Do you remember the first item you ever sold online? Let us know by sending an email to ina@auctionbytes.com and we may publish your story. Today we hear from Doug, who went above and beyond the call of duty to make a little girl happy.
Hello,
I listed my first eBay items for my business in November, 2006. My first sold item (from my business) was a 3.5 inch "Christmasphere" world globe christmas tree ornament.
This sale still remains one of my most difficult because shortly after the buyer made the purchase, they asked me if I could get it to them in two days! Apparently, their daughter needed this item for a class play. The two-day delivery was a tough expectation, but I certainly didn't want to let a little girl down. To make matters worse, when I first started my business, I was drop-shipping from the manufacturer, so my ability to meet this request depended, not on me, but on my supplier. (We've since moved to traditional inventory for small items and direct-shipping for the large globes).
Knowing how important positive feedback is in the early stages of any eBay business, not to mention how sad that little girl would be if she didn't get that globe in time for her play, I was sweating bullets!
I called my supplier and pleaded with them to move my order up to the front of the line and ship it out that day via UPS Express Overnight. They saved the day, moved my order up, got it on the UPS truck within about 2 hours, and my customer received the globe in time!
The play was a hit and I got my first positive feedback from them. My total profit from the sale: $0.88 (that's 88 cents.) Hey, at least I didn't lose money.
The rest is history. We're a Silver power seller now and our business is thriving thanks to our continued focus on customer service. We run the Boldernet Map & Travel eBay Store, Boldernet.com Yahoo Store, and our stand-alone website, www.topglobes.com.
Thanks for considering my "1st item sold" story for your newsletter!
Doug
http://www.topglobes.com
