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Archive for the ‘Ebay’ Category
Hey everyone, I wanted to express how important titles are today. I recently had someone ask me if I could check their Amazon auctions to see if they were up to par. They were great auctions but the title was blah and plain. They were titles that could even be overlooked or even forgettable. This individual had things like “knife for sale” or “coffee pot”.
The problem was; the coffee pot was a kettle and was very old. It was probably worth some money since it was made in the early 1900’s. The knife was a prop survival knife from Rambo the movie(another great item poorly explained in the title). He didn’t know why the items were not selling. He could have easily sold the kettle if he said something like “1902 antique kettle in great condition”. Thankfully, I helped him out and sold his items next time around with a great title. You have to tell as much as you can in the title.
The title is what gets your customer to your auction or item page. Even on a website, make your item titles catchy and detailed. This is the only sure way to bring targeted traffic to your items. For instance, someone looking for a coffee pot would never click on an auction title like; “1902 antique kettle in great condition”. But an antique collector would be interested. And the other way around; the antique collector would probably not click onto a title like “coffee pot”.
You have to think of how you would search for something if you were looking for something specific. After all, the words in your title are the keywords that the search engine would find. Try to put words in your title that you know someone looking for that item would specifically search for in the search engine.
Putting item specific keywords in your title is the key to having the most targeted people visit your item/auction page. This alone isn’t good enough though. You have to be witty and think of a unique, eye catching title. Try and be original and don’t copy anyone. People seem to click on to catchy titles they haven’t seen before.
It’s almost like the “been there, done that attitude”. If they have seen one, they have seen them all. Make your titles something new that nobody has ever seen. Find a formula that works and stick with your originality. Originality can make you stand out among the rest as a seller. Even if you are a new seller; nobody will ever know if you can come up with some keen and descriptive auction/item titles.
I have seen so many new sellers steal another seller’s idea for a title. The problem is; the title they stole was boring and not very descriptive. Boring titles will not sell a thing. It’s a rarity when a new seller comes along with “the same old’ same old’ ” and goes on to succeed. Be your own person and think of everything you do own your own.
It’s okay to see what others are doing. Everyone likes to see what the competition is doing. It’s a very important part of your business to see what your competition is doing. This way you can get a step up on them. Do everything you can to out-wit your competition. But, stay within the realm of originality.
Think about it, you don’t see newspapers always using the same headings or titles. You may see an advertisement phrase for a while but something new always comes a long. They try not to use the same titles because the customers would get bored. They would think they were reading the same stuff all the time.
That’s like your auction titles if they were the same. The customers wouldn’t click on them because they would think they were going to see the same old stuff. Do something to draw them there. Get them to believe they are going to see something new and fresh if they click onto your auction/item. Titles are your advertisements.
Thanks for reading!
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was good. It has been a little over a month since ebay lowered their auction insertion fees (but raised final value fees by a whopping 3%). There has been a huge serge of powersellers leaving ebay in the past few months. I am not one of them.
I am not complaining about ebay because I still make good money there. But, I am pointing out that it is very difficult to make money on ebay since the new fee changes. I knew I would see a huge chunk of my profit taken away. I had over one thousand dollars extra go to ebay this month, because of the new fee changes.
It is so sad to see something you have watched develop for the better through the years, just turned to rubble. The new person in charge of ebay(his name is not worth mentioning) has even commented that ebay powersellers are not important. He also commented that there will be even more rule changes and price hikes in the near future. I can’t see anyone making money there if this happens. He took over early this year and has already ruined it for new users as far as I am concerned.
It can be very difficult for anyone just starting out with sales online. I don’t recommend ebay as a place to start for beginners anymore. There are so many tips and tricks you need to know about ebay that your average Joe would not make a dime for profit. You used to be able to list whatever you have on ebay and it would sell.
Now ebay has become such a cut-throat market, that you have to be buying hundreds or thousands of units wholesale in order to make any profit. Drop shipping has become almost impossible to make any money on ebay. I only suggest using drop shipping and ebay together if you are very experienced.
I have been a seller on ebay since 1998 and times do change. Just think of all the options you have available compared to a few years ago. Lots of new auction websites have made a great name for themselves in the past year or so. Ebay will not be around forever. When a product becomes as commercialized as ebay, it can only go down from there.
Ebay has already reached its peak. In fact, I think ebay has overshot their peak by a few years. I suggest trying another marketplace that has free or low listing fees if you are just starting out. You can find some great auction marketplaces in this “top 15 auction places of 2007-2008” list I made. You can find part 2 of that list here.
Thankfully, I have only helped people make money on ebay lately. I have actually helped people become ebay experts. But, I am going to start referring people just starting out away from ebay. There are too many options out there for other great auction marketplaces to pass up. I have been making more money on other auction places lately. Ebay has just become this big money sucking monster lately. Ebay used to be the only way to go if you were starting out with sales online.
There are even some great social marketplaces popping up. Look at facebook marketplace. They have become a huge success in the short few months it has been out. It is proof people are searching for other means to make money besides ebay. More social marketplaces will be popping up all over. I even heard that myspace is thinking about having a social marketplace like facebook has introduced.
Five years ago an ebay powerseller would never chance leaving ebay to make money. There just wasn’t any place that had eBay’s traffic. That’s what it is all about. If the website gets lots of traffic, the more sales you will make. Even Amazon couldn’t compete with ebay five years ago. But now, it’s a whole other story. Ebay has actually paved the way for websites like Amazon and Overstock to take over the auction marketplace world.
When it all comes down to it; Ebay has become prettier and shinier. But looks aren’t everything. Take a look at the whole package and you will notice ebay might not be worth your time and effort. Ebay is becoming too much work for the small profit you make. I am not sure if the new generation will appreciate eBay’s new policies and fee hikes.
Times always change, so we will have to wait and see what happens. But one thing is for sure. Nothing lasts forever and something better always comes along. In today’s age of people getting laid off from life long career jobs, you will notice people flocking to the best bang for your buck. The new ebay is not the best bang for your buck anymore.
Thanks for reading my blog everyone! See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope everything is going well for you. Have you ever had an idea for a great product that you could make yourself? Lots of people have ideas like this. The problem is; most people don’t know how to distribute the product they make. This can be a huge problem. After you read this post, you will know everything you need to successfully promote your product.
It’s easier to make your own product than most people might think. Just think of things you are good at doing. When you make your own product you have an advantage. You set the standards for prices you can sell your product. You will have little to no competition. Your product will most likely be original and rare. Originality sells anything on the market. Consumers love to try new things. If you can come up with a product that people need, you could end up being a millionaire.
The first place you can distribute your product is auction or social marketplaces. This takes a lot of time but you will reach millions of customer right away. This can be the money that keeps you going until you are developed better. Ebay is a great place to start; but I would recommend staying away from ebay for now. Ebay can cost a lot of money to make only a little if you are unexperienced. You can find some great auction places that won’t cost you as much as ebay in my top 15 list of 2007-2008.
If you already have a website, put your product on your website. Get a good template or build a professional looking website. Now that you have a website, you have to do the most important thing. ADVERTISE AND MARKET your website and product. So many people make the mistake of just having a website without telling anyone about it. They think being in search engines are good enough.
Promote your product and website to social networks. Especially the ones that let you distribute articles about your product to your friends list. Facebook, technorati, digg, delicious, myspace, are some great places to make some friends. Try and make friends with people that have the same interests as you. Chances are they will be interested in your product as well.
Write some articles about your product and website. Submit articles to major article websites. These websites get millions of hits everyday. All of these people come to read original articles. Keep your articles original and catchy. Hopefully your product is catchy enough. You can write articles at various places around the internet for free. I wrote a post about some good article websites you can use here.
Make some friends in forums. Forums can bring you tons of traffic. There are millions of members to various forums out there. Don’t underestimate the power of a good forum. Make sure the forums you sign up for are related to your product/business. Don’t spam the forums with posts either. That will only get you kicked off or suspended. You want to actually make some friends there. Talk about various topics in the forum. Make sure the forum gives you the option to have a signature. The signature is how you will get people to your website/product. Put your website in the signature. Now, every time you leave a response or start a topic in the forum, people will see your website link and visit your website. Because the forum is related to the topic of your business/product, more people will buy your product. Don’t join forums if they don’t let you have a signature.
Submit your website to as many website directories as possible. Most website directories will let you submit your website for free. This can be a great way to bring in traffic but can take time to see results. Try and set up the keywords on your website. Put as many keywords as you can that relate to what your product is about. This way search engines will find content related to your business/product. This can be very effective if you get good at it.
Keep the content one your website updated. Update your website at least once a day. Only the newest content makes it to search engine front pages. If the content on your website is over a month old, you don’t stand a chance to make it on the front page of Google. The old style of search engines would have let you slide. But new updated search engines are optimized to find the new stuff first. Google is probably the most popular search engine out there. They don’t want their readers to find old content on the front page and in the number 1 position. Think about it.
Most of these techniques take time to see results. The results are too overwhelming to ignore. These techniques are very effective if you have time and dedication on your side. Any marketing firm charging you thousands of dollars will advertise the same way if you are lucky. Now you know how to advertise and market your product. Get to work!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment. Thanks for reading everyone!
Hi everyone, I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I told you an update way to post pictures in your ebay auctions. Today, I will be telling you about ways to make your pictures sell your items better. This may be old news to some of you. Having effective and clear photographs can sell your items better, especially on ebay. Most of the tips I give you will help you take better pictures with more sales.
First off, no auction should be without a gallery picture. A gallery picture is the little picture next to the title on the category screen. The customer can see your product before they even click onto the auction. A gallery photo attracts more people to click on your auction. I am not just saying that either. Through the years I have tested this and a gallery picture brings more than twice the traffic to your items, than an auction without a gallery picture.
Try and use a white or clean background for your picture. A white background is best. I have seen hardwood and clean countertops work well also. The clean or white background can really bring the best picture possible. A white or clean background for your picture makes it look more professional. It also avoids showing people your messy house, lol.
As I mentioned yesterday; host the picture yourself and use and HTML code to put unlimited pictures in your auctions. Adjust the size of each picture accordingly to fit your auction template. Try and place each picture in the text where it belongs. For instance, if you were selling a car and talking about the interior, post a picture of the interior where you are talking about it. It’s a little trick to keep people interested.
Make sure your pictures are the highest in quality. Even if your digital camera card is only 32mb. Crank up the graphics to the highest. If your camera has extra quality options, set them to max. Use that 32mb card to take pictures of each item you have. I used to get 16 pictures with a 32mb card full graphics. It may be different now.
Focus is another important factor that people seem to take in to account. Unless you have a top of the line digital camera, I suggest using manual focus. If the picture is out of focus or blurry the customer will be less likely to buy your item, compared to someone who has the same item with a clear picture. This is especially true for used items.
Unless you are drop shipping, always use your own picture. Don’t use pictures you find on the internet or manufacturer pictures. Some of them are copyrighted and you can get in to trouble.
Try and take the picture from a slight angle to show and control depth perception. Angled depth is more attractive to the eye than a straight on picture. Use 2 or 3 light sources or angles. Two lights from left and right seem to work best for me. Sunlight is a bad light source unless you are outside.
People like to know you have the item in hand. A good way to prove you have the item is to take a Picture with item and your ebay ID in front of it. I like to take a white piece of paper and write my auction ID on it. Then I stick the paper with my ebay ID in front of the item I am selling. This shows that I have the item in my possession. This is a new security measure I picked up a couple of years back. It kind of reassures the customer I really have the item. It came in handy when I had some Playstation 3’s last year.
Use these tips to make your pictures better. I guarantee that you will increase your sales if you aren’t already using these tips. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi everyone and thank you for reading. Today, I will be updating a post I made a while back with better information. Photobucket doesn’t seem to work well with ebay anymore. The post will be about adding unlimited pictures to your ebay auctions for free. If you don’t have a good place to host pictures this post will help you.
First, you need a place that will host pictures for you. I recommend Geocities as they are free and very user friendly. They have been around forever and aren’t going anywhere. You don’t have to worry about the companies advertisment name through your picture for using their services to host your pictures. You don’t have to worry about the host leaving and closing shop. Here is how you can get free, unlimited pictures in all your ebay auctions.
* Sign up for a free geocities account or use your existing yahoo name and password to sign in.
* Now go to the Geocities control panel.
* Click onto the manage tab.
* Click the easy upload button under File Management Tools.
* Click the browse button to find the pictures on your computer.
* Click upload files button.
* Goto the file manager and open it.
* Click the view button next to the picture you uploaded. This is the web address your picture is located at until you delete the picture from your file manager.
* Now put that web address in to this HTML code. <center><IMG SRC=”http://www. place your picture web address here” HEIGHT=72 WIDTH=72></center>
Adjust the size by changing the numbers around.
* Place this code into your ebay auction description for HTML.
If you use this HTML code, you will be able to place as many pictures as you want in your ebay auctions. Free of charge. Ebay charges you for what geocities is doing for free, “hosting your picture”.
Ebays fees are high enough. Take a stand and stop paying ebay to host extra pictures for your auctions.
You have complete control over all of the files and pictures you upload on Geocities. Just go to your file manager to change anything. If anyone has questions, feel free to email me.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend went well. Today I am going to tell you about Vzaar. Vzaar is a free program that lets you add video of the product you are selling. This is great if you have to prove something is in working condition. It seems video has become a big part of our lives online. Having video footage of the product you are selling can skyrocket your sales.
Vzaar is not needed if you are selling a brand new product still in the package. But it works great for selling everything like cars and computers. I have been noticing a lot of sellers that specialize in selling used cars on ebay have been using Vzaar. I actually found Vzaar when I was car shopping on ebay a short while back.
Vzaar actually came up with a great idea to add video to your about me page. Social marketplaces are really starting to take over. Having a video on your about me page could make your profile seem more professional and trustworthy. They actually claim you will get a good sales increase by inserting video to your auctions and about me page. I can definitely see the advantage.
Think about how big of an advantage you have adding pictures to your auctions; compared to someone who doesn’t use pictures. It’s pretty much the same with video. You will have a huge technology advantage over your competition that isn’t using video.
My big thing through the years is to change with the times. Most businesses fail because they don’t change with technology. Use as much technology as you can. The best way to get the upper hand on your competition is to have more than they offer. Most companies won’t move on with the times and will fade away. Take your chances with any new technology that will make things easier or more customer friendly.
Vzaar is very user friendly. All you do is record the video you want with a camcorder, digital camera, or cell phone. Then you upload the video onto vzaar. Then you tell Vzaar what auction you want to put your video in your ebay account. It’s really that simple.
That big advantage I see having video over just photos is; You can prove that the used item you are selling is in good working order. In most cases the video speaks for itself and you don’t even have to read the description in the auction. You are making it easier for the customer to make a decision about buying from you.
Some people and companies have even taken their ebay charity auctions a step up in the right direction. Instead of typing out a long description of what the winner gets, they make a video and explain/show you what you are going to get if you are the winner of the auction. Videos in your auctions or websites could be a way of the future. I really see so many advantages to putting a video in your ebay auctions.
If you think you are going to use more than 30 videos a month, you will need to upgrade your free account. If the videos are helping you sell big money items, I would suggest upgrading to a premium account. Packages cost $10-$20 per month. This is not needed unless the videos are selling your products though.
You don’t need to use vzaar if you are selling plain, non-moving items. For example, you might not want to waste your video on an autograph picture. But, you might want to use video in your auctions to sell a used television or monitor while it is working. Vzaar is made to capture used items while in working condition. It’s a great idea. Give vzaar a try it’s free to use.
Thanks for reading my blog everyone.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was a good one. I have been doing some research on good marketplaces lately. Today I signed up for Facebook’s marketplace. Yes, facebook has a marketplace. Facebook marketplace is not an auction marketplace but its better. It actually seems pretty good for free. I am going to use them for a few weeks. I let you know all about the results when I get a better idea on how things work.
I really like it. Facebook marketplace is very simple and very user friendly. It reminds me of craigslist classifieds. It keeps track of the most local items so you can buy from a person who lives near you. The best thing about this is; you know the person is less likely to be a scammer if you can see a profile of them. Facebook is kind of like myspace only better. It’s a social network where you find and make friends. It’s a great idea and I love it.
I have been a facebook user from the start. I find the experience a much better one, over other social networks. Since facebook recently added a marketplace it will become a lot more popular. There are millions of members that use facebook, so sales should be good! I can’t wait to see the results.
Facebook picked the perfect time to make this transition. Ebay has been losing sellers left and right because of recent high fee increases. Many auction marketplaces have already benefited from this increase of ebay sellers leaving. Facebook is just another kid on the block. Don’t underestimate Facebook. They have huge potential in this new social marketplace they have created.
Social marketplaces might be the way to go in the future. So many con-artists have popped up all over the internet. Being able to see a persons profile and background can feel a lot safer when money is involved. A profile with a picture can make the transaction a lot safer and more trustworthy. You can decipher someone’s personality and what you might expect if you choose to buy from them. It’s almost like feedback only better. I would feel a lot safer dealing from a guy that has a picture of him and his 3 kids; instead of some kid that has a party picture for the profile. Get my drift? You can get a better feel of what this person is really like. And maybe draw a judge of character from it.
You can also choose if you want to buy from someone other far away instead of locally. You get lots of different options that may fit different people’s needs. Facebook is not limited like craigslist or any other classified marketplace I have ever seen before. The communication seems to be a lot better than craigslist. You can message a person and get an immediate response from the seller if you have any questions.
You can barter your services locally. You can also find barter services locally. You can advertise if you have housing for sale or rent. You can also find a huge variety of places to live or move to, if you are looking. All in all facebook has just enough, but not too much like other classified websites or marketplaces.
You can find local jobs. This is another good one just because you already have a profile. The job can look at your profile before they consider you for a job. You can even post yourself in the “looking for work” section. I think this is a great opportunity for any young adults trying to get a good job. I predict that facebook will have lots of followers now that they have their own marketplace.
Facebook doesn’t seem to have any strict listing rules except for the obvious. You can check out listing rules and guidelines here. The rules are very basic and to the point.
Facebook seems to be a great addition to anyone looking to get a few extra sales everyday. Give them a try if you are looking for an extra boost. They are totally free. You have nothing to lose except a little time investment. Let me know if you have any questions.
See you tomorrow and thanks for reading! LP@thehomedropshipguide.com
Hi everyone, I hope everything is good. I would like to thank everyone for entering my contest the other day. I would also like to congratulate Staci from New York. She is the winner of my contest. I will do my best to have this contest at least once a month. Sorry about springing the contest at the last minute. I want to give my readers the best chance to win and 24 hour contests (without notice) will make the odds better for you all. So, keep coming back if you want a chance for me to teach you how to work at home.
Today, I want to tell you about the importance and advantages of making multiple streams of income. The best thing about having multiple streams of income is: you always have money coming in from somewhere. Having a steady stream of income produced by multiple sources can really keep you afloat. Especially, if you are just starting out. Everyone knows how discouraging it can be to make no money.
Don’t count on making a million dollars overnight. Try to concentrate on building one thing at a time. Another words, take baby steps towards your multiple streams of income. Build each empire and get it going. Then start another empire, build it, and get it going. Start again. It’s a very simple formula that works great.
Even if your multiple stream incomes right now are your 9-5 job and 1 small source online. That’s a great start. Most people don’t even have that much to start. That’s a perfect foundation to build on. That shows that you already have online experience and are willing to take on extra. If you don’t have any online experience in making money yet, your journey will be a bit longer. That should be pretty obvious. But you wouldn’t believe how many people get a computer and think they can make a million dollars overnight.
A great advantage to having multiple streams of income is; You can help supply money to new projects from your other income sources. You don’t have to take money out of your own pocket to start a business that might fail. Get it yet? In the business world, you want to always put money back into the business. So, as you make money and get used to your daily tasks; as with anything else, things become easier. You will probably want to take in more money and have the extra time. Your daily tasks are easier because they have become a habit. Your previous source of income should help to fund the new project you want to take on. If you keep this system going, you can have dozens of projects making money for you while one project pays for a new project.
Let’s say you want to start a new project to start affiliate marketing now. You also have a full time job and ebay on the side. So, let your ebay income help the new project get going. When that new project starts bringing in money; Start using your ebay money as profit again, and make the new project fund another new project. Keep this cycle going to produce multiple streams of income.
You have to put money in to your business if you want it to grow. Most people just keep dumping money into the same business. The sad part is, the business is dead or close to dying. Spread yourself out. Some things that you wouldn’t even guess bring in more money than others. You have to experiment and find out what works with you.
Try this little system out and expand your business in to multiple streams of income. If you have any questions let me know. I would love to help.
LP@thehomedropshipguide.com
Hi everyone, and happy Monday to you. Thank you for entering my contest yesterday. The contest is still going on until 12pm eastern time today. So enter if you haven’t already.
Only a few people entered so far, so you have a great chance to win. I get hundreds of visitors to my blogs everyday. Don’t be shy people:) I know I just sprung the contest on you all. But, that was the whole purpose; to give back to my regular readers.
Today, I am going to tell you; why you should stay away from popular or general items to sell. The products that make you the most profit margins, are not always the best products to sell. Those types of products always seem to have more competition. And what’s worse is; the competition is usually charging a way lower price than you can afford to sell the same product.
Popular products like I-pods and cell phones are not very good money makers. Especially if you are selling on ebay. Because everyone and their mother are selling I-pods and cell phones on ebay already. That means more competition and lower prices than you can afford. Stay away from popular or general products that bring lots of profit.
Think outside the box. Think small profit, lots of sales. I would rather sell 100 items a day and make 1 dollar profit on each item; than sell one item and only 20 dollars profit a day. Think small items that people need. Think about the things you use on an everyday basis. Think about products you like, use, or need. Do you really need an I-pod or do you want to sell them because they are popular?
You have to be smart and think 3 steps ahead if you are going to get into sales online. Make things as easy as possible for you at all times. Don’t struggle by doing research on niches that might work. Use your head, stop for a few minutes and think of products you need on an everyday basis. Necessities usually sell better than luxuries online.
Necessity may be different for different people though. For example, a headset and microphone may not be a necessity to most people. But, to a tele-communications expert, it would be a necessity. Think about what products would sell and would have little to no competition. I always say sell accessories for popular items. To this day, that little strategy works great.
Even little things like cool drinking cups sell great. You can make some good money if you sell a lot of them. Today, I want you to sit back and think about all the things you use on a daily basis. I bet if you did some research on those items, you would find the sellers, sell a lot of them. They might not make a lot of money per sale. But, like I said earlier: if they sell one hundred items a day with one dollar profit on each, that’s a one hundred dollar day. When I first started selling online; a hundred dollar day was a great day.
Think about it. The most popular and obvious Niche is not always the best niche. Too many complications arise when you have 3000 other sellers trying to out-do your starting price. You need to find a new ways to get away from that kind of competition. Think about the things you buy most, besides food and clothing. I bet you could open a floodgate of new possibilities if you really think about it. Everyday items sell remarkably great compared to a new television or surround theatre system.
I probably sell everyday items 1000 to 1 compared to big luxury items. People buy what they need. Once you realize that, you can make sales happen with a more positive outcome. Stop selling items just because they have a big profit margin. Start selling items that you know will sell. Give these little insights a try. They have worked great for me through the years.
Thanks for reading everyone. Let me know if you have any questions. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. Recently, someone asked me if they should have their own website. They went on to me that they didn’t see the benefits of having a website, since they already have an ebay store. I am not going to tell anyone not to have an ebay store. But never limit yourself to that ebay store. You are at a disadvantage by having a store on some else’s domain.
If you own your own website and domain name you will be under control of everything you can do. There will be no limitations to what you can do on your own website. As long as you stay within your host’s rules, you can do virtually anything with your own website. You are not allowed to advertise or make money with affiliate marketing on your ebay store. But, with your own website you can advertise, use affiliate marketing, ad paid links, anything you want. You can make some great money on your own website, without just selling the merchandise you offer.
If you have your own website, you can choose your domain name. If your business is called Joes donuts; You can see if joesdonuts.com is available. If it’s not available, you have lots of other choices (joedonuts.net, .org, .us, .biz, lots more). Some people even get creative and add a 0 to all the letter o’s. It’s always a good idea to get the same domain name as your business name. This way, if someone wants to find your business; tell them joesdonuts.com & “replace the o’s with zeros”. It’s a new trend that has caught on in the Ebonics era.
You can change the look and feel with your own domain. You can have the freedom to use a website template or build your own website. If you don’t know how to build a website, you can find free website templates all around the internet. Or you can find a good web designer to build you a customer website to fit your business. You don’t have to worry about auction fees. You can list as many items on your website as you want for free. Most hosts charge you by the month. The average monthly fee is $4.99 for bottom end. About $49.99 a month for really good service.
I recommend using godaddy or yahoo for your host. Godaddy is my favorite because they are cheaper. I pay $52.00 for the entire year on each of my websites. You need some ftp uploading experience to use godaddy. I would say you have to be a novice to advanced to go with godaddy as your host. If you have ever uploaded anything you should be okay. Godaddy offers some great customer service if you get stuck. Plus they have some good tutorials if you are unsure about anything. Another thing I like about godaddy is; you can choose a Linux or Windows based host. I have been using godaddy for a while now and couldn’t be happier with them. Believe me; I have tried just about everyone out there.
Another host I recommend is yahoo. Yahoo is $29.00 and up per month for web hosting. Every once and a while you can catch a discounted price. When I used yahoo, they gave me the first 3 months for $19.99 and $39.99 each month after that. They have a beginner based system. You don’t need any web design experience to have a yahoo merchant account. They make it pretty easy to create your own customer website. They even give you a yahoo web builder tool that lets you build websites with Photoshop quality. The customer service was okay. I seemed to get bounced around if I called or emailed them about a question or problem I had. I am a bugger about customer service. And yahoo didn’t impress me much in that department. But, all in all they offer a great service and better than most of the competition out there.
Ebay won’t be around forever. If they aren’t around anymore, you will need an immediate back-up plan. But if you already have a well established website, you won’t need to worry. It can take 6 months to a year in order to receive consistent traffic and sales to your website. If you start building now, you won’t have to worry about rushing in to building a website in a frenzied panic later. Don’t put all your eggs in to one basket. Expand your business all over the net, not just on ebay. The more places you sell, the more sales you will make. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
I recommend having your own website domain over some free website also. If you have a free website, you will be stuck with unwanted advertisements and limitations to what you can do. You may be stuck with a web domain name that has nothing to do with your business name (joeshmoesfreewebsitehosting.joesdonuts.com). Another problem with a free website is the size of your domain name. Chances are your domain will be too big for anyone to remember and re-visit. Free websites bring little to no sales because they look very unprofessional.
The only down side to having a website is; all the time you have to dedicate to bring traffic. Advertising is very important when you have a website. You can find out how to advertise your website on a blog post I made here. Those techniques are the same ways that any marketing company would market your business for money. It’s very time consuming to launch an advertising campaign for your website. It’s really easy, but takes a ton of time out of your life. You could hire someone to market your website. But, that can cost thousands of dollars. I look at it this way; I know what those companies are going to do in order to market my website. So, I use those techniques and save myself thousands of dollars.
If anyone has any questions at all, feel free to email me. Thanks for reading and see you all tomorrow.
If you sell on ebay; The best way to check the starting prices would be advanced search. Then you can choose to look at all auctions going right now and what auctions have ended also. You can choose completed items to see what the best selling price was. This is usually the best way to check what price is good to start at.
Just click onto advanced search next to the search bar on ebay’s homepage. Now you will see a screen that brings you to advanced auction search.
Here is what I do; Write down the prices of the last ten sales that ended and sold at 8pm eastern time. Now, add them all up and divide by 10. This is the average selling price. Now you have a price to start your item. Sometimes this number won’t jive. But, use your own judgment, as this method works great 95% of the time. I try and make the average price, my buy it now price. Start the auction with a little lower price (at your discretion) than your buy it now price.
Recently I noticed the times people buy things on ebay have changed a little. On weekdays 6-10pm eastern time is the optimal time you want your auction to end. On the weekends the best time goes to 6-12pm eastern. (this is the most common time of day people buy things on ebay right now). So, I recommend you using this time frame for your auctions to end. Notice the times have changed dramatically since last October. Here is a post I made back in October about selling times.
If you don’t sell on ebay: I would recommend doing a search in Google and find and average that way. Take the first ten stores to you find selling the same product you want to sell. Add up their prices, divide by ten and you will get an average price to sell your item. Don’t set your price to high. You don’t want to be the highest price out there, just because other stores sell it for that much. Use your head; lower your price if you can and take their customers away.
There are 2 different price groups. One price group is called custom products. Custom products are ones that you or someone else have created. It wasn’t mass-produced by a manufacturer. Custom items are not usually found online. So putting an average price can be a lot harder. I would even put rare items into a custom price category. Custom price items generally sell for good money. Custom items are usually hard to find items, so people will want to pay more for them. I recommend making your own custom product. Custom price items are really good money makers. Ebay is a great place to showcase a custom item and make good money.
The second price category is called manufactured products. These are products that are mass-produced. They are usually made in a huge manufacturing plant. They usually come with a pretty box to dress it up. Manufactured products are generally very easy to set a starting price. You can usually find these items everywhere online. The problem with these types of items is; the products are usually in high demand and there is lots of competition selling the same products. The product to profit ratio will be a lot lower than a custom product, especially on ebay. You have to do lots of research to find the perfect product for the perfect price to buy at, so you can sell it at a low competitive price.
I hope this explains how you can price your items more accurately. I have been using this little system for years now and it works like a charm. Thanks for reading my blog everyone. Let me know if you have any questions. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was full of greatness! It rained all weekend. But you can finally feel the warmth in the air. I love the spring time because it promotes growth. Speaking of that, I will keep tonight’s post kind of short, because I am re-designing one of my blog websites. I was getting so sick of the winter. I really do love the cold weather and changing seasons. But, sometimes I wish we had an off and on switch, lol. Our winter climate here in New England can last 5-7 months on average.
I don’t want to bore you with talking about the weather. Yesterday, I promised you a few places to buy good products for cheap money. The three places I am going to tell you about can make you lots of turn around profit if you are planning to re-sell the goods. Even, if you want to buy someone a gift cheaper than retail. And you don’t need a business license or any tax id’s to buy from these companies.
I get a lot of people asking me if I know any places to buy wholesale without a business license or tax ID’s numbers. I don’t recommend buying from places like Doba or Simplx. Their supposed wholesale prices are not real wholesale prices. You can’t legally buy wholesale without a tax Id or business license. But there are ways around it. You can buy from surplus auction websites. There are tons or surplus and auction surplus websites around the internet. Airport surplus auctions happen all the time on ebay. Just do a search for the airports name and look them up on ebay. Major airports around the USA post surplus auctions on ebay. All the things they confiscate are usually new items. Some items are still in the box.
Here are the three places that will change the way you buy things to re-sell; if you don’t have a business license or tax Id numbers. You can find cheaper prices than ebay on these websites. That means you can re-sell most of this stuff on ebay and other auction marketplaces.
1. Samsclubauctions - auctions.Samsclub.com is a great place to buy quality goods at wholesale prices or cheaper. I know, I have said don’t sign up for places that make you pay a membership fee. But, Sam’s club auctions will pay for itself in your first purchase. If your workplace is already a member of Sam’s club, you can join for free. Or you can pay $30-$100 a year for several different services. Sam’s club auctions are set up very professionally. Just to give you an example of the prices you will get. It’s not unusual for 50″ HD Plasma Televisions to sell for $800.00 or less. Samsung, Hitachi, Pioneer, Panasonic, all kinds of name brands.
2. Dellauction - Dellauction.com is a great place to buy computers to resell on ebay. It’s common to see brand new and refurbished computers selling for under $200.00. The good items sell for well under MSRP. This is as close to wholesale as you will find for computers and peripherals. Give them a try; you will make some great money reselling the goods you buy there.
3. Onsale - Onsale.com is a great place to find brand new electronics for huge discounts. You may not find wholesale prices at onsale.com; but you will find some great discounts. You can make some really good profit if you plan to re-sell. Or if you want to pick up a gift for yourself or someone else. Check them out if you get a chance.
Thanks for reading everyone. I should be done with the new blog design in the next few days. Don’t be alarmed if you see some weird colors on the website. It may take me a few days to experiment with the colors. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is going good. I got a lot of feedback over my top 7 list yesterday. Thanks for all your feedback. I don’t mind helping all of my readers. Well, here is the bottom 8 on my list of best online auction marketplaces of 2007-08. Just because they are on the bottom, doesn’t mean I don’t recommend them. I recommend expanding your ebay business to all of the auction marketplaces in my top 15 list.
8. Ubid (***1/2) - Ubid.com makes the top 10 in my list for keeping the low prices on their website a priority. They have been around a long time (since 1997) and they are not going anywhere, anytime soon. They are known for their famous 30 minute auction. I have got some really great stuff on Ubid. You can get some great bargains there. Ubid is great if you are looking to buy good merchandise for cheap money. I have used Ubid many times to buy and then resell somewhere else. I recommend ubid if you are looking for another ebay alternative.
9. Half (***1/2) - Half.com makes the top 10 on my list for very obvious reasons. One is; they are owned and run by ebay. That means, they get tons of traffic. More traffic = more sales. Half has been around about 10 years now. They have a great reputation for selling books and other small item digital media. This is where most college students buy their books. At half.com you can save a ton of money if you are looking for expensive books or media. Especially if you are looking to resell them. Half.com is also a great place to get rid of books or digital media you don’t want anymore. I have never been an avid seller there. But I do use them to get rid of small media I don’t want. Give them a try if your house is starting to look like a library.
10. epier (***1/2) - Epier.com is another great ebay alternative. Of course they don’t get the traffic ebay gets. But they get enough buyers that you will make money. Epier has established a great reputation over a span of 10 years. They have silently climbed the popularity ladder as the years have gone by. Not many people know about epier. They made the top 10 on my list because they are like a lost treasure. I tried them a few years back and there were not many members. Now they have tons of members and the seller competition is very minimal.
11. bid-alot (***) - Bid-alot.com is another good online auction marketplace. Bid-alot didn’t make my top 10 because the active members have shrunk dramatically in the past 6 months. Most of the users went to some of the auction places I listed in the top 10. It’s funny how you recognize other powersellers from ebay by seeing them all these years. Bid-alot has been around for about 5 years and they are a good place to buy. You might not make as much money selling there. But I have found more than a few great deals that I ended up making lots of money from. Sign up and give them a try.
12. Craigslist (***) - Craigslist.com (classifieds) is a fantastic place to sell or buy anything. They get almost as much traffic as ebay on a daily basis. The sales turn around by listing an item on craigslist is phenomenal! I recommend using them if you want more sales. The only reason craigslist didn’t make my top 5 list of 2008-07 is because of the increase of scammers working over innocent people. Craigslist has become notorious for the famous Nigerian check scam. Read this post I made about the fake check scam if you want to use craigslist. Beware, there are lots of people that try to scam you with fake checks on craigslist. Don’t except any checks if you plan to sell anything on craigslist. I recommend using craigslist as they should probably be in my top 5. But I want to make it clear, be very cautious if you sell anything there. I try and steer people away from places they may be scammed. But, if you are a cautious person, familiar with scammers, you will be okay. O’yeah, craigslist is a magnificent place to pick up some really good things for cheap money. Especially, if you plan on reselling the merchandise. Give them a try. They are totally free to use.
13. sell (***) - Sell.com is a good place to buy and sell also. They are kind of set up like craigslist(classifieds). They have tons of members and you will sell lots of things there if you have a good niche. Certain categories seem to sell a lot better than others, Um, if you know what I mean. Adult things for those that don’t get it. I have been able to sell a lot of lingerie at sell.com. It’s also a good place to get a deal on a few things. You can even find the strange and original items that are hard to find. An Elvis backscratcher that sold for $112.00. What’s up with that, lol? I guess you can find anything in classified ads. Give them a try. Sell.com is a good place to expand your business.
14. Shopgoodwill (***) - Shopgoodwill.com is another little secret I have kept until today. I know, you are probably laughing, goodwill. But I am laughing all the way to the bank. I have bought more than a few used and “working” Xbox 360’s for under $100.00 on shopgoodwill. Those are just a few things I have bought there recently. I have probably bought 2 items a week, for the past 4 months on shopgoodwill. I have bought some really good items that I re-sold for more than double. You can’t sell anything on shopgoodwill. But, the great things you can buy there for cheap money is excellent! I recommend using shopgoodwill.com, if you don’t mind re-selling used, “working” items.
15. cqout (***) - Cqout.com is a great auction marketplace. There are thousands of members on cqout.com. The only reason they are last on my list is because they serve mostly United Kingdom. You can click onto the American flag to find local auctions, so they are very versatile. They are great for selling or buying. Not much competition for sellers. But, there is a huge amount of buyers on cqout.com. There is no reason not to expand your ebay business to cqout as well. The more places you have your items up for sale; the more items will sell. It’s just the law of selling anything.
As you can see, ebay isn’t the only money maker in the auction marketplace world anymore. Lots of little auction websites have stepped up to the plate. And, with all the powersellers leaving ebay over recent rule and fee changes. It looks very good for the up and coming auction marketplaces. Just remember, none of these auction marketplaces get the consistent traffic that ebay produces, YET. Although, some of them come very close. And hey, every little bit counts, if you are trying to leave ebay and lose the high auction fees. I regularly use 13 out of the top 15 auction marketplaces on my list. 12 of them collectively, make WAY more money for me than ebay. That’s why I say every little bit counts. Expand away from ebay for a little while. Or keep your ebay business going and expand at the same time. You have nothing to lose except more sales everyday.
I have some more places to list. They are not marketplaces that you can sell. But, they are great places to pick up items for a great price, so you can resell. Come back tomorrow and check out the list.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Hi everyone, today I will be giving you some useful information to steer away from ebay and their high prices. I have not fully jumped the ebay bandwagon yet, but it’s about that time. I will probably always sell on ebay. Recently, I have been selling on other auction websites for experimental purposes. Because of ebay’s recent strict rule changes and price hikes, some really good auction marketplaces have popped up all over.
I tested all the auctions marketplaces I will tell you about in my top 15 list. They are some really good auction websites that actually have traffic and a really good sales to listing ratio. A few of them bring in more traffic than ebay in certain times of the year. Amazon and overstock have reported record numbers in November and December 2007. Amazon reported more sales in the Christmas season of 2007 than ebay reported. That means people are starting to drift away from ebay more than ever.
Late last year I made a post relating to the auction marketplaces that were hot around that time. You can find that post here. I have to say, “even though those auction places are great”; the list I have for you in my next two posts, are WAY better in quality. In the past 8 months I have been experimenting with over 40 online auction marketplaces. I know, I will have a lot of happy readers after my 2 part post on top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-08.
The auction places I tell you about in my list, are the very best out there right now. Although, none of them get the consitent traffic that ebay receives; they have a fantastic turn around ratio. And, all of their auction fees are either, free or VERY cheap! Many, actually have a huge chance of surpassing ebay’s warpath on the online auction world. Okay, here is the list that will change the way you do business online from now on.
Here is my list of the top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-2008. Listed from best to worst. I will be ranking them on a five star scale. Five stars being the best and 1 star being the worst. Don’t worry the worst is still a great place to make money. I don’t want to bore you with a huge post. So this will be a two part series in a 2 day blog post.
1. Ebay (*****) - Ebay.com still belongs in top dog position. Although, I don’t make as much as I used to on ebay; I still make more on ebay than any other one auction marketplace. So Ebay definitely deserves slot number 1 on my list. Keep in mind, if I combine all the other auction marketplaces I use, except ebay, I make double of what I make on ebay. So I could survive if ebay were to leave my life today. The fact is, it doesn’t look too bright for ebay’s future in the online auction marketplace world. Especially, with all the new rule and fee changes. So many sellers like me are leaving if they haven’t left already. Also, all the new auction marketplaces are making an effort to rid ebay forever. Don’t underestimate ebay though. They still hold the crown in my book for top auction marketplace.
2. Overstock (*****) - Well, I give auctions.overstock.com 5 stars like ebay. I gave them 5 stars and number 2 slot because they are a goldmine. There isn’t much competition selling and there are millions of users buying. In a short amount of time, overstock has been making me some really good money. Not as much as ebay. But I am sure, if I put as many items on overstock as ebay; my sales may be more than ebay. Overstock has really impressed me. I have only been using them for about 3 months and the turn around ratio reminds me of the old ebay. I recommend overstock.com as your primary ebay alternative. The fees are very at overstock are very minimal compared to ebay.
3. webidz (*****) - Webidz.com beat out Amazon on my list because they bring in more sales for less money. Webidz is my little hidden treasure. This place also reminds me of the old ebay. And guess what? Webidz is free to list items! That’s another reason it beat out Amazon in my top 15 list. The traffic you get on webidz is great. There isn’t much competition as a seller. And there are more buyers than sellers, so you make good money. I recommend using webidz as your FREE ebay alternative.
4. Amazon (*****) - Amazon really deserves the top 5 in my list of best auction places. In my honest opinion; I think Amazon will eventually take ebay’s place or they will become a lot bigger than ebay someday. Amazon has been ebay’s close competition this past year. In the Christmas season of 2007, Amazon beat out ebay’s reported sales volume. In fact, Amazon destroyed ebay’s sales numbers almost 2-1 during the winter season of 2007! That goes to show how much potential Amazon has to take over the auction marketplace. The money you make there isn’t too shabby either. Give them a try if you are thinking about an ebay alternative.
5. Onlineauction (****) - Onlineauction.com is another great ebay alternative. They get tons of traffic and a majority of the items you list, sell. They even have a deal right now. If you sign up, you will be considered a founding member and you receive a free e-commerce website through them. Hey, it’s free and it’s a great deal. Don’t pass it up. Expand away from ebay. Give onlineauction a try. They have a very small monthly fee and you can list unlimited auctions! Onlineauctions rightfully deserves the top 5 in my top auction marketplaces list. You can make great money there!
6. Ebid (****) - Ebid.net is a HUGE auction marketplace. They are set up just like ebay. They have a different website for almost every country around the world. Just click onto your country and sign up. For instance; ebid’s USA website is us.ebid.net which brings you to only people in the USA. One of the best reasons I put ebid.net in the top 10 right under Amazon; They are free. If you open a store, all your listings will be free also. Plus you get a free T-shirt, lol. It might sound cheesy, but the sales you make on ebid are well worth using a free auction marketplace.
7. ioffer (****) - ioffer.com is another good ebay alternative. You can even transfer your ebay feedback onto your ioffer account. You don’t pay any listing fees. You only pay a small final value fee when your item sells. ioffer gives you a free ecommerce website storefront. ioffer makes it onto the top 15 of my list because the fees are very minimal in comparison with the money you make there. Even though ioffer gets really good traffic, they don’t get as much traffic compared to the first 6 in my list. But there are a lot more buyers than sellers on ioffer. And, as you know, with little selling competition and more buyers, you will sell more items. There is a reason they are in my top 15 list, with 4 out of 5 stars, check them out.
Tomorrow I will continue my list of great ebay alternatives. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Thanks for reading my blog everyone!
Hi everyone, I hope everything is going good. I recently had someone ask me why their paypal funds were being held. As you may or may not know, paypal started holding funds back in January on certain accounts. They only hold onto a small percentage of money. But, this has a lot of ebayers up in arms. The truth is, paypal (owned by ebay) made a great decision. It’s probably the best collective decision ebay or paypal has made in years.
Paypal had to change their ways about security. There were a lot of new paypal members signing up with someone elses identity. They would make purchases. By the time paypal caught it, the scammer was gone. So there were a lot of credit card transactions being reversed and sellers were getting ripped off. I am very happy paypal made these changes.
If you are an avid user of paypal you have probably been scammed this same way. Someone buys a high priced item and pay through paypal. Then you ship the item because paypal put the funds into your account. All is well, until your paypal account is negative money. Now you have to file a complaint to get your money back. We all know how fun this can be. The only way to get your money back is to have a premier or business paypal account. Thankfully, if you have a paypal business account, you get reimbursed because you are protected from fraud if you ship to a confirmed address.
The reason paypal is changing the way they send money is to protect sellers. There are a few reasons paypal will hold your funds for 21 days. They will not hold your funds if:
1. You have been an eBay member for 6 months or more, and:
2. Your total Feedback score is 100 or greater, and
3. Your buyer dis-satisfaction percentage is less than 5%.
OR
1.Your average DSR is 4.5 or greater and
2. You have received 20 or more DSRs in the last 12 months
I hope this helps everyone. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.