we make a bad joke.

Or acronyms.

Yeah, we'll be rich.

I'll be rich and on the way to retirement.

It sounds like another jam packed, fun filled episode Alan and I can't wait.

Yeah, me either. Anything else before we bring the curtain down this week?

Yes, Alan, the number.

Of course, if you want to join the fun here on the eBay For Business Podcasts, you can be a part of the show when you call us on (888) 723-4630.

That's (888) 723-4630 and you can call that hotline anytime of the day, any day of the week. Leave a question or comment and we just might put it on the air on.

And Don't forget, you can email your question to podcast@ebay.com. That is podcast.ebay.com.

You lonely, Bored, antsy, hungry for social interaction and the company of other eBay sellers? Well, look no further. I've got just the place for you. eBay's hottest club is meetup.com. This event has everything selling tips, information, insights, stories, finger food, dribbles.

What is a dribble?

It's that thing of when you just had a shot of novocaine in your jaw and you try to drink a beverage and it leaks out all over your mouth and all over your face.

Hey, stop that.

What?

Serious podcasts, serious business podcasts, but I get it. So even if after all of that, if you're still interested in attending a local eBay seller meetup visit ebay.com/meetup to find one close to you.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Do it right away.

Oh, you are no John Malaney.

Well, you take that back.

Anyway. To get back on topic, you should be attending a local eBay seller meetup in your area. At eBay seller meetups, sellers, share tips, selling stories, learning insights, and even a little gossip and kvetches. You can see upcoming meetups on our special eBay Community Page for meetups, ebay.com/meetups.

And don't forget to tune into our weekly live video stream on the eBay For Business Facebook page. Takes place every Wednesday at 12:30 PM Pacific time. Just go to facebook.com/eBayforbusiness.

And right after the live stream hop on over to the eBay community for our weekly community chat. It starts every Wednesday at one o'clock Pacific. Go to ebay.com/communitychat and we will see you there.

And that's our show for this week. The eBay For Business Podcast is brought to you by Head of Community Brian Burke.

Special Correspondent Jenn Deal.

Associate Executive Segment Producer in transit, Doug Smith.

Marketing Strategist, Liz Austin.

My esteemed Cohost and best friend and now partner. Well, I mean partner on the show. Don't get any ideas. Partner in crime. Alan Aisbitt… Editor in Chief and Griff. Griff!

That's me. The eBay For Business Podcast is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411. Well, I've got a lot to list this weekend, so I, I'd love to sit and chat and ad lib with you for the next, I dunno, hour, but in the interest of not being so self indulgent. I think we should draw this to a close until next week.

Well, it's time to get this episode out the door.

It's time to wrap it up and put a bow on it.

Time to gift it as a holiday gift to seller's? No, that's terrible. Sorry.

Yeah, I brought you a podcast.

My bad.

Where's my birthday cake?

It's the same thing I get every week. You got me one of these last Tuesday.

But this one is different.

Yeah, it is different.

The intro is totally different.

The intro is great. I miss the ad lib though.

You are ad libbing right now. What do you mean?

I always forget the microphone is on. One of these days. I'm gonna say something that's going to come back and bite me.