Holiday Season eBay and Amazon Selling Tips

The Online Seller's News, December, 2009, Volume 9, No. 19

Tips, Tools, News and Resources for eBay, Amazon and independent Online Sellers
by: Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay and beyond

Holiday Season eBay and Amazon Selling Tips
Niche of the Month: Vintage Lunchboxes
How I Got Stuck With Pirated DVDs
How To Buy Goods at Live Auctions To Sell on eBay
eBay Wholesale Sources for December 2009

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." ~ Vincent T. Lombardi

Musings for December 2009

I got a nice note from one of my customers who bought a copy of my book How To Make Money Blogging From Home. The blog is called How To Sue Your Lawyer and you can see it at http://www.howtosueyourlawyer.com. This is a great example of how someone can set up a blog and monetize it with Google AdSense and Affiliate banners –in this case with Legalzoom.com. Great job Robin!

eBay App Review is a new site that has created over 100 Free eBay templates for you to browse. They are constantly adding new templates to their list so be sure to sign up for their Newsletter to get notice. To download a template simply click a link and you will be able to browse the different colors available for each template. For help getting started with their templates, be sure to browse their template tutorial pages. There isn’t much there now except the templates, but this site plans to provide review of various eBay tools and third party services.

I think this economy still has a long way to go, but online sales do seem to be coming back. Research reports show that over $5 Billion worth of goods and merchandise were sold online from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. That is way up from the same period last year – over a 15% increase. However, traditional retail only saw a ½% increase in retail store sales during that same period. Not sure if it’s the swine flu fear or just lots of bargains driving online sales but whatever it is, I like it. Our eBay and Amazon sales have taken a nice turn up over the last few weeks, enough that we are expecting a really good holiday season. If you would like to see what we are selling on eBay there is a scrolling gallery at the end of this newsletter.

Let’s get started with this month’s articles:

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1. Holiday Season eBay and Amazon Selling Tips

The first tip is to offer free shipping on eBay. Free shipping works during the holiday season better than any other time of year. I find that I can often actually make more money with free shipping as there are lots of "want it now" buyers out there. If you are unsure, another tactic is to offer free shipping with Buy-It-Now. Take the price you want to get for your item, add an estimated fixed shipping cost and set that as your BIN price. Another trick is to offer one item at auction with shipping and another in a fixed price listing with free shipping. Then in your auction, put a link to your fixed price listing that says: "Click here to get this beautiful Chef’s Knife today with free shipping."
Offer gift wrapping and "send to gift recipient." You can charge for gift wrapping. We did this a few years ago and were charging $5 for a simple gift wrapping and got lots of takers. But we only do this on full price fixed price sales where we get our maximum markup.
Use eBay fixed price listings instead of eBay stores for fixed price items. Why? Because fixed price listings come up in the eBay search engine whereas eBay store listings rarely come up.
Use shorter listing durations and list more often. Time ending soonest gets you the top spot in the eBay search engine in the last few hours of your auction, so by using shorter listing times and putting up more listings, you will be in that position more often. Yes this strategy costs more in fees, but if you are selling at a profit these should be easily covered.
On Amazon, strive to be the lowest price. The Amazon search engine always looks for the lowest price. By having the lowest price you will always come up ahead of other merchants. But make sure your low price will cover your shipping cost and the 15% selling fee.

There are lots of other selling tips, but these are the big ones for the holiday selling season. You can learn more about selling on eBay with The Complete eBay Marketing System.

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2. Niche of the Month: Vintage Lunchboxes

I remember when my boys were young they always wanted a cool lunchbox to take their lunches to school. I think the last one I remember was a Mutant Ninja Turtles Lunchbox that my older son used when he was about ten years old. I was on eBay the other day and was astounded at how expensive these vintage children’s lunch boxes have become. Take a look at the first screen shot.

I admit that these are pretty rare and could be hard to find –but they are out there and when you find one you have a pretty good score. Below are two more screenshots of lunch boxes which recently sold that are priced lower and are somewhat easier to find:

So where do you find these things? I have seen them at garage sales, but not in great numbers. They seem to turn up more often at Thrift shops, but when one comes in it will go pretty quickly so you want to hit your local thrift shop frequently. A better place is auctions, both eBay and local country auctions. Here is a shot of an auction on eBay for a lot of boxes:

This was a lot of eight vintage boxes that sold for $99.99 or $12.49 each. I’ve also often seen lots like this at small local or country auctions where they sell for between $10 and $20 each.

What makes one more valuable than another? Most important is condition. The paint must not be scratched or chipped and the box must work fine. The best ones have a matching thermos that is also in good condition. If you would like to learn more about these, go to eBay and type vintage lunchbox into the search box. Click on the link to completed auctions and look for the ones that sold at a high price. Now read the listings and you will learn a lot about this unique and profitable niche.

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3. How I Got Stuck With Pirated DVDs

About a month ago I mentioned the great daily deals available from Stoosi and Woot . I managed to grab two copies of the complete 7 season set of the hit kids TV Show, Are You Afraid Of The Dark on Stoosi. These sets were selling on eBay for over $200 and you could get them for one-day only from Stoosi for $39.95. So I ordered one on my account and one on my wife’s account. Usually Stoosi ships quickly –but this time I got a message from them that they were backordered. Hmmm?

So finally about 3 weeks later I got my DVDs. They looked ok and they were sealed in plastic so I listed them on eBay. The first one quickly sold for $199. Now that’s a nice profit. So we shipped them to the customer and got ready to list the second copy.

About two days later I got an angry threatening email from the customer accusing me of selling pirated DVDs. I emailed back and told him I really doubted that Stoosi would sell pirated DVDs, but in any event I asked him to return the DVDs for a full refund. He agreed and was happy. When I got the DVDs back, I played them and they were obviously fakes –and not even good quality fakes at that. I was really shocked that a large legitimate organization like Stoosi would sell pirated goods. So I reported them to the Motion Picture Association and The US Department of Justice who have a whole division set up for pirating. I could of course send them back to Stoosi and demand a refund, but then the bad guys (either Stoosi or the person who sold to them) would get away with it. I would rather be out $39.95 times two than let that happen. Had I refused the refund and the seller disputed the transaction with eBay, I could have lost my business.

This shows that the buyer of pirated goods is not the only person hurt by this industry. If any of you ever receive goods that you think are pirated or counterfeited, think twice about trying to sell them. I would rather be out some money than lose my ability to sell and earn a living.

As for Stoosi they are no longer in my list of shopping favorites which is too bad as I have found some incredible deals there in the past. But remember that old expression? A deal too good to be true…

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4. How to Bid and Buy at Live Auctions for eBay Profits

Live auctions are a great place to find goods to sell profitably on eBay.

When we owned a small antique shop, small town and country auctions were some of our leading sources of merchandise. Thousands of small (and large) eBay sellers who deal in art, antiques, collectibles and used & vintage merchandise use auctions as a great source of goods to resell on eBay. Large, big city, auction houses can be somewhat problematic. You are bidding against collectors and professional dealers with deep pockets who are willing to pay top dollar. But country and small town auctions are a whole different story.

There are dealers at the smaller auctions, but they are typically local dealers who can’t afford to pay the big city prices. When an item goes up for bid at a small-town auction it might be seen by 50 – 100 people and attract four or five real bidders. But the same item on eBay will be exposed to millions of potential buyers.

If you take the time to do your research, learn what items are worth, and learn how to bid at these auctions, there are some huge profits to be made on eBay.

When we first started in the business and started going to auctions, we made a lot of mistakes. We often overpaid for merchandise, got the goods home and then discovered something wrong with them, inadvertently bought fakes and so on. It turns out that buying at auction is like most things in life –the more you do it the better you get at it.

Over the years I learned a lot. I developed some personal strategies and a checklist that you may find helpful.

Arrive early and carefully examine anything you plan to bid on. Remember: auction sales are final. Wear old clothes and dress warm in the winter as many auction houses are cold and drafty. Some are even outside in tents.
If an auction is scheduled and the weather is really bad – always go! Bad weather can keep up to 50% of prospective bidders away from an auction. Less competition generally means lower prices.
Carry Cash! Many auction houses don’t accept credit cards and some won’t even accept traveler’s checks. (I would carry large amounts of cash in one of those passport wallets that you wear under your clothing).
Carry a flashlight, a magnet (for checking brass), a small battery operated black light (for spotting cracks and repairs in china or pottery), and a notebook. Also bring your sales tax number.
Be prepared to haul your goods away on the spot. Many auctions won’t store goods until you return or they will charge you storage.
Before the bidding starts, set a limit of what you plan to pay and stick to it. I like to actually write it down in a notebook. When I look at the book, it helps to keep my ego in check and I am less likely to overpay.
Sit towards the back of the room. You can see all the bidders without turning around. I like to know who is bidding against me.
Never make the first bid, unless no one is bidding and the auctioneer cuts the opening bid down to a ridiculous price. I like to enter the bidding about half way through.
Make your first bid by raising your hand. Make subsequent bids by looking at the auctioneer and nodding your head. If an item goes past your bid limit make the "cutting throat" sign with your hand. This tells him you are finished bidding.
If the item is being bid in large units such as $20 per bid and is close to reaching it maximum, make the "half-bid" sign (a chopping motion with your hand to your arm), this will add $10 to your bid instead of the $20 the auctioneer was asking for. The bids now move in $10 increments.
Never bid when more than three or four people are bidding at the same time. Adding to the bidding can start a frenzy that drives the price up. Wait until the action slows down.
Whenever an item sells for a really high price, the very next item usually goes very cheap. I don’t know the psychology of this but I have personally witnessed it many times.
These auctions can move incredibly fast. Pay attention and remember what your bid was. If the people sitting around you are chatting and noisy, get up and move. It is important to hear and to concentrate when you are bidding.
Most of all don’t let your ego or your pride drive your bidding. Remember your pre-set limit.
Be careful risking your money on goods that you know nothing about. That is a great way to get stuck with a fake or otherwise unsellable merchandise.

If you have a PDA or a mobile laptop, take it with you to the preview. This will allow you to look items up on eBay to see what they are selling for before you decide to bid.

As I pointed out at the beginning, you will make some mistakes, but hopefully they will be small and you will make enough profit on the other things that do sell well.

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5. eBay Wholesale Sources for December 2009

Be sure and check our wholesale search engine. But please read the instructions first as this is a search engine and not a guarantee that every source is legitimate.

Watch Wholesalers offers wholesale pricing on name brand designer watches like Seiko, Armitron, Swiss Army, Timex, Casio, Wenger, Bulova, Luminox, Disney Watches, Pulsar, Puma, Invicta, Movado and Skagen.

Anytime Wholesale is a wholesale supplier of watches, clocks, watch batteries, & watch repair tools. Supplier to Retail Stores, eBay sellers, Flea Market Vendors, and Jewelry Stores across the country!

Watch Closeouts sells Wholesale and Closeout Watches > 60% to 90% Off Retail, Brand name wholesale watches, Swiss Army, Victorinox, Wenger, Bulova, Jules Jurgensen, Casio, Timex, Kenneth Cole, Disney, Lorus, Croton

Best Balms is a fastest growing company specializing in All Natural Pain Relief Balms & Rubs for All Types Of Sports and Health Needs.

PC Wedding Spa offers unique, custom wholesale wedding favors, accessories and gifts. Shop for wholesale wedding favors, bridal shower favors, personalized favors, themed wedding favors, and much more! Check out their wholesale handcrafted Bath Salts, Body Lotion, and Aromatherapy Products! All Spa products are made from Premium Quality Cosmetic Graded Fragrance Oils, Sprays and Solid.

Wholesale Body Oils sells Fragrance Oils, Body Oils, Perfume Oils, Scented oils, Air Fresheners, Massage Oils, Oil Burners, Scent, wholesale body oils, wholesale fragrance oils, bottles, roll-ons, spray bottles

Harmony Wireless is a Cellular Accessories Distributor. They sell Face Plates, Carrying Case, Hands Free Keypads

NEM Wireless Corp. offers a wide scope of cellular accessories including Cases, Housing, Plug-in Saver/ Chargers, Portable Hands Free, Car Kit, Travel Chargers, Twin Chargers, Holders, and Antennas.

Central Restaurant Products sell wholesale Restaurant Equipment and Restaurant Supplies.

The Chemical Guys sell Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detail Supplies

Tools GS sells professional jewelry making, craft supply, wood carving tool, hobby tool and watch repair tools to the public. All tools are used for intricate detail work.

That’s it for now. See you just before Christmas

Skip McGrath
The eBay Seller's News

P.S. If you missed the last issue, click here to read it.