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Profit for life
publication date: Sep 6, 2006
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- Editorial
- The Bonuses of Doing a Featured Listing
on eBay by JohnThornhill
- Knowledge Is Power - Using eBay
Market Research by ChrisMalta and
RobinCowie
- How To Find Your Target Market
Through eBay and Amazon by Kurt
Naulaerts
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***
Editorial
***
Some people worry about their employer
going out of business, or profits falling in
their own small offline business, they have
trouble sleeping when redundancy
threatens or the old boss retires and the new
one's a pain in the proverbial! So why, oh
why, don't more people turn to eBay for
part or all of their income?
Why don't part-time eBayers amongst us step up a
notch or two, spend a bit more time selling
on eBay, work towards telling the boss
where to shove his job and turning to eBay
instead? Surely it makes sense when:
* The United Kingdom is now eBay's
third largest market, just after the USA and
Germany. The UK has ten million
registered users and the number is growing
by more than 160 per cent each year.
* More than 10,000 people in the UK
make at least half of their living on eBay,
many of them having previously sold
similar items offline but yielded to even
bigger profits and much larger markets on
eBay. The antiques and collectibles
industry has undergone staggering changes
since eBay appeared on the scene a little
over ten years ago, with many high street
shops facing heavy competition and
subsequently steep decline in profits. 'If
you can't beat them, join them' is the
attitude of many one-time high street
sellers who now sell solely on eBay.
* Nielsen, top online research company,
says eBay's audience of buyers and sellers
grew by 40 per cent over the past twelve
months.
* In July this year eBay reported net
income of $291.6 million, up from $190.4
million a year ago.
Bottom Line: eBay is here to stay, this is
not a market that might ever disappear, this
really could be a good and growing source
of income for life for us all.
Until next time,
Happy eBaying,
Avril
P.S. If you haven't already included
thought about the profits you could be
making from Amazon, you should do!
Have a look at this:
***
The Bonuses of Doing a Featured Listing
on eBay by JohnThornhill
***
If eBay is your marketplace to sell your
wares, and eBooks are your goods, then
featured listings should be your secret
weapon. The featured listing has been
around as long as eBay has been helping
millions of people find what they are
looking for on one website. The featured
listing is a tool that many think should be
used for expensive high ticket items like
diamond rings, or luxury cars.
However the featured listing has much
more value for those selling information
products like eBooks, and e-courses on
eBay.
The first thing that comes to most peoples
minds when you mention featured listings
is the price, which is $19.95 at last check
(Editor: £33.95 to £329.95 depending on
number of items and category). The price
however should not keep you from trying a
featured listing auction, because it can pay
larger dividends then just marketing one
product.
Featured listings are much more then just
tools to sell a single product; they can
propel your eBook business into a
successful career. Why would you pay
$19.95 to try and sell a product for $8?
This is a question many would ask in
regards to selling eBooks on eBay; since
most of them sell for less then the $19.95 it
would cost to feature them. The answer to
the question is as simple as the listing
itself, the more publicity you get for your
item, the more of them you can sell in one
week. If you do a featured eBook listing for
10 days, and do a Dutch style auction
allowing multiple buyers to pick up the text
through the same auction you would be
astounded at the incredible results that
could occur.
In order to fully maximize the effect of
having a featured listing, one must setup all
the traffic traps in advance. Since your
featured listing will net you a large amount
of traffic, you want to setup an about me
page, as well as an eBay store that will
allow for multiple buy it now listings in
one place. Finally you should setup a
website that you can refer your eBay traffic
to on your about me page.
EBooks are a dime a dozen on eBay, and in
order to standout you need to have
something that differentiates you from the
others. In order to standout from the pack
setup a featured listing for your best eBook
on eBay, and be prepared to watch your
sales go through the roof.
JohnThornhill is an eBay powerseller and
trades on eBay under the username
planetsms. If you really want to succeed on
eBay with information products visit
***
Knowledge Is Power - Using eBay
Market Research by ChrisMalta and
RobinCowie
***
New eBay retailers are often overwhelmed
with all the choices they have to make -
what to sell, what to charge, how to list an
item. Thankfully, there are numerous tools
available to answer those questions. eBay
sold the data on every sale they've ever
made to various companies. They've in
turn, created tools to interpret that data and
spot trends and patterns in it. According to
AnthonySukow, CEO of market research
giant http://Terapeak.com, "Having access
to eBay data empowers you with respect to
the market."
What Can Market Research Tell Me?
You never want to sell a product without
researching it first - it's like taking a test
without studying. Only instead of getting a
bad grade, you lose the time and money
you invested. There are some things you
need to know that you'll only learn by
researching:
* Is there a market for this product, and
can I compete in it?
Most market research tools let you see how
many of an item sold recently and how
long they were listed before selling. Look
at the supply and demand. If there is too
much supply or not enough demand,
consider finding other products to sell.
* Is this the best time to sell this product?
Some products are seasonal and these are
fairly intuitive. But sometimes market data
reveals surprising trends: black iPods may
be outselling white ones by more than
double. Or a celebrity may have gotten
some PR that sent the value of their
merchandise soaring.
* What can I get for this product?
Market research shows you the average
price people are getting for an item. As you
begin recognizing the value of various
products, you'll know whether something's
a good deal and what it will bring on eBay.
You don't want to get caught with a
product you can't make a profit on - or
worse, you take a loss.
* How should I list this product?
Market research tells you what set of
optional listing characteristics brought the
best prices for a particular product. You
can see what an item went for in an auction
versus what it sold for at set prices. You
can see which features were used - bold,
highlight, gift icon, gallery, etc. - and what
final prices they brought. You want to take
all this into account when deciding how to
list your own items - why waste money on
features that don't bring in better prices?
* Who's buying this product?
Market research gives you the
demographics of all the people who've
purchased the product you're selling -
genders, ages, and geographical regions. So
you know exactly who you're selling to,
and you can plan your marketing strategy
accordingly. Even the terminology you use
to list an item will vary from group to
group.
Sukow states, "Understanding your market
is fundamental for any smart business...
Use knowledge to empower your
purchasing decisions."
ChrisMalta and RobinCowie of
http://WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and
Hosts of The Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz
and Product Sourcing Radio Shows.
***
How To Find Your Target Market
Through eBay and Amazon by Kurt
Naulaerts
***
The purpose of market research is an
important one: you are going to determine
who will buy your product, where they
hang out both on and offline, and how you
can best reach them through advertising
your autoresponder program. The more you
can pinpoint your target market, the better
success (and profits) you will see.
Here is a partial list of topics to choose
from that have high marketability factors:
Making money
Investing money
Saving money (on consumer purchases)
Starting a business (online or offline)
Running a profitable web site
Dieting and weight loss
Time management
Relationships and dating
Finding a dream job
Working from home
eBay
It is said you can buy anything on eBay,
from cars and computers to clothing
formerly worn by celebrities. This massive
online consumer marketplace and auction
house is a haven for buyers and sellers
looking for great deals from the comfort of
their own homes. Searching for products
related to your topic on eBay can help you
home in on your market. It will also help
you determine how much buyers are
willing to pay for products related to your
subject.
Follow these steps to exploit eBay for
information:
1. Sign up for a free eBay account. This
personalizes your experience and allows
eBay to provide you with relevant
information every time you visit.
2. Go to the eBay home page and log in.
3. Choose one of the categories on the left-
hand side of the page that is relevant to
your topic and browse through the listings,
or search for a specific item or topic using
the search bar at the top of the page.
4. Make note of the price ranges people are
willing to pay for items or products related
to your topic. This will give you a general
idea of what to charge for yours. Also, note
how many products are available related to
your topic in comparison to other topics.
This is not limited to books: you might find
CDs, audio programs, or one of many
forms your product can take.
Amazon
Amazon.com, the other internet consumer
giant, is similar to eBay in that you can find
just about anything you want to buy. Their
biggest selection is in media: books,
movies and music; but they also have an
enormous inventory of electronics, toys,
jewelry, clothing and accessories, and
much more. Where eBay concentrates on
selling used products through auctions and
classifieds-style advertising, Amazon
carries new products along with a healthy
dose of independent sellers touting used
wares.
Your purpose in using Amazon for market
research is twofold: you will identify your
competition and find out how popular your
topic is, and you will familiarize yourself
with how Amazon works, as you will likely
want to consider making your product
available through Amazon. Here is how to
check it out:
1. Sign up for an Amazon account, if you
do not already have one. Like eBay,
Amazon will give you personalized
recommendations based on your searching
and buying history, and keep you updated
with the latest available information on
your topic.
2. Once you have signed up, go to the
Amazon home page and log in (you may be
automatically logged in; Amazon really
likes keeping track of its customers and
often will keep you perpetually signed on,
even when you leave the site)
3. Using the search bar at the top of the
page, choose Books from the dropdown list
and type in your topic or keywords. The
results you get will be both print books and
e-books. Since Amazon deals primarily in
new product, you will be able to view the
retail price of competitive products.
4. Make note of prices and the number of
titles available relating to your topic. Also,
you might want to consider checking out
the Listmania sections on the product pages
you view (you can find this by scrolling
down on the page, almost to the bottom).
Listmania is an Amazon program that
promotes customer recommendations by
allowing Amazon users to compile lists of
their favorite books on Amazon. Checking
out Listmania picks helps you understand
what type of product your target market is
interested in, and how much they are
willing to pay for it.
5. Once you find a product, if you scroll
down past Listmania you will find sections
on similar items by category and similar
items by subject. You can browse through
the available products related to your topic
in this way without going back to your
search results page.
So, you have to work to do. Most important
is to take action!
KurtNaulaerts and PaulMalacara
aresuccessful online marketers. They
learned everything from the Online Selling
University. Every corner of Internet
Marketing is covered here.
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