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A Question and Answer session at eBay Live in Boston led by Bill Frischling, chief operating officer and co-founder of Dyscern, a brand name consumer electronics site, yield a few helpful hints for how sellers can build better relationships with their customers.

5 eBay Tips

Here's nice list of eBay seller tips that came out of that Q&A:

1.    Have a phone service for your customers. It adds credibility. But be prepared because you will get A LOT of calls and you need to make sure you are staffed and ready for it.

2.    Respond positively and professionally to negative feedback. Then go on with your day.

3.    Make a nuisance of yourself in a good way by answering customer concerns before they ask you about them. This works especially well when dealing with "paranoid" customers who repeatedly ask about shipping, arrival dates, etc. Be aggressive about contacting them with answers before they get a chance to contact you.

4.    Personalize the shopping experience. People love human interaction and feel reassured when they know they're not talking to a machine.

5.    Offer frequent shoppers a way of trading in or earning credit toward purchases. This works especially well when trying to move items that have been on the shelf for a while.

 
One interesting development from the Q&A session came about when an audience member asked about the inability to find the second-highest bidder when the top-bidder turns out to be fraudulent.

The panel said they would address that problem with eBay and try to get it changed for the better.