Why all eBay eBook Sellers Need an eBay Store

Is owning an eBay store is worth the expense? I personally think any serious eBay seller must have an eBay store and in this article I will try to explain the benefits of owning an eBay store.

1. Owning an eBay store gives you your own unique URL to promote.

Having your own link to promote means you can promote your eBay store from your auctions, about me page, email signatures, forum signatures, blogs, articles, eBooks, newsletters etc etc.

2. You look more professional.

If you look like a professional seller you will sell more. Obviously a lot of factors count to looking professional such as excellent feedback but having an eBay store adds to the professional look. Also, a fully stocked eBay store gives you a professional look and with eBooks this is easily achieved at low cost.

3. You can sell multiple store items for a few cents per month.

That's right, you can list an eBook with a 1000 items available and this can cost only a few cents per month. In fact you could list 1000 different items in your eBay store as store inventory items for around $30 per month. The minimum price to do this with 1000 auctions would be almost 10 times the expense.

4. You get to send out store newsletters.

Yes, you can build your own eBay subscriber database. Every time someone leaves feedback for you on eBay they get asked if they would like you to be added to their favourite sellers list. If they accept they can also subscribe to your store newsletter. This means you can send out mailings to your past customers. Plus you can also set up eBay to send out regular mailings on your behalf every 2 weeks.

There is also the option to add a link to your store newsletter and store favourites in all your auctions. This is a crucial promotion tool eBay provides, just look at the top right corner of any of my listings to see these links in action. This means you can add people to your eBay mailing list even if they don't initially buy from you.

5. You can 'feature' your most profitable items.

By putting your most popular items in the featured section of your eBay store you are gaining maximum exposure for the items that make you the most money.

6. You can personalise your eBay store to differ yourself from other eBay users.

With a little HTML experience you can add categories, logo's, graphics, pictures and a lot more to give your eBay store a more personalised, professional look. Even if you are not familiar with HTML you can still create an attractive looking eBay store.

7. You can track sales and traffic.

By using the tracking services eBay provides you can track a whole host of features such as your most viewed items, store traffic, search terms used in your store, where your visitors came from and a lot lot more.

8. You can link to your store from all your auctions.

If you use all the tools eBay provides you can have up to 10 links to your eBay store from every auction you run. Without an eBay store you can have 3 or 4 links at the most linking to your other items.

9. Your store and store items will appear in the major search engines.

Google 'planetsms' and you will see number one is my website and number 2 is my eBay store. You can add keywords to your eBay store and there is also more chance of your listings showing on google. In fact if you search Google for the term 'planetsms eBook collection' or even just 'eBook collection' you will see both search terms are on the 1st page of Google :-)

10. You can ask people to 'Visit me eBay store'.

Sounds silly doesn't it? It's a simple fact that more visitors = more sales and no one can deny that. You can ask people to visit your store in your auctions, about me page, email signatures, forum signatures, blogs, articles, eBooks, newsletters :-) etc etc etc.

There you go, 10 reasons why you should have an eBay store. I have probably missed out a lot more and maybe even some more important reasons why you should have an eBay store but I'm sure you get the picture.

A Unique Online Business Opportunity - Your Own Ebay Store With A Twist

An interesting survey recently revealed that more than 9% of all Christmas shopping was done online. Although this sounds like a very small number, it really is significant in that the projection is that by 2010 more than 50% of everything we buy, will be done online. One of the biggest barriers has always been the issue of security and with the risk being shifted from the consumer to the payment processors, things are set to skyrocket. If you are looking for a unique online business opportunity, then owning your own online store is indeed a very promising prospect.

Before you start thinking of all the hassle involved with running a store – stop! There is an alternative and one that is potentially very lucrative and free from the usually hassle of customers, inventory and shipping which makes this such a unique online business opportunity.

Ebay is the biggest marketplace in the world and with more than 135 million members in more than 35 countries it is probably the widest audience that any market has or will ever have. What makes Ebay really powerful is that it gives anybody with virtually any product the opportunity to own their own store and to sell either their own products or someone else's products – new or used.

Ebay has been around for a while now and there are many strategies out there for making money on Ebay. Interestingly, 99.9% of them use the same business model and although it works it involves an awful lot of work. Just dealing with customers can be a full time job in itself. While most people try and make money by buying cheap wholesale products and reselling them for a profit, there are a few smart store owners that look at things differently – and they making a fortune without any of the usual troubles involved with running a successful Ebay store.

With this unique online business opportunity you can make money by selling other people's stuff. Yes, by simply having a store that lists other people's products you can get paid a commission for every sale made through your store. Ebay's affiliate program pays a handsome 65% commission, which is huge. Compare this to Amazon's 5% and you know why having your own affiliate Ebay store can be so lucrative.

The best part about having your own affiliate Ebay store is that it takes very little time to set up and once it is up and running you can pretty much let it run on autopilot. Since products are not passing through your store, there is very little maintenance required from your end. This makes it a system that you can easily duplicate and by getting a little bit creative, you can start to dominate several niche markets with your very own store – selling other people's products and having them deal with all the hassle of customers, delivery and payments.

There are many opportunities for making money from Ebay, but none are as easy and hassle free as this one. This really is a unique online business opportunity and one that will appeal even to those who hate the idea of having an online store. It really is hassle free, highly lucrative, easy to set up and very under used.

Starting a Successful E-bay Business

So you're looking to start an E-bay Business, are you! With more than 430,000 people in the United States alone working full or part time on E-bay, it may be easier than you think to start an E-bay business.

If you feel E-bay is just for selling novelty items, or a low value trinket type outlet, you should look again. An E-bay business can sell anything from trinkets to antiques all the way to automobiles. Some of the most popular of the thousands of categories are automobiles and auto supplies, consumer electronics, computers, clothes and accessories, books, movies and music.

E-bay was started in 1995 and has become the world's biggest online auction site, selling all kinds of products and services. There is about 1,000 dollars in sales every second. There are 135 million registered users in 32 countries. So you can see how your E-bay business can have a huge exposure.

Before you start an E-bay business you should decide if you want to be a full time business or just a part time hobby. Do you want to work from your home or set up an outside office to work from? Do you want to work on your own or do you want to have employees? Do you want to become a Power Seller or a Trade Assistant?

Actually, it's really difficult to decide all those things in advance. But you can set them up as goals in your business plan. It really is best to start small. This way, you can decide if you like the challenges enough to go further. There will be many disappointments, but look at them as the learning process. Make no mistake about the fact that it's become quite difficult to make big easy profits. So Ok it's easy to start, but you will work hard to find the key to success.

It is a good idea to practice before officially beginning an E-bay business. It's advisable to first do a few purchases of some things you could use around the house. Give feedback after a successful buy. Note the different experiences you will have with each different auction. This could teach you a lot before you begin selling.

Then, you can start selling. Try different headlines and descriptions on a small scale. Practice taking pictures and try different listing formats. Just sell one or two items at a time at first to get comfortable and confident. This should improve your chances of success for when you take your E-bay business to the next level.

Getting set up with an E-bay business just takes a few minutes. You will need to fill an application online, and supply your name, address, telephone number, a credit card and or a checking account. This is used for identification, as well as payment purposes.

When setting up your E-bay business you should also open a PayPal account. This is the largest worldwide payment service. PayPal was purchased by E-bay when they saw how popular the payment system became. It allows people to use credit cards or their checking accounts to pay you, as well as simplifying your purchases. The fees are very reasonable, and it eliminates the need to have a costly merchant account.

When you set up your E-bay business, remember to set up your "About Me" page, which is a free E-bay feature that allows you to promote your business and yourself.

When you start your E-bay business and succeed in making regular sales, you may want to register with Federal, State, and local tax authorities. You also may want to form a corporation or LLC to protect yourself from any legal liability.

By now you should have signed up for at least 6 online newsletters specializing in E-bay and Auctions in general. From these, you will discover sources for finding products to sell, and especially, some drop-shippers.

Your E-bay business should now something to specialize in. This can be the most difficult challenge you will face with your E-bay business. You need to pick something that you know about, has a profit potential, and is not hard to photograph or ship. Before you put something up for sale look to see what similar items sold for and ask, can I make money with this? A key point to remember is that what ever you offer must fill a need. You must do your research for every item you consider selling.

If your E-bay business makes your purchasing task simple and uncomplicated, you have a much better chance of success. In other words, if you find a niche, then specialize. This means your E-bay business should sell like items. If you sell CD's, then having CD racks or players would be a good combination. The more compatible items you have on sale, the better your chances of success. People would much rather purchase what they need from one supplier that they have learned to trust.

After you have gotten comfortable with auction formats, and other aspects of your E-bay business remember not to get complacent. You will want to read about any new features, keep in touch with your customers, and also be aware of what your competition is doing.

Now you're making enough sales to require you to automate. Don't underestimate the value of simplifying your work through automation. And, you must keep growing by learning and changing to better formats. That's the only way to take your E-bay business to its full potential and maximize you're earning potential. Set your goal to becoming a Power-Seller.

by Fred Farah

Should You Clear Checks Before Posting Goods You Sell on eBay?

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me that question and that way I'd probably make more money than I've ever lost by posting goods before checks clear – or don't clear as the case might be!

It is a problem, especially for new eBay sellers – you don't want to celebrate your first few sales on eBay only to find the checks bounce for goods you've already sent to winning bidders.

The problem for newcomers is one of fearing negative feedback for not delivering the goods immediately after payment arrives, even though checks take up to seven days to clear (or to bounce!)

Thankfully, there are ways round the problem and I can honestly say I invariably send goods before checks clear and I've only ever been let down twice! For tiny amounts!

My view is that most people are honest, few will bounce checks and, for small amounts (less than $20 in my books) I always send the goods without clearing checks first. The same goes for payments awaiting clearance through PayPal. My philosophy has always been: it's not worth making the honest majority wait for their goods just because a tiny few payments might be dishonoured. You need to keep your good customers happy, lead them to buy from you again, and nothing works better than fulfilling the goods and trusting them to honour their side of the bargain.

That said, if a lot of money is involved (you must decide this level for yourself) or the buyer looks 'iffy', I break my own rule and let payment clear first.

With experience these are the rules I apply which you are free to copy in your business:

* Check buyer feedback, look for high feedback scores (100 plus) from sellers, look for any negatives or neutrals indicating payment disputes. Be wary of feedback representing tiny amounts of money which might indicate your winning bidder has grown feedback fast on penny items to turn tail and scam subsequent sellers of more expensive items.

* Risk low amounts to new buyers without high feedback scores, but not if feedback already indicates a problem customer. For example, I would never send goods money uncleared for anyone with negative feedback or low positive feedback with plentiful negatives. Incidentally, you can program your listings to refuse bids from anyone with negative feedback scores, -1, -2, for example. The place to do this is in the 'Buyer Requirements' Section of the 'Payment & Postage' section of the selling process.

* Decide a maximum acceptable sum beyond which you will let all monies clear before sending the goods. I use $20 but I will go much higher for buyers with good feedback who have been registered on eBay for more than a few months and for anyone with whom I have already had a trouble-free transaction.

* Bear in mind banks charge you when payment fails, unlike PayPal where you won't be charged. I recommend PayPal for all your transactions and, as for all of those derogatory things being said and written about PayPal, I don't believe any of it!

* There is one time I do clear checks before sending the goods. It's when someone buys, the check hasn't even arrived yet, and the winning bidder begins hassling me about delivery times or, worse still, threatens negative feedback if I don't get the product to them fast. In my experience payment from people like this have always failed. I tend to ignore this rule for past buyers, and any long registered eBayers with good feedback, but not new eBayers or others with poor or no feedback.

There is a problem here, being new eBayers with low positive feedback, in which case I check feedback from people who've sold to them already. If those sellers also have low feedback, I smell a conspiracy, if they are well-known sellers with lots of positive feedback, I relent and send the goods. BUT I NEVER SEND THE GOODS FAST WITHOUT CLEARING PAYMENT WHEN I AM THREATENED WITH NEGATIVE FEEDBACK!

How To Successfully Market And Sell Your Product On Ebay

Selling your items on Ebay is really very simple once you have mastered the technical aspect of posting your items and filling the orders. It's much harder to convert your Ebay sales efforts into a consistent, and viable business. Putting the technical aspects of selling on Ebay aside, there are a few key areas that every serious Ebay seller needs to master if they are going to consistently profit from this type of business venture.

The first area you should be concerned about is customer service. This is an important aspect that many serious sellers seem to neglect. If you are serious and you want your Ebay business to succeed your going to need repeat buyers. If you really want to get a buyer's attention provide them with excellent customer service that goes above and beyond your competition. This means that you need to promptly answering emails, and when your shipping packages to your buyers keep them updated concerning the shipping of their items. When you receive a payment, send the customer a email acknowledging that you have received their payment. You should also send the customer an email when you have shipped the package. If you follow these simple steps the chances of you having a buyer return, and making a future purchase are greatly increased.

The second area that hurts Ebay sellers the most, is failing to pay attention to the costs involved in an Ebay business. It is very important to keep a record of all of the costs that are involved with every transaction that you make. You need to Know how much it costs to acquiring your product, along with the cost of completing the transaction. Keep a journal that contains information about all of your sell through rates, and prices realized. This can be very simple or extremely complex the choice is up to you. The more factors that you are able to track concerning your business. Being informed about your business will allow you to make informed decisions concerning your business.

The third area that you need to be concerned about is the reputation that you develop the niche category that you are consistently selling in. Buyers that see you and your products, over and over again are more inclined to buy from you. The niche market that you decide to dive into should be one that you are familiar with and have done extensive research on. It is a proven fact that buyers who see well written ads by the same seller in a specific category, regard the seller as a reputable knowledgeable dealer. This doesn't mean that you should limit yourself to selling only one item in one categories. This simply means that you want the buyers to make an association with your name in the specific category they are shopping in.

eBay Selling is the Ideal Home Business

eBay selling is the ultimate new-start opportunity for your home based business. In my opinion, it beats any other type of internet marketing for two reasons. First, eBay is the easiest way to make money on the internet. And second, it's the quickest way to make money on the internet.

Another item of proof you might like to consider when deciding if eBay selling is for you, is that 430,000 people in the USA alone say that eBay is their sole or their major source of income.

I don't believe there's any other method of internet marketing which can produce success numbers like those.

When you think about this, it isn't surprising that eBay is my recommendation. Internet marketing is a vast topic, requiring that you know about a huge number of techniques and tactics. Even as you're acquiring your internet marketing knowledge, it falls out of date as the internet keeps developing. Two years ago internet marketers were promoting AdSense as the way to make money on the internet. Last year, co-registration was the way to make your fortune. This year they're telling you that you need to become an expert in Social Bookmarking and Web 2.0. If you've never heard of any of these, don't worry. You've saved yourself lots of money and time!

I don't know about you, but what I want from the internet is a way to make money easily.

I simply want to be able to offer something for sale via the internet, and then make a fair profit when it's bought by somebody. A reasonable desire, but there's a huge problem...

The hardest part of internet marketing is getting people to see what you have to offer. There are billions of websites out there, and you're competing against all of them for traffic!

This is where eBay selling comes in.

eBay already gets massive visitor traffic. Truly massive. When I last checked on Alexa, eBay was the most visited shopping site in the world, pushing Amazon into second place.

eBay have invested hugely in the necessary marketing activity to get traffic, and it's all there waiting for you.

All you have to do is to persuade a tiny fraction of those visitors to see what you're selling.

Plus, you can test a product within days, and there are virtually no limits as to what you can sell on eBay. When selling on eBay you can get involved in any area in which you have an interest or expertise.

The figures regarding the growth of eBay are impressive. As I write this, eBay have just announced their 2006 annual results.

* 2004.1 million listings in 2006.

* $52.5 billion value of auctions sales 2006.

* $6 billion Gross Profit in 2006.

* 221.6 million eBay members as at 31 December, 2006.

* On average, 112,300 new members joined eBay each day throughout 2006.

* $37.7 billion value of PayPal payments 2006.

* 133 million PayPal accounts as at 31 December, 2006.

All of this is great news for us!

The eBay market place is thriving, and we should all be able to thrive with it.

If you're in the market to make extra money, and you want to do it through online auctions, then eBay selling is definitely the business for you.

Make Money on Ebay for Beginners

Ebay has been around for almost 12 years now (9 years mainstream). Every day people sign up and expect to make a lot of money by selling their items online. 90% fail, because they don't have a startup plan. The biggest problem is not having enough positive feedback. Once a potential buyer sees that you do not have a high feedback rating, they will immediately think that you are a beginner or even worse a scam artist. Here is a tip for you to make money as an eBay beginner :

"It is not necessary to have a feedback of 50+ to start selling.

I would suggest that you buy 10 ebooks on ebay for around $2 each (from DIFFERENT sellers each time) and once they have emailed you the eBooks, you immediately leave a positive feedback for them.

After that, you email each and every one of the sellers and ask them to also exchange a positive feedback for you. That should give you a +10 Feedback within 2 days.

Then you start selling ... but make sure to start selling some inexpensive items for around $3 first ... That way you are sure that buyers will bid on your items, even though you have a low positive feedback. After selling 10 smaller items, you should have a +20 feedback within 10 days, depending on shipping time.

Now if a potential buyer checks your feedback, they will see a +20 feedback (100%) and they will also notice that not all of your feedback are from sellers. The potential buyer/bidder will read positive feedback comments from previous buyers and be more comfortable. They can trust you. Trust is the most important factor on ebay. Remember that the buyer is not able to see you or the item face-to-face, so reading positive reviews from other people will make them feel at ease.

Now you can start increasing the quality of the items you are selling and be assured that there will be more bids on your items. When you started out a couple of weeks ago as a new ebay beginner, there was the same amount of potential buyers looking at your eBay auctions, but they were not comfortable enough to bid on your items. But now you have given them reason to trust you as a seller (remember the +20 100% feedback ?)"