How many times have you logged onto Amazon and seen the following message, sell you old purchases from Amazon and make………. Have you ever done this? Amazons market place is where you can sell products in several different categories so you can list your entire eBay inventory and sell it on Amazon.

 

There are two different kinds of accounts:

 

Individual trading account as its name suggests and

Pro seller account which is for sellers selling more than 35 items per month

 

There are several advantages to selling on Amazon; firstly you ally yourself with one of the best known global brands, Amazon does not have the flea market image that eBay has. You do not have to pay to list an item you only pay a fee when the item sells, and your postal charges are worked out by Amazon for you. Now you are unlikely to make money from your paperback collection so we need to look at a niche market that gives us more potential.

 

Academic, specialist and hobby books are a superb source of stock, these can be picked up very cheaply (often for pennies) in charity shops simply because they have no perceived value. Use the ISBN number to search Amazon to see if the item you have found has a resale value. During the summer I am looking for lots of low cost ways to setup new income streams that I can test out.

 

So here is my challenge, I intend to invest £10 in buying books and reselling them on Amazon to see if I can get a return in these niche markets. I will post my progress during this trial; sign up on my blog to get my weekly newsletter.

 

See you soon

 

Rob

 

 

 

The most important step

 

The last posts have outlined how to setup, source, list and sell baby and children’s clothing. The same basic blueprint is applicable to almost any product and business idea. It is important to follow and understand each step. I have left the most important step until last. This is the ACTION STEP.

 

Without this step nothing will ever happen. This step is entirely down to YOU. It is no good knowing something on a theoretical level if you do not apply that knowledge. You can spend thousands on business plans, blueprints, coaching programs, DVD sets this in itself will not make you any money. The most important thing is to take action, NOW! Let’s say that again NOW! It’s no good doing it next week, or tomorrow as we all know that tomorrow never comes. Take action before you are ready. You can spend months or years planning, getting everything just so, making lists etc. Time moves on and you will be left behind or you will never start.

 

“Once begun the jobs half done” it’s about making a start.

 

What if I make mistakes? You will. It’s all part of the learning process. During my apprenticeship I was given some wise words which I have never forgotten. I had been working on a project and I had made a big error. I was mortified; my boss pulled me aside and instead of the rollicking I was expecting he simply said “Robert the man who never made a mistake never made anything, learn from the experience”. Mistakes are part of the learning process.

 

Excuses for not starting. How long have we got? It is possible to find an excuse or alibi for every situation. Here are some to start you with.

• Too old
• Too young
• Haven’t got any money (see my posts on making your seed capital)
• Don’t know how
• Wrong time of the year
• Will do it next week
• No time
• Have got kids
• Etc……

No amount of coaching courses, blueprints, business books DVD sets will help unless you have the desire to succeed. Save your money for unless there is desire there is no motivation. So make a start now, today. Switch off the TV do some research, work out what you can sell to make the seed capital (don’t go spending it or you will be back at square one). See my posts during February about eBay and sourcing stock from charity shops. Use the seed capital to buy in a product or products. Test it small see if it works, do it again and again. If not try something else. Persistence is the key you will find a winner.

 

More next time

Rob

Listing strategies.

 

Back on track, how to get your auctions seen.

 

• Write a good title that will catch the eye. Look at the titles of power sellers selling the same or similar products. Look for the key words they are using. Take the lead from them not the title. Play around with the word order; use the thesaurus (not all of them died out at the end of the cretaceous).
• DON’T CAPITALISE ALL THE WORDS IN THE TITLE it looks unprofessional, don’t you agree?
• A good clear photo. Take your own photos, digital cameras are cheap these days and the quality of cameras on mobile phones are excellent. Don’t be tempted to use photos off other trader’s listings, or off suppliers or manufacturers websites unless you have express permission to do so. This is copyright theft and you will have your listings removed. You may even have your account suspended.
• Include more than one photo. But don’t use eBay’s own service this will cost you and it is designed to make eBay even more money. I use a service which I have mentioned before called auctiva. Auctiva is a listing tool with templates, auction scheduling and it allows you to include as many photos as you like all for free. Get an account at www.auctiva.com
• Write a good listing; again look at the power sellers selling the same or similar items. Depending on what you are selling there are a number of options on the listings page. Size, material, new, used BNWT (brand new with tags) BNWT (brand new without tags) etc. Make good use of these as it give the buyer information instantly without having to read further. This is your second opportunity to hook them, your title being the first.

 

Things to include in the description: 

 

• Brand new (only if it is).
• Carefully describe any used item accurately e.g. cleaned to a high standard.
• From a smoke free home (only if it is).
• From a pet free home (only if it is).

 

Clearly state your returns and refund policy in the box provided on the listing template. Distance selling regulations do not apply to auctions only BINs.

 

More in part 6.

Rob

Listing strategies.

 

Firstly if you are listing on auction format then you have an advantage over the beginner who is listing on BIN. Auction listings finish in chronological order unlike BINs. Eventually your listing makes its way to the top of the page, this is not the case for bins. Have a look at the listing finish times you will notice that some listings are close to the top of the page although they may have many days to go before they expire. If you examine the sales you will notice that that listing has sold a large quantity of items with a great customer satisfaction rating. It is also likely to have been relisted several times.

 

Why is this case? On September 24^th 2008 eBay introduced new rules including its “best fit” policy.  The upshot of this is that eBay rates the seller on customer satisfaction, number of items sold etc. Now this is great if you are already an established trader who sells large volumes, you will do rather better. If you are a beginner stating to trade and hence have no history of selling a particular product, you may well struggle to get your item seen with BINs and therefore no or poor sales.

 

This has certainly been my experience when I have introduced new products recently, this is why it is increasing important in my opinion to find and specialise in the smaller niche markets where there is less competition and the margins are better. I cannot compete with the high volume traders and platinum and titanium powersellers. They can buy in bulk and discount accordingly, they also get massive discounts on final value fees.

 

Why did eBay introduce this policy? Only one reason, to make more money by attracting high street names to trade on the site and rid it of its “flea market” image. This seems to have backfired rather badly as lots of traders have started to trade on or have completely taken their business to Amazon. Amazons market place is growing at a remarkable rate. Amazon has now overtaken eBay.

 

Trading figure for the last quarter of 2008 show that eBay suffered a downturn in business of 18%, credit crunch etc. However in the same quarter Amazons sales showed an increase of 18%. As our American cousins would say “go figure”. Just noticed I have wandered off the point!! That’s my problem so easily tempted off the straight and narrow.

 

Promise next time I will return to listing strategies.

Rob

Finding a niche market.

 

I recently visited some wholesalers who specialise in the sale of baby and children’s ware. The reason: my friend and his wife were interested in an eBay business selling baby and children’s clothing. They had had some success in selling unwanted items or items that were now too small. They believed that they had also found a gap in the baby market that was not being fulfilled properly.

 

As they explained the idea to me I could see the potential in the idea. We brainstormed the idea, even came up with the name for an eBay shop that reflected the service. It sounded great, was instantly memorable and described the service perfectly. Next step research. As far as baby ware is concerned this I know from nothing. So using yell.com we found a number of local suppliers and paid them a visit.

 

Most were very welcoming and some a bit suspicious, I simply mentioned that I was already trading on eBay and that we were looking at setting up a joint venture which my friend was going to run. Doors open, what are you looking for sir? In the last wholesalers we visited we were talking about how we intended setting up this business, when the wholesaler started to explain his business model. Some years ago in order to differentiate himself from the other traders he started to specialise in the christening market and then diversified into selling formal ware such as suits and dresses for children. Aiming at the special occasion market enabled him to grow the business as a specialist rather than a generalist. Niche market again. The quality of his merchandise was excellent as was the price, after looking on eBay we found very few traders specialising in this market, but there was also a very high level of sales, this looks like a market fit to be plundered.

 

At the time of writing my friends have not yet taken action on either of these business ideas. You can have the formal ware one with my blessing, the other idea I’m keeping to myself as I may well use myself.

 

Next time how to list children’s ware.

Rob

In the previous post I mentioned the advantages of using a local wholesaler in sourcing stock. However, there are some other alternatives.

 

You can also use magazines such as The Trader; many of the advertisers will have their own website. Disadvantages are that until you have the goods in your hands you will not be able to check the quality of the items. You may know someone who has dealt with the suppliers but if you are just starting out this is unlikely. You could ask to see samples first, but this is likely to be refused, suppliers get many such requests unfortunately most requests are not from legitimate traders.

 

So unless you have good reason, always choice the local wholesaler first. You may find in this day and age that the wholesaler will be reluctant to extend credit terms until you are an established customer. They will want to be paid on a proforma basis. Pay cash or use a debit card if you can, credit cards typically are subject to surcharge of about 2 ½ % which although it does not sound a lot, eats into your profit as does VAT and carriage charges should you have to pay them.

 

Things to factor in your costs. VAT, postage fees, packaging fees, eBay listing fees, final value fees, pay pal fees. Only then will you get paid. So finding some means of reducing costs is a good idea. Padded bags can be bought cheaply from the 99p or £1 shops and offers a good source of supply to get started with. Vast savings can be made by buying in bulk from specialist packaging suppliers, again try local suppliers. Alternatively use the internet or eBay itself, you will often find that the big suppliers have there own websites where substantial savings can be made even over eBay prices.

 

More next time.

Rob

During the credit crunch one market is seemingly unscathed. That of the baby clothes market. This is a high volume HOT market. It’s a market that I have little experience in. Ok, I know where they come from (I think) but after that what I know about babies I could write on a postage stamp.

 

On thing I do know is that they grow, fast. So there is a hot market for quality baby ware at a budget price. Brand names always draw a premium price, but in most cases you are recouping money that can be spent on lots of other items such as bigger baby clothes. I have some friends who constantly resell baby clothes that are too small and use the money to purchase replacement items.

 

What about selling new non branded clothing. Firstly obtain a reliable source of supply. My preference would be a local wholesaler, a search using yell.com will give you a wide range of choice within reasonable travel distances. Using a local supplier has the advantage of being able to inspect the merchandise at close quarters. You can also build up a personal relationship with the trader. Traders will let you know their hottest selling lines, or what new merchandise they will soon have for sale. You should be able to buy very small numbers of specific sizes. Most wholesalers these days have very small minimum spend levels (typically £100).

 

If the wholesaler has a website you can use the website to select possible purchases, and then use the eBay advanced search to find similar items. The advanced search tool will allow you to see all the items sold in the past 30 days, the final price, postage price etc. By using this tool you can make more informed choices on possible purchases.

 

More next time

Rob

Its not a load of old flannel!!

 

In some of my earlier posts I have mentioned the importance of finding a niche market to operate in. The advantages are often little competition and bigger mark ups.

 

I thought it may be worth giving a few examples that I personally know about of people making a secondary income in niche markets.

 

A work colleague of my friend sells towels to hair dressers, tanning studios and beauty parlours. His wife notice the poor quality of the towels used at her local hair dressers. This started her thinking that if she could provide a better quality product at a cheaper rate they could make a very respectable second income.

 

They started by sourcing good quality towels from a local wholesaler, visiting local salons and offering a better product at a competitive price. They soon started making a second income. They then expanded this idea by visiting salons further a field.

 

Just by using Yellow Pages or yell.com they were able to find a huge amount of business within a 20 mile radius. They now have a turnover in excess of £3000 a month.

 

They have started to import directly from china which allows them to offer better discounts whilst still improving margins. With literally scores of businesses within a 20 mile radius of home, even if only fractions want to purchase from them it’s still a considerable customer base.

 

As towels are disposable items they will need to be replaced at regular intervals. They aim to offer outstanding value and service. However one simple mistake has cost them a few thousand pounds. They had an e-commerce website built to sell these items further a field. It was disaster with very poor sales conversions. This is a great example of where the face to face approach is much better than the anonymity of a website.

 

I’m sure you will agree that this very simple idea has been very effective.

 

More soon

 

Rob

 

 

How to make money from McDonalds (or Burger King) instead of them making money out of you.

 

How often have you noticed a promotion at McDonalds or Burger King or one of the fast food outlets “celebrating” the launch of the latest block buster film?

 

Often these will be a happy meal with a free toy or toys. Lots of these become very collectable. However the currency of the product is very short but often become collector’s pieces in the future, changing hands at good prices. What is not often known is that the majority of these toys never leave the premises and are simply junked or sent for recycling.

 

Do you know anyone who works at these outlets? Maybe you could joint venture by listing the items on eBay and sharing the spoils. The condition of the toy is paramount as only the best pieces will command the best prices, simple really but it is something that is too often overlooked.

 

Ok so it will not make you a million! Well, at least not this week. But it’s a good supplement to your income for not a lot of work.

 

What about toys and games associated with block buster films or TV series that are available in the shops. I once picked up a selection of Creature Comforts figures for 50p each and sold them on eBay for many times more than I bought them for. Thanks Gary and Nigel.

 

The curse of the Were-Rabbit starring Wallace and Gromit has a promotional Thermo nose mug as a giveaway with PG tips tea bags. The price was £2.88 but was reselling on eBay for up to £14. Supply and demand, the price will eventually return to realistic proportions when the market gets swamped or the film comes to the end of its run.

 

So what’s the worst that can happen? Well I would have had enough tea bags for a year plus a collection of nifty mugs to drink it out of.

 

More ideas next time.

 

Rob

 

Just a few ideas on making a bit extra to help in the credit crunch.

 

One for the ladies (sorry boys you can join in later). Consider selling costume jewellery at work or to your friends. Most companies have low minimum orders (often as low as £50). The stock is inexpensive and can frequently be resold at up to 3 times the initial cost. Choose a variety of items but not too many of one type.

 

Use yell.com or a magazine such as the Trader that have many adverts from jewellery suppliers. In fact I recommend buying an issue or two of the Trader to see the range of products available for resale. This can then spark a whole host of business ideas.

 

Advantages: Low initial outlay, new stock each season, jewellery is a feel good item and puts people in a buying mood.

 

Disadvantages: Novelty will soon wear off if trying to sell continually, so need to give it a rest after a while until the next season.

 

You may consider selling costume jewellery on eBay, but costume jewellery is a big category, and getting your item seen is a challenge. So find a niche market, there is less competition but still has a good volume of sales. Examples could be Sterling Silver or Amber jewellery and sell in that niche market

 

Consider a party plan for more selective and exclusive items, you can simply use samples, take orders and then buy in the stock to minimise outlay.

 

Selling watches (welcome back boys). Fashion watches can frequently be bought from jewellery suppliers or specialist watch suppliers. These can be sold on auction through eBay. Fossil watches are often a good seller and can be obtained cheaply as end of line. They also carry a guarantee.

 

If selling on eBay you will need several photos to show the watch off at different angles, your first photo is free but the costs start to escalate every time you add a photo. This of course makes eBay more money and you less. Sign up for an account with Auctiva.com. Not only is it free, you can use it to schedule your listings, there are lots of templates to enhance your listings, and you can use as many photos as you want. It’s all Free, Gratis and for Nothing.

 

More ideas next time

Rob