Don't Work to hard
Enjoy friends and family and get ready for the TIME for selling on the net.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
from My Blog Utopia
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Check out My Blog Utopia .com
Getting Ready for Q4
Okay, eBay has made their announcements and so has Amazon (oh that's right they haven't said anything). So now sellers need to get down to work.
As an online seller, you get paid for selling product, not debating Feedback, DSRs, INRs, NPBs and a host of other acronyms. Sure, you have some very valid concerns about the future of eBay and the changes that have been made this year, but it is now time to concentrate on your business, or more accurately on the part of your business you can control.
Leave the protesting and complaining for January of 2009. Take a break to concentrate on the most important things. Commit today, to fine-tuning your business for the 4th quarter. If you sell on eBay do your best to come up with a business plan through the rest of 2008.
What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Don't change your business because eBay wants you to, change your business becasue it will make you more successful.
I'm not really a "How-to" guy (Skip McGrath is much better at that than I am) but I'm going to make some suggestions to help you develop your 4th Quarter 2008 plan on eBay:
First off, if you sell on multiple channels, I would suggest you button-up the final touches to your Amazon, Overstock, Buy.com and web site plans. More than likely, you will have a good feel for what you need to do with each of those.
Now look at the recent eBay changes and develop your plan for the 4th Quarter:
1. Develop a listing strategy for your eBay business and test it during the early days of the new fee change. Take a good look at your inventory and identify what product is best suited for Auctions, for the new 30-day FP listing and lastly for Stores; yes I said stores.
2. Tread lightly with auctions during the early days of the fee changes, make sure you have a good feel for the way the new Best Match works before committing to an ambitious auction listing strategy.
3. Next, identify the items in your inventory that sell at least once a month and add them to your new 30-day FP CORE listings. eBay says they will surface the most successful listings, so make sure each listing has plenty of inventory. Do not throw the whole kitchen sink into CORE because you will just be waisting money on a good number of those listings.
4. Put the rest of your inventory in stores, so it is available for the occasional buyer or the one who wants to add something to their auction or FP purchase.
5. Identify the things that are working and maximize them -- stop the stuff that that doesn't work.
6. Be aggressive with your pricing on the items that sell well and less aggressive with the long-tail items. Use the same strategy Amazon does -- fastest movers = lowest prices. With 30-day listings you can play with the pricing throughout the 30-days, so dial in the right amount.
7. Stop worrying about eBay and start worrying about your business.
8. Be nimble enough to change things when they need to be changed and concentrate on managing your inventory so you don't have problems.
9. Fine tune your processes so that they run flawlessly.
10. Bring on additional temporary staff if needed to help you handle the business (adding staff means you are very busy)
11. Smaller sellers, make sure you have some support to help you as well.
12. Lastly, do not do any of this for eBay! I repeat, do not do this for eBay! Do it for your customers and for your family and for your business. Determine right now -- today -- to make your business a success in spite of all the turmoil in the marketplace.
Are you ready for this upcoming 4th quarter? Well you better be, because your success is in your hands.
We can all go back to bitching about eBay in January!
Just my 15%
Posted by Randy Smythe at 8/27/2008 05:00:00 AM Labels: Amazon, Business Plan, Classic eBay, Online Sellers, Q4
2 comments:
Jim S. said...
Stop worrying about eBay and start worrying about your business.
AMEN to that suggestion!
7:01 AM
egnatz1 said...
I agree Randy we should worry about our own business and not Ebay.
However its very hard to have a long term business plan or even a short term plan when the landlord changes the rules and keeps raising the rent every other week or so it seems..
7:12 AM
Post a Comment
Links to this post
Create a Link
Getting Ready for Q4
Okay, eBay has made their announcements and so has Amazon (oh that's right they haven't said anything). So now sellers need to get down to work.
As an online seller, you get paid for selling product, not debating Feedback, DSRs, INRs, NPBs and a host of other acronyms. Sure, you have some very valid concerns about the future of eBay and the changes that have been made this year, but it is now time to concentrate on your business, or more accurately on the part of your business you can control.
Leave the protesting and complaining for January of 2009. Take a break to concentrate on the most important things. Commit today, to fine-tuning your business for the 4th quarter. If you sell on eBay do your best to come up with a business plan through the rest of 2008.
What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Don't change your business because eBay wants you to, change your business becasue it will make you more successful.
I'm not really a "How-to" guy (Skip McGrath is much better at that than I am) but I'm going to make some suggestions to help you develop your 4th Quarter 2008 plan on eBay:
First off, if you sell on multiple channels, I would suggest you button-up the final touches to your Amazon, Overstock, Buy.com and web site plans. More than likely, you will have a good feel for what you need to do with each of those.
Now look at the recent eBay changes and develop your plan for the 4th Quarter:
1. Develop a listing strategy for your eBay business and test it during the early days of the new fee change. Take a good look at your inventory and identify what product is best suited for Auctions, for the new 30-day FP listing and lastly for Stores; yes I said stores.
2. Tread lightly with auctions during the early days of the fee changes, make sure you have a good feel for the way the new Best Match works before committing to an ambitious auction listing strategy.
3. Next, identify the items in your inventory that sell at least once a month and add them to your new 30-day FP CORE listings. eBay says they will surface the most successful listings, so make sure each listing has plenty of inventory. Do not throw the whole kitchen sink into CORE because you will just be waisting money on a good number of those listings.
4. Put the rest of your inventory in stores, so it is available for the occasional buyer or the one who wants to add something to their auction or FP purchase.
5. Identify the things that are working and maximize them -- stop the stuff that that doesn't work.
6. Be aggressive with your pricing on the items that sell well and less aggressive with the long-tail items. Use the same strategy Amazon does -- fastest movers = lowest prices. With 30-day listings you can play with the pricing throughout the 30-days, so dial in the right amount.
7. Stop worrying about eBay and start worrying about your business.
8. Be nimble enough to change things when they need to be changed and concentrate on managing your inventory so you don't have problems.
9. Fine tune your processes so that they run flawlessly.
10. Bring on additional temporary staff if needed to help you handle the business (adding staff means you are very busy)
11. Smaller sellers, make sure you have some support to help you as well.
12. Lastly, do not do any of this for eBay! I repeat, do not do this for eBay! Do it for your customers and for your family and for your business. Determine right now -- today -- to make your business a success in spite of all the turmoil in the marketplace.
Are you ready for this upcoming 4th quarter? Well you better be, because your success is in your hands.
We can all go back to bitching about eBay in January!
Just my 15%
Posted by Randy Smythe at 8/27/2008 05:00:00 AM Labels: Amazon, Business Plan, Classic eBay, Online Sellers, Q4
2 comments:
Jim S. said...
Stop worrying about eBay and start worrying about your business.
AMEN to that suggestion!
7:01 AM
egnatz1 said...
I agree Randy we should worry about our own business and not Ebay.
However its very hard to have a long term business plan or even a short term plan when the landlord changes the rules and keeps raising the rent every other week or so it seems..
7:12 AM
Post a Comment
Links to this post
Create a Link
Thursday, August 21, 2008
ebay check list of SOME new policies
August 2008 Update
Overview
Basic Fees
Feature Fees
Vehicles Fees
Other Updates
Fee FAQ
Other Updates FAQ
Canada
Seller Resources
Checklists
Download the PDF
Best Practices
Fee Examples
Best Practices Checklist
Staying on top of the latest changes will give you an early advantage over your competition.
Starting on September 16th:
Start listing in Fixed Price for only 35¢
Consolidate multiple items into one multi-quantity listing
Stores sellers: Move your best Store inventory into Fixed Price
Starting on October 1st:
Offer Free Shipping and get free Subtitle. PowerSellers: get double your Final Value Fee discount.
Listings Checklist
Make sure your listings are clear to buyers, priced competitively, and compliant with new policies. We recommend addressing the policy issues early to avoid disruptions to your sales. Whenever possible, consider making your revisions (including changes to your item descriptions) all at once, saving you time later.
By August 25th:
You'll need to specify the following in the "Shipping and Handling" section:
Shipping cost
Shipping carrier(s)
Books, DVDs and Movies, Music, and Video Game listings:
Describe your item with the new item condition options
(Brand New, Like New, Very Good, Good, or Acceptable)
By October 5th:
Revise your shipping costs so they're below the maximum shipping costs, or use the shipping calculator to determine shipping costs based on your buyer's location.
By Late October:
Remove checks and money orders from the "Payment Details" section
Make sure you specify the following listing fields (previously optional):
Return policy
Handling time
Tip: This is a great time to add Item Specifics to your listings, making it easier and faster for buyers to find your items.
Download this checklist
About eBay | Announcements | Security Center | eBay Toolbar | Policies | Government Relations | Site Map | Help
Copyright © 1995-2008 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
eBay official time
Overview
Basic Fees
Feature Fees
Vehicles Fees
Other Updates
Fee FAQ
Other Updates FAQ
Canada
Seller Resources
Checklists
Download the PDF
Best Practices
Fee Examples
Best Practices Checklist
Staying on top of the latest changes will give you an early advantage over your competition.
Starting on September 16th:
Start listing in Fixed Price for only 35¢
Consolidate multiple items into one multi-quantity listing
Stores sellers: Move your best Store inventory into Fixed Price
Starting on October 1st:
Offer Free Shipping and get free Subtitle. PowerSellers: get double your Final Value Fee discount.
Listings Checklist
Make sure your listings are clear to buyers, priced competitively, and compliant with new policies. We recommend addressing the policy issues early to avoid disruptions to your sales. Whenever possible, consider making your revisions (including changes to your item descriptions) all at once, saving you time later.
By August 25th:
You'll need to specify the following in the "Shipping and Handling" section:
Shipping cost
Shipping carrier(s)
Books, DVDs and Movies, Music, and Video Game listings:
Describe your item with the new item condition options
(Brand New, Like New, Very Good, Good, or Acceptable)
By October 5th:
Revise your shipping costs so they're below the maximum shipping costs, or use the shipping calculator to determine shipping costs based on your buyer's location.
By Late October:
Remove checks and money orders from the "Payment Details" section
Make sure you specify the following listing fields (previously optional):
Return policy
Handling time
Tip: This is a great time to add Item Specifics to your listings, making it easier and faster for buyers to find your items.
Download this checklist
About eBay | Announcements | Security Center | eBay Toolbar | Policies | Government Relations | Site Map | Help
Copyright © 1995-2008 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
eBay official time
ebay book selling ideas on how to use the new ebay media changes
This is just a heads up for those on a deserted island ebay has again made many new changes and especially in its media categories .check ebay for the new changes
I will blog in the next couple of days some ideas to use them to a booksellers advantage.
Any ideas , out of the box are most appreciated
I will blog in the next couple of days some ideas to use them to a booksellers advantage.
Any ideas , out of the box are most appreciated
Sunday, August 3, 2008
a Amazon buys abe great internet site about ebay and selling on the net
Hope this link works Information about Amazon buying Abe and its companies
Check out this article on AuctionBytes and subscribe to our FREE email newsletters. Voted Forbes Best of the Web!
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m08/i01/s01
Check out this article on AuctionBytes and subscribe to our FREE email newsletters. Voted Forbes Best of the Web!
http://www.auctionbytes.com/
Friday, August 1, 2008
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