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UK Auctionline Newsletter No. 55
Hello <$firstname$>
The last month has been a busy one for eBay and their sellers. In the middle of September we saw a protest and boycott from some of the UK’s eBay storeowners.
It is difficult to judge what if any effect it has had and to be honest I am not sure that there was much point to the action anyway but I will defend their right to do it.
In further reading this month I have include an article about the protests and also to balance the argument one about how one Store owner plans to overcome the hike in
Store fees and the fact that items will no longer come up on the general search feature.
Another interesting article in Extra Reading tells how a young Leeds couple were conned out of a mobile phone. It makes interesting reading and is a salutary lesson for all eBay sellers. Learn from their mistakes.
Back in 2003 when eBay drop off stores first started to appear in the USA I was sceptical about their viability. We are now 3 years on and we have seen a huge growth of these stores in the USA and some have even launched in the UK. Well to find out how they have done read the final article in Extra Reading.
Ebay have also launched eBay Express in what they call “Preview “ mode. So what exactly is eBay Express?
“eBay Express is the new Shopping site from eBay where you can buy brand new items instantly and get great service from professional sellers. It has all the choice and fun of eBay combined with a new way of finding the items you want to buy and an easy checkout function.” Quote from eBay community page.
It seems to me to be basically a shopping mall for new products with one advantage being that you can take items from a range of suppliers. Then instead of having to pay each seller individually you can make one payment to cover all your purchases.
At present only invited participants appear to be allowed but it will be open to all business sellers soon. EBay also promise to provide more details shortly and we should then be able to see where eBay Express will fir in to the overall picture.
News| eBay Uni – 3 New Dates
It is still not to late to book for ebay Universities ebevnt in Coventry this Saturday (14th October) There are 3 levels available, Nasic, Beyond Basic and the Top Sellers Course. For details go to eBay University
There are 2 other events planned before the end of the year at Manchester, (28th October) and Exeter (11th November). For more details and to book go to eBay University
Article: How to Pick Hot Items for eBay Auctions
By Monique Hawkins
So, you have a great collection of music albums from the 60’s era you want to give away. Maybe you have some antique music boxes you no longer can use, or maybe you even have some vintage jewellery. Whatever the case, you want to sell these items on eBay.
If this description fits you, then you are one of many people who are trying to start an eBay business and who spend a great deal of time trying to figure out what will sell best on eBay. Many of these people have elaborate systems for determining this information, and many others purchase expensive courses that teach them how to find this information as well. The fact is, none of that is necessary. Everything you need to know is right in front of you. Where? On the eBay website which is good news for you!
Here is what you need to do. Create an eBay account, which is free. After you do this, take a look at any category, and you will see the word “hot” beside some items. These items are not marked as hot sellers randomly. There is a method to the madness! Items only get marked as hot when there have been more than thirty bids placed on the. All you have to do is surf around the eBay website for a while to find an item that will do well. So, it would be a good idea just to spend some time wandering around eBay based on your interests.
Most power sellers agree that there is more to figuring out which items sell best than this. In fact, they claim that it is a science. A great way to start your search for items that will result in a successful auction in the future is to do research on the auctions that were successful in the past. You can view old listings that have completed at: http://listings.ebay.com
A new way to determine what items sell best on eBay is “eBay Marketplace Research.” Marketplace Research will allow you to view important statistical information on the buying trends at eBay. This product contains all of the data one could possibly ever need to determine how well or how poorly an item will do in an eBay auction. There is a small fee for using the eBay Marketplace Research tools, however.
Yet another tool that will be very useful in your quest for finding hot selling items for your eBay auctions is the listing of popular eBay search terms that is found on the site. This list can be found at: http://popular.ebay.com/. This list is divided into categories, which will make it easier to determine how popular your potential item may be.
Avoid the mistake of thinking that an item will do poorly, or that it will do well without doing your homework first. Some things sell for the highest prices, while items that would sell quickly in any other environment just sit there. Almost any eBay Power Seller will tell you that the key to a successful auction rests in the amount of research you put into the items you hope to sell. The lesson here is to research, research, research!
Starting a eBay business where you can sell your music albums, antique music boxes, vintage jewellery, or whatever you have does not have to be difficult. eBay provides you will all the tools you need to get started right! Why not begin today?
Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins
Established in May of 2005, http://www.My-Music-Box.com is a music box gift store specializing in music box products such as inlaid ballerina music boxes for ballerina rooms décor, whimsical carousel music boxes, and musical jewellery boxes. The company provides interesting information for music lovers of all ages. Owner Monique Hawkins is also the author of the blog “What You Never Knew About Music” http://whatyouneverknewaboutmusic.blogspot.com
Review: The Complete eBay Marketing System – Skip McGrath
In case you have not heard of him, Skip McGrath is one of the leading eBay sellers and writers in the USA. His auction sellers resource web site is one of the most visited eBay information sites in the world. So when Skip contacted me to say that he was revising his highly successful “Complete eBay Marketing System” for users of eBay.co.uk I could not wait to get my hands on a copy.
Despite being a large 4 ringed binder packed full of practical help and advise weighing over 2 kilos it arrived within a couple of days having been shipped from a fulfilment house in the UK.
I should have known better of Skip but I did wonder if his idea of revising it for the UK market was to just change the references from eBay.com, to eBay.co.uk. I should have known better. His daughter in law, Lisa who hails from Harrogate in North Yorkshire has helped him in revising the copy.
The System is divided into 5 Sections. EBay Business Basics, Creating and Launching Auctions, Advanced Listing and Selling Strategies and Product Acquisition. Also included are 5 appendices. AN auction checklist, UK Trade Show Calendar, US Trade Show Calendar , “Why eBay sellers fail” and “Whose in control?” Also include are 3 bonus CDs, the first containing resources and links, the second a collection of snappy auction photos for you to use and finally a cd containing 30 Niche Information Products for you to sell on eBay.
This completely revised 2006 edition makes enthralling reading and whether you are brand new to eBay or an experienced seller this eBay Marketing System can help you build and develop your business. If this system had been around when I first started I could have saved myself an awful lot of time, money and grief.
The Complete eBay Marketing System has only just become available in the UK and you can be one of the very first to own it. IT carries my recommendation and you can find out more about it by visiting The Complete eBay Marketing System
Article:The Secrets Of The Ebay Pre-Approved Bidder Auction
By W Smith
Ebay offers it’s members the facility to open an ebay shop. The advantage to doing this, is that items can be listed for less, however the disadvantage is that these items won’t appear in the regular search results.
Ebayers have developed a way round this, with what is known as the “pre-approved bidder” technique. This technique is often used by sellers wanting to build their selling feedback quickly, by listing 1p ebooks, with free shipping.
For example, you want to list 100 copies of the same ebook, in a buy it now (BIN) format for 1p each, with free shipping.
Firstly, ebay will not allow regular auction BIN items to be listed with a price less than 99p. But you can list them with a BIN price of 1p, if you list them in your ebay shop. It is also cheaper to list them in your shop.
So you’ve listed your 100 ebooks at 1p BIN, but they don’t appear in the search results.
The way round this is to now list a regular auction item for your ebook, with a starting bid of 1p, and in the description of your item, you put in a hyperlink that says “This auction open to pre-approved bidders only, click here for instant approval”.
When the buyer clicks on the link, it does nothing more than transfer them to the item in your store, where they will purchase the item from your BIN listing.
So that’s the secret of the “pre-approved bidders” auction. It’s all about saving money on listings, and finding a way round some of ebay’s restrictions.
An article from http://www.tradeco.co.uk the number one source of wholesalers and drop shippers
» Extra Reading
The State of eBay Drop-Off Stores
Couples Web of Fraud Ordeal
Protest ActionAgainsty eBay
Reworking Your eBay Store Strategy
Review: Holiday Auction Profits
There is no doubt that something happens on eBay at Christmas time. For some this can be the peak time for sales and they definitely end up bringing home the turkey, But for others Christmas time on eBay is just one big turkey, no one seems to want to buy their goods and the goose is most certainly is not getting fat.
So what does happen to buyers at Christmas? Is there anything you can do to boost your sales during the holiday period? Well according to Brett Pieratt in his e-book “Holiday Auction Profits” there most certainly is. His new e-book Holiday Auction Profits shows you exactly how to set your stall out to catch the Christmas trade.
The big secret lies in the planning and understanding what motivates buyers.
Brett says that after years of being a seller on eBay, he has finally discovered the “Golden Rule” — an almost magical secret — that gives sellers in the “know” an unfair advantage, allowing them to siphon more shoppers to their auctions and literally explode their profits. Some, he claims will even use this strategy to make all the money they need for the year by using my system for auctions they run through the 3 month period of October through December.
In fact he is so confident that he 100% guarantees that if you read his book and follow the instructions in it you will make a very minimum of $400 extra profit in the run up to Christmas. And he stresses that this is minimum profit.
So much for the hype, what does this e-book really do? For a start it will get you thinking of how to boost your holiday sales. It is full of good ideas and suggestions how you can make your auctions stand out.
For many sellers their products may not lend themselves to the festive treatment but in that case why not switch products for the few months before Christmas. If nobody is buying you range of upmarket sunglasses in November and December offer him or her products more related to the Christmas season.
I found this book well worth reading and it left me with quite a few ideas on how to boost my holiday sales. At 42 pages it is not the longest book I have ever read butI always prefer quality over quantity and there is some quality advise in the e-book an dit is well worth reading if you fancy making a killing over the holiday period.
To find out more visit
http://tinyurl.com/jbrgm
Article: Buying From Trade Fairs -Part 2
Last month we bought you the first part of an article about buying products to sell on eBay from trade fairs. Here is the second an dfinal part of that article.
Buying for eBay from Trade Fairs (Part 2)
The purpose of a Trade Fair is for companies to display their product range to buyers from all over the world. There could well be buyers attending from all the major stores, catalogue companies as well as thousands of independent business owners. These are professional people many who control very large budgets but equally so the lady who owns the local toy or gift shop will also be there to order stock for the coming year.
Normally it is not possible to buy anything from the Fair to take away that day. All orders made will be shipped to you at a later date. And of course there is no requirement for you to order anything on the day. The point of this visit is to make contacts and to view what is available. Whether you actually order anything on the day of your visit or just get the information and take it away to study is up to you. In many cases you will want to go home and carry out some research before actually placing an order.
In looking for products to sell on eBay you need to consider several factors.
Is it easy to pack?
Will it be expensive to ship?
Is it readily available elsewhere?
Which eBay category will it fit into?
Can you target a niche market with this product?
Some of the items that I have seen at the last Spring Fair, which I thought could, do well on eBay include:
Dolls Furniture and Accessories
Novelty Salt & Pepper sets
Pub related games and memorabilia
Reproduction Old Tin Advertising Signs
Paintings and Prints
Personalised Gifts
Software.
But you would spotted different items because you know your own niche markets and the kind of products that your customers will be interested in. And remember do not be over awed, although at most trade shows there will be large companies exhibiting there will also be small one or two people outfits who will be really keen to speak to you.
One of you big jobs on the day is to make contacts. For instance a few years ago at the Birmingham Show I met a guy who built small brass replica aircraft in a shed at the back of his house. A great product for eBay and on another occasion I met a guy who imported novelty salt and pepper sets from Thailand and since then I have sold hundreds of sets of these both on and off eBay.
Some companies will have minimum order values that will put their stock out of the range of many buyers, but you will be surprised at how small an initial order some companies will accept.
So why not go along to a trade show and who knows you could find yourself discovering ideal products to sell on eBay that no one else has discovered
» Dave’s Final Thoughts
Congratulations to Ray Fairbank who is the winner of lasts months competition. His entry was first of the correct entries out of the hat. He correctly said that the first item that Pierre Omidyar sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer. Well done Ray, if you would like to contact me I will ship your copy of the DVD “Ebay for Fun and Profit” to you.
If you were not lucky enough to win a copy you can purchase it from http://www.ebaydeveloper.com/.
Just before I go a quick reminder that we have added quite a few new articles to the web site at www.ukauctionline.co.uk so if you have not visited for a while you might find some new useful information on the site.
Until next month goodbye
Dave