Free Stuff!PowerSeller AcademyAbout UsLinksAdditional Resources |
Your own eBay discount shop!
publication date: Apr 11, 2007
*** Your Own eBay Discount Shop!
*** How to Create Hybrid Products for Big Profits
*** Eight Ways To Take Better Pictures For
Successful eBay Auctions
Hello
I just love looking at all the new things eBay plans
for us sellers and looking to integrate any I
particularly like into my own business. And I get
a great thrill out telling you all about it too,
especially if it means saving you time and trouble.
This month eBay has introduced several new
selling concepts, including RSS Feeds which you
can read all about in the next issue of eBay
Confidential (due out on Saturday).
The other selling tool I really like is eBay's new
'Markdown Manager', it's as the name implies and
helps eBay sellers create their very own sales and
discount listings to attract even more potential
buyers into their eBay Shops.
Basically, Markdown Manager allows eBay Shop
sellers to display discounted items in much the
same way high street shops promote sales and
special product offers. It's hoped the new
technique will gain favour with bargain hunters
from across the Internet and generate multiple
product sales and repeat business for eBay Shop
owners.
Find the appropriate page by going inside your
eBay Account, click on 'Marketing Tools' left of
the screen, next page click on 'Markdown
Manager'. eBay points to the value of sales
promotions for promoting your Fixed Price and
Shop Inventory listings and recommends members
have a go at creating sales for seasonal and
specific festive occasions (like Christmas,
Valentine's Day) or just to clear out longstanding
inventory.
Like high street shops your sales notifications can
be made to stand out by striking through the old
price and adding the new lower price added
alongside.
Sales can be schedule for up to six months in
advance to benefit your planning and spending
budget. All items must be discounted by at least
five per cent. As for any advertised sale it is
against the low to list items as discounted which
have not previously been offered for sale at a
higher price.
More Rules
* A sale cannot be longer than 45 days but not
shorter than a day. The minimum duration between
sales is one day.
* If you have listings in multiple currencies and
choose to discount by an amount (not a
percentage), that discount will be in the currency
of the listings and will not be converted. For
example, a discount entered as '5' will be CA$5
for Canadian listings and GB£35 in the UK.
* A listing can be in only one active sale at a time,
but a listing can exist in multiple scheduled and
inactive sales.'
Try This
Summer is a big time for high street stores and
you'll rarely find one that doesn't host a big
discount sale in the run up to the warmer months
when people are packing up to go abroad and
needing lots of brand new clothing and fashion
accessories and cosmetics. But many people buy
online now, in preference to trawling the high
street in the scorching heat (who am I kidding?)
and this is the very excuse you need to run your
own Big Summer Sale on eBay.
Let's see how to do it.
Holiday makers are going to be stocking up on
travel luggage, beach wear, sun tan cream, and
other summer only products. But some people are
keen on designer labels too and the odd person
with more money than sense wouldn't be seen
dead abroad in last year's fashions! So you'll find
plenty of factories and designer outlets offloading
last season's summer wear to make way for this
season's stock. These items often sell at way
below retail value and fetch good prices on eBay.
To make really big money, look to buy stock, out
of season, and no longer acceptable to designer
label freaks, and resell them at low prices on eBay
and attract multi-item buys. Much the same applies
to factory clearance and out of season sunglasses,
sun hats, travel luggage. Make a big point of
mentioning and illustrating the makers' name for
designer products, show the label and include a
full money back guarantee. Remember to add
'Genuine Designer Label' to your listing title and
as part of the illustration. We covered factory
clearance sources earlier in this issue, which you
can back up with the following places to buy
designer goods at low prices:
Designer Sale UK: www.designersales.co.uk
London Fashion Designer Sales:
Designer Warehouse Sales:
DIY Search: Go to www.google.com, key in
'designer + clothing + sale', 'designer +
sunglasses + sale', 'designer + luggage + sale',
and so on, and find dozens of places to find quality
items at discount prices.
-----------------------------
How to Create Hybrid Products for Big Profits
-----------------------------
'Hybrid' products are created using specific
features of other products, preferably the best
features, and can culminate in a far better and
more popular product than those on which it was
modelled. You have to be careful, however, you
must not break trademark or copyright and patent
designs, and what I'm suggesting here has more to
do with general ideas and techniques than actual
product features.
The idea came to me years ago and it concerned
Richard Smith whose book topped the USA best
sellers list longer than any related title.
'Formulaic' describes a book written to a definite
design (a formula) and in fiction terms it means
choosing very popular character types (Mr. Darcy
- spell for example) and popular settings (hospitals
and doctor and nurse romantic romps), which all-
in-all creates a book almost certain to appeal to the
book buying public. Smith's book was a little
different, he based it on the three best selling book
topics in the USA, namely sex, diet and exercise,
and came up with the title 'The Sensuous Dieter's
Guide to Weight Loss During Sex'. It sold like
hot cakes!
The fact is, hybrid creations work, but only if
based on already very popular and profitable
themes and concepts.
It's worth brainstorming hybrid product ideas for
your eBay business and there are literally millions
to choose from, like these to get you started.
Popular Concept - Charm bracelet / dog / vintage
art
Hybrid Product - Bracelet with charms made
from actual pages from antique illustrated dog
books
Popular Concept - Wedding accessory /
something old / something new / something
borrowed / something blue
Hybrid Product - Wedding purse made from
antique lace and blue beads, fastened with
current year dated coin, penny inside (purses
should always be given with coin inside for
good luck) which bride returns to you for 10%
discount on your other eBay items. (Just ideas,
the borrowed item can be from a friend, the dated
coin can be a new charm, and so on.)
-----------------------------
Eight Ways To Take Better Pictures For
Successful eBay Auctions
-----------------------------
The best eBay auctions - the items that close with
high winning bids and attract the most attention -
are often those that include good photos. There's
no argument that you shouldn't include photos.
Many eBay bidders, when browsing search results
or categories, will skip items that don't include
pictures. But in a way, including bad photos is
even worse than not uploading any at all. If your
potential bidders don't know what to make of your
bad pictures, they'll look for a different listing -
and your item won't sell for as much as it could.
These tips will help you take a good photo. You'll
only spend a few extra minutes at most setting up
these shots: a very small time investment
considering the payoff.
1. Don't backlight your merchandise. This will
create shadows and 'black out' what you're trying
to show users. Light should come from behind you
or from above the item if possible - not the
windowsill in which you've propped up the book
you're trying to sell.
2. You shouldn't rely on your camera's flash to
do all the work. In addition to the flash, you
should also place the item strategically to capture
available light from overhead fixtures, lamps and
even spotlights if you're very pressed to find good
lighting.
3. Fill as much of the frame as possible with the
actual merchandise. People don't care where
you've parked the car that you're trying to sell.
They don't want to see the bushes lining your
driveway, the neighbour's kid grabbing their mail
or the sun setting in the background. They want to
see the car, period, so give them as much of that as
you can.
4. If possible, take shots of the items being used,
worn or otherwise displayed in a 'real' manner.
Laying out your old prom dress on the kitchen
floor will inevitably result in a flat, uninspired
photo. Get someone to take a picture of you
wearing the clothing - from the neck down is fine
if you don't want people to see your face. Potential
bidders will get a better, more realistic idea of how
the item looks when it's being used. That makes
them more willing to bid on your listing instead of
someone else's.
5. Don't be cheap: pay the few extra cents to
upload additional photos of the product. Currently,
eBay lets you list the first photo at no charge:
additional pictures are 15 cents each.
6. However, you shouldn't go insane with
photos. Not every bidder is on a high-speed
connection, and even fast surfers don't like waiting
for more than 30 seconds or so for a page to load.
Try to stick to three pictures or less.
7. Resize the photos so that they're a few
hundred pixels across and down. Users don't like
scrolling sideways or down to see pictures. They'd
rather take in the entire photo at once. Photo-
editing programs - even free ones that you can
find through an Internet search - make it easy to
resize images.
8 Finally, make sure that you take honest
photos: pictures that accurately present your item.
Being up-front about your item's condition will
encourage good feedback and prevent auction
winners from complaining that your item wasn't
what you advertised in the listing.
These are the most important shots:
* A close-up of the entire product, preferably
from a top or head-on view. There's not much
point in taking a snapshot of a video game
system's bottom side, after all.
* A good picture of any damage or imperfection.
Most would-be bidders are actually reassured
when they can see that the 'minor scratches' you
describe are really quite small. Otherwise, many
people will exaggerate your description in their
minds and not even bother bidding.
* Finally, get a shot of anything that makes your
item unique. Example: if you have an autographed
baseball, book or picture, get a close-up of the
signature. Should you also have a certificate of
authenticity, include a shot of that as well.
With these tips, you can photograph and list with
confidence. Your improved pictures will attract
more bidders, reduce the number of questions that
you have to answer before people will place bids
and assure buyers that they'll receive exactly what
they thought they were buying.
With these tips, you can photograph and list with
confidence. Your improved pictures will attract
more bidders, reduce the number of questions that
you have to answer before people will place bids
and assure buyers that they'll receive exactly what
they thought they were buying.
Find more tips to help improve your eBay listings
at: www.21tip.com
And while we're on the subject of taking
photographs - here's how to turn this eBay 'chore'
into a nice little money-spinner . . .
**** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ****
Got a digital camera, internet connection and an
eye for a profit? Then you'll LOVE this...
Discover how amateur snappers can turn bog-
standard pics into dozens of mini money makers
The perfect sideline business for eBayer's too!
Full details here
-----------------------------
OH NEARLY FORGOT ....
-----------------------------
I must tell you my 'Silly Billy' mistake of the
week. This one is magic, it cost me so much and
lost me so much and meant no-one was watching
all of those items I listed last week on eBay.
I'd read somewhere that if a person is interested in
two of your listings it's best to space them a few
minutes apart so a person can wait for one listing
to end then move quickly to another to sort out
their bids without feeling they're being rushed off
their feet and meaning you could sell all of your
listings to just a few people.
So, using TurboLister, I uploaded my listings to
start at 8pm on Sunday night, and spaced the other
listings at five minute intervals. Next week,
auction ending, I wondered why I'd only sold ten
items. Until I checked and found that those 100
listings, at 5 minute intervals, meant I was selling
all night long, way into the early hours of the
morning in the UK. When most of us are asleep -
and virtually every other person on the planet is
also tucked up nice and warm!
Next time, benefit of hindsight, I'll sort my listings
into product groups, all postcards together, all
newspapers together, all games together, and start
each group at 8pm with up to twenty items in each
spaced out at five minute intervals.
And that's my bit for today, I'm off to actually get
started on these new ideas and as usual I'll let you
know how I get on.
Have a good week.
Avril
|
SearchLog In |
.gif)