Chapter 7. Step Five: Set Up Your Back Office

     

In this chapter

• Setting up your home office

• Setting up your packing center

• Managing your physical inventory

Running an eBay business involves a lot of work ”and a lot of different work. There's a fair share of bookwork involved, especially when it comes to managing your eBay auctions, which means working behind a desk or at a computer. Then there's the physical management of your inventory. And the packing and shipping of all the items you sell.

All of these back-office activities have to be done someplace. Assuming that you're running your eBay business out of your home, that means carving out space to run your business ”space for your desk and computer, space for your inventory, and space for your "shipping department." That might mean appropriating a spare bedroom, or setting up shop in your basement , or even portioning off part of your kitchen or living room. Wherever you find the space, it's important to get your back office set up and running smoothly, so that you can perform your day-to-day eBay operations with a minimum of fuss and muss.