Seller: Books n More
Name: Jane Flowers
Jane Flowers has a close relationship with books. Her interest in the printed matter goes way back, and she first started selling books online in 2002, while she was living in New Zealand.
“At that time, eBay was the leading online auction site, and there were few alternatives. When a Kiwi-specific site called Trademe was launched in New Zealand, there was a tremendous excitement. In a very short time, it became the place where News Zealanders went to do their online buying and selling, because people naturally prefer to trade in local currency, with local trading partners”, says Jane.
When she returned to South Africa in 2006, it was natural for her to look around for home-grown solutions in order to carry on selling books online. She came across www.bidorbuy.co.za and at first was – well, underwhelmed:
“In comparison to eBay and Trademe, the volume of trading on bidorbuy was disappointing, and after years of success selling at both eBay and Trademe, I found the response of the general public to the bidorbuy platform to be slow.”
However, things changed over the next few years:
“With the spread of internet access and the advent of a younger, more computer literate generation, online trading really took off”, says Jane and adds:
“Today, bidorbuy is simply bustling with activity. It offers the opportunity to meet public demand for all sorts of items, outstripping all the competition for these types of sites. I say this because bidorbuy has large traffic numbers. They also have buyer protection and seller verification, plus a shopping cart solution already set up.”
That is why Jane recommends the bidorbuy platform to everyone who is looking to start or expend their ecommerce. As she puts it: “If you are getting ready to make money selling online – why would you go anywhere else?”
Recently, Jane Flowers put her ten years of experience selling books online into an e-book available on bidorbuy, entitled How to Sell Books Online in South Africa.
The book is filled with practical advice. In a clear and detailed manner, it explains how to research the market, assess the condition of second-hand books, create a listing on bidorbuy, and so on.
“Whether they sell on bidorbuy as a money-making hobby, or with the aim of building a business, the most important thing for sellers is to know practically everything there is to know about the products they are selling, and to always offer the best possible customer service. If you hold to these two tenants, you can’t go wrong”, Jane says.
Jane Flowers especially stressed the importance of maintaining an impeccable reputation on bidorbuy: “Good ratings are necessary for you as a seller. The more good ratings you have, the better. When someone looks at one of your auctions, they can see the most recent ratings given to you by your buyers below the auction. If there are negative ratings down there – the buyer may just go away. The number of ratings you have is reflected right next to your user name and the more little stars and positives you have reflected there, the more potential buyers will trust you to deliver.”
She rates her buyers the moment they complete the payment and advises sellers not to panic if they happen to receive a negative:
“Somewhere out there, there may be a seller who has never had a neutral or negative rating. When I got my first one in New Zealand, due to a misunderstanding, I nearly had a heart attack”, she says. “However, getting into a shouting match or responding with a revenge negative rating will not resolve the issue. Instead, sellers should talk to the disgruntled buyers and do their utmost to make them happy.”
