Sunday, February 23, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Eight Steps to eBay Success
1. BECOME A BUSINESS It's partly about psychology, partly about increased opportunity and perks that help you to compete, and partly about not getting fined or shut down for skirting the law, but in any case the first thing to do if you plan to have a go at running an eBay-based business is to become a business in your own mind and as a matter of public record. Many try to fudge it by "starting out small" as an individual seller, but basics like having access to wholesale goods and thinking of yourself as a professional rather than a hobbyist seem to make all the difference for most aspiring sellers. If you're serious about your goals, then treat them with the respect that they deserve and cover all the basics and bona-fides of becoming a real business, before you do anything else.
2. Consider Business Models Carefully Believe it or not, successful eBay sellers come in a radically variable assortment of shapes, sizes, and yes, business types. There are many ways to make it on eBay, and each requires a unique configuration of talents, connections, imagination, and determination. It's a mistake to start out just selling "whatever, whenever" if you're serious about growing your online selling into a viable income source, even as a second or third income. Instead, understand the advantages, risks, and realities associated with your own characteristics and situation as a seller and with the different kinds of selling that are done on eBay, from ultra-niche hobbyist or enthusiast support to full-on, cutthroat, price-oriented, import-export and drop-shipping.
3. Setup Bookkeeping For some this can mean hiring an accountant and/or a tax preparer or going to the local office supply store and investing in a spreadsheet like Excel (or a bunch of paper ledgers), but for most successful eBay sellers this means using choosing and accounting service that integrates well with eBay and PayPal so that much of your accounting and record-keeping is automated for you, then choosing an automated tax preparation service that is appropriate for small businesses of one variety or another. No matter the particular choice you make, it's important to begin your eBay business life with solid record-keeping and a clear picture of basics like income, expenses and fees, margins, and how they all contribute to (or detract from) profitability.
4. Setup An Ebay Home Office Sellers just beginning on eBay are often surprisingly shocked to discover that it's really tough to get any work done if you don't actually have a place to work. The fact is that eBay selling is a labor intensive process, both mentally and physically, in many cases—it requires concentration and continuous access to computing resources, general office and record-keeping equipment, packing and shipping materials and equipment, ways to talk to suppliers and customers, and all of the ergonomic characteristics that these things imply. In short, if you're serious about selling on eBay, you need to be serious enough to have a place to do it—a home office that is properly equipped. Without a space like this, sellers experience problems that range from not getting enough done (letting listings slow down, shipping times lag, and so on) to being a poor communicator that doesn't find partners or satisfy customers, and whose feedback and profitability slide as a result. Don't skimp on the workspace.
5.Setup Fundamental Tools Yes, there are some eBay tools that are purely a matter of competitive advantage or convenience, like mobile selling via the iPhone app, but there are other tools that are just plain basic to being an eBay seller if you want to compete and not pull your hair out in frustration due to wasted time, wasted money, or misinformation about your performance as a seller that leads to bad search placement. If you're serious about becoming a successful seller, take a few basic tools for a spin and include them in your workflow.
6. Build Your Feedback Profile You're not going to sell much on eBay or get off to anything resembling a viable start without understanding the eBay feedback system and detailed seller ratings, then building a solid profile with a clear awareness of how these systems work. Yes, in theory it's possible to make sales with poor feedback or no feedback, but in practice buyers quickly evaluating sellers based on feedback will take their bids and buys elsewhere. Yes, in theory it's technically possible to have feedback removed and do other interesting feedback tricks, but in practice it happens so rarely that you want to avoid the dispute process at all.
7. Find Your Products To Sell and Products For Them Knowing what to sell and where to get it is one of the trickiest dimensions of eBay selling. One of the things that makes it so difficult is that it involves both science—using research tools and understanding things like timing and demand—and more than its fair share of art. Black magic, some would say, since some sellers seem to have the uncanny ability to find goods and suppliers that do well and others continually struggle, even when faced with entire databases of suppliers.
8. Set And Achieve Selling Goals Many would-be eBay success stories find themselves aimlessly plugging along for months or years without a clear idea of how well they're doing and/or how they'd like to grow next. Some would say that the "soft" practice of setting goals and using metrics and benchmarks to evaluate your success is unlikely to have an effect on the "hard" realities of revenue, expenses, and profit margins, but many of the most successful would beg to differ. Most scientific research says that goal-setting and evaluation are important dimensions of success in any endeavor. Happily, eBay selling is packed to the gills with common goals and the markers for measuring them automatically in relation to your performance. Stay on top of these and you'll always know how you're doing today, how you'd like to be doing at this same time next year, and how to tell whether or not you've reached your goals when you get there.
7 Tips for Selling On Ebay
I’ve recommended eBay before as a great way to test a new product. For a growing number of entrepreneurs, though, eBay is their sole storefront. The beauty of eBay is that it lets you get into e-commerce without having to go through the trouble and expense of setting up an e-commerce site of your own. These seven eBay selling tips will help you get started selling on eBay successfully and get on your way to becoming an eBay PowerSeller.
1. A picture IS worth 1000 words. It’s old-fashioned, but people still like to see things before they buy them. For successful eBay selling, make sure any products you list on eBay are accompanied by professional quality photographs.
2. Do your eBay research. When selling on eBay, before you list a particular product, spend some time researching other similar products on eBay and following the bidding process. This will help you gauge the interest for your product and help you determine how much your product might be worth.
3. Learn all about shipping. Shipping is under the control of the eBay seller, but some methods of shipping are better than others. You want to find the best method of shipping for your product in terms of expense and reliability and then specify that shipping method in your eBay listing. (And don’t forget to include the shipping cost in your shipping information for potential buyers.)
4. Pay as much attention to the writing of your eBay listing as to your picture. For selling on eBay, you need a powerful listing. And the trick to writing a strong eBay listing is to combine search engine friendly phrasing with concrete details about the product in a way that will entice people to bid on your product. Take the time to craft your eBay listing just as you would any ad.
5. Offer a full slate of payment options, including credit cards. The more payment options you, as a seller, offer prospective bidders, the more bidders your product will attract and the more successful your selling on eBay will be.
6. Focus on getting positive feedback first. Feedback really matters when you're selling on eBay. If you have a consistent record of positive feedback, prospective buyers will both bid more often and be willing to pay higher prices. So you may want to hold back on placing higher priced products until you have a successful track record as an eBay seller established.
7. Be business-like. Act professionally, provide the kind of superior customer service that will build your reputation, and make sure that you’re following all the business rules that apply, such as registering your business and properly charging and remitting taxes. Selling on eBay is just like any other business; to become an eBay success, you need to follow the rules and provide the kind of customer satisfaction that will translate into increased eBay sales.
1. A picture IS worth 1000 words. It’s old-fashioned, but people still like to see things before they buy them. For successful eBay selling, make sure any products you list on eBay are accompanied by professional quality photographs.
2. Do your eBay research. When selling on eBay, before you list a particular product, spend some time researching other similar products on eBay and following the bidding process. This will help you gauge the interest for your product and help you determine how much your product might be worth.
3. Learn all about shipping. Shipping is under the control of the eBay seller, but some methods of shipping are better than others. You want to find the best method of shipping for your product in terms of expense and reliability and then specify that shipping method in your eBay listing. (And don’t forget to include the shipping cost in your shipping information for potential buyers.)
4. Pay as much attention to the writing of your eBay listing as to your picture. For selling on eBay, you need a powerful listing. And the trick to writing a strong eBay listing is to combine search engine friendly phrasing with concrete details about the product in a way that will entice people to bid on your product. Take the time to craft your eBay listing just as you would any ad.
5. Offer a full slate of payment options, including credit cards. The more payment options you, as a seller, offer prospective bidders, the more bidders your product will attract and the more successful your selling on eBay will be.
6. Focus on getting positive feedback first. Feedback really matters when you're selling on eBay. If you have a consistent record of positive feedback, prospective buyers will both bid more often and be willing to pay higher prices. So you may want to hold back on placing higher priced products until you have a successful track record as an eBay seller established.
7. Be business-like. Act professionally, provide the kind of superior customer service that will build your reputation, and make sure that you’re following all the business rules that apply, such as registering your business and properly charging and remitting taxes. Selling on eBay is just like any other business; to become an eBay success, you need to follow the rules and provide the kind of customer satisfaction that will translate into increased eBay sales.
How to Advertise for your Small Business
Word of mouth is excellent small business advertising but it’s slow, and may be practically non-existent for new businesses. If you want to grow your customer base more quickly, you have to advertise.This collection of small business advertising ideas presents both the tried and true and some you may not have tried yet advertising ideas for your small business to effectively reach your target market and attract new customers.
1.Business cards
Sure, they’re advertising. Every time you hand one out to a prospective client or customer, you’re advertising your small business. But why not take this advertising idea further
2.Joining professional/business organizations.
Every professional or business organization offers exclusive advertising opportunities for their members, ranging from free promotion on the organization’s website through special section newspaper advertising. And being a member can be good small business advertising in itself.
3.Vehicle advertising.
The reason you see so many vehicles emblazoned with advertising is that it works; vehicle advertising is very visible small business advertising. If you’re not ready for custom graphics or a magnet quad sign that sit atop your vehicle, go for a magnetic sign that you can take off when you want.
4.Local website advertising.
More people are spending more time online than ever before. Cover all your small business advertising bases by ensuring that your business is listed on websites providing business information for your local area. Many municipalities, for instance, offer business listings on their sites.
5.Email advertising.
If you already have an in-house mailing list or are able to develop one, email advertising can work for you. I see this advertising idea as more of a way to communicate with current customers than to bring in new ones because of the ever-growing hostility to spam.
6.Cross-promotion.
Joining forces with other businesses can greatly increase your advertising power and your marketing reach. Kare Anderson explains how this advertising idea works and how to jump-start your cross-promotion efforts.
1.Business cards
Sure, they’re advertising. Every time you hand one out to a prospective client or customer, you’re advertising your small business. But why not take this advertising idea further
2.Joining professional/business organizations.
Every professional or business organization offers exclusive advertising opportunities for their members, ranging from free promotion on the organization’s website through special section newspaper advertising. And being a member can be good small business advertising in itself.
3.Vehicle advertising.
The reason you see so many vehicles emblazoned with advertising is that it works; vehicle advertising is very visible small business advertising. If you’re not ready for custom graphics or a magnet quad sign that sit atop your vehicle, go for a magnetic sign that you can take off when you want.
4.Local website advertising.
More people are spending more time online than ever before. Cover all your small business advertising bases by ensuring that your business is listed on websites providing business information for your local area. Many municipalities, for instance, offer business listings on their sites.
5.Email advertising.
If you already have an in-house mailing list or are able to develop one, email advertising can work for you. I see this advertising idea as more of a way to communicate with current customers than to bring in new ones because of the ever-growing hostility to spam.
6.Cross-promotion.
Joining forces with other businesses can greatly increase your advertising power and your marketing reach. Kare Anderson explains how this advertising idea works and how to jump-start your cross-promotion efforts.
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