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THE EBAY SELLER'S NEWS, MAY 2005, VOLUME 5, ISSUE #6
An independent monthly newsletter for by: Skip McGrath Musings I would like to thank all of you who took the survey for our eBay Fun-In-The-Sun Boot camp. Your responses were very important in helping us format and price the seminar. The problem is we are having trouble getting the dates and facilities we want at Atlantis. Also, a lot of you emailed me saying you would love to attend the boot camp but it was just too far or the travel was too expensive.
We are still working with the folks at Atlantis in the hopes of coming up with a better package. But if we do, we will probably have to move the seminar from February to April or May. In the meantime I am looking at other alternatives including Las Vegas and Ft. Lauderdale. Hotel space is cheaper, there is greater availability and there are more travel deals to these cities. I am also considering a warm-up event, which would be a one-day seminar in Las Vegas some time this summer. If that is successful, then I may try and fit in a Mid-west and East-coast city as well. So as we roll out our program, you will have the choice of a one-day intensive selling seminar, or a full three-day eBay Boot Camp that will cover all aspects of running a profitable eBay business. For those of you who would like some immediate and personal help, please see article #2 below. I have long been an advocate of niche marketing. I have just posted a new article on the Free Articles page of the web site that looks at the benefits of finding and exploiting niches on eBay. As eBay becomes more competitive it is becoming harder and harder to compete in the area of general merchandise. Finding an exploiting a niche can often be the salvation for eBay sellers. This month I came across a new service for eBay sellers. it's a service that explores hundreds of small niches on eBay and reports on the keywords people search for to find these niches. Some of the niches are surprising and some are truly weird --but they are there. My regular readers know that I have been a fan of Corey Rudl's Internet Marketing Center for a long time. A wile ago I told you about Corey Rudl's $10,000 internet profits seminar. If you're curious to see video footage of Corey Rudl with a small group of his clients who each paid $10,000 to attend, talking about some of the most advanced profit secrets he's been using to make over $20,821 per day using the Internet, this is your last chance.. Because he's only making these video clips available for a very short time. These free video clips reveal a truckload of Corey's most advanced Internet profit secrets -- stuff he knows about making money on the Internet that he never thought he'd share with anyone. I'm talking about secrets like how to guarantee all your e-mail gets delivered (and not accidentally deleted as spam) by setting up "whitelist relationships" with Yahoo!, Hotmail, and AOL... How anyone can turn an idea into a profitable web site with almost no up-front cash -- in less than a month... So if you want to see it, I highly recommend you move quickly and Click Here. Corey is only sharing Please don't underestimate the value of the FREE video footage on this page. Just ONE of the secrets Corey gives away took him over 2 years to learn and cost $100,000 in research and expenses to figure out... and he's just going to give it to you! Click Here to see the Free Videos and read about this fabulous seminar. I bought the seminar videos and used just one thing I learned to increase traffic to my web site by 19% with only 5 minutes work. Last month I mentioned that Joel Peterson has come out with a new updated version of ProfitCalc. I have been using it myself and I actually received emails from several readers saying how much they liked the new version. If you would like some help understanding and controlling your eBay fees give it a try. In This Issue: 1. Fixing Negative Feedback 1. Fixing Negative Feedback Getting eBay to remove a negative feedback comment is extremely difficult. There are several situations whereby eBay will agree to remove a feedback comment once it is placed but they are very limited. Here is eBay’s policy on feedback removal:
If you were left feedback by someone under one of these conditions, contact eBay through the Contact Us link on the eBay Feedback Forum Page. There are two other ways to have feedback removed. The first one is through eBay’s Mutual Feedback Removal process. Sometimes a member will leave a negative feedback and then later realize the problem was not caused by the seller (such as the post office losing a package) or the seller contacts the member after they have left the feedback and offers to fix the problem (I.E. Give the seller a refund, send a replacement item, etc.) If both the buyer and seller agree, then you can apply to eBay under the mutual feedback resolution policy. After both parties have agreed to withdraw the feedback, eBay will adjust their feedback scores at the same time. eBay will add a note to the feedback comment, saying that the feedback was mutually withdrawn. Members may initiate a request to mutually withdraw feedback within 30 days of either person leaving feedback or within 90 days of the transaction end date, whichever is later. Once you contact the other member and agree to the mutual feedback resolution, just go to the eBay Feedback Forum page and click on the link to Mutual Feedback Withdrawal. This will bring up an online form where you enter the item number to start the process. eBay will send each member an email asking if they agree to withdraw the feedback. When both parties answer in the affirmative eBay will adjust the feedback score. Sometimes communications between the two members becomes so emotional that you just can’t resolve the issue. There is another way to have feedback removed. This is by using a third party resolution service. Unfortunately this one is not free. Go to www.squaretrade.com. Square Trade is an eBay partner that offers a Squaretrade seal of approval to sellers that have a good feedback rating. You can put this seal into your auctions. If you are a Squaretrade member, you can apply for their dispute resolution service. There is a $20 fee for the service. But, if Squaretrade resolves the dispute and both parties agree, then they can remove your negative feedback. Upon payment of your $20.00, Square Trade will contact the other party and attempt to resolve the issue. According to their web site they are successful about 70% of the time. 2. New: eBay Research Tool from Terapeak I recently discovered an exciting new eBay research tool from a company called Terapeak. OK - I didn't actually discover it, the folks from Terapeak called me and asked if I would look over their site. If you have read any of my books, you know I am a huge believer of research. Research is how you avoid all those costly mistakes that can cost you money and leave you with a garage full of merchandise that you bought at 30% off retail and absolutely no one on eBay cares about. Terapeak is a really powerful research tool. Andale is good --but this stuff way beyond good. If you are at all a serious seller, you need to take the free trial. What can Terapeak show me? Here are just a few things:
I was so impressed with this service I asked Greg Gunn of Terapeak to write an article about using this great research tool. You can read it on the Free Articles Page just as soon as you finish the newsletter. 3. Has eBay Peaked ??? If you watch eBay stock at all, you will know that it has been hammered over the past couple of months, and really turned down in mid-April. eBay has been historically the fastest growing company of the 21st century, but is it losing its luster? The market seems to think so. I wonder. I have owned a substantial amount of eBay stock for a while, and I along with everyone else have seen my value drop almost in half since January. Because I bought eBay a long time ago, I am still ahead, but not as much. Well today as I write this eBay hit $31, down from its post-split adjusted high of $60 in late December. At this point I became a buyer again. There is no chance that eBay can sustain the astounding growth rates it has experienced over the past few years, but like Starbucks (another stock I own) eBay still has a lot of room left to grow. I get calls from stock analysts who follow eBay and they are all of the opinion that the users are moving away from eBay and gravitating to Overstock and other auctions and sales channels. If my observations are correct, it is the sellers --not the buyers who are moving away. eBay needs to stem the tide of sellers leaving the site for other channels. If they don't, it is just a question of time until the buyers follow. Overstock.com is booming as a shopping site with lots of great bargains, but Overstock.com Auctions are still struggling. It is a great site if you sell popular merchandise such as electronics, brand name apparel, toys and games. But, if you sell any kind of specialized items it is very hard to get bids. This could change, however, if more sellers of the niche or specialized merchandise move over and start selling. At the moment sellers are not "leaving" eBay, they are just selling in both places. However as more and more merchandise becomes available on the other venues, buyers will start to migrate as well. Don't get me wrong --I am a strong advocate of multiple channel selling. It is a big mistake to ever put all your marbles in one bag. I heard a story recently about a large eBay power seller who was kicked off of eBay because one of his employees did something stupid and mean. Yes, he fired the employee, but his $100,000 a month business is now looking for new sales channels. eBay's biggest asset is the loyalty of their members --but this loyalty is strongest among buyers. Sellers may be loyal to eBay, but they also tend to be practical. For a long time eBay has concentrated in building their brand with bidders and they have barely responded to the needs of sellers. This does seem to be changing. Last month I wrote that eBay has made a support phone number available for featured store owners. You also get a support number if you are a Gold lever power seller. eBay sent executives to the recent PESA conference in Atlanta where eBay's top power sellers gathered for their semi-annual meeting. Of course Overstock.com was represented there as well. PESA, formerly know as the eBay Elite, a group that represents eBay's top power sellers couldn't get eBay's attention two years ago. Today eBay is paying attention. So where will the growth come from? eBay has operated for years as the 800 pound Gorilla with virtually no competition. I think it made them soft and arrogant. But when thousands of eBay employees with stock and stock options, just saw a big part of their net worth drop by 50%, I have to think that got their attention. I know they have the talent to figure this out and my sources inside eBay tell me they are looking at new strategic initiatives designed to defend their market share and take it to new levels from there. My information does not quality as "insider information," it's much too general --but as I said at any price below $35 a share, this power seller is a buyer. 4. Four Types of eBay Shopper --Which one do you appeal to? There are four basic types of eBay shoppers.
I don't have an hard research data to back up my opinion, but I have been selling on eBay for six years now and have accumulated a wealth of anecdotal information and experience. So how do you appeal to each of these shoppers? The High Touch shoppers tend to be eBay newbies --but not always. I always provide an email link in the body of my auctions and invite people to email me with questions. When they do I try and answer those emails as quickly as possible. When I send their item out, I always place a printed note in the box that says:" Thank you for buying from my auctions. Please inspect your item and email me immediately if there is anything wrong. Your complete satisfaction is my immediate priority. I have posted positive feedback for this transaction and hope you will do the same. My username is McGrrrrr." The Bargain hunters are always looking for the best deals. If you are selling merchandise that appeals to this type of individual it is very important to stress the real value of what you are selling. For example I recently bought a shipment of closeout Calvin Klein boxer shorts.Tthe first time I ran the auction the results were OK. The next time, I included a close up photo of the retail price tag. I sold twice the quantity and the final value was 15% higher. If I am selling an item that is NWT I will often buy the eBay subtitle and place the retail price in the subtitle. Here is an example from a recent auction:
The Elite Bargain Hunter is looking for quality. This person reacts best to brand names and also looks at your brand image. To appeal to this type of buyer you want to make sure to use a nice template, good photos and reassure them that the merchandise is authentic. This type of buyer rarely buys knock offs and will often respond to the BuySafe or SquareTrade seal. The Speedster is the impulse shopper. I like these people the best. They WANT IT NOW ! These are the folks who will respond to something like Free Shipping for Buy-it-now customers. They are also worried about losing an item they really want and often place a high proxy bid. I always like to put a statement in my auctions to appeal to these folks such as: "Don't lose out to a sniper. Place your best bid now so you can have this beautiful print hanging in your living room --and not someone else's." 5. Consignment Sellers --Look to the Business & Industrial Category If you are an eBay Trading Assistant you know the most time-consuming part of your week is finding consignors with products to sell. You have to advertise, answer phone calls, go out and look at merchandise, sell your service to the consignor, get a contract signed and so on. If time is money then you want to make the time you spend as efficient and profitable as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to sell high-value or higher-priced goods. I get calls all the time for someone wanting to sell a guitar amplifier, a set of golf clubs, an old teapot or whatever. Most of these things sell for between $50 and $200. At 30% commission, even a $200 item only brings in $60 in income less fees and advertising costs. I have to sell ten $60 items just to gross $600 a week. If I spend 20 hours running around and another 20 hours working on the auctions, collecting the money, shipping the goods, doing the paperwork and paying the consignor --that works out to $15 a hour --again before eBay and PayPal fees, advertising costs, gas to run around and my overhead such as computer payments, ISP fees and so on. It is just as much work to find ten high-priced items to sell, or a large quantity of lower priced items you can sell in bulk. If someone wants to sell a collection of teapots that might go for over $1,000, that is a lot more interesting to me than one teapot. Even better is a farmer who wants to sell a used tractor that will sell for over $15,000, or a dentist who is buying new equipment and wants to sell his chairs and drills for $5,000. Now we are talking real money. I could make $1,500 on the tractor at 10% commission or $750 on the dental equipment at 15% commission. The key to getting higher value items to sell is to look for them. In my book, How To Start & Run an eBay Consignment Business I explain how to advertise specifically for what you want. Every trade, such as construction, agricultural, restaurants, etc. have their own, usually local, trade magazines. A small classified ad in the local farm journal, or on a bulletin board at the feed store should bring results. Used restaurant equipment is a big seller on eBay. Restaurants are going out of business all the time. Other restaurants are remodeling and updating their equipment. You can reach the restaurants that may be going out of business by contacting local bankruptcy attorneys. Or you can contact your local restaurants and let them know you can sell their old equipment if they want to upgrade. If you join the local chamber of commerce they usually have a breakfast once a month where you can stand up and give a one-minute speech about your business. This is a great way to let the business community know what you do. Make it plain that you are looking for expensive business and industrial equipment or retail closeouts to sell in volume. A great way to start is to look through the hundreds of sub-categories in eBay's Business & Industrial category. When you see a category that interests you, search the completed auctions to see what is selling and the prices. Now go out into the community and look for those items. If you see used construction equipment is selling well, contact your local builders organization and ask if you can advertise in their magazine or newsletter --or even come and address their meeting. This type of proactive marketing will bring results every time. The biggest result should be that you are now spending 20 hours a week to find goods that will sell for thousands of dollars instead of hundreds. 6. New Wholesale Sources for May 2005 I continue to get rave reviews from my readers for Chris Malta's Drop Ship Wholesale Source Directory. Rather than steering you to the many drop ship middlemen, Chris gives you actual manufacturers who will work with you directly. Each month he adds dozens of new sources so the directory never goes out of date. The folks at GoWholesale have continued to refine their Wholesale Search Engine. When it first started it was frankly just OK. But they have continued to work on it and refine the search results and it just gets better and better each month. At this point it is approaching excellent.
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Lang erie and intimate wear is a huge seller on eBay. Coco's Intimates has a large selection of intimate wear, swim suits,dance wear and sexy cocktail dresses. They also sell a line of adult novelties. You have to hunt for them to see them so they are not in your face when you visit the site. I am not recommending those as items to sell, just warning you in case you are offended. At the other end of the spectrum is Swanson Inc. a company that carries over 4000 patriotic and inspirational Christian products. Blake Brothers sells a stunning line of Sterling Silver jewelry for men including cuff links, tiepins, key rings, money clips and great stuff for DAD (Father's Day is coming soon... hint to family.). You will have to register first and send them your tax ID number to see the catalog and the prices. Just click here and send them an email with your information. I have seen the products and this is great quality stuff --well worth jumping through their hoops to register. You can also call them at 800-888-1884 or fax your tax ID to 800-493-2905. All of their jewelry is manufactured in the USA --this is not the cheap stuff from Thailand. If you watched the Apprentice last week you saw Tara selling T-shirts with Bling on them. Unfortunately her side trip to Staten Island to buy the goods caused her to get fired. But Bling is hot. What is Bling? It's those crystals and fake jewels you glue on anything --T-shirts, jeans, sunglasses, cell phones, your Ipod or whatever. You can see the products at the Bling It On web site, but this only shows the retail prices of the kits. Wholesale is about half of that, but you will need to call or email them to place a wholesale order. They offer two starter kits, one with 36 sets for $360 and a larger set for $720. There is a kiosk near the food court in my shopping mall selling these. I was watching the crowds around it. In the time it took me to eat a hot dog and drink an Orange Julies, they sold about 10 kits at $19.95 each. A few months ago I introduced you to Awesome Wholesale. They sell a line of miniature scales. I received an email from one of my sellers thanking me. She said they have been good sellers and she is able to double her money. See, this is one of those niches we were speaking about. They have just started to offer a new product which is a Beer Machine --a complete, simple and foolproof solution for making home-brewed beer in your own little keg. You will need to register and wait overnight for a confirmation to get pricing. Every once in a while I like to check into AW Surplus Auctions. Last week they sold some electric scooters for just $35 each. One caution is to first check the shipping cost before you bid. The best way to do that is by telephone. This week they have some really high-end digital speakers going for almost nothing. T-Speed Imports a large line of DOT Approved mopeds, mini ATVs, gasoline scooters, electric scooters radio controlled cars and kids cars. You can see the products on the web site but you will have to email them for pricing. If you need a merchant credit card account, or just a credit card machine contact www.uscreditcard.com. If you do outdoor shows or flea markets they offer a great wireless credit card processing terminal. I am always careful about recommending wholesale sources that charge for membership. But this one is offering a free 5-day trial and their merchandise includes some really great stuff such as Dell computers, DeWalt tools, Levi Jeans, Lancombe cosmetics, Swiss Army watches, and Liz Claiborne clothing pieces. The company is Web Wholesalers. They are not drop shippers. This is real wholesale quantity purchasing. Well that's it for this month. Good luck on eBay. We hope you're making plans to attend the eBay Live! convention in San Jose, June 23,24 & 25. Skip McGrath
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