REVIEW: The Trading Assistant's Assistant by Hilary DePiano - Priced Nostalgia Press

Title: The Trading Assistant's Assistant: How to start a part-time job or full-time consignment drop off business on eBay
Author: Hillary DePiano
Website: http://www.hillarydepiano.com
Publisher: Priced Nostalgia Press
Website of Publisher: http://press.pricednostalgia.com
Genre: Business
ISBN: 9780978606336
Length: 111 pages
Format: Print
Reviewer: Sassy Brit

Hillary DePiano's The Trading Assistant's Assistant is an eye-opener. I have heard of trading assistants, but did not fully understand what the job entailed. It makes sense that to keep selling on eBay there is only so much of your own clutter you can get rid of before you actually run out of things of your own to sell. This is where the author, Hilary DePiano shares her own experiences as a trading assistant and a PowerSeller. Someone who sells items for other people in many different ways for example can pass any revenue onto the owner for an agreed rate of commission.

We learn there arecertain conditions to consider in the user agreement, which apply to the rules of eBay. How to qualify as a trading assistant and what the benefits are once a link is added to your profile and how you are listed in the trading assistant directory. DePiano lists the pros and cons and explains how to change from the casual seller to one with professional standards. Then there is branding to think about, and who actually hires a trading assistant, gaining regular clients, who your ideal clients would be, how to reach potential customers and finally how a trading assistant actually makes money, whether that is actually selling on commission, charging fees, or using deposits to secure clients. If you don't understand who is accountable for which costs, shipping, eBay fees, reports, spreadsheets then this books explains all. The author also goes into how to make your own service stand out from the rest using client realism , and showing you the value of research, keywords, proper terms, conditions and policies.

Starting up as a business and the taxes involved is never easy, but Hillary DePiano is very helpful in these areas, and also explains about the technical side of things. The eBay accounting software, the benefits of pairing of Quickbooks and eBay are also mentioned. As are the benefits of Skype where you can make calls from your computer free to other people on Skype and cheap to phones and mobiles around the world. This removes the threat of supplying strangers with your own home phone number, a blessing for your privacy and safety - especially for women who live on their own. We take a lot of precautions to protect our computers and our identity when working online, real life should be no different at all. I enjoyed reading this book, and with all this new knowledge am tempted to start my own business, as will many other readers.