The Spotlight's On:
osiana5
by Randall
eBay Staff Member

This month's spotlighted member, osiana5, has been an eBay member since July of 2004. She is primarily a busy seller in the Collectibles, Clothing, and Toys categories, and also occasionally shops for deals on clothing and electronics items. What started out as a way to simply unload items that were just sitting around turned into a passion, and the fun of selling led to frequent closet-raiding sessions with friends and family to find more merchandise to sell.

osiana5 credits her family for turning her on to eBay, with her sister being the pioneer. “She bought a couple of items and then started selling herself.” That soon led to her parents' decision to start buying and selling odds and ends. Joked osiana5, “My parents are now retired, so they needed something to do.”

It was during a visit in June of 2004 that her parents showed her around the site and even helped her find a long-sought-after book that's now out of print. Her mom and dad didn't stop there, showing osiana5 how easy it was to list items on eBay. That was all the prodding she needed, and she got started promptly upon returning home. “I registered with eBay and cleaned out my closet, garage, attic, etc. and the rest is history!”

osiana5 says she visits the site several times a day. “Like I said, I'm hooked. I check My eBay first thing in the morning when I get up, to see if I have any questions that need to be answered or if I have any articles that to be need shipped.” Working full-time limits her time to track her eBay activity during the day, but she still does her best to find a way, often using her lunch break to stay caught up until she can commandeer the home computer again after work. “The computer is MINE as soon as I get home from work in the afternoon! That's when I usually write my descriptions, upload listings, check my watch list, shop, etc.”

She feels that dedicating the amount of time that she does is critical to her success. “I feel it is imperative to check in often because I do not like to keep people waiting for answers when they have questions.” Active monitoring also helps her ensure that she fulfills orders efficiently. “I always make sure that I ship sold items either the same day or the next business day after payment is received. I do feel that it is a very integral part of good customer service.”

osiana5 also believes that a good feedback record is very important for both buyers and sellers. “Since you don't personally know the people you are dealing with, the feedback forum provides an excellent opportunity to find out about another member's selling/buying history and customer service.” She went on to add, “Good feedback is very important to me and I feel that other members recognize me, as a trustworthy seller and buyer.”

When not shopping or fulfilling orders, osiana5 does occasionally like to visit the chat rooms and discussion boards. “When I have questions, I have found them to be very helpful! One of my favorites has to be the eBay Q&A Chat Room.” She will sometimes stop by the Q&A chat just to get an idea of what people have to say. “They are willing to help, and there's always someone there. Ask questions, answer questions or just go there to talk to some nice people!”

In addition to visiting the forums for tips, osiana5 has other suggestions for sellers who want to grow their sales. “I focus most of my attention on effective titles and keywords and also use very detailed and honest descriptions. Every once in a while I will offer free shipping or throw in bonus items.” She also recommends using both Turbo Lister (“It's a great timesaver”) and the Shipping Center (“very convenient”).

As always, the story is not complete without learning what eBay means to our spotlighted member. When we asked osiana5 the question she had this to say: “eBay rules! eBay rocks! eBay is my obsession! Okay okay, I'm going a little overboard. I just love the fact that I can find things on eBay that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else, and that I can bring things to people that they are looking for and can't find anywhere else.”

We would like to thank osiana5 for sharing her thoughts and comments with us! If you would like to be considered for the Community Spotlight Program check out our Community Profile page and follow the instructions near the bottom of that page.