SquareTrade are eBay's chosen provider of dispute resolution
services. If you want your buyers to have a little more
confidence in you, you can get a SquareTrade seal, and put it on
each one of your auctions.
The chances are that you've seen these seals around. They show
SquareTrade's blue and green logo, along with the eBay user's ID
and the current date. This is followed by the text "SquareTrade
Verified Seller, Click to Learn More". SquareTrade is also used
on sites other than eBay, for example Yahoo and eLance - it's an
Internet-wide trust system.
So why will this little seal increase your sales? Well, it
signals a number of things to your buyers.
Your identity has been verified. Before you can get a
SquareTrade seal, you need to let them confirm your real name,
address and phone number, which they can do in various ways.
They can check you out with a credit reference agency, ask you
to fax them a utility bill, or send you a letter in the real
mail with a code you need to enter online.
You are committed to resolving disputes through SquareTrade. If
you ever refuse to resolve any dispute with a buyer through
SquareTrade, then they'll take away your seal, and you'll never
get it back. This lets buyers know that there's someone
independent they can go to for help if you prove not to be
trustworthy.
Real people will review their case. Buyers like that someone
will actually take the time to read the emails, establish the
facts and all the rest of it - they feel like eBay normally
traps them in a chain of automatic responses.
You meet SquareTrade's criteria. SquareTrade monitor your
feedback, and if they feel you're not up to scratch, they'll
take your seal away. They also operate an anti-fraud 'early
warning system', which keeps track of the kinds of items you buy
and sell, and takes action if your account starts doing unusual
things.
Buyers are covered for an additional $250 against fraud. This is
very important to buyers - eBay's standard purchase protection
isn't very much, and this more than doubles it. If they get
PayPal's fraud protection as well, then they're covered for
quite a lot overall.
How Do I Sign Up?
If you want a seal of your very own, all you need to do is go to
http://www.squaretrade.com,
choose 'eBay seller' under the 'eBay seal services' heading, and
click 'Apply'. Enter your name, address, phone number and eBay
details here.
You should note, though, that SquareTrade costs you $9.50 per
month - it's up to you to decide if it's worth it. Ultimately,
it is often worth signing up just to get the facility to
effectively dispute and remove negative feedback. If you think
you can maintain a good record alone then it might not be worth
subscribing to yet another service to use with eBay.
Here's a warning: there's one thing that, if you don't do it,
could land you with an awful lot of negative feedback. Make sure
you read all about it in the next email.
About the author:
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from
Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more
great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online
auctions.
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