For this eBay art retailer, UPS-connected software makes shipping a beautiful thing

UPS WorldShip and ShipGear help Recherché Galleria founder Josh Zacher conduct business on eBay with ease.

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When Josh Zacher founded Recherché Galleria (recherché means "unique" in French) in January 2008, he knew where to find a wide audience interested in buying metal sculptures, wall art and paintings. Zacher set up virtual shop on eBay and began shipping to customers from his physical base in Akeley, Minn.

Zacher grew up in a family that sells metalwork, so he was familiar with many aspects of the business. His father owns a wholesale company that sells metal designs, and Zacher had spent years honing his skills in everything from manufacturing to design to shipping. Seven months into his new venture, as business grew, Zacher asked his father’s UPS rep to help find a more efficient way to ship.

Streamlined solution saves time
UPS senior account manager Michael Goslar told Zacher about ShipGear, which enables users to access the entire UPS shipping portfolio offered through the UPS WorldShip^® shipping solution. A middleware product from V-Technologies, ShipGear allows eBay retailers to link their eBay accounts to their shipping systems.

Zacher learned how he could process all of his shipments through UPS and also gain up-to-the-minute visibility at his eBay store. "We pulled up the online demo and showed it to him," Goslar says. "They decided to do the 30-day trial, and realized how much it would help them out."

"It really cut down processing time," Zacher says of the roughly 10 packages he ships a day. "What used to take 90 minutes a day now takes only 10. That's really been the main advantage, plus rates ended up being equal to or less than those of another carrier."

Customers know it's on its way
Before he discovered the convenience of ShipGear, Zacher's process required him to log in to eBay to gather his customers' shipping details. Then, after shipping, he'd return to eBay and mark each item as shipped so the buyer would know it was on its way. That time-consuming extra step was crucial – better informed customers are more likely to leave high customer feedback, or Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs).

"Customers go in and check the status of their purchases," says Zacher, "so communicating with them on eBay is important. And the higher your DSRs, the more eBay kicks in incentives, like discounts on listings."

ShipGear and its eBay-compatible application save Zacher time and labor by streamlining his business and automatically updating shipping information at his eBay store. Here's how it works: ShipGear is installed on Zacher's PC. It connects to his eBay account and is visible in WorldShip^®, so he can automatically manage both his store and his shipping from a single application.

To process a shipment, all Zacher has to do is open WorldShip and choose the eBay item to process. ShipGear automatically retrieves the customer's name and address, and the item number from eBay. When Zacher has processed the shipment, ShipGear triggers eBay to send the buyer a ship notification, complete with tracking number, and automatically marks the item as shipped on eBay.

Improved customer satisfaction, higher seller ratings
Since Zacher started using ShipGear in August, his seller ratings have shot up. "It used to be an average of 4.6" out of 5 stars, he says. "Now it's a 4.9."

In a marketplace where your seller rating is your reputation, Zacher says that UPS’s tracking ability, service reliability and unsurpassed customer service at the point of delivery have all contributed strongly to the increase in customer satisfaction. "UPS has been great," he says.

With ShipGear and UPS, he has increased sales, slashed costs and even found time to expand Recherché Galleria's product line with a new offering that reflects Zacher's confidence in his shipper: unique art cast in glass!