Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Ebay Selling with cooperation
I had a friend who recently told me that he used to sell a particular brand of umbrella on Ebay, and he was the only person selling that particular brand of umbrella. He was selling them for about £15.
One day he got a phone call from someone who wanted to make a bulk purchase of his umbrellas. So they met, and my friend handed over the umbrellas and charged this man £7 each. He asked the buyer where he was going to sell the umbrellas, and he said on a market stall. My friend did not want any competition selling on Ebay.
The next day, the umbrella buyer was selling the umbrellas on Ebay at a cheaper price than my friend. So my friend then decided to strike back by selling them at £7 - the price he had sold them to the man. So that got him back for trying to undercut him in the first place.
I pointed out to my friend that rather than seeing this other seller as competition, he could have been his supplier and also acted as a dropshipper for him. There was no reason why they couldn't have both listed the umbrellas at the same price, maybe in different categories and with different finishing times for auctions, or in different shops. After all, this man was effectively making money for them by selling their product.
By thinking cooperation and partnership instead of competition to be beaten, both parties may have had a much more profitable outcome.
One day he got a phone call from someone who wanted to make a bulk purchase of his umbrellas. So they met, and my friend handed over the umbrellas and charged this man £7 each. He asked the buyer where he was going to sell the umbrellas, and he said on a market stall. My friend did not want any competition selling on Ebay.
The next day, the umbrella buyer was selling the umbrellas on Ebay at a cheaper price than my friend. So my friend then decided to strike back by selling them at £7 - the price he had sold them to the man. So that got him back for trying to undercut him in the first place.
I pointed out to my friend that rather than seeing this other seller as competition, he could have been his supplier and also acted as a dropshipper for him. There was no reason why they couldn't have both listed the umbrellas at the same price, maybe in different categories and with different finishing times for auctions, or in different shops. After all, this man was effectively making money for them by selling their product.
By thinking cooperation and partnership instead of competition to be beaten, both parties may have had a much more profitable outcome.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Giving your money away ?
There are many bargains to be found on Ebay.
Today I bought a Star Wars Figure for just 25p. P&P was £1.50.
A breakdown of the seller's cost would typically be as follows:
Listing fee 15 p
Final Value fee 5 p
Paypal fees (assuming standard rate at 3.4% +20p on total amount paid including P&P) = 26 p
Total seller's costs = 46p
Profit from P&P (after Postage cost and Packaging expenses) about 50p
Price sold = £1.75
minus fees 0.46
minus P&P 0.75
Sellers Profit £0.54
Not including time and effort.
To make money more effectively sell for a higher price.
If someone will pay 25p they are sure to pay £1.25, so up the start price.
If they will pay £1.25 they are sure to pay £1.50.
If you have many cheap items then sell in larger quantities.
There are many people who sell on Ebay for a living.
There are many more who sell on Ebay at a loss.
By making sure what your costs are, you will be on the way to making a profit.
Today I bought a Star Wars Figure for just 25p. P&P was £1.50.
A breakdown of the seller's cost would typically be as follows:
Listing fee 15 p
Final Value fee 5 p
Paypal fees (assuming standard rate at 3.4% +20p on total amount paid including P&P) = 26 p
Total seller's costs = 46p
Profit from P&P (after Postage cost and Packaging expenses) about 50p
Price sold = £1.75
minus fees 0.46
minus P&P 0.75
Sellers Profit £0.54
Not including time and effort.
To make money more effectively sell for a higher price.
If someone will pay 25p they are sure to pay £1.25, so up the start price.
If they will pay £1.25 they are sure to pay £1.50.
If you have many cheap items then sell in larger quantities.
There are many people who sell on Ebay for a living.
There are many more who sell on Ebay at a loss.
By making sure what your costs are, you will be on the way to making a profit.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Selling the world on Ebay
Here's a great idea for making money from ebay.
My good acquaintance Richard French had an idea to Sell the World. He has a map of the world, and is selling advertising for each country. He is selling through his website as well as through Ebay.
When I asked Richard for some comments for this blog, he said:
"Well it was definately one of those light bulb moments......how great would it be to sell the world and in auctions on ebay so that each country would set its own price. I mean you can't sell anything that has a copyright but countries don't plus they mean so much to so many people...!People on my website can claim to be king of a country - I get to be king of the world. There are now lots of copycats springing up - I've counted 10 so I feel like I have started a new craze too."
What ideas can you think of to make money on Ebay and from the internet in General ? Let me know if this inspires you to think of something new.
If you want to bid for a country on Ebay, then visit Richard French's website www.BuyTheMap.com and select a country to bid on. View his blog here.
My good acquaintance Richard French had an idea to Sell the World. He has a map of the world, and is selling advertising for each country. He is selling through his website as well as through Ebay.
When I asked Richard for some comments for this blog, he said:
"Well it was definately one of those light bulb moments......how great would it be to sell the world and in auctions on ebay so that each country would set its own price. I mean you can't sell anything that has a copyright but countries don't plus they mean so much to so many people...!People on my website can claim to be king of a country - I get to be king of the world. There are now lots of copycats springing up - I've counted 10 so I feel like I have started a new craze too."
What ideas can you think of to make money on Ebay and from the internet in General ? Let me know if this inspires you to think of something new.
If you want to bid for a country on Ebay, then visit Richard French's website www.BuyTheMap.com and select a country to bid on. View his blog here.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
PayPal & chargebacks
Chargebacks are becoming more and more of a problem for Sellers.
It seems a buyer only has to request a charge back from Paypal, and Paypal will duly comply without checking with the seller first.
The seller then has the funds deducted from their Paypal account.
If there are no funds in the Paypal account, then Paypal will demand payment from the Seller with all sorts of threats to make the seller pay up.
You can read more by going to the Ebay Community pages and entering "Chargeback" into the search field.
At the moment I have a car for sale with a 0 feedback bidder in first place. I know I will be doing some investigations before sending it out if they win the bid.
Otherwise:
Try not using Paypal (not necessarily a good option).
If the reason for Chargeback is item not received, you may be able to claim compensation from the Royal Mail. Always keep proof of sending receipts.
Invesigate potential buyers as much as possible before shipping the item.
Send the buyer a letter threatening them with the small claims court.
Follow the Paypal Protection policy.
See also http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y203/m10/abu0105/s02 about the risks of chargebacks.
Happy Selling.
Mike
It seems a buyer only has to request a charge back from Paypal, and Paypal will duly comply without checking with the seller first.
The seller then has the funds deducted from their Paypal account.
If there are no funds in the Paypal account, then Paypal will demand payment from the Seller with all sorts of threats to make the seller pay up.
You can read more by going to the Ebay Community pages and entering "Chargeback" into the search field.
At the moment I have a car for sale with a 0 feedback bidder in first place. I know I will be doing some investigations before sending it out if they win the bid.
Otherwise:
Try not using Paypal (not necessarily a good option).
If the reason for Chargeback is item not received, you may be able to claim compensation from the Royal Mail. Always keep proof of sending receipts.
Invesigate potential buyers as much as possible before shipping the item.
Send the buyer a letter threatening them with the small claims court.
Follow the Paypal Protection policy.
See also http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y203/m10/abu0105/s02 about the risks of chargebacks.
Happy Selling.
Mike
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Whose making the money Ebay or You ?
Welcome to my Ebay Blog.
A friend was telling recently how his son started selling a company's items on Ebay.
He was soon selling very successfully, to the point where his turnover reached £1500 over two weeks.
At this point my friend decided that he needed to make sure his son was doing some simple account keeping for auditing and Inland Revenue.
Once they added up the listing fees, Final value fees, Paypal Fees, and his son's fees of £25 a week, he worked out that the company his son was selling for had made a grand total profit of £1.04 ! for a turnover of £1500, everyone was making money except the company whose product was being sold.
If you haven't already, then I suggest you make sure that you are making more money than Ebay by keeping simple accounts.
For personal Ebay Tuition, see my website here.
A friend was telling recently how his son started selling a company's items on Ebay.
He was soon selling very successfully, to the point where his turnover reached £1500 over two weeks.
At this point my friend decided that he needed to make sure his son was doing some simple account keeping for auditing and Inland Revenue.
Once they added up the listing fees, Final value fees, Paypal Fees, and his son's fees of £25 a week, he worked out that the company his son was selling for had made a grand total profit of £1.04 ! for a turnover of £1500, everyone was making money except the company whose product was being sold.
If you haven't already, then I suggest you make sure that you are making more money than Ebay by keeping simple accounts.
For personal Ebay Tuition, see my website here.
