The Spotlight's On: dottie
by Robin
eBay Staff Member

eBay member dottie first heard about eBay through a friend. Now a six-year veteran of the site, she is primarily a seller. Her main category of interest is Asian/Tribal jewelry, and as such she deals mainly in Orientalia, but is willing to try to sell almost everything but the kitchen sink. When asked about her favorite sale, she told us she once bought a Gusher Game from the early '50s at a garage sale for twenty-five cents and sold it on eBay for $105!

dottie's selling strategy is to offer her items with a reasonably low opening bid, include the Gallery Feature, and offer a Buy-It-Now price that is about 50% larger than the opening bid. She says her listings are "no frills" - there are no fancy backgrounds or music to potentially slow the page load. She advises that sellers choose an item title that includes words that are relevant to the listing so their item will be easily found in the search results. She also recommends providing accurate descriptions and pictures, along with buyer-friendly terms of sale.

dottie says, "include all shipping, handling and insurance costs within the description as well as in the payment details. Smart shoppers will find you and happy repeat customers will keep you on their Favorites List. As for any eBay questions... the Site Map is the place to go for links on everything you need to know about eBay, but don't know who to ask! Oh.... and offer PayPal as a payment option."

As a buyer, she always looks for items that offer PayPal as their preferred method of payment. "I even prefer PayPal over a money order or personal check," she says. Even though she is primarily a seller, she has made a few purchases over the years. Amongst them have been kitchen items, candles, body jewelry, an eBay Live collectible pinback, packing supplies, and even her cell phone! She also purchased a Sony Mavica digital camera on eBay years ago that she is still currently using for the pictures she uses in her eBay listings.

When asked how she thought a person's feedback score affected their reputation, she replied, "Although participation in the Feedback Forum is optional, it's a very important part of eBay. The comments help each of us within the trading Community to have a better understanding of our potential trading partner's disposition. I usually encourage folks to view my feedback and READ the comments I've received (and left for others) for bidding confidence. Personally, I believe that maintaining a positive feedback ratio of 98% or more - regardless of the total feedback score (whether you have 10 positive feedback from unique users or 10,000 ) - definitely enhances anyone's buying/selling reputation."

Does dottie participate in any of the Community chat or discussion boards? You bet! In fact, her favorite area to hang out, chat, and help is on the member-to-member eBay Q&A chat board which she visits daily. She says she is loyal to this live chat board because it is where she received so much helpful information when she first began buying and selling on eBay. In fact, she told us she continues to learn new things while visiting and helping others in this forum daily. She has also branched out and joined a few eBay Groups.

Even though she's been around eBay for several years, she is always learning new things from other eBay members that are kind enough to share their experiences and knowledge: "There are so many things you can learn while visiting with other like-minded folks. Also, it's a great feeling to be able to assist others by sharing your own experience and knowledge. Something you might think is trivial could be a very helpful tip for another member."

dottie told us eBay has definitely had a positive impact on her life. Through her eBay experiences she has met a lot of nice people and made some extra money over the years. "Mostly," she says, "it has taken the 'edge' off, allowing a financial buffer so that I can afford more quality time with family and friends."

When dottie was asked to give us a brief description of what eBay meant to her, she went into character:
(In a Captain Kirk-ish Voice:) "eBay... the cyber frontier... my mission.... to seek out new features for buying and selling my wares... explore new ways to increase my customer base and monthly profits... to visit and learn with other Community members in the chat and discussion forums... to find unique products to sell that NO ONE HAS SOLD BEFORE!"

We would like to thank dottie for sharing her thoughts and comments with us! If you would like to be considered for Community Spotlight Program check out our Community Profile page and follow the instructions near the bottom of that page.