eBay, Another Way To Sell Your Products
by Jeff Colburn
Some of you may scoff at the idea of selling your products on eBay because you
have your own brick and mortar store or sell everything from your website. But
don't ignore this wonderful tool that may solve some of your problems and
increase your profits and visibility.
I had a friend who ran a comic book store. She would often buy 10-15 copies of
the latest release of a comic, but by the time the next issue arrived she had
several of the older copies left. As time went on, and shelf space ran out,
these older issues were boxed up and put into a storage facility.
Before long, that too was getting full, so she turned to eBay. The more
collectable comics were sold separately, while the less popular ones were
bundled together in groups of five or ten. On the first day her comics were on
eBay she sold several of them. Over time, she wound up selling about 90 percent
of everything she put up for sale. The money saving advantages were many.
- She could now rent a smaller storage unit.
- She lowered her taxes due to having less stock.
- She made money selling products that would otherwise just gather dust in storage.
- Do these sound like solutions to any of your problems? Think of how eBay could solve problems unique to your business and then give it a try.
There are two main options for selling items on eBay. You can sell products as
needed with individual auctions. I know of several people who use this method as
their sole source of income. They purchase items at yard sales and then sell
them for a higher price on eBay. You can also open a store on eBay and sell
unlimited quantities of multiple items.
To increase the effectiveness of selling items, follow these tips.
• See what prices other people have paid for items similar to yours. This will
give you a more accurate starting price and realistic goals. Remember, it doesn't
matter what something is worth, but what someone is willing to pay for it.
• Start the bidding at a low price as this attracts more buyer interest.
Write great titles and product descriptions that will make people want to see
your item. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar too.
&bull If you list an e-mail address (and you should) so that potential buyers can
contact you with questions, be sure your spam filter isn't blocking these e-mails.
Also check that the spam filter on your ISP isn't blocking these e-mails.
• Keep your expenses down by using only the minimum options from eBay. Avoid
things like 10-day auctions, bold titles, using more than one image and other
items that add 5 cents here and 10 cents there.
• Illustrate the item with photographs. Seeing the actual item puts buyers at
ease. Be sure the image file size is small enough so that it loads quickly for
people with dial-up connections. They comprise about 50% of Internet users. A
40k to 60k file shouldn't be a problem.
• Offer a money-back guarantee. Almost no one will take advantage of this, but
people love to see this offered.
• Don't overcharge for shipping, and pack items well. To save money, use USPS
Priority mail since the post office provides free shipping materials. Be sure
not to list a fee for shipping materials or handling, people don't like paying
for these.
• Make it as easy to buy your product as possible. You can do this by letting
people pay with PayPal, checks and money orders. Don't take cash. It's too risky
to have this mailed to you.
• For business related items auctions should end on Monday or Tuesday. End these
auctions between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm, before people leave for home.
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