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Sunday, July 29, 2007

How-To: Selling Online Part 2: Exchange

We are not experts. This article is provided for educational purposes only. We do not offer a warranty of any kind (express or implied) on the usefulness, validity or accuracy of the information presented herein. In other words, imitate us at your own risk.

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Introduction

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how to start to build trust and establish value with potential buyers through an item listing. In this part, we will deal with the nitty-gritty of the actual exchange once a deal has been negotiated and a buyer has committed to the purchase.

Payment

Historically, when individual buyers and sellers didn't live near each other, person-to-person payments were a challenge since there typically wasn't any recourse for a buyer if the seller sent damaged goods (or no goods at all). In the last decade or so, several companies have emerged to fill this gap, the most widely-used probably being PayPal1.

In addition to PayPal, there are several smaller offerings such as BidPay2. For items of significant value (like aftermarket carbon fiber wheels or entire motorcycles) using an online escrow service (e.g., Escrow.com) may be useful in helping to solidify a transaction. Be aware, however, that sellers can suffer by using these services as dissatisfied or fraudulent buyers can cause the seizing of the seller's assets in a dispute.3

If you find yourself doing a lot of sales and are considering making a small business out of your sales activities, you may wish to investigate merchant account services to be able to accept credit cards directly. One such provider is First Data. While this is beyond the scope of this article, you will want to familiarize yourself with the various different policies and regulations of each credit card you choose to accept as well as the merchant account provider if you take this route.

If the buyer has no other means but a cashier's check, try to insist that it be purchased through the US Post Office. Indicate to the buyer that you will need at least ten business days to make sure that it clears. Alternatively, if the buyer uses a bank that has branches in your local area, you can often take a cashier's check from that bank to any of its branches and get cash immediately.4 Do not accept a cashier's check from a bank that doesn't have a branch in your area as you will be unable to verify that it isn't a forgery.

In most cases (unless the buyer insists upon using it, but only to send you money), Western Union should be avoided at all costs. It is completely devoid of security and provides next-to-nothing for recouping one's losses which is why it's such a favorite with fraudsters. As a general rule, never use Western Union unless you know the other party personally.

Packaging

Getting your items packaged properly is one of the most critical steps in the exchange. No one ever wins when an item is damaged during shipping. We want packaging that is inexpensive, but prevents damage during shipping in all but the most abusive of situations. We may not get out of the packaging stage without spending any money, but we'll try to keep it to a minimum. Reuse of existing packing materials (boxes, foam peanuts, bubble wrap, etc.) is by far the best way to keep costs low. Be warned however, that if a cardboard box looks too ragged or has evidence of previous shipments, shippers will often use that to deny insurance claims if they are made (see Shipping below).

If you don't already have anything on hand, you can usually avoid spending much with only some minor creativity. Most shippers (the US Postal Service included) now provide boxes of varying sizes free of charge to customers. Some post offices provide recycling bins where junk mail is often deposited by PO Box holders. These can be full of fliers, phone books, newspapers, etc. which make excellent filler materials. If you can anticipate your shipments, saving your own newspapers is useful too. While I won't advocate regularly raiding your local 7-11 or gas station for stacks of the "free" publications they often have outside, these can be useful in a pinch.

Sometimes with large or awkward items, you just have to bite the bullet and go buy a large cardboard box that will fit and some foam peanuts or other filler. If you have time, shop around for a reasonable supplier of these materials.5 Check stationary stores or packaging stores. Avoid places like UPS Stores, Kinkos and U-Haul. With major chains, margins on packing materials is often quite large. If you can anticipate the cost of packaging, include it in the shipping/handling costs of your listing, but don't spend three days of your time patching together a strange-looking package with re-re-reused materials to save $15. It's just not worth it.

Three things I recommend that you do purchase are: packing tape, cheap paper towels (or toilet paper) and bulk rolls of cheap plastic wrap. Both can be found at Costco, Target, etc. You can also find smaller rolls at your local grocery store, but they will often cost three-to-four times as much per unit length. Don't bother spending more money on name brands, just get the cheapest ones you can find.

Once we've got our basic materials, we're ready to start. If an item is damaged during shipping, the damage can most often be attributed to one of two things: compromising of the exterior package (e.g., the part wears through the cardboard and bangs against hard objects outside the package); insufficient filler (e.g., the parts bang against each other inside the package). We're going to demonstrate how to minimize the likelihood of either.

The first thing we do is protect the most delicate parts of the items we're shipping. With forks, these are usually the fork caps. I typically wrap the fork caps in paper towels. In this example, we've even gone so far as to cut some cardboard tubing we had left over from one of my rolls of plastic wrap to act as cap protectors. Then we wrap the entire fork ends in bubble wrap or newspapers to create a nice bulge. The function of this bulge is to help keep the forks away from each other during transit. Finally, we wrap the bulge in plastic wrap6 to make sure it stays together and doesn't fall off.

Show your buyer you care by taking care of his parts:

Next, we wrap the fork bottoms. We do this for two reasons. First, it works with the fork cap wrapping we just completed to keep the forks from banging against each other during transit. Second, it helps prevent the hard fork bottoms from compromising the packaging itself.

Finishing the fork bottoms as well:

Ready to box it up:

With this particular part, with careful planning we can make good use of the available Priority Mail boxes. While no single box will contain the forks, several of them in a creative combination will. We will use three: one on each end overlapping one in the middle. The first step is to pad the bottom box before putting in anything. We've used a DHL bubble mailer.

Share the love; DHL and USPS working together:

After putting in some additional padding, we can put in the forks and continue to pad them all around the interior of the package and between the forks themselves.

Don't skip on the filler; nothing should move inside the package when we're done:

After putting in some additional padding, we can insert the middle box, put in the forks and continue to pad them all around the interior of the package. Our ultimate goal is zero direct contact between the forks and the cardboard and between the forks and each other. We also want zero movement inside the package. This is something amateur or neophyte sellers almost always get this wrong with large, heavy or awkward parts like forks or wheels.

When the forks are inside and well-padded, we can put on the final box and tape everything up. You should not skimp on tape. Some insurance policies actually dictate that all seems should be covered by tape (see Shipping below).

The finished product:

Shipping

Once your item is properly packaged, shipping should be a relatively simple matter. I highly recommend finding one (maybe two) shipping providers with which you are comfortable or familiar and sticking with them unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. Many providers allow the ability to create accounts and print shipping labels from your own computer which can be a big time saver over standing in line at a Post Office or UPS Store. To print your own labels however, you will need a somewhat accurate scale in order to provide the package weight.

For each package you ship, you must be prepared to ask yourself a key question: whether or not to self-insure. Ask yourself, "can I afford to lose this package entirely?" If the answer is yes, then keeping the few dollars it would take to insure the package might be a good investment. Otherwise, you might want to insure the package. Some shipping companies like UPS insure losses up to a certain amount on every package and provide the ability to purchase additional insurance if needed. If you do self insure, I highly recommend taking the few dollars you saved and putting them aside in a self-insurance pool. Over time, the size of that pool will help you assess whether or not paying for insurance is a good idea.

If you do purchase insurance, you must familiarize yourself with the shipping providers policies and abide by those policies to the letter. Remember, each shipping provider loses money when they pay out on a claim, so they have a huge incentive to weasel out of it any way they can, so give them as few opportunities as possible. For example, the USPS requires that tape covers all seams of a package and does not specify that glued seams are exempt. It's also a good idea to poke around (i.e., do a few searches on the Internet) to see if there are a wide number of problems with that provider failing to make good on claims.7

If you find a shipper you like, but don't like their claims process or insurance offerings, there are third parties (e.g., DSI) which will insure your packages no matter who you use as the shipping provider. You may wish to investigate these as well and find what works best for you.

If you like to use UPS or the US Postal Service and you receive the buyer's payment via PayPal, you can create a shipping label directly from the PayPal website. In fact, the number of USPS shipping options is actually higher via PayPal than it is on the USPS's own site!8 If the buyer is paying through some other means but still has a PayPal account, I will sometimes send a 1¢ invoice just to be able to use PayPal's integrated shipping services.

Follow-Up

Once the shipping label has been created or the package has been shipped, it is a good idea to inform the buyer of that fact and include any tracking or shipping reference numbers if available. Most shipping services do this automatically. If you ship via UPS or USPS through PayPal, PayPal will attach the tracking number to the payment and send an e-mail to the buyer. While I am not personally a fan of PayPal, their integrated shipping features are hard to beat.

Unless you receive an unprompted "thumbs-up" from the buyer (e.g., in the form of positive feedback, a thank-you e-mail, etc.), it is usually a good idea to follow up with the buyer after you know the package was (or should have been) delivered. This will really make the buyer feel like you care and are going the extra mile to make sure they are satisfied.

Something-For-Nothings

At some point, you will find yourself dealing with someone who goes beyond a discerning, detail-oriented (i.e., "picky") buyer. My wife works in the hotel industry and in her business they call these people "something-for-nothings" because they always want the best services and perks but never want to pay for them. It is usually best not to deal with these people at all, but if you fail to identify one before the transaction is underway, you may find yourself in a fairly uncomfortable position. It is usually best to minimize the time spent dealing with these people. Find a compromise that causes you the least amount of pain and move on. Make a mental note never to deal with that person again.

Conclusion

Hopefully this provides a useful view into the successful completion of selling goods online by providing some helpful, yet inexpensive ways to keep your buyers happy. I'll leave you with this gem: go the extra mile to retain your good customers and refer your bad ones to your biggest competitor.

1. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for a mere $1.5 buh-illion (with a "b"). This should give you some idea as to how much of a market there is for convenient person-to-person payment mechanisms.

2. BidPay was originally based on an explicit buyer-pays transactional fee model. While this was lauded by sellers, it was largely rejected by the marketplace and the company ceased operations in 2005. However, the brand and certain assets were acquired by CyberSource in 2006 for $1.8 million. CyberSource has since resurrected the service but with a seller-pays model much like PayPal. For some reason, buyers do not like to know when they are paying overhead....

3. See PayPalSucks.com for some examples. With any third party payment service, it is always essential to familiarize yourself with its policies before using it.

4. Banks will often ask for two forms of ID in order to verify you are the intended recipient of the check. In most cases a state driver's license and a credit card is sufficient. They may also ask you for your social security and in some cases require you to provide your thumb print on the check. If none of this sounds appealing to you, you should probably avoid it altogether and require another method of payment. However, if you can stomach it, it can be a fairly convenient way to quickly get a cash payment from your buyer.

5. Don't kill yourself trying to find the cheapest cardboard box. One technique I've used that has worked well is that I find a place I want to investigate and go buy what I need. The next time, I go somewhere else. Unless the price is absolutely ridiculous at the new location, I just buy it (even if it was more than what I found previously). But I make a mental note who was cheaper. After I've investigated two or three locations, I usually just pick the one with the most reasonable prices and stick with it until I hear about something better.

If you do find a location that has high prices, you might want to ask, but you should always make an effort to remain polite and non-confrontational. You might find the shop or store owner and say something like, "I noticed your boxes are rather expensive compared to [The Other Place]. Do you know why there's such a discrepancy?" Keep in mind, this may not be the shop owner's fault. She may not even know that she's being rooked by her own supplier. It may prompt her to go find cheaper boxes. Of course, it also may prompt some aggression such as, "If you don't like my prices, go buy your @#$%ing boxes at [The Other Place]!" In these situations, it's best to thank the person for their time and politely excuse yourself from the premises.

6. Why plastic wrap? First, it's really easy to work with right off the roll. Second, it's actually cheaper than packing tape. Third, it's is much easier to remove than tape on the other end. Tape often leaves a sticky (sometimes colored) residue that is a real pain to remove.

7. As of this writing, FedEx only pays up to $100 on any claim regardless of the declared value. See consumeraffairs.com for details.

8. This is pure conjecture, but I believe this is because the USPS is trying to promote it's higher-end services like Priority and Express mail and hence makes it arbitrarily more difficult to easily send items Parcel Post or First Class.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Shameless Cross Promotion: New Big Pussycat™ Shirt

Big Pussycat™ has a new shirt design. <ShamelessPlug>We highly recommend you check it out.</ShamelessPlug>

Get 'em while they're hot:

Sunday, July 08, 2007

How-To: Selling Online Part 1: Listing

We are not experts. This article is provided for educational purposes only. We do not offer a warranty of any kind (express or implied) on the usefulness, validity or accuracy of the information presented herein. In other words, imitate us at your own risk.

Related Articles

Introduction

We're going to try something new here on Moto411. With this article we're going to venture into the world of instruction and attempt to accurately convey what it takes to accomplish a non-trivial task. The previous warning should give some indication as to our level of confidence with this venture.

Buying and selling goods online has become a widespread practice for most riders. The cost of seemingly minor repairs or enhancements can rival the cost of a bike itself and many do-it-oneselfers turn to the secondary market to acquire usable, but less expensive components. craigslist, eBay and bike-, area- or event-specific message boards are venues on which buyers and sellers have come to rely for being able to perform these transactions. Auxiliary services like PayPal, BidPay and even the US Postal Service have allowed almost anyone to buy and sell goods in these marketplaces.

In this particular installment we'll cover how to successfully list a particularly fragile, typically expensive and critical component: front forks. Specifically, we'll be attempting to sell a pair of used 2004-2005 GSX-R600/GSX-R750 forks with pinch bolts. They are not perfect, but they are straight with good seals and are perfectly usable. We'll share techniques and how to provide the best service one reasonably can in order to ensure a fair price and a smooth transaction. In Part 2, we'll cover the details of the actual exchange.

Motivation

Motorcycle owners are notoriously cheap (this author included). They tend to expect the best parts and services for the absolute lowest costs. Some would rather spend three hours in negotiations than pay the extra $50 and be done with it.1 Even worse, given enough time, everyone on all sides of a transaction will be conned or defrauded by a predator at some point and will tend become even more conservative in behavior for future transactions.

From a seller's perspective, these can be very hostile marketplaces. This is why it is absolutely critical to establish two things with buyers as they evaluate the goods one has for sale: value and trust.

These two simple words have been perverted by marketers everywhere to basically mean perception of value and illusion of trust, so it makes a good seller's job even more difficult. I tend not to use these words very often for that very reason. In my experience, the best way to establish these concepts isn't by talking, but by doing.

Preparation

The first step in establishing your own value and trustworthiness in the eyes of potential buyers is in how you present your items for sale. This is fairly easy to do and doesn't take that much extra time or money.

Isolation

Before doing anything (if you haven't already), you should (carefully) remove the part to be sold from the bike. This sounds like it should be obvious, but based on some of the listings I've seen, it isn't. This demonstrates to potential buyers that you are competent and knowledgeable (enough) to perform basic mechanical services. The implication is that you're not going to damage the parts during tear-down. It will also make the next step much easier.

Cleanup

Clean the parts to be sold. I can't stress this enough. This also sounds like it should be obvious, but it is amazing how few sellers actually perform this step. Simple soap and water is often sufficient (I like to use 10/1 water and concentrated Dawn in a spray bottle). For dirtier components, DuPont's line of car care products and Protect-All are two of my favorites. WD-40 can also act as a good de-greaser, but it does have its drawbacks (it tends to smoke when heated, so think twice about using it to clean cylinder heads or exhaust components). Avoid using kerosene or brake or chain cleaner unless they are recommended for that application. While these products tend to cut through grease well, they can discolor or damage certain materials like rubbers and plastics. Familiarize yourself with chemicals before using them.

This also has another benefit: you will be more likely to notice any problems with the components before you list them. This indicates to your buyers that you can be trusted not to use dirt and grime to hide additional damage or imperfections. They'll also be happy that they won't have to perform the cleaning (and flaw discovery) themselves when they receive the parts.

Imaging

This is perhaps the most important step in the process. Like food photographers, your job is to make your components look as appetizing as possible. Never put sensitive components (like rotors, wheels, forks, etc.) on concrete. This demonstrates a distinct ignorance of the minute tolerances of these parts. Use a furniture pad as a backdrop. This shows potential buyers that you know and care about proper handling of the items you're trying to sell. If you don't have a furniture pad, you can use a carpet scrap, a welcome mat or even an area of your lawn (though this is the least attractive option).

It's good to provide a single "overview" shot depicting all of what's for sale:

Anticipate questions about the frequent trouble spots of the components and answer those questions with visuals. For example, with forks, one wants to show that they are straight, that they have not be crashed, that the adjusters are in good shape, and they have good seals.

Fork caps are often damaged in a crash; it's important to show that these are in good condition:

Seals are cheap, but replacing them is not; it's important to show that these forks can be used right away:

With pictures, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Strive for quality, not quantity. Don't bombard viewers of your listing with thirty-two pictures of the fork caps from different angles. If there are imperfections, don't attempt to hide them. Buyers who are unpleasantly surprised are one of the costliest prospects for a seller.

These forks aren't perfect; we will highlight the imperfections so that our buyer knows up-front:

Listing

The text of the listing not nearly as important as the pictures, but it is still useful to set/reaffirm expectations for buyers. There are several key elements I like to provide in my listings. First, I like to be polite and up-beat, but I also like to stay concise. The more words that are on the page mean the fewer of them will actually be read.

Second, I like to list what is actually for sale. This is often in the form of a list:

This listing includes the following:

  • 2004 GSX-R600 forks
  • axle pinch bolts

Try to avoid getting lazy and using the same picture to sell several different subcomponents in different listings. If you're tempted to write something like, "...includes everything pictured except for...," you might wish to reconsider. Buyers aren't always careful to read everything. They might buy your forks, but be upset that the package they received didn't include the pictured triple clamps.

Third, I like to list the makes/models which I know they will fit. I will also pay lip-service to some more "creative" applications, but with the appropriate caveats:

These will fit:

  • 2004-2005 GSX-R600
  • 2004-2005 GSX-R750

These can also be used in a 2003-2007 SV650 front-end conversion, but will require additional components (triple clamps, front wheel, etc.). Please check with a reputable and knowledgeable mechanic before purchasing.

Fourth, I like to highlight any imperfections shown in the pictures.

As shown in the pictures, there are a few marks from mounting and two rock chips on the upper bodies, but otherwise, they are in good shape.

I also like to highlight the good things about the items:

They have fewer than 3,000 miles and are straight with good seals. They have not been crashed.

Your text should be consistent with your pictures. Inconsistencies chip away at trust and call into question your integrity.

Fifth, if you have the means, you may wish to take the time to measure the components to make sure they are within specification:

Run-out is 0.1 mm and is within factory specification.

Finally, I like to provide as many specific terms as I think are relevant. For example, buyers are not often in the same area and require that goods be shipped to them. If you can, provide an estimation of shipping costs. If it is merely an estimation, but if you intend for the buyer to pay actual costs, make this clear. If you require that the buyer use a specific method of payment, or if different types of payments have different terms, then enumerate these. For example, it is appropriate in some venues (but not others) to ask that buyers pay an additional 3% if paying via PayPal (to help cover the fees). If you provide a return or satisfaction policy, try to make clear what those policies are.

Q & A

Expect that potential buyers will ask you questions that are already answered by the listing. Many people do not read listings in their entireties before asking questions. This is why it's important to keep a listing as short as possible. When questions like this come up, politely answer them as best you can. I will often copy-and-paste the text right from the listing and then encourage the buyer to ask additional questions if necessary.

Many venues allow questions to be asked/answered publicly. Take advantage of this wherever possible. This goes to further establish trust and value in that you're reiterating that you are knowledgeable about the components you're selling and have nothing to hide.

When answering questions, do not attempt to establish that a part is definitely within usable requirements without actually performing the measurement and knowing the requirements. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know," but try to answer the question to the best of your ability.

Conclusion

Hopefully this provides some useful advice on how to successfully establish yourself as a trustworthy and valuable seller of components in your listings. In Part 2, we'll cover how to successfully complete a transaction and what to do if there is a dispute.

1. While, on paper, I agree that the practice of expending US$200+ of time, energy, etc. to save US$50 on a transaction is absurd and doesn't help anyone (buyer or seller), I have found myself doing exactly that at times. There have been very few times that I haven't regretted it. Perhaps this is a commentary unto itself about human nature....

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Part Review: Motovation "No-Cut" Frame Sliders

Quality: ++++-(4 out of 5)
Functionality: +++--(3 out of 5)
Appearance: ++++-(4 out of 5)
Value: ++---(2 out of 5)
Overall: +++--(3 out of 5)
Pros:
  • excellent fit & finish
  • easy installation
  • no bodywork modification required
Cons:
  • expensive
  • prices on replacement parts are insulting
  • no-cut bracket causes fairing damage on impact
  • sales staff hard to reach to answer questions

Introduction

Anyone who's crashed, downed, dropped, or otherwise abused a motorcycle in the past at some point considers purchasing frame sliders. It is useful to remind even the most "seasoned" of us that frame sliders are called frame sliders (and not "engine cover sliders", "fairing sliders" or "muffler sliders") for a reason: they are not meant to protect anything in earnest except for the frame. That being said, one tends to incur much less damage to one's engine covers and fairings in a low-side with frame sliders than without them. However, if you're considering the possibility of a crash while wanting to preserve the newness of your stock fairings, then I suggest removing them and keeping them in the garage, no matter how many frame sliders you own.1

Impression

My initial impression when I ordered these suckers was, "they'd better be darn good," since I paid about US$220 for my set (frame sliders, clutch slider and swing-arm spools/sliders). I will say that they met those expectations, but didn't exceed them. Don't get me wrong, they are quite nice. They are made of high-quality materials with a good attention to detail. The designers even went so far as to taper the left-side frame slider so that it wouldn't require it's own bracket, but could still be mounted without cutting the fairings. To my knowledge, Motovation is one of the few companies to do this (TSR is another).

Installation

Installation was fairly obvious. The only thing to note is that the torque specs on the 2005 YZF-R6 engine bolts is fairly low. The right-side no-cut bracket mounts to the frame via a single bolt and there is not much keeping the bracket from articulating on that mount point.

To be fair almost everyone's designs are similar in this regard. I have seen one (and only one) maker of frame sliders who actually makes no-cut mounting brackets with two mounting points for the bracket, and a third for the slider. I wish I could recall who that is, but I can't as of this writing.

Mmm, sliders:

Use

Normally, I don't like to down my bike just to test a product, but this seemed an appropriate occasion, so we went to dump at Streets Of Willow to see if these sliders would perform as well as they look. I picked the right side, since there was more to damage (exhaust and all) and it would give an opportunity to test out the clutch slider as well.2

Ooo, that's gotta hurt:

Clutch slider (turned upwards):

After executing a textbook low-side, I had plenty of data to evaluate the sliders. As you can see, the sliders did their job and held up quite nicely. As predicted, the right frame slider did rotate on the engine mount point and was crushed right into the fairing. The fairing lost. Luckily, I had my fiberglass track fairings on at the time (which seemed prudent given where I was at the time), so a repair wouldn't be that difficult.

Back on the track at Thunder Hill after "testing" the sliders (and replacing the exhaust can); note the crack in the fairing below the frame slider:

When I purchased the sliders, Motovation had not yet made replacement parts available for purchase. They constantly ignored my e-mails and phone calls to replace my rashed parts. Perhaps this was because they knew they were eventually going to make extra spools and things easy to purchase via their website.

Well, they finally did, and I have to say I was astonished at the cost of a replacement spool. I was already somewhat put off by the cost of the slider kits to begin with, but this was ridiculous. They wanted US$45 for a right-side replacement spool and another US$65 for a replacement clutch slider!

Conclusion

I liked how the Motovation sliders held up in a crash, but I never expected them not to. They looked great, but their cost was high and got even higher post-crash. I especially didn't like the fact that I would be spending more in replacement parts than what most other makers charge for entire sets. And, although not many of us like to crash or think about it too much, I ultimately decided to sell what was left of the Motovation sliders and try a different (less expensive) brand which wouldn't leave me high and dry after my next...uh..."incident".

1. bigpuss is up to two sets on his F4i.

2. What lugnut means to say is that he is an idiot and was lucky enough to have any frame sliders when he decided to throw the bike into a right-hander while trying to trail brake like he was Noriyuki Haga.