10,000th eBay sale tonight (and a lot of problems along the way)

We started our "little" eBay business back in August, 2007. Today, one year and eight months later, we hit our 10,000th eBay sale. Woohoo!

We've been working hard from day one, going from about 10 listings twenty months ago to over 22,000 listings today. We carry thousands of exclusive items that can't be found anywhere else on eBay--and today, most of our items include FREE shipping.

There's been a learning curve, of course, and there's been some trial and error along the way as we've learned the system and learned how to make our business work. With the economy the way it is these days, and with the ever-declining eBay "top-dog" position in the online marketplace, it simply isn't easy to be successful right now. But I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish. We've seen business--on eBay and off--start (or continue their established presence) during this time. And we've seen them falter.

So much has been said in so many places about what is or is not to blame. Certainly, one can't deny the effect the economy has had on a global scale. But the downturn for so many eBay sellers (and PowerSellers) was marked even before the effects of the economy hit the average buyer's pocket. Were I running eBay (and I'm glad I'm not, or there'd be a lynch mob out to get me, for one), there are many thing I'd do differently. Okay, that's an understatement. Most things I'd do differently. Maybe I'll go into more of that later. Simply though, I think it's a distinct failing of eBay top management, a loss of vision, an identity crisis, and a whole string of just bad decisions. And to top it all off, eBay has an uncanny lack of ability to admit when it's made a mistake--and to correct said mistake.

That's a mistake.

One thing we've certainly done along the way is make mistakes. Anyone out there who runs a business and never says they've made a mistake (or even simply admitted they'd have been better off doing "A' rather than "B" after they've already done "B"...or worse yet, done all of the above, then refused to go back and do "A" while they still have a fighting chance...you know, lile John Donohoe) is not telling the truth. Simple as that.

So, mistakes and all, we survive in what has become, at best, a "challenging" marketplace for sellers. We've expanded and are expanding still. We're adding new products all the time, we have would-be vendors asking if we'd like to carry their products, we're developing a whole new line (it's a surprise...we'll be announcing it soon!), we're expanding into more and more online marketplaces, and so on. I cna honestly say that, if it weren't for the mistakes we've made along the way and how we've dealt with them, we woudn't be blogging this now. And we'd probably be out of business.

That's something I'll expand upon in upcoming posts, these strategies that have worked for us. But how about this: mistakes can be a strategy. In a future post, we'll go into more detail on how to turn those mistakes into successes. For now, though, if I were to come up wth some advice off the top of my head about mistakes and what to do about them, I'd say this:

Whenever and wherever possible

Admit your mistakes.
Apologize for your mistakes.
Correct your mistakes.
Learn from your mistakes.

I remember taking some of those managerial training courses years ago at work. One thing that seemed to be in vogue at the time was not using the word "problem." "There are no problems, thee are only opportunities." It was pounded into our heads. Do not use the word "problem." Umm, okay.

How does this sound to you if you're a customer: "I'm so sorry to hear about your opportunity. What can I do to help?" Okay, that's bit over-the-top, but you get the idea. I'd be more likely to say, "I'm sorry to hear about the problem you had with our widget. I'm going to do what I can to fix it for you..." and then I'd go on to take concrete steps to do just that.

One thing you'll notice about our eBay feedback is that the number currently sits at 4,673. That means that, with 10,000 sales (and a good number of "buying feedback" mixed in there), there are a lot of customers in there who buy more than one item and/or come back again to buy from us. I think it's the latter that makes such a big difference.

We've been asked before how we get such a high percentage of repeat customers. Some sellers have mentioned that, once they have someone with a "problem" (er, opportunity, that is), they can count not only on bad feedback from that person but the loss of a potential repeat customer. I say that's just not true.

Some of our best customers (and some of the people who most often send little emails and funny pictures to brighten our day, as a matter of fact) started out as customers other sellers would see as "problems." It's all in how you handle the problem, the situation, and the customer--the person on the other end. We use "problems" as the "opportunity" they are--an opportunity to demonstrate our integrity, an opportunity to make someone feel better when they come to us disappointed, an opportunity to make things right, and an opportunity to learn what to change and how to do things better from that point forward.

Are you listening, eBay?

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