Secrets of the eBay Millionaires Inside Success Stories -- and Proven Money-Making Tips -- from eBay’s Greatest Sellers

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ISBN: 9780072262520 | 0072262524
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Copyright: 12/12/2005

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Secrets to high-volume, high-profit sales from the most successful sellers on eBaySecrets of the eBay Millionairesreveals the inside stories behind eBay's most successful sellersincluding those in the Professional eBay Seller's Association, who together make more than $1 billion annually on eBay. For the first time in one volume, aspiring PowerSellers will get hundreds of undocumented tips and tricks on building a strong eBay business and maximizing sales and profits. Readers will learn to develop a business plan, identify market need, promote their products, build a solid reputation, and more. The sellers profiled represent the major eBay categories, including computers and software, consumer electronics, books, movies, music, collectibles, jewelry, and B-to-B merchandise. Various business models are examined, such as hobbyist-turned-entrepreneur and brick-and-mortar businesses brought online. Readers are sure to find sellers with whom they can identify.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

From Penniless to PowerSeller: Carving Out a Niche

(26)

Trying to Do One Thing Well: Entertainment House

(2)

``Being Broke Is a Great Incentive''

(1)

``From Small Things, Big Things Grow''

(1)

How Phil Leahy Chose an Area of Specialty

(9)

``I Knew I Had to Work 16-Hour Days . . .''

(1)

``Staff Training Is Critical''

(1)

``We Are Going to Do Everything We Can to Cultivate Customers''

(1)

``Don't Try to Do What Everyone Else Does''

(2)

Sell Something You Can Supply

(2)

Finding a Competitive Edge: NYC Designs For Less

(14)

How Lori Baboulis Undercut the Competition

(1)

``Finding Inventory Is the Hardest Part of Selling on eBay''

(3)

``eBay Stores Encourage Repeat Buyers''

(3)

Selling at High Volume for Big Profits: Sew VacDirect

(1)

Providing Personal Customer Service: Abovethemall

(2)

Setting Out to Corner the Market: Blueberry Boutique

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

(2)

Establishing Your Identity: Your Mission and Your Web Presence

(24)

Pursuing a Mission: Shiana.com

(13)

``The Human Touch Makes This Type of Silverwork Unique''

(1)

``We Want to Help Our Friends to Thrive on Their Own''

(4)

``eBay Gave Us Exposure to Customers Around the World''

(1)

``We're Such a Small Army''

(2)

``Our eBay Sales Market Our Web Site, Not the Other Way Around''

(4)

``We Wanted to Let People Know More About What Happens''

(2)

Promoting a Business Ethic: National Powersports Distributors

(10)

``On eBay, We Can Make a Substantial Return on Our Investment''

(2)

``I Set Out from the Beginning to Build a Business''

(1)

``We Have a Core Philosophy: Tell the Truth''

(3)

``You Don't Have to Sell Something: Just Make It Available''

(1)

``eBay Can Put a Motorcycle in Front of 2,000 People a Week''

(1)

``The More People Become Comfortable With Us, the More Profits Go Up''

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

(3)

Connect with Your Customers

(22)

High Profits, Low Volume Equal Success: White Mountain Trading Company

(9)

``If You're Going to Sell for a Living, You Might As Well Sell Something Expensive''

(1)

``You Pretty Much Have the World at Your Doorstep''

(4)

``Instead of Building a $60,000 Web Site, We Bought Inventory''

(1)

``Thirty Percent of Our Customers Make Another Purchase from Us''

(1)

``It's Still Dynamic, It's Still Exciting''

(1)

Interpersonal Skills Connect with Medical Buyers: Ready Medical

(12)

``I Work the Chick Factor''

(3)

``In One Place We Have an Upholsterer, a Painter, and We Store Our Own Equipment''

(2)

``It's Like Gambling: It's All About the Action''

(2)

``Let Your Customers Think They're Your World''

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

(3)

Think and Act Like a Businessperson

(22)

Planning for Success: Sands-o-Time

(7)

``It Helps to Have a Formal Business Plan''

(1)

``I Built Up a Huge Reference Library---Anything and Everything I Could Get My Hands On''

(2)

How Melissa Sands Takes Advantage of Multiple Sales Venues

(3)

Roll Up Your Sleeves, Put In Long Hours: Alan Warshauer

(14)

``I'm Always Looking for New Products''

(1)

``They Are All Being Made in China''

(4)

``Most of the Profit Is in the Shipping and Handling''

(2)

``I Don't Put Much Stock in Being a PowerSeller''

(1)

``I Average 1,000 to 1,500 E-Mails a Day. I Go Through Them Real Quick.''

(2)

``It's Become Too Difficult to Manage by Myself''

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

(3)

Identify Sources of Merchandise

(18)

Turning a Wholesale Business Public: Robert Zanger

(10)

``You Get an Item You Have a Lot of, and You Keep Relisting It''

(4)

``People Call Me to Say, `Are You for Real?'''

101

(1)

``It's Easier to Sell a Suit on eBay Than Through My Store''

101

(2)

Hiring a Designer: ``A One-Time Expense Yields Rewards for Years to Come''

103

(3)

Seek Out New Products and New Suppliers: MemoryQueens.com

106

(7)

``We're Always Looking: It's All About the Research''

106

(1)

``There's a Level of Trust with Family That You Don't Have with Other People''

107

(1)

``I Have Been Searching High and Low for Trade Shows''

108

(2)

``You Have Cash Outlays Just Like Any Other Business''

110

(2)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

112

(1)

Reach the Widest Possible Audience

113

(20)

Franchising eBay for Maximum Market Share: Auction Safari

114

(9)

``There's So Much Learning and Collaboration'': Teaming with Experienced Sellers

116

(2)

``The Name of the Game Is: How Do You Drive Shoppers to Your Store?''

118

(1)

The Keyword's the Thing

119

(2)

``Partner with Shopping Engines to Pull People into Your eBay Store''

121

(1)

``We're Going to Be Working More with Retailers''

122

(1)

Reaching Out to Customers Around the World: Tony Cicalese

123

(10)

``Buying CDs from My Van with My Kitty Was a Great Opportunity''

124

(1)

``I Thought Using My Business to Raise Money Was a Good Idea''

125

(1)

``Is Tony a Mental Case?'': Using Humor and Personality Sells

126

(1)

``I Want to Be Seen as Approachable, Friendly, and Fun''

127

(3)

Reaching Overseas Buyers

130

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

131

(2)

Diversity Your Business Presence

133

(24)

From Wholesaler to eBay Mogul: David Hardin

134

(6)

``All of a Sudden a Light Went On'': Shoetime

135

(1)

From Shoes to Fashion: Fashion Outlet Mall

135

(3)

``I Went from Shoe Salesman to Software Developer''

138

(1)

``If You've Got a Computer and a High-Speed Internet Connection, You Can Do This Out of Your Home'': eSAVz

138

(2)

Open a Brick-and-Mortar Store: Ellen Navarro and Amy Mayer

140

(17)

``We Decided That This Is a Destination Business''

141

(1)

``People Get Caught Up in the Romance of Selling on eBay, and They Don't Do the Business Projections''

142

(3)

``I Am Selling More and More Machines Lately''

145

(3)

``If One of Us Didn't Get Yelled At, It Wouldn't Be a Normal Day''

148

(1)

``We Compare Our Business to a Dry Cleaner---People Choose the Place with the Best Service''

149

(6)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

155

(2)

Provide Instant and Personalized Service

157

(22)

Where Customer Service Is the Most Important Product: Abovethemall

158

(15)

``Take the Good from the Good Sellers and Make It Your Own''

160

(1)

``I Want People to Know That They're Dealing with an Individual''

161

(5)

``It's Hard to Sell Items If People Can't See a Good Picture of Them''

166

(4)

Make Your Descriptions Do the Selling

170

(1)

``I Want Buyers to Know My Name and Phone Number''

171

(1)

``Don't Forget Where You Came From''

172

(1)

``Keep the Stress Away from Your Family''

172

(1)

He's Got the Key to Finding Buyers in eBay Motors

173

(6)

``eBay Took Us in a Direction We Didn't Plan to Go''

173

(2)

Key to Fast Shipping: ``Location, Location, Location''

175

(2)

Finding the Right Selling Tool: ``It's the Holy Grail''

177

(1)

``It's Harder to Start a New Business Now''

177

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

178

(1)

Build a Good Reputation

179

(16)

Reach Number One in Your Field: David Yaskulka

180

(8)

``Reputation Is Everything''

181

(1)

``Reinforce Your Brand Every Chance You Get''

182

(1)

``We Are Good at Making Sure Our Customers Are Protected''

182

(2)

``Build Your Reputation as a Socially Responsible Business''

184

(3)

``Go on Discussion Boards and Really Help People''

187

(1)

``We Try to Have a Core Value for Our Company''

187

(1)

Building Good Feedback: David T. Alexander

188

(7)

``I Had a Lot of Customers Already from My Existing Business''

189

(1)

``People Buy from You Right Away If You Have High Feedback''

190

(1)

``I Can Walk a Hundred Yards to My Office''

191

(1)

``When Something Doesn't Sell on eBay the Work is Lost''

192

(1)

``If One Person Leaves Me Negative Feedback, It Isn't Going to Change My Percentage''

193

(1)

``Having a Good Reputation Sells''

193

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

194

(1)

Acquire and Keep Your Customers

195

(18)

Using Your eBay Store to Acquire Customers: Creative Paper

196

(7)

``The Whole Purpose of eBay Is to Get Customers''

198

(1)

``We Do a Blast E-Mail to 20,000 Customers''

198

(3)

``We Do Give People the Option to Opt Out''

201

(1)

``I Had a Lot of People Requesting Patriotic Stuff After 9/11''

201

(2)

Upselling and Cross-Promoting: Dallas Golf

203

(10)

``Golf Is Almost the Perfect eBay Product''

204

(1)

``It's Like Tapping Them on the Shoulder and Saying, `Would You Like to Buy Something Else?'''

205

(2)

``We're Sourcing Through Our Competitors''

207

(1)

``If We Can Get Customers to Trade in Their Old Clubs on eBay, We Can Sell Them on eBay''

208

(1)

``We Do a Daily E-Mail That Highlights Auctions That Are About to Close''

209

(1)

``We're Always Trying to Say, `If You Don't Like This, Here, Look at This'''

210

(1)

``Be a Salesperson: Tell People What They Really Need on the Phone''

211

(1)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

211

(2)

Automate to Ramp Up Sales

213

(18)

Doing eBay Bigger, Better, Faster: Kevin Harmon

214

(6)

``You Need a Solid Breadth of Product to Sell Well on eBay''

214

(2)

``Our Model: Virtual Inventory We Don't Own Until It's Sold, and National Distributors''

216

(1)

``We Are Plugged in Directly to eBay with Our Own Software''

217

(1)

``I Never Buy Anything Unless I Research It First on eBay''

218

(2)

``Everyone Gets Burned Trying to Find New Suppliers''

220

(1)

Managing Sales with Special Software: Jon Stein

220

(11)

``Start with Something You Really Love''

222

(1)

Choose the Right Solution Carefully

222

(1)

``Time and Time Again, We Look for New Eyeballs and New Customers''

223

(3)

``I Think the Best Is Yet to Come''

226

(2)

Lessons Learned in This Chapter

228

(3)

APPENDIX A Web Resources for PowerSellers

231

(10)

Resources on eBay

232

(1)

eBay Keywords

232

(1)

PowerSeller Information

232

(1)

``What's Hot'' Lists

232

(1)

Software Tools

233

(2)

Andale

233

(1)

buySAFE

233

(1)

Ethical Technologies

233

(1)

Infopia

234

(1)

Marketworks

234

(1)

SpareDollar

234

(1)

Vendio

234

(1)

Zoovy

234

(1)

Tools for Finding and Selling Merchandise

235

(1)

Alibaba

235

(1)

Association of Independent Information Professionals

235

(1)

``How to Find Wholesalers'' Workshop

235

(1)

Multistate Tax Commission

236

(1)

Groups and Forums

236

(1)

eBay Sales Reports Discussion Board

236

(1)

Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA)

236

(1)

Seller Central Discussion Board

236

(1)

Tools for Tracking Income and Expenses

237

(1)

Microsoft Money 2005 Web Site

237

(1)

MYOB Web Site

237

(1)

Peachtree Office Accounting

237

(1)

Quicken 2006

238

(1)

Quick Books

238

(1)

Other Places to Sell Your Merchandise

238

(1)

Craigslist

238

(1)

iOffer

239

(1)

Yahoo! Auctions

239

(1)

Yahoo! Classifieds

239

(1)

E-Commerce Hosting Services

239

(2)

AOL Hometown

239

(1)

Bigstep.com

240

(1)

Microsoft Small Business

240

(1)

APPENDIX B Becoming an eBay Millionaire: The Twelve-Step Program

241

(8)

Step 1: Find Something You Love---and Sell It

242

(1)

Step 2: Set Out to Build a Business Rather than a Hobby

242

(1)

Step 3: Do the Research Up Front

243

(1)

Step 4: Develop a Steady Supply of Merchandise

243

(1)

Step 5: Know Who Your Customers Are and What They Want

244

(1)

Step 6: Don't Be Afraid to Grow

244

(1)

Step 7: Find People---or Software---to Help You

245

(1)

Step 8: Act Like a Salesperson

245

(1)

Step 9: Market Yourself and Your Business

246

(1)

Step 10: Sell in More than One Venue

246

(1)

Step 11: Make Your Customer Your King or Queen

247

(1)

Step 12: Be Prepared for Really Hard Work

248

(1)

Index

249

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Secrets of the eBay Millionaires Inside Success Stories -- and Proven Money-Making Tips -- from eBay’s Greatest Sellers

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials