eBay PowerSeller Nick Sevino (a pseudonym) answers questions about buying and selling on eBay.

Nick,
I'm selling 10-13 items a day. I am slammed with work. Do you have any tips to help me with time management? Please help.
John

Dear John,
I could write a book on this one. The rule of thumb when handling auctions manually: 3 to 5 auctions per day are very manageable; at 7 you start to stress; and 10 is stretching the capability of the average seller (without automation).

Your first step is to get Auction Manager Software. This is a system or software that will automate the process. There are many independent companies and Ebay also offers its own tools.

AuctionBytes has an article from last year about what to look for when selecting a service: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y202/m03/abu0065/s02 and a chart of some of the services here: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/ams

Your #1 goal on eBay is to minimize customer inquiries. Answering emails and telephone calls is quite time-consuming. The best way to do this is to disclose as much information as possible in your listing and in your closing letter. Also, as stated in other articles, a real time-saver is emailing delivery confirmations to your customers. Once they receive the confirmation number, 99.9 percent are satisfied.

On a different note, there are some programs available that can save you time. My favorites are.

MacroMagic
http://www.iolo.com
This is a macro program that will record mouse and keyboard motions and play them back. Quite flexible, it has tremendous amount of features.

Roboforms
http://www.roboform.com
This program simplifies process of logging into Web sites. It remembers passwords and any other information to fill a form.

Clipmate
http://www.thornsoft.com
This program stores multiple clips. It has a feature called Power Paste. Basically you copy as many items as you'd like in a row. Than you activate powerpaste and as you paste it will automatically scroll to the next paste.

AutoDialogs
http://www.metaproducts.com
This program speeds up the process of switching folders. You store locations on your computer and then can make Explorer go directly to the file.

Snag it 6
http://www.techsmith.com
You can capture any picture or area on your screen. Makes very tight Jpegs.

The Bat
http://www.ritlabs.com
Makes Outlook Express look like amateur time. Many Bells and whistles advanced search capabilities. AutoResponder. Most functions can be done with Macro Keys.

Mail Washer
http://www.mailwasher.net
Great Spam filter/remover, Free too.

Hammertap Utilities
http://www.hammertap.com
Fee Finder, Deep Analysis, Baywatch. These will all save you time in analyzing eBay.

The utilities mentioned above really do save time. (Before buying any software, make sure it's compatible with your computer, and back up your data - which you should do anyway - before dowload/installation.) Good luck.

To comment on this letter, post a message in the forums at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6502

If you have a question you'd like Nick to consider for a future issue of "Dear Nick," send it to nick@auctionbytes.com.