Out of the things you know enough about, you should then consider which things you could actually get for a good enough price to resell, and how suitable they would be for posting
“Postability” of ebay items - a key factor
Out of the things you know enough about, you should then consider which things you could actually get for a good enough price to resell, and how suitable they would be for posting.
If you can think of a ‘physical’ product of that you are experienced with and it”s small and light enough for postage to be comparatively cheap, then that”s great!
Don”t worry if you think the thing you”re selling is too obscure - it isn”t.
However if it”s big - heavy/wide/long then think hard about if it is suutable for selling. Packing such things can take time and use a lot of material and they can cost loads to post - Plus postal services have limits on size and weight too - So check all this out in advance or you may pay the price later…I know, I did!
Home > April, 2008
“Postability” of ebay items - a key factor
Improve your picture:
In all that description writing, you might have missed the vital importance of your item”s picture
Improve your picture:
In all that description writing, you might have missed the vital importance of your item”s picture. So many people skim writing and look at pictures so having really good pictures is just as important as a good description.
A picture with bad lighting or an intrusive background looks amateurish and won”t make anyone want to buy from you.
So - If you have any doubts about your photos retake them. Take more photos - Loads of them and you”ll get a few really cool ones. They can make a vast difference.
Add more description to the photos to illustrate key points. Try a picture gallery with thumbnails that expand when clocked (see www.villagephotos.com)
If you need to get a better camera - Beg or borrow or save up. 3 mega pixels at least and, if you”re doing detail close ups - and you probably will - a good Macro close up detail shooting mode.
Prepare Yourself
Prepare Yourself.
There are going to be ups and downs when you sell on ebay.
Don”t pack it in if something goes a little wrong in your first few sales: the sellers who are booming on ebay are the ones who enjoy it, and stick at it whatever comes about.
Anyone can sell on ebay, if they believe in themselves - and if you do decide it”s not for you, then the start-up costs are so low that you won”t really have lost anything.
If you”re ready to start selling, then the next thing you need to know is the different auction types, so you can decide which ones you will use to sell your items.
Powerseller tool Kit
This is part 1 of a yet to de defined series that I will turn into a full on eBay course if I ever find the time! It’s also in the pages sections which is where other parts will go as and when they are ready. Parts 2 and 3 about done. 4 and 5 outlined. Beyond that, phew dunno!
So off we go then -
From eBay dummy to Powerseller in 3 months
Part 1 – Preparation
“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 sorted out in order to move from total newbie to Powerseller in the shortest time possible. In this first article I’ll tell you what you need to do to prepare so you can get off to a flying start.
Part 1 - Preparation
1. Why aim at Powerseller level?
2. How long to become a Powerseller?
3. What do you need? My Powerseller Toolbox revealed
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.
So while it’s possible to do it in 3 months from a flat start it’s 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 revealed
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.
Good digital camera - Right away.
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 at http://www.irfanview.com/
Image hosting account - Right away.
eBay’s Picture Manager is pricey. An alternative is an image hosting account. You simply upload your pictures and copy and paste the codes they give you into your auctions. I use www.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 – BRILLIANT! As soon as you start listing
http://www.answertool.com/
I can’t praise this enough. As you do eBay you’ll find that you get many of the same questions over and over – or very similar ones. For example postage queries. Requests for your address. Common questions on your core products and so on – even just your signature. As you can imagine it’s a PAIN to answer these over and over by typing a reply each time.
I used to store my standard answers in a Notepad text file but found that this quickly became messy and unmanageable. Then came AnswerTool which is quite frankly one those “can’t live without” now tools.
With it you can build up a huge database of any answers you ever have to give and access them through a really fast and easy tree structure graphical pop up at the click of a button. It can be set to always be running in the background so you can access it in the blink of an eye i.e., no need to do a program start up and shut down.
The hard data - I estimate it’s saved me 30 minutes a day since I got it a year and half ago – that’s 30 minutes a day average per day every day. Say 500 days = 250 hours saved = 10 days of repetitive tapping.
And it’s not just limited to eBay answers. You can use it to kill any repetitive typing type task such article marketing and blog comments. In short, get it, it’s amazing.
Roboform - get now
As you develop your business you’ll find yourself needing to log in and out of allsorts pfd places, ebay of course. Then there will be supplier websites, membership sites of allsorts and so on. User names and passwords can get very confusing after a while (don’t use the same for all or trouble will come to you sooner or later!) A superb tool that automates all your login and password work is Roboform. As with Answertool once you have it you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. A massive time and hassle saver that is also great for filling in online forms of allsorts e,g, anything with name, address – or anything you define in them. You can test out with a good useable free edition too. Two words – Get it here (opens in new window)
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. All your auctions can be organised by 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 pages up in advance for fast set up 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 starting out tell who and where you are and that you’re doing a big old house clearance this month 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 link later and feel free to lift and adapt mine if you. No matter what your situation you need to 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
You’ll need -
• Big sharp scissors
• Scales that measure to 1 gram upto as high as possible.
• Brown packing tape
• Wide clear cellotape
• Brown paper wrap
• Bubble wrap rolls
• Padded mailing bags – size varies depending on what you’re selling.
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. It’s easy to set an account up with them online.
Think about the future – All the time!
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.
My World and eBay Blogs
Quite new and related to About Me
I find this a great place to post articles about products and longer answers or ‘discussions’ and ‘how to do’ guides about products I sell.
Again this helps with buyer confidence in you as a professional and serves as a place to answer common repetitive questions.
Speed your replies up - Answer questions fast, you look professional
Speed your replies up - Answer questions fast, you look professional.
Check your email at least 3 times a day.
Get Answertool - Search Google for the name. It”s an amazingly handy tool where you can build up a list of all your common answers to questions and anything else you might ever need to copy and paste into answers or anywhere else for that matter. I reckon it saves me literally days every year in time doing repetitive tasks.
Add an About Me page:
You”ll be surprised how much you can reassure bidders just by creating an About Me page and putting a little bit about yourself and your business on there
Add an About Me page:
You”ll be surprised how much you can reassure bidders just by creating an About Me page and putting a little bit about yourself and your business on there.
You can also have a few special offers there for people who bother to look at the page, and let people subscribe to your mailing list so that you can email them updates.
It”s one of only 2 places on ebay where you can put external links - so you can link to other websites you run or like or to affiliate offers.
Add NR or ‘No Res’ to your titles:
If you have extra space in a title, put “NR” (no reserve) on the end
Add NR or ‘No Res’ to your titles:
If you have extra space in a title, put “NR” (no reserve) on the end.
Bidders prefer auctions that don”t have a reserve price, and doing this lets them see that yours don”t.
Fact is that ebay changed the rules some time ago and now reserves can”t be used on low value items - But most buyers don”t know that of course! So add it if you have space and be sure to put it in as a sub title in your description.
Prepare Yourself
Prepare Yourself.
There are going to be ups and downs when you sell on ebay.
Don”t pack it in if something goes a little wrong in your first few sales: the sellers who are booming on ebay are the ones who enjoy it, and stick at it whatever comes about.
Anyone can sell on ebay, if they believe in themselves - and if you do decide it”s not for you, then the start-up costs are so low that you won”t really have lost anything.
If you”re ready to start selling, then the next thing you need to know is the different auction types, so you can decide which ones you will use to sell your items.