eBay Home and Garden Tips For Sellers
Selling home and garden goods on eBay can be a lot of fun, but it can also be complex, a hassle, and even lead to returns and dissatisfied customers if you aren’t careful and conscientious. Here are some things to keep in mind as a home and garden seller on eBay:- Detailed listings are everything. Home and garden goods are going to become parts of peoples homes and lives, so buyers’ requirements are often more stringent for these types of goods, for sound reasons. Spend whatever time is necessary to give detailed specifications—things like power requirements, connection methods, dimensions, cord length, seed plant depth, height, sunlight levels, and season, indoor/outdoor use safety, and so on. The more information the better.
- Be up-front and post warnings or caveats to avoid trouble. So your mirror isn’t actually framed by wood, but only by plastic. Say so—some buyer out there is looking for a plastic-framed mirror. Don’t hedge. List replicas as replicas, indoor-only goods as indoor-only, “basic” quality goods as “basic” in quality level, and so on.
- Rate goods by skill level. “Home and garden” is a very broad category of goods, and some of the goods are specialized or require expert knowledge to use—construction materials, for example, or power tools, or some times of seeds or plants that are difficult to grow even in their native climate. Tell buyers enough in your listing so that they’ll know whether they’ll be in over their heads, and don’t lie. “Anybody can put up this gazebo with our easy instructions” is not something that will be true for many buyers, so don’t sugar coat it; try to give an approximate skill level required when appripriate, for example, “This tool offers very fine control but is also fragile and often difficult for novices to use, so you should have some prior experience before buying this one.”
- Explain the shipping process and timeline. Especially for complex home goods like structures or raw materials for construction or gardening, give buyers information on where the goods were made, where they’re coming from when you ship them, how long the handling process takes before shipment, what method of shipment is being used, and how long shipping will take.
- Protect goods appropriately before shipping. Due to things like weight, odd shapes, “outdoor” specific characteristics, and fragility or susceptibility to damage, home and garden goods can often be some of the most difficult to pack properly. Spend the time and money to do it right so that goods arrive intact, use a shipping specialist if necessary, and be sure to “prep” goods that need to be prepped before shipping them—remember, for example, not to try and ship a gas-powered garden tool with a full tank of gas or oil.
- Provide the best instructions possible. Include all manufacturer’s documentation whenever possible. When it’s not included or it doesn’t exist, say so in your listing. If necessary, craft your own documentation to the best of your ability using your own word processor. Some shoppers will know exactly what to do with the item, but many will need hand-holding and will be frustrated if they have to try to call or email you after the fact in order to get it.
- Be very explicit about returns. Because home and garden goods (especially of the outdoor or materials variety) may be very difficult to return in the condition in which they were shipped, be very explicit about your returns and exchanges policy in your listing so that there are absolutely no mix-ups when the deal is done. Then, be helpful to the extent you’ve promised to be, and stick to your guns after that.
For Both Buyers and Sellers
Remember to be patient as you complete home and garden transactions, especially those involving goods that aren’t consumer-ready, aren’t mass-produced/factory-manufactured, and so on. The nature of many home and garden goods means that some back and forth may be required before and/or after the purchase (for instructions, additional information, etc.) in order for both parties to be satisfied.Keep your patience and your wits about you, be conscientious to your trading partner, and enjoy home and garden buying and selling on eBay.
