Client Billing Information

Shown below is other client billing information.  You may enter a refundable deposit that will be automatically credited to the client if the item sells.  There is space to enter any other fees or credits that may need to be applied to the auction:

Entering Sales

The screenshot below is where sales information is entered.  When the auction has ended with a bid you simply enter the sale amount.  The program does not assume the auction is paid until a date is entered into the Date Paid column.  A red X is displayed in the Payment Due (PD) column so that you can easily spot which auctions payment is pending.  The last column, Ending Date, displays "Ended" in red if the auction has ended (either expired or ended through buy-it-now.)  If the auction is still active the ending date is displayed, and the word "Today" is displayed if the auction ends today. 

Note: All areas within the program shaded in light blue are where data entry is entered.  All white shaded areas (or any other shaded areas other than light blue) are where automatic calculations are displayed.

The Client Invoice

Shown below is the printable client invoice.  The consignor name and address is automatically displayed in the header from the setup information that you already entered.  Your business logo can be inserted into the invoice.

The invoice always shows current status of all auctions.  As seen below, the first auction (the Beatles album) has a winning bid but payment has not been received, thus PMT PEND (payment pending) is displayed in the Sale Amount column.  Also note that commission fees are only displayed for the Deal or No Deal and Levi's Jeans auctions because these are the only two auctions that are completed with payment received.

Consignment Companion makes it easy to bill and print only the auctions that are completed.  Simply enter the current date into the Date Billed column for the auctions that you need to complete and print:

Once the date is entered into selected auctions, click the down arrow and select the date you just entered.  This will filter the data to only display and calculate these auctions on the invoice:

As you can see below, only the two completed auctions are displayed on the invoice with the invoice total.  The invoice is now ready to print.

Profit Analysis

The profit analysis of Consignment Companion will display current, up to date profits for each auction as well as complete totals for all the auctions pertaining to each client .  This helps you to see which clients are making the most profits.

Profit analysis is broken down into 3 sections: sales, expenses, and profit.  The sales section is shown below with the two auctions that have ended with payment received:

The screenshot below displays the expenses for each auction.  The first three columns (the eBay fees) will display in red when these fees are not passed on to the client.  Remember in our setup screenshot example we chose to only charge the client for eBay insertion fees and final value fees when the auction did not sell.  So far only the electronic game and Levi jeans have sold.  

Note that there is no insertion fee for the electronic game.  This is because the item was marked as re-listed a second time.  Since it did sell the second time eBay will not charge an insertion fee.

The Fee Adjustment column is for manual entry so that you can adjust eBay fees if necessary.

The profit of each auction and the total profit for the client John Doe is shown below.  Profit is broken down into shipping profit and total profit.  Again, these numbers are always up to date.  Since only two of the auctions have sold with payment received you can see the total profit for the client John Doe is a negative $11.80.  This is due to eBay insertion fees and listing upgrades incurred on other auctions that have not ended.  Even though these fees will be passed on to the client if the items do not sell, the program calculates these fees against your profit until the auction is actually invoiced to your client and settled.

Consignment Companion will display an itemized report of all listing upgrade amounts.  You never know when a client will want to know every single detail!  Due to space not all upgrades are shown below:

Other Features

Consignment Companion gives you a place to record notes regarding each item:

Commission Calculation Details

Consignment Companion allows for two types of commission rates to be used, the progressive scale and the tiered scale.

The Tiered Scale

The tiered scale for calculating commissions is more difficult than the sliding scale, however, it is used by most consignment businesses.  The tiered scale is calculated in the same manner as eBay final value fees.  Below is an example of a tiered scale: 

 Based on the chart above: 

• If the final sale of an item is $100.00 or less, the commission rate charged to the client would be 35%.
   

• If the final sale of an item falls between $100.01 and $500.00, the commission rate charged to the client would be 35% of the first $100.00, and then 30% of the remaining amount.
  
  

• If the final sale of an item falls between $500.01 and $1000.00, the commission rate charged to the client would be 35% of the first $100, 30% of the next $400.00, and 20% of the remaining amount.
  
  

• If the final sale of an item is greater than $1000.01, the commission rate charged to the client would be 35% of the first $100.00, then 30% of the next $400.00, 20% of the next $500, then 10% of the remaining.

IMPORTANT: The tiered scale allows for the breakdown of fees into four levels.  You do not have to use all four levels but you cannot use a scale that uses more than four levels.  

The Sliding Scale

The sliding scale for calculating commissions is very easy and straight forward.  Below is an example of a sliding scale: 

 Based on the chart above: 

• If the final sale of an item is $100.00 or less, the commission rate charged to the client would be 40%.
   

• If the final sale of an item falls between $100.01 and $300.00, the commission rate charged to the client would be 35%.
  
  

• If the final sale of an item falls between $300.01 and $500.00, the commission rate charged to the client would be 30%.
  
  

• If the final sale of an item falls between $500.01 and $1000.00, the commission rate charged to the client would be 20%.
  
  

• If the final sale of an item is $1000.01 or more, the commission rate charged to the client would be 10%.
  

IMPORTANT: The sliding scale allows for the breakdown of fees into five levels.  You do not have to use all five levels but you cannot use a scale that uses more than five levels. 

File System Details

Consignment Companion is an Excel or OpenOffice file.  You must have Excel or OpenOffice on your computer to run this program.  (OpenOffice is a free office suite package for non-Excel users.  See the Software Requirements section below for more information.)

When you receive the Consignment Companion Excel or OpenOffice file you will use the file as a template.  You will customize the template with client fees so that you do not have to re-enter the same information over and over when you create a client file.  You may have numerous templates if you charge clients different rates.

All client files are created from the template by simply renaming the template file with the client name.  The user's guide will take you through this very easy process.  

The same client file can be used for an unlimited amount of auctions unless you change the client's billing structure or if eBay or PayPal fees change.  In this event you would simply create a new client file from a template with the updated fees.

The user's guide will also show you how to set up a folder for your consignment business.  All of your client files will reside within the consignment folder.  Client files can easily be sorted to stay in alphabetical order.

Changing eBay and PayPal Fees

Program updates will not be needed if eBay or PayPal fees change.  We have made the Fee Setup utility easy to change fees.  If eBay fees change you simply update the changes in the Fee Setup screen as shown below and save the file as an updated template.

Fees shown below are from an image prior to the Feb, 20th, 2008 changes.  All fees within the software have been updated to reflect the 2008 changes. 

Ebay has set lower insertion fees for books, music, DVDs, movies, and video games.  For these items the insertion fee will need to manually adjusted in the Adjustment column when listing an item.  For example, if a book is listed then the amount of -.05 will need to be entered into the Fee Adjustment column to reflect the reduced fee.  Of course if all your items fall under the book, music, DVD category you simply enter the insertion fees into the Fee Setup chart accordingly and no adjustments will need to be entered.

FAQs

Q. Does Consignment Companion support eBay Store consignment sales?

A. Consignment Companion was created for regular style auctions.  If you can keep track of the eBay store fees on your own you can manually enter your own calculated fees over top the calculated fees within the program.  Essentially you could use this program for eBay store consignments but we do not offer support when the program is being used in this manner.

Q. Does Consignment Companion support dutch auctions?

A. No

Q Does Consignment Companion retrieve information from eBay?

A. As stated earlier in this ad, this is not a web based program so data is not retrieved from eBay.  Turbo Lister can be used to import listing information, otherwise this is a manual data entry program and priced accordingly.

Important Information / System Requirements

Please read the following information carefully:

Consignment Companion requires Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice to run.  OpenOffice is a free office utility package (much like Microsoft Office) and is available free to our customers who do not own Excel.  See Ordering and Shipping Information below.

About MAC Computers: Auction Accounting Pro will run on MAC computers as long as Excel is installed, however, it has been reported to us that Excel 2008 does not support macros which is needed to run Consignment Companion.  Feel free to email us for a test file.  We will send you a small Excel file so that you can be sure the software will run correctly.  

A Word About Macros: Consignment Companion contains macros.  Macros are small programs that enhance Excel and OpenOffice capabilities.  Your macro setting in Excel or OpenOffice will need to be changed to the LOW security setting to run our software. (This is easy to do and we explain how it is done.)  Microsoft, by default, warns users against lowering the macro security setting because macros can contain viruses.  We guarantee there are no viruses in our software.  Lowering the macro security setting plays no effect on receiving any other viruses unless you were to run another Excel or OpenOffice file with macros.  Antivirus software can be ran on Excel and OpenOffice files to check for viruses.

Ordering and Shipping Information   

Electronic Delivery

We do not charge shipping and handling as Consignment Companion will be sent to the email address you have on file with PayPal.  You should receive the programs in your email within 12 hours.  After 12 hours please check your junk and spam folders, and then email us and provide an alternative email address if possible.  

CD Purchases

If you would like the CD of Consignment Companion simply add a CD to your cart for $4.95 as shown below.  This will need to be completed on our Home page.

If you purchase multiple programs from us we will combine all software on one CD.  If you own a CD burner you can easily burn the consignment program to a CD, the additional CD purchase is not necessary.  Consignment Companion will be emailed to you even if you buy the CD, unless you specify otherwise.

Payment Information

We accept PayPal, money orders, and cashiers checks.  Personal checks are also accepted but may be held until cleared.

Kansas residents are subject to 7.525% sales tax.

All sales outside the U.S. MUST pay with PayPal.

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Return Policy

Please feel free to ask as many questions as needed before purchasing.  

Please review this ad carefully so you will know exactly what you will be receiving.  We have created an extensive ad showing nearly every screenshot of this program along with detailed explanations.  All of the functions of this program are listed in this ad, the program does nothing more and nothing less.  If there is a mistake in the ad description we will fix the problem.  If the problem cannot be fixed we will refund you completely, otherwise all sales are final.  

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Consignment Companion software copyright © 2007 by Auction Advantage. All rights reserved.