What’s HOT? Terapeak Upgrades to Version 5.0 – eBay Research Made Easy and Comprehensive

The original and most used research tool for eBay sellers has just released a new edition 5.0 interface.

I have used Terapeak for over 2 years in my business and for my clients. Terapeak Research simply helps eBay sellers and online merchants determine what to sell, when to sell it and at what price. Research is key to successful business operations; eBay sales operations are no different. Terapeak even offers a free product for part time or casual sellers. Read more

eBay eCommerce Blogging or Affiliate Sales Why not All of the Above?

Do you have your own off eBay website?

As an eBay seller you know you should have your own website but for some unknown reason our research indicates that most eBay sellers do not. Why?

If it is because you do not have the time to set up another high maintenance difficult to control Internet presence… You may not be aware of all of the new and interesting ways to get online with your own name and brand while not having to maintain that online portal each and every day.

A website can be thought of as a more difficult animal to manage than an eBay store or auction listing business. In reality the maintenance is much lower while sometimes the cost to get started can be a bit higher. Continuing costs of a website versus an eBay business are completely different however and by an almost universal consensus the stand alone website will win the cost to maintain battle every time.

So, why eBay? Because with the massive traffic generation provided by the huge amount of inbound links and the pure enormity of eBay a seller can have a higher percentage chance of making a sale on eBay than on a stand alone website.

What if you want a website and the traffic of eBay but you do not have enough source of supply to populate your own eCommerce site to compete with the massive lists of products found on eBay or Amazon? We think you could be quite happy with the following solution.

One particularly interesting method of populating an off eBay website which will not simply promote your brand and your eBay items but also will pay you back and run on autopilot. Is to install phpBay Pro on an existing or new php based website or Wordpress CMS site.

phpBay Pro (See Link in the Sidebar) is an Ebay software script available as a plugin for Wordpress or as an API (application programming interface) for php driven web sites. It’s built for simplicity, meaning that you can have it up and running in just a matter of minutes. Both versions come with documentation.
Ebay Affiliate Software

phpBay Pro enables web publishers to quickly and easily add keyword rich eBay auction listings to your Wordpress or php driven site to generate serious affiliate revenue in a matter of minutes!

What this means to those who may not be aware of the terminology used in the phpBay Pro company literature is…

With phpBay Pro any website can import any eBay listing category, store, or keyword group directly into a stand alone website or Wordpress based self hosted blog. When the owner of such a website signs up as an eBay affiliate at Commission Junction, the resulting traffic directed to eBay from these listings inserted into any own website or blog will generate 24 hour a day revenue for that site. Those same listing imported into your off eBay website add constantly updating and new content to that site. For SEO this is a great advantage. Your site can be relatively static, yet always have new listings imported providing recent and relevant content for search engine spiders to chew upon.

These imported listings can be from your own store, your favorite category, or of the best items from eBay’s hot list. The best part is that the imported listings will look as though they are designed as part of your original website. It won’t look like some eBay generated widget or html builder import. Well, actually… the best thing is that as the website owner you can make money on any item sold via your listings imported from eBay and you will not have to ship or stock or inventory any of them.

Check Out phpBay Pro – Follow that link below…. Tell em the All Business Auctions sent you! Or give us a call, we use phpBay Pro ourselves and would be happy to help you set up a website which can take advantage of this technology. We will insert eBay live listings with phpBay to a new site which could also contain not only your eBay listings from an existing eBay store but also have a page of eBay listings from other sellers stores (a great way to test niche’s) and also have a web 2.0 style blog attached to build a sense of community with your buyers. The options are endless!

Auction Ads for your Website or Blog – Make Money from another sellers eBay Listings!

Did you ever think you could make money from someone elses eBay listings?





Or Insert your eBay listings in another blog or website with simple text links which look as benign as this?
See Our New eBay Store Design Here

And make money as an eBay and Auction Ads Affiliate?

You can make money from eBay without listing a single item yourself!

Just sign up with Auction Ads to create custom widgets and banners for your blog or website. (Withthe most popular eBay items in those ads!)

Sign up with Commission Junction to become an eBay affiliate and make money simply by posting links to eBay or your own store or listings.

Why would you want to direct traffic back to eBay from your website or blog?

Because eBay pays well, thats why… And because driving traffic back into eBay is a good thing for every eBay seller.

Try out Auction Ads and see if your traffic is interested in eBay listings. The clicks you send could pay!

ShoppingAds allows you to make money by displaying relevant merchant ads on your website. When your visitors click on the ads you can make money on a CPC (cost per click) or CPA (cost per acquisition) basis. You simply tell us the relevant keywords of merchant ads you want displayed and we will display a matching ad.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Can I run ShoppingAds along with Google AdSense?

Yes, ShoppingAds is not a contextually based ad product and is compatible with all other ad systems.

Is ShoppingAds a Cost Per Click ad program?

Yes! You will be paid for every valid click on the ads you display.

What are examples of potential invalid clicks?

• More than two (2) clicks from same IP address on the same merchant link within sixty (60) seconds.
• More than two (2) clicks from the same IP address in one (1) second
• Flag specific IP and/or user agents that have been determined to be fraud or bots, all clicks from these flagged IP or user agents are filtered.

When do you send out payments and how?

We send out payments the first of every month via PayPal. The payment is for all revenue generated the previous month. There is a $50 minimum for earnings.

Do you have an affiliate program?

Yes! All ShoppingAds units contain a referral link. Anyone who signs up through that link will be credited to the affiliate running the ads. See more program details on our affiliate page.

Why aren’t ads for my keywords showing?

If you’re loading a page for the first time with a new keyword, relevant ads won’t be cached in the system. Rest assured that in less than a few seconds, ads for your keywords will be displayed. In the mean time, some of the most popular items from the top shopping comparison engines are displayed. These ads will only appear on the first load of a new keyword ad, or on extremely low-traffic sites. Even though it only takes a few seconds, please allow for a few minutes before assuming that non-relevant ads are being displayed.

Can I use the same account for multiple sites?

Yes. You can use the same ShoppingAds account on as many sites as you want. You can use the flexibility of the campaign feature to keep track of statistics for different sites, or different areas of different sites.

How many ad units can I run on a page?

There is no limit.

eBay vs. Amazon – eBay sellers shipping costs the determining factor?

I must admit that this past holiday season was a true milestone for me personally. I never once set foot within a major shopping mall or even a Walmart this past Holiday season. The fact is that I purchased every single holiday gift either online through Amazon.com, Buy.com or eBay.

While that may not be a surprise for those of you tech and Internet savvy readers… but I would wager that the major retailers in America are cringing at the reality of those words. America is now shopping On-Line more extensively and if you are paying millions of dollars per month for retail space in crowded malls, you’re probably not liking this new version of retail reality.

As eBay sellers we are strongly positioned to take advantage of this new and exciting (for us) online retail acceptance. eBay itself is trying earnestly to morph into a destination which makes the traditional American mall type of shopper comfortable enough to forgo the entire crowded holiday mall shopping experience…. Amazon.com has already seemingly made that transition.

eBay is strongly looking at what Amazon.com does to provide buyers with an online purchasing experience that makes them comfortable and brings them back time after time. If eBay is at least somewhat successful in modifying the eBay shopping experience – in a good way – to compete with Amazon.com, we all will be more successful eBay sellers.

eBay cannot compete with Amazon.com or many other eCommerce retailers because of higher than average shipping costs for sellers resulting in higher than average shipping charges to consumers. This has been a thorn in the side of eBay for many years.

eBay has attempted to address this problem through enforcement of rules for sellers concerning shipping along with making the shipping charges on each item for sale on eBay more visible to consumers. This second innovation has greatly reduced sales in our opinion. Sellers can not survive if they charge less than costs for shipping and eBay seems to be encouraging sellers to do just that. There has to be a better solution…

We suggest looking at a new shipping model which could compete with Amazons shipping calculator and even with Amazon Prime (a yearly subscription based model which provides Amazon Prime members with free 2 day shipping) to provide a more stable and satisfactory experience for buyers on eBay.

Proposal – The eBay Powersellers Shipping Alliance

This is just a proposal you understand, but we think if a program were to be developed where sellers could join a shipping co-op through eBay and promise to ship within a specified amount of time in exchange for a reduction in shipping charges as arranged and negotiated by a large association of successful eBay sellers (Powersellers).

With a little work and negotiation, along with enforcement of strict guidelines concerning shipping on-time, eBay could compete favorably with Amazon.com and Amazon Prime on many levels.

This program is not currently available to eBay sellers, but I dare say that if it were made available this program would be valuable to sellers, buyers and eBay alike. It’s amazing how much negotiation power is available when you combine all of the Powersellers on eBay – Just look at what Amazon has done and know that with their volume that they pay significantly less to ship each package than any individual eBay seller does, no matter the volume of that seller.

Shipping costs are a major concern for eBay and all eBay sellers. We must find ways to lower our cost to the consumer for shipping if we are to compete in 2008. This is just one idea which could solve part of the buyers perceived shipping friction found on eBay.

Proposed shipping discounts aside…

If you’re not already selling product on Amazon.com, we strongly encourage you to look into this second channel for your eBay business.

Amazon’s North American third quarter sales in 2007 grew 42% compared to the third quarter of 2006 (and you can expect similar growth for this past holiday season). Amazon has over 78 million active customers that you could reach at no cost (there are no listing fees). As we have said before, it is imperative for the stability of any business to have more than one income stream. Relying completely upon eBay to bring in customers is less than wise.

Check out the minutes from Amazon’s quarterly report included below to make your own judgments about selling your products through the Amazon Marketplace.

Scott Pooler – http://www.AllBusinessAuctions.com/blog & http://www.iBusinessLogic.com

Read the Amazon Quarterly Report Here: Read more

New York Times Journalist Learns about Information Marketing on eBay

The New York Times Learns about Information Marketing on eBay

Now – How can your company Benefit from Information Marketing?

(Note: This is a re-publication from our older blog, http://www.allbusinessauctions.wordpress.com We are transitioning to this new blog hosting and theme for 2008)

The NY Times article by David Gallagher, quoted below is an interesting tale about the sale of a public-domain information product by a information marketing niche eBay seller to a NY Times Journalist. The story is more than “interesting” if your business is looking for ways to gain exposure, boost revenue, find new customers, or retain older customers.

Public-Domain information products are sold worldwide via eBay and on numerous niche websites. Could your business benefit from information marketing, especially if you own the rights to the information? Information has always been a valuable commodity, the NY Times article drives home that point in a way which few may first realize. If a small movie made in the 1950’s about a small town in America, which in itself was an advertising vehicle at the time, is worth something to someone somewhere… What do you have in your files which may be worth someones cold hard cash?

What can you take from your company files and turn into a revenue producing information product? Do you have a technical manual for a widely sold and still in use product which is no longer in production? If you have the rights to that manual you should consider digitizing it and offering it for sale in a eBay store. Do you have a procedures or sales training manual written specifically for your company or by your company which you no longer use? Digitize and sell that information!

These Information products are sold every day by major manufacturers of appliances, electronics, machinery, automobiles etc etc… Look for an owners manual for your any of your electronics or appliances in your home and you will find them for sale, usually directly on the manufacturers website. These manuals are now being delivered electronically and some companies charge a fee for the information. This “service” provides continual revenue for the manufacturer. The income from the sale of digitally delivered owners manuals adds up to a significant number at the end of the year.

The goal is not necessarily to make millions of dollars from old information in your files (although that could be possible, depending upon your information). The goal is to gain exposure for your company through your eBay store and to gain new customers by introducing them to your company via your expert information products. If a consumer believes in the information enough to buy it, that consumer has taken the first step towards buying another product or service from your company.

The information products you can sell are low cost advertising vehicles. They will include more than the specific information the buyer purchases, these information products will also include your present day company message and links to your website. There is so much to be gained by using this unique and original method of advertising and really very little to lose. By selling outdated or public-domain information to consumers your company gains a new customer and an opportunity to sell that customer newer and better products or services. The consumer gains knowledge previously unattainable and a confidence in your company he never had before.

Win Win!

Information products can be sold completely on auto-pilot. Technology is available which will instantly deliver the digital information product to the consumer upon payment. The only significant investment in information products is in the creation of these products. Once they are created and digitized the cost of production for digital information products is zero. Other forms of delivery such as DVD or CD have associated costs, but those costs are minimal when compared with the benefit.

Scott Pooler – iBusinessLogic / All Business Auctions – 727-596-6900

December 28, 2007, 8:40 pm

On eBay, Some Profit by Selling What’s Free

By David F. Gallagher

While scouring eBay for interesting Christmas presents a while back, I found and bought a DVD of a film made in 1954 about my home town of Doylestown, Pa. After it arrived I went searching for more information about it — and found the entire film, available as a free download from the nonprofit Internet Archive. Read more

eBay Drop Store or Trading Assistant Profits Possible as a Business?

With the current condition of the eBay drop store franchise industry, it has become apparent that not everyone who bought into the “owning a business without investing in inventory” sales pitch has actually succeeded as a business.

The question then becomes…Is it possible to operate a profitable business as a full time trading assistant?

The answer is complicated, and on the surface the quick answer would be NO – not without modification of the business plan suggested/promoted by most eBay drop store franchises and used by most Trading Assistants.

I can share this opinion from experience because at one time, I was a master franchise representative for one of the largest eBay drop store chains in America (and 5 other countries). The experience as a franchise rep taught me that the franchisees needed more support to become successful.

The franchisees in our chain were hungry for information about how to improve, how to market and how to make the whole operation profitable. The franchisees and I eventually became disillusioned with the franchise and its marketing/business plan (which will stay nameless) because the franchise was not willing to invest in the continued marketing support of the franchisees. I felt it was in the best interest of the franchise to make an effort to help the existing franchisees with marketing sales and business planning. In my opinion, if the existing franchisees were having trouble being successful, eventually the market would dry up and new franchisees would become difficult to find.

The franchise must be a healthy successful enterprise and all of the people who invested in that franchise must also be… Or the franchise will not survive. This prediction seems to be fulfilling itself and instead of saying I told you so, I decided it would be better to break free and help anyone who is in business as a Trading Assistant or Drop Store operator no matter their prior affiliation.

An eBay trading assistant business or drop store operation is not something which can be canned into a package and set up in a way which will guarantee success. An eBay drop store is not like a McDonald’s or Radio Shack. You can not simply put up a franchise sign and expect people to walk into your store and be comfortable with your brand. eBay is the brand, not XYZ franchise trying to look like eBay.

The American public has turned the corner, they now trust the name eBay. When a third party brand in the form of a franchise is interjected into mix is when the public looses confidence. If you were sold a franchise store and were advised that people would stream in bringing their Rolex watches and Tiffany lamps just because you put up a sign from XYZ franchise… I can imagine that you, like many of the franchisees from my former company, have noticed it just did not happen as you may have been led to believe.

So… What is the Answer? Can a Trading Assistant make a profit? – Yes or No?

Read more

eBay Sellers need good accounting practices – Quickbooks Pro Advisors can Help!

As entrepreneurs, most of us (not all) dread the meticulous and repetitive tasks which are the basis of real accounting. There are many ways to handle the task and more reasons to do so in an efficient manner. My solution involved hiring my own accountant and keeping her safe and well cared for within the confines of my offices. Having a QuickBooks Pro Advisor as a part of my company is a very good thing for a sales and marketing type like myself.

I believe in the advantages of having these invaluable resources available so much that I have added an accounting services division to my iBusinessLogic group of businesses. This accounting services division is set up to help other small business owners and eBay sellers. AccountingLogic is a result of a realization and understanding of the challenges which face any small business start up or any business entering the e-commerce realm or eBay. The accounting tasks are challenging to say the least. AccountingLogic, headed up by my accountant Kathy Naranjo is designed as a service for just these types of businesses.

AccountingLogic helps any business set up the books and import data from eBay, Amazon, or your own shopping cart. Part of the service includes designing specific macros for most listing software packages, so the day to day accounting requirements of online sales joined with the normal brick and mortar accounts is done smoothly and with little effort. Kathy’s team relies mostly on the power of Quickbooks to help her set up different businesses for online sales accounting but she has many tools at her disposal.

If you do not have this kind of resource in your office or home based business you should really start thinking about what you will do to make sure your business accounting is handled properly. Either you will “Do it Yourself” or will you hire an accountant? Finding an accountant to set up and do the day to day bookkeeping tasks of a small business is sometimes difficult and never inexpensive. This realization tends to lead most small business owners to either ignore the task or to try to do it themselves.

Should any true business person ignore accounting tasks? I believe we all know the answer to this question… Read more

eBay and eBay Stores, Your Most Effective eCommerce SEO Tool?

Does your business use eBay as a tool?

This may seem like an odd term for the largest online sales producer on the planet… but in reality, no matter how large or small your business is, eBay is an effective and often under utilized tool.

eBay is not the only tool in your marketing toolbox and even though it is a very effective device, eBay should not be the only tool your company uses to generate online sales. Other tools are more familiar, website marketing, Google Adwords, Amazon.com to name a few.

But why should any business consider using eBay as a part of their online marketing plan? – Numbers – Search – Rankings – Sales – All of the Above Read more