Could eBay's New Map It Service Help Sellers Sell Large or Expensive Items?

The eBay Seller's News, March 2007, Volume 7, No. 4

Learn How To Sell More on eBay with The Newsletter for Professional
eBay Sellers by:  Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings

1. Could eBay's New Map It Service Help Sellers Sell Large or Expensive Items?
2. eBay Niche of the Month: Vintage Fishing Lures
3. eBay Police Blotter Features Criminals Caught with eBay and PayPal Help
4. New Program Shows How The Little Guy Can Import From China and Sell on eBay
5. Are eBay Drop Off Stores Still a Viable Business?
6. Income Taxes and The eBay Seller - Will the IRS Force eBay To Report Sales?
7. New Wholesale Sources for March 2007

"The critical ingredient to success is getting off your butt and doing something. Not tomorrow, not next week --but today."
~ Nolan Bushnell inventor of the first electronic TV game Pong, founder of Atari and Chucky Cheese Pizza Time Theater.

Musings

Welcome to our over 700 new subscribers this month. If you subscribed to the newsletter you will have received a confirmation message. If you didn't get the message and confirm it, then you are not subscribed. Please check you email filter as these messages sometimes end up there.

This month's quote is from Nolan Bushnell who I used to know quite well in the early days of Silicon Valley. In fact he was the lead investor in my first company, Magnum Microwave, back in 1986.

Unless you are at least 30 years old you probably won't remember that one of the very first electronic games was called Pong. It was nothing more than electronic ping pong played on a TV screen. Before it became a home video game, it was just a hobby game Nolan and some guys at Stanford University had put together to amuse themselves. One day Nolan put an old TV into a wood cabinet, installed the game controls to the front of the box and attached a quarter-operated change machine to it.

He talked a local pizza parlor owner into letting him put it into the restaurant as a test. Two days later the owner called him and said, "Take this thing out of here --it's broken." Dispirited, Nolan drove down to the pizza parlor to retrieve his game. When he got there, he opened the game consol and quickly discovered the problem. The change machine was jammed full with quarters! Realizing he had a winner, he started Atari --one of the first electronic game companies. Within a few months Atari was shipping Pong games by the thousands and the video game industry was born.

As his quote says, you have to do something to get started. We had really good sales of our books last month, so I hope all of you will do more than just read them. There are a lot of elements to starting and running a successful eBay business, but the first element is to get started.

If you missed my free webinar about eBay Product Sourcing, you can listen to it and see the on-screen demo by clicking here. Besides the info on product sourcing, you can also see an online demonstration of OneSource. Dozens of people who attended the seminar took advantage of the $50 introductory discount and the additional $20 discount for my readers. So far, all of the feedback on this product has been very positive. I am also using it personally with very good results.

You can still get the discount by accessing the site through the webinar or at www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath, although I don't know how long it's going to last. So if you are interested you may want to sign up soon, as I am not sure how long Worldwide Brands will hold this offer open.

I have just listed a new article on the Free Articles page by Lynn Schneider, called I Bootstrapped my Business with eBay Profits. This is a great read and you will want to take a look at it after reading the newsletter.

As many of my long time readers know, when it comes to learning about internet marketing beyond eBay, I highly endorse the Internet Marketing Course from the Internet Marketing Center. Once you have mastered eBay and want to expand to your own website, this is the best and most complete training material you can buy. The package is not cheap --but it is very good.

This is one of those deals that you get what you pay for. They ship this massive package to you via Federal Express and it comes with a money-back guarantee. Best of all IMC has just updated the material for 2007, have added lots of new extras and new materials including excellent instructions for getting lots of free traffic to your website.

The new version includes some material not offered before:

1. How Google, Yahoo!, and MSN have changed and how to get (or even
just maintain) top 10 listings!

2. Maximizing your profits from email promotions and making sure
they get to your customers’ inbox and not get you labeled as
‘Junk’!

3. How to make money in the Pay-Per-Click search engines... even after the big guys keep changing the rules and most business are losing
big!

4. What web design strategies and sales copy techniques are working
in 2007 (many of last year’s strategies don’t work any more... do
you know which ones?)

5. Advanced technology that you must start using BEFORE your
competitors steal your customers with it.

I have long believed that eBay is the easiest way to start an internet business for the little guy, but if you want to take the next step the Internet Marketing Course from the Internet Marketing Center is the best --and most complete system on the market today.

A few months ago I told you about a new search engine and pay-per-click advertising opportunity you can use to drive traffic to your web site or your eBay store. It's called Search BigDaddy. This is a really clever system where you earn pay-per-click dollars by searching and by joining their affiliate program. Best of all --It's FREE. Although they do a sell a program called Keyword Manager (which I joined), most of the users just use the free service. If you do decide to upgrade to Keyword manager, you will earn PPC credit dollars faster and you can even earn real money (you won't get wealthy but you can get some nice, steady, small checks).

Now Search BigDaddy is not Google or Yahoo, but they do have a respectable user base --they are actually close to one of the top 1000 web sites ranked by Alexa. So you won't get the kind of traffic you would with Google or Yahoo ads, but you will get some --and it's growing, as Search BigDaddy now has hundreds of thousands of users and is growing very fast.

In the last six months, I have earned over $300,000 in credits that I use to purchase pay-per-click advertisements. When you consider that Google charges over $1.00 per click for a popular term such as "sell on eBay" and I get that same keyword on Search BigDaddy for ten cents. But on Google that is $1.00 real money, whereas on Search BigDaddy, the ten cents is actually a credit I earned for using the site.

So, if you have a web site you want to promote or an eBay store you would like to drive traffic to, you might want to look into this. SearchBigDaddy is also a place where you can use your free credits to promote affliate links you belong to even if you don't have a web site.

Two questions I often get are: What are some of the best books about eBay and What kind of digital camera should I buy? I like my books, of course, but there are some other very good authors who write about eBay. So I have set up a list of recommended Recommended Books. I have also done the same thing to answer the digital camera question. Here are my recommended digital cameras in three different price ranges. All of these will work fine for eBay. Obviously you get more --the more you pay, but even the low price cameras I suggest will work fine for most auctions.

eBay Live registration just opened. Last year eBay Live was in Las Vegas and they sold out well before the event. Boston is much more expensive than Las Vegas, so I don't know if it will sell out as quickly --but on the other hand, about 40% of the US population lives within driving distance of Boston, so you may not want to wait. Here is the link to register for eBay Live. If you sign up before April 6, you save 40%.

eBay is doing something new this year. They are offering a VIP level ticket called Priority Pass for $150.00 that includes a private luncheon with eBay executives, special registration line and a special line for the last night gala party. The line for the final gala last year was over two hours long, so if you can afford it you may want to take advantage of it. You will see the VIP option when you register.

I will be having some type of event for my readers at eBay Live. I haven't quite decided where or when yet, but I will be announcing it here in the newsletter in May.

Let's get started with this month's issue:

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1. Could eBay's New Map It Service Help Sellers Sell Large or Expensive Items?

Do you have a grand piano to sell? Or maybe you just inherited a house full of furniture. There are lots of sellers selling large, heavy items on eBay, but the problem is always, "How do I ship it?" Instead of shipping large items, what if you could find local buyers who could pick it up?

eBay's Map It is a prototype site designed to make it easy to find eBay items near you. It features a prominent zip code box as well as search results that are plotted on a map. You can try Map It at this link: http://mapit.ebay.com/home.

Here is an example of a search I did for antique furniture. It gave me 13 results within 25 miles of my zip code. (I don't have room for all 13, so I am just showing the top 4).

Notice that the last result is within 5 miles. As you can see from the map, I live in a rural area. This program will obviously benefit sellers who live near larger cities as they will get many more hits within 25 miles. I did a similar search using a Seattle zip code and got over 90 results.

Map It is still in beta test mode. eBay hasn't decided if this will become a permanent feature or not. This could be a boon to sellers of large items --anything from furniture, appliances, cars, farm equipment --basically anything large. It could also help those sellers who sell very expensive items as a potential bidder may want to meet the seller in person and inspect the item before bidding. Of course this has the potential to attract thieves and scam artists as well as those who may try to avoid eBay fees by selling directly to purchasers. So it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.

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2. eBay Niche of the Month: Vintage Fishing Lures

You might be surprised to learn that people buy and collect old fishing lures and all types of vintage fishing equipment including rods, reels, and other accessories. Here is a screenshot of a few fishing lure completed auctions:

Notice the prices and the high sell through rate (the one item above that didn't sell was actually a new knife listed in the lure category).

What is really interesting is that you can find these lures at garage sales, thrift shops, flea markets and estate sales for as little as 50-cents to a few dollars each. While you are at it, also look for old fishing rods and reels that are pre-1975, especially fly rods and reels and actually anything to do with fly fishing including books, flies, and accessories. Just do a completed items search on eBay for the term fly fishing and you will see what I mean.

The key to selling lures is knowing what you have so you can identify it and describe it. The best source of this information are two books on the subject. Here they are:

When you read these books you will learn two things very quickly:

1. Condition is very important --don't bother buying broken or really damaged lures
2. If you also have the original box this can often double the value.

So if you like fishing, this could be a fun little niche, but even if you don't care so much about this niche, you may want to keep your eyes open the next time you go garage sale tripping.

If you want to learn more about niche marketing on eBay, take a look at my latest book, Ten Little Known, Highly Profitable eBay Niche Markets Anyone Can Do.

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3. eBay police Blotter Features Criminals Caught with eBay and PayPal Help

Every week our small town paper features a Police Blotter where we can read about local crime. Fortunately most of our crimes usually involve a stolen bicycle, car prowl or a drunk driving arrest. But unlike a small town, crime on eBay is often more serious. I was surprised to learn earlier this month that eBay has launched their own version of the Police Blotter.

eBay takes a lot of flack in the press about fraud. Although eBay is a leading target of criminals who commit fraud, the percentage of fraudulent transactions on eBay is actually quite small. eBay and PayPal have large anti-fraud departments that work around the clock to both prevent fraud and to help local and Federal law enforcement catch the criminals who are trying to game the platform to cheat you out of your hard-earned money.

Here is what Mike Rou, Senior Manager, Global Law Enforcement Operations at eBay says about the program:

"Due to the legal nature of the work my team does, our efforts to fight these crimes often need to stay behind the scenes. Here are some interesting facts for 2006:

• We contributed to 549 arrests since January 2006, resulting in 351 prison years for the convicted criminals involved
• We disrupted a major Tanzanian theft ring responsible for stealing $6MM in Hewlett Packard servers
• We facilitated the first case between the Chinese Immigration and Customs Enforcement and China police which involved $840,000 in counterfeit DVDs
• We trained around 200 Romanian police, judges and prosecutors on how to investigate and prosecute cyber criminals

Once a case successfully closes, however, we want to make sure you hear about it. That's why we make regular updates to our Police Blotter, which you can find on eBay's Security & Resolution Center. Every 6 weeks or so, we update the Police Blotter with the latest news around our global law enforcement efforts."

The stories are interesting --if few. I understand that eBay can only report on stories that have been fully prosecuted but I wish they would update this more often than every six weeks. It would be nice if eBay updated the info weekly.

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4. New Program Shows How The Little Guy Can Import From China and Sell on eBay

Importing directly from China and other Far Eastern countries is a great way to source product at the lowest cost possible. But importing can be frightening to most people. It is one of those things that is fraught with risk --but it turns out that all of the information is out there to avoid those risks. The trick is to use the right resources and services.

Walter Scheu is a rabbit farmer from the backwoods of North Carolina. He is about the last person in the world you would ever think would be importing products from foreign countries and selling them on eBay. But, he is doing it --and making a profit selling the goods on eBay.

His wife Ursula and he run a little family farm in Asheboro, NC called Foxburrow Farms. Last year he needed a special tool for his farm and he found it on eBay. After buying the tool he discovered that there was money to be made in this if they could find them at a good price. This started an 18-month journey that led him to researching, finding and later importing these tools from China and selling them on eBay at very nice profits. He has since sold hundreds of these expensive tools on eBay.

Walter wanted to share his experience with others but he had never sold or created information before. So he got together with James Jones and recorded a series of audio files. It includes a transcript so you can read of all the steps he went through to import his product. In simple folksy language he reveals all the steps he went through, the mistakes he made and finally the resources and services he found that did most of the work for him and took away the risk.

The package includes mp3 audio files you can listen to, and a complete transcript in case you prefer to read it. You also get some special reports like an importing cheat sheet, a report on how not to get ripped off by the wrong people, a report on working with customs brokers and lots more. This is a very nice package and very good value. So if you have ever wanted to try importing, CLICK HERE to read what Walter learned the hard way so you don't have to.

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5. Are eBay Drop Off Stores Still a Viable Business?

A few years ago eBay drop off stores, where people could bring their merchandise in for eBay consignment sellers (Trading Assistants), were all the rage. To date, more than 500 eBay drop off stores have opened around the US and even overseas. Many of them have not survived.

Although I am a big fan of consignment selling, I have never been that big a fan of the retail, drop-off store model. Certainly, many of the better (well run) stores have survived and prospered, but this is a very tough business model to succeed in. The main reasons for failure are the high start-up costs and ongoing overhead.

If you are going to depend on retail walk-in traffic then you need to be in high-traffic commercial area where rents are high. You also need employees as the store has to be open and manned at all times. I don't see how anyone could run one of these stores without at least two people, and three would be better.

Besides rent and labor there are the other expenses of advertising, utilities, taxes, local business licenses and fees, complying with government regulations (OSHA, fire codes, hiring practices, etc.), PayPal and eBay fees, insurance and equipment leasing and services like internet, computer maintenance and so on.

If you were paying $1200 a month in rent and spending another $3500 in labor, advertising and overhead, that totals $4,700 you have to make before breaking even. If you charge a 33% commission, that means you have to sell $14,100 worth of goods each month before you break even. If you average $75 per sale that means you have to average 188 successful auctions per month just to break even.

So what is the answer? I have been involved in consignment selling for the past four years. After a year of struggling, I discovered the best method was to focus on higher value goods. If you can average $200, $300 or more per sale, then you don't need as many successful auctions to make a good deal of money.

You also don't need a retail location if you actively market and advertise your services. A commercial location can be helpful --but if you are advertising correctly, people will come to you rather than finding you accidentally by walking past a store. This means you can rent space in a much lower-cost location and only open by appointment. This way you don't have to sit there all day waiting for customers to walk in.

Many successful trading assistants don't even bother with a store. If you develop a good reputation and use networking and word-of-mouth advertising you can find plenty of customers in your local area who need your service. One of the best opportunities is to work with local businesses helping them get rid of their excess inventory.

If you would like to learn more about consignment selling, My book, How To Start and Run an eBay Consignment Selling covers these topics and more.

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6. Income Taxes and The eBay Seller - Will the IRS Force eBay To Report Sales?

Thousands of eBay sellers make money on eBay and fail to pay income taxes on their profits. At least that is the opinion of tax advocates. An article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer states that "...a growing chorus of tax experts is hoping to crack down on the cheating by requiring eBay and other online auctions to track users and report their gross sales to the federal government."

According to the article, during congressional hearings last week, tax advocates want the government to force eBay to report member's sales to the IRS so the IRS can determine if you are claiming your income.

Technically you are required to report any income from eBay, flea markets, internet sales, garage sales, hobby sales or any income you make from sources other than your salary during the year. As a practical matter, the IRS overlooks income of less than $600 per year. But if you make more than this, you should be filing a Schedule C, Business Profit and Loss Statement, with your annual income tax filing. At the moment there is little chance of getting caught not doing this unless you happen to be audited, but you can be sure that the government is looking for a way to collect taxes from the millions of eBay and Internet sellers who are making money and not reporting it.

As it turns out there are plenty of business deductions and loopholes for eBay sellers. You can legally make money, yet show a loss on your tax return (up to a point) and not pay any taxes --or even use the losses to reduce taxes on your ordinary income. If you visit my book store, there is a great book by Diane Kennedy called Tax Loopholes for eBay Sellers.

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7. New Wholesale Sources for March 2007

Don't forget to try our Free Wholesale Search Engine. They have just added dozens of new wholesale sources. Like any search engine it can show results from retail sites that claim to be wholesale. We remove these sites as we find them but unfortunately it's a constant battle. So just be patient and look through the listings as the real wholesale companies are there. Sometimes the featured listings are the best place to start.

Robert Vernon is an American who lives in VietNam. He has a complete line of products and is all set up for exporting at www.vietnamstoreonline.com.

IcyBag is a very unique chilled cosmetic & accessory bag. This unique bag stores & protects heat-sensitive items including cosmetics, lotions, sun block, lip balm, medications, etc. Great for vacations, the beach, tennis, golf, etc. Boutique quality. Fully insulated and custom ice pack included!

Golf Club Deals sells right and left handed golf clubs, His main product is a 460cc, smartshaft that adjusts to everyone's swing and swing weight. The DO club head at 595mm worlds largest head. The company is looking for sellers to sell their clubs on eBay.

Siam International Handicrafts carries a large selection of unusual handicraft ed items. Look at their silver beads and wall hangings as well as their unusual organic jewelry products.

Nullabor Nights sells hand dyed, gossamer-soft, knitted wool scarves, hats, wraps, and throws made of Australian extra fine Merino wool. This lightweight yarn is world- renowned for its durability, and warmth. Minimum Opening Order: $100. Be patient - their website is very slow to load.

Adesso Albums sells a very nice line of instant photo guest books for special occasions such as weddings, baby showers, birthdays, anniversary, graduation, family vacations, and reunions.

Polish Pottery Plus offers a beautiful line stoneware and pottery from Boleslawiec, Poland where some of the best artistic tableware is produced. The majority of the pottery is from the respected 'Unikat' lines (Signature – or unique) hand painted by the best artists. This is really beautiful stuff and very well priced. You will have to register to get the pricing.

Top Elegancy sells beautiful individually-made handmade artist glass items. The artists take the glass through the following process: glass mouth blowing, engraving the design, adding 24 karat gold trim, painting and finally baking. Products lines include: perfume bottles, candleholders, Hummingbird feeders, Christmas ornaments, glass eggs are big sellers on eBay.

Hoffmiester House sells flags and flag related items; Fourth of July fans and decorations; scarves, ties, flag windsocks, T-shirts, and party hats. Pirate flags & treasures and even Oktoberfest supplies.

I am always asked what is the best source for liquidation or closeout goods. My favorite site is still LiquidationCom. There are some great deals on this site but the one thing you want to be careful about is the shipping. Always make sure you know the shipping cost to your location before you bid.

Click here to see new Auctions at Liquidation.com.

Ubid is seen by some sellers as an alternative to eBay. And many eBay sellers sell on both. But Ubid is also a great place to find wholesale small lot auctions for goods that can be resold on both sites.

That's it for this month.   Be sure to visit my blog for more eBay news and updates.

Skip McGrath