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EBAY: Good organization saves time, money
By SUZIE EADS, eBay Queen
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Dear eBay Queen: I really need some advice on how to keep track of items I have listed on eBay and in my store.
It seems so hard to find sold items easily after the auction closes. I really need some organizational help. Do you have any idea how to manage large quantities of product? I am open to anything at this point. I just need to find something that works for me.
Currently, I sell shelf-pulls and overstocks on ladies clothes, and a line of baby clothes. I’m just now getting started managing this inventory and I can’t seem to arrange my stuff.
I will consider any way of keeping some type of order that will enable me to find things easily. I’ve seen some sellers put numbers and letters (1A, 1B, 3G) in the title of their auctions, but that takes up valuable search word spaces and doesn’t seem professional.
Ladies clothing is my biggest problem. I photograph them on a hanger. To keep them hanging after photographing them isn’t a viable option. There will be a huge lack of hanging space and hanging equipment, so they must be refolded and replaced in their packaging to maintain their cleanliness and integrity.
I’ve tried to keep things grouped by the weeks I listed them and that didn’t work. I didn’t realize people wouldn’t buy in the order I listed them. I can easily store items that are not yet listed, but once it’s listed, I feel like it takes too long to locate the item, verify that it’s the correct one, then get it packaged, etc.
What do you do with hundreds of items while you are waiting for them to be purchased? How do you organize them for easy locating, and get them packaged and in the mail quickly? I would appreciate any advice you have for me. Once I figure out how I can arrange listed merchandise for easy reach when purchased, I will be more comfortable and maybe save some time. — Fran F., Olathe
Dear Fran: This is the predicament that sellers of all sizes find themselves in. You are 100 percent right, if you were more organized you would save yourself time and money.
When it comes to clothing, have you considered storing your items in totes? I have found sorting items by size and type very effective. So if you have women’s shirts, pants, shorts and skirts, you could have a tote for each one of those items. If you have a lot of women’s clothing, you could not only break it down by type but by size, i.e., pants size 12, 14, 16; shirts size 4, 6, 8. That way when items sell you can go to the tote with the correct size and type.
I’ve also seen items with numbers and letters in the title and I agree, it does take up valuable title keywords. That doesn’t stop you from putting the number/letter combination in the auction. To make this program work, when you write up your listing, put your item in tote 1A and write at the bottom of the listing “for office use only 1A.”
Another high-tech way to organize your business is to get an inventory scanner system. As long as your items have a bar code (you can assign them one if they don’t), you can scan them and give them a place on a shelf or tote. Most eBay listing programs are compatible with bar code scanning equipment.
I hope one of these ideas will put you on the path to having a successful, organized business.
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Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com.
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