How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold

The Online Seller's News, May 5, 2011, Volume 11, No. 9

Tips, Tools, News and Resources for eBay, Amazon and independent Online Sellers ~ Published Twice Monthly since 1999
by: Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay and beyond

1. How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold
2. How to Sell Your Products to 400,000 Facebook users
3. Micro Niche Finder Delivers Four Separate Profit Streams
4. Niche of The Month – Selling Used Shoes on eBay
5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay & Amazon Sellers

Our quote this month has two views on the same subject

"A fool and his money are soon parted." ~ Thomas Tusser

"A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place." ~ Stanley Weiser

Musings from eBay and beyond

Our first article today is about my latest book, How to Make Money Buying and Selling Gold. This is a total departure for me. This website and newsletter is all about online marketing, and this book is about a totally offline business. I even thought about not listing it here, but decided that in this economy, where everyone is looking for a way to make extra money, you may be interested. If any of you buy the book I would love to get your feedback on the topic and the book.

Last Few Days to Get Online Selling Coach at Charter Discount Price

We hit our first two hundred charter members a few days ago and all of those folks will get lifetime access to Online Selling Coach, but I wanted to give my readers one last chance to get in on the discount offer of $9.95 month (or $97 for an annual membership). So I talked it over with my fellow coaches and we agreed to hold the price open until May 15^th. After that it will go up to $14.95 month or $149 for an annual membership.

Feedback from new members has been awesome. We had hoped to have the forum up and running last week but ran into a technical glitch trying to prevent robo- comment spammers. So once that is fixed we will be up and running –probably a few more days.

We have already started adding content. And remember –members get a 40% discount on any of my eBay and online marketing books. Check out www.OnlineSellingCoach.com today. Don’t miss out on this great discount offer.

And, Drum Roll Please: If you recall we had a contest for the first 200 charter members where we were giving away one of the outdoor patio firepits that we sell on www.Firepit-Grills.com. The winner is Lisa K from Atlanta, GA. I have already sent Lisa an email. She picked out a design and her firepit is on the way.

I wanted to let everyone know who bought my book, How To Make Money with The Amazon Affiliate Program, that I have added a new bonus. One of the keys to making money as an Amazon affiliate is creating content related to your niche that will attract search engines. So we have added 1,241 copyright free articles on dozens of different niche topics. That’s right over 1200 free articles and the right to do anything you want with them including re-titling and re-authoring.

• The articles are between 400 to 500 words each
• The content of the articles fall into 15 categories (NO Internet marketing or "make money" subjects)
• The right to use the content of those articles however you wish - you can even rewrite, update or put your name as the author

Here are the categories:

I have also added this bonus to How To Make Money Blogging from Home. Just think, if one of these topics are related to your blog, you now have dozens of instant blog posts to attract traffic to your blog. And you can also get this free bonus when you join Online Selling Coach.

If you would like to see how I use these articles, visit my Official Geezer Guide Blog. I used an article about UK rail travel for seniors and worked in several Amazon banners at the bottom of the article. This post has only been up a few days and I already have 3 Amazon sales from it.

I wanted to thank everyone who took advantage of the Stamps.com offer in April. There were so many of you that Stamps.com has agreed to hold the offer open until the end of May. Just to remind you –here is what my readers get if they use the special link: www.stamps.com/skipmcgrath.

• $50 digital postal scale
• $45 in free postage
• $5 worth of supplies - total $100
• Get postage discounts on Priority Mail & Express Mail.
• Import orders from eBay, Amazon.com and more.
• Save up to 10% on package insurance.
• Hide the postage amount on your shipping labels.
• Ship worldwide with USPS First Class International

I like Stamps.com as it integrates seamlessly with both eBay and Amazon.

This week I was interviewed by Selling Books - A website for writers. They interviewed me about my recent book, The Virtual Peddler and about my background and how I got started writing. Here is a link to the interview.

Lets get started with this month’s articles:

[top]

1. How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold

As I was working on this issue of the newsletter, I saw a news report that Gold hit another all time high –around $1440 an ounce. I think gold must be the only thing in the world that is going up faster than eBay fees.

My readers know me for my books about eBay and online marketing, but my latest book, How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold, is strictly an off-line business, but its very profitable nevertheless.

I started buying gold and silver as a long-term investment years ago. I never anticipated it would go as high as today’s value. Gold was stuck at the $300 level for about ten years. Then 9/11 happened. Since then, Gold has been on a steady march up and some experts predict it will hit $2000 an ounce within a year or so.

But you don’t have to buy gold and hold onto it to make money. One of the ways I buy gold is buying old gold (and silver) jewelry from people, refining it and selling it at full price. This is called the Scrap Gold Trade. When you are out driving around and you see the signs that say “We buy gold jewelry” this is what people are doing.

You have probably heard ads on the radio from the cash for gold type of companies that tell you to mail in your gold and they will give you top dollar. Well, most of those are pure ripoffs. Most of those companies pay you 10% to 15% of the scrap value of your gold, whereas pawnshops routinely pay 35% and gold dealers like myself will pay 50%.

What do I mean by scrap gold? The US is the largest jewelry market in the world and most women (and many men) in America have items in their jewelry box they no longer wear. It might be something with a broken clasp, one earring you still have after you lost the other one, a wedding or engagement ring from an ex-spouse or maybe those giant hoop earrings that were popular in the 1980s. If that is you, then you have hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of dollars lying dormant in your jewelry box. Buying and selling scrap gold has become so popular that people are even having gold parties. In the past you used to attend a party to buy Tupperware, cosmetics, wine or handbags. You went to the party and spent money. With a gold party you bring your scrap gold and go home with money.

It may sound simple, but there are a lot of tricks to this business and like anything you do in life, success is in the details. That is what I give you in my book, How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold. This is a great business for someone who just wants to make a little extra money, working part time, or you can learn how to make some serious money working full time.

I am going to do the same thing I did last month and offer a discount on this book for my loyal readers. How To Make Money Buying and Selling Gold is going to sell for $37, but I am going to make it available for the entire month of May for $27.00. No coupon this time –the price at checkout is set at $27 and will remain that way until Midnight Eastern Time on May 31st.

[top]

2. How to Sell Your Products to 400,000 Facebook users

My longtime readers know that I have been a fan and user of Vendio for the past six years. Vendio is a multi-channel automation platform that allows you to sell on both eBay and Amazon from one central inventory controlled space. For the past few months, Vendio has been making an incredible offer of a Free Vendio Store when you sign up for any of Vendio’s services. A Vendio Store is a full-featured e-commerce website. It comes with a shopping cart built in and is set up so users can find you in Google searches.

As part of the deal, Vendio has committed to the store always being free. Once you sign up there are no set-up fees, no hosting charges and no listing or selling fees –it really is free. Before I talk about selling on Facebook, here is a list some of what you’ll receive with the free Vendio store.

Sell products from your own free online store and pay no hosting fees, listing fees, or transaction fees!

• Set-up the ecommerce solution you need in minutes, without development effort or anything to install
• Create your products once and sell through multiple marketplaces without complication
• Manage every step of the online sales cycle from one place — inventory management, marketing, fulfillment, customer communications and more
• Manage your entire online business from one easy to use unified ecommerce platform
• Maximize your profits with Vendio Applications

See that last item about Vendio Applications? Well one of Vendio’s newest applications is a built-in utility that will list all of the products in your Vendio Store on Facebook.

Rather than get into nitty-gritty details, here is a video that shows you how easy it is. Now this may not make a lot of sense to you until your store is set up –you will have to go back to the video once more to do this. But as you can see, once you know the steps it only takes a minute or so to add products to your Facebook page.

The other really cool thing about Vendio is that you can track and control your inventory between Amazon, eBay and your store. This assures you don’t sell something you don’t have in stock.

Vendio also offers a research service similar to HammerTap or Terapeak. The tool and results are about the same, but the advantage is you can do your research right in your Vendio workspace where you create and launch your listings.

And lastly Vendio offers a scrolling gallery that allows you to display your eBay listings in each of your listings and online on websites or blogs. Here is what it looks like:

Click Here. Double your traffic. Get Vendio Gallery - Now FREE!

[top]

3. Micro Niche Finder Delivers Four Separate Profit Streams

One of my peers is a fellow named James Jones. James has been around internet marketing longer than I have and we have worked together several times on product launches and we have done a couple of promotions that have raised thousands of dollars for charities.

James’ flagship product is called Micro Niche Finder, which is a system that should appeal to all of you who bought my book on The Amazon Affiliate System.

Micro Niche Finder generates income in four separate ways:

1. Create Simple Little One Page Sites to Promote Affiliate Products that Pay You Regular Commissions"
2. Exploit Amazon for Easy Affiliate Commissions
3. Create Niche Market Private Label Rights Packages and Sell these for a Quick Profit
4. Find 'Type In Traffic' Keywords for Set and Forget Revenue Streams

In addition to the profit stream training, the heart of Micro Niche Finder is one of the best keyword research tools on the market. One of my favorite tools, and the one mentioned in the Amazon affiliate book, is Market Samurai. Micro Niche Finder is just as good (and even better at some tasks), but with Market Samurai all you get is the tool. With James’ Micro Niche Finder you also get great training in how to put those keywords to work making money.

Here is an example of what you can do with Micro Niche Finder: Instead of using a keyword like credit card, Micro Niche Finder will find a phrase like credit cards with a low APR. It turns out that plenty of people are searching that exact phrase which is very specific.

Indeed, they're looking for a credit card that has a low rate. And because they're looking for something very specific, they're much more likely to sign up for an offer that matches what they're searching for –as opposed to a generic term like credit card.

These under-the-radar keyword phrases like "credit cards with a low apr" are much easier to rank for in the search engines (especially Google) and they have much better conversion percentages.

It doesn’t matter if your target niche is small like vacuum cleaners or highly competitive like credit cards or cancer treatments. If you target these overlooked, under-the-radar keyword phrases, you will stand a much better chance of getting the traffic you need in front of your offers and converting that traffic into profits!

Micro Niche Finder comes with a no-questions-asked money back guarantee and you actually get an email address and phone number to contact James at. This system and tool is a perfect companion to anyone who bought my book, How To Make Money with The Amazon Affiliate Program.

One piece of bad news about this product is that it only works on a PC or a PC emulator on a Mac. I have Mac Parallels and it works great –but I know a lot of Mac users out there who don’t have that. However, one of the neat bonuses that James is giving away is a copy of Micro Niche Finder on a USB drive, so you can just take the drive to any PC, plug it in and run.

[top]

4. Niche of The Month – Selling Used Shoes on eBay

Yes, there is an excellent market for used shoes on eBay. I got this idea from Suzanne Wells who is one of our coaches and my partner in OnlineSellingCoach.com. Let me show you a few things and then I’ll just include Suzanne’s Blog post below so you can see her tips and tricks to selling used shoes.

First of all – Why sell shoes? The answer is simple –insane profits. Anytime I can buy something for a buck or two and get $30 or $40 or even more for it, that is a market I like.

I want to show you three screenshots. Now being a guy I don’t know much about Ladies’ shoes so I just researched men’s shoes but I am told you can do the same thing with Ladies’ shoes. The first shows results for everyday shoes –the kind you will find at garage sales and thrift shops.

Look at the prices you can get for shoes that are fairly easy to find and buy for just a few bucks. And look at the sell-through-rate. (All of the prices in green sold).

Now lets go up a step. These are still shoes you can find from garage sales, thrift shops, estate sales and small town auctions –but you will usually pay a little more –yet still some very nice profits:

Now let’s look at the really expensive ones. You won’t come across these very often, but when you do you can make insane amounts of money.

Now that you know why you want to sell shoes, let’s look at some tips that Suzanne came up with to help you maximize your sales. It’s very logically written, you might say, step-by-step. (I apologize, but I just couldn’t help myself.)

Tips for Selling Used Shoes on eBay – by: Suzanne Wells

If you plan on selling used shoes on eBay, there are a few tricks and techniques you should first know. There is a lot of competition on eBay, so therefore you want to make sure you understand and have knowledge of the different shoe types.

• Athletic shoes such as Chuck Taylors, Keds and Nikes are probably the easiest to maintain. These shoes are usually made out of fabric or canvas. Depending on the shoe’s material, a quick toss in the washer machine can have them looking good as new. You also want to pay attention to the shoelaces, and whether or not you need to replace them. Shoelaces that are extremely dirty, or otherwise damaged, will need to be replaced with a new pair. A $3 investment in new shoelaces can help increase the sales price. You won’t want to place a photo in your listing containing shoes that are missing the laces or the laces are damaged in any way.


• For other type shoes, look closely for any imperfections such as scrapes, scratches or blemishes. A good tip for those handling children’s black patent leather shoes is a black magic marker to fill in any discoloration. With leather shoes, you will probably want to add a coat of shoe polish. In fact, it is a good idea to invest in different colors of shoe polish, if you plan to become a successful shoe seller on eBay. Next look at the sole of the shoes. Don’t try to sell shoes with holes in the sole. The soles won’t look appealing and the shoes will require too much repair to be wearable.


• Cleaning is a big part of selling used shoes. Especially if these shoes are found in second-hand stores or yard sales. The cleaner the shoe, the better they will look in photos. I keep a small kit of different colors of shoe polish, a small brush, brown and black sharpies, and some sneaker white to spruce up old shoes. A few minutes of cleaning can help increase your sale price.


• When scouting for used shoes, you will want to keep your eye out for expensive designer brands. Used designers shoes will still sell for a decent profit. Get wide widths and larger sizes, as these are the most popular on eBay. A good guide to go by: Men’s size 12 and up -- Women’s sizes 9 and up. Click here for my free BOLO (Be On Look Out) list for good brands that sell on eBay.


• When you create the listing, add all the relevant information concerning the shoe. This includes the measurements, condition, color, gender, and shoe size. Include plenty of photos, so the shoe can be seen at different angles. Always include a photo showing the bottom of the sole, as it is one of the buyer’s main concerns.

One last tip from me: If you come across really small sizes, be sure and list them on eBay Japan. I once had a pair of size six Gucci loafers and sold them to a buyer in Japan for over $400.

So that’s it – happy shoe hunting!

[top]

5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay & Amazon Sellers

Fashion bracelets are HOT! One of the best sources for the trendy new bracelets is Monster Trendz, Inc. This is a great niche for any Amazon or eBay seller. Yes the price point is low, but young girls and women tend to buy multiple purchases of these. And you can group them and sell sets of three or more.

Words mean things and words are hot too. ASAP Words has the widest library of words available including large words for the wall and unique tabletop designs. Each scripted word is carefully crafted from wood with a quality matte painted finish.

Kringle Candle's distinctive crisp, white shades fit every decor scheme with understated elegance. This is a beautiful line of candles.

All of our lawn and garden products have been selling well over the past few weeks so lets look at a few suppliers of these products:

AliExpress the new small quantity wholesale site by Alibaba (which now owns Vendio) has several suppliers of lawn and garden products including solar garden lights which we have been hugely successful with on eBay.

Gnome Frenzy sells a complete line of garden gnomes including team and themed gnomes. Gnomes are quirky and an unbelievable fast selling products this time of year.

Iron Stop makes the original wind spinners. All of their products are made in the USA and are powder coated for maximum weather resistance.

Sensitive TickleMe plants! Grow your own fun tickle me plants and sensitive plants with your own seeds. A great scientific and educational project for kids and these are selling well online. Touch the plant and the leaves close! Do your own experiments!

The Original Zap-1 kills Mosquitoes, Flies, Hornets, Yellow Jackets, Spiders inside or outside of the house, tent, camper, boat or car. Looks like a Tennis racket. Just touch the insect and it is zapped dead.

Wholesale garden supplies for all garden products like lawn supplies, water sprayers, gardening tools at great discount prices.

OK – Lets look at some other products:

Outdoor Active Gear is a supplier for chairs, coolers, camouflage and other outdoor active gear. And –they have a drop ship program.

Clarke Sports is located in Houston Texas. They sell high-quality tennis products from the leading manufacturers.

BARSKA is a key supplier of sport optics products including binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes, microscopes, riflescopes and accessories. Us the contact us link at the bottom of the page to contact them for wholesale information.

Dog Trakker, LLC is a privately owned business that sells Pet products made only in the USA. The website is info only so contact them for wholesale information.

China Vasion Wholesale, sells Digital Cameras, Car Electronics, MP3 Players, MP4 Players, Spy Cameras, Security Products, Electronic Gadgets. They sell in small quantities and they dropship –but I would be careful dealing with a dropshipper that ships directly from China.

Visage Watches sells fashionable, trendy, and elegant watches for today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Owner and designer, Suresh Budhrani, brings over 25 years of experience to Visage.

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.

That’s it for now. See you again in a couple of weeks.

Skip McGrath
The Online Seller's News

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