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Browsing Posts tagged My Auction Empires

eBay And The Postage Price Increase

April 14, 2012 Andrew Milburn 2 comments

eBay And The Postage Price Increase

All over the eBay boards and forums people are voicing their concerns and anger over the soon to be price increases on the Royal Mail network. Yes to the average person on the street 14p increase on 1st and 2nd class postage does seem a lot, but I tend to stand back and take a overall look at the increase and how it will effect my business and the businesses of my clients.

Royal Mail Price Increase, Royal Mail, Andrew Milburn, My Auction Empires, eBay, eBay consultant

While the UK gets cross and upset over the increase we need to look at what can be done.

We can stop using Royal Mail and close our business down – An idea but not good one

We can stop using Royal Mail and use a different carrier for our items – An idea that will work if the items are the right weight

We carry on using Royal Mail and adjust the increase into our costing - To me this is one of the better ideas.

As eBay sellers we need to look at the bigger picture. For example the other day on the news I heard someone say that come the end of the month he will have to stop selling and close his business down due to the postage price increase, they who were around him on the interview were agreeing and feeling sorry for him.

But was that the whole story, well it is very hard to say, the news did not say what he was selling or what quantities he was selling it in, but what he did say they were small items that fitted in jiffy bags. So let’s say his postage costs will go up by 20p an item n round terms. Yes this does add up if you are selling a lot of items a week, but if the profit margin is only that small the seller needs to either source his product from another supplier, find a new product line or increase his sales price by the 20p (or what ever the extra costs are)

Like I said at the start of the article the price increases are quite high, but it is how we react to them. If we have the right margins in our business or maybe tweak our prices a small bit then everything will work out fine. But remember Royal Mail are not the only company out there that deliver packages there are many others who often offer a better service than Royal Mail with full tracking on every item and their prices are very good.

For sometime now I have been using a broker called Parcel2go.com and they work with companies like DHL, Hermes, City Link but the prices are very good and much cheaper than if you went direct to one of the carriers due to the volume they do each day.

So in closing keep a cool head, know your figures, tweak prices where needed and all should be good.

Happy Selling

eBay Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant, My Auction Empires, Royal Mail, Royal Mail Price Increase

Copy Cat Businesses

March 5, 2012 Andrew Milburn No comments

As we were growing up and in school we were always told not to copy other people and if we did we got into serious trouble not just at school but also when we got home. Then as we grew up we often carried this thought into all areas of our lives, business and personal. But today I want you to through this thought out the window and take another look and re-visit the idea of copying other people and businesses.

copy cat, copycat businesses, eBay Consultancy, Andrew Milburn, My auction Empires

When we sell online and on sites such as eBay, we can brainstorm and spend weeks and often months looking for that brand new product or service that no one has heard or seen before, now while there is nothing wrong in this concept and I would also suggest we are on the lookout for the next big seller there is another way, that often people miss use or just pass on over as it seems so easy.

Before we get into the main part of the article I want to say what this process is not. It is NOT copying someone title word for word, nor is taking their pictures and listings and using their wording and lastly it is NOT using layout to the letter. So, now we got that out the way let’s take a closer look at what I am talking about.

While you are searching eBay for a new product or product range you use research tools such as eBay pulse (eBay pulse shows a snap shot of what is hot right now in each category and is updated on a very very regular basis.), you come across some hot sellers in say the baby category. After further research you find these items are fast sellers and sell multiple times a day and there are dozen of sellers all selling these items. This tells you this item sells.

Now you can either jump on the band wagon, source the same brand name item and join them, and make some money. But let’s look at this copy cat idea a bit deeper………go onto a site such as Alibaba and source some non-branded product that is the same it just does not have the brand name on it. Very often this allows you to buy at a cheaper rate. Here you have copied the idea, but gone with a non-branded name.

Next take a look at the keywords they use, number of pictures and types of pictures they use, then using your own layout and titles and descriptions start to list the products and then watch the products sell.

As I mentioned at the start this is not about taking the listing and product and copying it word for word, no it is about copying the idea and then putting your own slant and touch to it.

Andrew Milburn is an eBay Consultant based in Lichfield Staffordshire, for further details please phone 07582 889 050

Education Andrew Milburn, eBay Consultant, My Auction Empires, MyAuctionEmpires

How Long Should My eBay Description Be

July 22, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

How Long Should My eBay Description Be

A very common eBay question I get is “How Long Should My eBay Description Be ?” And to be honest there is no set answer to the question. There are ideas and thoughts on How Long Should My eBay Description Be ? but no one has come up and spoken out on what they think is the right answer. But what people have said and I stand in agreement with them on………………..It needs to be long enough to sell your item.

When I sit down with a client, and have gone through all the basics of listing an item, I will then spend sometime with them on this subject. Now I am no expert and like many of us in the world of online and offline selling I too am still learning and also experimenting as well. As in anything in business and marketing we always need to test and tweak. But if we go back to the statement that it needs to be long enough to sell your item, then that is a start.

If you are selling a 0.99 item then your listing will most likely have a picture and a few bullet points, where as if you were selling an item in the hundreds or thousands of dollars or pounds you will have many pictures and a lot of detail in your description. As I sit with my clients, I tend to go over a few points which I will share with you below.

How Long Should My eBay Description Be ?

It needs to be long enough for someone to understand the item without it getting boring. A good way of writing it, is by sitting down and either imagine (or have a friend there) that you are telling your best friend all about this wonderful product you have found which will change their lives for the better. You need to sell the item, but at the same time do not go over board with hype. Be open and honest with people.

Go and take a look at other listing on eBay for similar products and see what over sellers are doing. Look for the Top Rated Sellers as these people know what they are doing. Now if they all use one picture and two lines of basic text. Guess what so do you. But if they have a dozen pictures and page after page of description and they are selling loads of the item. Guess what so do you. Now please do not copy the words and pictures, use what they are doing as a template. Do your own research and take your own pictures. you must never ever copy someone else’s listing period.

Another thing you can do is look at adverts in newspapers and the Sunday supplements and look at how these people write their adverts and lay out the pictures and wording – these people are experts and know what they are doing, so it is a good idea to “swipe” examples and keep them in a file to give yourself thoughts and ideas if you get stuck.

I hope the above has given you some ideas on How Long Should My eBay Description Be.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant Bases In Lichfield Staffordshire

eBay, Education Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant Lichfield, eBay Training Lichfield, How Long Should My eBay Description Be, My Auction Empires

Just Do Something

July 17, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

Just Do Something

Earlier this week I did a blog post about a book called The Final Summit. I am not going to tell what the book is about as you will need to go and buy it and I do not want to spoil what you will learn, but what I will tell you is that the main point of the book is Just Do Something. Now Ok there is far more to the book than Just do something, but you will find that when you read it.

So how can you apply the Just Do Something principal to you life and business, well the answer is simple it is Just Do Something, but I will give you some ideas and thoughts in this article to start you thinking and get the process into action in your life.

You are wanting to grow your eBay and Amazon sales, you have been selling a few items a week, but right now you need to be selling 5 a day. So the first thing to do is to list things on a daily basis where possible. be adding new items on a regular basis to your listings, this will make people come back time and time again. Also because people are coming back they will also buy on a regular basis. In online sales it is a well known fact that the more you list the more you will sell. So Just Do Something today.

You need to grow your business to the next level – each day do something, and it does not matter how small or big the something is as long as it is something practical and aimed at making your business grow, then guess what the simple action of doing something on a regular basis will take you and your business to the next level.

Each week you share with family and friends how fed up you are with all the povety in the world, you sit there saying this charity should do this and this govererment should do that, guess what I would say to you. Well why do you not do something. Yes each one of us could take some action and do something, and if every person took on the same idea the world would be a better place.

Sorry if this article sounds like I am getting at people, but honest I am not, I am also speaking to myself as well. Instead of us moaning and complaining that this is not happening or our business is not making us as much money as we would like, take some time out, do some thinking and then Just Do Something today, and if you take these steps each and every day you will find your online business and personal life will look totally different this time next year.

Please do not just sit back and talk and moan about things, take the action that is needed and Just Do Something

eBay, Education Amazon, Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant, Just Do Something, Lichfield, mentor, My Auction Empires, Online, Online Selling, WS13, WS14, WS15

Simple Steps To Improve Your eBay Listings

July 10, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

We all sign up to eBay and list our items and then because we have paid our listing fees, shop fees if we have a shop and then when the item sell our final valuation fees we just sit back and wait, for good old eBay to sell the items for us. Well it is true eBay will work hard for us and will market our listings for us while they are on the site, but they are also doing this for millions of other people at the same time. Yes they do a good job, but this is a business we are in either a part-time or full-time, we also need to do some work.

Right now I can hear some of you moaning and saying “Hey Andrew, I have taken those pictures and written a quick listing, what else, it is now up to eBay” when I hear this I tell them that I understand where they are coming from, but point out to them, that if they just spent a little time each day or week in tweaking their listings they would help them in eBay search and also in Google and the other search engines. And it is nothing hard or complex, you just need to get serious about your business and say yes, I am willing to go the extra mile with it and that you are prepared to put in just 30 minutes a day to help those items sell for a higher price and sell on a regular basis.

The first area you need to look at, and again being open and honest with you here, you should have done this action way before writing or re-writing a title or description and that is research. Yes I want you to have this engraved on your mind 24/7………………………………. Research, Research, Research. If you can get this part right then you are a good way in to making a success on sites such as eBay. Research in your marketplace, Research your product, Research the competition, and Research those keywords. In fact each one of those is a serious of articles on their own, but for now I want to talk about Research the competition.

You can do this the hard way by looking at the different websites and eBay shops where they sell the types of items you are interested in selling. Make a note of :

The colours they use in sales letters
The words they use
The types of pictures they use
A long or short sales piece
And the type of keywords they use

Now before I get any complaints I do not want you to copy, I just want you to look and see what these top sellers are doing and only look at the sellers who are selling multiple items a day in your niche or are regular sellers in your niche. You may remember that that I said hard way just above and yes there is an easier way to do some research and that is with some eBay research software from a company called Terapeak. eBay Research by Terapeak will give you some of the answers above and will present it to you in away you can understand and then put into action. But remember you need to do the work and then put it in place and take the necessary work to carry it out.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant Based In Lichfield Staffordshire

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Finding Hidden Niches

July 9, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

Today I was in Lichfield and they were having their Festival Market – This is part of the world famous music festival. Now over the years the market has taken on a few forms. For many years it was a medieval market, then it changed to a Georgian Market, and now it is just a Festival Market.. I attended the market wearing a few hats really. I went to see what it was like this year and how busy the area was with stall holders and buying buying, but also I went to see what products were selling and to see if there was any chance of doing any joint ventures. And I can say I came away please in all areas.

Lichfield Festival Market

The stalls were all laid out in neat lines around the Cathedral Close, some looked more professional than others, and some looked hey we are here and we have no idea how to set up a display, but they were all busy and they were all selling and engaging with the punters. Even those who had no idea how to set up a stall. But there was also a real buzz about the place, good music playing in the back ground, street entertainers and this put people in buying modes. I was also able to strike up some good business connections with some of the stall holders and I came away with a few promising ideas and plans both with products to sell and also consulting with others on how to get started on eBay. But as with anything only time will tell if these come off. Well I know at least one will, as I walked away with some stock and they are dropping some more off today on their way home. And there will be unlimited stock and as much as I want. They sell second hand CD’s, Records and Dvd’s. So we will have to see what comes of it over the coming weeks and months. I think most will go to Amazon FBA. But as I looked around the stalls and chatted with people, I found a lot of hidden talent and niches that were just ripe to be sold on sites such as eBay – in fact it is a pity that Etsy does not let people act as Trading Assistants as they were many fantastic artists at the event, who were great at their craft but just needed help with marketing, and they just need that boost with a wider market and audience. So this is something I shall be looking into as well. As I was going around looking for these hidden niches and products to sell for other people, there was something that really stood out to me, and that was the lack of marketing these people had. No flyers and worse still no business cards. So I ended up with a pocket full of bits of paper, with numbers on. This was sad, as these people most likely missed some great opportunities to do some marketing.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant, Based In Lichfield Staffordshire

Education Andrew Milburn, Consulting, eBay, Ebay Marketing, Help with eBay, My Auction Empires

Swipe Files

July 7, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

Swipe Files

If you have been around internet marketing for some time you will often hear the word or phrase swipe file. So what is a swipe file and why do you need a swipe file for your business? And do not worry if you do not know what a swipe file is, by the end of this article you should be an expert.

Ever since the world of sales and marketing began people kept a swipe file. In very simple terms all a swipe file is, is a folder or boxes of sales letters, catalogues, brochures, magazines and newspapers. When you look at some of the top Direct Marketers in the world people such as Gary Halbert, Dan Kennedy, John Carlton and many others they will all talk about their swipe files. Yes even these great men and women use them, and if they use them so should we.

Also when you get a piece of Junk Mail in the post or in your newspaper I want you to keep them and file them away. And I want you to do the same for those spam emails, set up an online file system and keep copies of them. Yes keep spam !!!

Now the reason you want to keep these pieces of mail etc is to give you ideas when you are looking to write an article or title or description. Now please note you do not copy it word for word, but you can do is use it as a template. And by using it as a template you soon will be writing headlines like the pro’s.

Let’s look at an example “When I Sat Down At The Piano, They Started To Laugh.. But When I began To Play…………………………” Now that was a very famous headline written to sell a mail order course teach people how to play the piano. And it sold millions of copies. Now have a think, how many times have you seen tis template use? I would say many times.

You see people all over the world have taken the title as a template and just played around with the words for their niche.

The same can go for catalogues collect as many as you can, look how the pictures look, the way they hold the camera, and back grounds they use. Look how they use colours etc.

When you have time pop along to the newsagent and scan the women’s magazines and make notes of the titles and teaser copies. These people are paid very good money. Get inspired by them and take you business to the next level by using a swipe file.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant Based In Lichfield Staffordshire

eBay, Education Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant, eBay Consultant Lichfield, My Auction Empires, swipe file

What Comes Before The Product

July 6, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

What Comes Before The Product

Today I want to go back to basics, and cover a question a lot of new and even people who have been selling online miss, and that is “What comes before the product” Now do not worry, this is nothing complicated or takes extra money, but if you get this wrong, you can have a great product, thousands spent on adverts and have your item on all the leading websites in the world, and you will not make money.

Yes I am talking doing some basic and I mean basic research, you can do this by asking people, reading newspapers, Google or you can use software such as Terapeak . But if you are just staring out do it the free way, and you will have fun and doing it.

So you have found a great product, it ticks all the boxes for you. It is easy to ship, it is light and will fit into a box or Jiffy Bag with out problem. The company provide great pictures and even help you with the marketing. It looks like a winner. It is at the right price point for you and there is good profits, you are all smiles, and can see the money rushing into your bank account.

But stop…………………have you asked yourself a few very important questions.

Is there a large enough group of people in need of the product. Notice the word need, they may want the product, but do they need it. You see when money is tight people do cut back, on items they would like or want and only spend on products they need.
Do the people have money ? Or are you trying to sell to a market that does not have money. The ideal market you are looking for needs surplus cash.
Do they have a means of buying from you……………………… Credit Card, Paypal etc. If not then you are onto a loser. When you sell online you need your customers to be able use a card or payment gateways like PayPal etc.

Now when you add those three items together you will be onto a winner. In closing I would like to leave you with a simple thought. Next time you are looking for a product to add to your store, STOP. Then look for the people group first, tick off the list, and then choose your product, that way you will sell more and not have as many bad products. So what comes before the product ? The people group.

Andrew Milburn is an eBay Consultant based in Lichfield Staffordshire

eBay, Education Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Lichfield, eCommerce, Market Research, My Auction Empires, Niche, PayPal

Listing Goals

July 4, 2011 Andrew Milburn No comments

Listing Goals

Can you believe that we are already well over half way through the year. For those of us who make a living selling online most of us have thought if not already ordered our Holiday and Christmas lines. Yes it sounds very frightening but Christmas is only a few short months away, and our customers will soon be buying Christmas items. In fact if you do some research you will find many people have already listed and sold Christmas / Holiday lines.

So what are Listing Goals? A listing goal is something that you commit to on a regular basis. For instance you might say I want to list 200 items a month. Now that may sound a lot, but what you need to do is to break that down into daily amounts. So we take the 200 lists and divide that by 30 days, and the amount we come out at is just under 7 items a day. Now what you need to think, can you manage that number each and everyday? As you write your listing goals, you need to think how many items have I listed in the past and if that number is only one a week, you may need to adjust the daily toltal.

Once you have hit the daily listing goal for a few weeks, you may feel like upping the amount you list. Something to remember notice I say listings not items. You can have as many items in each listing as you like, but I am talking about separate listings. eBay is no different from any other online or offline business, the more you list or stock the more you sell. You need to think like a buyer, how often would you go to a shop that only had a few items and the stock never changed? Now let us flip the coin, if the shop was full of items, and the stock was always changing you would keep going back time after time seeing what was new, and not only seeing but buying as well.

Well the same goes for eBay, and the old saying is still true today as it was all those years ago. “The more you list, the more you sell” So right now take a pen and paper and write down a listing goal, and then commit to it. Have Fun.

Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires Are eBay Consultants Based In Lichfield Staffordshire.

Education Amazon, Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant, eBay Training, Lichfield, Listing Goals, My Auction Empires

Under Promise And Over Deliver

July 2, 2011 Andrew Milburn 1 comment

Under Promise and Over Deliver

Now as you read the title of this article “Under Promise and Over Deliver” I can hear some of you shout WHAT. We are in sales and should sell, sell, sell all the time, we should offer and tell our customers we have the best thing since sliced bread. And yes I do agree with you, but over the years I have been studying some of the op online and offline marketers, both in the Internet Marketing field and in the general market place, a lot of them stay under the radar. They offer great products, with great prices, but they always under promise and over deliver.

This week I watched the latest episode of The Apprentice here in the UK and the task was to come up with a top end biscuit, brand, and pitch the end product to some of the leading supermarkets here in the UK. Now the team who won had a massive order from one of the supermarkets, but a point that Lord Sugar picked up and told them off on was the pitch……………… They promised massive TV adverts, with movie stars and massive press adverts. Lord Sugar told them they had over promised, and could not deliver on the promise.

The same goes for your eBay business when you are writing your titles and your descriptions, you needed to under promise or under sell and when your client or customer gets their order delivered to them and opens the box they have that WOW factor. You have over delivered. So how can you apply this to your eBay business.

Well one way is if you are selling children’s toys that require batteries. In your listing you put all about the toy and at the bottom you put a note that says **please note this item requires 4 batteries**, the customer knows this when they buy and will be prepared to buy the batteries when the item comes. Now comes the over deliver part, you put the batteries in the box free of charge for the customer. This will put a smile on their face.

The above example is only one way you can over deliver and under promise you just need to think about your own business and go that extra mile. So next time you do a listing and send out a parcel think how you can under promise and over deliver.

Andrew Milburn is an eBay Consultant based in Lichfield Staffordshire.

eBay, Education Andrew Milburn, eBay, eBay Consultant, Lichfield, My Auction Empires, Staffordshire, under promise and over deliver

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Browsing Posts tagged My Auction Empires