Seller's Administrative Handbook

GSEmarket.com Seller's Administrative Handbook

The GSEmarket.com Seller’s Administrative Handbook is intended to be a useful procedural resource for all Sellers. New content is added to the handbook as needed in an ongoing effort to provide Sellers with the information necessary for the most effective and efficient use of the GSEmarket.com service.

Your comments and suggestions are appreciated and serve to further develop the handbook. Please send your feedback to CustomerService@GSEmarket.com.

Thank you,
GSEmarket.com

Auction Tips

Use of Photographs

Potential buyers need to see what an item looks like in order to enter an appropriate bid. When online auctions were a novelty, a seller could get away without including (uploading) a photo of an item, but these days, most online buyers are expecting to see a photo image. Using digitized photo images in your listing allows your bidders to see what they’re actually bidding on, and that alone can greatly reduce telephone or email inquiries about the condition of the item. Adding an image to your item’s listing also increases the likelihood that it will sell at or above its expected value, because buyers are usually willing to pay more when they have actually seen what they are bidding on.

Equipment Descriptions

In the advertising business, you only have a few seconds to interest a buyer in your product, and the same is true at an online auction as potential buyers scan through the listings. The listing which best describes the exact item they want (or at least entices them to look more closely) is the one they’ll click on and explore.

Whole chapters have been written about the hows and whys of choosing your words carefully in the online auction business; however, we have boiled it down to the following suggestions:

Describe the item completely and accurately. Buyers are always satisfied when they know the little details (both good and bad) about the things they’re purchasing.
Be clear and concise with your description, while still providing buyers with sufficient information to make an informed decision about whether to bid on your item.
Indicate if the equipment is new or used. You should note whether or not the item still runs, is missing parts, or is serviceable. If such information is unknown or in doubt, then specify clearly that the condition is unknown.
Here are some commonly understood ways to describe an item’s condition:

Usable
Well used
Slightly used
Good
Very good
Near perfect
Perfect
Well loved (just kidding!)

Selling on GSEmarket.com

Including (Uploading) Photos

Image/Digital Photograph Specifications

Save or create the image as a JPG (Joint Photographic expert Group, pronounced “jay-peg”) image. Most digital cameras will allow you to save a photo as a JPG image. Regular photographs can be scanned and then converted to digital JPG images for uploading to your listing.
The resolution or scale of any images should be no larger than 640 X 480 pixels, and the file size should be kept to a minimum, but never more than 60K. (This is important, because the larger the image, the longer it takes to download, and customers don’t like to wait!)

Uploading an Image to Your Listing

Save the image on your computer’s hard drive or network drive in a temporary or designated folder.
In step X of the listing process, click on the “upload image” button.
Locate the desired image on your computer and click “submit.”
The image is added to your listing.

Non-paying Bidders

Seller Procedure

When a Bidder contacts a Seller and declines to complete the purchase of an awarded item, he or she becomes known as a “Non-paying Bidder.” The Seller should take these steps:

Refer the Non-paying Bidder to the Buyer Agreement and encourage the Buyer to complete the purchase. (A Buyer cannot cancel an awarded bid—see Buyer Obligation below or refer to the Buyer Agreement—but can only ask a Seller to cancel the bid.)
Inform GSEmarket.com of the Non-paying Bidder’s name and the Inventory ID# of the awarded item.

GSEmarket.com Procedure

GSEmarket.com will refer all Non-paying Bidders to the Seller.
Upon request of the Seller, GSEmarket.com will re-list the item for auction or assist the Seller in awarding the item to the second highest bidder and send the Non-paying Bidder a courtesy email notification (see Example, below) formally absolving the Bidder of the obligation to complete the purchase and reminding the Bidder of the potential consequences of being a Non-paying Bidder, which are that the auction may officially label the bidder as a “non-paying bidder,” as well as permanently suspend the bidder from the GSEmarket.com service.

Example of “Non-paying Bidder” Email:

Subject: GSEmarket.com – Declining an Awarded Bid

Dear Mr. Smith,

As directed by—insert Seller name—and at your request, we are absolving you of your obligation to complete the purchase of Item #X.

We appreciate your business; however, you must remember that by entering a bid, you extend a contractual offer to purchase the associated asset at the price set forth in your offer, thereby legally obligating yourself to complete the purchase of any items awarded to you. The consequence of failure to complete the purchase of such items may result in your permanent suspension from GSEmarket.com.

Please refer to the GSEmarket.com Buyer Agreement and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the Web site for additional information regarding your obligation to complete purchases as well as the consequences of reneging on awarded bids.

If you have any questions, please contact us at the number below.

Sincerely,

GSEmarket.com

Bidder Obligation

By entering a bid, a potential buyer extends a contractual offer to purchase the associated asset at the price set forth in the offer, thereby becoming legally obligated to complete the purchase of any awarded bids. According to the Buyer Agreement, the bidder must consummate the purchase of the asset at the price of the offer and agree that such accepted offer is a valid, binding and enforceable contract which may be specifically enforced by GSEmarket.com as a third-party beneficiary of such contract.