ALWAYS USE THE EBAY EMAIL METHOD (contact winning bidder) FOR ALL COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE WINNING BIDDER. THIS WILL ENSURE THAT AN ELECTRONIC PAPER TRAIL IS CREATED IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG.
Communications with your winning bidder is of utmost importance. Even though eBay sends an invoice to the winning bidder, you should also follow-up with a “thank you” email, which also provides checkout information.
When payment is received, send another email to the winning bidder thanking them for their prompt payment. Also, provide information about how and when their item will ship.
When you ship the item to the winning bidder, send them another email indicating that their item has shipped, and ask them to notify you if the item hasn’t arrived within the expected ship time based on your method of shipping.
As a part of this email, I let the buyer know that once Positive Feedback has been received, I will in turn leave Positive Feedback for them. This cuts down on the unnecessary Neutral or Negative Feedback left by novice buyers or those who don’t provide you with an opportunity to fix the occasional glitch.
Ask if they are dissatisfied in any way with their purchase, to please provide you with the opportunity to make things right with them before they leave negative or neutral feedback. Stress that satisfaction with their purchase is of the utmost importance to you.