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Can dropshipping work for your online auction efforts?
There is much discussion throughout usenet, chatrooms and forums
about drop shippers, and I have sat through many heated threads
about the subject. Many will tell you that drop shipping is a
scam, it don't work, you'll never make any money...But...
eBay Business - 5 Hot Tips When Writing your eBay Auction
Of course you got into EBay to have fun, right? Of course you
did, but business is still business and if you want to stay in
the EBay business then you are going to have to tighten up ship
a little bit. I'm not talking about taking the fun out of...
How Pop-Culture Collectibles Can Increase Your Online Auction Profits
How Pop Culture collectibles can increase your Online Auction profits
With the increasingly competitive environment for products to sell in the online auction arena, sellers are getting more creative as to the items they...
Police Auctions & Government Auctions Professional Resource Information
Police Auctions Information: No, a police auction is not where you go to buy a policeman. Most people do not realize that police agencies, including local police departments, county sheriff departments, as well as state and federal law enforcement...
When And How To Cancel An Ebay Auction Early.
One day, you might decide that you want to end an auction early. Before you do, though, you should consider why you want to do it: cancelling auctions upsets buyers and upsets eBay, and there might be a better to way to get what you want.
I Want...
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Using Internet Auctions To Promote Your Local Business
Here is a little-used but highly effective way of reaching
potential customers, even in your local market: online
auctions.
A growing number of businesses are using auctions to attract a
steady stream of customers. By listing on an auction site such
as eBay, your business will be exposed to an audience of 22
million people in over 100 countries. But more importantly, it
can reach the people next door.
The small listing fees are a small price to pay for the kind
of exposure you get, especially on the granddaddy of all
auction sites, eBay. There are small businesses out there that
get 80% or more of their sales from eBay.
And not all of the sales happen on eBay - you can use your
"About Me" page to drive traffic back to your web site. Then
you can get your prospect's email address and sell to them
directly, saving yourself some listings fees and commissions.
And with eBay's feedback system, potential customers can get
bona-fide firsthand testimonials from your previous customers.
If you want to sell multiple items, you can set up a Dutch
auction. To make sure you earn a profit, you can set a minimum
price, known as a reserve price. You can also set a "Buy It
Now" price, which allows someone to buy the item immediately
without waiting for the auction to end. And finally, you can
set up your own eBay store for as little as $9.95/month.
There are many tips and tricks to eBay auctions -- so many
that there are a slew of books and services and software
programs just for helping people to manage their bidding and
selling activities. Check www.geolocal.com for auction
resources.
As far as reaching your local market, major cities are set up
as regions on eBay. Consumers can easily search by region and
category at http://pages.ebay.com/regional/hub.html -- "eBay
Local Trading." This is where people will go if they want to
buy something locally, such as furniture or something
expensive.
A recent development has made it even easier for your local
customers to find you. AltaVista -- one of the major search
engines -- announced a deal to feature listings from its
shopping-comparison guide on eBay. According to AltaVista's
senior director of global product marketing Gannon Giguiere,
"We can now allow consumers to compare Web, localized brick
and mortar stores and auction listings with a single glance."
I buy lots of stuff on eBay. A few weeks ago I went looking
for sheepskin slippers
and saw a lovely pair up for auction. I
could tell that this was a business, so I contacted the seller
directly. I knew from past experience that we might be able to
work out something and sure enough, we made a deal for 2 pairs
of sheepskin slippers.
Let's review this seller's transaction:
- She got a sale and a proven customer for her 30 cent listing
fee on the original pair of slippers (which she sold later
on, gaining another customer) - She paid no listing fees or
commissions on the 2 pair of slippers she sold to me - She
can add me to her mailing list; if I'm happy with the
slippers, maybe I'll buy another pair in the future as a
gift or whatever. (p.s. I bought 2 more pairs later) - I
would never have found that business if those slippers hadn't
been listed on eBay. Her sheepskin business doesn't show up
in the first few pages of search engine results, which is as
far as most people will look.
Do you see the power of eBay? I also bought my Palm Pilot and
a new computer from local vendors that I found on eBay. Plus
I've bought lots of computer programs and educational toys
from auctions by business owners. As a frequent eBay buyer and
seller, I can tell you now, if you're not on eBay, you're
leaving money on the table.
There are other auction sites out there - Yahoo, BidBay,
uBid.com - but none of them comes close to eBay in terms of
volume. About 1.4 million items are up for sale every day, in
every imaginable category, including services, cars, houses.
Somebody even tried to auction off a kidney once, but eBay
caught them and put an end to it.
Keep in mind that people who go to auction sites are looking
for deals, so don't expect to get full retail. You may even
have a sell a few items at cost. But when you think about all
the money you can spend on ads in the local paper and get NO
results, it's a small price to pay to get the email addresses
of proven customers. The eBay feedback system works both ways
you can check and see what kind of customer they've been in
the past.
All in all, online auctions are goldmines. If you're selling
anything at all, especially consumer products, you should
definitely check out eBay.
About the Author
Sharon Fling wrote "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and publishes the ezine "Local Business Today." Subscribe and get a free ebook on local marketing. Visit www.geolocal.com or mailto:subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART
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