There loss is our gain. Seriously though I’m not surprised at all. They are obviously more concerned with making a profit that running a decent site. I went on that site years ago looking for battery advice. They seemed like tools then and this guy’s reply proves he is a twit and then some. It was one of the least professional responses I have read. If I ran a business like that I would have been broke a long time ago.
I sold on e-bay for years probably close to a decade I guess, but who is keeping track right? I made great money. Enough to support my family and pay cash for my house. I started small and built my way up as well. If you were ever into guitars and went on e-bay you probably saw my adds. I sold thousands of guitars and guitar amp packages. Unfortunately I really wouldn’t suggest e-bay anymore. Even though I was big and had amazing feedback it is no longer profitable for me. Their fees went up and the most profitable ways to list guitars went away.
This might still work for you. Take out one expensive listing that is highlighted, gallery etc but list all of your flashlights at once under that one add. Use a drop down menu so customers can pick which one of your lights to buy.
I honestly don’t know if I would waste my time though. Shipping, returns, damages, scam artists, payscam fees,etc.
Oh and another thing, if you do decide to sell on e-bay you should offer a 30 day no questions asked refund, ( state this, just ship it back for a full refund minus shipping). First of all customers have a 30 day no questions asked refund anyway no matter what you say. Some don’t know it, but the ones who do will use it to scam you if they can. Stating that they must pay for shipping and that you offer full refunds is a code that they understand. The Scam artists know that it means that you are not going to offer them a partial refunds because you don’t have to eat the cost of shipping. That is how they will try and scam you. “Give me some of my money back or I’m filing a dispute and leaving you negative.”
Set your shipping fairly high, just make sure to always ship the next day or even that day if you can and package them extremely well. You should also take a picture or even video of how you package your lights (you don’t have to do it every time). This way when you get a damage claim and you will, UPS or the post office or whoever will be more likely to pay the claim than to say you didn’t package it well enough. The problem is that people often throw away the bubble wrap or whatever and then when UPS looks at it they think you skimped on the bubble wrap.
Also call UPS right now and ask to get your own representative. It doesn’t cost a thing and it’s billed at the end of the month. They will assign you your own rep. He will work with you to get you bulk shipping rates even though you aren’t that big and if anything happens in regards to damages lost packages etc. he will be on your side. Also they will send you software, free labels and even a really cool ink-less label maker. I had them picking up every day at my doorstep and it’s free even if you don’t have anything for them that day. (I pretty much always had dozens)
I also sold many guitars each year on Amazon, you should check them out as well. I think they still have a thirty day free trial for their store rate, just remember that if you don’t sell anything to cancel it or they will charge you for the next month. I think it’s like $50. Amazon has gotten expensive as well though.
It also never hurts to have a web site. For a business your size there are plenty of free domain name sites with quick start software for next to nothing. One of the reasons to have a site and a domain name is to drive traffic to it. For instance on E-bay you can always just set your domain name to the same as your e-bay name and also set your web prices slightly lower. No e-bay seller fee and they are more likely to buy because they got a little better deal. Then of course on your web site you can have links and what not. On top of that you will find that moving ahead there will be many suppliers that ask to look at your web store. It wouldn’t hurt to get into a little bit of drop-shipping just to fill out your pages either. Just let customers know if it’s coming from China or wherever.
Well anyway, I’ll quit now before I bore you to death. Good luck and hang in there.