Section 146. Contact the Buyer

146. Contact the Buyer

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

145 Track Your Auction


SEE ALSO

147 About Accepting Payments


Your auction's over and you have a high bidder. Now comes the good part: It's time to collect the money.

The first step in doing that is contacting the buyer. You should get in touch with the buyer immediately and make clear how you'll accept payment. This friendly exchange ensures that you get paid on time so you can ship the goods.

146. Contact the Buyer


1.
Check Your Email

When the auction ends, you get an email from eBay informing you who the high bidder is. The email includes the auction title and identifying number; the user ID, real name , and email address of the high bidder; a link to the auction page; details about shipping that you filled in for the auction listing; and details about your payment instructions to the buyer.

NOTE

When a buyer wins an auction, he gets a notification from eBay that he has won the auction, so it won't come as a surprise when you send him an email.

2.
Start to Create an Invoice

The email you receive from eBay includes a Create and Send an Invoice link. If you want to create an invoice using eBay tools, click the link.

3.
Fill In Payment Details

When you click the Create and Send an Invoice link, you are sent to a page that creates the invoice for you. The top part of the page includes information about how much is owed you. The eBay invoice tool fills in the final auction price as well as any flat-rate shipping price you entered when you created the auction. You can change the shipping price if you want, although you can't change the final auction price. You can also add shipping insurance and sales tax.

4.
Enter Payment Instructions and Send the Invoice

The bottom part of the invoice form includes the payment instructions and space for a personal note you can include in the invoice. The payment instructions have been filled in already, taken directly from your auction page. You can reword them if you want; however, you can't change the actual way you'll accept payment. (If you said on your auction page that you accept personal checks, you can't now say that you don't accept personal checks.) Also, make it clear to the buyer that you won't ship the goods until you've received payment and the payment clears.

If you indicated that you accept PayPal payments when you created the auction, the eBay invoice you send to the buyer includes a PayPal button. The buyer can pay you by simply clicking the PayPal button in the email invoice she receives from you and following the PayPal payment instructions.

KEY TERM

PayPal A person-to-person service that lets people pay each other directly, using email and the Internet. You open a PayPal account and link that account to your credit card or bank. If you use PayPal to receive payments (if you're a seller), you can have PayPal send you a check for the payment you've received.

TIP

At the bottom of the invoice page is a Copy Me on This Invoice check box. Enable the check box to receive a copy of the invoice you send to the buyer. Always enable this check box so that you have verification of when you sent the invoice to the buyer.

When you're done filling out the invoice form, click Send Invoice . The invoice is sent to the buyerand a copy is sent to you if you enabled the Copy Me on This Invoice check box.

5.
Check Your Email Again

Because you enabled the Copy Me on This Invoice check box (you did check that box, didn't you?), you get a copy of the email invoice that is sent to the buyer. Check your email immediately to ensure that the invoice is correct. If it contains any errors, immediately send an email to the buyer to let him know about the errorsand the corrections.

NOTE

eBay asks that you send an invoice to the buyer within three days of the end of the auction.

6.
Send an Email Directly

If you have your own personal invoice, or prefer to write your own email instead of sending an automated eBay invoice, you can send an email directly to the buyer and include payment information in that message. Use the email address for the buyer that appears when you click the high bidder's member ID on your auction page.

NOTE

If you've given the buyer a choice of shipping methods , be sure to ask the buyer which shipping method she prefers when you send your email to her.




Sams Teach Yourself Creating Web Pages All in One
Sams Teach Yourself Creating Web Pages All in One
ISBN: 0672326906
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 276

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