1. Start reading Sell Their Stuff by Hillary DePiano for free right now
  2. What is a Selling Or Trading Assistant? The Ultimate Overview of Consignment Selling
  3. What does consignment mean? What is consignment selling?
  4. What exactly does a Selling Assistant do? What’s a typical day like?
  5. How does a Selling Assistant make money? Who can become one?
  6. Can eBay Trading Assistants still sell on consignment for others now that the program is gone?
  7. Where can a Selling Assistant sell their client’s consignment items?
  8. What kind of items can a Selling Assistant sell on consignment for their clients?
  9. Sellers, here’s why you should add Selling Assistant services to your existing e-commerce business
  10. From SAHMs to retirees, students to teachers: here’s who should start a Selling Assistance service
  11. Designing your Selling Assistance service from terms and conditions to services and features
  12. Money Matters: How does a Selling Assistant profit from selling items for others?
  13. Resale and the Selling Assistant: Sometimes it’s simpler to just buy the items outright
  14. Selling Assistant fees: What are they and how do they work?
  15. The Pros and Cons of charging a fee for your Selling Assistant services
  16. Does charging a commission on your Selling Assistant services maximize your profits?
  17. Charge a combination of fees and commission to maximize your Selling Assistant profits
  18. Here’s how I profit from my Selling Assistant business
  19. Should a Selling Assistant give their client a deposit or advance on future earnings?
  20. Should the Selling Assistant require a deposit of new clients?
  21. Who pays for what when selling for others on consignment?
  22. Should the consignment seller cover all selling fees or pass them onto the client?
  23. How discounted & free shipping offers affect consignment selling
  24. Shipping costs & selling fees are the least of your worries…
  25. Paying your clients their share of your Selling Assistant sales
  26. Calculating client payments on a Selling Assistant contract
  27. Method of Payment: How should I pay my Selling Assistant client?
  28. Reporting and reconciliation of a Selling Assistant client contract
  29. Build yourself a timeline for paying Selling Assistant clients without getting burned
  30. Money Matters Managed
  31. Your Selling Situation: Where and how should I sell my Selling Assistant items?
  32. Multi-Channel Consignment Selling: List your items on multiple marketplaces for greater exposure
  33. Practice your Selling Assistance service before you start taking on clients
  34. Do you need a storefront or standalone webstore to be a Selling Assistant?
  35. Is eBay still the best place for a Trading Assistant turned consignment seller?
  36. Does the Selling Assistant consignment sell from their own account or the clients?
  37. Should I have a designated selling account for my Selling Assistance consignment service?
  38. The 8 questions you must ask yourself before you start selling on consignment
  39. Good customer service is a selling point that can distinguish your services
  40. The benefits of having a PO Box or other Locked Mailbox for your business
  41. Designate a business phone line for more professional client contact
  42. Consider VOIP & internet-based phones like Google Voice or Skype over traditional options
  43. Offering pick-up services is an easy way to attract local Selling Assistant clients
  44. Should you allow Selling Assistant clients to drop their items off?
  45. Expand the reach of your Selling Assistant service by letting clients ship their items to you

The most common way to secure items from clients is to go and pick them up. This can happen at the client’s home or at a previously arranged public meeting point. This is only practical if the person is within a reasonable driving distance, but most of your clients will be local anyway.

Offering pick-up with your service is a major selling point, as it involves the least amount of work on the client’s part. All they need to do is get the box of stuff ready and hand it to you. The less work something is to do, the more likely people will actually do it, so for many potential clients, offering pick-up can be the main feature that makes the deal for you.

boxes photo

Photo by emmajanehw

A few things to consider when going to pick up items from a client:

  • You want to look neat and professional, but traditional business attire such as a suit or skirt is a little over the top for most pick-ups. Though it is your first client contact, you’ll also likely be doing some heavy lifting. Most of what you will be handling will be dirty, dusty and otherwise messy, so a neat shirt (no inappropriate sayings) and pants, possibly even nice jeans, are likely fine.
  • Make sure whatever vehicle you bring will have room enough to carry all the items you are picking up. You’ll want to clean out your trunk ahead of time as well. It is very unprofessional to force your client to wait as you tidy up. You should have a sense of the volume of items you’ll be picking up before you go, so you’ll know ahead of time if you need to secure another, larger, vehicle.
  • Make it clear to the client that they will need to have the items ready for you to take. In other words, you should not have to climb into their attic and fetch the boxes yourself, nor should you have to sort through a box of books for that one rare edition they want you to sell. They should have them either waiting for you outside or in another reasonably accessible location, already sorted.
  • At the risk of sounding like your mother, please take caution when entering the house of a complete stranger. Make sure your loved ones know where you are and try to bring someone else along with you if possible. If you are uncomfortable with the situation, arrange to meet the client in a public place to collect the items.

Photo by emmajanehw Photo by apyykko