eBay Shopping Secrets

Ed Brancheau asked:


As if you haven’t already heard, millions upon millions of people of people buy and sell on eBay every single day. Some only make a few sales here and there. Others have figured out what it takes to become “Powersellers.” Powersellers are the very small minority of eBay sellers that do at least $2,000 per month in sales on eBay and maintain a 99% positive feedback rating. Powersellers are the ones that really know what they’re doing and if you really want to be successful on eBay then follow the secrets they revealed to me.

So, what are the secrets, tips and tricks that will cause you to become a Powerseller as well?

Well, I’ll be completely honest with you… I may be well on my way but I’m not a Powerseller yet. However, one thing that I know from creating several successful businesses is that if you want to become the best at something, you need to copy those that are already successful, ask them to mentor you and ask questions and take notes. And now I am going to take what they taught me and pass it on to you.

This is part one of a four part article series. You will find links to the other parts of this article series at the end of this article.

SECRET STRATEGY #1 - FIGURE OUT WHY YOU HAVEN’T DONE IT BEFORE!

Before, you rebuild a house, you need to tear down what doesn’t work and then rebuild. To just rebuild over the bad parts just doesn’t work. So, ask yourself this question: “Why haven’t I done it before?” And if you have done it before, ask yourself: “Why haven’t I succeeded before?” Now, before you say something like “I didn’t have the money” or “I don’t have enough time,” I want you to consider that the answer is really something that you can’t see. Let me draw an analogy.

Let’s say that you’re driving down the street and you see this house that is tilted. You walk up to the front door, the owner answers and you say, “Hello, did you know that your house is slanted and that there is probably something wrong with your foundation?” The owner replies, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My house is perfectly straight!” How could they possible say that?! Well, it’s because they’ve been living there so long that they don’t even see the symptom let alone the real problem. So, consider that all the reasons that you haven’t done this before aren’t the real reasons. The real reason is the one that you can’t see… the foundation of the house.

Now, fill in this Bible saying: “_____ is the root of all evil.” You said “Money,” right? Well, would you be shocked if I told you that the Bible doesn’t say “Money”? You’re shocked aren’t you? Well, Timothy 6:10 actually says “The love of money is the root of all evil.” A few words makes world of difference don’t they? After all, if you heard “Money is the root of all evil” over and over again as a child then how could you ever have money around you and still remain good? The sad thing is that while the Bible’s actual saying, “The love of money is the root of all evil,” is true, the often misquoted version simply isn’t true. The Bible is talking about Greed not Money.

Another saying that I really hate is “Money doesn’t grow on trees” because it really does! OK, it may not physically grow on trees but it does grow like fruit on a tree. Investments are a prime example of this principle. If you invest and nurture your investments, they’ll grow and you can use some of the money to spend on yourself and replant the rest. Constantly feed the Goose and it will lay bigger and bigger golden eggs. Later in this article, I am going to tell you about a Powerseller that epitomizes this as he took $1,000 and turned it into $270,000!

My point with both of these sayings is that you need to get at the real reason that you haven’t succeeded rather than focus on the obvious symptoms.

SECRET STRATEGY #2 - GET SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

According to the Powersellers that I interviewed, they believe that they number one reason that people fail on eBay is that they don’t treat it like a business. While the Powersellers that I talked to really love their work, the realize that it is a business. Even though it doesn’t cost millions of dollars to sell on eBay, they treat it like a business every day of the week and they have it organized like Microsoft or Ford or any other successful business. You know, even ballplayers who make their living playing a game treat their profession as a business. eBay Powersellers treat their business like a business worth $100 million.

SECRET STRATEGY #3 - ORGANIZE IT AND KEEP IT ORGANIZED

This is the absolute hardest thing for me because I am one of those people that likes to go with the flow. Although whenever I’m not organized, I always lose money because I can’t find the web address to that one special deal that I found out about. Or I forget about some meeting or to make a call to place an order. You’ve got to be organized to be successful. Successful businesses are highly organized and disorganized businesses are short-lived.

SECRET STRATEGY #4 - COMPARTMENTALIZE EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE WORKING ON

This strategy is kind of similar to #3 but I want to make it specific anyways. I have used this strategy for a couple of my small businesses and I am told that it also works very well on eBay. You see, one thing that amateurs try to do is the try to do a little of everything everyday. Post a few listings, answer a few emails, go to the bank every morning, package a few items and mail them. The problem is that this just doesn’t work because you’ll be all over the place and unfocused. And when you’re unfocused, you make mistakes and mistakes cost money!

A better way to approach your business is to do one or two things per day. For example, make Wednesday your shipping day. Simply package all of the items that you sold and then drop them off with your shipper. Make Tuesday the day that you go to the bank. And make Thursday the day that you get all of your listings ready to be posted. The main point is to focus on one thing until you’re done with it and avoid getting scattered all over the place.

SECRET STRATEGY #5 - BUILD A WINNING TEAM

It takes a team of 55 players to win the Super Bowl and 25 players to win the World Series. How are you going to create a successful eBay business on your own? Now, you might be thinking “But I’m more of a tennis player type.” Well the best tennis players in the world have coaches, trainers, medical staff, agents, publicists and tons of other people that are there to help them succeed. Do you think that the President could have even become President without a campaign team?

Or maybe you’re saying something like “But I can’t afford to hire someone!” Look, you can’t afford not to. Take this article for example. I dictated it into a digital audio recorder, copied it onto my computer, had somebody transcribe it for a few bucks (probably in India for all I know), edited it myself and then hired another kid to submit it to over 300 article directories.

On top of that, while the kid submits the articles, I’ll be writing another article. All of this cost me about $30 and would have taken me at least five hours to do on my own. I’m worth more than $6 an hour and so are you. Always look at it this way and you’ll make more money and more money.

One of the best places to check for very reasonable and reliable outsourcing is Elance at:

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/links/elance.html

And yet another consideration is to barter with people. I know a gentleman that is about 75 years old and doesn’t even own computer. And yet he makes over $100,000 per year online. How does he do this? Well, his grandson knows a ton of stuff about how to create a web site, how to market online and other things. So this gentleman makes fishing flies and lures and his grandson sells them on eBay. In addition, this gentleman dictates articles into an audio recorder for his fishing email newsletter for which he has over 5,000 subscribers. He takes care of the creative stuff and his grandson manages the business and they split the profits. There is not excuse… if you don’t know how to do something find someone that does!

Well, that’s it! Armed with these secret eBay strategies, you too should be well on your way to making a very substantial income on eBay. However, should you wish to obtain even more information about how to make money on eBay and the rest of the Internet, please visit our eBay store for some fabulous informational products.

Unleash Life Success Coaching eBay Store

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/links/ulsc-ebay-store.html

And be sure to check out the extremely powerful A2Z Web Building & Internet Marketing Platinum Package. It’s over $1,500 worth of the best web building and Internet marketing books and programs in the world for less than $50. Check out our eBay rating and you will see that people love this package!

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/A2Z-platinum.html

Finally, if you missed any of the four parts of this article, you can read the other three at the following addresses:

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-1.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-2.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-3.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-4.html

Nick Moseley asked:


“I really must get round to selling on eBay” Sound familiar? It’s a fact that starting out selling on ebay is daunting. It’s a huge site with lots of hoops to jump through - so it seems anyway.

But as a full time Powerseller I can tell you, that it’s easy once you master a few basics and have your standard set of tools and resources sorted out.

In this article series I’m going to list and explain the tools and services you need to get in order to operate effectively as a seller on ebay.

**Why aim at Powerseller level?**

A Powerseller is an ebay seller who has sold above a certain number of items/value over a 3 month rolling period. It is an indication of success so therefore you what to be there as if you’re not then you’re by definition not selling very much and only making a bit of spare cash.

**How long to become a Powerseller?**

A minimum of 3 months. You need to sell over a certain number of sales/value and maintain a good feedback rating over a 3 month rolling period. So even if you sell $100,000 in month you won’t be upgraded. That’s because eBay define Powerseller’s as their most experienced “pillars of the community” So you have to prove yourself to eBay and that takes a little while.

It’s possible to do it in 3 months but unlikely. You’d be pushing very hard and taking some risks because of your unfamiliarity with the system. Better I suggest to aim at 4 months with month one being the test and learn phase.

**What do you need? My Powerseller Toolbox**

Some of these steps and tools you can do or get before you start. Some you need to be aware of and ready to fire at the right time. I’ve indicated this on each step.

**Verified Paypal Premier or Business account - Right away.

Free and essential. Lets you receive and send any amount of money. Premier if selling as a private individual. Business if you’re a business.

**Quality digital camera - Immediately.

Essential. Make sure it has a good macro mode for close up shots. Photos are a key to your success. When you’re selling products where you can get manufacturer shots I still find it good to take my own shots in a natural setting for the product. This adds extra differentiation and you’ll come across as more of an authority on the product.

**Image Edit software - Right away.

If you’re a whiz with Photoshop or other image software great. If not then you’ll need image editing software for resizing and touch up. I use Irfanview which is free.

**Image hosting account - Right away.

eBay’s Picture Manager is pricey. An alternative is an image hosting account. You just upload your pictures and copy and paste the image codes into your auctions. I use villagephotos.com where I get a 5000 image limit for $6 a month. Their cool image gallery feature allows you to use many photos in your auctions for free.

**Answertool - As soon as you start listing

I can’t praise this enough. As you do eBay you’ll find that you get many repetitive questions. E.g., postage queries, requests for your address, common questions on core products. It’s really annoying to type a reply each time for the same thing.

With Answertool you build up a custom database of common answers and access them through a really fast easy tree structure that comes up at the click of a button.

It’s simly a “can’t live without” tool.

I estimate it’s saved me 20-30 minutes a day since I got it 18 months = 10-11 days of pointless typing eliminated!

**Roboform - Right away

As you develop your business you’ll find yourself needing to log in to allsorts of places, ebay, supplier websites, membership sites etc. Roboform stores and automates all your login and password operations. Once you have you can’t and won’t live without it. A massive time and hassle saver that is also great for filling in online forms, e,g, anything with name, address ‘ Get it.

**Turbolister - Right away

Free. eBays auction listing and management tool. Create and manage your listings on your computer and upload them en masse to eBay. It’s faster and easier than creating auctions on eBay’s online interface, has loads of design templates and requires no HTML or techie skills. A vast time saver. Get it and take a few hours to learn it.

**Selling Manager Pro - Right away

Automates your business processes through the sales cycle - from customer emails and listing management to leaving feedback. Get the Pro version. It’s free for 30 days. Indispensable.

**Open an eBay shop - After 10 positive feedbacks

Your own eCommerce website within eBay. You can organise all your auctions in categories you define. You can put your own custom pages on there, run sales on your fixed price items, manage cross sell promotions, build and market to your own email list. You even have a Vacation feature to freeze things if you go on holiday. If you want to do a bit of SEO (Search engine optimization) this is where you target it.

There are 3 levels: Basic, Featured and Anchor. Go for Featured. Anchor is hugely expensive so ignore that until you’re at least a Gold level Powerseller.

Right away - Look at other sellers to get ideas for things you. Write the pages in advance so you can set them up quickly later.

**About Me page - As soon as you get auctions running

Free. A basic thing you must do. People buy form people and this where you get to tell people who you are and what you do. Write for your target audience in the context of your situation. So if you’re just starting, say who you are and that you’re clearing your house out so keep checking back! Later you can put info like buyers guides, FAQs and technical info ‘ stuff you don’t want cluttering up your auctions.

**Buy some stuff on eBay - Right away

Get some positive feedbacks and learn how eBay works from the buyers angle. Maybe things for your hobbies or some supplies you’ll need like scales and bubble wrap.

**Define Terms and Conditions - Right away

See my sites and feel free to lift and adapt mine if you. No matter how you’re selling you must have these just in case. Key things you might put in an auction are places you can’t or won’t ship to. Types of payment accepted. Whether or not people can call round to collect. Refund & Guarantee policy.

**Define Refund and Guarantee policy - Right away

You wouldn’t buy a most things without one so why should people buy from some person on ebay if you don’t offer one? I offer a 30 day money back, no questions asked. I get about a 1% return rate which is a mix of defective product (it happens) and ones where I suspect the person needed the money back as they’d overspent. Regardless I do the refund.

**Check email 3×7

Check morning, noon and evening at least. Potential customers will sometimes ask the daftest questions or ask about things that are clearly written in the auction. Just be polite and answer and don’t say anything sarcastic! Replay too late and someone might not bid and that can mean a bidding war never starts and the auction bombs.

**Skype or phone communication

If you don’t mind taking calls then I suggest a phone with answer machine and published hours when it will be answered or you’ll never get any peace. The same goes for Skype.

**Mailing stuff - Right away:

*Big sharp scissors.

*Scales that measure from 1 gram up as high as possible.

*Brown packing tape.

*Wide clear cellotape.

*Brown paper wrap.

*Bubble wrap rolls.

*Padded mailing bags, I use MailLite.

You can find suppliers for all this on eBay though I prefer office supplies company Viking Direct where I buy mailing supplies in bulk monthly.

**Future products and sales - Whan awake at all times!

Think about product you’ll source to resell. Make a list of hobbies and interests past, present or thing you want to start and go scout online for manufacturers and wholesalers and make a spreadsheet contact hit list.

**Summary

Time spent in preparation is time well spent. Take care not to get caught in this phase ‘ analysis paralysis as it’s called. Get your tools done fast. Be focused and determined and move onto action stations ‘ selling your first items.

Ed Brancheau asked:


As if you haven’t already heard, millions upon millions of people of people buy and sell on eBay every single day. Some only make a few sales here and there. Others have figured out what it takes to become “Powersellers.” Powersellers are the very small minority of eBay sellers that do at least $2,000 per month in sales on eBay and maintain a 99% positive feedback rating. Powersellers are the ones that really know what they’re doing and if you really want to be successful on eBay then follow the secrets they revealed to me.

So, what are the secrets, tips and tricks that will cause you to become a Powerseller as well?

Well, I’ll be completely honest with you… I may be well on my way but I’m not a Powerseller yet. However, one thing that I know from creating several successful businesses is that if you want to become the best at something, you need to copy those that are already successful, ask them to mentor you and ask questions and take notes. And now I am going to take what they taught me and pass it on to you.

This is part three of a four part article series. You will find links to the other parts of this article series at the end of this article.

SECRET STRATEGY #12 - DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER HAPPY… EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING MONEY ON A DEAL!

Of course, we’ve all heard “the customer’s always right!” On eBay it’s even more true. Here’s something odd that you probably don’t know: when a customer tells other people that a company or product sucked, the people they told are 5 times more likely than the person that told them to not do business with that company or buy that product. Five times more likely than the person that actually bought the thing!

Now, on eBay it is even more important as a seller to make sure that you maintain a highly positive rating because every single potential customer can see the negative ratings left for you. In addition, for every 1% (for sellers that have a rating under 1000) you’re your feedback is lowered, you will lose 11% in bids. That’s why every Powerseller says that their rating is more important than money that they lose off one deal. Personally, I can tell you that I know that several bidders have purchased my information products and then asked for their money back even though I know that they are still using the product (FYI, there are certain tricks that you can use to make money off even those that rip you off.)

I also highly recommend that you subscribe to SquareTrade and register for the Better Business Bureau Online if you qualify. I’m sure that you are familiar with the BBB so let’s talk about SquareTrade. SquareTrade has been working with eBay pretty much since eBay began and they are a certified eBay partner.

Basically, what they do is mediate disagreements with customers but, even more beneficial, they immediately investigate negative feedback is soon as a customer leaves it for you and they work with eBay to remove negative feedback that is malicious (i.e. your competition buys a product just to leave a negative feedback.) If they determine that the negative feedback was indeed caused by the seller, they attempt work out a resolution with the buyer so that the negative feedback can be removed.

Many Powersellers have been subscribed to SquareTrade for years and they also told me that it pretty much pays for itself right away because when buyers see the SquareTrade logo on the listing that the seller is making every attempt to make sure that their customers are fully satisfied. Check out SquareTrade:

http;//www.a-to-z-web.com/links/squaretrade.html

Next, I believe, as do all the Powersellers that I spoke with, that you should always offer a powerful guarantee. I, for one, offer a 180-day, no-hassle, satisfaction, money-back guarantee on any information product that I wrote and at least a 30-day guarantee on everything else. One thing that I do not do is offer a “100% Money Back” guarantee although if a customer asks for all of their money back, I give them exactly what they ask for. What I do is always send them an email telling them that they will get to keep the product since there is no way me to make sure that they don’t use it. Most of the time they ask for 25-75% of their money back but very rarely do they ask 100% of their money back.

Also, for physical products most Powersellers require that items be returned in their original condition. And they charge a restocking fee for all returned items. But remember that their customer’s satisfaction always supersedes these policies. Just keep this in mind: your feedback rating is your best advertisement but can also be your largest downfall. Never let your emotions get in the way and always make 200% sure that your customer walks away happy… even if you have to bribe them with extra gifts.

SECRET STRATEGY #13 - BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE

While you don’t need your own website from the very beginning, every Powerseller I spoke with has their own website. Why? One, they do not want to be at the mercy of eBay. Certainly, eBay doesn’t make it a goal of theirs to hurt businesses that sell on eBay but on occasion they do. For example, a few years ago, many people realized the power of selling their cars on eBay. At that time, it cost around $60-80 to place an ad in the newspaper or AutoTrader but only a couple of dollars to put an ad on eBay.

So, many auto traders started creating businesses where they would sell their cars on eBay. Well, eBay soon realized this new popularity and then created eBay Motors. Now, it costs $40 to list a car and $40 at the close of the sale. This is still a pretty good deal but definitely more risky than it was before. However, Powersellers realize two things: 1) that it is not good to be at the mercy of others and 2) that they can make more money selling through their own web site.

That’s why it’s very important to set up your own web site as soon as possible. Furthermore, when you have people buying through your own web site, you don’t have to pay eBay fees which can save tons of money. Finally, many Powersellers have developed ways to use eBay as a traffic generator rather than really try to make money off eBay. For example, they might have an informational product that they are selling like “The Most Spectacular Fishing Trips In The World” and to promote this product, they sell various fishing items such as lures and rods.

Of course, they want to make a profit off these items but the big money is in the back end product. In this case, one could sell the fishing guide as well as have affiliate tie-ins to companies that selling fishing tours in the areas that were talked about in the guide. On top of that, if you get the customer’s email address then you can contact them in the future about new products or services. Even if you cannot set up your own website right away, at the very least, make sure that you get their email address for use in the future.

SECRET STRATEGY #14 - ACCEPT EVERY FORM OF PAYMENT THAT YOU POSSIBLE CAN!

Powersellers make it as easy as possible for their customers to pay for an item and give them as many options as possible. Many sellers are opposed to accepting credit cards because of the fees that credit card companies charge. This is the most ridiculous belief when it comes to business for several reasons. One, the average credit card purchase is 30% higher than purchases made by cash or check. So, do the math. Do you make more money by offering credit card payments or less? Sure you have to pay 2-3% to the credit card company but you will make 30% more on the sale.

Now, many people then say “Well, why should I accept personal checks or money orders then?” Because, even though credit card payments are the safest way to pay on the Internet, many people believe that they’re just not safe. I try to tell people that using their credit card on the Internet is actually safer online than offline as the credit card companies attest but, most of the time, they simply don’t believe me. And you know what?

I hate having to go to the bank to deposit a check and wait until it clears but the funny thing is that even though I accept checks and money orders, the winning bidder rarely wants to pay via check or money order. This goes back to the first reason why you should accept credit cards… because people that pay via credit card are willing to pay more usually making them the highest bidder. Finally, when you accept more forms of payments, you’ll receive more bids and the interesting thing is that this can often times create a bidding frenzy.

SECRET STRATEGY #15 - START WITH THE LOWEST BID POSSIBLE AND AVOID RESERVE BIDS

Many sellers are terrified of starting their auctions at $.01 and not having a reserve price. They are afraid that if they do this then the item that they’re selling will sell for less than its worth. First of all, an auction is capitalism at it’s best. Whoever is willing to pay the most gets the item. Basically, whatever the highest bid ends up being IS what the item is worth.

Of course, if you have read the rest of this article then you’d know that there are many things that you can do to receive higher bids on your auction like adding photos and writing a great description. However, the Powersellers that I spoke with all told me that they begin 99% of their auctions at $.01 with no reserve; the rare exception being extremely expensive items that they have never sold before.

You see, one Powerseller that I interviewed told me about a little experiment that he conducted on several occasions. Basically, what he did was place identical items up for auction which he knew that he normally had sold for $300 (with a starting bid of $9.99) in the past, placed them in the same categories and began and ended them at the exact same times. The only difference between the two auctions was that one auction he began at $.01 and the other he began at $25. In fact, if one searched for the particular item that he was selling, these two auctions would show up right next to each other.

At the end of the auction, the one that began at $.01 had received 63 bids and ended with a winning bid of $343. That’s $43 more than he had ever made off a previous sale. The auction that began at $25 ended with only 43 bids and a final price of $287 for a difference of $56! Remember that everything was exactly the same except for the starting bid price.

Why does this happen? It’s pretty simple really. First of all, you’ll receive bids from a larger number of unique bidders and remember that every time someone is outbid, they receive a notice that they have been outbid. In affect, eBay is promoting your item for you even more.

Second, more bids draw more bidders. Ask yourself this: when you are scrolling through eBay listings, what catches your eye more: an auction with 3-4 bids or an auction with 20. Some people claim that it doesn’t make a difference but the numbers prove otherwise. Bids beget more bids.

Finally, people always want to “win!” You know, when you go to Wal-Mart and buy something, they don’t say “You Won!” do they? Of course not! But on eBay, you’re the “winning bidder!” The more people that you draw into your auction then the more people you will have wanting to win.

Don’t be scared! Always start your auction at $.01 and “no reserve.” This option always makes more money. But there is one exception to this rule: don’t do it when you are just beginning to sell an extremely expensive item that you have to put a lot of your money on the line. For example, when I first started selling sporting tickets on eBay, I really had no idea what I was doing or how to effectively list an item. But once I figured that out, it really didn’t matter how much I bought the tickets for because when I listed them at $.01 and no reserve, I made about 18% more per sale!

Special note: if you have no reserve on your auction, always put “no reserve” (minus the quotes) in your auction title or, if you don’t have enough space for that, then put “nr” in the title. Do this because many people are opposed to auction with reserves and so they will always search for their keyword plus “no reserve” or “nr” and if your title doesn’t have these keywords then they won’t see it.

Well, that’s it! Armed with these secret eBay strategies, you too should be well on your way to making a very substantial income on eBay. However, should you wish to obtain even more information about how to make money on eBay and the rest of the Internet, please visit our eBay store for some fabulous informational products.

Unleash Life Success Coaching eBay Store

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/links/ulsc-ebay-store.html

And be sure to check out the extremely powerful A2Z Web Building & Internet Marketing Platinum Package. It’s over $1,500 worth of the best web building and Internet marketing books and programs in the world for less than $50. Check out our eBay rating and you will see that people love this package!

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/A2Z-platinum.html

Finally, if you missed any of the four parts of this article, you can read the other three at the following addresses:

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-1.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-2.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-3.html

http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-4.html