August 31, 2005
The Rich Jerk
Have you heard about the Rich Jerk?
I'll give you a warning about him later, I wasn't even sure I should mention him.
He's an internet marketing millionaire who has developed a lot of tactics for creating income from web sites and affiliate programs. (He recently sold a web site of his on eBay for an amazing $369,000)
And like a lot of other "gurus" he just wrote an eBook about his methods.
That's where the similarities end.
Because the Rich Jerk's book talks about some very controversial tactics. Like "black hat" search engine cloaking. And questionable rebate tactics. Stuff I wouldn't personally use.
But...
He also reveals tips for Pay Per Click advertising that will work wonders in competitive keyword situations. He talks about how to structure "review" sites that promote ClickBank products for maximum profits.
He offers great advice for eBayers looking for quality drop shippers, and how to avoid scams.
I have to admit that I learned many tactics and ideas that I have never heard before in any of the seminars I have attended nor any of the eBooks and courses I have read.
He's got some great ideas on PPC arbitrage and using low-cost keywords and search engines to make money with AdSense.
He's also got some solid search engine optimization strategies to get any site ranked higher.
This is not a "comprehensive guide" type book. It is not for complete beginners who still need to learn the basics.
Consider it a "tactics resource", any one of which could pay back the cost of the book many times over. There is zero fluff in this book. Every page holds ideas that could help your sites do better, whether you have your own product or not.
-- The Warning --
And now here's the warning. The salesletter and the book are obnoxious. This guy is so full of himself and his success that it almost makes you want to find out who he is and cut him down a peg.
I don't know if this is part of his marketing schtick for the book or if he really is that way. (My guess is that it's the marketing because in a couple of emails to me, he came across as a normal, polite guy.)
Personally, I can separate the delivery style from the content because the content is that good.
But if you don't have a thick skin, don't bother to visit the link:
On the other hand, if you want to learn some secrets that are extremely effective, I can guarantee you will find them here.
The Rich Jerk is nor for everyone. In fact, it's appeal is limited to those who can get past the style and focus on the substance. But the fact is, there is a boatload of tactical knowledge in this book. I know it has already helped me.
Crank up your Ego Filter and have a look: The Rich Jerk
Jeff Mulligan
CBMall
SearchFeast
Posted by auction at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2005
Get Paid By eBay!
Did you know...
EBay.com pays its top 100 affiliates an average of $25,OOO per month each!?
WOW!
That means there are 100 people doing nothing but sending some traffic to eBay and cashing in every time some of that traffic signs up for an eBay account or even places a bid on an auction. Hundreds of thousand of other affiliates are making a very nice side income from one the hottest trends in the world - eBay.com.
Sound interesting? How can you easily tap into this even WITHOUT running auctions?
Using cj.com you can easily join the eBay affiliate program for free and begin advertising for eBay - and get paid for it. Most people know this already.
But, did you know that you can use your cj.com affiliate links to send traffic to ANY page on eBay? This includes your own auction listings OR the eBay auctions of others. Since eBay pays you every time you send them a new customer you can start making some pretty easy cash just by using paid advertising (Adsense, Overture etc.) to send traffic through your affiliate links to ANY page on eBay.
After you get your traffic to eBay leave the selling to eBay. It's a simple system, but there is a learning curve as well as a few insider tips that will get you rolling quickly.
Posted by auction at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
An Introduction To eBay Consignment
By Terry Gibbs
After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought. They knew I could get more money for them on eBay than they could get selling the items themselves. An added incentive to them was I did all the work. All they had to do is say "I don't want this anymore, sell it for me;" and within a few weeks I converted their castoffs into cash.
I was already selling on eBay, and I had developed a system for listing and dealing with sales that allowed me to list lots of items in a short time. The chance to make a few dollars without any investment was too much to pass up. I made some good money doing this and because I didn't have to tie up my money buying inventory I was able to use it to grow my train business.
Consignment Selling Is The Perfect Way To Start Your Own eBay Business.
There are no set up fees or investments. You won't need to risk your own money buying items to resell. You don't need a detailed knowledge of antiques and collectibles. You only need to know how to find the right category, write an adequate description and take some high quality photos.
Selling on consignment allows you to learn about antiques and collectibles without risking your own money. By selling other people's items you learn the value of items in the most practical way. By handling them and selling them. No matter how many price guides you read, and antique shows you attend, you will never get the feel for items until you sell them.
When you sell on consignment, you provide a service that makes your clients additional money. When most people sell something, they sell to a dealer who needs to mark up the item to make a profit. This is not what happens on eBay.
On eBay the END USER is the buyer and will always pay more than a dealer would. Even after paying a consignment fee, the seller makes more money.
This is the true benefit of eBay consignment selling. Finding the END USER. Before eBay this was a difficult and daunting process. With eBay, a simple listing placed in the correct category, with a good description and some high quality photos, is enough to get a few END USERS to fight over the item.
Things You Need To Succeed With Consignment Sales:
You need to take possession of the items. When you sell items on consignment you risk your eBay name and reputation. You take these risks when you sell your own items, but you are in complete control of your actions. In order to lower your risks you need to get complete control of the items you are going to be selling. This prevents sellers from changing their minds, and allows you to ship the items as soon as you receive payment.
You should always have a written contract. One of my friends was sued by a consignor who felt the commission was too high. The consignor agreed to pay 20 percent of the selling price, then when the item sold for $8500, got upset about paying $1700 to someone for doing 30 minutes of work. While my friend won in court, it would never have gotten to court if he had a written contract.
You'll also need to perfect ways to get items. At first your friends and co-workers will provide you with a good stream of salable items. After a while this stream will dwindle and you will need to go out and find consignors. This is not as difficult as it may seem. Remember, by consigning with you, the seller gets more money than they would otherwise.
Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles
Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.
Posted by auction at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
eBay Price Points
by Janiece Smith
I’m asked a lot of questions about eBay, but one that I am asked more often than others has me thinking:
Once I am in contact with a supplier, how do I determine whether the product pricing is good enough to make a profitable return?”
Although this is an easily misunderstood factor, it is very easy to explain and understand. It breaks down to knowing the price points for each particular product.
It is crucial for any eBay seller to research price points before making a final decision on which products to sell. Price points are an important part of your research because the price for which items sell and the price for which you’re able to obtain them will directly affect the products you decide to sell.
Price points are divided into three categories:
- The price for which you can obtain the product
- The price for which the item is typically listed on eBay
- The price for which the item is typically sold on eBay
Price Point One: Your Cost
The first price point obviously is not very difficult to figure out, because more than likely your supplier is going to tell you how much the product will cost you. However, this number is needed during your research because you use this number as your constant––meaning that this number will not change.
Price Point Two: Average List Price
The price for which the item is typically listed on eBay is important because this gives you an idea of what others selling the same product most likely are spending on it. This is particularly important to you because you need to purchase your products at a price that allows you to be competitive with other eBay businesses.
If you research this price point and find that the majority of sellers are listing the product far below you, you can assume you will not be able to compete with this seller. However, if you find the average list price of the item is within the range for which you can obtain the product, then this just might be a good deal for you to move forward on.
Please remember, there are sellers out there who have a different philosophy about list price. For example, some sellers list an item at $0.01 and “hope” it gets bid to a profitable amount or they put a reserve price on it. My opinion and experience is that this is not so wise. My advice about Price Point Two is to research those other sellers who are listing their items at prices that, if sold, will obviously realize a profit.
Note: Be sure to refer to my last article A Scientific Method To Ensure Your Products Will Sell On eBay about comparing apples to apples. You do not want to focus on the garage sale sellers but rather on the business sellers. Someone who is trying to sell the Armani suit he no longer wears isn’t going to list this used suit for the same price someone like you or I will who is obtaining the suit for resale purposes only.
Price Point Three: Average Sell Price
The price for which the items typically are selling after all bids are in is not as important as the other two points because we’ve already done our research, which was based on making a profit with the list price.
However, this price point can be very helpful for you in determining the following important factors:
How much leeway you have in working with your list price, your overall monthly profit and what you can expect, and how much listing volume you will need to meet your monthly profit goal.
Note: As I mentioned in my previous article, be sure to always compare and research your price points within the active auctions and completed auctions. By researching eBay’s past and present auctions, you’re able to obtain information on your product of interest and minimize your chances of making a money-losing decision.
To Your eBay Success,
Janiece Smith
ExpressProfitsOnline
Posted by auction at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2005
Taking PayPal on eBay
By Terry Gibbs
Accepting PayPal as a payment method might increase your selling prices and your profits. This depends on what you are selling. I sell collectibles to collectors. My clients are like junkies. They will buy regardless of the payment options, so not offering PayPal won't make much difference in the final selling prices.
If you sell items with high competition, accepting Paypal will make your auctions more attractive. This also holds true for impulse buys. Plus, you can get paid instantly through PayPal.
Here's a few suggestions for increasing your eBay profits by accepting PayPal:
Select accept PayPal in the auction listing process to get the PayPal logo into your auction. You can put in the auction description that you accept PayPal, but unless you use the PayPal logo some buyers will miss this Payment choice. Many buyers look specifically for the logo and expect to find it in certain areas of the auction listing.
If you only accept bank account transfers, and do not accept credit card payments through paypal be sure to mention this in your auction description and the payment types area. Even after you mention this, you will get credit card payments from some PayPal users. This causes confusion with buyers.
One problem that may come up is your shipping schedule. I ship once a week. Some eBay buyers feel that I should drop everything and go to the post office as soon as they send me money through Paypal. This used to cause problems.
Now when a buyer sends me money, I quickly email him and tell him when to expect his item. Because I ship on Thursday or Friday, I can tell them their item will be delivered by the next Tuesday, if not earlier. Instead of telling the buyer I will ship the item on Friday, I tell them to expect it on Monday. This changes the buyer's focus from when I will ship to when they will get the item.
One last thing before I finish up. I recommend eBay sellers use guarantees. If you take a credit card through PayPal, and later refund the buyer's money, you will be out the PayPal fees if the refund is done more than 30 days after the initial transaction. You need to require your buyer to return the item quickly.
Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution" and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles
Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.
Posted by auction at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2005
Nine Simple eBay Selling Hints
By Terry Gibbs
Some of these eBay hints will save you money, others will result in higher prices. Either way, these will help you run more profitable eBay auctions.
Write a simple description and do not clutter your auction with unneeded items like animated Gifs, and colored backgrounds. Remember, you are selling not entertaining.
Charge a flat rate for shipping, and mention the shipping costs prominently within your auction description.
Write a title that accurately describes your item. Use manufacturers name and model number within the title if applicable.
Write a detailed description that allows prospective bidders to make a decision about purchasing the item. A basic tip is the description can never be too long as long as it is describing the item.
Include large clear photographs. Invest in some lights and a quality camera. Your investment will pay for itself in higher eBay selling prices within only a few auctions.
Host your own pictures. By hosting your own pictures, you will save money, and, more importantly, be able to use as many pictures as you need to adequately show eBay bidders your item. This is the simplest thing to do, and yet 70 percent of eBay sellers ignore this simple tip.
Optimize your images for the web. Many sellers use the highest resolution settings on their cameras and generate huge files that download very slowly. Computer monitors only show 72DPI, any extra detail is just a waste of the bidder's time.
List your item in the most appropriate category. Many buyer's only search eBay by looking at listings within categories. If you are not in the right eBay category you will not be seen by lots of potential bidders and you item may end up selling for less than it's worth.
Systemize your eBay selling. Using a system to sell on eBay will lower the amount of time spent selling each item, and insure you don't forget any important activities.
The Auction Revolution explains all of these hints in greater detail.
Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles LLC
Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.
Posted by auction at 07:24 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2005
Protecting Your eBay Business
I frequently get emails from readers saying their eBay accounts have been suspended for no apparent reason. Usually I think to myself the complainers are being less than honest, and probably violated some eBay rules. Earlier this week, Terry Gibbs sent out a newsletter explaining these are really "server errors" by eBay.
Terry is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. He is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Terry has taught tens of thousands of people how to use eBay, and his Auction Revolution package is not only one of the best eBay manuals around, but teaches readers how to remove the dependence on eBay and create a robust online business.
Anyway you put it, Terry knows his stuff.
His article explains how the problem occurs and how to lessen the damage in case this happens to you. I got permission from Terry to send you the article.
Protecting Your eBay Business
This is a quick note to help you protect yourself from a problem in eBay's system.
There is a post on the IWantCollectibles board about an eBay suspension. The problem turned out to be a "system error."
I thought this was an odd event, but over the past few weeks I have gotten emails from other readers saying their eBay accounts had been suspended for no apparent reason.
A note here. I am talking about REAL suspensions. Not the fraudulent emails we are all familiar with. These emails are DIFFERENT from the common spoof emails. They do not contain links in them, or ask for any input or response.
Spoof emails are attempts by scammers to steal your eBay account. They are designed to get you to click on a link and give a third party pretending to be eBay your account information. Real eBay suspension emails do not have links to any site within them.
To protect yourself, if you get an email that claims your account has been suspended, send it to spoof@ebay.com. eBay will respond almost immediately with information about spotting spoof emails, and then follow up with a confirmation if the email is a fake.
Check your account status by going to eBay and doing a search for your user name as a bidder or seller under advanced search. Do not use links within the email, instead go directly to eBay.com
I have had reports of spoof emails without links. These always have attachments. The attachment is a virus that changes your computer's internal settings so you end up on a fake eBay site when you go to eBay.
You can tell if you are not on eBay by looking at the address bar. The address is always something.eBay.com. There should be nothing between the eBay and the com except a period. Fake eBay websites will have addresses like ebay.something.com
Anyway, back to the erroneous eBay suspensions.
All of them report difficulty dealing with eBay and then after two to four weeks of emails back and forth getting a message like this:
"It appears that your account was suspended due to a system error that has been corrected. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that this unfortunate incident will not be repeated ....."
However this is being repeated. Not the same accounts, but to accounts at random.
In fact, this morning I got an email from eBay telling me one of my accounts has been suspended.
Here's the email:
Dear (EBAY USER NAME)
We regret to inform you that your eBay account has been suspended due to concerns we have for the safety and integrity of the eBay community.
Per the User Agreement, Section 9, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us.
Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes the registering of a new account.
Please note that any seller fees due to eBay will immediately become due and payable. eBay will charge any amounts you have not previously disputed to the billing method currently on file.
Regards,
Safeharbor Department
eBay, Inc.
At this point you are probably wondering why I am telling you this.
This is a warning.
This could happen to you.
Think about it. The first person to bring this to my attention lost six weeks worth of sales. Some of the others managed to get the problem resolved in as little as two weeks. Some are still having problems after three or four weeks.
Can you afford to lose your income for two weeks or a month?
I doubt it.
I lucked out because this is not my selling account. In fact, the suspended account hasn't been used for bidding or selling in over a year. I can keep selling on my other accounts.
Do you have backup eBay accounts?
If you don't, you need to create additional accounts now. You have to have the second eBay account set up before you are suspended. I use different accounts for buying and selling. If I had "system error" problems with a selling account, I could easily switch my sales to a buying account.
I might lose some sales if eBay cancelled auctions as a result of the suspension, but I could quickly relist the items under a different account.
Because I already have the accounts set up and use them for buying they have feedback. They are ready to go. All I need to do to start selling on them is upgrade the buying account into a selling account by entering a credit card number.
If you still only have one eBay account, you need to create another account now. And start using it.
You need to create a second account, and then bid or even better buy something with it.
This is important because eBay will purge your account if you set it up, and do not use it within a month or so. They do not say this anywhere in their rules, but a few of the accounts I have set up, and then not used have been dropped.
You should do this now so you can minimize the damage if eBay pulls a "system error" problem on you.
Because eBay makes it difficult to create a second account, there is a page of instructions on IWantCollectibles telling you how to create an eBay account when you already have one.
After you have set up a second eBay account, you should start learning other ways to protect your business. In The Auction Revolution, you'll learn how to create multiple streams of income. The auction revolution is a blue print for leveraging your eBay business into a robust online business. The first half of the manual teaches you everything about eBay. The second half shows you how to remove your dependence on eBay. You can read more about the Auction Revolution here.
Terry
Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.
PS. A great way to find out what you can learn from Terry is to take the eBay sellers quiz. This short quiz will help you earn more money in your eBay auctions. Check your eBay knowledge now.
Posted by auction at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
An eBay Store In Your Future?
New Study Reveals 724,000 Americans Rely on eBay Sales for Income
Entrepreneurs in record numbers are setting up shop on eBay, according to a new survey conducted for eBay by ACNielsen International Research, a leading research firm. More than 724,000 Americans report that eBay is their primary or secondary source of income. In addition to these professional eBay sellers, another 1.5 million individuals say they supplement their income by selling on eBay, according to the July 2005 survey.
In the first six months of 2005, eBay members in the U.S. sold merchandise worth approximately $10.6 billion.
In order to support this growing economic force, eBay and the United States Postal Service have teamed to create an innovative educational opportunity that brings online selling expertise and experience to neighborhoods across the country: the eBay Day Small Business Tour. eBay sellers overwhelmingly use the Postal Service for their shipping needs.
Based on the results of the new ACNielsen International Research survey, the number of eBay entrepreneurs in the U.S. has increased 68 percent since the last time a comparable study was conducted in 2003. That study indicated that 430,000 Americans at the time were making some or all of their income selling on eBay.
"eBay's impact on job creation in the U.S. has been tremendous, and the health of our nation's economy depends on employment," said James K. Glassman, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, who has analyzed the survey results. "A considerable amount of jobs have been created and enabled through eBay in the last few years, making it an important employment creation engine that many never considered just five years ago. The potential for entrepreneurs to realize success through eBay is significant."
eBay Day Small Business Tour with U.S. Postal Service
The eBay Day Small Business Tour provides free, fun and informative events, hands-on training, resources and education for entrepreneurs at U.S. Post Offices in eight cities during the next eight weeks.
"In just 10 years, eBay has become the destination for Americans pursuing their visions of entrepreneurship," said Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America. "We're proud to play a central role in small business development in the U.S. and around the world. Teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service, we're now bringing the eBay opportunity to people right where they live. It's exciting to think that many of them will go on to build thriving businesses, create jobs and fuel their local economies – while achieving the satisfaction of turning their vision into reality."
Attendees will receive one-to-one advice from eBay education specialists on how to build their business, and attend presentations to learn about selling on eBay and shipping products to customers using the U.S. Postal Service. The dean of eBay education and author of The Official eBay Bible, Jim Griffith, will be available in select markets to share tips and tricks.
In addition, there will be experts on hand from Entrepreneur Magazine, giving aspiring small business owners advice and insights to help them turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. "We are committed to continuing a long history of helping small business owners succeed by making it easier for them to take advantage of the Postal Service's mailing options to maximize their business opportunities," said John E. Potter, United States Postmaster General and CEO. "Hundreds of thousands of people have come to eBay to make a living and to start their own businesses. We are delighted to help them grow by offering a variety of shipping and business solutions."
Additional survey findings include:
- 58 percent of Americans say they've dreamed of starting a business and becoming their own boss.
- The most common reason for wanting to start a business is to increase one's personal income (66 percent of respondents), followed by increased independence (63 percent).
- The primary barriers to starting a business are insufficient financial resources (cited by 49 percent of respondents), and satisfaction with their current situation (29 percent).
The eBay Day Small Business Tour will visit major U.S. cities this summer, including:
- Bethesda, MD (July 20-21)/Baltimore, MD (July 22)
- Minneapolis, MN (July 27-29)
- Milwaukee, WI (August 3-5)
- Kansas City, MO (August 10-12)
- Phoenix, AZ (August 17-19)
- Denver, CO (August 24-26)
- Atlanta, GA (August 31 - September 2)
- Miami, FL (September 14-16)
The events will take place at local post offices in each city. In each market, the traveling eBay "Sell-It-Ship-It" bus workshop, and the "Home Office Lab," a mobile home office set-up, will be stationed outside of the post offices to provide presentations, information, and guidance. And a customer service booth will offer in-person answers to general questions about selling on eBay and shipping with the USPS. Entrepreneurs and small business owners will learn how to package a product, insure it, label it and ship it using a number of products from the Postal Service that include scheduling a carrier pickup at no extra charge.
For more information about the USPS and eBay small business tour, visit www.ebay.com/ebayday.
Posted by auction at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2005
About eBay
Founded in September 1995, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is The World's Online Marketplace® for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and small businesses. Today, the eBay community includes more than a hundred million registered members from around the world. People spend more time on eBay than any other online site, making it the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.
- Mission
eBay's mission is to provide a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.
- Marketplace
On an average day, there are millions of items listed on eBay. People come to eBay to buy and sell items in thousands of categories from collectibles like trading cards, antiques, dolls, and housewares to practical items like used cars, clothing, books and CDs, and electronics. Buyers have the option to purchase items in an auction-style format or items can be purchased at a fixed price through a feature called Buy It Now.
People from all over the world buy and sell on eBay. Currently, eBay has local sites that serve Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, eBay has a presence in Latin America through its investment MercadoLibre.com.
eBay offers a wide variety of educational tools, features, and services that enable members to buy and sell on the site quickly, safely, and conveniently. These services include online payments by PayPal, tips on safe trading, and the Developers Program for community members who would like to develop their own technology solutions.
Posted by auction at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)
