« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
March 26, 2008
"Is eBay The Right Home Business For Me?"
We have recently added some new classes to our AuctionKnowHow site. The first one is for beginners and is titled, "Is eBay The Right Home Business For Me?".
It's inexpensive and and approximately 20 minutes long. Its sole purpose is to help those considering eBay decide if it's something they might like. I teach this by comparing eBay to other home businesses out there. It was a real education to spend some time with glossy newstand magazines that advertise "biz-opps". Most of them are:
1) Horrifyingly expensive &
2) Very labor intensive
eBay, fortunately, is neither.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 8:33 PM | TrackBack
March 16, 2008
Using PayPal On eBay
I have heard negative comments about PayPal and there are people who proudly exclaim how they will never use PayPal on eBay - or anywhere else!
Why Every eBay Seller Should Use PayPal
* No offense intended, but that's a foolish attitude. The bottom line is that the vast majority of eBayers EXPECT the PayPal option and if they don't get it, they're likely to go elsewhere. Meaning, to your competition. Not a good thing.
* Most folks know that eBay owns PayPal and their systems are designed to work together. This makes it super-easy to combine your PayPal and eBay accounts. PayPal is an online bank (sort of) and buyers like the convenience.
* The 'old' PayPal required that anyone paying with the service had to have an account. That was a turnoff to anyone wanting to pay without opening an account and it hurt sellers. But that hasn't been the case for quite some time.
* PayPal also allows any seller to accept credit cards, which is a must these days.
Verifying Your PayPal Account
So if you don't have a PayPal account, today is the day to open one. If you want a business account - and you do if you sell on eBay - then PayPal will verify your account information by sending two small auto-deposits of a few cents each. Once these deposits show up in your bank account, log into PayPal and enter the exact amounts.
You can accept money as soon as your account is opened, but you can't withdraw money until it is verified.
Adding The PayPal Option To Your Auctions
This is easily done. When you use the “Sell Your Item” form on eBay, simply click the “PayPal” button. eBay/PayPal will need the address you use for PayPal {or only one address, if you use multiple addresses for Paypal, like I do}. Once those two small details are handled, you can accept PayPal from eBay buyers.
To Accept Unlimited Payments
The initial PayPal account is free - but there is a limit on how much money you can accept. To accept more, you will have to upgrade your account, which is free and easily done. You will then pay a small fee for each transaction, but the cost is more than worth it. And ... you won't be able to accept credit cards until this upgrade. PayPal will do it automatically once you've reached a certain volume in sales, so why wait?
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 5:41 PM | TrackBack
Negative Feedback On eBay?
On eBay, feedback is quite important - for obvious reasons. Buyers will shy away from a seller with lousy feedback scores. The unofficial concensus is that feedback ratings below 98% will damage your ability to sell. But whatever the magic number, negative feedback doesn't do our wallets any good.
Still, we all run into the Customer From Hell at times. Perhaps he was extremely unpleasant or his demands were ridiculous, resulting in garbage comments. As a seller, do you have any recourse? Yes - but ...
Obviously, the easiest way to avoid this problem is not to get any negative feedback in the first place. Of course, that's easier said than done. But when - not if - you get your first critical comment, don't respond by bashing the jerk! I know it's tempting, but you want to be seen as a professional. It will turn off future buyers if the feedback dispute turns into an insult session.
Instead, calmly explain what happened by sticking to the facts of the deal. An example: Chris Malta of OneSource and I sold an ebook on eBay for $.99. A moron ... oops, a confused buyer ... sent an email threatening all kinds of nasty retaliation if we didn't send him a printed book immediately. He claimed we never stated in our auction that it was an ebook. My response was to send him the exact wording in the auction where we informed buyers it was a download. We made this clear in three separate spots on the auction. Once I took the time to look up those remarks, we never heard from him again.
In the event that you DID make an error, the best procedure is to 'fess up and remedy the situation immediately. Often this tactic will reassure buyers and result in even more business. Most folks recognize that we're all human and mess up at times. If this happens, though, mention that you received negative feedback BEFORE you were given a chance to rectify the situation. This may make the buyer look like a dork, instead of you.
Another option is a service like Square Trade. Square Trade is a mediation service, and yes, it costs to join. But if you receive unjustified negative feedback, you can file a claim stating WHY you think this is unfair and the other person has two weeks to answer your claim. According to Square Trade, most cases are resolved without a mediator, but if you do need a mediator, it usually costs between $20-$40. It's your decision about whether the cost is worth it.
As long as you respond in a professional manner, your damage from negative feedback will be minimal.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 2:15 PM | TrackBack
March 12, 2008
Why People Buy Anything Online
Online seller Jim Edwards and I did a course together: Auction Leads Machine.
In this excellent article below, Jim describes what it takes to actually sell online. This is a winner, so pay close attention. Take it away, Jim ...
= = =
There’s a mental "hump" over which everyone must jump before they buy anything online. It doesn’t matter what you sell, every single customer must throw a little switch in their minds before they pull out their credit card to buy. What makes them throw that mental switch? Anyone who buys anything online does so because of 2 basic emotions and one (or more) of four basic buying motivators.
People buy 99% of everything sold online for one of 4 basic reasons.
1. First, they buy because of money.
They buy based on how much money they can make or save as a result of purchasing. In fact, making money is the number one reason people buy just about any "info-product" online.
Now, you might say, "My product has nothing to do with making money! How does this help me?" Well, could you put a spin on your product that would help people save money or make money?
For example: if you sell anything to do with golf (equipment, videos, clothing, etc.) you could add a report that explains how to get more business by playing golf with clients. I bet Realtors, insurance agents, and investment advisors would buy whatever product you sold just to get the bonus report about making money while playing golf.
2.The second reason anybody buys online involves time and effort.
People simply don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything done. They buy products in the hope of saving a few minutes or alleviating some mundane task.
Saving time and effort is one of the reasons software sells so well online because people hope (sometimes in vain) to offload tasks to their computer.
Show people how your product saves them time and reduces effort and you’ve got a great angle to help increase sales.
3. The third reason people buy online is to escape either physical or mental pain.
Online pharmacies succeed, even though they represent a risky proposition, because people with physical problems need medicine and can’t afford to get it any other way (adding mental anguish to the mix).
One way to position your product or service to alleviate pain is by explaining how you take the worry out of the transaction. Explain how others put all the risk on the customer while you actually remove it through your guarantees, testimonials and proof that your product delivers as promised.
4. The fourth biggest reason people buy online revolves around the promise of increased popularity and social success.
Why do you think people buy stylish clothes, perfume, books on how to pick up women, or acne treatments? They buy these, and thousands of other things, because they want to feel better about themselves and operate more confidently in social situations!
You can help increase sales of just about any online item by explaining to your customers how smart they’ll look or how they can brag about the money they saved. No matter what you sell, take a little extra time to explain to your customers how they will look good and feel smart purchasing from you.
No matter which of these four buying motivators you invoke, two emotions will intensify their effectiveness: "fear" and "greed."
Normally fear in online selling revolves around fear of loss. Offline retailers try to invoke fear of loss by holding sales (deadlines with financial incentives), but they hold sales so often they lose much of their effectiveness (example: the weekly furniture ads on TV declaring once in a lifetime deals this weekend only).
Online, you can effectively use fear of loss by threatening to raise the price at any time, only offer a limited number of bonuses, or only make an offer good until a certain date.
Greed will also intensify the buying motivation by giving people a self-serving reason to buy now. Greed can be as simple as telling them how much money they can make / save as a result of making a purchase now as opposed to waiting.
But greed can also take a more emotional form where customers covet the feeling they’ll get by making a purchase. Whether it’s a good feeling from buying a loved-one that perfect toy or gift, or the feeling of smug satisfaction from snagging one of the most popular gifts this holiday season, consumers are greedy for both material and emotional gain. Explain to them how they can satisfy their greed and you win!
Now, you might say, "Gee Jim, this sounds great, but I don’t see how all this comes together to sell online. Give me an example!"
Okay, let’s take one of the most mundane yet competitive items of the Christmas season: gift cards.
Everyone sells them, yet the marketing for gift cards both online and offline absolutely stinks. Retailers hawk gift cards by either hanging them on a rack or putting a button on their website that says "We have gift cards." Yet every single one of them misses an opportunity to cash-in with gift cards if they would just explain to people why they should buy in terms of the four motivators.
In fact, gift card retailers make the oldest and most fatal mistake in all of sales: selling on features rather than on benefits.
In other words, they try to sell based on what the gift cards do (let someone pick what they want) rather than on what gift cards do for the person who buys them. Gift cards actually help you save on gas (save money) because they don’t necessitate you driving all over town trying to chase down a gift (save time / avoid wasted effort) the person you’re buying for may not want anyway (mental pain of rejection). In fact, a gift card from a store your friend or loved one really likes will make your gift the most popular one under the tree (social success).
You can increase your online sales just by shifting the emphasis off what the product or service does and onto what it does for the person buying it, along with putting your message within the context of as many of the four main reasons people buy as you can.
Then, by intensifying your prospects’ desire through the effective use of fear and greed, you can truly explode your sales over the competition.
All it takes is a little bit of careful thought, some basic explanation to your customers, and the motivation to do a tiny bit more that others are willing to do in their marketing.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:28 AM | TrackBack
March 9, 2008
What To Sell On eBay
The number one question asked by new online sellers revolves around eBay selling ... “What can I sell to make a full time living on eBay?” The prospect of choosing a particular product or set of products to sell via online auctions can be daunting; there are an infinite number of possibilities out there, and it is a certainty that not all of them generate the same amount of demand on the open market. The basic principles behind choosing a product to sell are enough to demonstrate why so many people have trouble making this decision ... in order to effectively sell products online you must have a product that has a large demand but is unique in its identity. With the number of products being released every day, what are the odds of these two factors ever existing at the same time? (For longer than five minutes, that is!)
The bottom line is that when you are attempting to choose the product or group of products that will give you the success you need to make a full time living from online auctions you have no limitations; you can sell anything you want to! Part of the beauty of selling online is the freedom it affords you; since you are selling to a global market you are almost guaranteed to find someone in the world that is interested in what you have to offer.
If you are truly concerned about choosing a product that is going to come with a safety net, however, there are a couple of steps that you can take to judge how well your product ideas will be received by your consumer market:
Perform a reverse keyword search. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of reverse keyword searches, now is the time to become intimately acquainted; since selling on eBay (which is likely to be the auction platform that you are going to be utilizing when you step out in a professional capacity) provides you with a direct link to Google, knowing your way around the search engines is going to be a vitally important factor in your success. A reverse keyword search will tell you what people have been looking for; if you aren’t sure if your product is in demand or not, enter it into a keyword search. If no one’s been looking for you, you probably want to redirect your efforts. On the other hand, if you’ve had a vast quantity of searches you can sleep assured that you’re on the right track.
Once you’ve chosen a general product area, specialize a bit. If you’re selling jewelry, focus on beaded jewelry…or silver jewelry…or religious jewelry…or-you get the picture. By specializing in your field you give yourself the opportunity to establish a reputation for yourself AND learn everything that you need to know about finding success.
Look at what offline retailers are selling. Companies such as J.C. Penney’s spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in focus groups a year to figure out what it is that their consumers want-so you can rest assured that if they’re selling it, somewhere out there somebody wants it! Selling extremely popular items at auction (such as the Nintendo Wii when it was first released) is another way to guarantee that you’re going to generate a demand; however, this is not going to provide you with a stable product line. If you choose to go this route you’re going to find yourself having to change products and do fresh research on a regular basis.
Find something you’re interested in. It does not matter how great the demand for a specific product may be, if you don’t have any enthusiasm for it you’re not going to be able to sell it. Why? Somewhere out there you’re going to have competition, and that competition’s going to be putting his all into his advertising campaign. If you can’t do the same you’re going to see your consumer pool fall faster than a brick from a three story window.
Truly, there are no limits to the selection of products you can sell online; the trick to making a full time living from online auctions is to find the product that works for you.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:22 PM | TrackBack
March 6, 2008
Money Bargain Ideas on eBay - Endless!
The popularity of bargains is what eBay is all about. People swarm to them, whether in physical stores or online. Everyone wants to feel like they are getting a great deal - and, in fact actually get them (not just feel like it). The possibilities are limitless and might range from discount golf vacations to discount Bluetooth headsets to CVS coupons to Enfamil coupons, and tons of ideas beyond that.
If the item is needed and it's a bargain, everyone is happy. Both the merchant who sold a product and the buyer who enjoys a capture at the end of the "hunt" are thrilled. Of course, this scenario is a paradise on eBay where everyone involved stands to gain. In fact, eBay is (I think) the ideal place from which to coordinate the purchase of gifts for family and friends.
By doing a little planning ahead, you can coordinate almost all (maybe all!) of your annual gift purchases on eBay and save a ton of money in the process. Think birthdays, Christmas, graduations, anniversaries, and those "for no particular reason" gifts. The options on eBay are mind-numbing. If fact, I think that is the greatest risk in purchasing gifts on eBay - getting so caught up in the available options you become a bit paralyzed in making decisions. But it's fun nonetheless, and all from home!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:10 PM | TrackBack
March 3, 2008
PayPal Analyzes Holiday 2007 Spending
PayPal recently posted a fascinating story on the 2007 holiday season. The REALLY good news: spending is up, up, up!
And in addition, there are some fascinating trends.
1. Online shopping is the heaviest during the middle of the day, with 45% of all spending occurring at work. In fact, over half of all dollars spent were between 9AM-3PM.
2. Free shipping makes a difference. However, most retailers insisted on minimum purchases in order to qualify for this perk.
3. Shoppers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly gifts. In fact, 88% of those surveyed expressed serious concern about the environment. Yippee for that!
4. Bloggers and social shopping communities are powerful influences. Recommendations from sites like ThisNext, Yahoo! Shoposphere, Stylehive.com, and Crowdstorm.com influence shopping behavior.
5. For some shoppers, it’s convenience, for other it’s perks. 81% of shoppers cited the convenience of the Net as their reason for shopping online. In addition, perks such as free shipping, exclusive online incentives, and bargain hunting were at the top of online holiday shoppers' lists.
6. Customer support gets good marks from shoppers. 2%, reported to Nielson Online that they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the customer support available during their online holiday shopping experience.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:41 AM | TrackBack
March 1, 2008
Save Money on eBay? Of Course!
Well, duh. Isn't this why most people shop on eBay?! Money saving methods abound everywhere. You can save with a tax efficient investment plan, through the use of a savings interest calculator, being more cautious purchasing souvenirs internationally using a money conversion chart, compare wireless plans - the opportunities to hold onto your hard-earned resources are endless.
This is no different on eBay. If saving money is your goal, why not start here at eBay's category list. If you've never visited in the past, the categories include baby items, consumer electronics, musical instruments, crafts, sporting goods, books, even real estate. That's only a drop in the river of products available on eBay. They will all save buyers a ton of money.
There are so many great deals, I begin most of my shopping now on this site. It's the most reasonable place to start.
