I hope that you are all doing well with eBay at the moment. We are just about to enter what is the busiest trading quarter on the auction web site and the run up to Christmas should prove profitable for many eBayers.
I managed to get into something of a twist with the last issue, due to a technical problem commonly known as “finger trouble” the last issue was numbered 52 when it was officially issue 53. (I knew I would run into trouble when I ran out of fingers and toes but I can confirm that this IS issue 54.
EBay have now introduced their new charging structure for eBay stores and it has caused a furore around the world. Many large storeowners have either closed their stores or considerably reducing their product range. In the further reading section of this issue I have included two articles, one from the USA and the other from Australia giver their reactions to the fee changes. What has surprised me is that I have received no reaction from UK eBay store owners although I know from the forums and press reports that many are far from happy. Why not drop me an e-mail and give me your thoughts.
One man I have a great deal of respect for is Skip McGrath who is a leading eBay marketer and writer. I have subscribed to his newsletter (http://www.skipmcgrath.com) for a long time and although we have not yet met we have spoken on the phone. There are two reasons I have for mentioning him, with the help of his daughter in-law(an English girl) he has just produced an anglicised version of his “Complete eBay Marketing System”. I have had an opportunity to have a look at an advance copy and I can tell you it is one of the very best eBay Tutorials I have seen. I am still waiting for Skip to finalise one or two details but the manual should be available in the next few weeks and when it is I will let you know about it.
The other reason I mention Skip is because he has just written a very thought provoking article in his blog and I have created a link to this in the further reading section of UK Auctionline. Skip like most of us is a great fan and supporter of eBay but in this entry he does voice some concerns. Many of us have been hoping that more competition would be created by the likes of Google and Yahoo attempting to take a share of the market in some form or other. But eBay has just announced that it has formed joint alliances both inside and outside the USA with these companies. So possibly we are not going to get the competition that we hoped would bring a keener market place for users. The question is are eBay becoming too answerable to their shareholders and not answerable enough to their customers. The debate is open, what do you think.
Later today I set off for the “Big Smoke. (London) to attend
Yanik Silvers Undergraound UK seminar. Although I am looking forward
to hearing Yanik and the other speakers including Neil Stafford the
highlight for me will be to listen to and hopefully meet Sydney Johnson.
Sydney, despite the claims of some others really is “The Queen
of eBay”. Many people including me got their first introduction
to eBay from her, “Make Your Auction Sell” e-book or
her Genius course. That woman has probably forgotten more about eBay
than most of us know. And the ridiculous point is that you can download
an edited copy of her “Make your auction sell” for no
cost. Simply go to http://www.sitesell.com/Bright.html scroll down
the page and click on the link to the e-book an download it. It is
a good read.
We are also breaking new ground in this issue by, for the first time
having a competition. You will be pleased to know that it is pretty
simple to enter and there is a great prize on offer worth £54.
Don’t miss it.
Well that’s about it for this month. I hope you enjoy this
months issue and remember I
would love to hear from you. Send me an e-mail or call me on our
new number 01472 315834.
All the best
Dave
by Dave Bromley
One of the very best and least exploited sources for products to sell on eBay are Trade Shows. Now as the name implies these are not usually open to the general public but this is not a problem because you are not the general public.
You sell or want to sell products on eBay and that means you are in business. In other words you are “trade”. All you need to do is provide elementary proof and normally you can gain free access to most trade shows.
The purpose of these shows is for manufacturers, distributors, importers and wholesalers to let retailers see what products are available for resale. For most retailers there are 3 ways that they can buy products for resale, by having a sales rep visit them at their retail premises, go to warehouses to view or buy stock and/or go to trade shows.
Trade shows have a big advantage because you get many companies under one roof and it is a lot easier to go to one trade show rather than visit twenty or thirty different warehouses.
There are Trade shows in most major countries for a whole range of industries. In the UK and one Show not to be missed is the International
Spring Fair at the NEC near Birmingham which is held every February. The next ISF will be staged between 4 th –8 th February 2007 You can find out more details and register for “no cost” entry by visiting http://www.springfair.com/
Lets start with the question of how do you demonstrate that you are “bona fida” trade. There are really only 2 things that you need and they are a letterhead and a business card. Before you get either of these you are going to have to decide upon a business name. You may at sometime in the future decide to have a proper company name but for this exercise it is not necessary. You can just use your name and a description of what you do. For instance:
Sally Smith Associates.
or something similar. You can easily create letterheads using the word processing or desktop publishing package on your computer.
You may be surprised to learn that business cards are very important and serve several uses. As we have said they help to establish you are bona-fida and you will find that you will normally be asked for your card when making enquiries of exhibitors. There are two reasons why exhibitors are keen to get a business card from visitors. One is so that they can take the details from your card to add it to their mailing list. The other is because exhibitors know that there are only 2 types of visitors to a trade show, those that have the power and authority to place orders and those that do not. Having spent often many thousands of dollars for an exhibition stand they do not want to waste their sales staff time with “tyre kickers”. As the owner of your business you very obviously have the authority to place orders.
Another reason for taking a good stock of business cards with you to a trade show is that many displaying companies have a free draw competition. All you have to do is drop your business card into the box and you could win some nice prizes. Of course you will also be added to the mailing list of that company for a while but that can be a small price to pay if you win a good prize.
There are plenty of programmes around that allow you to print out business cards on your computer but my advice is not to use these. Because most inkjet and laser printers cannot cope with thick card used by professional printers the homemade versions tend to be flimsy unimpressive cards that are easily recognisable for what they are. If you go to www.vistaprint.com you will find they offer 250 professionally printed coloured business cards just for the cost of the postage.
Armed with a supply of your business cards you are almost ready to go to your first trade fair. However, there is one other very important item you should have and that is a notebook. You will see an awful lot of product in the few hours that you are at the fair and although you will undoubtedly come away armed with brochures and catalogues it is a good idea to jot down any noteworthy points. For instance you may want to note down details of minimum orders or shipping costs.
Part 2 will be in next months issue of UK Auctionline
For our very first competition I am pleased to announce that we have a really good prize. The DVD “Ebay for fun and Profit” is really professionally made DVD featuring Bill Myers. In the program he takes you through many aspectys of buying and selling giving the benefits of his vast experience. To find out more about the DVD http://www.ebaydeveloper.com/
To win this great prize all you have to do is answer this question:
Who was the founder of eBay and what was the first item he or she auctioned?
e-mail your answer to comp@ukauctionline.co.uk. All the correct answers will go into the draw and the winner will be the first name drawn out of the hat. The Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The closing date for entries is Monday 1 st October.
Good luck to everyone
Postal administrations in several international countries have contacted the United States Postal Service about the declaration of value placed on customs forms. They have noted that in many cases, the declared value is understated when compared to the actual invoice or known value of the item, especially for sales conducted over the internet. While this applies to sellers both on and off eBay, the USPS has asked us to remind our sellers to declare the proper value on all customs forms.
The correct value of each item is required on customs forms as it helps determine the proper duties and taxes, and whether they should be applied. Some countries will soon begin taking steps to address this issue, such as levying fines on the addressee when the declared value is determined to be lower than the invoice.
To make sure you're complying with international regulations, please make sure the stated value on your customs declaration is supported by your invoices or other documentation.
Paul Bezaire, a.k.a. "The Rebel," has announced that
his latest book, "How I Sued PayPal and Won," is now available. The
book uses real-life examples from his involvement in the Los Angeles Superior
Courts to illustrate how he and others were able to win their lawsuit against
this corporate giant.
"I know PayPal has millions of satisfied customers," Bezaire said. "But
according to the most recent information available, they still have over 100,000
unresolved cases. Many customers have legitimate reasons to sue the company.
However, most are often not knowledgeable enough to successfully file a lawsuit.
I have written this book to illustrate that anyone can recover what is rightfully
theirs by taking advantage of their State Small Claims Court."
Bezaire sued PayPal in 2004 (Case #: SM 04A0 1557) when the company failed to
honor its money-back guarantee on defective merchandise. Bezaire was able to
see beyond what he calls in his book "smoke and mirror tricks" practiced
by PayPal and win a judgment of $159 plus costs, for a total of $202. Bezaire’s
nephew was ready to abandon his fight of recovering $1,424 he claimed PayPal
owed him. By chance, someone told him about his Uncle Paul’s website which
related, in detail, how he fought PayPal and won. Following his uncle’s
procedures he filed his own lawsuit (Case #: LC 05S01609) against Paypal and
quickly recovered the money owed to him.
"How I Sued PayPal and Won" is published by Trafford and is available
for $14.95.
Watchdog to investigate eBay over data privacy allegations
EBay fee hikes put traders out of e-business
eBay car buyer robbed at gunpointInexperienced auction sellers, or those lacking in confidence, often want to make their auction listings more dramatic and exciting. They dread the possibility that buyers will be bored by their auction and turn away with indifference.
Therefore, they reason, they will spice up their auctions with some "animations" - graphics that blink, change colors, spin, travel around the web page.
Or the seller may be a tech person who loves toys and is proud of his ability to create unusual effects.
Regardless of their reasons, animated elements on an auction page are almost never a good idea for the following four reasons:
1. Rather than attracting attention to the merchandise in your auction, your potential customer may watch a spinning ball or follow Santa and his reindeer through the sky. We want the customer's total attention on that all-important question: "Do I want to buy this widget or not?" Distractions are not good for your wallet.
2. Animations can make the load time of your auction listing much longer. I have been using DSL four years and have forgotten (happily!) how horrible it is to use dialup. However, for many places on this planet, high-speed connections simply are not available. For these folks, loading your page might take forever, and you can be sure they won't wait. Experts tell us that the average user spends only 7 seconds at a webpage before departing for greener pastures. If your sales page is still loading, no sale for you.
3. It takes time for you to figure out how and whether to use animations. This is time that would be better spent on writing more exciting and dynamic copy - copy that will turn a prospective customer into a real buyer. A smart business person will treat time as her most precious commodity and spend it on what is most likely to bring a sale.
4. Many of these animations are just downright annoying. I personally do not enjoy looking at screens that are twirling, whirling and blinking. Two particularly irritating animations are an inescapable message that follows up and down the left side of the page, regardless of where I'm looking, and "trails" that follow my mouse.
A huge majority of people feel the same, apparently. Sellers need to make it as easy as possible for people to buy, rather than throwing obstacles in the way.
Are there any occasions when animated pictures are of any value in an auction listing? Possibly. For example, if you are selling to graphic designers then animated elements might be appropriate. As always, testing, testing, testing is the only way to truly know.
But for the rest of us folks - forget the glitter and focus on your merchandise. That's what makes us buy.
About the Author: Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby. http://www.auction-genius-course.com
Next month I am going to have a chance to meet one of my ebay heros Sydney Johnston. Despite the Christian name Sydney is a charming lady who is responsible for getting me involved in ebay. Some years ago she and Ken Evoy of Site Sell fame produced a fantastic book called "Make Your Auction Sell". This was the very first book I read about eBay and it so inspired me that I began my own eBay business and as a result launched UK Auctionline.
Have a good month
Dave
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