Customer Reviews

i sell (on ebay & other online auctions - A loose-leaf binder system for tracking your on-line auction sales)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Perfect for small business or the mid-size seller on ANY (or multiple) auction sites. Better than any online software I've used to date! Each page has dedicated space for auction site, auction #, description of item, your actual listing, number of days, begin & end date of auction, shipping, sales tax, tracking numbers, profit & loss, feedback (buyer & seller), and MORE! The only book you MUST have to stay organized! Very highly recommended!

Although many readers seem to agree with the review re this being nothing more then an expensive notebook, I for one find "I-Sell" very useful for MY auction tracking purposes.

I tried other "systems": auction tracking software, a computerized file, database, alphabetical index card files... Each seemed useful in the beginning. But then there's that auction payment check that arrives late that you'll "record in my system later"... the person who contacts you 3 weeks after your auction closes with no winner & emails of his interest to buy the item before you relist elsewhere; the 11PM arrival of 20+ paypals; your conclusion of Friday night's packaging for Saturday's outgoing mail, to discover 60 emails that were delayed by your ISP's downtime, with most winners wanting express- priority shipping tomorrow; ... & all the rush of events which can occur with auctioning online.

In auction tracking, we all intend to record everything properly & immediately, but in haste to tend to more time consuming details, who hasn't jotted down a note on yet another post-it to "record in my system later". FOR ME, "I-Sell" is an easy system, as it's my all- inclusive hardcopy... no need to print out each item detail sheet or final buyer letter; no added paperwork to get filed EVENTUALLY. I easily can pencil in a note on any relative tracked auction page & IT's ALL IN ONE NEAT COMPACT BOOK. I'm highly organized, but I also lean toward the K.I.S.S. theory of recordkeeping [Keep It Simple Stupid].

Perhaps because I auction for charitable purposes &... this is an all- inclusive easy means of tracking for MY purposes... whereas it may not be for everyone.

With "I-Sell", one of my books gets filed, & I start another. A seller can choose to invert the slide-in cover sheets to label these books: - monthly, quarterly, annually [for measuring financials & keying in on "Hot Items" & "dogs" for auctioning]; or - alphabetically by buyer [so as to keep a detail on the types of items certain buyers bid on & thus email them of those intended for list]; or - thematically, by item category; or - HOWEVER YOU WANT tO TAILOR YOUR TRACKING SYSTEM. However you choose to use & maintain it, it's an easy system of tracking & unlike the static- inflexible auction software, a seller DOES have some leverage in his own organizational system.

Having formerly managed 300K++ documents in corporate litigation cases with the most expensive custom database systems, I know that the BEST system is the one that is UTILIZED & meets the needs of the persons needing to gain access to it.

A final word to those preferring to maintain all records on computerized files, unless you do a daily back-up, NO software auction or database system is fail-safe for purposes of tracking... I KNOW, as I've lost 2 hard drives in 3 years from "acts of God"... [ie, an unforseen storm, & a regional "brown out" (in which an electric utilty company- during high-use times, like temps of 100++ degrees- cuts all area power to 50%)...]. We all have had/ heard similar horror stories & most every auction seller maintains SOME form of hard copy file anyway... Why not simplify it with an easy-to-use system like this?

As for large E-bay or marketplace auction site sellers, if on a commercial/ network system, none of the typical online auction seller tracking systems is used anyway. Perhaps for professional sellers, a system such as this may seem too mundane, but FOR ME ... selling on sites... THIS IS AN EASY-TO-FOLLOW, all inclusive simple system & MY SYSTEM OF CHOICE!

"I SELL" was simply a pretty three-ring binder, only 14 pages of text, a few hundred copies of the exact same auction form, and 5 dividers. I would NOT recommend "I SELL" to someone doing online auctions. You would have to hand write the information on the "I SELL" form. In my opinion saving on the computer or printing out the finished auction and the emails between seller & buyer is more accurate, more complete, and simpler. If you as a seller want to keep information in a big file, it would take less time and be more accurate to cut and paste the information into a database or spreadsheet. I would ONLY recommend "I SELL" for someone who does not have computer access.

"I SELL" was simply a pretty three-ring binder, only 14 pages of text, a few hundred copies of the exact same auction form, and 5 dividers. I would NOT recommend "I SELL" to someone doing online auctions. You would have to hand write the information on the "I SELL" form. In my opinion saving on the computer or printing out the finished auction and the emails between seller & buyer is more accurate, more complete, and simpler. If you as a seller want to keep information in a big file, it would take less time and be more accurate to cut and paste the information into a database or spreadsheet. I would ONLY recommend "I SELL" for someone who does not have computer access.

I've tried many systems for tracking on-line auctions, and nothing works as great as "i sell"! With this loose-leaf book, you'll have all the information at your fingertips--not only the selling price, and the shipping charges, buyers info, but more importantly, a record of emails back and forth. You can record when you were paid, how you were paid, when the item is shipped, if you have sent feedback for the buyer, and much other helpful information. It's all there, neatly organized on one page, and it's soooo easy!! With the section dividers, you can group which auctions have been paid, shipped, and ones you need to do feedback on, etc. Now I don't have stacks of papers on my desk, wildly hunting for a particular auction, and sometimes missing shipping on time. You can be sure to have a pristine feedback rating, and save yourself alot of grief, by using "i sell". I love it!

I think I-Sell is a terrific book. I have tried many different ways to organize my (internet)buying and selling and this is by far the best system I have ever used. I don't know what I would have done without it. Thanks for writing this book!