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Fast and Furious Profits
publication date: Feb 21, 2007
*****
- Fast and Furious Profits
- Online Auctions - How to Add an Audio Clip to
Your eBay Auction by Pradeep Agarwal
- Fundraisers - How Do You Set Up a Charity
Auction? by Lee Lister
- How to Make Money on eBay Selling Other
People's Stuff by Joshua Spaulding
*****
Hi,
It's been a strange week for me, a good one but strange
all the same. These 'strange' weeks leave me wondering
what on earth to write for you in my weekly newsletter,
after all a 'strange' week for me is one in which a lot
happens but little of it is memorable, not all of it is worth
relaying to hundreds of other people.
At least that is how it felt as I opened the Word
document to write this week's eLetter, until I dug really
deep in the recesses of my mind and realised I actually
do have a lot to tell you about this week. There are no
big stories, only tiny things that have happened to me
during the week, all of it good, some of it eye-opening,
every bit of it representing a potential new source of
eBay income for you.
That's why, this week's editorial is a bullet point affair,
like this:
* There are good and bad things afoot at the offline
salerooms I visit most regularly here in the north of
England. The good news is that finishing prices are
lower than ever before even for really great products, the
kind that fetch considerable profits on eBay. Let me
give you proof. While waiting for the pottery and china
lots to end at an auction I visited for postcards last week
(I hate pottery and china, love postcards), I got to
looking around the room, mostly from boredom, looking
for people I have been friendly with for many years at
local fairs and flea markets. I just needed to find one
person, make eye contact, get them to the coffee bar to
catch up on old times and snatch a few offline buying
and selling tips.
Out of more than one hundred people in the room, there
was not one I recognized, except for my daughter that is,
sitting beside me. I wondered why the sudden change in
patronage, there are always many people I know at these
events. Then the reason hit me and also explained why
most items catalogued that day at hundreds of pounds
were actually fetching much less. The auction house's
normally high gloss, fat catalogue also looked different
and, rather than costing £38 a time, this one was sent out
by post, free of charge, to past big spend buyers.
I later discovered the company had suffered heavy thefts
from their premises, over numerous recent auction days,
normally taking place as people were packing what they
had bought into their vehicles. The thieves were not
bidders or regular buyers but opportunist rogues who
previously found it easy to mingle almost unnoticed
among thousands of viewers and bidders at these regular
events and take their pick from goods sold on the day
and others stored in nearby rooms for future events. But,
out of thousands of bidders, only a few actually bought
during most auction days, the rest turned up for a good
day out, a warm place to sit, someone to talk to.
The company thought to cut the theft by sending
catalogues out purely to previous heavy spend bidders
without advertising the event in local newspapers. As to
low finishing prices? It transpired that even with
reduced takings on the day, the company actually
generated far higher mark ups than previously where
high takings were cut significantly by thefts on the day.
I believe that many offline auction houses may plan
similar procedures, especially classy type establishments.
But while advertising might be restricted in local
newspapers you'll still find bigger auction houses
advertising their sales online. And that's where you
should be looking to plan your buying expeditions. Look
in local Yellow Pages, under 'Auctions', key the
company name into Google and make a note of auction
house web pages to check for forthcoming sales.
* I'm a great fan of fast and furious listing on eBay, the
more items I can upload in one day, the better I feel, and
the more money I'll bank the following week. That's
why I recommend eBay's listing software TurboLister,
being the fastest way to list items. But there's another
major benefit of TurboLister which I hadn't realised until
my computer loaded with TurboLister broke down last
week and I took to listing items directly through eBay.
The big difference I noticed, between using TurboLister
and uploading directly though eBay, has to do with
choice of illustrations to accompany my listings. Using
TurboLister you get to see a copy of the actual
illustration inside the software programme; using eBay
direct you either have to title descriptions very accurately
or take pot luck because you don't get to see which
illustration is being uploaded until sometimes several
minutes after uploading a picture file. If you don't have
broadband, add another minute or so to the time you can
waste by uploading the wrong graphic, by mistake or by
accident, and having to wait for it go through the system
before the illustration finally appearing on your desktop
--- then having to start again when you find you got it
wrong.
* Don't be in too much of a hurry to make a lot of
money. You could end up having to pay it all back, plus
compensation, with lots of complaints to sort out and
hassle to contemplate in the process. Case in point: this
week I bought an eBook with an affiliate opportunity
that lets you immediately start selling the item and get
money flowing into your PayPal account. I sold it
outside of eBay, thankfully, with intention to sell through
eBay the next day. Oh how glad I am I did not rush to
make money that day because when the product sold like
hot cakes through Google AdWords, generating lots of
lovely cash, it transpired the scripts handling the
download for the product weren't working and of twenty
sales through PayPal not one person got their download
links. Thankfully I was on the ball, my first buyer
informed me of the problem. I checked by purchasing the
item myself through my own affiliate link, and I
immediately added an autoresponder message telling
buyers about the problem. Had I rushed to sell on eBay I
would have encountered lots of complaints and negative
feedback, deservedly so, as did at least five eBook
PowerSellers marketing the same product that day. The
moral is: always check your product thoroughly before
selling it on eBay. Outside of eBay, the problem is quite
easily corrected, on eBay those negatives might be there
to stay.
Until next time,
Avril
***
Introducing: Dirty Postcards!
***
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Find out here:
***
Online Auctions - How to Add an Audio Clip to Your
eBay Auction by Pradeep Agarwal
***
The recent trend to attract a lot of bidders online is by
adding an audio clip to your eBay auctions. An audio
clip is a personal message by the website owner to the
potential bidder explaining about your product.
Personalization is considered a very important marketing
technique because we need to remind the customer that
he is thought of as a valued customer not as another sale
or another sales figure. A personalized touch in
marketing works well and is very refreshing.
In the audio clip you are using your own voice to explain
to the potential bidder about the product, you are
communicating to them your refund policy and giving
them your contact information. It is a means to establish
a rapport with the bidder. Adding audio clips allows you
to market your product aggressively, expressing
emotions and excitement.
How do you add an audio clip to a website? The simplest
way would be to download a .wav or MP3 file to a
website and establish a link to the file. When the bidder
clicks on the link the bidder's computer will pay the file
with the audio player automatically. However the
bidder's computer must recognize the file or else it will
not play. This is the main drawback of this technique.
There are several software programs and websites, which
perform the same task of adding audio to your eBay
auctions.
For instance Audio Maker Pro -
http://audiomaker.thynke.com Sound Streamer -
http://soundstreamer.thynke.com which is more
economical.
Many websites charge a monthly fee or a one-time fee
for the use of the program. You could also have a trial or
a demo version to check how it works for which they
charge a nominal amount.
Adding an audio clip to your eBay can make it possible
to get the highest possible profits from your eBay
auctions. So go ahead and install an audio clip to your
web site and encourage the buyer to take advantage of
your offer.
Pradeep Agarwal is the creator of Auction Spectrum at
http://www.auctionspectrum.com the online auction hub. This
site is dedicated to helping people start and run a
successful online auction business.
***
Fundraisers - How Do You Set Up a Charity
Auction? by Lee Lister
***
You have little money but you want to raise money for
your local charity. So how about a well publicized
auction?
You will be benefiting from a whole pile of human
emotions:
* The public's desire to give to good causes.
* Local business need for cost effective advertising.
* Local businesses wishing to be connected with good
causes.
* The public's wish to purchase special items at good
prices, whilst still being seen to be doing good.
* Local media's needs for good local interest copy.
It is going to be some hard work for you, but if you are
organized, polite and persistent you will do well.
First of all - check with your local authorities as to the
kind of permits etc. that you need. Make sure you adhere
to all rules - lotteries for example are heavily controlled
- so get advice first.
Secondly as it is for charity you have to make sure that
you keep excellent records and can account publicly for
all auction gifts, all money taken and what the money is
used for.
Now Publicity
Set the event for about one month ahead. Go to your
local radio stations and tell them about it. Ask them to
publicize it for you. Do the same with the local papers.
You have a great local event so they will be interested.
Set up some flyers giving details of the auction. Also set
up some posters that local businesses can put up. Leave a
space on these so that they can promote what they are
giving to the auction and ask donators to put them up in
their shop and office.
Ask your paper to be at the event to take photos and
provide a report on the results. If you can hold the event
in order to purchase a particular item for your charity -
that's great!
Getting Your Items Go around local businesses and ask
them to donate. Tell them:
* Their name will be mentioned during the auction item.
- "Donated by....."
* Their name will be on the auction catalogue.
* Adverts in the auction will appear on radio and in news
releases.
* They can put a poster up demonstrating what they have
donated.
Try to encourage competitiveness by providing a special
mention for key prizes.
Also contact all the members of your local charity and
say the same thing.
Try and get a few main/big items that will make your
publicity stand out. For example a day's golf training
with a local celebrity or a meal for four at a great
restaurant, etc.
The Auction
Be professional and see if a local celebrity or auction
house professional auctioneer or a local comic will
control the auction for you. This does great for your
publicity as well.
Have refreshments available and seating. This
encourages people to stay.
Keep very good records and keep telling people the
totals during the auction. Say things like - "another $50
takes us to a $1,000", "We are almost able to buy two
xx's - just need to give a little more."
Ensure that the donators and bidders get good publicity
and everyone feels that they have donated to a good
cause.
Announce the final total and have a bucket or tin
available for other donations. Thank everyone and close
the event.
Give the local papers and radio stations details of the
event, the amount raised and what it is being used for.
Good luck
Copyright 2007 Biz Guru Services Ltd Lee Lister, a
serial entrepreneur, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number
of web sites including http://www.clikks.com where she
sells her informational products.
***
How to Make Money on eBay Selling Other People's
Stuff by Joshua Spaulding
***
Everyone and their brother have things lying around that
they no longer have a use for. Many of these things have
great value to others. Even though many people know
that eBay is there, they do not know how it works or they
just do not feel like messing with it, this is where you
come in.
We all love to have a little extra money and when we are
told that we do not have to do anything for it, it's even
better. That is why this technique is so profitable. The
great thing about it is that there is nothing scandalous
about it. You can even offer this service to friends and
family. This type of marketing is often called 'soft
marketing'.
So what am I talking about? As long as you know how to
put up goods for auction on eBay, you can sell other
people's stuff for them. You will of course charge a
certain percentage per sale. It is actually extremely easy
to pull off. You do not have to pay for advertising or do
any other kind of stressful marketing. All you have to do
is ask people.
It will eventually turn into 'viral marketing'. This type of
marketing is when one person tells their friends, their
friends tell their friends and so on. "Hey, John sold my
boat for me on eBay and I got $2,000.00 out of it!"
When people hear statements like that, they want to give
it a try as well.
As you have probably noticed, this is no mind-blowing
secret that I have uncovered. It is actually something that
thousands of people do everyday. The great part about
making money on eBay by selling other people's stuff is
that it does not matter how many people do it, it will
always be profitable.
There is no reason not to do this. The cost is very limited
when compared to the profit potential. A few roles of
packing tape and some boxes and you are in business.
Just get the word out that you can sell other peoples stuff
on eBay and you will be amazed as to how many people
are interested.
Joshua Spaulding is an Author and Webmaster providing
proven ways to make money at home at
***
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