Listing in Bulk

   

Using eBay's standard Sell Your Item pages isn't that hard, really, but it is time-consuming especially if you have a lot of items to list all at once. Going through that cumbersome procedure for a dozen or more items isn't very appealing; trust me.

A better solution for high-volume sellers is to use a bulk listing program or service. These tools let you create a large number of item listings in advance, and even reuse saved listingsgreat if you run multiple auctions for similar items. You then schedule your auctions to launch at the time of your choosing, and you're done with it.

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Most of these bulk listing programs/services also enable you to create sophisticated HTML-enabled listingswhich you'll learn more about in Chapter 18.


There are a number of these bulk listing tools available; I'll discuss some of the most popular ones next . Which of these should you choose? That's entirely up to you, of course; they all offer many of the same functions. One of the big differences is price; they range in cost from free (eBay Turbo Lister) to 25 cents or more per listingand some even charge a final value fee on top of that! Fortunately, most of these services provide free trials, so you can try them out before you commit.

Pick the tool that works best for you, with a cost you can live with. Rememberall these individual fees can really take a cut out of your profits, so make sure you factor the costs into your overall financial plan.

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For years , eBay offered the Mister Lister bulk listing software. Turbo Lister is the replacement for Mister Lister, with many new features.


eBay Turbo Lister

eBay offers its own bulk listing software, called eBay Turbo Lister. To download the Turbo Lister software, go to pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/. The program is free, and there are no monthly subscription feeswhich makes it the program of choice for cost-conscious sellers.

Turbo Lister lets you create your item listings offline, at your leisure. (It also offers HTML-based templates you can use to spruce up your item listingsalthough these are pretty much the same templates found in the Listing Designer section of the Sell Your Item page.) Then, when you're ready, it uploads all your listings at once, with the click of a button. Creating multiple auctions couldn't be easier.

Creating a Listing

The Turbo Lister software is quite easy to use. It uses a series of forms to request information about your listings, as well as a WYSIWYG editor for creating great-looking listings. Here's how it works:

  1. From the main Turbo Lister screen, click the Create Item button.

  2. When the Create a New Item screen appears, select the country you're selling in and your preferred auction format. Click Next to proceed.

  3. When the next screen appears, enter your item title and select a category. Click Next to proceed.

  4. When the Design Your Listing screen appears, as shown in Figure 11.5, select a visual theme; select a layout; enter your description text; and upload your listing photo(s). You can do all this from either the Design View or HTML View tabs; select the Preview Tab to see how your listing will look. Click Next to proceed.

    Figure 11.5. Use Turbo Lister's Design View to design great-looking item listings.

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  5. When the Format Specifics screen appears, as shown in Figure 11.6, enter the remaining details of your item listings.

    Figure 11.6. Enter listing details on the Format Specifics page.

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  6. Click the Save button to save this listing.

This item is now added to your item inventory. You use this inventory to upload individual listings to eBay.

Uploading Your Listings

To view the items you've added to your inventory, click the Item Inventory tab. This screen lists all the items you've created; from here you can edit, delete, or create duplicate items.

caution

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If you choose to schedule your auctions to start at a later time, you'll pay eBay 10 cents a listing for this privilege.


When you have an item that you want to list on eBay, select the item and click the Add to Upload button. You can see all the items in your upload queue by clicking the Listings Waiting to Upload tab. This page shows all items waiting to be uploaded. While they're waiting, you can calculate listing fees and change the start time for any specific auction.

Uploading your pending auctions is as easy as clicking the Upload All to eBay button. Listings set to start immediately do so, and items with a future start time are sent to eBay's Pending Listings section. These auctions will go live at the time(s) you previously scheduled.

ndale Lister

If you've read this far in this book you already know that I'm a fan of ndale's auction-management tools. ndale Lister is the company's primary bulk-listing tool, and I like it.

ndale Lister lets you create good looking listings, using a variety of professionally created ad templates. You create your ads in bulk, then upload them according to your designated timetable. (You can even program a series of listings to launch on a regularly occurring scheduleor until your inventory runs out.)

Like most of the other third-party bulk listing tools (but unlike eBay Turbo Lister), ndale Lister isn't free. Table 11.1 details ndale's rather complex fee schedule for this service:

Table 11.1. ndale Lister Fees

Monthly Fee

Listings Included

Each Additional Listing

$2.00

10

$0.20

$7.50

40

$0.18

$16.95

110

$0.15

$33.95

275

$0.12

$56.95

550

$0.10

$89.95

1,100

$0.08

$149.95

2,750

$0.05

$224.95

5,600

$0.04

When it comes to creating your auction listings, ndale gives you a choice. You can create your listings online, using their One-Step Lister, or offline, using their ndale Lister Pro software. The software is free (although ndale still charges their fees for all listings you upload) and provides the option of creating all your ads offline, at your leisure.

We'll look at how to use the Lister Pro software, as it's the best way to bulk list large numbers of items; the Web-based One-Step Lister operates similarly.

Creating a Listing

Before you can create a listing, you first have to create a "market profile" and a "checkout profile," which tell ndale what key details to insert into your item listings. You do this by selecting Tools, Manage Profiles, and then selecting the profile you want to edit.

Now you have to enter an item into inventory and create your item listing. You do this by following these steps:

  1. Click the New button on the toolbar.

  2. When the Inventory Item dialog box appears, select the Item Information tab (shown in Figure 11.7) and enter the following details about your item:

    • SKU (a unique item number)

    • Ad Name

    • Quantity in Stock

    • Cost Price

    • Market (select eBay)

    • Auction Type (select Auction)

    • On Market Title (listing title)

    • Category1 and Category2 (optional)

    • Quantity

    • Minimum Bid

    • Reserve Price (optional)

    • Duration

    • Buy It Now price (optional)

    • Market Profile (select from the list, or click Create New to create a new profile)

    Figure 11.7. Entering a new item into inventory with ndale Lister Pro.

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  3. Click Next to continue, or select the Description tab (shown in Figure 11.8), then enter the item description.

    Figure 11.8. Entering listing information into ndale Lister Pro.

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  4. To add photographs to your listing, click the Add Images button and follow the onscreen instructions.

  5. Select a layout and theme from the appropriate lists, then select what type of counter you want.

  6. Click Next to continue, or select the Checkout Settings tab, then select a Checkout Profile, choose a Checkout Notification method, select whether to display a Checkout Link in your listing, and then enter the item's shipping weight and packing information.

  7. Click Next or select the Preview tab to view a preview of your item listing, or select the Advanced tab to enter further details about the item and its condition.

  8. When you're finished entering information, click the Save As button, enter a name for this listing, then click OK.

Uploading Your Listings

Your listing now appears in the inventory list in the main Lister Pro window. To launch some or all of these items as eBay auctions, you have to upload the listings to eBay, as follows :

  1. Select the listings you want to launch. (Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple listings.)

  2. Click the Send to Outbox button. When the next dialog box appears, select Selected Items and click OK.

  3. When the Schedule Options dialog box appears, select whether you want to launch the auctions immediately or on a delayed launch, then click Send to Outbox. (If you select Delayed Launch, you'll be prompted as to when you want the auctions to start.)

  4. Your auctions are now ready to be uploaded to eBay. Click the Send/Receive button to connect to the Internet and upload the listings.

Your auctions will now upload to eBay, and start in the manner you selected.

Auctiva Mr. Poster

Auctiva Mr. Poster (www.auctiva.com) enables you to create standard eBay listings (no fancy templates, sorry) offline, and then upload them in bulk at your convenience. Unlike some other third-party bulk listers, Mr. Poster is freealthough you do have to be an Auctiva member to use it. (Membership is also free.)

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If you're more interested in fancy-looking listings, check out Auctiva's other listing program, Auctiva Lister, which is available by subscription for $9.95 per month.


Creating a Listing

Since Mr. Poster doesn't have a lot of fancy features, it's probably one of the easiest bulk listing programs to use. You create what Mr. Poster calls a batch to hold the listings you want to upload, and then add individual listings to the batch. Then you can upload the entire batch of listings all at once.

To create a new batch and individual item listings, follow these steps:

  1. Select File, New Batch to open a new batch window.

  2. Click the Add Item button to display the Edit Item form, shown in Figure 11.9.

    Figure 11.9. Creating a new item listing with Auctiva Mr. Poster.

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  3. Enter all the information about your new itemtitle, description, category, price, and so on. Click Preview to view your listing, and Finish when you're done.

Uploading Your Listings

All your newly created listings are displayed in the current batch window. To upload this batch of listings to eBay, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Schedule Batch button. (If you're prompted to save the batch, do so now.)

  2. When the Schedule Batch dialog box appears, choose to either post the entire batch now or schedule when the batch should be posted. Click Submit to proceed.

Mr. Poster now uploads the batch of listings and launches the auctions according to your instructions.

Vendio Sales Manager

Vendio Sales Manager (www.vendio.com) is the number-two third-party auction creation service, after ndale, with more than 100,000 current users. Vendio offers a variety of auction management tools on its site; Sales Manager lets you create sophisticated eBay listings in advance and then upload them in bulk.

Vendio's pricing is a combination of monthly fee, per-item listing fee, and per-item final value fee. It's all a little complicated, especially when you consider that they have both variable rate and flat rate plans. Table 11.2 details Vendio's pricing.

Table 11.2. Vendio Sales Manager Fees

Plan

Monthly Fee

Listing Fee

Final Value Fee

Standard Plan

none

$0.10/$0.05

1%

Variable Rate Premium Plan

$12.95

$0.05

1%

Variable Rate Power Plan

$29.95

none

1.25%

Flat Rate Premium Plan

$12.95

$0.20

none

Flat Rate Power Plan

$39.95

$0.10

none

Listing-Only (Annual)

$250 (yearly)

$0.06

none

These plans (except for the Listing-Only Plan, of course) include all of Vendio's auction management services, of which the bulk lister is only part. And about that listing fee on the Standard Planit's 10 cents per item for the first 50 listings each month, and 5 cents per listing thereafter.

Creating a Listing

Like ndale, Vendio Sales Manager comes in both online and offline versions. The software version is called Sales Manager Pro, and we'll use it for our examples.

Like Auctiva Mr. Poster, Sales Manager Pro works with batches of listings. Follow these steps to create a new batch and new listings:

  1. Select File, New Batch, to open a new batch window.

  2. Click the New Listing button to display the Select Site for Listing dialog box.

  3. Select eBay from the Choose Site list, select Auction from the Select Listing Type list, and then click OK.

  4. When the New Batch Listing dialog box appears, select the Basic Information tab (shown in Figure 11.10) and enter the key information about the item.

    Figure 11.10. Entering information about a new item listing in Vendio Sales Manager Pro.

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  5. Select the eBay Site Information tab and enter additional information about this item listing. This is also where you choose the look for your listing, by making a selection from the Template list.

    "Mike Sez"

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    Don't ask me which of these plans is the best deal. It all depends on how many listings you intend to make each month and how you like to be charged. My advice is to start with the Standard Plan to see if you like the service, then upgrade to one of the other plans as appropriate.

  6. Select the Preview tab to see how your listing will look, then click OK.

Uploading Your Listings

Your new listing is now added to the batch. Uploading the listings is as simple as clicking the Upload button.

Other Bulk Listing Options

I've covered the major bulk listing programs and servicesbut there are more. For your complete edification, here's a list of the other bulk listing options available to you:

  • Auction Hawk (www.auctionhawk.com). A Web-based listing creator that is part of a larger package of auction management tools. Pricing starts at $12.99 per month.

  • AuctionSubmit (www.auctionsubmit.com). A freeware bulk lister, without a lot of fancy features.

  • Auction Wizard 2000 (www.auctionwizard2000.com). A software program that includes an image editor, listing creator, report generator, FTP manager, and auction database. Price is $75 for the first year, and $50 per year afterward.

  • Auctionworks ClickLaunch Quick Lister (www.auctionworks.com). One of several auction tools offered in a bundle. Fees run 2% of the final selling price, with a $0.10 minimum and a $3.00 maximum

  • ChannelAdvisor Pro (www.channeladvisor.com). A collection of auction listing and management tools, targeted at super-high-volume sellers. (The company also offers ChannelAdvisor Merchant and ChannelAdvisor Enterprise , for even higher-volume online merchants .) Cost is $29.95 per month.

  • CollectorOnline (www.collectoronline.com). This Web site offers listing creation and bulk uploading as part of their auction management services, targeted at serious collectors. Pricing starts at $19.95 per month.

  • eBay Seller's Assistant Pro (pages.ebay.com/sellers_assistant/). A software program offered directly from eBay, although it's being phased out in favor of eBay Turbo Lister. (eBay also offers eBay Seller's Assistant Basic , a listing creation program without bulk listing features.) The subscription fee is $15.99 per month.

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    Learn more about the complete range of auction management services offered by these companies in Chapter 20, "Using Professional Auction Tools."


  • eLister (www.blackmagik.com). A Macintosh-only listing creation program. Subscription fee is $9.95 per month.

The Absolute Minimum

When it comes time to list your items for auction, keep these points in mind:

  • Before you list an item for auction, make sure you're a registered eBay user and that you understand eBay's listing and selling fees.

  • When you're listing a small number of items, use eBay's Sell Your Item page.

  • When you're listing a large number of itemsor want to create professional-looking listingsuse a bulk listing tool, such as eBay Turbo Lister, ndale Lister, Auctiva Poster, or Vendio Sales Manager.




Absolute Beginner's Guide to Launching an eBay Business
Absolute Beginners Guide to Launching an eBay Business
ISBN: 0789730588
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 167

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