Using eBay to Promote and Grow Your Business
Can you use eBay’s huge audience to your advantage in growing and promoting your business? Many have done just that. A look at some of the products offered through this auction site will reveal many that are selling as “loss leaders” and are serving the purpose of drawing traffic to a web site offering more items at regular prices. Can you do that with your product?
Do you have excess inventory that you want to turn into cash? Even large items, such as furniture, autos, and construction equipment are selling on eBay. Of course, recent fuel increases have affected the shipping costs of such items. However, a quick look under the topic of “construction equipment” revealed a bobcat with a current bid of $4501 and a brand new 10K dump trailer with a bid of $4708. Several larger items, such as a John Deere 892 ELC excavator with a reserve price of $35,000 showed no bids, however. If you haven’t used eBay before, either as a buyer or a seller, you may not know that the buyer pays the shipping costs over and above the purchase price of the item.
A good way to start as an eBay seller is to sell something you own that has little financial or sentimental value. Ideally the item would be easy to ship, and most ideally, it should be new and in it’s original packaging. The next step is to go to www.ebay.com and click the “Register” link at the top of the page. You’ll then create a “Seller’s Account” in order to be able to sell your item(s). To do that, click the “Sell” link at the top of any eBay page and follow the instructions to register. Signing up for a PayPal account, if you haven’t already done so, is the next step.
Also under the “Sell” link is much useful information about successful selling. After you’ve reviewed this information, click “Sell Your Item” and follow the instructions. Listing is easy, and it gets easier each time you do it.
You will want to research similar items that are selling or have sold on eBay to find the best price for your merchandise. You can use eBay’s Advanced Search (Completed Listings Only) to review the final selling price of recently sold items. You can also use that list to review listing practices that seem to work best. Reserve pricing, where the required minimum bid to win is hidden, serves to reduce the number of bids you’ll get. Minimum opening bids are public, and they now must be at least 25% of any Reserved price that is set on the item.. Check out the eBay listings on iPods and you’ll see that it’s not unusual to see a starting bid of 99¢. Low starting prices usually mean fierce bidding. In most instances the final selling price will be at or near the seller’s target.
The shipping cost of the item will be needed in order to list it effectively. Customers want to know everything about the item, including the final price and the shipping cost, before they are likely to bid. You’ll need to package it, weigh and/or measure it, select a carrier, and figure the maximum shipping cost so you can include that in the product description.
Photos of the item are important. The ideal width of your photo should be 400px. EBay allows you to have one free photo per listing. If you would like to show more, you’ll need to have server space to house them and the URL, or web address or path, to the photo. You may be able to get server space for free through your internet service provider. If not, several third party vendors offer such space for a small fee. Lots of photos and a thorough description of the item, including the careful noting of any flaws, are very important for buyers since they cannot examine the merchandise first hand.
As with any direct marketing, a guarantee can significantly improve your results. It is generally agreed that the small number of returns you will get are greatly offset by the improved sales that a guarantee will bring. One way to offer this is to guarantee money back if the merchandise is not as described.
A very important aspect of eBay is the feedback from buyers and sellers. This is your reputation, and it should be treated with the utmost respect. Your customers may well base their purchasing decision on your feedback score. By practicing your eBay skills on small items with little value to you, you can build this reputation and begin to build your eBay marketing skills. Being impeccably honest in all communications with potential buyers can help to improve your feedback score.
EBay is one of the most successful aspects of the internet marketplace. It helps to level the playing field, giving small businesses access to huge numbers of potential buyers. It may well be a useful tool for you in growing your business.
Some of the above information was obtained from “Be An eBay Success: Entrepreneur’s eBay Startup Guide”.
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