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February 26, 2008
Energy Savings and eBay Business Opportunities
Energy savings. It's today's buzz word. Energy efficiency is on everyone's minds, and products espousing it are myriad. They range from garage door insulation, to the helpful portable furnace, a Trane furnace, Energy Star lights and quite a few more.
With energy savings such an ardent pursuit for environmentally conscious people and those who simply want to save money, this is a prime opportunity for eBay sellers. Energy efficient lights, heaters, and even gas-saving automobiles are for sale on eBay. Entire businesses can be built in eBay around energy saving products. If your eBay business has not yet taken off, consider a new focus in this profitable realm.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 2:31 PM | TrackBack
February 25, 2008
Jewelry Galore!
Wow! If you love jewelry, you can find just about anything online. The range of options are endless: John Hardy jewelry, cultured pearl necklaces, blue diamond rings.
eBay has a wealth of jewelry available for sale as well. Perhaps a glut of options. It is superb for buyers who are able to locate just about anything they'd hope for. But the competition is intense for sellers. Rings, necklaces, watches, earrings, etc. It's a tough world in eBay to revolve your business around jewelry. But obviously, people do it - some with a high level of success. If you want to begin a jewelry business on eBay, you would do well to first study the marketing techniques of those who are already very successful selling, and then and emulate some of their patterns, verbiage, and pricing. Clearly, it's still a market with high demand, despite a tough economy!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:42 PM | TrackBack
February 22, 2008
PayPal Scams Continue To Flood The Net
This is an example of the current crops of PayPal scam.
You won't be surprised to learn that anyone who clicks the Resolution Center link will be asked for their account information. Note that it directs readers not to apply to that address because it will not be answered, thus covering the sender of the email who certainly cannot and will not respond as PayPal.
As always, the remedy to this trash is simple: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER log into your accounts via an email. Always go directly to the site online.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:34 PM | TrackBack
February 19, 2008
Making eBay Safer For Buyers
As eBay sellers, we naturally want eBay to be as safe as possible for buyers, so they will feel reassured about buying. Lots of media attention has gone to eBay fraud so any measure at all that will make buying safer is good for us sellers.
Beginning in March, some sellers are going to be required to offer additional protection to buyers. This applies only certain sellers or situations:
For listings in riskier categories: gift certificates, video games, cell phones, computers and consumer electronics
If the seller has 5% or more dissatisfied customers
If the seller has less than 100 feedback points
Sellers who are required to offer a safer payment option, might also have PayPal "hold' their payment until the earliest of the following occurs:
The buyer leaves positive feedback
3 days after "confirmed item delivery"
21 days without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal filed on that transaction.
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NOTE: Confirmed item delivery = US domestic transactions that are shipped by USPS or FedEx and either (i) use PayPal shipping labels to ship items or (ii) upload tracking information to PayPal via the transaction details page.
eBay Motors vehicle categories (Cars & Trucks, Motorcycles, Powersports, Boats, and Other Vehicles categories and subcategories) will not be included in these payment policy changes.
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What Is eBay Definition Of A "Safer Payment"?
What this means is that the seller must offer either PayPal or a credit card. I'm assuming this is because buyers can get their money returned with these two options, if the buyer doesn't deliver.
I am also assuming this is a slap at Google Checkout. According to eBay, "eBay sellers listing with PayPal have an Unpaid Item rate more than half of sellers who don't."
eBay further adds: "On a small number of cases (fewer than 5% of all payments on eBay), PayPal will hold payment funds until either the buyer has left positive feedback or 21 days have passed without a claim." They don't specify what situations these are.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:20 PM | TrackBack
February 16, 2008
eBay Feedback Changes
In addition to changing their fees, eBay has made changes in its feedback system. eBay frequently tinkers with the feedback system. In fact, sometimes it gets downright complicated, as you will see.
Sellers can only leave positive feedback for buyers. Frankly, I think this one really stinks!
Positive repeat customer feedback will count (up to 1 feedback from the same buyer per week.)
Feedback more than 12-months old won't count towards your feedback percentage.
When a buyer doesn't respond to the Unpaid Item (UPI) process the negative or neutral feedback they have left for that transaction will be removed. {It's about time!}
When a member is suspended, all their negative and neutral feedback will be removed.
Buyers must wait 3 days before leaving negative or neutral feedback for sellers with an established track record.
All feedback must be left within 60 days (compared to 90 days today) of listing end to encourage timely feedback and discourage abuse.
Buyers will be held more accountable when sellers report an unpaid item or commit other policy violations. {This is mysterious - what does this mean?}
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:01 PM | TrackBack
February 13, 2008
eBay Changes Their Prices
eBay is making some major pricing changes. Some of the news is good - and some of it is not so good. All changes will be effective February 20, 2008, and will apply to listings on eBay and the Parts & Accessories sections of eBay motors.
Good News Item #1: Lower Insertion Fees
1. Fees For Auction-Style Listings
2. Fees For Fixed Listings
3. Fees For Store Listings
Good News Item #2: No More Gallery Fees
All gallery pictures will be free. Currently these cost $.35 except for store owners, who pay $.01.
This is very good. I am very happy about this one.
Good News Item #3 - IF You're A Power Seller
Get up to 15% discount on Final Value Fees (or Transaction Service Fees) when you maintain high detailed seller ratings (DSRs) as a US or Canadian PowerSeller on your eBay.com, eBay Motors and eBay.ca sales. These discounts recognize and reward sellers who consistently provide excellent customer service on eBay.
Now For The Bad News ...
The Final Value fees are all being raised from 2% - 3.5%.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 2:43 PM | TrackBack
February 10, 2008
Will You Trade 2 Minutes Of Your Time For A Superb Testing Book?
On eBay, and the Net in general, testing is critically important. How will you know what your customers like - or don't like - without testing? How will you know what changes can make you more money?
Let me give you an example that I've often shared with my own students.
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QUESTION: will I make more money with the eBay affiliate program or Google AdSense?
MECHANISM: a split test {Visitor A sees AdSense, Visitor B sees eBay, Visitor C sees AdSense, Visitor D sees eBay, etc}
DURATION: 11 days
CONCLUSION: our site made 78% more money with Adsense than the eBay affiliate program
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If we hadn't tested, we would never have known!
The problem with testing is that it's intimidating to most people. It was to me - until I read a book about testing and tracking.
This is THE best testing book I've ever read.
There may be better testing books, but I've never found one. It's written in language that us non-techs can understand and it has a very valuable chart that explains "how much is enough". That is, if you have 100 results and 48 of them go for Option A and 52 for Option B, is that enough results, enough difference?
How would you like this book for free? I've never given it away before and it will literally take about 1-2 minutes of your time to get it. We have a new feedback button on our AuctionKnowHow.com site and all we want is a couple of sentences on how gorgeous, beautiful and exquisite it is. :-) Just kidding, but we would like some positive feedback.
If you're interested, go here:
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:56 PM | TrackBack
February 7, 2008
Home Ownership Preparation and eBay Seller Opportunities
Almost every purchase of a home opens up a wealth of sales opportunities to meet the various new needs of the "initiated" homeowners. There are, of course, the obvious home ownership preparation needs that include home inspection tools, FHA mortgage rates, stop foreclosure sale information before even getting into financial trouble, real estate agent websites to locate a great person to work with, and a host of other needs.
But beyond the initial sale of a home, think of the myriad types of items people begin to purchase after their initial move into a home. Many bring a huge load from a prior house. But others either buying for the first time or leaving their "junk" behind to start fresh search for furniture, drapes, appliances (for homes that don't come with some already installed) knickknacks for decorative purposes, toiletry, an extra TV for the extra room, and the list goes on. eBay sellers who target new or prospective homeowners have a golden opportunity to meet buyers just at the time they are looking.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:32 PM | TrackBack
February 4, 2008
Home Mortgage Preparation and Real Estate on eBay
It has long blown me away that people actually sell homes and other real estate on eBay. Some of the homes listed under auctions, BIN's and eBay classified ads are absolutely stunning. And of course with the purchase of a home almost inevitably comes a buyer's question of How much mortgage can I afford? With today's job market, perhaps less than you hope. But with a glut of homes for sale, you can now buy a lot more with a lower mortgage.
At the moment, we are definitely in a buyer's market, so there are some sweet property and mortgage deals to be found, typically with low (or zero) points to boot. So whether someone is looking at the prospect of FHAmortgage rates, VA loan rates, or simply the generic investigation of private money lenders, there are quite a few land, residential, and commercial real estate deals available to be plucked through eBay. And given market conditions, you can take your time searching for exactly what you want. When you find it, are ready to buy and can secure a commitment quickly from a mortgage lender, there are homes and nice parcels of land you can pick up in eBay below market price.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:24 PM | TrackBack
February 1, 2008
Interior Design Options on eBay
Home improvement is such an incredible niche. It has given rise to a host of sub-categories that, of course, includes interior design. The market is filled now with selling & buying opportunities in this arena, such as a Premier Bathrooms, home kitchen remodeling, cheap area rugs, and even entire colleges for interior design.
Well eBay is no slouche in this regard either. From bathroom fixtures to living room furniture to kitchen counters and bedroom dressers, there is a world of selling opportunity. Many of the larger items would be great to offer in a drop shipping arrangement, given the storage required for them. But when great deals are established through reputable wholesalers, having that company package up and deliver the goods to the buyer is a great way for the customer to beautify their home and sellers to earn a handsome profit as well. Everyone wins.
