Finding a Trading Assistant


eBay Trading Assistants are everywhere. Almost every locality has one or more individuals or businesses that will take your goods on consignment and sell them on eBay for you. But how do you find a Trading Assistant near you?

It's simple, really, thanks to eBay's Trading Assistants Directory, which lists TAs by location and specialty. To search the directory, all you have to do is go to eBay's Trading Assistants hub (pages.ebay.com/tahub/), shown in Figure 25.1, and click the Find a Trading Assistant link or the Find a Seller button. When the Trading Assistants Directory page appears (as shown in Figure 25.2), enter your street address, city, state, and ZIP code. Pull down the I Need Help Selling list and select a category for what you want to sell, then check whether you want a TA with a drop-off location or one that offers a pick-up service. Click the Search button to begin your search.

Figure 25.1. eBay's Trading Assistants hub


Figure 25.2. Searching the Trading Assistants Directory.


When the list of Trading Assistants in your area appears, click a link to view the Trading Assistant's profile. (Figure 25.3 shows a typical TA profile.) If you like what you see, click the Contact Assistant button to send a message to the Trading Assistant and get the process going.

Figure 25.3. Viewing a Trading Assistant's profileand making contact.


When researching Trading Assistants, there are a few things you want to look for. First, make sure the TA's fees are competitive; compare fees from more than one TA in your area, just in case. You should also look to see how many listings the seller has placed on eBay over the last few weeks. Look at their listings. Are they professionally done? Do they list reasonable shipping fees? Do they ship outside the country? Do they have experience selling a variety of items, or do they specialize in a very specific area?

Note

A Trading Assistant with a retail drop-off location is called a Trading Post.


You may also want to consider convenience. Some Trading Assistants offer merchandise pick-up services; others have staffed drop-off locations. You can fine-tune your search for either type of Trading Assistant.

Finally, know that not all Trading Assistants are individual sellers. eBay consignment selling has become a big business, with lots of stores opening their doors in communities all across America. Locally owned consignment stores can be found in your local Yellow Pages. Some of the largest national chains include AuctionDrop (www.auctiondrop.com), iSold It (www.i-soldit.com), and QuikDrop (www.quikdrop.com); visit their websites to find a location near you. (Figure 25.4 shows the AuctionDrop website.)

Figure 25.4. AuctionDrop, a national Trading Assistant chain with drop-off locations at UPS Store locations.





Absolute Beginner's Guide to eBay
Absolute Beginners Guide to eBay (4th Edition)
ISBN: 078973561X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 204

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