What kind of seller are you?

I’ve been thinking about the many different aspects of eBay and how there are so many levels to participate on. It is interesting to me how eBay has provided such an opportunity for so many who want to work from home – and as I was thinking about this, I noticed that sellers really fall into three different categories:

Hobby sellers - those who sell here and there… they might be interested in making a profit; however, they don’t really depend on an income from anything they sell on eBay. They use it to get rid of their children’s outgrown clothes or things they don’t need anymore.

Business sellers - these sellers have built a business selling on eBay. They have a system in place and they use it to bring in the income they depend on.

Marketing sellers – These sellers use eBay as a marketing tool to grow their (other) business(es). They list occasionally – but, the purpose is to harness eBay traffic to drive it to their business sites. The idea really isn’t too far from how people use google to drive traffic.

What do you think? What kind of seller are you? What kind of seller would you like to be?

The dead zone… it’s coming

If you are selling children’s clothing/items… you have probably noticed a slump in sales. If you haven’t, it is coming. After Halloween, the season for selling holiday clothing is very short. Most parents are already getting their Christmas portraits taken for holiday cards (unless you are not “most parents” like me ;-) The next selling season is for spring items and it starts in late January.

So – what do you do during this slow time?

Plan! This is the perfect time plan for the next selling season so you are ready to go.  If you are a new seller, sometimes it can take a while to get into a groove and find what works for you… Now is the time!

Inventory: If you don’t have inventory yet – a great place to look is the thrift shop. MANY people donate unused items… especially at the end of the year so they can take advantage of the tax benefits. If you already have inventory, it is likely stored. Pull out all your spring and summer stuff and sort it. I like to sort by size so I can pull together outfits and sets/lots.

Picture: Go ahead and start picturing your items. Sorting and picturing take the most time because, if you don’t have a special set up that is up all the time, you have to pull everything out every time you go to picture some items.

List: You can even get your listings done! I use TurboLister and although I don’t pay the extra to schedule my listings, I do get them all ready and then just push some to auction once I’m ready to go. Turbo List is a free program from eBay. Another absolutely amazing program is Auction TNT – They are offering a $1 trial here: www.jennihunt.com/recommends/auctiontnt.htm 

The more you do now – the less you’ll have to do once the selling season… I know the holidays can keep everyone super busy – but, you’ll be super happy later even if you do a little bit now.

[I should mention that if you are selling toys this holiday season - the season is just about to begin! You can learn more about selling toys at www.holidaytoyguide.com]

Give your eBay business some Moo!

I just discovered these very cool mini-moo-cards and had to share…

You are probably wondering what in the world Moo… mini-cards… eBay… What?!?

See, a great way to build customer loyalty (as well as your own brand) is to include a business card or postcard with the packages you send out to customers. These Moo-minicards are perfect for that – and cheap too! You can upload your own images and put up to 6 lines of text on the back… they end up looking very professional and are a nice addition to your package.

Whether you end up using Moo minicards or another service… be sure you are using it as a marketing tool to encourage repeat business from your customer. Make a cool graphic that looks like a fun coupon and use it on the image side of the minicard. The coupon could be something like, “Free Shipping on your next order”… or “Save 10% on your next winning bid!” On the text side of the minicard be sure to include important information like your eBay ID… store name… and url.

As I was browsing through the site – so many ideas came to mind as to how these cool could be used to market a business! I can’t wait to get my order… and we’ll probably get some with pictures of the kids on them to put in our Christmas cards this year too!

It’s your turn… How would you use minicards?

Selling toys on eBay

Can you believe Christmas is right around the corner? Every year it comes faster and faster – and although it is my favorite time of year… it always sneaks up on me. I love decorating and celebrating with my little ones – but, I have also come to look forward to one of the absolute hottest seasons on eBay! Many markets come to a stand still during the holiday months; however, on eBay… toys are hotter than ever!

This will be the 4th year I have published the Holiday Toy Selling Guide - and every year I am amazed at this incredible opportunity for sellers. Seriously – it blows me away. Most people are spending the holidays looking for toys for the little people in their life – and when the shelves run out in the stores… many turn to eBay. And why not? – it is one of the most visited sites in the world! The question is – are you going to get in on the action? :-)

The selling season is very short for toys during the holidays – it lasts maybe 8 weeks… but, it can be so profitable. .. and it isn’t just for established sellers either! A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from someone whose 14 year old daughter used my guide to make $1700 her first 2 weeks selling on eBay! And she was a new seller too. The opportunity is there… but nothing will come if you don’t act. If you have been sitting on the fence – thinking about selling on eBay – this is the time!

Here are a few pointers for getting started selling toys this holiday season…

1. Don’t be deceived by the recalls…
We have all heard about the recalls this year – and although it may scare some of the toy shoppers this season… I don’t think it means that people are going to be staying away from toys all together. Analysts are saying that toys are still going to be one of the biggest sellers this season – they just might shift from what was expected to be hot a few months ago.

2. Research what’s hot…
Because the season is short, there really isn’t time for trial and error. Pay attention to the media – and if you have kids in your life… pay attention to what they are interested in too. After you have a list of what you think may be the hottest sellers, spend some time researching on eBay to see how these toys are performing. Do this regularly – because what is not a hot seller this week… may be through the roof next.

3. Save your receipts…
and become very familiar with your stores’ return policies. Stores have cracked down with their return policies – so be sure you don’t have any surprises if you end up at their return counter trying to return something that didn’t sell.

4. Take advantage of lay away…
Unfortunately, many stores have drastically changed, or removed altogether, their lay away program; however, if you can take advantage of one – do. You can put items that you think will be hot on lay away and then once they are performing well – buy them and turn them around on eBay.

5. Don’t panic…
Some things will sell – others won’t… it is just a part of the game. The best thing you can do is minimize your risk by educating yourself. The shelves will empty at the stores Thanksgiving weekend- it is after that weekend that online sales seem to skyrocket… so be patient :)

Remember – this really is a short selling season… if you are considering getting on board with selling toys this holiday – start researching NOW… you just might have all of your holiday expenses funded by your eBay profits. :)

Brainstorm: How To Sell Santa Letters On eBay…

From the mailbag and forum – Question from Michele:
“I have been selling on eBay for the past few years around the holidays to make extra money. I just bought Mila and Alice’s new ebook on a Santa Letter Biz. Any suggestions, hints or advice on how to make this successful and set myself apart to sell this on eBay? If it works, I’d like to continue with other holidays also. Thanks.”

There are quite a few options for selling Santa letters – here are a few suggestions:

1. Research: Whether your research involves watching eBay for competitive products or testing out your own listings… start out with research to see what kind of market there is on eBay for Santa letters.
2. Don’t plan on making all your money from the letters: Have a plan… use the letters to build an income down the road. I talked about this in the previous post – about using eBay to drive traffic to your business or to build a list. Capture email addresses from interested visitors and customers and follow up with additional products or info – maybe you do this year round and offer Letters from St. Valentine and the Easter Bunny too! Could be a subscriptions… could promote affiliate products (does the Santa Letter ebook have an affiliate program??) – get creative.
3. Try using eBay’s classified ads to promote the products. For $9.97 a month you can list a classified ad that appears just like an eBay auction – only it is for lead generation. Interested parties have to fill out a contact form if they are interested… allowing you to follow up. Once you have that email address, you can follow up and hopefully make some nice sales on more than just the Santa Letter. eBay is very relaxed with their limitations for classified ads – here is a link to eBay’s site: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/f-ad.html

Remember, it is about getting creative and coming up with ways to separate yourself from the competition… these are just a few ideas to help you get the wheels turning – but, I think you could do quite well on eBay with these if you have a good plan.

Stop Depending on Selling To Make Money On eBay!

Okay… coming from someone who teaches that eBay is a great source of income – what’s up with a post that says ‘Stop Depending On Selling To Make Money’?…

I still think eBay is an incredible resource for making nice profits on eBay… but, there are many ways to do this. Most people who consider eBay as a business they can run from home – they are thinking the money will be made by selling items through eBay’s listings or through an eBay store… and there are PLENTY of people who do so – they sell thousands of dollars worth of inventory a month and have created a nice living for themselves. There are a few, however, (and the number is growing daily) who have learned to USE eBay to drive traffic to other forms of income.

If you can get out of your mind that all of your money will be made selling on eBay, then your eyes will be exposed to a whole new world of growing your business. I’ve heard many work at home moms discuss the value of building a squidoo lens… or being a part of Facebook – or the like; however, not many consider eBay in a similar fashion.

eBay is one of the top visited sites in the world… why not learn to take advantage of that traffic? There is a transformation in your thinking when you start focusing on using eBay to generate traffic to your online business… you start looking at it as a marketing tool instead of as the main source of income. This can be a very powerful thinking pattern – and if applied properly, can be very lucrative. Here are a couple of suggestions for doing so:

1. Put in place a follow up system for your current customers. It is proven that it is easier to make a sale to a previous customer than to find a new customer – yet, many sellers do not follow up with their customers for return sales. Better yet, build a website with items that are like what you are selling on eBay and promote that store in your follow up (pulling the traffic from eBay). If the goal is to drive people to your website store outside of eBay, you can limit the items you are selling and reduce your listing fees.
   
   
2. Capture email addresses and build a list of leads from visitors to your listings. eBay has a very strict policy for what can and cannot be mentioned on an auction listing. You can’t blatantly promote your website or business on your auction listing; however, there are techniques you can use that can get you the same result. For example, you are allowed to point visitors to your About Me page – and the rules for what can be included on an About Me page are much more relaxed. You can point to your website from your About Me page… or better yet, offer a free report in exchange of an email address to build your list right there on your About Me page.
   
   
3. Let’s build on the free report idea… Offer a free report or membership on your About Me page that your customers would be interested in. Consider the niche you are selling in… if you are selling antiques on eBay – what kind of information would your customers or visitors be interested in learning about? Maybe how to care for antiques… or how to identify antiques. If you are selling children’s items – consider what kind of information your customers would be interested in knowing… maybe tips for new moms… or how to juggle being a new mom with the rest of your life… you get the idea. If you don’t have the expertise to write a short report – you can search google and find all sorts of free reports you can give away.
   
   
4. Learn how to use classified ads on eBay. Most sellers don’t even know what classified ads are… yet, it looks like they are turning out to be a cool tool for lead generation. You can actually include a link to your website or phone number right in the ad – and what is really cool is that they show up in search results right along side the auction listings.

I’ve built my business on some of these techniques and know many, many others who have as well. In fact, Jim Cockrum is the expert when it comes to learning how to creatively use eBays traffic to build profits. If you are interested in learning more about how to use eBay to build your business and not be dependent on selling item after item, I highly recommend signing up for his free newsletter at www.my-silent-team.com. I also couldn’t say enough about his top selling ebook, The Silent Sales Machine On eBay – where he outlines exactly HOW to build a business using eBay as a traffic generator. His book is full of ideas to motivate and get those wheels turning. I bought it in 2003 and have read it many times since. You can learn more about the ebook here: www.jennihunt.com/recommends/SilentSalesMachine.html – this book is the real deal!

 It’s your turn… Let’s brainstorm a bit…

What are you selling? How can you use eBay to drive traffic to your business?

Reducing eBay and Paypal fees…

This is a big question that has been asked a few times – and seems to be a big concern for sellers. There are a few things you can do to reduce your fees for listing on eBay; however, keep in mind – that even with the fees eBay charges, selling on eBay is a very inexpensive option for making money from home. The start up fees are very low – in fact, you can set up your account for free… you only pay once your item is sold. However, we are all interested in saving as much as possible. Here are some tips for keeping those fees low:

1. Watch your inventory fees: Don’t get caught up thinking that if you buy a product for $10 and sell it for $25 that you have made $15! Be honest about your profit margin… and take that into consideration when buying your inventory. I make a rule to only buy inventory that I know I can make at least a $10 profit on. For me, this is how this translates… I rarely pay more than $1.50-$2 for an item I plan to sell. I purchase it if I KNOW it will sell for $15 or more (I like to keep it closer to $20). Taking eBay and paypal fees into account I am making at least $10 profit for each item – and that is if it only sells for $15.
2. Test and tweak your listings to be sure you are getting maximum bidding. Here are a few ideas to do this:
   1. When I first started selling on eBay, I used an eBay management system that provided a few templates. It wasn’t anything fancy – just had the same color scheme for each of my listings. I knew it was important to build a market presence by staying consistent with my ‘look and feel’… but, I ended up changing to a custom template (you can take a peek here) and immediately the average sale for my auctions DOUBLED! 100% increase!
   2. Be sure your title is good. Use key words that bidders will type in when they are searching for your item… also make sure you don’t have any misspelled words in there!
   3. How is your shipping – are your prices inflated? Bidders tend to shy away from auctions that have inflated shipping rates. In fact, offering a lower shipping rate can often increase your bids!
3. Start your auction LOW. If you know the item is in demand (do your research to find out), then starting your item super low ($.99 or even a penny) can bring in super large profits as well as lower your eBay fees. eBay charges $.20 for auctions starting anywhere from $.01 to $.99… and $.40 from $.99 to $9.99. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen listings starting at $10! That penny higher cost that seller 20 cents!

We are barely touching this topic here – but, I wanted to share a secret that many sellers have a hard time grasping. The absolute best way to lower your eBay fees with your eBay business is to not sell so much… What?!? Yep – you read that right… The key is to think creatively and figure out how to USE eBay to generate traffic for your other websites/business… and if you don’t have another website or business – I highly recommend building one. This is the topic for the next post… using eBay to generate traffic for the highest profits!… until then… :-)

Secrets To Selling HOT Halloween Costumes

Sherah Taylor with www.auction-moms.com has just released a new ebook that outlines the entire process for selling costumes on eBay. (Sherah – if you are reading this… I am SO jealous that you came up with this idea first! ;-) But, She should know – check out this auction Sherah just ran last week:
http://tinyurl.com/2f69sz
It sold for over $120 – and I think she said she picked it up for $10 at her local consignment shop a few days prior – That’s over $100 PROFIT!

Anyhow, Sherah spills the beans on how she works her magic with costume auctions – if you sell costumes… this is a must have! One of the great things about selling costumes is that you can buy them from thrift shops and consignment stores – and list them right away… instant profits! All you have to know is which costumes are the hot sellers and Sherah lists over 250 USED costumes that sell for $20-80+ on eBay this time of year in her ebook.

Plus, not only do you get the ebook – but, she is providing a list of the top 20 hot selling costumes weekly sent to your inbox!

Okay – here is the best part. Sherah is selling this ebook for $27… but, she is offering it to my readers for $19.97!

Remember… this is a short selling season – Halloween will be here before you know it. To make the most from costumes, you need to start listing them now… and I have to say, Sherah’s ebook is the best way to get you going.

To learn more visit:
http://www.auction-moms.com/hotsellingcostumes.html

But – WAIT – don’t buy it from that link or you will be paying too much.
Get the Secrets Of Hot Selling Halloween Costumes for $19.97 here:
www.jennihunt.com/recommends/hotcostumes.htm

No eBay Listing Fees!!

eBay is having a month of no listing fees!

This is a great time to get going with your auctions – and if you have never sold on eBay before… even better!

Here is how you can take advantage of these savings:

1. No insertion fees (listing fees) when you buy a Gallery image and start your auction for $9.99 or less.

   I’m a huge fan of using gallery images on every auction I list – it is that little thumbnail image you see next to the listings when you are browsing through the auctions. It is only $.35 and if you play your other cards right – you can almost guarantee to make up for it with the increased bids.

   As far as starting your listing for $9.99 or less – this is another good idea. I usually list my items for $.99 or a penny – remember, the whole idea behind a successful auction is to let the market determine the value. To do this, you need a low starting price.

2.  25% off insertion fees when you include a galley image and start your auction at $10 or more.

   If you aren’t comfortable with starting your listing under $9.99, you can still save on listing fees if you include a gallery image.

For more details – visit: http://pages.ebay.com/promo/nofees/

Happy Listing!

Calendar For Greatest Profits

The Fall is such a great time to be selling on eBay – it is a wonderful time for moms to get started too. Back to school items are still selling
- although not quite as well as they did late July and earlier this month. But, even though BTS (Back To School) sales may start slowing down real soon – there is still plenty of time left in this selling season for children’s items.

If you are wondering what you should be listing for this highest profits…
I’ve put together a little calendar that goes through the rest of the year.

Enjoy!
Jenni

AUG: BACK TO SCHOOL – There are just a couple short weeks MAX left for great BTS auctions. Things to include are uniforms, Fall clothing – cardigans, jeans, khakis, shoes, backpacks, etc.

SEPT-OCT: COSTUMES – Costumes are incredible sellers this time of year!
You can pick them up used at yard sales or thrift shops for $1-2 and turn them around for $20-80+. Last year I picked up a bin of costumes for $5 and it was filled with Disney costumes and accessories… one costume was the Dizard of Oz Dorothy costume. I picked up some rubie slippers at our local thrift shop for $2 and the entire lot sold for $25 on eBay.

OCT-NOV: Holiday Clothing – parents want family pictures for Christmas cards… and many times they go out right after Thanksgiving… so they are shopping early for outfits for the kids.

OCT-DEC: TOYS!! This is THE best time for toy sales – you can pick up some of the hottest toys at your local stores that are sold out in other parts of the country and list them on ebay for some amazing profits! Toy sales sky-rocket after Black Friday because many stores are out of stock and desperate to find THE dream toy for their little ones.

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