Business Link yorkshire Making eBay work for your business workkshop at Sedum House Yorkshire 17/12/09

Sedum House Doncaster set in a nature reserve

Once again we had a full house or rather it may have been over full as I run out of spare handouts  the course continues to be very popular throughout the yorkshire  region this was the last class of the year and was received very well by all delegates.

I thought it would be a good idea we mention some of the questions that popped up during question time for all to share.

The first topic discussed was postage and packaging charges to smaller items and that should they be offered as free shipping?

My response was that yes whilst eBay fees will be incurred on the inclusive postage charges your feedback will be high rated in this section and once you get to the bronze level power seller status you can achieve a discount of 10% on your fees anyway so you will more than be compensated for the additional costs.

This is an incentive put in place by eBay and in my opinion is a good one as selling say a £30.00 item for £1,00 and charging £29.00 postage in order to save on the fees is a sure-fire way in bringing down the on-line giant no company could survive that scam.

We also discussed whether adding the cost to the price of the item will make it look too expensive? I think in the end the customer always looks at the overall price anyway and as an example I purchased a netbook for my wife on the internet this week and being one who loves to save a bob or two I looked at overall costs including postage and still saved £25.00 on PC World prices.

Think about your own shopping patterns how do you look at totals? postage is part of the cost some clients like the idea of free shipping others like to see it separate I suggest you try both see which works best for any particular product then stick to it, Its all about trail and error until you discover the best postage methods for your items keep at it.

Live links to your websites was also on the agenda of questions and as a reminder you cannot put a link to your website on your listings this contravenes with eBay’s listing policies you can include URL’s in your email templates to clients and in a about me page which is identified with the letters me in blue and red this is where you can write a short bio about your business and also include you website address.

Also discussed was fancy website designs other than eBay’s own templates and whilst these do look very good you should keep away for the time being as any problems incurred could become quite a messy affair issues such as host server going down can and will affect your listings and are not eBay’s responsibilities, in fact the biggest sellers on eBay still maintain eBay’s own templates nothing fancy just a logo and thats it.

Also employing web designers costs a fortune and will not guarantee you success so think about this carefully before you spend your hard-earned cash

And until next time I wish you all a successful eBay business and don’t forget the videos on my website which go through the registration and listing process use the tools on my website its free. www.learn2sellonline.co.uk

Business Link Yorkshire eBay workshop at the Bridge hotel Wetherby 10/12/09

Yet another excellent turnout to this very popular eBay workshop delivered by myself on behalf of Business Link Yorkshire.

The turnout was once again very good proving how popular the subject of eBay is everybody seems to want to jump on the band wagon and why not after all eBay has to be the easiest and fastest way top hit the ground running as far as business start-up is concerned.

Having spoken to a few of the delegates before we kicked off I found there to be a good mix of different reasons of why they attended the making eBay work for your business workshop.

Most were new to eBay selling some were selling but had no success and needed to polish up their act others were already selling and were looking for new techniques.

I have to stress that our workshops are centered around the basics of selling on eBay and this is very very important if you don’t know the basics you will never be able to sell on eBay in a successful way so really when you have completed the workshop you will be able to sell like an eBay professional creating listings that attract buyers.

The class was very receptive once again asking good meaningful questions along the way and as I say on a constant basis if you apply what you learn at the basic level you will professionally and successfully.

We covered the usual range of topics such us opening accounts, researching products to see what true selling values are, taking and editing and up-loading pictures to eBay,and lastly putting it all together.

We concluded with finishing the sale by shipping and emailing our clients keeping them informed every step of the way.

And as a reminder in particular for the females it is not a good idea to invite anyone around to you premises to collect sold goods when you are on your own it’s a zero on this one.

And when accepting cash as payment its a good idea to have something like a pen or ultra violet light to ensure notes are not counterfeit you may even consider asking the buyer to follow you to the bank and bank the notes direct, and once again cash on collection should be treated with caution make sure there are 2 or 3 people with you never on your own Male or Female.

Some of you asked whether there will be an advanced course put on you should check this with business link its something we have spoken about but ultimately they will decide.

remember if you need my help you can reach me at www.learn2sellonline.co.uk where you can also have access to a range of videos that will help you get started on your eBay business.

In the meantime good luck to you all and a very merry XMAS keep in touch.

John

Selling On eBay On Behalf Of Others For A Fee

I have just won a small but lucrative contract selling hair and beauty equipment on behalf of a new client,the products are wide in range and sales have been good and in particular the more expensive items

It appears that there has been a rise in demand for second-hand equipment as sales have certainly been good.

With more and more the larger companies using the power of eBay to help promote goods and services it appears that the demand in used goods is on the up looks like a little fight back in getting back to the good old days of eBay.

What could you muster up in the used items market in order to generate extra revenue I feel very positive about the future on eBay and in particular as a trading assistant selling for others  it’s looking very promising.

Have you thought about becoming a trading assistant and sell for others on a commission basis? if you are interested and need advice contact me I have courses which can be tailored around your lifestyle.

You can create a very good income selling this way without risking large sums of money on stock it’s just like having free stock all you do is sell the goods collect the money pay your client and ship the goods to the buyer.

More information about becoming a trading assistant is available on our website