Power Sellers Center: Reviews and Guides to Promote your auctions

Power Sellers Center states: being a seller is a lot of responsibility, and sometimes you might feel like you're not doing everything you should be. This simple checklist will help you keep on top of things.
 
Have you found out everything you possibly could about your items? Try typing their names into a search engine like “Power Sellers Center” - you might find out something you didn't know. If someone else is selling the same thing as you, then always try to provide more information about it than they do.
 
Do you monitor the competition? Always keep an eye on how much other items the same as or similar to yours are selling, and what prices they're being offered at. There's usually little point in starting a fixed price auction for $100 when someone else is selling the item for $90.
 
Power Sellers Center questions: Have you got pictures of the items? It's worth taking the time to photograph your items, especially if you have a digital camera. If you get serious about eBay but don't have a camera, then you will probably want to invest in one at some point.
 
Are you emailing your sellers? It's worth sending a brief email when transactions go through: something like a simple "Thank you for buying my item, please let me know when you have sent the payment". Follow this up with "Thanks for your payment, I have posted your [item name] today". You will be surprised how many problems you will avoid just by communicating this way.
 
Also, are you checking your Power Sellers Center emails? Remember that potential buyers can send you email about anything at any time, and not answering these emails will just make them go somewhere else instead of buying from you.
 
Do your item Power Sellers Center description pages have everything that buyers need to know? If you're planning to offer international delivery, then it's good to make a list of the charges to different counties and display it on each auction. If you have any special terms and conditions (for example, if you will give a refund on any item as long as it hasn't been opened), then you should make sure these are displayed too.
 
Have you been wrapping your items correctly? Your wrapping should be professional for the best impression: use appropriately sized envelopes or parcels, wrap the item in bubble wrap to stop it from getting damaged, and print labels instead of hand-writing addresses. Oh, and always use first class post - don't be cheap.
 
Do you follow up? It is worth sending out an email a few days after you post an item, saying "Is everything alright with your purchase? I hope you received it and it was as you expected." This might sound like giving the customer an opportunity to complain, but you should be trying to help your customers, not take their money and run.
 
Being a really good eBay seller according to Power Sellers Center, more than anything else, is about providing genuinely good and honest customer service. That's the only foolproof way to protect your reputation. Of course, you might be wondering by now whether it's really worth all the hassle to get a good reputation on eBay. Won't people buy from you anyway, and couldn't you just open a new account if it really comes down to that? Our next email will set you straight.

In past articles Power Sellers Center discussed how to effectively promote your eBay store using your About Me page.  In that article I outlined that it was one of the most underutilised promotion opportunities on eBay.  Ebay Reviews and Guides are a new introduction by eBay, but are just as underutilised by eBay sellers as the About Me page.  In this article I will discuss how you can utilise this excellent feature to promote your eBay store:
 
Power Sellers Center  Tip 1) What is an eBay Review or Guide?:- A review is simply your own personal review of any product on the eBay market, for example a CD, DVD, book etc.  You give the product a rating out of five and then write a brief personal review about what you liked, didn't like etc.  A guide can be on absolutely anything you are qualified to give advice on.  I convert these newsletter articles into "Ebook Success" guides on eBay which complement my eBay store.  However, guides don't necessarily have to relate to your eBay store.  If for example, you enjoy fishing then you could write guides related to fishing.
 
Power Sellers Center  Tip  2) Why should I write an eBay Review or Guide?:- I would personally recommend writing guides over reviews.  The reason for this is that when you write a review the only credit you receive is a small link to your eBay feedback profile.  When you write a guide you receive a link back to your eBay feedback profile, eBay store, eBay About Me page, and some of your active listings.  Anyway, whether you choose to write a review or guide, the reason for doing so is promotion.  People reading your review or guide will be made aware of your eBay presence, may click on a link to one of your pages, and this may even lead to a sale.
 
Power Sellers Center  Tip 3) What should I write my eBay Review or Guide on?:- As mentioned earlier I write "Ebook Success" guides which are basically converted copies of these newsletter articles.  However, the possibilities are endless.  Just think of your hobbies, your job, or anything else which you know enough about to write a series of guides on.  Everyone can write about at least ONE THING.  Once you have found your topic, break it down into small, relevant guides.  If you're really, really struggling to find a topic for a guide, then write a review on a product that you own.  Although the promotion will not be as great as the promotion you would receive from a guide, it still provides you with free promotion.
 
Power Sellers Center  Tip 4: That's all there is to it.  Keep writing regular guides and if they are good people will rate them positively.  The more positive ratings you get, the higher your reviewer rank gets.  Also, the more guides you write, the more pages you have on eBay promoting your listings, your store, and your feedback.  Since reviews and guides are relatively new and haven't fully taken off yet, it's best to get in now, while the majority of eBayers are not writing reviews and guides.  That way when it takes off on a larger scale, you will already have a solid foundation upon which to build.  This is a promotional opportunity that you should not pass up.  For five minutes writing, you can have a free, long term, promotional tool at your disposal.