Ebay

The following was taken from my personal document for creating an ebay business (with ideas coming from MANY sources far and few):

This page is part 1 of 2

(Ignore this page until it is cleaned up and organized)

The biggest auction sites = www.eBay.com, www.Amazon.com, www.Yahoo.com --> Register with EVERY auction site & product sourcing site in order to maximize effectiveness

Sign-up for Paypal and ensure everything is ready for Paypal integration AND Google Checkout

Make money as an auction broker & buy a collection/pallet of items and sell them individually --> Also, think about sourcing locally (antique shops, retail outlets, etc.) and selling nationally/globally – Be sure everything is appraised and researched well before buying and selling

--> Think about putting together collections of items and sell them as a single item

The two Top goals = Test auctions and Research EVERYTHING (Tactics, sales strategies, pricing, product sources (other seller’s wholesale lists, etc), fads, etc.)

Contents

Software Solutions:

  • Get an ultimate eBay calculator for the company
  • Use Skype.com with SkypeIn, SkypeOut and Voicemail - Get a PC Headset as well as videoconferencing set-up
  • QuickBooks Pro - Latest Edition
  • Eventually have Contract Software Programming completed.
  • Visitorville
  • Terapeak
  • eMail Software / AWeber
  • Infopia
  • Use QuickBooks
  • Zoovy
  • http://www.dyve.com/
  • StocRoom
  • Create a way to integrate Terapeak data with Infopia procurement and listing strategies - the automation of what works as well as the listing of products perfectly in direct observation of Terapeak data for listing as well as possibly procurement (the hotter the items, the more flagged for procurement and procured).
  • Integrate picture hosting on your web server with auction and inventory hosting features for automation purposes - use computerized tagging of photos for placement on auctions with the automation of winning listing description scraping for better use of working with the best out there and making it better (don't reinvent the wheel, reverse engineer what worked and place the results in the auction descriptions).
  • If selling in own store, make sales with your own affiliate program as well as through Google AdWords with Testing and Tracking being accomplished for increased conversions.

Use Vendio followed by ChannelAdvisor, followed by Infopia.

Keep detailed records of all my auctions for recording customer data, overall data, tactics, ideas, accounting, history, etc. --> Do data-mining techniques / get software that data-mines --> Track every cost involved with buying and selling and ensure there is a steady level of profits  Proper bookkeeping is vital to my success

Research:

  • Use eBay "Hot Categories" Report in order to find out which categories on eBay are the hottest
  • Use eBay’s "Want it Now" feature in order to find out exactly what buyers want NOW
  • Use sites such as Flippid for instant sales of products -- Also use the classified sites online and offline.
  • Find out the popular keywords on eBay as well as the search engines
  • Use other eBayers using the Community section on eBay in order to see what’s buzzing in the forums.
  • Do EXTENSIVE market research for every item
  • Use HammerTap DeepAnalysis, Terapeak & Andale Research tools
  • Use eBay completed listings to find out what’s sold and for how much in past auctions
  • Search for "price-gap" auctions where sellers sell their items wrong and you can get the items for low prices and immediately resell the items for profit.
  • Look for auctions that have price gaps and purchase a tool that looks for price-gap / incorrectly made auctions (misspellings, wrong category, etc.)
  • Spy on other auction sellers who sell correctly & are brilliant/innovative --> Use their knowledge and experiences in order to build better listings and do better myself (these lead to new opportunities) -- (record the photos used, exact title and description and categories listed)
  • BookScout Pro --> Realtime Book Prices on Your Cell Phone or PDA

Use a fee calculator in order to calculate the profit margins for all products --> (Item Final Selling Price + Shipping & Handling Fees) – (Item Purchase Cost + eBay Listing Fees + eBay Final Value Fees + PayPal / Credit Card Fees + Shipping Cost) = Profit

Hot Product Ideas:

  • Sell products to other eBay sellers
  • Tap the vertical markets of hot items
  • Sell what others don’t want (garbage to one man is another man’s treasure)
  • Sell based on trends & new media / pop culture foundations
  • Sell local merchandise to the rest of the world
  • Sell other people’s merchandise as an eBay Trading Assistant / Drop-off store
  • Sell Something weird / bizarre / buzz worthy

Product Sourcing Areas:

  • http://www.salehoo.com
  • List the suppliers and contact the necessary people via LinkedIN, WorldWideBrands, eBay Wholesale Lots, other eBay sellers, etc.
  • Zlio -- The greatest source of wholesale prices for products with quick 72 hour commissions
  • DH Gate China Sourcing
  • Ingram OneSource & Books and Ingram DVD/Entertainment Media Dropshipping
  • Use AuctionSentry to place sniping bids on products in order to buy products at extremely low prices --> Schedule profitable bids to take place where the maximum bid on the product will ensure the product will be resold profitably. Set the price gap between the item being brought and sold to at least 25%. Always bid based on the amount of profit possible
  • Shopster
  • Buy4Less
  • Inventory Source
  • Use www.WorldWideBrands.com
  • The affiliate networks -- Get the difference between what the price is for the sites and the price on eBay - get the difference as well as an affiliate commission (i.e. Amazon/Buy.com, etc.) --> Use the "View More Images trick" for driving traffic off of eBay to buy on another site -- also use the "Want To Know More?" trick (then have the person link over to the next page off of eBay to buy the product).
  • Buy items from other smaller auction sites and across the web then sell them on eBay (i.e. Overstock, Amazon, Yahoo, niche auctions, etc.) – Use MPire, Shopping Bots, personal sales websites (blogs selling art), niche-related sites (comic book sites/artist sites which sell art), etc.
  • Auctioneers overall --> Auctions in my town & city / other cities
  • Police Auctions
  • Directory of U.S. flea markets
  • Brand-name and designer closeouts
  • Great deals on closeouts
  • One of several government auctions
  • Closeout merchandise at wholesale prices
  • UBid
  • ViaTrading
  • Sources in the iMarketingGuru link list
  • Yard Sales
  • USPS Unclaimed Auctions
  • Pawn Shops
  • Procure items and lots from the classifieds sites (i.e. Craigslists) as well as offline classifeds -- Resell them on eBay if in perfect/in-box condition.
  • Retail Stores & Liquidators of businesses/retail outlets
  • Local business stocking
  • Thrift shops/stores --> run by charity groups
  • Government Auctions
  • "Distressed" Inventory Suppliers / Distributors
  • www.InternetAuctionList.com (Other auction sites)
  • Importation of products
  • Classified ads & web sites / blogs
  • Flea Markets & Garage Sales
  • Craft Fairs
  • Antique Shops --> Boone's Antiques
  • Dump & Run --> If you live near a college or university, watch for a Dump & Run sale.
  • Estate Sales --> Yellow Pages, Internet & Physical Contacts (You can even advertise that you can buy entire estates)
  • Close-out Distributors
  • Manufacturers --> When you’ve decided what kind of product you want to sell, contact some manufacturers directly (use a search engine like www.google.com to find the company’s Web page and contact information) and ask whether they’ll sell you items to resell.
  • Bargain "bins" in stores
  • Trade Shows --> contacts and account creation
  • Dropshippers for various products
  • Auctions devoted to different subjects (i.e. www.sothebys.com, www.collectors.com, www.eRock.com and www.lynknight.com)
  • eBay Misspelled Items
  • Find sellers selling things badly.
  • Find sellers who don’t know the value of an item.
  • Find auctions that end at awkward times.
  • Bid low in reserve price auctions.
  • Bid in uneven increments.
  • Andale Suppliers
  • Buy from other sellers on eBay / direct competitors / wholesale sources
  • www.Alibaba.com
  • Search for wholesale search engines
  • LiquidXS
  • Liquidation
  • Chinavasion
  • Sourcing Map
  • The Shipper
  • DVD DropShip
  • Wholesale Central
  • OverstockB2B
  • Doba
  • Look for wholesale sources being sold on eBay as well as leads on the search engines such as AliBaba.com – Create relationships & make money
  • Ask other sellers where they are sourcing their hard to find products
  • Authorized Distributors --> Go to www.smartpages.com and search WHOL or Distributor
  • Factory Authorized Wholesalers
  • Trade Key Sourcing
  • Car dealerships
  • Repossessed Products
  • Foreclosed Homes
  • Real Estate Agencies
  • New product manufacturers interested in selling their products
  • Estate attorneys --> Send a letter to the estate attorneys in your area and tell them you specialize in online estate sales of any size (Give them a cut)
  • Junkyards
  • Established retailers --> Stores need a way to move items that aren't selling. Just offer to help them solve their overstock problems by selling those items on a consignment basis on eBay.
  • Wholesale Co-Ops --> eBay vendors often buy tons of stuff in bulk lots, and there's a lot of merchandise, cooperate with them and sell off their pieces while giving them a little extra mark-up (but not much at all)
  • Offer Consignment deals --> Take out an ad in your local newspaper and offer to take consignments of stuff to sell on eBay for a small upfront fee plus a percentage of each winning bid. Prepare a one-page consignment agreement for each new seller to sign.
  • Discount stores --> Look for clearance items at discount department and drug stores.
  • Friends and family
  • Global Sources
  • Comic Books Stores
  • Offline retail shops (sell on consignment or buy off lots/single unit(s))
  • Collectible Item Stores
  • Wholesale merchandise marts – contact and account creation
  • Gift Marts
  • Design Centers
  • GoWholesale Search
  • Wand Trade Directory, The Largest Trade Show Organizers
  • Merchandise Mart Directory of Trade Shows
  • Conventions & Master Wholesale Trade Shows
  • Advertise for goods using the classifieds in newspapers, on sites and CraigsList-type sites.
  • Go to Jewelry Centers and Trade Shows
  • Job-lot traders
  • Storage site auctions

When buying from eBay sellers, see if you can find a way to automatically ship it to your customers by shipping it through the sellers you buy the products from.

Inventory Financing

Finance your inventory with your inventory being collateral or the other option is to get lenders to retain ownership of the inventory until all items are sold off. (GE Financial Services is the best for the 2nd option).

Pricing Research:

The Selling Formula:

EXPOSURE + DETAILS + GOOD PHOTOS = Maximum Bids!

Auction Formats & Attributes

  • Don’t use "Buy It Now" or you may be taking money out of your own pocket.
  • Online Auction Format, Buy It Now Format, Best Offer Format, Also use a listing with both BIN and auction format in order to give users more options
  • List a BIN number with a starting bid of $.99 and a BIN price of $15 for example --> create perceived value based on the BIN price
  • One-Day Listings --> high-volume sellers that are popular and move quickly, know that the item will sell quickly and don’t flood the market
  • Three-Day Listings --> Most active times in any auction are the first & last day the item is listed --> should only be used when I know the demand for my item(s) is strong
  • Five-Day Listings --> Know the demand for my item(s) is not high, list for seven days instead of this auction if it is necessary to sell a low-demand product
  • Seven-Day Listings --> Get more days of exposure for this auction type --> This is the optimal auction day listing (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
  • Ten-Day Listings --> When I have an unusual or expensive item (highly optimal listing for this) – Run this type of auction over 2 weekends ($200 or higher items would be classified under this area) --> This is for maximum exposure – even for low-ticket items (for this type of auction, start the auctions between 9PM - 11PM EST on Thursday)
  • Timing --> Have the auctions end for the last 3 days of the auction during eBay peak traffic times (Traffic = highest on the weekends and weekday nights – Sunday night is the peak traffic time) --> Track the results of my timing strategies & make sure all things are optimized fully
  • End auctions when the most people are online --> End auctions between 9PM & 11PM EST --

Listing upgrades

(Use Terapeak to research all listing upgrades for each product sold --> Connect everything with Terapeak)

  • eBay Picture Services for 1 picture for each product (use off-eBay sites for photo hosting)
  • Bold is good for items of greater value than $25
  • Highlighting only works for high-ticket items ($200+) in order to get greater value with high profit values
  • Border is only good if it can increase my final selling price greater than its cost while INCREASING profit margins
  • Add a subtitle for very cheap if necessary (add bonuses to these subtitles in order to get people to click on my product links)
  • Listing in 2 Categories = more interest, traffic & higher fees --> Only should be used for higher-ticket items
  • Gallery picture = Have this for EVERY auction / product
  • Gift Services = Only use this service for items sold during the different holiday seasons
  • Featured Plus = Only should be used for higher-ticket items ($150 - $200+)  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (List my item on the top listing section over all other listed items)

Creating Photo Albums of my Products:

  • Auctions without photos are a major buying opportunity
  • Use photo hosting sites / get a web host and host photos on my web host
  • Use photos from the manufacturers, from all over the web, from other eBay sellers' listings & from Flickr
  • Create green rooms / boxes for taking pictures of the goods - Get EZCube in the future
  • Show my items from various different angles & views --> Use a wide shot, a close shot, etc.
  • Light my images well (Plain white paper/a white sheet as the background, a couple spotlight-type desk lamps and light bulbs that create white light) --> The best lighting for photos is outdoors
  • Create a backdrop that contrasts with the item --> If the item has a light color, use a dark fabric – If it is darker, use a light backdrop / use neutral backdrops
  • Buy a small-plate stand in order to photograph flat items
  • Provide a contextual reference to all products sold in order to show the difference in features, sizes, etc.
  • Use comparison size website images for showing users the size of the product in comparison to other products such as a deck of cards, a wallet, etc.
  • Provide color references for all products
  • Use a clean, uncluttered background
  • Crop images for maximum impact --> Use Photoshop to make the pictures look crazy
  • Compress the images and turn them into JPEG files
  • Take photographs as I write the descriptions in order to spur innovation and creativity with my descriptions so as to create consistency between my photos & descriptions
  • Use stock photos for photo-imaging elements

Creating Influential Product Descriptions:

Copy the best auction templates and auction details -- put this content into databases for the separate auctions to be run & try to automate successful auction template copying.

Use Reviews & other sources of credibility building for every product - give the customer SERIOUS reason to buy the product at the given time of viewing - hypnotize them into buying

  • The purpose of a description is to properly educate the person viewing the auction & motivate them to buy your item
  • Position my item as unique / rare
  • Sell my items through compelling salescopy
  • Tell the stories of my items (personal extravagance)
  • Convince potential buyers of my credibility & integrity as a Professional eBay Seller
  • Provide details of all my products’ benefits
  • Inject my personality into my auctions I list
  • Give readers compelling reasons to bid on and buy from my auctions
  • Provide purchasing instructions & shipping information
  • Maximize the number of payment options you will accept.
  • Reassure bidders by including a guarantee
  • Fully describe your delivery details within your auction description. Be up front about delivery costs.
  • Consider using a delivery service which includes insurance.
  • For each product, we should have a central template that has excellent marketing techniques used to attract the customers and have customer retention -- Make it flashy yet usable and professional.
  • Ask for the sale (or bid) immediately thereafter
  • Always have some text in your auction description offering to answer any questions, with a link to your email address
  • Copy the best in the businesses I wish to encompass and create swipe files / swipe their auction layouts / spin the content of others / use other professionals’ auctions as templates & potential auction listings
  • Create scarcity & desirability in my auctions
  • Cover your policies in relation to damages, insurance and other policies.
  • "The more you tell, the more you sell" --> Explain the exact condition of the item, tell people about any warranties that still exist
  • Carefully describe any packaging for the item
  • Buyers are interested in the original box / instructions – Let people know if these materials/attributes of the product still exist and in what condition
  • Just tell people EVERYTHING about the item --> The better results will occur with higher bids and more sales – Don’t let people assume negative things
  • Add video to future eBay auctions

Visibility & Searchability of Listings

  • Never use a reserve on my items – buyers will never buy from a reserve auction – Just make the minimum price/starting bid/price higher if you are afraid of the item selling for too low --> Try to always use the lowest starting price I can afford – Create bidding frenzies -- If a reserve is used, let the bidders know the reserve price.
  • Use Terapeak!
  • Get an eBay Store and graduate up to an Anchor store.
  • Select a main category & several sub-categories to identify each of my items (Use the same categories as successful similar items & based on Terapeak’s research)
  • Select the effective keywords my potential buyers will search to find my products (use the category words and effective keywords in my titles and descriptions)
  • X-Sell products across all auctions
  • Give Item Specifics for ALL items sold --> more traffic coming from Item Specifics searches by eBayers (The Product Finder search tool)
  • Make sure you show the retail price of each item sold and create a sense of urgency and scarcity.
  • Check for the competitors in each category and for all keywords --> do competition analysis in order to find out the top categories & keywords to use in order to sell my products (Place these keywords in the titles) – Use Terapeak for this
  • Make use of spelling variations & misspellings --> Add spelling variations for everything & add number variations for the different ways people could search for my products (make sure all things are taken into consideration when creating the description and titles for each auction) – Find out what products are often misspelled and be sure to include these misspellings in my auctions
  • Commas & hyphens are treated by eBay as spaces when people search anything in the eBay search engine
  • Watch my punctuations for maximum visibility as well as using the singular form for all products (when a searcher searches the plural / singular form of any keyword for different products, the search term will lead to my auctions optimized for getting searchers)
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in my auction titles
  • Use Wordtracker & keyword research tools for finding keywords to place in the auction titles
  • Use eBay Pulse in order to find the search terms for each category & sub-category keywords --> follow what the top eBay stores do when listing my products & categorizing products efficiently --> copy the titles & descriptions of the professionals in order to find the best listing strategies in order to sell the most products
  • Use Terapeak & Terapeak’s Title Builder in order to find the best keywords for my auction titles & descriptions (Terapeak is KING --> learn Terapeak in every detailed way) --> These tools can be used to pick out the best categories & keywords to put in my listings in front of the people who are willing to buy what I wish to ever sell
  • Use photo-hosting services from other sites in order to host all photos & elements in my auctions / use a web host for hosting my photos
  • See the auctions with the highest selling price & most bids --> copy the descriptions, elements & model the successes in my markets
  • Assess why some of the auctions failed --> look at the auctions with the lowest number of bids / no bids & with the lowest selling prices & model their failures so that I NEVER fail
  • Answer the questions and feed on the emotions of each type of audience-member --> The know-it-all, serious buyer, researcher, impulse buyer, bargain hunter & anxious newbie
  • Use the most relevant keywords in all of your auction titles. Also, submit your storefront and individual eBay product listings to the search engines and practice SEO tactics for building up organic traffic / send traffic via Google AdWords.

Continue to Ebay - Part 2

Retrieved from "http://wiki.imarketingguru.com/index.php?title=Ebay"

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the wiki:

 

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Navigation

Toolbox