Hello,
I would like to humbly offer some suggestions to you.
First, streamline the listing process as much as possible. Think of the repetative steps you do each time you do a listing, from very start to finish. Write them down in order, and add things in as you think of them.
I always do a little research on what a particular item would sell for, before I do much else. If it isn't worth selling (worth being the point where your company will realize a gain after deducting expenses-including your time- from the sale price), you haven't spent much time on it and the item can be disposed of in some other way besides selling it on ebay... think charity donation or trash!
After deterimining that the item is worth the time and effort to sell, then I take the pictures. For example, when I have a bunch of books to list, I take pictures of all of them, one right after the other. Then I download them onto the computer, do the photo editing (crop, color, etc.) and renaming. Then I log on to Auctiva and upload all the pictures, putting them in the proper folder.
Then I am ready to start creating listings. At this point, if you have not already set up profiles in Auctiva, you definitely need to spend some time doing that. Profiles and the information you include, will (should) cut way down on the repeat requests for information from potential or actual customers. Think about what information you/your company wants a customer to know for each and every item and each and every sale. Go through some previous requests for information you have received and see if there are similar questions being asked. If so, then be sure to include that information somewhere in an appropriate profile, even if it is just at the bottom of the Item Details profile. Then create one or more Master Profiles which will include various seller, item detail, shipping, etc. type profiles. Spending a fair amount of time doing Profiles will greatly cut down on the time it takes to create a listing later on.
Give some thought to perhaps identifying certain days of the week to certain tasks, such as Mondays for research, Tuesdays for pictures, Wednesdays for creating listings, Thursdays for finishing listings, Fridays for packaging and mailing those items that have sold and been paid for during the week. Or, set up a schedule for doing a little of each of those tasks each day. Create a schedule that works for you, reduces the stress, and is manageable and doable. And if you set a schedule and after a few weeks realize that it just doesn't work well for you, modify it and test it again until you find one that does.
Naturally, you may also have to keep track of items listed, costs, sale price, etc. in a spreadsheet or other program. Bear in mind that work takes time, too, and is part of the overall process so that you can show the productivity of your efforts.
And be sure to not delay in mailing out the items, once the customer has paid for it.
That's all I can think of right now.
Hope this helps.
