Using Reviews and Guides to Boost Your Traffic on eBay

By: Lissa McGrath
Reviews and Guides are an excellent tool utilized by buyers looking for more information about specific products or topics. But did you realize how useful they are for sellers to build credibility and drive traffic to listings?

Most professional sellers specialize in a particular niche market. This means that you are an expert in that product type. It may seem inconsequential to you, but that knowledge can be put to good use to build your business. By writing reviews of your products, or guides about something relevant to that product type, you are showing potential buyers that you are an expert in that product. Instantly, you have become more credible as a seller. But don’t forget that some of your active items also display on the review/guide page. So if you have a well-written, detailed review of a product, and then the buyer sees that you have an active listing for that same product, you’ve got a good chance of them clicking through and buying the product from you rather than another seller.

The same works with guides. Let’s say you sell baby items. A guide to products that will help a new mom survive the first six months is very relevant to your target buyers. Again, have products you sell in the list and be very honest about the products (list both pros and cons). This is a review, not a sales letter.

Put a link in your auction to your reviews and guides. This again helps build your credibility. You get “helpfulness” votes from readers of your reviews and guides. As this number gets higher, you may find yourself as a Top Reviewer. If you look to the right of my username you can see that I am a Top 5000 Reviewer. I only have a couple of guides, but they are very popular.

If you’re a seller of an item type that gets a lot of fakes on eBay, you might consider writing a guide about how to spot the fakes. This shows you as one of the “good guys” because you wouldn’t show people how to spot a fake if you were selling fakes yourself.

If you sell information products, you might have a teaser in a guide and mention which book it is from. You should see that book as one of your items showing on the guide page, so they can click straight through and buy the full book from you.

There are so many different ways you can use Reviews and Guides to your advantage. Try it – it doesn’t cost you anything other than a little time to write it, and you’d be amazed at the increase in hits you will likely see.

Lisa is Skip McGrath’s daughter in law and she help him produce the UK version of his best selling eBay book and Course, “The Complete eBay Marketing System” For details visit http://www.skipmcgrath.co.uk

eBay-The 5 keys to getting great feedback

If you ask anyone what their greatest fear is when they buy on eBay they are more than likely to tell you it is the risk of being ripped off. Dealing with people you do not know and are never likely to meet makes most of us a little bit apprehensive. The way that eBay has helped us overcome these natural fears is by the use of the feedback system.

In simple terms this allows both the buyer and seller to assess a transaction as positive, neutral or negative and add a comment as to how it all went. Whilst not a totally fail safe system it does help to provide a level of trust between buyer and seller.

To achieve a good level of sales it is important to have a good feedback rating. If you have been buying and selling on eBay for any length of time you will know that occasionally someone will place an unwarranted negative feedback. eBay themselves are also aware of this and providing your feedback rating is over 97% positive then
you can be considered a trusted eBayer.

Whilst eBay encourage everyone to submit feedback many do not bother, but there are ways that you can impress the other party so that they will want to leave you a positive feedback and favourable comment.

1. By far the greatest number of comments I get in my feedback rating is regarding the prompt delivery of the items. I always dispatch the goods as soon as I have received payment and by first class mail. The quicker you get the goods to a buyer the more likely you are to get good feedback.
2. Communication between buyer and seller are very important. A Prompt and polite reply to buyers questions goes a long way towards building trust and creating a favorable impression.
3. Make sure that the item is packed well and securely.
4. Ensure that you have described the item exactly and that you have mentioned any flaws or defects that there are. If you do not you will have a disgruntled customer who is not only going to return the item but could leave you with a neutral or even worse a negative feedback.
5. React quickly to any post sale queries about such questions as items lost or damaged in the post. A quick and helpful response can often save the day on these occasions.

The point to remember is that we all like good service whether we are in a shop, restaurant or buying on eBay. The sellers who provide the best service are the ones who are going to get the best feedback.

Ebay and Google –Handbags in the playground

Talk about two big kids, eBay and Google have fallen out. Most of this occurred while I was away in the USA and surprisingly I missed most of the details at the time.
At eBay Live the first I heard of it was at a luncheon when an eBay executive described their decision to withdraw their advertising from Google as part of a routine advertising test. Believe that if you will.

Basically what appears to have happened is that Google decided to host a party to promote its Checkout service (a rival to Paypal) during the eBay Live event and invite many of the attendees. This upset eBay who promptly announced it was halting all of its advertising on Google. EBay is by far the largest advertiser and spends millions of dollars a year with the company. Google then cancelled the proposed party and that is position at the moment.

Interestingly I did read a report that someone wearing a Google shirt was ejected from the eBay Live Gala dinner. Which unless you like eating poor food and listening to over loud music in a venue that looked like an aircraft hanger was no great hardship.

Almost certainly this little spat will be over soon, both companies need each other. Google wants the income and eBay the traffic that their ads generate. However, I cannot help feeling that eBay tends to over react to any form of competition.
Remember the fuss they kicked up over Alibaba setting up an exhibition at a neighbouring hotel at last year’s eBay Live.

I don’t know what the lasting effect of the publicity will be but I do not see how eBay can emerge as a winner from this affair,so come on guys, kiss and make up.

eBay About Me Page

by: John V. W. Howe

If you are going to sell on eBay, you should take advantage of the About Me page. This is a webpage that eBay will let you set up to tell your customers about yourself. It also can be used to drive traffic to your website from eBay.

The About Me page on eBay is a very powerful tool for improving your auction traffic and for taking advantage of the tremendous traffic that looks at eBay auctions everyday. One of the best features of the About Me page - it is free. You can use it as a giant billboard on the Internet to direct traffic to your site or you can include a sign up form for your newsletter or mailing list.

My friend and mentor, Jim Cockrum, developed the concept of using eBay for more than an auction site. In his bestselling ebook, The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay, Jim discusses in detail how to perfect the use of the About Me page. The fact that he has developed a mailing list of over 100,000 names is proof that using the About Me page correctly really works.

The easiest way to set up an about me page is to sign on to your eBay account and click the HELP link at the top of the page. This will open the Search Help page. Enter "About Me Page" in the search box and click the "Search Help" button. This will present a page with the information that you should read about the About Me page.

Read the About Me Guidelines so you know the rules. eBay does have rules about how to use it and you must be careful not to violate those rules. If you do not play by eBay rules, eBay justice is swift and absolute.

When you have finished the rules and registrations, click on the About Me Page - Overview. This will open a page with additional information about the About Me page and finally at the bottom of that page will be a link, "Go to the Create About Me Page". Click that link and the "Edit About Me Page" will open. Click "Edit Your Page". The next page will give you the option of using the eBay Step by Step Process or loading your own HTML. If you do not know HTML, use the eBay process.

To get the most out of the About Me page, you need to use the HTML features. To add audio or video (yes, you can do that) you will need to load your own HTML. You can also have a data collection form on the About Me page to get people to sign up for a mailing list.

When you have set up the About Me page, a small blue and red icon "ME" will appear to the right of your eBay name at the top of each auction. When the visitor clicks on this link, they will be taken to you About Me Page.

For an example of what can be done on an eBay About Me page, you can view our "About Me" page at http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=e--boomer. It has audio so turn on your speakers (or turn them off as wish).

In summary, the eBay About Me page is a very powerful (free) tool that you can use to drive traffic to your website or to sign up visitors on your mailing list. Be sure to take advantage of it to build your Internet business.

Copyright 2006 John Howe, Inc.
About The Author
John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. He founded http://www.boomer-ezine.com and http://www.retirement-jobs-online.com to help Boomers (baby boomers) become entrepreneurs when they retire

Untapped Marketing Resources: Growing Your Own Ebiz With Ebay

By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie

EBay is one of the most powerful marketing tools around, but
all too many small business owners are missing out on the
opportunities it affords. Whether your business is online or
brick-and-mortar, eBay is a tremendous promotional resource
that you really can’t afford to overlook. It’s critical to your
business success that you incorporate the traffic-heavy auction
site as an ongoing part of your business strategy.
!

Why Does eBay Matter?
Explains Jim Cockrum, president of http://SilentJim.com, “Use
eBay as your sales machine—if you put an item up for sale
there, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people are going to
see it. EBay is one of the top ten most visited web sites on the
planet and the only one that’s not a search engine.” Whether
your main sales venue is a physical storefront, or your own
online store, eBay still provides several sources for
generating leads for your outside business:

• Use your eBay sales to build your mailing list.
Every item you sell on eBay is a lead for future business. With
each sale, you should be growing your email database so you can
make recurring transactions with that customer. So many eBay
sellers who’ve made thousands of transactions over the years
have never used those transactions to build a customer database
with which to build an email list.

You need those lists to keep in touch with your buyers—you are
building long-term customer relationships. The key is to give
your customers good content, not simply sell, sell, sell. These
are people who took the time to give you their email address,
and the more that you provide them with useful information, the
more you are building credibility and buyer loyalty.

• The About Me page allows you to promote your outside
business.
A seller’s About Me page may be one of the most overlooked
opportunities on eBay. Very few sellers utilize this tool, but
it is the only place on eBay where you’re allowed to direct
people to your own web site. You can also promote your
newsletter or give away free information to your leads. It’s a
great way, not only to gain buyer trust, but also to
cross-market your off-eBay business.

• EBay classified ads let you drive traffic to your own web
site.
EBay now offers classified ads that allow you to promote your
own web site or physical store, as well as items you’re
selling. And there are no closing fees for the sales these ads
generate. Again, it’s a chance to get your items, and even your
outside business, exposed to multiple thousands of targeted
buyers.

The bottom line is that, regardless of the venue you sell in,
you need to recognize the potential of eBay for marketing
purposes. You can increase your sales many times over by
tapping into the resources that eBay makes available to you.
Says Cockrum, “There’s so much power behind [eBay] to drive
traffic, but so few people really harness that power for their
businesses. Take full advantage of eBay’s promotional
opportunities. It’s such a simple concept; but it works, and it
can really transform your business.”

About the Author: Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of
http://WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The
Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows.
Visit http://www.productsourcingshow.com for more FREE eBiz
info from Entrepreneur Magazine Radio

8 reasons why it didn’t sell on eBay

There are people out there who believe that you can sell anything on eBay. And that may well be true but not if you adopt a lazy approach to your listings. A listing is an advertisement for the product or item that you are trying to sell, an item that you are hoping to get the best price for. And if you are to succeed in this you need to spend some time working on your listings and do not become a “lazy lister”.

There are 8 easy ways to spot a “lazy lister” and the first and most obvious is the listing without a photograph. I would find it difficult to imagine any listing, which would not benefit from some sort of photograph either to act as an attention grabber or to show the item you are selling.

Almost as bad as this is the poor quality photograph possibly blurred, out of focus and showing little detail. In these days of cheap quality digital cameras there is no excuse for poor photographs.

The big percentage of buyers these days use Paypal as their chosen payment method and yet you still find sellers who will not accept Paypal. I suspect it is because they do not want to pay the charges but this is a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. You will lose more because your item does not reach its highest possible price than it would cost you in payment charges. Not accepting Paypal is a real false economy.

Your actual description is short and lacks detail. In the advertising world there is a saying, “The more you tell, the more you sell”. But looking at some listings you would think that eBay charged by the word. If you want the best price tell potential bidders as much as you possibly can about the item.

Also you should avoid a listing full of hype words and slogans. Tremendous, fantastic and similar words do little for a listing and often bring into question the sellers credibility.

There are 2 great mistakes when it comes to shipping. You can give no indication of your shipping charges, which is bad, or even worse you can try and make extra profit by inflating your shipping charges. In either case you are going to put off potential bidders.

Finally if you really want to ensure that your item does not sell start off with a really inflated opening bid price. This is a real winner if you want to have the item left on your hands. Remember, if you start low the market will find the correct price level so do not be afraid to start with a low opening price.

If you are guilty of any of the “lazy listers” bad habits do something now and maybe you will not get so many “Item Not Sold” e-mails from eBay.

How eBay Is Destroying The American Economy

I came across an interesting press release today on Newswire today, http://www.newswiretoday.com
Written by Terry Allison of Montress Allison, an American watch making company it offers some interesting views.

NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Fort Collins, CO, United States, 05/27/2007 - Brief article written to inform the US public about the effects eBay is having on the economy.

How eBay Is Destroying The American Economy by Terry Allison
Ebay is a juggernaut. Ever forward. However, it has become very apparent that ebay is seriously damaging the economy of the United States of America.Here's how: ebay started out as a venue in which people were primarily buying and selling pre-owned items until shortly later, businesses were selling new items. Thousands of new businesses cropped up and many of those businesses were importing their wares from the far east. A few years later, many ebayers now hail from the far east. Many of these companies are the same companies that were once supplying the US based companies. But now the US based ebayers cannot compete with their far east rivals due to shipping and customs fees.

The higher markups are gone. Prices have fallen. And many of the thousands of businesses have dropped the prices of their products to below cost in order to liquidate inventory. This process in and of itself has had a profoundly negative effect on the US economy.Ebay also provides a medium in which a seller of (arbitrarily) a Rolex wristwatch can choose to use blurry photos and misspell many words or have a low feedback rating. This reduces the final price for which his item will sell, but also (very importantly) damages the final price a reputable competitor with professional photos, no misspellings, and a perfect track record.

Ebay has a function in which members can browse closed items to see their final prices. If a seller sees a Montblanc pen that went for 20% of suggested retail, he may not take into account whether or not the seller was able to create sufficient value in the listing to ensure an appropriate price. It is the author's opinion that the potential customer will look at the price and determine that he will not pay more than the pricing gathered in previously closed auctions. This function and process of ebay has categorically driven prices down in many cases to prices that do not allow a company that is holding inventory to sell its inventory for a profit. So companies liquidate, drive prices down more, and then go out of business.

It is the opinion of the seller that ebay has been a primary catalyst in many of the financial woes facing the US economy. The effects of going out of business can damage the housing market and can spread like a virus through our entire economy. I believe this is what has happened. It is the author's opinion that the United States government should enact legislation to restrict certain practices and policies on ebay to ensure that "the ebay effect" doesn't completely destroy the US economy.