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3 Levels of eBay Business
Q. How long has eBay been in business?
A. eBay began trading in 1995.
Q. Does eBay itself buy or sell anything?
A. No. eBay merely provides a platform to bring sellers and buyers together from around the world.
Q. is the eBayCashFormula an all new secret way of using eBay, that will make me rich even quicker?
A. No, eBay is a very simple website on which heaps of average everyday people earn an income by selling products, eBayCashFormula is simply a system to teach you how to sell on eBay effectively, so you can achieve these same results.
Q. How do we divide our learning levels for eBay?
A. We divide learning into three levels: Basic, Income Replacement and Business.
Q. What does the Basic Level cover?
A. This level provides an introduction to selling on eBay. It is designed to be simple enough to get you started quickly and to enable you to make a little money selling items around the house.
Q. What does the Income Replacement Level cover?
A. This level comes into play when you have built up some experience at the Basic level. It covers improving listings to be more effective and learning how to stand out from the opposition. It also includes available resources to source other products and to help you sell your items quickly.
Q. What does the Business Level cover?
A. This level teaches you how to make a sizeable income efficiently by putting systems in place to automate your processes as much as possible. It also coveres taking the knowledge you have gained, and scaling it by adding extra products and moving into bigger bulk.
Q. What is PayPal?
A. PayPal is eBay's preferred method of payment system. It is faster, safer and more convenient for the customer.
Q. Where should we begin to source a product to sell on eBay?
A. When you are new to eBay the first place to find something to sell should be in your own home. Bring together all those things you no longer want or need such as CD's, DVD's, books, clothing, toys, etc. and list them with eBay.
Q. When is it important to include a photo of your item for sale?
A. At the Basic level it is not as important to provide a photo of your sale item. When you are at the Income Replacement level and above, however, a clear photo of your product is essential.
Q. What are the two main forms of sale on eBay?
A. You can sell via the auction method or you can sell via Fixed Price method "Buy It Now or Make Offer".
Improving Your Sales Techniques
Q. How can I improve on the basics?
A. a) Include good keywords in your title, so more people find your item
b) Upgrade your product description to show features, advantages and benefits
c) Add a clear photo to make your item more noticeable
d) Learn to connect to a buyer's emotions
e) Communicate effectively with buyers.
Q. What are Keywords?
A. They are popular words used on eBay's Search Engine to search for an item.
Q. Why should I research other sales on eBay?
A. It will enable you to find out what your product is worth and its average selling price.
Q. How do pictures help my sales?
A. As the eBay marketplace is online, buyers cannot feel or touch the item for sale. A picture gives a buyer faith that the product is as the description says. A picture attracts attention and gives instant recognition of what is being sold.
Q. What is a common mistake by people putting up an item for auction for the first time?
A. Many first-timers price their item too high to begin. It is better to do your research about what price the item is likely to bring and start with a low price.
Q. Why is a good Listing Title important?
A. It is the first thing a buyer sees. If your title is informative with the right keywords and within the right category, users are more likely to click on it for more information.
Q. What information should a Description include?
A. Your item description should include a clear explanation of the article, whether it is new or used, its condition, size and if it carries a warranty that should be included. You should also include payment postage and goods return information.
Q. How should a buyer feel if I have written a good product description?
A. First, a buyer should feel safe and secure. Secondly, if a buyer's emotions have been touched they will be feeling positive about wanting to buy the item because they feel it will benefit them in some way.
Q. Why is feedback so important?
A. Positive feedback will increase your sales and enhance your reputation on eBay. Negative feedback will not help your future sales.
Q. How do I build up trust with customers?
A. a) Give clear and honest information in your product description
b) Answer customers' questions in a timely manner
c) If any issues arise, resolve them quickly and peacefully
d) When you sell a product, send it out promptly. Include a thank-you note in the package and follow up with an email to the buyer stating the item has been sent and when it should arrive.
e) When a buyer leaves positive feedback on your site, respond with a compliment for them on anything they did well, e.g. their speedy payment for the product.
Research & Development
Q. What does it mean to build an eBay Brand?
A. It means building a recognizable name by being different so you can compete effectively with the competition.
Q. What does it take to be different from the competition?
A. It takes constant research and creativity to stand out. Spend time and effort to build your knowledge about your competition and be prepared to give a bit more and go the extra mile for your customers.
Q. What do I need to know to dominate the market?
A. You need to know who your competition is and what they do well so you can work out what to do better to be seen as the market expert and different from everyone else.
Q. Where should I begin my research?
A. Use eBay's 'Advanced Search' option and go to 'completed listings'. After you have completed that area go to eBay 'Pulse' under BUY to check the main stores to find out who sells your product.
Q. What are the keys to selling success?
A. They are:
Be prepared to spend time on research and learn from those who have succeeded.
Build up your own brand by being different and adding your own ideas to those techniques that already work.
Look after your customers and thus engender loyalty so they won't leave you.
Build up a good reputation with honesty and good communication.
Q. Name two ways to stand out from the competition.
A. Bonuses and guarantees.
Q. What should I remember when giving a bonus to a customer?
A. Bonuses should always relate to the product.
Q. What form can bonuses take?
A. Information products such as eBooks and newsletters are excellent forms of bonuses because, as you have buyers' emails and, in the case of newsletters you are able to keep in constant touch, they can bring many extra sales.
Q. Why is a guarantee important?
A. Buyers on eBay in particular are unable to physically touch and personally check out your product. All they have to go on is a picture and your description. A money-back guarantee gives customers confidence and makes them feel safe; therefore, they are more likely to buy your product when there is a guarantee attached.
Q. How else can a guarantee help your sales?
A. WOM or "word of mouth" advertising is a very important vehicle for the seller. People who have had a positive experience when exercising a guarantee are very likely to tell their friends about you. This engenders a good reputation and can lead to many more sales.
Automation
Q. When should I begin to think seriously about automating my eBay business?
A. Once your business is up and running and selling on a regular basis you should be thinking about automating procedures for better efficiency.
Q. What software does eBay provide to help me automate my business?
A. EBay provides software such as TurboLister and Selling Manager and also Selling Manager Pro. They also provide guidance as to the best software for your needs at your current level of activity.
Q. Why should I register as a business?
A. 1. For reasons of credibility
2. Other businesses you work with often require an Australia Business Number
3. You get a better tax rate as a business.
Q. What should I first consider when starting up an on-line business?
A. Decide on your vision for the business. Spend time alone to decide on your goals and the planning necessary to reach them. Be very clear about the direction you wish to take – whether you want a part-time or full-time business. Commit your decisions to paper and keep planning flexible.
Q. What is my first important step when I reach business level on eBay?
A. The first step is to source good, top quality products which you can sell over and over again.
Q. What do I have to remember when sourcing a product?
A. The product should be high quality and profitable with as little competition as possible.
Q. What is my next move when I have identified the product I wish to sell?
A. You will need to find manufacturers, wholesalers or importers who are willing to work with you to sell their product.
Q. How do I find these wholesalers?
A. You can trawl the internet for them which can be a long and involved business, or you can connect to wholesale trade directories that have lists of reliable, trusted and proven suppliers. Another way to find them is to visit trade shows that showcase your kind of product.
Q. What is a drop shipper?
A. It is a business that sells its merchandise to you but ships it directly to your customer.
Q. When should I consider putting up a website separate to eBay?
A. When you have your eBay business running smoothly and you feel you would like to bring in an extra stream of income by making your products available to a wider market.
eBay Tools
Q. How can software tools help me with my eBay business?
A. By allowing you to implement effective selling strategies and by leveraging your time so you can produce more and gain more income.
Q. Are all tools free to use?
A. No. There are some excellent free tools but generally, although many do some of the same jobs as fee based tools, they don't do what you want quite as well.
Q. What are your two most recommended fee-based tools?
A. Terapeak and Auctiva.
Q. What are Terapeak and Auctiva used for?
A. Terapeak is a research tool which provides information for the current value of your sales items in the market place. It analyses statistics giving you number of sellers, number of bids and average prices. It also provides current hot products, etc.
Auctiva is mainly a list creator with many extra features.
Q. What else is good about Terapeak and Auctiva?
A. They are both partners with eBay so they have access to more information than the others and their websites work in better.
Q. What is your recommendation from the free tools area and why?
A. Goofbay is my free tools recommendation. It is an excellent site, nicely presented and useful. It provides search engines that look for badly set up listings which you can buy cheap and re-sell for a profit.
Q. What are some other tools available on Goofbay?
A. eBay Sniper which helps you place last second bids and eBay Best Offers where you can get an estimate of the lowest offers accepted by the seller you want to give an offer to.
Q. If I want to import goods from Asia, what website could I use?
A. www.alibaba.com can be used for such a purpose.
Q. If I'm shipping a product from Australia, how should I list it?
A. Just list it on the Australian site and tick 'worldwide shipping' with your selected international service.
Q. What should I remember when shipping internationally?
A. You should be aware of the customs and laws of various countries. Before you send your customers their shipping costs, look up their country's laws as there may be extra costs. America is a good example.
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