New Site

Hey there

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few months, I have been very busy with univeristy myself. Also I have been looking into new directions for this blog and I am glad to inform you that a brand new blog will be launched in the next week or so with its own domain etc! Don't worry all the current articles will be uploaded.

If you would like to get involved or have any suggestions, drop me a comment and I'll get in touch.

Watch this space, I will post info about the new blog and let you know when it's up and running over the next week or so, and of course let you know where you can find it!

Thanks for reading

A roadpath to eBay Success - Part 4

Well folks, here it is, the last post in our series of articles on how to succeed online with auction sites such as eBay. We have delved into picking your category/niche, sourcing your products and listing your items. Today we move on to customer care during and after sales, also we will be dealing with postage and packaging

Setting your P&P Price
When you list your items you will be asked how much you would like to charge for postage and packaging, let me get this straight, if there's one thing I hate it's people wildly overcharging for P&P. Sometimes you will see someone charging £4 for posting a DVD, it can get ridiculous so don't do it, trust me you will put customers off. So take into account how much it will cost to post and the packaging you will use, maybe round it off and stick to that price, the customers will have more respect for you and there is a higher percentage chance they will come back.

During Auction Customer Service
During some auctions, customers will ask questions. They will ask questions about the item itself, postage, payment, service etc. Answer these questions as quickly and as honestly as possible so the customer will remain interested and know what to expect if they win the item.

P&P your Items
Package your items as soon as you can, use strong packaging with bubblewrapp especially if you have fragile items. Also something I like doing is slipping in an invoice and a thank you message with your contact details, just to make the whole thing more personal. Once payment has come through, post your items as quickly as possible, people hate to wait a long time for something they have already paid for. Customers will be much happier if they receive their items quickly.

After-Sales Customer Service
Sometimes a customer will have a question or a complaint about the product you have sold. Again answer as quickly and as honestly as possible. It isn't a complaint, make sure you offer a return and refund, this will do wonders for your feedback and keep the negatives down. Remember the customer is always rite.

There we have it, it's all done now, some things maybe amended but I hope you have enjoyed the series and have found it helpful. Good Luck! Remember if you have any questions or comments to make, please don't hesitate to contact me on onlineblogs@gmail.com

A roadpath to eBay Success - Part 3

Welcome to part 3, yesterday we looked at product sourcing. Today we will be looking at the next step, listing your items correctly and honestly.

I can't stress enough how important this part is if you want to be successful, this is the stage where you communicate with your potential customers and your listing will usually show how you come across to those potential customers. Your listing and description could also be important for when the customer chooses to buy an item from you or your competitor.

Research
Before you do anything you will need to research your products correctly, this is because it will enable you to fully understand what you are selling and describe it as accurately as possible. You could do this by reading the information on the packaging or even check out the company website, write everything down and pick out the most important information you will need to include in your listings.

Pictures
One part of the preparation is now done, so now to the next, you will need a digital camera to take high quality photos of the products, I always find when the seller takes their own pictures it's more appealing. Make sure the product is clearly visible and high quality.
Description
Plan ahead before listing, take the information from your research and describe the item as accurately as possible so the customer knows exactly what to expect, remember if the item is not in very good condition or has any blemishes, include it as this makes you more honest with the customer and again there will be no surprises when the item arrives, if you have to, take a picture of the marks or scuffs. You may also want to use some powers of persuasion in your listing, but not too much or too heavy. It also doesn't harm to say who you are and what your all about, this will give you listing a personal touch.

Listing
Now to the actual listing, you will need to choose the relevant category remember, nothing worse than getting this wrong. Choose a title which describes the item in the best possible way. I always find flamboyant templates annoying so just try keep it clean and simple if you can which is usually easier for the reader, remember to also leave your contact details.
Your start price is very important or your buy it now price, you will need to think about it very carefully, I usually find 99 pence starts usually do the best as the bids get a chance to accumulate and people start bidding against each other.

That was part 3, the last part will follow shortly, which will deals with postage, after care and customer service, enjoy!

A roadpath to eBay Success - Part 2

Welcome to the second part in these series of articles on selling your items on eBay the right way!
Today we will be dealing with product sourcing, this is where most people fail because of a budget, can't find items cheap enough due to the prices on eBay being so low or literally can't find anyone who will deal with them because they are new!

Plan
For product sourcing you need to plan ahead, make a little spreadsheet if you will. You should already know what you want to sell, so now you need to work out the quantities you need to start up. Then you need to work out what's the highest unit price you can afford, this is decided by how much profit margin you will need to make and also the price of these items selling from your future competitors, as well as this you will need to stick to your overall budget.

Sourcing Products
This part all depends on how big you want to turn this project into. If you just need some casual extra cash, there are plenty of ways you can get your hands on all kinds of second-hand products at cheap prices which will sell on eBay. The way I started making a bit of money on eBay was visiting car boot sales on a cold wet Sunday morning in the middle of a field! You'd be surprised what some people will sell. You can find anything at a car boot sale, often for a very cheap price, just remember one thing.....always haggle the price down, these people are there to get rid of their unwanted stuff, so their much more likely to accept a lower price just to get rid of them. Other ways would be a local newspaper, garage sales, classified ads websites and papers, friends, there are plenty of places! You could even search eBay for people who are selling items in bulk, then you could split the items into individual lots and resell them on eBay for a healthy profit!

If you plan to get a little more serious with your selling, the best route would be to go wholesale, check out your local paper or the yellow pages for wholesalers advertising their services. You could even check out the Internet, there are thousands out there. It won't be easy getting started, you will need to negotiate a quantity and a price with them, but because you are new, don't expect any huge discounts because it ain't gonna happen! Just be confident, polite and pitch to them your idea correctly and you'll be laughing.

There are plenty of ways to get your hands on products to sell on eBay, just remember to stick to your budget or you'll end up in deep doo daa's, good luck.

Next up is part three, where we will be giving you some ideas and advice on listing your products on eBay the correct way so stay in touch

A roadpath to eBay Success - Part 1

Welcome to the first of four articles on the correct way to make a go of earning cash on eBay.

Everyone has heard of eBay, and I would take a good guess that most people have either sold or bought something on eBay, in fact some people make a living from eBay.

Getting Started
The first thing you need to do, if you haven't done so already is get yourself registered on the site, remember to choose a relevant name or an easy to remember one if you're going to make a serious go of this.

What to sell?
When you're ready to sell, the first thing you need to think about is what you are going to sell, this could be just junk you have lying around or if you want to go a step further, try choosing a niche category where there could be high demand but there is not much supple, a lot of categories on eBay are over-saturated, also I find important that you pick something you are truly interested in, this usually provides more self motivation. Sit down with a pen and paper, think long and hard in a brainstorming session, choose around three categories you would be interested in selling.

Research
This is a very important step, you have your three favorite ideas, now you need to search through eBay and have a look at the competition surrounding those categories and make a decision whether it is feasible that you continue your interest in that category, also decide on which one you would most prefer or which one you think could do the best, either way just choose a final category and stick to it. Now you can concentrate on researching these products further, including detailed analysis of your possible future competitors

Now you have your chosen categories and an idea of which products to sell. Article 2 will shortly follow, this will deal with sourcing products etc, stay tuned!