Most eBay discussions start with a few statistics, and this one isn't going to be any different! All these statistics are relevant to eBay Australia, not eBay worldwide:
- eBay.com.au has 4 million unique visitors each month
- A piece of womens clothing sells every 15 seconds
- A car sells every 12 minutes
Everyone gets the picture - massive market, very low costs of entry to that market. It makes for a compelling vision of a large and easily tapped market. But how best to use the opportunity? The following list is a few ideas on how to use that market to build your business, even if your business isn't about shipping small products internationally. I'm going to assume that the reader already has an eBay account, because, well, most people do these days. (1 in 10 Adult Australians I'm reliably told by eBay)
Tip 1 : Your username is visible in lots of places, and is free advertising
In the early days of eBay, everyone was fixated with anonymity, as though they were either embarassed about buying and selling on eBay, or they were afraid some sort of scam artist was going to rip them off by knowing what their name was. If you buy or sell on eBay, the other party to the transaction gets your name, address and phone number at the completion of the sale, so obfuscating your username achieves very little. And as more businesses are trading on eBay, they should be clearly stating who they are and what they do. Nobody would buy from an unmarked shop, so don't treat an eBay account any differently.
If you aren't using your business name as your username, then you should change it, today. You can change your username any time you like. Even better, make it a recognisable version of your website domain name, such as yourcompany_com_au. You can't use dots in an eBay username, but the general trend is replace dots with underscores, as in the shown example.
By doing this, you are promoting your business just be being on the site, whether that is from buying or selling other peoples products. In every listing that you have either sold, bought or even asked questions about, your username is displayed for all to see.
Tip 2 : You have a free 'Me' profile page with your account, so use it.
The 'Me' page is a free-for-all web page listed within eBay which allows an eBay member to post information about themselves. The rules are pretty liberal on this page, and you can link back to your business home page from your 'Me' page. (you can't link back to your business home page from an eBay listing).
Your 'Me' page has a set internet URL which doesn't change (as long as your username doesn't change). The address will be : http://members.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid='your user name'
Where 'your user name' would be your eBay userid.
Within your 'Me' page, you can list out what your business does, contact details (phone number, address and other information). You can show your most recent feedback comments, your current listings and much more.
Coupling this with an eBay username which describes your business, this is a very cost effective way of appearing in front of a massive audience in your chosen niche and getting your business name and website out there.
Tip 3 : You can have as many eBay accounts as you like.
If you're selling some dusty old things from under the cupboard, or perhaps are moonlighting in a bit of craft work on the weekend, you shouldn't necessarily use the same account to sell items from your business. eBay accounts are free, and you can craft an account to suit exactly the type of business you are conducting online. You can even have two separate business accounts - one for discounted stock and one which sells your regular lines. Or you could have one for each separate line of products you sell.
You only really need to do this when there is a clear differentiation. Remember you only get one 'Me' page per account, so think about what you would like to have on the 'Me' page and work backwards from there. If you only need one for your business, then have one. But if you have two separate lines of business, it's a good idea to keep them separate. That way you can target customers better, and create slightly different branding for each account.
Tip 4 : Put a starting bid on items related to your industry, without any real intentions of purchasing them, just so your eBay id (and Me page) are shown along with the item.
Now this one comes with a big disclaimer : any bid on eBay is legally binding, and if you are the winning bidder at the end of the auction, you are legally bound to follow through with the purchase. This strategy tends to only work for those who are in an industry where supply is reasonably scarce, and where most items that come up for sale usually sell.
With that out of the way, what I am talking about here is placing a starting bid on an item you are sure will sell for a higher price. You are effectively starting off the bidding, with no real intention of buying, but are OK with buying if it happened that way. Obviously, not all sales listings are suitable for this type of strategy. You should only use it if the item you are looking at is started at a price you would be happy to buy it at if no other buyers bid. This would normally be on items that are listed for below cost price.
This probably sounds crazy the first time you hear it, but if you are in the right type of business with the right type of products, it can work out nicely.
The reason is that these days, 90% of the bidding action doesn't happen until the closing minutes of the auction. People have learnt there is little advantage in bidding up items early in the auction lifetime. Most auctions run for at least a week. And when you are the starting bidder, your name is listed prominently on the listing.
The following picture is an example - I'll use a hypothetical business owner who sells hard-to-find Motorcycle engine parts, so places a starting bid on an item related to his business, at a price he'd be happy to buy the product at. This examplealso shows a 'Me' page link, and the use of an internet address as the username.
This can work for referrals because someone who is looking for a particular item will often look at items that closely match it. If you are the current bidder on a closely matching item, chances are people will click on your user id / 'Me' page. If your 'Me' page lists that you specialise in a particular product/industry, they may contact you through the details you have supplied on your 'Me' page. You can put a link to your website on your 'Me' page.
All this is perfectly allowed under eBay rules, and if you look at the number of people who view certain items, it is a lot of advertising for absolutely nothing (except perhaps the odd unintended purchase).
Tip 5 : Sell excess stock / old items out at cost/below cost price just to establish customer relationships
If your business works in one where the supply/demand equation is evenly balanced, or even where demand is a little soft, the only way to sell items on eBay is to compete on price. Sure, having a better rating or return policies might win you sales if the price differences are slight, but when it comes to a 20% discount or more, most people are willing to start taking the risk on less-established sellers. Most products swiftly generate into price wars where someone is willing to make razor thin margins. So instead of trying to move regular inventory on eBay, use it as an alternate sales channel for when you want to rid excess stock, or just for a customer base building promotion.
When you sell an item on eBay, the buyer has to contact you by email. You can use the selling process to ask the buyer if they would like to be on a mailing list for future sales offers. There is also an email marketing section within eBay where you can create subscribers for future offers, or you can just collect the email addresses yourself to send later (with the buyers permission - this can be done as part of the sales process).
Again, if you have a 'Me' page, buyers who miss out will often contact you directly to see if you have other similar items. This can be used as a process to establish a relationship outside of eBay.
Tip 6 : Always include a 'flyer' inside packaged and shipped items sold on eBay.
The use of eBay is all about converting one-off purchasers into regular customers. You can print off a simple flyer and include it in each item that you sell. This can even be something like a discount voucher, or just simply information about what your business does. It doesn't need to be fancy, just informational - whatever you think buyers in your industry might be interested in. It could be a thank you note or a full colour catalogue. You can't get much more effective direct marketing than where you know the customer is interested in your products (having just bought one) and is also paying for the postage!
This creates the opporunity to create a longer lasting relationship with buyers. Again, the idea is to get your relationship out of the eBay space (where price is the major driving factor) and into a more convential space, where service, quality range and cross-selling can be emphasised more.
Tip 7 : Get a PayPal account.
Chances are there are people in other countries who would like to buy your products but don't know how to pay you. Many are not comfortable with sending credit card details, or perhaps don't even have a credit card. A lot of people have PayPal accounts, and a lot of people on eBay won't buy unless the seller accepts PayPal payments.
There are 2 million PayPal accounts active in Australia. You can accept most major currencies worldwide for the same flat processing fee.
It is free to setup, you do get charged a processing fee (a few percent), but you need to build this into the price. I'm not a massive fan of PayPal, but it is established and here to stay, and sticking your head in the sand isn't a long term strategy. People are increasingly ignoring listings without PayPal, and you will always get paid faster with a PayPal-enabled listing.
Tip 8 : Read the eBay rules.
There are a lot of rules and regulations for buying and selling on eBay - and most people don't know about them. NObody would open a shop in a shopping centre without carefully reading the lease terms, and the same should go for sellers on eBay. Your competitors will dob you in if you don't follow the rules, and it can be quite hard to come back from a blacklisting. Read the rules and trade within them.
Tip 9 : Experiment
My first eBay sales went quite poorly. Then I found a few things to sell, and I started selling a lot. Then I tried selling some other things - which are still in my garage. Not everything works, and as long as you do the right thing by customers, then it doesn't hurt to experiment. The more you play around with listing styles, writing styles, starting prices and auction finishing times, the better you can get at making sales on eBay.
The important thing is to keep at it. Due to the feedback system, the more things you have sold, the more things you will sell. Persistance is rewarded - you're happy selling more things, eBay is happy making more money and buyers are happy to buy with more confidence. EVeryone wins.
There are help topics on just about every single nuance of eBay selling, and they are generally written for the basic user. Most people can get going just by reading up and experimenting - even the most daunting tasks can be learnt without too much trouble.
Tip 10 : If you want to get serious, get educated
eBay has online training to learn how to use the more powerful features. There are also eBay coaches and trainers, who, ironically, sell their services on eBay. There are educators in just about every place in Australia and the world, and these people can expand your knowledge and help you develop expert eBay skills.
In addition, eBay often runs seminars and courses for free. These are often done in conjunction with local industry groups and government business development departments. If you are registered with one of these types of groups, then you may get invited to attend. Often the discussions with other business owners about how they are using eBay will trigger 'great ideas' in your head about the best way to achieve something, and are usually worthwhile.
Summary
Whilst there is nothing revolutionary in the tips listed here, it is good to think about how to use eBay for business. There are literally millions and millions of people scanning the myriads of categories and most either are looking to buy at that instant, or thinking about buying soon. I often liken having an eBay presence to having a shopfront in the worlds largest shopping centre - and all this for a couple of dollars per listing. The value is very compelling, it just takes execution to take advantage.