The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Your eBay Business Tasks

Has your eBay business grown so much that you’ve had less time for yourself?

Have you recently considered outsourcing your eBay tasks?

You’re in luck! Today, we show you the pros and cons of eBay outsourcing…

As an eBay seller, it’s expected that this eCommerce platform will eat up a majority of your time. This is especially true for eBay Power Sellers who made it in the world of eBay. Because of this, most eBay sellers have opted to find quick solutions. Solutions that can save both their time and efforts to keep their eBay business afloat. Among these solutions is outsourcing.

What is eBay Outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a kind of method that allows sellers to distribute tasks to other workers. This method helps sellers finish tasks as well improve the quality of their service. eBay sellers, even Power Sellers, won’t have all the skills needed for all services. Some eBay sellers are good at sourcing, but not doing customer service. While some sellers lack the time to control their eBay business due to other private matters. Among the tasks that can be distributed through outsourcing are the following:

• Customer Service
• Daily Operations
• Sourcing and Inventory Management
• Information Technology
• Accounting
• Content Marketing (articles, blogs, product descriptions, SEO)
• Social Media Marketing and Management
• Graphic Design (newsletters, flyers, promotions, ads, etc.)
• Website Design and Development
• Human Resources

 

 

What are the tasks I can outsource?

As we mentioned earlier, not every eBay seller excels in skills needed for eBay selling. They may also have the skill, but have too many tasks to even think of them. Another limitation is when eBay sellers have zero confidence to pass on their tasks to others. But once sellers have realized what they lack, outsourcing becomes an option. Not all eBay tasks need to be carried out virtually. Some can be outsourced on-site such as the following:

• Taking product photos
• Real-time inventory tracking
• Employee management
• On-site order preparation and fulfillment
• Bookkeeping
• Shipping
• Item listing

 

eBay Outsourcing PROS

Like any kind of business method, eBay outsourcing has their own pros. Among these pros include:

• Stress Reduction

eBay sellers can delegate minimal to major tasks to their virtual or local assistants eBay sellers who dislike repetitive tasks such as responding to messages benefit from this. Another benefit from outsourcing is that sellers can rest while assistants process orders. They can even handle calls and order issue resolutions as well.

• Productivity Increase

Because why bother handling buyer concerns when you have assistant who can do them for you? With outsourcing, sellers can handle their personal matters and even cultivate other interests. Sellers may even concoct new ways to get their marketing and sales skills in the process.

• Easily-Projected Costs

When you’re outsourcing, fees for services are normally projected beforehand. This enables eBay sellers to manage costs without having to worry about budgets.

• Cost-effective personnel

Outsourcing allows you to hire few people with several skills. One outsourced employee can do order fulfillment and social media management. While the other local employee can perform IT tasks, shipment, and issue resolution. Another perk of having outsourced virtual employees is that you don’t have to take care of office employee perks. These perks include healthcare, insurance, special leaves, and etc.

• Skill Diversity

Outsourced virtual employees usually have two or more skills to offer. One can do graphic design and social media management. While the other can bookkeep and write specific content. Having a diversity in your employees can make the jobs not just easier, but faster.

 

eBay Outsourcing CONS

Outsourcing has a dark side as well. These negative sides include:

• Control Loss

Because outsourced employees have control over day-to-day tasks, sellers might lose their overall touch. The way an employee handles customers and orders can shape the way the business will operate. Giving assistants the advantage of running the eBay store has its own ups and downs. The assistant may take the business to greater heights or cause the seller’s downfall. There is no middle ground. The way sellers do business will be different no matter how well they conduct trainings.

• Additional Cost

An eBay seller used to operating the business may get overwhelmed with outsourcing cost. Finding the right assistant for the task can be expensive. This is true for highly technical tasks such as programming, design, and SEO. Hiring assistants is another type of investment. So sellers must be careful in picking out the right one.

• Training Difficulties

All eBay sellers need to train their outsourced assistants various skills. The only problem with this is that training an assistant requires costs as well as time. Costs and time they could have spent for improving selling strategies. Another problem this may cause is the cognition of each trainee they take in. Every person has different learning speed and techniques. Some learn fast while others take time to learn.

• Loyalty

Virtual or not, eBay sellers actively looking for assistant will always stumble upon assistants whom are only true to their word in text and not in actions.

• Language Barrier

No matter how well your foreign virtual assistant speaks your language, misunderstandings are inevitable. This problem is most common in relaying instructions or expressing changes you want made.

 

Where can I find freelancers / people to outsource my eBay tasks to?

Outsourcing virtual and local assistants is easy thanks to the internet. Today, hundreds of websites offer help with finding assistants for your eBay tasks. The only problem left is choosing which among these sites you’ll start searching in and which person you’ll hire. Most outsourcing websites include detailed skills and work experiences of each assistant. So you won’t have to ask them. After finding out which assistant has the set of skills you need. Assessing their portfolio and work rates is next.

To help you get started with outsourcing, here are some of the best outsourcing sites today:

• PH
• Upwork
• Freelancer
• Guru
• PeoplePerHour

 

Summary

If you’re still asking yourself when you should start eBay sourcing, the answer is NOW.

Are your eBay fulfillment tasks too overwhelming? Try outsourcing.

eBay taking too much of your time every day? Try outsourcing.

If you want to pursue other endeavors, but your eBay store is holding you back, don’t quit. Try OUTSOURCING today!

Has our blog shed some light on the topic of outsourcing your eBay tasks? If it did, please feel free to share your insights in a comment below. For more eBay outsourcing tips and tricks, please visit our blog today.