So What's Your eBay Reputation Really Worth?
Your eBay reputation is everything you are on eBay - without it, you're nothing. Your reputation is worth as much as every sale you will ever make.
If you've ever bought anything on eBay (and the chances are you have), then think about your own behaviour. Buying from a seller with a low feedback rating makes you feel a little nervous and insecure, while buying from a PowerSeller with their reputation in the thousands doesn't require any thought or fear - it feels just like buying from a shop.
A Bad Reputation Will Lose You Sales.
In fact, a bad reputation will lose you almost all your sales. If someone leaves you negative feedback, you will feel the pain straight away, as that rating will go right at the top of your user page for everyone to see. Who's going to want to do business with you when they've just read that you "took a month to deliver the item", or that you had "bad communication and sent a damaged item"? The answer is no-one.
Your next few items will need to be very cheap things, just to push that negative down the page. You might have to spend days or even weeks selling cheap stuff to get enough positive feedback to make anyone deal with you again.
It's even worse if you consistently let buyers leave negative feedback - once you get below 90% positive ratings, you might as well be invisible.
You Can't Just Open a New Account.
Besides eBay's rules about only having one account, there are far more downsides than that to getting a new account. You literally have to start all over again from scratch.
You won't be able to use all the different eBay features. Your existing customers won't be able to find you any more. Your auctions will finish at a lower price because of your low feedback rating. Opening a new account is like moving to a new town to get away from a few people who are spreading rumours about you: it's throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
A Good Reputation Will Get You Sales.
When a PowerSeller tells me something, I tend to believe them. They can be selling a pretty unlikely item, but if they guarantee it is what they say it is, then I trust them - they're not going to risk their reputation, after all. This is the power of a reputation: people know you want to keep it, and they know you'll go to almost any lengths to do so.
This is true even to the point that I would sooner buy something for $20 from a seller I know I can trust than for $15 from someone with average feedback. It's worth the extra money to feel like the seller knows what they're doing, has all their systems in place and will get me the item quickly and efficiently.
You really will find selling on eBay so much easier, and there's only way to get a good reputation: make sure you please your customers every time. But some customers can be, well, just a little difficult to please.
To help build your own reputation, why not take a look at how a real eBay Powerseller goes about her business? Amanda O’Brien is a very successful eBay Powerseller and has released her book ‘£2,500 a week Secrets of a PowerSeller’ showing you ALL her secrets to how she achieves this. If you’re serious about eBay GO HERE to see how she does it.
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Sunday, 21 March 2010
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Haven't You Forgotten Something?
Selling on eBay – Have You Remembered to Pay your Fees?
If you've just started selling on eBay you're probably still finding your way around, and coming to terms with the ins and outs of how eBay works. Don't worry, there are people out there who have been selling on eBay for years who haven't mastered it all yet!
As you may know, eBay is the biggest open marketplace in the world, and as such it needs some sense of order to survive. Most of the rules and regulations are simple and straightforward, common sense in a way, and so are easy to understand and will help most people to achieve their goal of selling or buying on eBay.
One of the most important things to remember if you are selling on eBay is to pay your eBay Fees on time! It's such a simple thing to remember, but you would be amazed at how many people 'forget', or don't think it important enough, and have to be reminded. Many others wonder why it is so important.
Like all business's both large and small, eBay runs on a 'cash flow' basis. Without some sort of control over income and expenditure these businesses would struggle to survive. When you consider that eBay are dealing with literally millions of customers on a daily basis, it is easy to see that without control they could find themselves in deep do-dah.
There is usually a 'grace' period of a few days after the fees are due, but if you're serious about selling on eBay then don't go over this period. The first thing eBay will do if you ignore the deadline is to suspend your eBay account! You really don't want that to happen as you won't be able to carry out any further business until they say so.
You may, for example, have some auctions still running in which case they could well be cancelled, incurring additional costs to you and you don't need that do you? Not when there are so many different ways to make sure your eBay fees are always paid on time.
Did you know when you first set up your free eBay account you were given several options regarding the payment of fees? You could, for example, opt for having all your eBay fees deducted from your credit card, or make arrangements to pay by other means. If you aren't sure about any of this, then eBay will offer assistance through their help desk.
If you do decide to ignore all the advice and make your own arrangements, just make sure you never forget, or your fledgling business could come to an abrupt halt! Normally, if no prior arrangement is made such as mentioned, then eBay will invoice you when the fees are due. If this happens, pay up straight away, but why take the chance? What if the invoice doesn't reach you? What if you've gone on holiday or been taken ill? Is it worth taking the chance?
For more advice and tips on everything to do with eBay, including starting from scratch, why not take a look at a specialist book such as '£2,500 a week PowerSeller Secrets' by Amanda O'Brien. She shows you exactly how she managed to go from nothing to £2,500 a week selling on eBay. She tells you about all the mistakes she's made, so you don't have to make the same ones! That's kind isn't it?
If you've just started selling on eBay you're probably still finding your way around, and coming to terms with the ins and outs of how eBay works. Don't worry, there are people out there who have been selling on eBay for years who haven't mastered it all yet!
As you may know, eBay is the biggest open marketplace in the world, and as such it needs some sense of order to survive. Most of the rules and regulations are simple and straightforward, common sense in a way, and so are easy to understand and will help most people to achieve their goal of selling or buying on eBay.
One of the most important things to remember if you are selling on eBay is to pay your eBay Fees on time! It's such a simple thing to remember, but you would be amazed at how many people 'forget', or don't think it important enough, and have to be reminded. Many others wonder why it is so important.
Like all business's both large and small, eBay runs on a 'cash flow' basis. Without some sort of control over income and expenditure these businesses would struggle to survive. When you consider that eBay are dealing with literally millions of customers on a daily basis, it is easy to see that without control they could find themselves in deep do-dah.
There is usually a 'grace' period of a few days after the fees are due, but if you're serious about selling on eBay then don't go over this period. The first thing eBay will do if you ignore the deadline is to suspend your eBay account! You really don't want that to happen as you won't be able to carry out any further business until they say so.
You may, for example, have some auctions still running in which case they could well be cancelled, incurring additional costs to you and you don't need that do you? Not when there are so many different ways to make sure your eBay fees are always paid on time.
Did you know when you first set up your free eBay account you were given several options regarding the payment of fees? You could, for example, opt for having all your eBay fees deducted from your credit card, or make arrangements to pay by other means. If you aren't sure about any of this, then eBay will offer assistance through their help desk.
If you do decide to ignore all the advice and make your own arrangements, just make sure you never forget, or your fledgling business could come to an abrupt halt! Normally, if no prior arrangement is made such as mentioned, then eBay will invoice you when the fees are due. If this happens, pay up straight away, but why take the chance? What if the invoice doesn't reach you? What if you've gone on holiday or been taken ill? Is it worth taking the chance?
For more advice and tips on everything to do with eBay, including starting from scratch, why not take a look at a specialist book such as '£2,500 a week PowerSeller Secrets' by Amanda O'Brien. She shows you exactly how she managed to go from nothing to £2,500 a week selling on eBay. She tells you about all the mistakes she's made, so you don't have to make the same ones! That's kind isn't it?
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Keep your finger on the pulse for eBay profits
How to Profit from Other Peoples Sales on eBay.
If you're stuck about what to sell on eBay, or you can't make your mind up which product is the best, you can always 'piggy back' the success of other people currently selling on eBay.
What do you mean?
OK, what you need to do is to look at the 'hot' products currently selling well and see if you can sell the same or similar. If you can't find anything in your chosen 'niche', then look at other 'niches' and see what you can find. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different 'niche' categories and sub-categories you can look at in eBay, so have a look round and see what you can find.
Then what?
Knowing how to research what’s currently hot on eBay is the best way of picking the right product to sell. What you need to look for are products that are already selling well on eBay, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel. In other words, don’t try and introduce a new product.
Look at what others are selling successfully and then sell it yourself. If you know where to look to find the products that are flying out in huge quantities, all you have to do then is find a source for that product, list it and take a slice of the pie.
What about the competition?
It doesn’t matter. The trick is not only to look at what’s selling right now, and then source and sell a similar product, what you want is to go one better – that’s the way to eBay selling success!
Now, a better version of the product doesn’t necessarily mean an upgraded form of the same product either. Think laterally.
A better guarantee.
A better listing.
Added extra such as Fast Dispatch.
These are all things that can make your product seem ‘better’ to a potential buyer.
OK, tell me how I do it then
The research method I will show you goes by the name of eBay Pulse. It's a free tool which is in fact provided by eBay itself. But it’s surprising how few sellers know about this essential and extremely useful tool.
Using eBay Pulse, combined with other research methods, will allow you to easily find hot 'niches' and products that are good sellers on eBay with very little effort. I use it all the time and it’s the first place I look when I am researching new products and ideas.
How do I find it then?
Log in to your eBay account. Once logged in go to 'Site Map' at the bottom of the eBay home page. On the left hand side scroll down to 'More ways to find items' and look for 'eBay Pulse'.
Clicking on this will take you to the eBay Pulse page and near the top will be found 'Categories', Expand the list and look for your chosen category and click on it.
Now you will be faced with a list of the most popular searches within that category so you can go a step deeper in finding a good product to sell. Further down the page you will see a list of 'Most Watched Items', again from your chosen category. Look at this list and see if there's a product that you like there as well.
If you want actual sales figures for any of these products, click on the listing and look for 'sales' next to 'history'. You can now see exactly how many have been sold over what period of time. This should tell you if it's a good selling product or not.
By doing good research first on how well a product has been selling will ensure you choose something that you know will sell. So all you now need to do is source that product for as little as you can, do all your sums properly, do a brilliant listing and watch the sales come in!
To get more detailed knowledge of this and some of the other top strategies on getting the most from selling on eBay, have a look at Amanda O'Briens' £2,500 a week eBay Powerseller Secrets book. She really does go through literally everything you will ever need to know about selling on eBay. All the tips, tricks and strategies to make your experience of using eBay one to be proud of, and one to make you a lot of regular money. Check it out HERE now!
If you're stuck about what to sell on eBay, or you can't make your mind up which product is the best, you can always 'piggy back' the success of other people currently selling on eBay.
What do you mean?
OK, what you need to do is to look at the 'hot' products currently selling well and see if you can sell the same or similar. If you can't find anything in your chosen 'niche', then look at other 'niches' and see what you can find. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different 'niche' categories and sub-categories you can look at in eBay, so have a look round and see what you can find.
Then what?
Knowing how to research what’s currently hot on eBay is the best way of picking the right product to sell. What you need to look for are products that are already selling well on eBay, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel. In other words, don’t try and introduce a new product.
Look at what others are selling successfully and then sell it yourself. If you know where to look to find the products that are flying out in huge quantities, all you have to do then is find a source for that product, list it and take a slice of the pie.
What about the competition?
It doesn’t matter. The trick is not only to look at what’s selling right now, and then source and sell a similar product, what you want is to go one better – that’s the way to eBay selling success!
Now, a better version of the product doesn’t necessarily mean an upgraded form of the same product either. Think laterally.
A better guarantee.
A better listing.
Added extra such as Fast Dispatch.
These are all things that can make your product seem ‘better’ to a potential buyer.
OK, tell me how I do it then
The research method I will show you goes by the name of eBay Pulse. It's a free tool which is in fact provided by eBay itself. But it’s surprising how few sellers know about this essential and extremely useful tool.
Using eBay Pulse, combined with other research methods, will allow you to easily find hot 'niches' and products that are good sellers on eBay with very little effort. I use it all the time and it’s the first place I look when I am researching new products and ideas.
How do I find it then?
Log in to your eBay account. Once logged in go to 'Site Map' at the bottom of the eBay home page. On the left hand side scroll down to 'More ways to find items' and look for 'eBay Pulse'.
Clicking on this will take you to the eBay Pulse page and near the top will be found 'Categories', Expand the list and look for your chosen category and click on it.
Now you will be faced with a list of the most popular searches within that category so you can go a step deeper in finding a good product to sell. Further down the page you will see a list of 'Most Watched Items', again from your chosen category. Look at this list and see if there's a product that you like there as well.
If you want actual sales figures for any of these products, click on the listing and look for 'sales' next to 'history'. You can now see exactly how many have been sold over what period of time. This should tell you if it's a good selling product or not.
By doing good research first on how well a product has been selling will ensure you choose something that you know will sell. So all you now need to do is source that product for as little as you can, do all your sums properly, do a brilliant listing and watch the sales come in!
To get more detailed knowledge of this and some of the other top strategies on getting the most from selling on eBay, have a look at Amanda O'Briens' £2,500 a week eBay Powerseller Secrets book. She really does go through literally everything you will ever need to know about selling on eBay. All the tips, tricks and strategies to make your experience of using eBay one to be proud of, and one to make you a lot of regular money. Check it out HERE now!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
How to make Profits with Great Listings
It's not what you sell on eBay - it's the way you sell it!
It's vitally important to the success of your eBay selling that the way you describe your goods on your eBay listing is done to your best advantage. If you've ever scrolled through other peoples listings (which you should do regularly) you will have probably noticed that some are good and some are quite frankly awful!
If you put yourself in the position of a buyer looking for a particular product, and you see for example 3 listings for the same or similar products, how do you choose which one to buy? If the first one you see shows a photo of the product, has a reasonable description, but doesn't tell you too much about it, and doesn't really say what the delivery time or costs are, you would probably move onto the next one.
The second one looks a lot cheaper, but has no photo and the description given leaves a lot to be desired. It also looks as though it's been cobbled together by someone who doesn't care whether he sells it or not.
Now, if the third one has a photo with the listing and with the description, and also has a comprehensive description all set out properly, with any delivery costs and times shown, all methods of payment accepted, guarantee and returns policy in place, leaving no question unanswered, you'd be impressed wouldn't you? Even if the third listing was a little bit more in price, most people would probably go for that one. Why? For the simple reason that it answers all your questions BEFORE you ask them.
That's how YOUR listings should look. From the title to the payment method, your listings should be clear and concise, with easy to understand, and FULL descriptions complete with photos is a must. Take a little extra time when doing your description, take a pride in how it looks, after all it IS your sales page. Make your listing stand out from the rest - even ones selling the same products!
There are hundreds of free eBay auction templates available online these days, so hunt them down and use them. That way you can become destinctive, and it will save you time later on, as well as looking more professional. The use of various fonts and sizes, as well as subtle use of colours can do wonders for your listings. If you don't believe me, scroll through different eBay listings and see which ones stand out, and why.
If you're just selling one off items, or rare items without any real competition, then a standard listing description is normally fine. However, it gets more tricky to get noticed if you have a lot of competition, so you must work hard to be up there with the best. There's nothing wrong with copying the ideas from other successful sellers.
Don't copy them exactly of course, this can lead to all sorts of problems, but there's nothing to stop you copying their ideas. When you find one you really like,see how they constructed it, what font did they use, what size was it and more importantly what layout did they use? Anything that you think would be useful to you, make a note of and try it yourself.
To get more information on how to write your eBay listings properly, and get right down to all the nitty gritty of selling on eBay, why not check out Amanda's Powerseller Guide here. She goes through everything you will ever need to know about selling on eBay successfully. It really is a must have book and one no self respecting eBay seller should be without. GET IT HERE NOW
It's vitally important to the success of your eBay selling that the way you describe your goods on your eBay listing is done to your best advantage. If you've ever scrolled through other peoples listings (which you should do regularly) you will have probably noticed that some are good and some are quite frankly awful!
If you put yourself in the position of a buyer looking for a particular product, and you see for example 3 listings for the same or similar products, how do you choose which one to buy? If the first one you see shows a photo of the product, has a reasonable description, but doesn't tell you too much about it, and doesn't really say what the delivery time or costs are, you would probably move onto the next one.
The second one looks a lot cheaper, but has no photo and the description given leaves a lot to be desired. It also looks as though it's been cobbled together by someone who doesn't care whether he sells it or not.
Now, if the third one has a photo with the listing and with the description, and also has a comprehensive description all set out properly, with any delivery costs and times shown, all methods of payment accepted, guarantee and returns policy in place, leaving no question unanswered, you'd be impressed wouldn't you? Even if the third listing was a little bit more in price, most people would probably go for that one. Why? For the simple reason that it answers all your questions BEFORE you ask them.
That's how YOUR listings should look. From the title to the payment method, your listings should be clear and concise, with easy to understand, and FULL descriptions complete with photos is a must. Take a little extra time when doing your description, take a pride in how it looks, after all it IS your sales page. Make your listing stand out from the rest - even ones selling the same products!
There are hundreds of free eBay auction templates available online these days, so hunt them down and use them. That way you can become destinctive, and it will save you time later on, as well as looking more professional. The use of various fonts and sizes, as well as subtle use of colours can do wonders for your listings. If you don't believe me, scroll through different eBay listings and see which ones stand out, and why.
If you're just selling one off items, or rare items without any real competition, then a standard listing description is normally fine. However, it gets more tricky to get noticed if you have a lot of competition, so you must work hard to be up there with the best. There's nothing wrong with copying the ideas from other successful sellers.
Don't copy them exactly of course, this can lead to all sorts of problems, but there's nothing to stop you copying their ideas. When you find one you really like,see how they constructed it, what font did they use, what size was it and more importantly what layout did they use? Anything that you think would be useful to you, make a note of and try it yourself.
To get more information on how to write your eBay listings properly, and get right down to all the nitty gritty of selling on eBay, why not check out Amanda's Powerseller Guide here. She goes through everything you will ever need to know about selling on eBay successfully. It really is a must have book and one no self respecting eBay seller should be without. GET IT HERE NOW
Monday, 9 November 2009
Small Tweaks can mean Bigger Profits
How to Profit on eBay - 5 Small Tweaks to Boost Your Sales
Have you ever wondered if there's anything else you can do to get more sales on eBay? Do you see your competition getting ahead of you, and think there must be something I can do to catch up, or even overtake them?
You may think your eBay listings are as good as you can make them - but are they? Here are a few things you can try that may be enough to boost your sales and get you back in the mix. They're only small things, but as they say 'all good things come in small parcels!'
1. Listing Titles. Have you ever noticed how some people use CAPITALS for ALL their words in a Listing on eBay? There's a school of opinion that it's 'not the done thing', and may even be a form of 'shouting' as in text speak. On the other hand, some studies have shown an increase of around 20% in hits using all capitals, so it may well be worth trying.
2. White Space. If you have a long listing describing your item in detail (which you should have by the way), make sure you have plenty of 'white space'. Use short paragraphs with double spacing between each and let the 'dog see the rabbit', i.e. your detailed description should be read easily. Readers get bored very quickly with long text and will leave.
3. Scrolling Galleries. If you use a scrolling gallery to showcase your products (it's a great idea if you have lots to sell), then you probably use something like 'Auctiva' or 'Vendio'. Make sure the scrolling gallery is sited at the bottom of your listing so you don't distract from the item you're currently selling.
4. Auction Templates Do you use auction templates for your listings? If you do then make sure the template you choose is relevant to your business. Also choose a template where the photos are either on the left or the right, and not top or bottom. This way your potential buyer can see your photos as they scroll through your listing. Tests have shown this can improve the selling rate by as much as 15%.
5. Shipping and Returns. Although eBay give you a box to enter your shipping and returns policies, try putting them at the bottom of your description. Most people (me included) always like to know the details of these things before clicking any buttons. I like to know the shipping method and cost etc don't you?
These may only be small things, but if you're struggling a little bit give them a try. An improved click rate of 15% here or 20% there may be just what you want!
If even these tips don't work, and you want to start all over again from the beginning, have a look at 'Secrets of an Ebay Powerseller' by Amanda O'Brien. She will show you how to earn between £350 - £2,500 a week selling on eBay. Starting from scratch she shows exactly what you have to do, what products to sell, how to list properly, what profit margins to look for - literally EVERYTHING you will ever need to know. It's a proper book too, so you can have it next to you as you do it! Get your copy HERE NOW and live the dream.
Have you ever wondered if there's anything else you can do to get more sales on eBay? Do you see your competition getting ahead of you, and think there must be something I can do to catch up, or even overtake them?
You may think your eBay listings are as good as you can make them - but are they? Here are a few things you can try that may be enough to boost your sales and get you back in the mix. They're only small things, but as they say 'all good things come in small parcels!'
1. Listing Titles. Have you ever noticed how some people use CAPITALS for ALL their words in a Listing on eBay? There's a school of opinion that it's 'not the done thing', and may even be a form of 'shouting' as in text speak. On the other hand, some studies have shown an increase of around 20% in hits using all capitals, so it may well be worth trying.
2. White Space. If you have a long listing describing your item in detail (which you should have by the way), make sure you have plenty of 'white space'. Use short paragraphs with double spacing between each and let the 'dog see the rabbit', i.e. your detailed description should be read easily. Readers get bored very quickly with long text and will leave.
3. Scrolling Galleries. If you use a scrolling gallery to showcase your products (it's a great idea if you have lots to sell), then you probably use something like 'Auctiva' or 'Vendio'. Make sure the scrolling gallery is sited at the bottom of your listing so you don't distract from the item you're currently selling.
4. Auction Templates Do you use auction templates for your listings? If you do then make sure the template you choose is relevant to your business. Also choose a template where the photos are either on the left or the right, and not top or bottom. This way your potential buyer can see your photos as they scroll through your listing. Tests have shown this can improve the selling rate by as much as 15%.
5. Shipping and Returns. Although eBay give you a box to enter your shipping and returns policies, try putting them at the bottom of your description. Most people (me included) always like to know the details of these things before clicking any buttons. I like to know the shipping method and cost etc don't you?
These may only be small things, but if you're struggling a little bit give them a try. An improved click rate of 15% here or 20% there may be just what you want!
If even these tips don't work, and you want to start all over again from the beginning, have a look at 'Secrets of an Ebay Powerseller' by Amanda O'Brien. She will show you how to earn between £350 - £2,500 a week selling on eBay. Starting from scratch she shows exactly what you have to do, what products to sell, how to list properly, what profit margins to look for - literally EVERYTHING you will ever need to know. It's a proper book too, so you can have it next to you as you do it! Get your copy HERE NOW and live the dream.
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