I have shifted my online activity into Niche Site Creation and specifically using the BANS software.  I really like how easy this software is to use, especially the new version.  The first couple of Bans scripts were horrible, I hated them so much I wouldn’t use the softare, even after paying 100 dollars for it.  They’ve really got it dialed in now and it seems to work great.

I currently have 21 BANS sites up and running.  Many of them are fairly new and have yet to be fully indexed and I am still working on the SEO.  That’s the way it works when it comes to Search Engine traffic though.  I am going to use Adwords campaigns until they start ranking well for their keywords.

My latest site is near and dear to my heart as I am a motorcycle enthusiast.  In fact, I am writing this from our beach house in Myrtle Beach where Bike Week 2008 is underway.  Anyways…..check out my Discount Harley Davidson Boots store.  A little logo work left to be done and some SEO tweaking as well as adding some content but for the most part it’s done.

I went to see the Iron Man movie recently and absolutely loved it.  Recognizing that this was the first in what is sure to be a series of movies, I am sure that a number of people will be maneuvering to try and position themselves to take advantage of what is sure to be a great Iron Man Collectibles market that will develop as future movies roll out as well.

Iron Man is sure to be a future Ebay hit but think about what BatMan might bring, or Spider Man or any number of upcoming superhero movies.  These seems to be the darling of Hollywood right now, are you in a position to take advantage of that?

First IN Wins!

If you are an Ebay affiliate then a lot of changes have taken place in the Build a Niche Store and Ebay world in the last few weeks. I had many of my BANS sites set on autopilot but unfortunately that all came to a screaching halt when Ebay changed their affiliate program from CJ to inhouse.

The new program is called the Ebay Partner Network and if you still have Commission Junction Ebay affiliate links out there then you need to get them converted.

One of the best ways to take advantage of the Ebay Affiliate income that is available is by using the Build a Niche Store software. It is so easy to use and setup that a complete idiot like me can do it. In fact my monthly income is coming in at around 2k dollars with my BANS sites currently and growing everytime I add a site.

My long term goal is to have approximately 100 of these sites and generate enough income to leave my full time job. If you want to read more about it then check out Build a Niche Store today.

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 If you want to get paid or pay people easily then you first need to get a PayPal account.   Paypal is a payment system that people use to transact online financial transactions.   If you are going to either buy or sell on Ebay or online then Paypal is the gold standard.

To have a good PayPal account you will need to provide all your personal information, along with your bank account information, and credit card information.   You can read more about it on the Paypal website.  They explain it far better than I can. 

Once you have your PayPal account, the next step is to get signed up on Ebay.   The actual sign up, and set up of the account is very easy to do and will only take you a few minutes.  Ebay has a TON of information available for newbies so dig in and read up about the Ebay community and get the lay of the land before jumping right in.

Ebay selling can be rewarding and very profitable if you do your homework, research what works and make sure you take advantage of the tools that are available for you.  If you are going to be competitive selling on Ebay then you need to treat it like a business.

Feel free to browse my site, we have a TON of information about selling on Ebay as well as products that have made us a ton of money and they can for you too.   You can click on the link below to get signed up.

PowerSellers are the eBay members that have demonstrated the ability to be successful in the Ebay marketplace.  You can recognize them by the ‘PowerSeller’ badge next to their name. You’ve probably seen these people across eBay as you go about your usual business.  If you wan to succeed on eBay then you would be smart to pay attention to how they do busienss.

How do you get Awarded PowerSeller Status? eBay decides who can be a PowerSeller and who can’t, and they have strict rules. To get in at the minimum PowerSeller level, you must have a feedback quantity rating of at least 100 with a minimum 98% positive rating.  You must also be able to maintain and average of $1,000 worth of items  for the previous three months.

There are different levels of PowerSeller membership as you sell items of greater value:

$1,000 is bronze
$3,000 is silver
$10,000 is gold
$25,000 is platinum
$125,000 is titanium

If PowerSellers ever fail to meet the required amount of sales, or their feedback falls below 98% positive, then they lose their PowerSeller status.   Many people look at the PowerSeller status as a benefit of the seller, a badge of honor of sorts, and that is right.  Let’s not forget though that as a buyer, you are going to feel much more comfortable dealing with someone with a track record on Ebay than one with zero feedback and has been registered for a week.

This is the real benefity to being a PowerSeller, all things being equal, buyers will select your auction rather than your competitions.

The Marketplace

A PowerSeller doesn’t achieve that status by accident in most cases, they don’t look at Ebay as being a flea market, but rather a huge business opportunity.   In many cases they are a corporation and many even own a bricks and mortar business to compliment their online activity.

Most Powersellers started out selling their garage sale items, but they quickly learn that to be successful on Ebay, you will need a renewable supply of inventory.   They often sell the same inventory from week to week and replenish via a wholesale supplier.    They will have accountants to do their books and they know what they’re going to be selling 6 months ahead from day to day.

The best advice I can give you on thinking like a PowerSeller is this: take your business seriously, don’t treat it like a hobby, don’t neglect your customers, and don’t ever forget how competitive it is on Ebay.  If you provide a great product, great service and a great price then your customers will bestow PowerSeller status on you.  It doesn’t come from Ebay, it comes from them.  

I will leave you with this little tidbit, for every 100 dollars spent online in the USA, 14 dollars of it is on Ebay alone.  This is a staggering fact.  

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I can tell you that from my perspective the day makes very little difference as I list auctions randomly and they end when they end and we see pretty similar results from all of our auctions.   I tend to have my auctions end between 7 and 9 pm EST time simply because that is usually the hours that I do my listing.  This might be optimal for an EST buyer but the west coast ebayers might not even be home from work yet.

Too many variables and too much gray area if you ask me.  I don’t know that anyone can legitimately say they see a noticeable difference from the time of day that the auction ends. 

I think it’s more of a Pied Piper affect…whatever the latest Ebay gurus book says is the best time to end an auction becomes the standard.  Prospective Ebay entrepreneurs start setting their auctions to end at that time and voila, the stats go up and you have a large percentage of auctions ending at that time.   Monkey see, Monkey do.

My theory is that you should end your auction when it is convenient for you.  Make sure you will be available to answer any last minute questions that might arise and be ready to cancel any bids if necessary.   I do think you can influence your success with your listing, no doubt, but I just don’t think that when the auction ends is that important.  I would pay more attention to the following:

• Auction Title – Make it keyword rich and appropriate.  Avoid using adjectives like great, super, hot as people don’t search for those items.
• Starting Price – Price your item appropriately.  If it’s a fast moving item start it low with no reserve, if you’re the nervous nelly type then start the bid at your minimum acceptable price.  Avoid Reserves when possible…buyers HATE them.
• Photos – Great pictures sell auctions.  You could probably even leave the description right out if you have the right pictures.  Consider using a photobox and good lighting.  Pictures SELL product.
• Description- Be concise and be accurate.  Nobody wants to read a diatribe.  Just the facts M’am, just the facts.

If you get these 4 items right then you will be well on your way.  Let the pocket protector crowd worry about starting and ending times and make sure you cover the basics first.  Once you have established a history on Ebay you will know for yourself what works best with your product.

I’m a Powerseller and you could be too.

Let me tell you something you already know…..Ebay is a VERY competitive market if you are trying to do it as a business. It’s one thing to sell your junk out of your garage but when you are buying product to resell it becomes an entirely different animal.   If you are going to compete in this environment then you need to have the same tools available to the more professional sellers.  Without them you are going to work 10x times harder to make half the profit.

I used to struggle with making a profit on Ebay.  I would sell a lot of stuff…but when it boiled down to it I wasn’t making profit.  You aren’t selling on Ebay to simply move product, you are selling on Ebay to Make Money!  My profits soared and my workload decreased dramatically once I started using a real Ebay research tool.  My tool of choice is Terapeak.  

Terapeak brings a lot to the table and you will never have to buy a product and guess what it will sell for on Ebay.  With Terapeak you can search on items and find out the basics of whether a product will be viable on Ebay.  You can tell in an instant how many were listed, sold, what price, etc and I know my frustration level dropped a bunch. I stopped buying the latest “deal of the century” and started buying product that SELLS. In fact using the research I was able to find a nice little niche market and continue to service that market today.
You can click on this picture to show you the detail that the free trial from Terapeak showsWow…after checking out all the data that you have available here then I don’t know of anyone that wouldn’t agree that this is at least worth trying if you are serious about your Ebay endeavor.Terapeak offers a watered down version for free or you can sign up for the “caffeineated” version that will allow you to completely dominate the Ebay marketplace free for 14 days….you don’t like it then you don’t pay.  You would be a fool not to at least give it a try. 

If you combine Terapeak with a wholesaler like Worldwide Brands then you will see your profit soar and your workload decrease.  No more chasing down unprofitable items.

I would definitely recommend you sign up for the 14 day free trial for the paying version….if you’re going to try it then try it ALL and if you don’t like it then it costs you nothing and you can explore the full suite of what terapeak has to offer you.

Both of these have free trials….you have nothing to lose.

The difference between those who succeed and those who fail…is usually the amount of effort they put into it.   Get started today.

In this article, I am going to go over which pricing strategies that I have had the most success with when using your typical 7 day auction.  If your goal is to make serious money online then these strategies are a must read.

Popular Product Strategy #1

If you are listing a popular item that you are confident will sell for a good price then it has been shown that using a 7 day strategy and starting the auction at 99 cents or less will draw the most interest and therefore the most bids.  The more bidders that you draw then the higher your final price is likely to be.   

This method will attract a lot of interest early on and a lot of people will be tempted to place a bid or put it in their watched items.  The more interest you can generate in your product the better. 

Ebay is swamped with sellers and many are likely selling the same “widget” that you are selling….so yours at 99 cents vs. theirs at 20 dollars seems like a no brainer.  It takes courage on your part but it will pay off but ONLY on items that are fast moving and popular.

I have experimented with the various listing upgrades and special features such as bold facing, highlighting etc and have not measured a noticeable difference in the selling price.  My Ebay store sells the same things over and over again so a measurable price increase would show itself.  In my opinion the only one who makes any more money with these features is Ebay.

Please note that I do not recommend this strategy for beginners.  You will be sorely disappointed if you list your 100 dollar item for 99 cents only to watch it sell for a couple of dollars.  You must know how popular your product is and what kind of average selling price it draws on Ebay.  I wrote an article on a Research Tool called Terapeak that you can reference and best of all they are offering a free trial.  The software is INVALUABLE if you expect to draw the highest prices for your products.

Terapeak will allow you to become an expert much faster than trial and error and it is likely to be cheaper in the long run.

Play it Safe Strategy #2

Now, if you are new to Ebay or want to list an item with undetermined popularity, you can use a safer, but potentially as profitable bidding strategy for your auctions.

Instead of starting your auction at a very low price to encourage a bidding war, you are going to set your start price to the minimum selling price that you accept for your item.  One strategy is to price it at what you would take for it but then add a Buy It Now price that is 20% higher or so in order to attract those buyers who must have it right now.

This will put pressure on the buyer to buy it now instead of watching. If she waits, she gains absolutely nothing–and she risks someone else bidding (and ruining the low BIN price) or just snatching it with the BIN option.

In addition, knowing that she will lose nothing anyway, she will realize that she can get the item up to 7 days sooner if she uses the BIN option to order it then, rather than waiting for the auction clock to tick down.

This strategy is relatively safe as you won’t ever sell for less than you can live with, however I can tell you from experience that you will not get the most you can get for your items over the long run. 

Turn Buyers Off Strategy #3

Reserve price auctions.  I would only use this in a few rare cases….large items such as an automobile or real estate would be good candidates maybe but it is a well documented fact that Reserve auctions turn off buyers.  They don’t like playing that game and it takes some of the excitement out of the auction.  One only has to watch the latest Ebay “Victorious” campaigns to understand that the way to really drive the price on your item is to get a LOT of people fighting over it.  Reserve prices typically won’t do that.  Your experience may vary but I NEVER use these anymore.

If none of these strategies work for you then you may have to examine other aspects of your Ebay empire.  Are your acquisition costs in line with your competitors?  If widget A is selling all over Ebay for 10 dollars, and your cost for the widget is 8.00 then you will be sorely disappointed with your profit margin.  Chances are that these other sellers can acquire the product for a much lower price.

If you consistently find yourself priced out of the market I would consider trying either of the two following sources to acquire products.  Doba is a dropshipper with a  no brainer free trial offer and Worldwide Brands also has a no risk guarantee.  These sites will NOT guarantee you to be competitive on Ebay however if you combine Terapeak with these dropshippers you will know what to list and what not to list.

 It works for me and thousands of others to make money online with Ebay….so why not You?