The Proven eBay Course -- II

The Online Seller's News, June, 2010, Volume 10, No. 10

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

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay and beyond

1. The Proven eBay Course -- II
2. Did You Hear The Rumor About eBay CEO John Donohoe Resigning?
3. Does it Make Sense To open an eBay Store?
4. eBay Niche of The Month – Vintage Shirts and T Shirts
5. Will Auction Cause help eBay’s Flagging Charity Auction Business?
6. New Wholesale Sources for eBay, Amazon & Online Sellers

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace." ~ Milan Kundera

Musings from eBay and beyond

For the past ten years that I have been writing this newsletter I had a faithful companion sitting by my feet.  Tahoe was a 15-year old yellow Labrador Retriever who would sit nearby while I worked. When I was tired or frustrated or suffering from writers block, all I had to do was reach down and scratch him behind the ears. His tail would thump on the floor and I would get an instant dose of therapy that only a loving dog can provide.

Tahoe left us last week and is now running with the Big Dogs in that place where all the good dogs go.  We miss him greatly.

In the last issue I told you about Jennie Hunt’s Summer Toy Guide.  Jennie only publishes this for a short period just before summer starts, so if you would like to learn how to make a lot of money selling toys this summer, you may want to take a look at it now.

Here is what you get with the Toy Guide:

• 3 months My Toy Guide membership site access
• Weekly hot lists of 25 used toys currently selling well on eBay
• Access to the Toy Reference Guide helping you identify used toys to better your listings
• Summer Toy Guide eBook with 50+ pages outlining used toy inventory and selling tips
• SPECIAL Holiday Toy Guide DISCOUNT for the 2010 Holiday Toy Guide coming in October

Jennie is very well respected and has a large, loyal following.  You can read about the Summer Toy Guide here.

Everyone likes to complain about the high cost of shipping.  Here is how two New York eBay sellers reduced their shipping costs:

Two Long Island men were arrested for grand larceny charges after police say they charged nearly $13,000 to a Bethpage School District account to ship personal items sold on eBay.

The Nassau County District Attorney says Catalano worked as the district's stores clerk and was authorized to make UPS shipments. But for more than two years, Catalano and Maggio, a school janitor, used the account to ship more than 1,600 items they had sold on eBay.
I wonder if they will figure out a way to ship their items from Prison.

And then there are the difficulties of finding wholesale sources for products at good prices. Here is how one New Hampshire teacher sourced expensive calculators to sell on eBay:

A New Hampshire high school math teacher was arrested for stealing expensive calculators from his students and selling them on eBay.   Randy Floyd, age 50, was arrested and placed on administrative leave from Souhegan High School in Amherst, NH.

Police allege that Floyd stole Texas Instruments TI-83 calculators from students and the school over a period of several years.

The New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper reported that police officers linked an e-mail address used by Floyd to an eBay account that had been used to sell the calculators.

Floyd has been teaching at Souhegan for over ten years.
He should have purchased my Wholesale Buying System where I could show him how to source calculators.

Lets get started with this month’s articles:

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1. The Proven eBay Course -- II

Last year, I teamed up with Jim Cockrum to bring you the Proven eBay Course – I.  The name is a bit misleading as it wasn’t a course in how to sell on eBay. Instead it was a perfect and very profitable niche business. We assumed that most of our readers already knew how to sell on eBay.

The course was a huge success for those who bought it. There are always a few people who buy things like this and don’ t implement them –but the ones who did made a lot of money.

This year Jim has teamed up with two eBay PowerSellers who sell thousands of dollars a week in one particular niche.  This is one of the most profitable niches on eBay and one that is easy and very low cost and low risk to enter.

Jim is calling this his eBay Proven Course –II.  Unlike the first course, in addition to complete niche instructions, the authors have included some really good eBay teaching material that can be applied to any eBay business.

The course consists of a recorded audio seminar, several downloadable eBooks and best of all a forum where you can ask questions from the experts. In addition to the authors and Jim, I will also be participating in the forum.

So take a look at The Proven eBay Course-II.  It has even more potential than the first one.

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2. Did You Hear The Rumor About eBay CEO John Donohoe Resigning?

This was going around all over the Internet last week, but unfortunately it turned out not to be true.  It appeared that the story got started from within eBay. When I spoke with one of my sources she told me the story had been going around eBay for a couple of days.

I was doubtful when I heard it for several reasons. First of all eBay just completed the second phase of the new business model and it still needs some time to see if it’s going to work. Since we are nearing the completion of eBay’s major business repositioning, it would be highly unusual to fire the architect before the building opens.

The other issue that makes John’s departure unlikely is that he is from the Bain club. Bain & Company bills themselves as a global consultancy firm. Basically they do business consulting, but they are also buyout and merger & acquisitions specialists. They buy off companies, fire the management, sell off the pieces and reposition the company to become profitable. And they are very good at what they do.

John Donahoe came from Bain and even Meg Whitman was involved with them before coming to eBay.  Several members of the board of directors are either current or ex-Bain & Company executives.  So it would be pretty unusual for the board to fire one of their own.

What is interesting is that Bain is so good at what they do. They have one of the best success records for turning around failing companies and making them profitable, but this knowledge hasn’t translated to eBay.

Here is a chart of eBay’s stock since John Donahoe took over.

Don’t hold Donahoe responsible for the meltdown from November to March –that was during the financial crisis. But when John took over two years ago in Chicago in JUNE-08, eBay stock was hovering around $30. Today it is in the $21 range –a drop of almost 30%.  During this same period Amazon’s stock price went from around $75 a share to over $126 today and hit a high of $150 a few weeks ago. Even hapless Yahoo has done better than eBay over the same period.

In addition to the stock price, John has presided over the damage to what was once arguably best brand on eBay.  Before John took over eBay and Google were the top two most recognized brands.  Today eBay’s brand quality is probably not even in the top five. And eBay’s reputation among sellers is pretty dismal.

Having said all this, don’t think I am trashing eBay as a place to sell.  Despite how hard eBay tries to make sellers’ lives difficult, it is still the best place for the new seller to start their Internet marketing adventure. eBay still brings millions of buyers to its search engine every day.  eBay is simply the easiest and lowest risk and cost place to sell with the possible exception of Craigslist.  Yes, there are other online auctions and selling sites that cost less –but they simply don’t have the traffic to support a real business.  However this is changing. For the past two years I have been teaching my readers to start your business on eBay, then expand to Amazon and other selling venues.  (Stay tuned for a new Amazon training product coming soon).

The most logical progression for the new seller is start with eBay auctions and fixed price listings. Then open an eBay store. Then expand to Amazon or other selling sites and open your own website.  This way you will not have all your eggs in the eBay basket and you can take advantage of the many places to sell and build your business.

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3. Does it Make Sense To open an eBay Store?

The answer to that really depends on a lot of things. Store subscribers get lower listing fees than non-subscribers. So in a sense, store subscriptions are a volume discount.

If you are a casual seller and only sell at auction, then having a store would actually cost you higher fees. But if you sell at least 20 to 30 items at fixed price in addition to your auction listings, then you would save money on fees by using a store.

There are three levels of eBay store: Basic, Premium and Anchor. The monthly subscription fees and the listing fees are as follows:

You can see a complete overview at eBay Store Central.

The best way to determine if a store makes sense from a fee standpoint is to use eBay’s Store Fee Illustrator.  Just type in your numbers and it will tell you what your costs would be with –and without a store.

There are, of course, other reasons to have a store. One of the most important is that you have a unique URL that you can send people to through email, your website, or social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  For example my store URL is

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Auction-Sellers-Resource?_rdc=1.

Also, once buyers visit your store there is a place for them to sign up to get email from you. This is especially valuable if you sell in a niche where people make repeat buys. This allows you to market to your customer base through your eBay store.

The other benefits are free pictures if you use eBay photo hosting and free basic reporting. If you upgrade to a premium store (which is what I have), then you also get free Selling Manager Pro.

If you have a store now or if you open one, you can get free consulting from eBay.  As you know I often criticize eBay when they deserve it, but I have to say I have spoken with eBay’s store consultants before and they are really, really good.  If you have just opened your store, they will go through everything for you and take you step by step through organizing and setting up your store the right way.  You can schedule a call with them at this link.

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4. eBay Niche of The Month – Vintage Shirts and T Shirts

One of the things that I like about this market is that it is fairly small and highly specialized. But it also has a great sell through rate.  Take a look at the categories for men’s vintage shirts

Pre-1930 (Victorian, 20s) (40)

1930-46 (Depression, WWII) (172)

1947-64 (Post WWII-Early 60s) (2,193)

1965-76 (Mod, Hippie, Disco) (4,917)

1977-89 (Punk, New Wave, 80s) (7,758)

1990s (Grunge, Goth, Hip Hop) (424)

Other (603)

Add those numbers up and it means there are about 16,000 items for sale. Now at first that may sound like a lot, but some vintage and collectible categories have many more items listed at one time.  Remember that we are dealing with sizes and colors, so in any one category and size range the numbers will actually be pretty small.

Here is a look at some recent sales in this category. I have three screenshots with prices in several ranges from high to low:

The first group is in the $355 to over$400 range

These are in the range of $125 price point

This last group are the lower price range under $100.  One of the interesting things I noticed about this market is that as the quality of the item and final prices went lower, the sell through rate dropped off dramatically.

When I was looking at shirts in the over $300 range the sell through rate was about 75%, but as the prices dropped it went below 50% and when you get down under $50 the rate drops off again. So the lesson here is to look for the better stuff and command higher prices.

You can find vintage shirts and tee shirts in several places. Obviously first is garage sales. You will occasionally see them displayed, but the best way to find them is to ask for them. After you have looked around, just ask the owner if they have any old t-shirts or Hawaiian style shirts they would like to sell. You will get some strange looks, but you will also find folks who say, “Yes, I have a few inside. Let me get them.” You can often buy them for $1 or $2 each.

The next place is thrift shops. These shirts and tee shirts go really fast so you need to go often and always go on the days after they take in donations.

Next, look for secondhand or consignment shops and discount used clothing stores like Value Village.

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5. Will Auction Cause help eBay’s Flagging Charity Auction Business?

Auction Cause is a premier auction management agency specializing in high profile corporate, celebrity, and nonprofit eBay auction events.  If you would like to meet Sean Hannity, Taylor Swift or Howard Stern, or buy clothes from Miley Cyrus’ closet or a vintage guitar from David Lee Roth’s collection, then you can find them on Auction Cause.

Here is what Auction Cause says about their business model:

Auction Cause is the leader in cause marketing campaigns, branding, and fundraising on eBay. We've generated more than 1 billion media impressions and counting. By integrating our clients' campaigns with social media outreach using Twitter, Facebook, blogs, viral videos and more, Auction Cause is able to tap an even wider audience. The results are brand loyalty, nonprofit enthusiasm, and celebrity buzz – all while raising serious money for great causes

It used to be when someone like Jay Leno wanted to sell a motorcycle he went directly to eBay. But eBay has become so difficult for people to navigate that Auction Cause has stepped into the breech. Celebrities now go direct to Auction Cause who does all the work for them.

The results have been phenomenal as Auction Cause is quickly dominating the market for high-end celebrity auctions.

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6. New Wholesale Sources for eBay, Amazon & Online Sellers

Trademark Commerce is one of the few general dropshippers I recommend. What makes them different is that they actually stock the products they sell and their prices are close to the best wholesale price you can find as they buy large lots of liquidated name brand products. However, skip their program that offers you a pre-loaded website. Those types of websites are a waste of time and money and it is very difficult for Google to find you.  And if Google can’t find you… buyers won’t find you either.

Topper International is one of our advertisers, but I also like to mention them here   as I have received several emails from readers that they were pleased with the products they bought and the service and support.

AsSeenOnTV.com the Official Site of Premier As Seen On TV Products offering a wide range of over 1400 of the finest products.

Sales Stores sells Appliances, Computer Hardware & Supplies, Consumer Electronics, Phones and Communications Equipment, Extended Warranties, Furniture, Luggage & Cases, Office Equipment & Supplies, Projectors & Cases, Security Systems, Tools, Watches, and more.  You can buy in quantities of just one, but the minimum order is $100.  If you see something you want in larger quantities, email them for additional discounts.

Duke Imports wholesales Bed sheets, mink blankets, comforter sets, quilt sets and more. They are a direct importer and wholesaler -- not a middleman.

Desperate.com is  the largest manufacturer and wholesale distributor of Tin Signs with licenses such as Coca-Cola, John Deere, Jack Daniels's and 100's more.

Irwin Sales is a wholesale distributor of embroidery patches and Collectible pins, Military, Motorcycles, Sports, Flags, Cities, Countries, Religious, Comics, Spanish, Black and Many More!!!

Creative Looks wholesales Beauty Supplies, Fashion Accessories, General Merchandise and Cosmetics

All Time Trading is an online wholesaler and closeout company that helps eBay sellers and small website owners compete against larger enterprises by offering more than 25,000 high-quality goods at prices close to those at which large chains purchase. Minimum order is only a case of any product giving small businesses the opportunity to quickly turn merchandise rather than having your money tied up in inventory.

The Tom Loofah Co. is one of the main manufacturer and exporter in Egyptian natural products, such as Loofah. Selecting the highest quality from the loofah plant for your natural environment and safeguard. Loofahs are natural plants best grown in Egypt.

Koby International Inc is a car audio wholesaler in business since 1992. eBay sellers and online stores here you can find good deals on car audio/stereo products.

That’s it for this issue. See you in a couple of weeks.

Skip McGrath
The eBay Seller's News

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

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