So this guy bought a Zippo from me. He emailed to say that he couldn’t pay me for a week because he was waiting to be paid. I said OK. Then he paid and I sent the Zippo. Then he emailed to say that the Zippo was faulty. I said return it for a full refund. Then he said that he would keep it but wanted a discount on an another. I agreed, giving him a good discount. Then he emailed demanding that I give him a full refund on the original.

Losing the will to live I agree and he agrees the ‘faulty’ original. It is not faulty and has been used, a lot, the box is damaged. In other words it is worthless……….

Customers who’ have them?

PS

I am sorry that this post has been so negative, but the whole thing got to me slightly. The more so given that I was lead to believe that the lighter was unused. My guess is that he just did not like the one he bought originally. Never mind.

So, there are two beautiful beaches. On one there are 5 ice cream vendors all doing brisk business. On the other beautiful beach there are no ice cream vendors. Where do you go to sell your ice creams?

Obviously, you go where they are already selling. Chances are they are not selling on the other beach for a good reason, no one sunbathing because there are sharks in the water, something like that. What I am saying is look to see what is selling and sell the same, just a bit better. Being an innovator is very hard.

What we need is a road map to get us to this beach, and luckily we have one, it’s called eBay Pulse. If you want to know what is selling then just look here. It is a great free tool use it,

A few years ago some people made a killing selling ebooks on eBay.

Then eBay changed the rules, they no longer allow sales of digital products.  Their businesses were dead over night!

Now, some people are making a killing selling ebooks on eBay!

How?

It’s easy.  They create DVDs of their ebooks and sell them.

Can you imagine the time it takes to burn all those DVDs?

But, if you did not have to burn them and the whole thing was automated…….

Here’s how.

My Digital Dispatch provides software that will automate the whole process.

In conjunction with Kunaki.com (who will burn and dispatch the DVDs) the whole thing could not be simpler.

Digital Dispatch will instantly take  BODY,.aolmailheader {font-size:10pt; color:black; font-family:Arial;} a.aolmailheader:link {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:visited {color:magenta; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:active {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:hover {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} take the customer information and communicate with kunaki to send the appropriate disk to YOUR customer.

You do not have to do anything, other than place the listing.  Honestly!

Digital Dispatch will also;

* It will instantly send a secure download link to your
customer too

* you can use it to automate the sales of your digital products
or CDs/DVDs  on all your ebay accounts and all your websites

* You can use it to instantly upsell other products to your
customers (this is where the real profit is)

* It automatically builds a list of every person who gets
your products so that you can email them back with other
offers in the future

* It will protect your downloads from thieves

I use it, I think that you should as well if you want to sell information products.

http://tinyurl.com/mtv2vf

Auctiva, as you probably know is a service that provides professional looking templates for eBay listings, as well as other services such as image hosting, inventory control, store etc. as well as the wonderful scrolling gallery in listings.

Until now this has been a free service but as from 1st June they will be charging.   Jeff Schlichtsays that the reason for the change is that Auctiva’s revenue streams have been hit by the changes that eBay have made to their affiliate scheme.  These changes have effectively reduced Auctiva’s income from eBay to almost zilch, and that funding gap had to be filled.  We, the users, are to be the ones filling that gap.  The full text of the announcement is here.

I think that the move was inevitable, more organisations than just Auctiva have found their eBay affiliate income reduced because of eBay’s recent changes.  Also, I do not object to paying a reasonable amount for a service (but free is better).  However, Auctiva have gone for 5 different payment plans (6 if you include the free but you can’t really do anything option).  They will suggest a plan for you based on your recent activity if you are already using Auctiva.

Are there alternatives to Auctiva?  Of course, and one of the most popular is The Seller SourceBook.

The Seller Sourcebook has a flat fee structure and would cost me about the same as continueing with Auctiva.  Their service is similar to Auctiva’s however, at present, there is no scrolling gallery.

It is entirely possible to design and use your own templates for your listings, of course and some people amend and use sales page templates etc.  personally, I will probably stay with Auctiva, for the gallery alone plus I have used them for more than 3 years without any problem.

A couple of days ago I wrote about finding another line to sell.  A couple of people have contacted me saying that it is all very well talking about seeing a nice product finding the importer direct etc, but if that is not possible where do you find stock?

I have to admit that although I look out for new lines whenever I am out and about finding something to sell is rarely that easy.  My preferred source is Salehoo, link below.  They are a great resource for anyone looking for products.  Either if you know what you want to sell or just browse.  You are guaranteed to find something to suit.

For the background to this follow this link.

I saw the man who offered me his stock and showed him what I had discovered.  To say that he was surprised would be an understatement.  He did say, however, that he knew the manufacturer of some of the items the company in question sold and knew for certain that they were not counterfeit.

So, the position is that while some of the goods from this wholesaler are legitimate they were prosecuted for selling non-licensed, counterfeit items.  Do I buy the goods that I know to be legit?  The answer is no for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, if they have a record for this sort of activity in the past how much can I trust them in the future?  Also, even if the goods I buy from them are legit if they are caught selling other counterfeit goods my account with eBay could be suspended until I am cleared.

It is just not worth the risk.

Avril Harper is well know as a successful seller on eBay based in the UK.  She also wrote the successful eBay Confidential.  One of her ideas is that eBay is, essentially, a numbers game.  The more you list the more you sell.

It is more complicated than that of course but she estimates that a maximum of two out of three listings fetch bids first time arround.  The remaining items, when relisted, again sell two out of three, and so on.  As long as you know your exact costs and profit margins this is a very good way to test new products.  In fact knowing your full costs and profit margins is key to selling successfully online be that on eBay, Amazon, or any site.