- What’s a PowerSeller?
- What’s a Trading Assistant?
- What’s a Trading Post?
- To Franchise or Not?
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
What’s a Trading Assistant?
Trading Assistants are the next step in eBay selling. A Trading Assistant helps folks who don’t want to become eBay sellers sell their items through eBay. Basically, you take a customer’s items and do all the selling for them—list, collect the payment, ship the item to the buyer, and so on. In return, you keep a portion of the proceeds from the sale.
The advantage is that people find things for you to sell. You can build a network of customers who will keep your shelves filled with new items for sale on eBay each week. Many Trading Assistants make arrangements with "pickers," folks who love to scour yard sales and church fundraisers for treasures. Others make arrangements with local businesses to liquidate their distressed merchandise on eBay. And, of course, the bread and butter for most Trading Assistants is provided by local homeowners wanting to reduce their clutter and get some cash in the process.
The down side of being a Trading Assistant is that you must split the profit. When you sell your own things you get to keep the entire net income. As a Trading Assistant you split the proceeds with the item’s owner. Although it is up to you to decide how much of a cut you will take, the range is typically in the 25%–40% neighborhood. So, selling an item for $100 on eBay might put $25 to $40 in your pocket before expenses.
Trading Assistant Requirements
You do not need to be a PowerSeller to be a Trading Assistant, but it’s a good idea to reach PowerSeller status first, if only to gain the necessary selling experience you’ll want to have as an assistant. To become a Trading Assistant, you need to meet eBay’s requirements, which are detailed on its web site (http://pages.ebay.com/tradingassistants/user-agreement.html).
The minimum requirements for Trading Assistants are as follows:
Sell at least 10 items in the past 90 days
Have a minimum of 100 feedback entries
97% or more of your feedback must be positive
Your eBay account must be in good standing
To remain in the Trading Assistants Directory, you need to meet the following requirements:
Sell at least 10 items every 90 days.
Maintain a 97% or higher feedback rating.
Keep your eBay account in good standing.
If you meet these requirements, you can create a profile in the Trading Assistants Directory (see Figure 3.6) by clicking the Create/Edit Your Profile link.
Here you will describe your specialties, fees, terms, contact information, and drop-in hours (if any). Your profile will appear in search results when people look for Trading Assistants in your area.
Think of your Trading Assistants Directory entry as an electronic classified ad for your services. List your specialties, hours of operation, and any other information that might entice someone to use your services. This is a selling tool, so be professional, and brag a little, but don’t misrepresent yourself. Figure 3.7 shows a copy of my Directory listing.
)
Figure 3.6 The Trading Assistant Directory helps customers find you.
)
Figure 3.7 Here’s a typical Trading Assistant Directory listing.
Do not represent yourself as an employee or independent contractor of eBay. eBay can also prevent you from posting a profile if it chooses; for example, if your clients have serious complaints about your service as a Trading Assistant.
Currently, the program is free but eBay cautions, "While eBay reserves the right to charge a fee for inclusion in the Trading Assistants Directory, there are no plans in the foreseeable future to do so. Should this change, all Trading Assistants will be notified well in advance so that they have ample time to decide whether to remain in the directory."
In later chapters we will turn our attention to the marketing, operational, and financial aspects of being a Trading Assistant, but first let’s take a quick look at Trading Assistants on steroids: Trading Posts.