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Friday, January 15, 2010

Ebay Powerseller Essentials--Tools of the Trade

Aiming to be a powerseller? Planning on building an ecommerce empire?

If your answer is yes, and I hope it is, you need to set up your home office. Even if your house is bursting at the seams, claim a corner for yourself and start gathering the tools you will need to succeed.


Ebay and Ecommerce Essentials:

1.) A digital camera. Pictures are essential to selling online. Your camera doesn't have to be the latest or greatest, but it needs to be digital and reliable.

2.) A permanent workspace. Find a dedicated spot in your house and devote it to your business. The kitchen table is practical and works well between meals, but you are going to need a space you don't need to set up and take down. Even if all you can manage at first is a small corner and a card table, set it up to stay.

3.) A good computer and printer. If your computer or printer is slow or out-of-date, make plans to get a new one. Your computer is a key element of your business.

4.) A dedicated shipping station and a good scale. Again, even if all you can squeeze out is a table, set up your packing supplies and scale and use the space just for shipping. Shipping will go much quicker and leave you time for selling.

5.) A standing order with the Post Office. Decide how often you are going to be shipping and arrange to have packages ready for the postman on certain days. Avoid the post office as much as possible. You are too busy to drive and wait in line.

5.) A support network. Get out there (in cyber space) and follow some blogs. Join a site for support and ideas. Make sure to follow the The Ecommerce Mom. I find Jim Cochrum's My Silent Team to be an excellent resource. Another site definately worth its weight in gold is Lisa Suttora's What Do I Sell.


6.) Feed your brain. Eat up books on selling, marketing and entrepreneurs. Read positive thinking material. Think like a winner and feed your brain winning thoughts. I DEVOURED Gary Vaynerchuk's recent book Crush It. He is passionate and excited about media marketing and living your dream. Check out his amazing book:

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion




Check out his video: (kid alert--adult language)

Gary Vaynerchuk Video




You can also buy his book right here:

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Top Ten Reasons to work at home



It takes a lot of courage to exchange your pumps for slippers, but once you do the pumps may always feel a bit too tight.




Top Ten Reasons To Work At Home

10.) The Commute Fourteen inches of snow on the ground and commuters are slipping, sliding and swearing their way into their offices. The commute at home involves stepping over the cat and navigating around the laundry.




9.) The Food It isn't exotic and the service is lacking, but lunch is always cheap and close.

8.) The Music Chosen according to your mood. Played as loud as necessary.

7.) Wardrobe No worries here, deciding between sweats and jeans takes only a minute.

6.) Colleagues The best co-workers imaginable; silent, agreeable and furry.

5.) The View Whatever you make of it. Laptops are portable.

4.) The Boss Nowhere in sight.

3.) The Breaks Can be taken whenever and where ever you choose. Pillows and blankets are encouraged.

2.) The Evening Meal Can be started during one of the above breaks. No Five O'clock rush to get through. No stress at dinner time.

1.) Meeting the Afternoon School Bus The absolute best part of the workday.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

People are Talking: Feedback and Ebay

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
Mark Twain

The Date: Early 1990's
The Place: Tech Alley, CA
The Characters: Pierre Omidyar and his girlfriend, trying to come up with an online auction system to sell her extra Pez dispensers
The Dilema: Getting buyers and sellers to trust each other to send money and merchandise through the mail
The Solution: Feedback

Ahhh...Ebay feedback. The positives, the negatives, the neutrals. The powersellers, the colored stars, the "top rated." No other site places this much emphasis on feedback.

If you are going to play on Ebay's playground, you are going to have to follow Ebay's rules. And Ebay loves feedback; it is a required game on their playground.

The easiest way to succeed on the site is to always keep feedback in mind. Keep it in mind when you list, when you send emails and when you ship.

A few tips to ensure positive feedback:

1.) List Carefully. Buyers will be inspecting the item closer than you. As tempting as it is to gloss over minor flaws (and it is tempting!), it is far better to make any problems clear in the begining.

1.) Ship Quickly. Yes, they are buying online, but nobody likes waiting. Shorten their wait as much as you can.

2.) Communicate. Answer all emails. Send a small note in the package saying "thank you." Follow up and see how they like their stuff.

3.) Fix any problems. If your buyer has a problem, make it better. Most buyers on Ebay are honest. If they say the item arrived damaged, it most likely did. Refund the money or ship another. If you think they are lying, fix it anyway and then block them from buying. The impact of a "negative" is much worse than taking a small loss.

4.) Admit your mistakes and don't make excuses. It is tempting to blame the blizzard, the computer or the HINI going through your house. Try not to though- buyers don't want your story, they want their stuff.

5.) Realize you cannot avoid negatives entirely. Take a deep breath and some time before responding. Respond, but don't get into a back and forth with the customer. Nothing is uglier than reading through feedback and seeing an argument. If you made a mistake, admit it. If you didn't, explain it. And then move on.

I imagine Omidyar had no idea where his feedback concept would lead.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Trash to Cash--what is my stuff worth?

Gather your junk and start a business. Who would have thought? Ebay makes this idea possible. The great thing about starting in ecommerce is the necessary investment is almost zero.

Once you have a pile of items from around your abode to sell, grab a computer and a pencil and start your research.

To do research on Ebay, utilize Ebay's advance search option (next to the main rectangle on top of Ebay's page) and then check the box with "completed listings."

You will now see all of the listings for whatever you typed into the search rectangle for the past 30 days. If the price is in green it is showing a sold item, if it is in red, the item ended without selling. Pay attention to what the item ended at if it did sell--this gives you a ballpark figure on what you can expect.

If there is wide fluctuations in price on sold items, review the listings for the highest and lowest items and see if you can learn anything. Were the items listed in a fixed price or auction format? Did one have a higher starting price (this is hard to determine, but you can "guesstimate" from the number of bids an item received.) Did one seller have substandard feedback (below 99%?)

Also review your current competition. How many other sellers are selling the same thing you are selling? What prices are they asking?

If you do not find anything that matches the item you are researching, do not dismiss it. Check other sites for value ideas, Amazon is a great source for research. You will only be able to check the asking prices but this will give you an idea.

Keep in mind that you may be able to add value to your listing by grouping it with similar items. The reverse might also work. An entire set of dishes brings less than the pieces do sold in small groups.

Once you have a good idea of what you can expect when you list the item, make a quick sticky note with this information. Include anything interesting you have learned in the research. You might note if the items sells mostly at auction or fixed price. You can jot down whether it is a common item or a rare item. Place it right on the item. This will save you valuable time when you start listing.

Now is when you decide if the item is worth your time to sell. When I started, and even now, I am willing to accept a profit of two or three dollars from something I already own. Especially if the item is easy to package and ship and especially if I have a lot of similar items to sell. Those small sales can add up quickly.

If you need to build your feedback score every single sale is going to help you do that. Buyers will review your feedback and the more recent successful sales you have, the better off your chances of selling.

Don't forget to make a list of heavy or bulky items to consider for Craig's List.

Make two piles--one of items worthy to sell and another of items that can be donated. Do yourself a favor and do not return any these items to your closet:) If you are willing to part with them today, you will not miss them tomorrow.

Get excited, you are about to start earning money on the internet!