Holiday Selling Tips for eBay, Amazon and Website Sellers

Lets get started with this month’s articles:

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1. Holiday Selling Tips for eBay, Amazon and Website Sellers

I was chatting with Nate Gilmore over at Shipwire. Nate wrote an excellent article that lays out some great selling tips for the holiday. I had planned to run the entire article in this issue, but it came out a bit too long, so I have posted it on our free articles page. Click here to read Tips to Grow Your Business This Holiday Season.

If you aren’t familiar with Shipwire they are an order fulfillment service that allows you to store merchandise in massive warehouses in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Shipwire is perfect for merchants that are ready to automate order processing and grow international and U.S. sales. If you have a website you can connect Shipwire to your shopping cart or payment solution. As customers order from your online store, Shipwire will pack and ship the order for you. It is sort of like having your own private dropshipper.

Amazon has Fulfillment By Amazon, but Shipwire fulfills this need for eBay sellers and those who have small websites or online stores. They have an eBay application that will help you integrate your orders with eBay.

For somewhat larger merchants, Shipwire just released a new product for larger merchants, called Shipwire Anywhere, which allows merchants to manage inventory and route orders to anyplace a seller has inventory stored e.g. a warehouse, garage, office closet, retail store, storage unit. The application essentially allows small and medium sized businesses to manage orders and inventory regardless of where it is sold or where it is stored. The only cost associated with this inventory and order management software is the cost to actually print out the labels through Shipwire.

Amazon offers its Fulfillment by Amazon service, which allows online merchants to outsource their shipping to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Amazon also offers an API that automates shipping, tracking orders, and printing branded labels. But Shipwire says that this service and the API only works for Amazon warehouses, whereas Shipwire’s software will route to any merchant inventory locations.

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2. Finally, eBay Makes a Positive Change to Feedback Policy

One of the most common complaints among eBay sellers happens when they offer free shipping and the buyer leaves them a low DSR score on shipping cost or when you ship something right away and you get a low DSR score on your shipping time. eBay has finally addressed these issues. Here is the main part of the announcement from eBay:

• As of August 24, when you offer and your buyer chooses free shipping, eBay will automatically rate the transaction with 5 stars for shipping cost.

• Starting in November, when you specify 1-day handling time, upload tracking information by the end of the next business day after the buyer’s payment clears, and we know your package arrived within 4 business days from when the buyer pays (or arrived by your estimated delivery if that was earlier), eBay will automatically rate the transaction with 5 stars for shipping time.

There is more to the announcement as well.

• Starting in late October, you’ll have easy access to a streamlined reporting hub to share with eBay your full experience with a buyer.

• Links to the new reporting hub will be at your fingertips—in the Feedback flow, in your Seller Dashboard, on the Contact Us page on eBay, the seller information page in the eBay Buyer Protection hub, and in Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro.

• Though it won’t be public or visible to buyers, the information you provide will be used by eBay to help identify and take action against these buyers and sellers. They may be suspended or placed on restriction and their feedback and Buyer Protection cases removed from your account.

• Starting in November, you’ll also see on your Seller Dashboard the number of times negative Feedback, low DSRs, and Buyer Protection cases were removed from your account due to seller reporting and eBay’s detection methods.

I really like the last one. It would help to know if eBay is really following up on their part of this and the dashboard will help you track that.

Lastly, also starting in November, when buyers go to leave feedback, along with your estimated delivery time and –if you uploaded tracking—the actual delivery date, buyers will now also see your specified item condition. This should help eliminate misunderstandings about item condition and improve DSRs in that area as well.

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3. Are You A Multi-channel Seller Yet?

If you have just started selling on eBay, you will want to read this, but don’t take any action yet. But if you have been selling for a while, then you may want to consider expanding your business to other selling channels such as Amazon, Overstock, Bonanzle, Facebook or your own website. Selling on several venues at once is known as "multi-channel selling."

When it comes to starting and succeeding in an online business, I am a big believer in taking your time and doing things one-at-a-time. My advice to new online sellers has always been:

• Start with eBay as it is still the lowest cost and lowest risk way to start online selling.

• Next would be to open an eBay store

• Once your eBay business is up and running profitably you should then look at Amazon. Amazon is actually growing new sellers faster than eBay

• Depending on the type of product you sell, you can now examine other selling venues such as Etsy, Overstock, Bonanzle or others.

• Lastly every seller should have their own website.

Expanding to multiple channels makes good business sense. You just never know about eBay. They could and have cancelled lots of accounts –sometimes when people make honest mistakes. So why put all your income eggs in just one basket? Amazon is a natural. If you want to learn how Amazon works, just read the article about selling on Amazon in last month’s newsletter.

The various eBay alternative auction sites can garner the occasional sale. But in general none of them have enough traffic to make a living with, but it doesn’t hurt to list some products there as many of them have no or low listing fees.

Lastly is your own website. The advantages of a website are many, but the two most important ones are fees and customer lists. When you sell from a website you have a monthly hosting fee –usually less than $10 and you still have PayPal or credit card fees, but you are not paying any selling fees to eBay or Amazon.com. Often you can also charge more money on a website than you can realize on eBay or Amazon.

The other big advantage is the ability to capture your customer name and emails and build a mailing list so you can market to them whenever you have a sale or a new product.

Another advantage of having a website is that you can also earn income from Google AdSense and affiliate marketing. I get about 4000 visitors a day to my various websites, but I only make between 10 and 20 sales a day of my products. However, I also earn several thousand dollars a month when visitors click on the various affiliate links and Google AdSense banners on my site.

If you are ready to set up your website, take a look at article number 5 below. The Site Build It training program comes with hosting and a website builder –no technical knowledge needed.

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4. Vendor Review – Shipsurance

Shipping insurance is one of the pains of doing business on eBay or Amazon. It’s always a question – should I or shouldn’t I? And it got worse when eBay issued a new regulation that you can not ask the buyer to pay for it and you can’t even offer it as an option. If you want insurance, eBay says you have to bury it into your shipping costs.

Who should buy insurance?

If you sell low priced goods (under $50), Personally I wouldn’t worry about it. In 11 years on eBay I have only had three packages totally disappear and maybe a couple of items that were damaged in transit. If I had been paying full price for insurance on everything I sold, I would be out thousands of dollars in insurance premiums. And remember, if you ship UPS or FedEx, you already get the first $100 of insurance free. Yes, I know, it can take forever to get a claim paid, but they will eventually make good on it.

If you ship USPS, then you have to purchase insurance from the first dollar –and if you have ever tried making a claim with the post office – good luck. It can take the USPS up to 90-days to pay a claim and the claim processors I have dealt with sounded and acted like they were working in Somalia.

My two rules on buying insurance are this:

1. Value over $50

2. Fragile or breakable item

I have an occasional third rule, which is if I am shipping something to an inner city address in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and others that have high crime rates. On two of the three occasions we lost packages altogether they were both going to inner city addresses – one to Detroit and one to Chicago.

The other issue with insurance is the cost. Buying insurance from USPS or the other ground carriers is expensive.

For the past six years, I have used a company called Shipsurance that I first met at eBay live in 2006. Shipsurance is an independent shipping insurance company. They claim their rates are up to 90% less than the carriers, but in my personal experience they have saved me in the area of 60%.

Shipsurance works with DHL, FedEx, UPS, the US Postal Service, and most land/air/ocean carriers. You can ship the occasional package or you can open an account which is where you will get the best rates.

Here is what Shipsurance says about their service:

The shipping carriers are in the business of transporting goods and they usually do quite a good job. However, the inevitable lost or damaged parcels do occur as the law of averages pertains to everything. That is where we step in. Instead of relying on declared value protection from the shipping carriers, parcels are insured with Shipsurance. We work with you on a claim by claim basis to make sure they are resolved in a timely manner. Our paperless claims management system allows our policy holders to file claims electronically and attach any pertinent information to the claim. The entire claims process can be tracked online and you will be alerted once a claim has been approved and payment has been remitted.

Shipsurance also covers many commodities that the shipping carriers will not. We cover artwork, antiques, fragile goods, and jewelry. As a Shipsurance policy holder, you will have coverage for all of your small parcels shipments as well as your large, common carrier shipments.

So if insurance is an issue for you, take a look at Shipsurance and start saving money.

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5. Ten-Week SBI Website E-Learning Course

A few weeks ago I wrote about one of my favorite website builders, SiteBuildIt and several of you took advantage of it to get started on your first website. Well, the folks at Site Build It also offer a three month e-learning course on all aspects of building websites with the easy SBI tools and then how to actually run a successful website business.

This is the same course that prestigious universities and colleges such as Penn State, The Citadel Military College offer in the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia and Africa. SBI! E-Learning now delivers the same experience and results online, to you, in your home.

Site Build It! ("SBI!") is designed to enable the average, non-tech person to "Do It Yourself." Enjoyed also by the Web-savvy power user for its dollar savings, all-in-one time efficiencies, and profitable results, it has recently been discovered by institutions of higher learning.

Accredited centers of higher education are selecting Site Build It! as the way to teach undergraduates, MBAs and Continuing Education students how to use the Web to build a successful online business.

Thanks to the direct, experienced and live online instruction, you always know that you're on the right track and headed in the right direction. For example, you receive clear guidance about...

• Identifying themes ("site concepts") that interest you

• Doing keyword research for profitable in-demand topics related to your theme

• Planning multiple income streams to supplement your main business

• Picking the perfect domain name

• Creating an attractive professional-looking design that reflects your business

• Building an easy-to-navigate Web site structure for both human visitors and Search Engines

• Writing in a way that builds relationships, creates community and pulls in Search Engines

• Developing an inbound links program to show Search Engines how popular/credible you are

• Traffic analysis

• Monetizing your traffic (i.e., turning that traffic into dollars)

• Expanding and managing your burgeoning e-business for the long term.

The best news is that SBI has just come out with a special offer with a new lower price and a program where you can try the course for the first month for a lower payment and if you don’t want to proceed you can get your first payment refunded and drop out at that point. And if you want to continue you can pay for the course over a 3-month period. Click here to learn more about the SBI E-Learning Training.

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

One of the Wholesale Search Engines featured on our website is GetThatWholesale. In addition to their listing, they have a free newsletter that features wholesale sources that you can subscribe to. Here is the link to subscribe.

Knife making is a fast growing hobby in the United States. Premium Knife Supply is a wholesale supplier for a line of knife making kits, tools and parts

ODC Trading Services Inc., are wholesalers of hand made Peruvian Jewelry made with nickel silver (Alloy of nickel, copper and zinc)and semi-precious stones. They carry a large selection of earrings, necklaces, chokers, bracelets, anklets, pins and other Peruvian items. And they take PayPal.

Alamode Fashion Jewelry sells a large line of over 7000 products from sterling silver, rings, bracelets, pendants, necklaces, brooches and charms. They are known for providing a wide range of quality jewelry at affordable prices.

Bikers Stuff provides unique or custom Biker products. These include Biker Patches, Custom Patches, Large Patches, Club Patches, Flag Patches, and other Biker related novelty products.

SPARKLING EARTH PRODUCTS is the largest U.S.A. manufacturer of personal cooling products & skull caps, do rags plus other novelty items. Their newest item is the Tingler.

GZ International sells a nice line of baby and baby-care products

Shanil Inc carries a large selection of infant & children's clothing including . Christening outfits, dresses and casual clothing.

ESCO Import Toy Company have been Toy Specialist since 1969. They carry a large selection of toys such as dolls, action figures, kites, and much more. Only $150 minimum order.

YMC Import & Export Corp. specializes in Die Cast collectibles, Toys, Novelty, General Merchandise, Gifts, Seasonal Items, Die Cast -Maisto Muscle Machines Motor Max Sunny Side Kinsmart Toys – Dolls, Radio Control cars boats and helicopters Educational Beauty Sets, Baby Items, and Calculators.

R/C Are Us is a direct wholesale source for Remote Controlled Helicopters and Planes

MCS Depot Wholesale Warehouses in British Columbia, Canada
dropships from their warehouses across the USA and Canada. They carry a huge inventory of Tools, Golfing Supplies, Lawn & Garden, Hunting Supplies, Toys, and more. In general, most –but not all of their products are priced well enough to sell on eBay.

TECTRON International wholesales Batteries, headphones, earphones, games, toys, tools, housewares, hardware, flashlights, microphone, dollar store items, electronics, mp3, FM Radio, knives, remotes, clock, DVD/CD Holder, audio/video accessories and even some computers.

Bama Surplus is an Alabama wholesale surplus dealer that sells everything from silk flowers to tools, housewares to hardware, home decor to welding supplies. They carry a wide variety of merchandise including closeouts.

PrecisionProducts.US are stocking distributors and importers of Barber Shears, Craft Supplies, Sport Knives, Hobby Tools, Magnifiers, Folding Scissors, Nail Clippers, Stethoscope, Tweezers, Chinese Scissors, Dental Picks, Hemostats, Eye Loupes, and even Surgical Tools.

NativeCrafts.us in Oroville, Washington carries wholesale craft supplies, colorful stone mosaic jewelry, bone chokers, lead free pewter jewelry and belt buckles. Bow & arrows, talking sticks, dreamcatchers & wall hangings. Native American, animal, & fantasy themed figurines. Art prints and posters, Crow beads, beaded rosettes, and beaded jewelry.

Smart Blonde® are Manufacturers and Distributors of Novelty License Plates, Signs, Decals and License Plate Frames. they stock over 1600 items in 30 categories including a huge military collection- Same Day Shipping and some items can be Dropshipped.

That’s it for now –see you with more news and tips in about two 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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