Your home business on eBay depends on your reputation. Without a good reputation, you've got nothing. Your buyers don't know who you are, they don't know if they can trust you, and you won't drum up much business. But when you are just starting out on eBay, building up a good reputation can be tough. It's a bit of a catch-22: without a reputation, you won't make any sales, but without any sales, you won't build up a good reputation. So what can you do to make your eBay home business seem more reputable?



When you are just starting as a seller on eBay, the easiest, and perhaps most surprising way, to build up a good reputation is actually by buying. Starting out as a buyer not only gives you a great way to build up your positive feedback, it helps you better understand the buyer process. When you understand how the buying process works, you can offer your customers better service as a seller.

To get started as a buyer, you don't have to spend a lot of money. Purchase the things you would normally need to purchase on eBay instead of going to the store. Spending money you would have had to spend anyway won't leave you in the negative. You can also bid on some cheap auctions to build up your feedback. One you have received the item, be sure to leave positive feedback for the seller to illicit a response. If you don't receive one after a few days, you can always contact the seller to explain you are trying to build up your feedback so you can start selling. Since they have also been in your position at one point in time, they are likely to return the favor.

Once you have a good, solid list of positive feedbacks under your belt, you can focus your attention on building your customer service policy. Offering your buyers a generous return policy, if only during the start up of your business, can help gain potential customers' trust. Offer to accept returns within a certain about of time with no questions asked, for a full refund. This will help your customers feel much better about their purchase, if they know they can return it with no hassle if they discover they have a problem with the item.

Work hard to keep your positive feedback up. You can do this by leaving feedback as soon as you know the buyer has received their item, to boost your chances of receiving reciprocal feedback. Give your customers no reason to leave you anything but positive feedback by going the extra mile: offer your contact information directly on your auctions for customers to reach you with questions, and try to add something extra with your own personal touch to each package you send out. As your customers see how far you go to make them happy, they'll not only leave you positive feedback, they'll be more than glad to spread the word about your eBay business. A happy customer is the most reputable form of marketing you can receive, so strive to impress every buyer you get, and you'll see your eBay home business take off in no time.