The other day I was at a chamber of commerce meeting and got cornered by a few local retailer’s who wondered if there was anyway they could leverage the power of eBay to generate sales and interest in there products.
Obviously there are a few way’s they could but I was more interested in why they thought they couldn’t and was surprised to find out they thought it would devalue there product. The conversation wobbled around for a while as I tried to find out what would be devalued and why. The answer’s were a little naive and ranged from making there brand look cheap to having to sell products at a lower price. I wasted no time shooting down this misconceptions – they have been floating around for years and have never had any merit, so there was little point even continuing.
How to use eBay for Business
For the sake of argument we are going to assume you have and established business selling products. The first way you could leverage eBay would be to sell your products. I know it seems insanely obvious and maybe even a little retarded to put it out there but I am. So many people fail to consider just selling products on eBay – the expect the need something unique, something special, something damaged or second hand. You can just get onto eBay and sell a few items off the shelves at the exact same price you sell them for in store. One piece of advice and please leave more in the comments, is to take the item off the shelf for the duration of the eBay sale/auction – it is bad form to withdraw and item for sale and on eBay reputation is everything.
Sell your demo, re-furbished or other imperfect stock by auction. Very simple way to do it and you would be surprised at the price you can get if an item is put to auction. I have seen reconditioned demo coffee makers sell for 75% of the retail value – a near impossibility in a shop environment – better than that the buyers were very happy and thought they caught a bargain.
Use an eBay store to increase awareness of your online store. This method works incredibly well for collectible items, but has been used equally by fashion designer’s and children’s clothing makers. You throw a few choice pieces on eBay use the images and descriptions to let people know that you have alot more where that came form at your online store.
Things to watch out for on eBay
On eBay reputation and feedback are everything. You can not afford any negative reviews, not only are the displayed as a warning to any potential buyers, they can be used against you by scammers looking to trick paypal into giving them there money back.
Use the built in notification system to notify the buyer when you receive there money or when you ship there products. There is still a lot of mistrust on eBay, most people that have used it for any length f time have been burnt at least once. Good communication on eBay means better reviews and repeat buyers. Poor communication will sink your eBay ship before you get through your first week.
Do you use eBay ? What has been your experience ? Do you have any tips for new sellers ? We would love to hear from you.
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