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May 30, 2007
Free Videos To Watch #1: "As Seen On TV" Wholesale
We have a new page with four free videos to watch (with more coming) and the first one is a heartbreaker. There are a lot of flawed ideas about "As Seen On TV" wholesale as this email shows. Chris Malta and I received this sad - even tragic - email from someone who was considering buying our 99 cent book on eBay called Product Sourcing Scams Revealed ...
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"This ebay auction I am responding to possibly saved me hundreds of dollars and thousands of hours of computer work. I will gladly pay you 99 cents if you can tell me WHERE TO BUY THE RETURNS FROM THE T.V. SHOPPING SHOWS THAT 100'S OF FOLKS ON EBAY ARE SELLING. I have spent 1000's of hours on the computer trying to hunt down the source for these customer returns TO NO AVAIL. I have spent lots of money that I cannot afford to spend of wholesale sourcing and was ripped off. I am older, disabled, unmarried and discouraged. WHERE ARE THE SOURCES FOR THE T.V. SHOPPING SHOW CUSTOMER RETURNS? I don't have much money but I will pay you what I can afford if you can get me this information. Thank you very, very much."
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There are SO many lessons here! For instance ...
IF the profits from As Seen On TV wholesale are as fabulous as she thinks they are, WHY would I sell her that valuable information for a measly 99 CENTS?
Why wouldn't I use that information to make thousands of dollars/month on eBay?
To learn more:
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:44 PM | TrackBack
May 27, 2007
Free Downloable eBooks
We are happy to say that we now have a folder for free downloadable eBooks, with more coming any day. Currently our selections are:
* Product Sourcing Scams Revealed
* Is eBay The Right Home Business For Me?
* Make Your Net Auction Sell!
* eBay Shipping Guide
Learn more about online auctions here:
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:12 PM | TrackBack
May 23, 2007
Skype VOIP USB Phone To Be Sold In WalMart
The Skype Voip USB phone and other Skyp equipment will soon be sold in Walmart. Skype and WalMart jointly announced an agreement to sell Skype phone equipment in 1800 of its 3300 stores.
The dedicated Skype section will feature handsets, headsets and webcams designed to work with Skype, a provider of free and very cheap long-distance calls, including to phone numbers abroad. Wal-Mart will also sell the first prepaid cards for Skype calls to be sold in this country, the companies were announcing Monday.
The new section at more than half of Wal-Mart's roughly 3,300 U.S. stores will feature Skype-compatible gear made by Motorola Inc., Plantronics Inc., Logitech International SA, Royal Philips Electronics NV and others.
Those manufacturers already sell those products in stores on their own through their own relationships with Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc., but Wal-Mart will be the first to offer a wide selection in one place.
Wal-Mart also sells products that work with Vonage, which also transmits calls over an Internet connection but tends to more closely replicate the experience of using a traditional telephone. By contrast, while there are a growing number of cordless phones compatible with Skype, the service is commonly used by plugging a headset into a computer and clicking on names in a buddy list like those found in an instant messaging program.
With tens of millions of regular users, Skype has developed a huge following, especially among international callers. But the service is not as well known to the general public, even among people with high-speed Internet connections.
"We think there will be a lot of Wal-Mart shoppers who will not be familiar with Skype," said Don Albert, general manager for Skype North America, a unit of eBay Inc.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:47 PM | TrackBack
May 20, 2007
eBay Video Terms Revised (Fortunately)
A couple of weeks ago we reported that eBay was 'officially' allowing video in auctions. Actually, this was bad news for sellers because many of us had already begun using video auctions and eBay added restrictiions to a formerly fluid process. The two 'baddies' were:
1. Only links could be included in auctions - the actual video itself could not be included. Every savvy marketer knows that the more links a customer must click, the fewer who will do so.
2. Only five video storage sites are "approved".
Fortunately, eBay has now rescinded condition #1, although #2 currently remains in effect ...
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Hi everyone - this is Jim Ambach again with our Seller Experience team. A few weeks ago I announced that sellers could now link to videos to describe their items. Video's ability to tell a story, as well as its ease-of-use, has made it extremely popular, and the time was right to bring video to eBay. When I made my announcement, our policy allowed sellers to link to a video, but not to embed the video directly within their listing. Just like the online video world, our policy is rapidly evolving - we´re updating it to now allow sellers to embed videos within their listings. The videos still need to be hosted on one of our approved sites, but it's up to you whether you want to embed them or simply link to them. We'll also be evaluating other video hosting sites as time goes on, and will update our approved list periodically.
Jim Ambach
Vice President, Seller Experience
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200705.shtml#2007-05-11161726
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:40 PM | TrackBack
May 17, 2007
eBay Auction Sniping & New eBay Bid Assistant
eBay auction sniping has now altered considerably with the introduction of eBay's new eBay Bid Assistant. This is being treated as good news for sellers - and of course it is. It's also good news for eBay, too, of course. There is much sniping software already out there and eBay has obviously decided to get in the game. With one stroke, they've totally cut the ground out from under all other sniping software. Why use something else when you can snipe directly from eBay?
It's free, naturally, and eBay has this to say:
Think of Bid Assistant as your own personal bidding aide. Just tell it what to bid on and your highest bid. Bid Assistant will blaze through your list -- automatically bidding for you. You can bid on a group of similar items, but win just one! It's free, so why not give it a try?
What makes this an interesting new development is that the buyer can bid on multiple similar items - but only win one. Here's how it works:
http://pages.ebay.com/bidassistant/#howcan
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:22 PM | TrackBack
May 14, 2007
Free Downloable eBooks Do Better With Formatting
You might think that giving away free downloadable eBooks is easy. Well, it isn't. And getting folks to read them is even harder! (How many ebooks & articles are unread on YOUR hard drive?)
"Free" isn't the magical word it once was and the truth is that you have to sell free ebooks just like you do the paid ones. Maybe the sale isn't quite as hard, but just sticking them on a page and waiting for a million downloads just isn't gonna happen.
Formatting your free downloadable ebooks makes the entire job easier. Example: here is an older version of Product Sourcing Scams Revealed, the free ebook written by Chris Malta and myself:
Not exactly gorgeous and enticing, is it? Well, here is our new version:
Which one would you prefer to read? Yeah, me too.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:38 PM | TrackBack
May 11, 2007
ubid.com Proves That eBay USA Is A Bargain
Whenever eBay USA raises its prices multitudes of sellers get angry and swear they are going to start their "own" auction site and cut eBay out. The recent quarterly earnings from ubid {ubid.com} reveal the idiocy of starting-your-own-auction-site-to-get-back-at-eBay.
The first quarter of 2007 ended on March 31. At this time, ubid announced losses of $1.4 million - but this is better than the first quarter of 2006 when losses were $2.0 million.
According to ubid:
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# uBid.com has registered over 5 million customers and sold over $1 billion dollars in merchandise since it started in 1997. The company currently attracts over 2.0 million unique visitors a month to its website, www.ubid.com
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This is what happens with a company like ubid. What chance do small sellers have to boycott eBay? Well, every chance - if they don't want to make any money!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:06 PM | TrackBack
May 8, 2007
Mountain Bike Sales On eBay USA
Mountain bike sales on eBay are hard to figure if you don't know the market. For instance, I dsicovered that there are four types of mountain bikes - and that all of them are represented by sales on eBay:
1. Hardtail - A frame with no rear suspension, often containing a front suspension fork.
2. Fully rigid - This is a sub type of hardtail, with a rigid fork.
3. Dual or full suspension - These bikes offer a front suspension fork and a rear suspension that are integrated into the frame.
4. Soft tail - Offers a frame with a small amount of rear suspension, normally less than a full suspension frame.
Some of the mountain bikes are offered on eBay by designation:
But most of them are not. It's pretty tough to gauge eBay mountain bike sales without a better frame or ference.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 7:55 PM | TrackBack
May 4, 2007
Sony Home Theater Systems Selling On eBay
Recently I was eading about Sony home theater systems, I was curious to see how well they sell on eBay. A home theater system, after all, is a small movie studio and we want the best possible sound and video effects - and Sony is supposed to be one of the better systems. So eBay is a logical place to find a discounted price on goodies like these. So, are they selling well?
You'd better believe it!
My hesitation, though, would be about buying something like this from a non-local source. After all, what if there are problems? I'd like somewhere to go to talk it over. Here is the policy of the seller above:
"What if my TV arrives damaged or does not work properly?"
"If your TV arrives damaged, you should refuse delivery and contact us immediately. We will promptly ship you a replacement TV at no charge. If your TV arrives and does not function properly after set-up, a certified manufacturers technician will come to your home to perform warranty service. If for any reason they are unable to fix the issue in your home they will take the set to their service center to complete repairs. Under these circumstances, the service professional is responsible for the removal and replacement of the set. We do not accept returns or exchanges on TV deliveries. If for any reason your TV fails to perform as-new during the warranty period and cannot be repaired by the factory service technician, a replacement TV may be issued by Second Act or the manufacturer directly."
Frankly, that's not to reassuring to me. I will pass on this offer, but obviously there are many people who prefer the price reduction to the assumption of risk. That's what eBay is founded upon, after all - bargains!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 6:57 PM | TrackBack
May 1, 2007
Coins On eBay: Auction A Coin On eBay US
If you want to sell coins on eBay you should know that the profits can be quite substantial:
But before you decide to enter the coin business, you must answer a burning question ... where am I going to get my inventory?
Most coin inventory comes from three main sources:
1. Online Auctions
The first, of course, is online auctions. If you know what you're doing, you can find underpriced and undervalued coins on eBay. However, there are many less popular auction sites where competition is less fierce and it's possible to acquire some lucrative inventory. This can be a great method of acquiring coins simply because the buyer has the option of contacting the seller and clarifying all details.
The downside is, of course, the possibility of fraud. If the seller is deceitful, and the buyer not knowledgable, it's possible to buy overvalued coins that cannot be sold for a profit, but instead will result in a loss.
2. Buying Coins Through The Mail
Thousands of coins are advertised and sold via mail order. Coin catalogs are quite popular and bidding is accomplished via the post office. Usually, these catalogs and circulars explain a great deal about the coins for sale, include pictures and mention a minimum bid. In these situations, the highest bid wins.
3. Acquiring Inventory Via Phone
These auctions are conducted by phone. Just like the mail bidding, phone auctions must observe the rules and regulations that are to be followed. Once the highest bid is identified, the item goes to the winner. However, there are some instances when people may ask the seller for an approximate selling price but the rules still remain the same: no disclosure of previous bids.
These three methods can result in profitable coin auctions - or disaster. As always, the key is knowledge, knowledge and more knowledge. And a great piece of advice is this ... make your coin budget - and stick to it! It's easy to get carried away and bid too much. Ask me how I know? :-)
