Buying at Half.com │ Selling at Half.com _____________________________________________________________________ Selling at Half.com How does it work? How can I stand out from all those other listings? _____________________________________________________________________ How does it work? Remember, it's FREE to register and list items for sale at Half.com- just grab your book, software, CD, VHS tape etc and type in the ISBN or UPC symbol. The Half.com system links to a pre-stored image and manufacturer description stored in their own database. How cool is that? NO PICTURE TAKING, and NO NEED TO WRITE A DESCRIPTION! We know, we know... It kind of robs you of the fun and joy of sitting up until 3:00 am taking pictures, resizing and cropping, typing & proofreading ads, uploading materials to a server... doesn't it? Yeah right! If you want to, you can include additional comments about your product, if you really want a compelling ad. Updating comments, pricing and other product info about any item in your inventory is easy in the 'Manage' area of your account. It's hassle free the day you list, and at any time in the future. Another convenient and handy feature to selling on Half.com is that you don't have to collect money from the buyer, as you would on eBay. After Half.com e-mails you that an order has been placed, you then confirm the order, and send the product out. Half.com will then automatically pay sellers by check, or through direct deposit- it's up to the individual. The Direct Deposit (ACH) method is extremely convenient, and is automatically paid twice a month on any of your sales. See site for more details. How can I stand out from all those other listings? Half.com had a huge community of users even before eBay acquired them a few years ago. It's much larger now, as all eBay members have been absorbed into the system and have automatic access- You can even use the same user ID & password at both sites. That's great for buyers at Half.com, but as a seller, how do you stand out in a crowd of fierce competitors? The answer to this is through cross-selling. Cross-selling is a really smart way to turn up your total sales volume. Here's three things you should definitely do: sell some items in regular eBay auctions, develop an eBay store with fixed price listings, AND have a half.com store. With these 3 sales mediums linked to one another, you can cross-sell like crazy! Once a customer finds you in one place, and falls in love with your glowing product line and consummate customer service, they will seek out your other products for repeat or same sale business! Caution: Remember that your eBay & Half.com feedback are now part of the same database, so bear in mind- your user behavior at one site will definitely affect your ratings at the other! _____________________________________________________________________ New Seller Tip #1: Confirm Those Sales! You must confirm a sale made by your buyer in a timely fashion, or it will be cancelled by the Half.com system. New Seller Tip #2: Have a nice trip! If you are going to be away from your computer for a few days, and won't be able to log in to your Half.com account, place it 'On Vacation'. It's easy to do in the 'Sales Management' section of 'My Account'. Just click the 'Leave for Vacation' link and it's done. This way, you won't have to worry that a sale won't be confirmed and will expire accidentally, leaving an irate buyer who may possibly leave you a negative feedback. New Seller Tip #3: Different Sites, Same FEEDBACK REMEMBER, ANY NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LEFT BY A HALF.COM USER AFFECTS YOUR EBAY FEEDBACK RATING. Are you an eBay seller, new to Half.com? You must conduct yourself even MORE courteously with your customers on Half.com- not less. They are using a credit card to make an instant purchase just like they would at Amazon, overstock or any other regular commerce site. So why not be just as professional to them as you would with one of your eBay customers? Oddly enough, judging from some thankful letters we've received from Half.com customers, many sellers at Half.com, even veteran merchants from eBay, have been known to drop the ball on communication with their buyers. This is probably due to how incredibly automated the Half.com site is- plus the fact that the buyer is using a credit-card and Half.com is handling the payment collection for and to the seller. However, sellers should not get lazy with e-mails, customer service or delivery speed when selling on Half.com. They should still send out thank you and/or shipping update letters to all buyers after they place an order, and still need to get those packages out PRONTO. Half.com customers tend to be more picky about customer service and shipping times, as they are not bidding in an auction, but are buying at an online store- albeit through the C2C (consumer to consumer) method. Ironically, just because Half.com has made it easy and automatic to sell, some merchants may get too comfortable and glaze out during the customer service part of the deal- but rest assured, the negative feedback will show up at eBay the same as if the deal had been transacted there in the first place. That's why if you are an eBay seller and you login to your half.com account for the first time- bang! ...There's your eBay feedback rating, for all to see. The customer is always right- and right now, in this case. Expert Seller Tip: Control Your Shipping Rates When setting up your 'Shipping Methods' section as a seller, we recommend that you use either 'Media Mail' or 'Expedited Shipping', since Half.com has a default setting and automatic calculation for these amounts. This will spare you the time of having to go in and calculate the costs yourself for each product you sell. This is especially convenient when shipping many of the same types of light items to your customers, like single paperbacks or DVDs. If you have a lot of inventory, this will save you a lot of valuable time, just as selecting a flat rate in your eBay descriptions will. However, for heavier items, or if you simply want more control over the actual price on any product, we recommend setting your own shipping default amount. it's more work, but it can yield a more cost effective shipping re-imbursement for you if you do a lot of Half.com business. It's very cool how they have added this feature, and you can tailor your shipping price based on either a percentage, a flat rate, or using a table based on the dollar amount of the total order cost. It's very user-friendly and easy to do- Plus it's very powerful: You have total control over all of it! Here's what you do: During shipping method setup, you may choose from the following fields: 'First Class', 'Expedited Shipping', 'Ground', '2-3 Day' and 'Overnight'. Simply click the box next to each one that you are willing to use to ship, and then MAKE SURE to click the 'EDIT' button and establish your own default price for the item. Otherwise, Half.com will assume a default shipping amount of 7.5 percent of the item's sale price! Did we say 7.5 percent? Huh? Do the math on that one folks... If you are selling a heavy hardbound book like Michael Crichton's 'PREY' and it is only listed for $5.95, do you really want to be reimbursed only 44.6 cents, or 7.5 percent of the total? Youch! If you shipped it via Fed-Ex, you'll only be in the whole about 10 or 20 bucks or so on this deal. If you like the added flexibility of setting your own shipping default, make sure to use the system correctly. Half.com is an incredibly powerful seller tool- but as with eBay, use it wisely. _____________________________________________________________________ | 
