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Online Marketing IssuesNeed to get the word out about your small business via the Web? This is where you can discuss current trends and best practices for promoting your business.
We have a small kayak shop. We started to use ebay six months ago as a way to move used boats and accessories with good success. The cost of doing business is very low, and you can expand your business slowly. We now are selling both new and used boats and accessories - and have extended our marketing reach significantly across the US and internationally. Keys -- be responsive by email and phone to questions and inquiries about products NOT listed on ebay. Ship when promised and followup on deliveries. Do not give customers a reason to give you a negative rating. Bad ratings/comments will kill your business quickly on eBay.
I've been going back and forth on the Ebay thing.
2 Major things have held me back,
1) Just about every stat you read about on line auctions says that
it is FULL of frauds and ripp offs.
One of my hobbies is antique weapons. And I can tell you that
on the face - I haven't had the nerve to take a chance - virtually every listing I've seen on Ebay for any type of antique weapons has been questionable AT best. I have an extensive home library and one of my best friends happens to be a Museum curator so I have access to text and resources usually reserved for academia.
It has been years since I've seen anything that even made me say
this COULD be real.
2) The very nature of ebay etc is "how low can you go"
At some point, as a merchant, the business is simply not worth it.
I work in the telephone systems industry and I see people selling phone systems on line for $50-$100 over cost. This is on a 4-5K (cost) phone system. What is the point?
Further, when you give away equipment like that you are driving down the percieved value of the product.
This isn't just bad for the merchant! The user gets so caught up in
the price that they forget to look at the value.
I'll use phone systems as an example.
Call Forwarding is available through just about every phone system on the market, BUT some phone systems use OPX and others use virtual extensions. OPX could cost you as much as $100 per month from your phone company while virtual extensions are free.
Well this is a perfect example of something you should be VERY
leary of!
Now I don't know this company and they may or may not be real.
But one HAS to wonder!
Why?
Well lets see.
Item current bid is $1. Now it hasn't met the minimum yet but what
if anything are you actually going to bid for purple beed neclace you can buy for $2 at ANY Wal-mart!
Ebay charges a fee per auction you run, paypal charges 32 cents per transaction plus 1% fee. You have to have the item ordered/shipped to you, stock the item, order process, track, bill, customer service. Even if you working with a 100% gross profit, how many neclaces do you have to sell to make a living??
Does this make sense? NOT TO ME!
On The other hand this is a very nice scam for identity theft!
Lets say that this "vendor" created the auction to sell you this $1
trinkit. You go to paypal and you enter your bill to ship to information along with your home address, telephone number and credit card. The vendor EVEN ships you your one dollar trinkit so you're happy. And you will NEVER tie the fact together that a few
months from now you'll get a collections call from ABC Collections Company about that Circuit City account you opened to buy that $10,000 Plasma TV. Why? Because with the info you sent to
"Bead Craft" I could get your SS#, date, of birth, maiden name, college diploma and become you in about 20 minutes!
Ofcourse just in case you did tie it together, it doesn't really matter because "Bead Craft" opened that Paypal acount with a stolen credit card anyway. He got that feom another "succer" who never noticed the few buck being chraged on the account because the card is just about maxed out anyway and he is making minimum payments just to get by.
Now, do I know that this is what is going on? NO!
Am I accusing "bead craft"? NO!
But the point is that there is NO WAY YOU CAN KNOW that this ISN'T what is going on?
As for Ebay and Paypal, they will say that under this scenario they have completed a lagitimate transaction with a happy customer and seller. But the number one crime in cyberspace IS indentity theft and the number one source for this, acording to FBI stats, IS auctions, and the number one auction site IS ebay! Now is Ebay at fualt here? I don't know. I am NOT accusing or slandering ebay!
I am just pointing out that should one want to, it is VERY easy to
take advantage of the system they've created.
Knowing this;
- from a customers point of view, is it REALLY worth taking this risk to save in most cases nothing more than literally a few buck?
Not in my opinion!
- from a vendors point of view, this lowers the percieved value of my product and lowers my firms reputation in the consumers eye.
Neither of which is good for my long term business health!
The above statements are purely my opinion. They are not ment to imply in any way shape or form that any companies, persons or organizations mentioned above are engaged in any wrong doing.
Now why are auctions different? Because sellers don't have to have a merchant account. If you are a legit business and you want to accept credit cards, you have to go to your local bank, show ID, have a working account with a SS# or Tax ID number on file, you have to have business permit. In otherwords you are totally tracable and accountable. Now could a crook still rip you off? Sure, but it's MUCH harder!
If you are going to analyze everything then Let's say you go to a restaurant and pay once by credit card. The next time you go, they already have it in their system. If they want, they can do the same thing and use your card to buy Plasma T.V.
I am not saying everyone at e-bay are honest, or that everyone will ship you your things. All I am saying is that not all the sellers are frauds. You just have to watch who you buy it from.
Yes, you can go to Wal-Mart and buy it cheaper but would you have get the same quality? Or the same design?
All I am saying is, if they want to rip you off, they can rip you off anywhere - auctions, restaurant, dept. store - anywhere.
I believe I said the same thing, but it is not the same in a restaurant or other places you use your card.
You are not required to provide home address, phone number billing address etc. in "card present setting. Further while, yes you can be ripped off, it is much more likely that if you are it will be a local event. You can go to your local police station. You have more power.
Again, I am NOT saying that there are no honest vendors on e-bay.
There are, BUT how does one tell? It's a matter of risk assesment. It's like Jay walking. We usually don't think twice
about it in our own residential neighborhoods or even around where we work. But would you be so relaxed if you had to do it on a 4 lane interstate, you'd much more likely to wait for the "green light" that's all.
I think you guys have lost the main idea here.
eBay has taken the steps neccesary and what was possible to attempt to provide the best security available to their users and have a great huge auction site where everyone benefits. I don't work for them, endorse them or even use their services for anything but I thought I'd start there.
The real question no one's answering is... What has more added benefits.. Has anyone out there had experience in both a webpage for profits and an eBay account?
What's more successful?
I noticed one added benefit for this eBay service is that it provides better chances of getting a higher price for your object. Because bidders may wish to pay more.
Thank you to any serious answers.
__________________
Daniel J Deyette
Intouch Solutions
I do not own an ebay store nor am I seller, But I talk to ebay store owners daily. The benefits out weigh the negatives hands down. First you have the ability to reach a larger audience with your goods. Ebay is a venue that brings buyers and sellers together.
The cost to advertise an item is small, just the insertion fee alone gets people looking at your goods. What does it cost you to advertise your brick and motar to sell one item? You can have people browse your items 24 hrs a day.
Many people use ebay as a way of gaining new customers and directing them to their website or to other items. They don't care if the listed item sells as much as it is to drive traffic. Or if the item does sell you can brand your message on the invoice offer promotions all to do business again.
The cost of doing business is very low as well. You can take risks you may not with your other store. You can test new product lines, turn over old items just to get rid of, or to make room for new models etc.
I am an oldtimer of eBay (See? I still capitalize the B). I started as a seller in November 1997. For whatever the reason may be, I sold children's and educational software. During the weekdays I posed as a small business development center (SBDC) coordinator. By night and on weekends I was an eBay seller.
I was very successful, emulated my successful competitors and did one better by testing my software before posting it to auction. My content included personal references to the performance and contents of the software. Buyers loved that. I finally said goodbye to selling in February 2000. In fact, if you look at the feedback for that period (eBay ID - windhaus), you will see it was a lovefest between me the seller and my buyers, especially the repeat customers. I still frequent eBay for an ocassionally bargain.
The point is this......360true clearly described what it takes to be a successful seller on ebay. You must be a good communicator and provide the best of service. Make sure the content of the auction page is very well understood regarding the product and the terms of sale and delivery. Contact the winning bidder immediately. Deliver the product immediately after payment is recieved, and don't hesitate to "go the extra mile" once in awhile, especially with your repeat customers. This may not be a brick 'n mortar storefront, but all the good retail principals still apply.
In all my years as a seller I received only one negative feedback. The winning bidder received the software in a sealed box (as I had received it from the wholesaler). Only there was no CD in the box. That bidder wasted no time posting a negative feedback on me. I didn't even have a chance to solve the problem.
Regardless, I had an excellent record as a seller, and 360true explains why that was.
That feedback rating is the ultimate tool deciding your success or failure at eBay. Even an ocassional negative feedback can be harmful. As a bidder I always review the seller's feedback rating. Oh, and for all you sellers, if a bidder sends a question about an auction give them a reply. Otherwise, that bidder will not bid.
ebay has become big and successful because it works. Believe it.
On a personal note, I had great success selling games on ebay, using their dutch auction - a fixed price and multiple copies of the same item. I mention this, because in this manner ebay becomes your storefront - selling the product and collecting the cash, without bids but as a direct sale.
I know plenty of folks who have used ebay to buy and sell, for years. All have good stories to tell.
I can understand fear of being ripped on the internet, but a fear based existence is futile. Ebay has turned my business around. I am an active seller. Within my first week I began to generate on average of $1000 daily. I probably give 5% to ebay for listing. (% unconfirmed) The fee's to post and sell on ebay are minimal compared to the industry related websites in the Used Cellular Industry. Another advantage for my business is the fact that I can wholesale to the direct retailers and establish long lasting relationships to vendors I would normally not even know about.
In my industry volume is the key. If you are small and do not have enough volume to keep up with the big boys then eBay is the answer to all your problems. It was to mine.
My question is about opening a storefront on eBay. Since the downfall of half.com , I understand that eBay is offering a fixed price store front for minimal listing cost. ( $0.02 per item in your store.Plus $50 a moth to be "featured") Does anyone have any feedback on this? Are thier other auction/storefront sites that may be a better option? Any feedback is welcome.
Ebay has some good deals, like these....
To eBay?
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