The role of the Clerk is assigned to one or more individuals
by the administrator. The clerk is responsible for receiving
and posting payments, handling non automated emails, tracking
unpaid items, general maintenance of Accounts Receivable,
issuing RMA’s, and releasing items for shipment. The clerk
fulfills these duties by logging in using the assigned
password and ID, and then accessing the clerk menu option. Upon
accessing the Describer's menu, the Clerk’s home page is
presented.
The first menu option available, Assign Shipping Costs,
presents a report notifying the Clerk of items sold that
require custom shipping or handling quotes. These may
be items sold to a buyer outside of the contiguous 48 states,
or to a buyer in a foreign country. In any event the Clerk
is notified by this report of the existence of these items
and the requirement to notify the buyer of the total shipping
costs so the transaction may be completed. This report
appears as follows:
The next item available from the Clerk menu is the “Process
Payments” item. When this item is selected the following
screen appears.
There are several choices available from this screen. PayPal
payments can be processed by selecting any of the choices
in the “Process PayPal Payments” box. Also, non PayPal
payments can be found and processed by using any of the
search fields available in the middle portion of the screen.
When processing PayPal payments make a selection from
the choices available in the “Process PayPal Payments” menu
box. The first menu option, “Match Verified”, presents
the screen shown below.
The information presented here represents payments received
from PayPal Verified accounts where the information provided
from PayPal matches the corresponding information in the
EZLister.net system. These payments can then be applied
by the clerk by checking the box next to the amount thereby
closing the open receivable and placing the item on a shipping
list.
The second choice in the “Process PayPal Payments” box
is “Match Unverified”. The action resulting from choosing
this option is similar to the one described above, except
payments received are from unverified PayPal accounts.
The final choice in the “Process PayPal Payments” box
is “Remaining Transactions”. Selecting this option brings
up a report showing payments received from PayPal where
a mismatch exists between the information provided by PayPal
and that generated by EZLister.net. Most often this is
a result of some error entered during the buyer’s checkout
such as a typo or a shipping address different from the
one recorded. The important point is that the error is
flagged, and the Clerk notified that additional action
is required before the transaction can be closed.
It is also possible to find individual transactions using
any of the search fields shown on the screen directly above
the report. These fields are used when processing non
PayPal transactions. As with all report screens in EZLister.net,
it is possible to sort the report table by clicking on
any bolded column heading, as well as finding an item within
the report by using a browser’s find function. After locating
and selecting a payment to process from this list, the
following screen is presented.
Here the amount and type of the payment is shown. From
this screen it is possible to accept the payment submitted
and schedule a shipment date, contact the buyer by email,
or review the checkout of the buyer. Not shown in this
screen shot, but available for your review, is all customer
information including the shipping address. When satisfied
with the action taken, click the appropriate button to
save, update, or cancel the auction.
The next item available for the Clerk is to manage and
process UPIs. To manage UPIs, select the “UPI Status” menu
option and the following menu appears.
EZLister.net automates management and reporting of UPIs
by identifying three possible statuses: UPI Eligible for
Reporting to eBay; UPI Reported to eBay; and UPI eligible
for Final Value Fee Refund. The first menu option prepares
a report for those accounts that are past due and that
are eligible for reporting to eBay. To actually report
an item as unpaid, all that is necessary is to click the “Report
an UPI” button.
After reporting an UPI to eBay, the system will continues
to monitor and report its status. This report is accessed
by selecting the second menu option” UPI Reported to eBay”. Finally,
after the required amount of time passes and it becomes
possible to recover final value fees from eBay, the system
moves these items to another report and allow you to file
the claim. This report and procedure is accessed by the
third menu option, UPI eligible for Final Value Fee Refund.
It is possible that a buyer may submit a payment during
the UPI process. When this occurs, after Clerk accepts
and processes the payment, the item is automatically removed
from the UPI process with no additional action necessary
on your part.
EZLister.net offers you the opportunity to sell an item
directly without completing, or even initiating, the auction
process. From the Clerk menu options, select “Non Auction
Sales”, and then enter either the item number of the product
that you intend to sell, or a keyword appearing in its
title. The screen shot below shows the results of a search
for an item containing the keyword “laser”. This action
will bring up the following screen.
As with all searches in the EZLister.net system, entering
additional descriptive keywords will narrow the search. To
complete the non auction sale, simply select the desired
item, fill in the information on the screen that appears,
and the following occurs: a new sale is created; inventory
amounts are adjusted; a new receivable is created; and
a new checkout process is initiated.
EZLister.net recognizes that there will be times when
it is necessary to review and make changes to an existing
transaction. Obviously, this should be the exception rather
than the rule. The Clerk menu option, “View and Edit Transactions” allows
you to find a specific transaction, and make any necessary
changes. Selecting this menu option begins the process
by presenting a screen with several search fields available
that assist you in quickly finding a specific transaction. Here
is a screen showing the transactions completed and available
for editing after searching for a hypothetical bidder’s
email address.
When in use, the fields in the “Bidder ID” and “Bidder
Email” columns would be filled in. The status presents
icons that graphically illustrate the internal status of
the product in the system. Clicking a number in the “Transaction
ID” column presents a screen that contains all of the information
associated with this transaction.
This screen shows an auction canceled for administrative
reasons. Some fields on this screen have been edited for
privacy. Normally the fields: Bidder ID, Bidder Email,
Billing Address First Name, Billing Address Last Name,
Shipping Address First Name, and Shipping Address Last
Name would be filled in with the appropriate data. Also,
there are additional fields under “Customer Information” not
shown. After making any changes necessary, the edited
transaction is saved and all records in the system updated.
In those cases where it is necessary to accept returns
from a buyer, EZLister.net has a RMA system in place. This
allows you to control returns, and account for them in
the system. When necessary the Clerk can initiate an RMA
by selecting the “Process Returns (RMA) menu option. The
initial screen allows you to either create a new RMA, or
search for an existing one by making use of a RMA number,
or various status filters. The screen below shows the
results by searching a hypothetical database for “All Open
RMAs”.
After completing the required search and locating the
desired RMA, selecting the number in the “RMA Number” column
will present the information entered about the transaction. The
screen below shows a hypothetical RMA that has already
been processed. Again, some fields have been edited to
reflect privacy concerns. This screen allows input from
various members of the staff gathered while resolving the
issue. When the process is complete, you will have complete
documentation of the transaction for future use.
The final menu option available
from the Clerk menu is the support option. This takes
us to the learning center on our web site where there
are additional resources to help you use the system.
This concludes our brief overview
of the Clerk function. You may continue to tour
the system or obtain more detailed information on how
to use the program by following the links listed below.
