Hi Everyone!
I am so honored to be featured in a new column for Good Housekeeping this month! It is so cool! We have a link to the article online below if you haven’t seen it yet. Also, my new six-week eCourse that starts when you want it to is ready!
I have also come up with some new strategies to cut down on eBay store costs and wanted to share those with you. I emailed Griff (Jim Griffin-Dean of eBay education) with some suggestions to help move eBay store merchandise. Read his reply below. Finally, my brother Lee and I have been working on an amazing event planned for August 29th and I will share a few of the details with you today.
This e-zine is published twice a month.
August 21, 2006 Volume II, Issue 11
- Good Housekeeping
- Ways to Lower your eBay Store Costs
- New ecourse!
- Very Special Promotion on August 29th–Watch for it
Good Housekeeping
The article is out and on newsstands. Patricia Greco from Good Housekeeping did a fabulous job! She really got the fact that it is all about my grandmother. I love how the article in the magazine says it is a Dream Job. Selling on eBay really is my dream job and I know it is the same for a lot of you also.
eBay has changed my life and I am so fortunate to be able to do what I do for a living. It doesn’t work–it is play. Here is a link to the online article, but please buy the magazine–it is so much better in person!
The excerpt that I chose for the Good Housekeeping webpage was story #74 from Money Making Madness. I chose that story because I loved what one of my favorite eBayers emailed me about it. This comes from Michael Stern – userid: BlueFrog_NY —Thank you, Michael!
#74 Antique Baby Doll
This is what Michael had to say about story #74 from Money Making Madness:
“This was by far my most favorite story. Right now I’m thinking about that scene in Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer when they end up in the land of unwanted toys.
Too bad that the story takes place before eBay was invented. Surely, somebody out there in cyberspace would want a cowboy that rides an ostrich or a water gun that squirts jelly.
Anyway, the point I got out of the story was if the item is rare, valuable, but broken, it is still not a total loss and should not be discounted as selling the material for eBay. You should try to sell it anyway because there is always somebody out there in cyberspace who can think outside the box when it comes to seeing the value of unusual rare items.”
Here is a photo of Michael and me at eBay Live in Vegas.
Ways to Lower your eBay Store Costs
I know that this is weighing very heavily on most of our minds this week as the eBay price increases go into effect. Each day as I evaluate my stock where I will be placing it and at what prices–I have had to make some tough decisions.
Change #1:
I still put everything up for sale at auction first and don’t move anything into my store until I have tried it at least once at auction. But now, instead of trying it twice at auction (35 cents), I may just move it directly into my store. That 35 cents will now pay for almost 6 months in my eBay store. That six-month exposure in my store is priceless and I have found that I am doing this with about 50% of my items. Once time up at auction and then right into my eBay store.
Change #2:
I used to list all of my similar items in separate auctions and separate store listings. I still believe that at auction–items should all be separate. Dutch auctions are too confusing (even for me)! Can you imagine how confusing they are for those little old ladies in Pasadena? Make it easy on your bidders and do not do multiple quantity auctions. However, when you move items into your store at a fixed price–the multiple quantity option makes more sense than ever.
I had 15 bowls by Williams Sonoma in the Montgolfiere pattern. They list on the Replacements website for $54.99 each. I had tried them at auction in 15 separate auctions at $9.99 each and when they didn’t sell, I didn’t bother marking them down and trying them again at auction. It would have cost me $5.25 to relist them if they didn’t sell that second time.
So, I moved them directly into my eBay store as one store listing with the quantity at 15. That just saved me 14 auctions times 6 cents a month or 84 cents per month. That is huge!
Williams Sonoma Montgolfiere Bowl
The only downside with this type of listing is that a potential bidder will not know that I have 15 available–unless I put something to that effect in my title. However, as a recent teleseminar student of mine just found out, that can lead the customer to think he/she is bidding on all 15 and that can become a very serious issue.
I have not tried this technique with 2’s, 3’s, or 4’s. I think I will continue to list those as individual store items.
Change #3:
I have said this before and I will say it again. One year in an eBay store is plenty of exposure. Especially, if the item has gone through one Christmas season. At that point, it is time to have a clearance sale and move those goods out or take them to charity.
I am trying to see if eBay can set up a global markdown for the stores. Just like they can automatically put up a note that says we are on vacation, they should be able to post a store clearance sale. This way, we wouldn’t have to manually change all the prices and wouldn’t be charged the higher final value fees if we take the discount after the purchase.
Here is a copy of an email that I sent to Griff today:
Griff,
I just wanted to say thank you for our interview in July–you are such a great host and it is always a wonderful experience.
Also, I am hoping that you can get these requests to the right person. The eBay store fee increases have really impacted a lot of us and I have two suggestions. The first would be having a global button (much like the on vacation feature) so that we could take 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50% off all our store fixed prices. This way we could run clearance sales easily without manually having to change prices. I think it would greatly benefit store owners and eBay.
Secondly, I always try my items at auction before moving them into my store. Usually two times at auction. I was thinking that eBay could offer some sort of incentive so that if we have tried the item at auction and it didn’t sell, we may get some form of rebate or lower fee for listing it in our stores.
Thanks for listening and for being such a great advocate for those of us in the trenches! Take care. Lynn
Griff is awesome and just emailed back an answer. Interesting and there is some hope!
Hi Lynn,
It’s always a pleasure to have you on the show and I look forward to more appearances in the future.
Although there is currently a Bulk Edit feature for eBay Store Items, it doesn’t offer a global percentage discount that would apply to all eBay listings. It is an interesting suggestion and I will definitely forward it to the appropriate product team but I would not expect any results right away. Changes of this depth usually take several months and are only implemented after a long review and approval process.
I can also forward your suggestion regarding a rebate for auction to store listings but, considering that our current goal is to balance the current number of Store and core items (with a heavy imbalance on the Store item end), this will probably not be considered this year. Not at least until the balance of inventory has been achieved.
regards,
Griff
Jim Griffith
Dean of Education
________________________________
eBay Inc
My automated six-week ecourse is finally ready!
I am so excited to announce that my fully automated six-week ecourse is finally ready to go! It is the same wonderful ecourse that you have heard so much about but you can start it when you are ready–not when it is convenient for me.
Here is what some of my recent graduates have to say about my eCourse:
‘I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the work you have put into this course. I taught at the College Level and you are one of a very few who knows how to transfer knowledge into learning -hallelujah!!!’
-Cauleen Viscoff, Canada
‘My goodness, what a home run you hit with this week’s lesson! It is so full of great information that I had to go over it several times. You are an outstanding teacher; I have put some of your lessons to use this week and that saved me a few costly mistakes. Thanks again for giving us such valuable information.’
-Margaret (Peggy) McIlvain Texas
‘Just wanted to let you know I am really enjoying the lessons. As the young people would say, you have really ‘turned me on’ to this eBay thing.’
-Shirley Jones, Texas
The price is $197 but for the next 48 hours only (until noon on Thursday, August 24th) for my special newsletter subscribers–It is 50% off! For only $98.50 you will be given the step-by-step tools and instructions to take your eBay business from zero to 100 in just six weeks. Even if you are a seasoned eBayer, this course can help take you to the next level. Click here to order now at the special price.
Don’t miss out on this special pricing and remember that you can let us know exactly when you are ready to begin. It is a self-paced home study course that is easy to follow. The holiday season is rapidly approaching and these are my best months on eBay. Be ready! For more information click here, but return to this email to order as the special offer is only available from the links in this ezine and only for the next 48 hours.
Click here to order now at the special price!
Special Promotion on August 29th–You won’t want to miss this!
I have had the great fortune of meeting a lot of the eBay Gurus & authors this year. I met many of them at eBay Live in Las Vegas and a few more at a Mark Victor Hansen Mega event in Florida.
Since they have become my friends, we are going to be partnering on a promotion on August 29th that you just won’t believe! Make sure you check your emails on Tuesday, August 29th, and look for one from me.
We are going to be offering you incredible bonuses from eBay gurus like Skip McGrath, Janelle Elms, Julia Wilkinson, Tim Knox, Jim Cockrum, Mike Enos, Lisa Suttora, Catherine Seda, David Lovelace, Terry Gibbs, Brad, and Deb Schepp, and others. Not to mention giveaways from companies like Auction Trust Network, DOBA, HammerTap, and PriceMiner. It is so big–and I am really excited about it that I just had to share a little bit of it with you. Watch for more information next week.
Don’t miss out!
Lynn
For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my website at:
Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author, and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks, and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at an online auction click here.