I have been selling going on my 4th year (I think) and I have never used invoices.

For those of you that do, what are the reasons?

I am just curious. I stamp my packages on the outside.

But I am wondering if an invoice inside the box might be of some value as far as being remembered. I do have repeat customers but not as many as I would like.

I sell items that are basically old, no longer produced, like elegant Glassware, etc.

I would love to hear your opinions on this.

Don't use them either

I use the double ones as I pack my items ahead of time and put one half in the packed box and the other one is for me an my bookeeping and I tape it to the top of the box and when I get ready to ship I can see what needs to go. It works great for me that way and at the end of the month I have all the invoices to put in the correct corresponding inventories. Sounds complicated but it works great. I sell older items also. Also having a invoice with address in the box helps the customer when they receive the item and also helps if the package were to be damaged and could help with identification. bluefox

Hi, Cindy...

Yes, I use the double invoices. I include the customer's copy in their box...as a courtesy, and as a reminder of the seller they bought their fabulous item from. I also write a personal note on the back. I deal in antiques and fairly high dollar, low volume sales. I need them to trust me for future purchases. The personal touch helps in this, IMO.

I keep the other half as a hard copy for my records.

I understand the personal touch, but the paperwork, egads, I am surrounded by paperwork, so I am trying to decide if it is really, really worth it to start using them.

I already keep a shipping report so if I have to refer back to anything, all the info I think I need would be on that.

When you say a double invoice, do they print twice? Or is this something that prints on 1 sheet of paper that you cut in half?

It is a two part invoice on a single sheet of paper. It has the same thing on each part except one is for the "Seller" and one is for the "Buyer". It can be set up through > Tools > Custom Document, and printed through >Right click > Print > Custom Document > Invoice. I have mine invoices set at > Font size >9 and I have brought the bottom part of the Invoice up about 5-6 lines. Works great for me at those settings. _______bluefox

I use the new style invoice and I do like it since you have been able to remove the 0.00 sections.
There is still some things I would like to be able to remove, like CC Details as I never use those. I never did like the two part invoice in 2.89 I thought it was ugly. I liked the option of the customizable rtf document that we used to have. My Invoice then looked more like a thank you letter along with a little feedback reminder, but still had all the auction details.

Also I could see right away which packages required insurance because that part was on the invoice in bright red. It's easy to forget when you are packing lots of items.


Alan

Cindy...

Yes...it prints on one sheet that I cut in half.

I dunno what you sell. If you don't include anything in the packages now...this might be a good thing for you. I get a lot of happy emails about my "personal" service...even some comments in feedback, though not as much as in email. OTOH...if you do a really high volume, this extra bit of effort might not really be worth it for you.

Cindy. I don't use them. Never saw the need. Been selling for over 4 years.

Toke: I also get plenty of after sale Emails. Same as you. I think it depends alot on the buyer.

Hello Cindy,
I have been selling on eBay for about 3yrs. I include some kind of invoice in the box just in case it is returned. If the customer pays through Paypal I print the payment notice. If they pay buy mail I ask the buyer to print out the 'congrats notice' and include it with payment. Which I include with the shipping.

If they do not include anything with thier payment I will print an invoice.

I just love it when people seed payment and do not give any info as to what it's for. I run about 100 auctions a month and that makes it real fun!

Michael <><

Thanks for the input. Can't say I see a really good reason to get into more paperwork.

Michael, the way I run things, I don't receive any checks that I can't apply to an item. Buyers don't get any payment info, until I have their name & address. Cuts down on that problem 100%

I run an average of 30-60 unique auctions a week, so I am busy. I'll keep my eye on this invoice business for right now.

Thanks again all who responded!

I think it's a good idea to have the customer address in the box you ship, also a list of things that are included, and what they paid for everything. So I use the invoices - I actually print two, stick one on the box and mark the weight on the other and use it to generate labels.

If your package goes astray or the label comes off, the post office or UPS has no idea who it's supposed to go to. Check out the postal service auctions on ebay sometime if you want to get some idea of the volume of "lost mail"

I customize the note at the bottom of the invoice to personalize it. There is a trade off somewhere between "personal" service and "professional" service. I don't think that seeming professional about your transactions is necesssarly impersonal.

The people at the post office like the fact that a inventory/invoice is included in each box/enevelope that I send. The postmaster has told me that many packages/envelopes loose their labels in the shipping process and if they can open the package and find the info there it continues on its way, if not after 6 months they sell it...their new post office auctions on ebay is one way. I have over 200 auctions a week of collectibles and other stuff so we ship alot, mostly by the post office, the invoice is just an easy way for me to keep everything straight and the right stuff shipped to the right person. Just my two cents worth.....

I've used them since I started using Auctiva/ebud. I write (in handwriting) a thank you note and enclose them with the item. I know as a buyer I'd prefer to have something in the box besides just the item in case I have a brain drain and can't remember the auction.

I also sell on half.com and put an invoice in there that I type up manually using Microsoft Word. One buyer emailed me and said I was the first person who said thanks for purchasing an item from half.com in all the time she's been buying stuff there.

Does anyone know if there's the capability to track half.com stuff via ebud 3.07 (MILES???) since they're now linked with ebay?? That would be awesome!!!

Mary