Crispin dabbled in selling at first. He'd left sales & marketing management at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) under a golden parachute during the dot com bust. He wanted to make selling on eBay his next full time job. His severance package gave him a little time. He sold knick knacks from his house while he looked for great deals to decide what he really wanted to sell. He researched prices on eBay looking for demand and good margins. He planned to compete on price.

He was comfortable with electronics so focused there. At first he sourced products buying "deal of the day" sale items. The first couple of years he rolled all profits back into the business buying more inventory. He soon learned that the 3 to 4 products he started with weren't enough. Crispin saw, "The market can shift. The product price can devaluate or a strong competitor can enter." He needed to diversify to get stability so began to add a new product each month. Soon he had enough demand to need a part-time helper.

Besides differentiating on price, Crispin is committed to excellent service. He says, "I like the detailed seller ratings (DSRs). It's a great way to further clarify for buyers what makes a good seller."

From the beginning he included a service-oriented note in every package. It reads, "Dear Valued Customer, If there are any problems with your order, please email me and I will resolve the issue!...If for any reason you feel inclined not to leave us positive feedback (or 5-star ratings across the board), please email us and we'll do our best to change your mind!"

The words are not just lip-service. Crispin created a series of emails to support customers, like payment reminders and feedback requests, that are sent automatically by Selling Manager Pro. At 21 days Reforger's email asks" Is everything OK? We just want to make sure you are satisfied with the sale." Selling Manager Pro allows Crispin to customize the email for each customer.

If there is an Unpaid Item (UPI) after x-number of days, this email is sent, "Did you change your mind? If so we can back out the sale." Crispin wants transacations with Reforger always to be positive experiences. He's happy to use a mutual agreement not to complete the transaction, confident it will generate repeat business in future.

When a customer does choose to return an item, Reforger pays the return shipping cost with a prepaid label. "You need to spend money to make money," says Crispin. "I see it as an investment to create repeat business." He puts customer service even above profits in his priorities. Crispin sees service not just as goodwill but as the path to increased profits through repeat business from customers who in turn are willing to pay slightly higher price for reliably good service.

Crispin loves the big time-savings he gets from Selling Manager Pro. Not only is it key to his customer communications, he loves how he can use it to list automatically and manage inventory on the fly. He loves the detailed sales report too. According to Crispin, "At just $15.95 a month, it's a real bargain for the time-savings it gives me."

Crispin built traffic to his listings by researching keywords. Whenever you search on any topic there is a "Related Searches" list above your results. Crispin would notice and add those keywords to his listings. Though Crispin lists most products at Buy It Now ® fixed prices he uses auction-style listings and Best Offer to establish the best price for new products. He also searched on completed listings to see volume of sales for products like his, to decide how many to stock.

Value-pricing plus top-notch service drove repeat business to a level that now Crispin has a staff of 6 and has the high-volume necessary to purchase directly from manufacturers. This gives him great margins, an edge to better compete on price.