Ebay Secrets Blog

Archive for June, 2009

Tips for cutting your eBay fees and expenses during the annual summer slowdown

It’s not new.  The summer slowdown has happened every year about time.  The weather is better, parents and teens are focusing on graduation, people are spending more time in their gardens and in general there are more things pulling people away from their computers.  What is different this year is that the economy continues to slow.

Just this morning, Warren Buffet gave an interview where he said the economy still stinks and will continue to do so for some time.  This of course affects shopping habits. In the past, Americans went into debt and spent as if their incomes would always increase.  The savings rate in the US was actually negative for the past few years. Now the savings rate is over 5% –higher than it has been in 20 years.

All consumer spending has been effected and eBay is no different.  So what to do?

Well first of all, don’t give up.  Yes, sales are down but there are still sales. They haven’t gone to zero.  Here is the strategy I am using to cut my costs and keep my profits up:

1. Reduce the number of listings – The first think you notice during a slowdown is that your conversion or sell-through-rate (STR) falls.  This means that fewer listings close with a sale. When that happens your fees go up. Remember, you pay a listing fee whether something sells or not. So if fewer of your listings are selling then you need to reduce the number of listings to reduce those fees.  The trick is figuring out which ones to cut.

The simplest way to do this is to stop listing items that are not selling.  This doesn’t mean you have to stop selling them. Instead of paying expensive auction-style listing fees, you can move them to an eBay Store or Fixed Price Listing format where the listing fees are very low. Then concentrate your auction-style listings on your best selling products.

2. Raise Your Prices on Prime Merchandise – This may seem counter intuitive. When business is slow, most people cut prices and for some products you may have to do this.  But, when you raise prices in general you may get fewer sales but you make more money on each sale. I would rather have fewer more profitable sales than lots of unprofitable sales.  If there is one thing I have discovered is that there are always people who will pay for quality and good service.  If you can convince those buyers you can deliver that, then they will buy.

3. Cut Prices and Get Rid of Nonperforming Inventory – If you are like most eBay sellers, you have stuff that sells well and stuff that doesn’t.  In a period like this cash is king.  You want put raise as much cash as possible and put that cash into inventory that is selling well.  If you have nonperforming inventory (i.e. stuff that sells slowly or just doesn’t sell at all), then cut the price to the bone and get rid of it.  Yes, you may take a loss, but if it’s just sitting on a shelf in your closet and you are paying listing fees over and over, then you are already losing money.

4. Cut Your Optional Feature Fees – If you look at your eBay statement at the end of the month you will see that all those little optional feature fees (extra photos, bold, subtitle, scheduler, listing designer, etc.) can really add up fast.  Many of these features can help but you need to really look at your auctions to see if they are working. I find that they do help for some products but don’t for others.  I was able to save over $60 per month by removing them from listings that weren’t performing.

5. Use an Auction Management Service to Save Time and Cut Fees – There are about a dozen auction management companies that all provide a different level of services and fees. I have been using Vendio for a number of years, but am slowly switching over to InkFrog. Another good on is Auctiva. And if you use a Mac, give Auction Genie a try.

Here is how they save you money.  If, for example, you use InkFrog you will pay $9.95 per month for the service. But you will save the 15¢ per photo for extra photos, 10¢ per listing if you schedule your auctions (which most people do) and 10¢ if you use listing designer.  All of these features are included in the $9.95 month InkFrog fee.  So in my case, I list about 200 auctions per month –each with at least three photos.  So that saves me 30¢ per listing X 200 listings = $60 per month. I also use a template to make my listings look good. That saves another 10¢ per listing or $20 per month. And then I also save another $20 when I schedule my auction listing times instead of paying eBay.  That totals $100 month savings less the $9.95 fee, so my total savings are $90.05 per month or $1080.60 per year. On top of all that, these services save me a lot of time. They are much faster than listing items through eBay.

There is one caveat. eBay is running a temporary promotion, whereby you get your first five listings per month for free when you list using the eBay Sell Your Item Form. If you are listing an expensive product (one with a high starting price), then I would list those five items directly on eBay and use InkFrog or whatever service you use for the rest of them.

I talk about these tips and many more tips to increase your eBay sales and profits in The Complete eBay Marketing System.

See Also

• “The Insider Secrets to Selling on eBay” by the Internet Marketing Center’s Advanced eBay Mentoring Team
  Learn eBay fast and easy with the complete soup to nuts training course from The Internet Marketing Center

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Beginning today, eBay brings its online shopping experience to life with “Let’s Make a Daily Deal” a live game show in Times Square. During the game, hosted by “Sex and the City” actor and comedian Mario Cantone, shoppers will find out just how much they can save with eBay by competing in fun, price-guessing challenges. On Tuesday, June 23, legendary game show host Monty Hall will join Cantone as a special guest co-host. Contestants are eligible to win exciting prizes such as electronics, jewelry, sporting goods – and even a car – highlighting the unlimited opportunities for savvy shopping on eBay.  Check out my personal pics from the  TODAY Show this morning when Mario schooled Hoda and Kathie Lee in a mock game show.

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While summer is usually a prime time for getaways, this season might be different, given the economic climate.  Here are some great ideas to help you enjoy a vacation in your own home without breaking the bank:

·         Hammocks are perfect relaxation pieces.  Soak in Mother Nature while catching up on your beauty sleep.  On eBay, you can find great deals on this outdoor furniture item.

·         Tiki themed-accessories give your backyard a lift while making it festive for the hot weather.  From teak trays on the table to outdoor lanterns, these accessories can instantly transport you to a tropical location.

·         Adding more flowers indoors and to the backyard landscape can only be a good thing!  Go to your local grocery store to find the most colorful flowers that are ready to be planted. eBay is also a great one-stop-shop, where you can buy bulbs and pots!

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Happy Monday everyone! Even though I’m out on holiday this week, I did manage to line up some pretty fun, interesting posts for you while I’m out.

The first involves a pretty cool eBay promotion currently taking place at Times Square. Stuart Elliott captured the essence of the event in his blog post on Friday. Essentially, eBay, with the assistance of Monty Hall and Mario Cantone, is taking over Times Square for 3 days this week hosting our own version of Let’s Make a Deal called “Let’s Make A Daily Deal.”

For those unable to play in-person in New York, you can play along at home by visiting ebay.com/dailydealgame. You can follow the live updates from the event on Twitter by following @ebaydailydeal.

Even though I’m unable to attend the event and away from a PC this week, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sit down on the phone with both Monty Hall and Mario Cantone to do a celebrity version of our regular feature: “5 Minutes with…” So, without further ado, here we go…

5 Minutes with Monty Hall

Full Name: Monty Hall

Nickname: With a name like Monty, you don’t need any other nicknames.

Education/Schooling: I grew up in Winnipeg, Canada and got a Bachelor of Science from University of Manitoba. I worked at the radio station through college so when I graduated I went straight into broadcasting and decided to stop pursuing my career in medicine.

Interests: My main interest is in charities. I have raised over $1 Billion in the last 60 years for charity. If it hadn’t been for my celebrity, I would never have been able to raise that kind of money. I became the international chairman for life of the Variety Club. I’ve been involved in charity work since I was a child because my mother was very involved in it.

Why did you want to participate in this event?: I’ve always felt eBay was a legitimate and reputable company and I like to do things with businesses like that.

Favorite Quote: Wow. That’s a tough one. I never quote Shakespeare or George Bush. I usually quote my mother a lot. She always said if you’re going to speak or present publicly, make them laugh and make them cry… nothing in between.

Most memorable eBay experience: Both of my daughters are huge eBay fans. One of my daughters came to me saying she had found a comic book published in the 1940’s called “Monty Hall of the US Marines”… it had nothing to do with me, it was a play on words ffrom the Marine’s Hymn “Halls of Montezuma”. She bought the book for me on eBay. (I think I may sue the US Marines for using my name/likeness… just kidding).

Do you read any blogs?: I read three papers every morning over breakfast – cover to cover. After I’ve spent 3 hours reading my papers every morning, I don’t have any time to read blogs.

Are you a sports fan?: Huge. I used to commentate sports. I broadcast the first international game out of New York (The Polo Grounds) between Scotland and Argentina. I also played soccer for my college.

Favorite Albums: I don’t have a favorite album but I have a favorite song – Where or When. I serenaded my wife to that song and anytime I enter a ballroom now, they play that song. I sang it to her then, I sing it to her now (when I sing it to my children they tell me to be quiet).

Favorite Movie: John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley

What are you most looking forward to about doing the show this week? I love getting back into this environment and having it in Times Square, live on the jumbo tron, with all that pedestrian traffic will make it even more exciting.

5 Minutes with… Mario Cantone

Full Name: Mario Cantone

Nickname: People just call me Mario… although a few friends used to call me “Tiny” when I was in school because of my height. Not since though. Just Mario.

Education/Schooling: I went to Emerson College, Performing Arts. It was a fantastic experience because I was part of the Emerson Comedy Workshop with some great personalities, including Denis Leary. Amazing times.

Interests: I love the dining experience. Everything about it. From the food, to the pairings. I just love culinary artistry.

Most memorable eBay experience: I bought a Norma Desmond cigarette holder a while back. I don’t smoke, I just wanted it. I love the Buy it Now feature for the instant gratification but there’s also something exciting about winning an auction at the last minute.

Most recent eBay purchase/sale: I saved $55 buy shopping on eBay for a complete 17-volume collection of H.R. Pufnstuf

Favorite Albums: Sarah Vaughan’s Brazilian Romance

Favorite Movies: All About Eve and Raging Bull

Is this your first time ever hosting a live game show? What are you excited most about?: It is my first time. I love that it is in Times Square in New York. The energy is going to be great. I like the fact that it is live which will free it up – we won’t have to adhere to 23 minute time limits like on TV.

Fill in the blanks:

I should have __run longer_____ yesterday.

I wish that I could ____be more patient (but that’s impossible)_____.

The first thing I do when I get on stage is: it’s different every time.

Read the rest of this entry »

All,
Just a reminder that I’ll be on vacation until Wednesday, July 1. I have queued up some blog posts during my absence and I look forward to getting back in front of the keyboard upon my return.

In the meantime, thanks so much for your support, trust and readership over the past 15 months. I am excited to build on what we’ve accomplished when I get back.

Cheers!
RBH

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Our sister company, The Official Geezer Guides has just published their latest title that shows how us Geezers –or really, how anyone can make extra money with Craigslist.

Some of you may have missed the announcement, but a few months ago I started a new company aimed at the Senior market.  We publish books, articles and newsletters that are designed to help seniors make, save and invest money to insure a great retirement. We call our publishing company, The Official Geezer Guides. Although we are aiming at the senior market, don’t worry if you are not there yet our books can help anyone.

We have just published our latest title, The Official Geezer Guide to Making Money on Craigslist by Richard Geasey.  Richard is one of our stable of Geezer Guide authors.

Craigslist is best known for selling physical products and services -but there are other ways to make money on Craigslist without a product. We will show you three ways to do this -but you have to do it right.   Break some simple rules and Craigslist will block your ads.

Some more of what you will learn in The Official Geezer Guide to Making Money With Craigslist:

• What sells on Craigslist -and what doesn’t 
• Where to find products to sell on Craigslist 
• How to use Craigslist to sell even if you don’t have a product 
• How to accept credit cards without a merchant credit card account 
• Learning the best times and days to post your item for sale 
• How to write a killer, attention grabbing title for your postings 
• The key elements you need to have in all your titles 
• How to price your items
• How to use Craigslist to build a profitable mailing list
• How to use the new netSpray selling service on Craigslist
• How to protect your identity on Craigslist
• How to start an event ticket business on Craigslist
• How to start a Craigslist consignment business

We have several other titles in the Geezer series including books about making money on Amazon, creating ebooks and a great overall training manual for anyone who wants to start an online business.

See Also

• Learn How To Sell on eBay with The Complete eBay Marketing System
  Complete PRINTED business manual by an eBay PowerSeller who sells on eBay every day takes you step by step through starting and running a profitable eBay business.

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I was only able to attend the first day of the eBay / PayPal Developers Conference this year but the coverage coming out of the event has been so consistent and thorough, I felt that I was able to get enough information to feel like I didn’t miss a thing.

Bottom line, the whole team over there – Delyn, Max, Adam, Laura, Kumar (I could go on) – put on another fantastic agenda and the feedback from those in attendance that I talked to was overwhelmingly positive. Great job to everyone who had a hand in making this year’s Developers Conference such a success.

Presentations

If you check out my preview blog post from earlier this week, you can access hyperlinks to PowerPoint presentations of every session over the past two days.

Keynotes

A thorough breakdown of the opening keynote on Wednesday, can be found here.

The second day of opening keynotes maintained the theme of “building your business with us”, and welcomed four notable Silicon Valley venture capitalists to share their insights on funding, business trends, and good business practices. Lorrie Norrington followed the panel discussing eBay’s future. Here is the full breakdown of the second day of keynotes.

For the most comprehensive coverage of the two-day event, please visit the eBay Developer Blog. It has everything from breakdowns of each session, to video interviews with attendees and employees. There’s a lot of content there, so I give you advance warning of getting sucked in – but if you have the time, it’s well worth the deep dive.

Finally, I would have been remiss if I didn’t take advantage of getting a few minutes with Max Mancini, Senior Director of Platform and Mobile for eBay.

Cheers,
RBH

5 Minutes with… Max Mancini

Full Name: Massimiliano Mancini
Nickname: Max
Official Title: Senior Director, Platform and Mobile
What You Really Do: Run eBay’s Platform and Mobile businesses, including the developers program, the technical product management team for our new platform initiative, the technical documentation team and eBay’s mobile team.
Your First Day at eBay: December, 2003
Education/Schooling: BS in Computer Science (Mathematics) and MS in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University
Interests: Cycling, Sailing, coaching Lacrosse
Favorite Quote: “Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it” — unknown
Most memorable eBay experience: Train conducting (??)
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: A righting bucket for my 16ft Hobie Cat sailboat, which I dropped in the ocean on my first outing 4 days after I got it.
Favorite Albums: Who buys albums?? If I had to pick it would be AC/DC “Back in Black”
Favorite Movies: Transformers, and not because of the eBay references.
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: Software Engineer

Fill in the blanks:

I should have “gone to sleep earlier” yesterday.
I wish that I could “have more time”.
The first thing I do when I get to work is “say good morning to my co-workers”

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As some of you already know, I am getting ready to leave for a Summer vacation (or holiday for those of my British brethren) and am in the process of making sure I leave Ink in good hands during my absence.

However, before I do, I wanted to give a shout out to a group of individuals that work incredibly hard but seldom get the public recognition for it. Our interns. When Sarah Fleming joined the Internal Communications team last year, she was with 150 peers taking part in Intern orientation for eBay. She graduated from Santa Clara University last weekend and is ready (or at least thinks she is) to head out into the “real world.”

I managed to get a few minutes with Sarah before I head out and wanted to share my “5 Minutes With… Sarah Fleming.” On a personal note, I want to thank Sarah and all of the interns that have been part of the program this year. Your contributions are significant and I like to think that we’re continually learning something from each other – you’re a big part of the eBay family here.

Cheers!
RBH

5 Minutes with… Sarah Fleming

Full Name: Sarah Elizabeth Fleming
Nickname: Intenlicious
Official Title: Internal Communications Intern
What You Really Do: I provide communication support across Marketplaces and PayPal and write a whole bunch of iWeb stories. I’ve become known as the “contest queen” because the two biggest projects I’ve managed here have been contests; the internal Photo Card contest and the PayPal Living the Brand video contest. I also do a lot of event coordination and run the North America Marketplaces Brown Bag sessions in San Jose.
Your First Day at eBay: June 23, 2008
Education/Schooling: Graduated from Santa Clara University on Saturday, June 13 with a BS in Economics!!
Interests: Singing, microfinance, photography, traveling, and now skydiving- I went 3 weeks ago and it was awesome!!
Favorite Quote: Every day is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.
Most memorable eBay experience: I used Skype a lot when I lived in Florence, Italy last year. Every time I think about Skype it reminds me of all the great times I had in Italy and how I was able to share those memories with my family. And the best part was that I could actually see their reactions all thanks to Skype video chat. These are the types of memories I will never forget.
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: I just bought the book “Australia for Dummies”. I’m planning a trip there next year so I figured it was time to start educating myself on where to go and what to see. And I got a great deal on it with free shipping!
Favorite Albums: AC/DC Back in Black. Just saw them in concert for the first time and am going again in September. Best concert I’ve ever been to, hands down.
Favorite Movies: Super Troopers, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version, of course), and Up – I just saw it for the second time and cried for a second time. Yes, I know it’s a kids movie, but it was beautiful.
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: I’ve always wanted to be a country singer. My mom is a professional opera singer so I’ve been exposed to music my whole life. I used to put on shows for her, making up songs and pretending to sing like her. I still think it would be a great job and I’m not done growing yet, so you never know!

Fill in the blanks:

I should have __studied for finals_____ more.
I wish that I could ___travel everywhere_______.
The first thing I do when I get to work is ___pour myself a very large cup of coffee and take in the silence before everyone in my row gets here_____

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No. Carolina trying to force Amazon to collect sales tax on affilaite sales

It is no secret that state budgets are under pressure.  States get their revenue form many sources but income tax, property tax and sales tax are the big three. As people lose their jobs there is less income tax. As proper values fall and homes are foreclosed on, then the property tax falls and of course as people buy less the income from sales tax falls.

When our income falls like it has this year, we spend less. But governments can’t seem to do that. So rather than tighten their belts they just look for new sources of revenue.

Some brilliant bureaucrat in North Carolina discovered that several of their citizens were earning affiliate commissions from Amazon. So they decided to change the law so NC could collect sales tax on those affiliate commissions.

Here is the text of the email that Amazon sent

We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates. You are receiving this e-mail because our records indicate that you are an Amazon Associate and resident of North Carolina.

Please note that this is not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Associates Program. All referral fees earned on qualified traffic will continue to be paid as planned.

But because the new law is drafted to go into effect once enacted – which could happen in the next two weeks – we will have to terminate the participation of all North Carolina residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that same day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from North Carolina residents.

The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on North Carolina residents like you were explained in detail to key senators and representatives in Raleigh, including the leadership of the Senate, House, and both chambers’ finance committees. Other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee, considered nearly identical schemes, but rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.

The North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates program, and we will apprise you of the General Assembly’s action on this matter.
Sincerely,

Amazon.com

Well, Amazon is of course fighting this but if they lose they have already told associates (affiliates) that they will have to stop paying affiliates in North Carolina. So the action by the legislature will not raise any money but will kill a viable income stream for their residents.  Since that income could be used to purchase products that would generate sales tax for the state, passing this law will actually hurt revenues.  But governments generally don’t care about unintended consequences.

If laws like this pass, it will not only affect Amazon. You can be sure that major affiliate companies like eBay, Wal-Mart and even affiliate management firms such as ClickBank, Commission Junction and Sharasale will also be affected.

See Also

• Ten Highly Profitable eBay Niche Businesses Anyone Can Do
  Make quick extra money with one, two or all ten of these great little eBay niche business. Local products, easy to source and sell for high markups.

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I'm working on Part II of my Variation Style Listings series, but wanted to point out a couple of live listings on the site.  These are not ChannelAdvisor listings (we are still working out some issues we are having with the production implementation), but they are good examples of what this looks like if you are curious to see something 'live' vs. screen captures:

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