Entries from August 2008 ↓
August 27th, 2008 — Presidential Race
Could the pant suit be the new Elmo TMX for the holiday season this year? Will crazy shoppers be storming the local Sears store at 6AM to get the last orange pant suit?
U.S. politicians, especially presidents have set trends in fashion for many years. Presidents wore top hats to their inaugurations from the days of honest Abe Lincoln until Lyndon Johnson was inaugurated in 1965. First Lady Jackie Kennedy set the tone for women in the 1960's. Now Senator Hillary Clinton is making her mark.
Could the pant suit be the new "little black dress"? If Breakfast at Tiffany's was remade today, would Audrey Hepburn wear pant suits?
Get ready for the holidays! Start shopping now while there is still a choice. You do not want to be the one in an ill-fitting (and God-forbid) floral print pant suit at the family Christmas dinner this year.
You can be on the cutting edge of pant suit fashion right here. Go shopping! Beat the rush!
Popularity: 15% [?]
August 23rd, 2008 — Presidential Race
The big news broke about Barack Obama's choice of a running mate last night as I was finishing my Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie. Joe Biden, the Democrat Senator from Delaware is the man. I did a quick search with Terapeak to see how eBay items related to the Senator have been performing.
Between August 12 and August 18, there were only 12 (yes, one dozen) items with the keyword "Biden." The sell-through rate was only 25% with an average price of $6.31. Not too impressive by any stretch.
When I looked this morning, there were 150+ items. (Actually, when I started writing this post there were 140, now it's 152.) This is a good example of how to ride a wave of media coverage. Lots of items are obviously CafePress creations by quick thinkers. 
This phenomena will happen again during the run-up to John McCain's announcement, and the Republican convention. Will you be ready?
Some cool political memorabilia will be rolled out - such as Joe Biden's Senate cufflinks listed today. Here are the latest Joe Biden items. Will they be a good investment?
Popularity: 13% [?]
August 21st, 2008 — Niche
Researching one thing often leads to another. I was researching antique radios for my site RadioGems.com, and found ham radios high on the list for eBay.
Using Terapeak, I searched ham radio and found the keyword tuner in many of the top sold items. Searching for ham radio tuner led me to a pretty nice niche for someone using Build a Niche Store or phpBay Pro. Here is a Terapeak screenshot of 90 days of eBay activity on the term ham radio tuner:
In case you can't see the results well. The Avg. Price is $130.59, and the sell-through rate is 81.61%. Pretty good.
Many other ham radio items were also doing well. Ham radio antenna was another item that stood out.
If you're looking for a niche to build around. This could be a candidate, especially for an eBay affiliate site. Here are the current eBay listings for ham radio tuners:
Popularity: 17% [?]
August 21st, 2008 — eBay Announcements
eBay has release the monthly change list, and it's a big one. I'm not going to rehash the announcement. You can read that for yourself. But here are my gut reaction predictions, pros and cons.
Pros
Fees are generally going to be lower. I've already closed my eBay Store. That'll save me $15.95 per month.
Visibility for fixed-price listings will be greater. They will last longer, and if a seller sells multiple items with the new 30-day duration, they'll get indexed by search engines. This will hopefully bring some organic search visibility for your eBay listings.
Another positive, the more recent sales an item has had, the higher that listing will appear in Best Match results.
Cons
Lower upfront fees, and longer durations will likely mean more items on eBay. More items essentially more competition, both in a literal way, and due to eBay's new "Finding" system. Sell-through rates will likely fall across the site.
Small sellers of one-of-a-kind items will benefit the least from these changes. The bigger sellers with multiple items will get the benefit of greater visibility over time.
Automatically suspending sellers with less than a 4.3 DSR. There's not much screaming about this yet. But it will likely lead to more sales of Selling on 'the River'.
Bigger media sellers will be affected by the new fee structure / fixed shipping. Ultimately, it will cost buyers more to buy media items. These large sellers make a little bit on shipping, which they'll now pass on to buyers.
Summary
It's a little harder to pick on these new changes. Overall, I think the changes are positive. I still disagree with some of the other changes made this year, but this set is more positive for the masses.
Maybe eBay's Q4 2008 will not be a bust after all. Time will tell.
Popularity: 19% [?]
August 19th, 2008 — Recommended
Why not take advantage of the low sell-through rate on eBay? I'm using phpBay Pro to show auctions for new products, ending soon, for $1 or less, with no bids -
Popularity: 23% [?]
August 13th, 2008 — eBay Motors
eBay Motors will begin taking a bigger chunk of the sale price after September 2, 2008. Rob Chesney, VP of eBay Motors announced fee changes that although inviting at first, they look kinda bad if you have a successful sale.
Currently, US sellers pay a flat $40 insertion fee for vehicles. If the vehicle sells, they pay a $50 "successful listing fee." (eBay doesn't call it a "Final Value Fee" because they are not automobile dealers. Therefore they cannot legally tie the amount of the fee to the sale price of the vehicle.)
Under the new arrangement, sellers can list their first four vehicles, in a given calendar year, for free. However, the Successful Listing Fee is $125.
So, it's a price increase any way you look at it. What used to cost a total of $90 now will cost $125.
Beginning with vehicle number five, the insertion fee will be $20 per vehicle, and successful listings will be charged $100. So in this case, what was $90 will now be $120. It's a fee increase for successful vehicle sales.
For vehicle sellers in Canada, the news is worse. They currently pay $4.25 to list a vehicle, and $50 more if it sells. Their fees will now be the same as the US fees. A real jump for them. (Thanks Bill for pointing this out.)
Granted, it will benefit sellers who list vehicles that do not sell, since they'll have less up front risk. My first thought was how vehicle sellers will game the system - and they will.
eBay Motors - Post 9/08
To take advantage of the four free listings. Sellers will definitely use multiple accounts. Four free per account. Simple, and not much harm done to anyone in the big picture.
The harm will come from dealers who sell off-eBay. Higher fees are an incentive to avoid them altogether.
Dealers will put more inventory on the site, thanks to the lower insertion fees. In turn they'll grab more leads, and intercept the sale to avoid the "successful listing fee." Buyers will have nowhere to turn when and if things go wrong. As a result, eBay Motors will suffer along with the eBay core site. Since buyers will say they "found the car on eBay" - eBay will take the hit.
Vehicle dealers are seriously hurting all over the world. This fee increase is coming at the worst possible time for them.
Popularity: 16% [?]
August 6th, 2008 — Selling on eBay, Wholesale Product Sources, eBay Motors
eBay and Walmart
One is a mega-corporation that is known for:
- its great bargains
- a vast selection of merchandise
- squeezing suppliers till they scream
- an ever-growing number of satisfied buyers
The other is eBay.
Buyers are not going to be satisfied because they will not find what they want.
eBay is stumbling through the summer toward what should be their biggest quarter this year. And they are still confusing and angering sellers. The newest policy affecting sellers states:
When buyers search and browse, only one of identical listings from the same seller will be displayed per result set.
In addition to displaying only non-identical listings from one seller, a maximum of ten listings from one seller will be shown per results page unless the only available listings are from the same seller. (bold is mine)
Why is that a problem? Well, lets say you have a set of Noritake china you picked up at a garage sale. You have 40 pieces to sell and you'd like to break them up and sell them one piece at a time. You list them on eBay at 8PM Sunday evening for seven days.
Lets say a shopper searches for that particular Noritake pattern. They want the salt and pepper shakers, and the gravy boat. But only ten of your items will show up at a time. So your salt and pepper shakers may show on page one of the search results, which would be good. But if your gravy boat happens to be number 40 of your items, the shopper will need to click through four pages of results to find it.
On Sunday evening when your listings end, all at 8PM, it's quite possible that items 20-40 will have never shown up together on page one of the search results. Not good exposure for your stuff.
Some sellers are beating their chests and saying eBay takes money for listings and refuses to display them. That's not true. eBay is simply not displaying them on page one. So they all need to put down their clubs and pitchforks and stop talking about lawsuits. It's silly. You cannot use the toilet at eBay without consulting the legal department. Generally speaking, eBay lawyers know more about the law than we garage-sale shoppers do.
(Even with the identical item policy, they have created a way for those items to be displayed. There is a link at the bottom of eBay pages that says "To view all identical listings, please click here." So legally, since the policy is stated quite publicly, by listing an item you agree to eBay's policies.)
Things You Can Do
- Cross-reference every single listing in the description. Link to "Seller's Other Items" everywhere. Make sure your shoppers know you have more for sale.
- Stagger your start times. Never list more than ten items at a single time. Spread every ten listings out by at least ten minutes to allow every ten to appear (at least for a while) on page one of search results.
- Sell with multiple accounts. It's not against the rules (yet), so if you can manage it, use multiple accounts and get more than ten items to show on page one.
- Learn to sell on Amazon. Buy my ebook and stop fooling around with eBay's ever-changing rules.
If you have other ideas, please add them via comments below. (And please - a lawsuit is not an idea.)
Popularity: 21% [?]
August 4th, 2008 — Selling Your Stuff
With unbridled enthusiasm, the business world has begun adopting eBay's new strategy to provide a better shopping experience.
...okay, well not really. In fact eBay sellers are outraged yet again. eBay's newest policy comes in two parts:
- If a seller has multiple identical items, eBay will only display one on the search results page. Once the displayed item has a bid, the items are no longer identical, and eBay will show another.
- eBay search results pages will display a maximum of 10 items for any given seller. If seller #1 has more than ten items listed, and a buyer performs a search, they will only see 10 items from seller #1 on the first page of search results. Seller #1's next ten items will appear on page two of the search results and so on.
BRILLIANT!
If this were a sound business decision, brick and mortar stores would be likely to follow eBay's far-sighted policies.
Imagine the scene...
(wiggly picture wiggly picture wiggly picture)
Donut shopkeeper: "Morning Mr. Donahoe!"
John Donahoe: "Morning! How's my favorite donut seller?"
Donut shopkeeper: "Doin' great Mr. Donahoe! What can I get you?"
John Donahoe: "Big meeting today. (whispering) We think we've figured out the problem over at eBay."
Donut shopkeeper: "NO WAY! That's great. (whispers) What are you thinking it is?"
John: "Customers! This would be a great business if it weren't for customers. Get rid of the customers - no more problems!"
Donut shopkeeper: "So how are ya gonna do it?"
John: "We've come up with a plan. If we can hide their listings, no transactions will take place. No transactions, no customers, no problems!"
Donut shopkeeper: "How do you come up with that stuff?"
John: (kicking at the ground with an "awe shucks" grin) "I know, I know. - Hey, I'll take a dozen donuts. I want the white ones with colored sprinkles."
Donut shopkeeper: "Sorry Mr. Donahoe, I can only sell you ten. We keep the rest at the store on the
next block. You can go down there for the other two. (Pauses) HEY! That's kinda like your plan huh?"
John: (bottom lip quivering) "Yeah, but by the time I get over there, they might be gone!"
Donut shopkeeper: "I'm sorry Mr. Donahoe, that's policy now. The boss decided ten was all we could have out at a time. Kinda makes the old 'dozen donuts' a thing of the past though. He said it makes a better 'experience' or somthing like that? Oh and besides, you can hop over to the next store an grab those other two, if you have time."
John: "Nahhh, I won't make it. I still have to stop by the flower shop. It's Lorrie's birthday."
John drives to the flower shop to get his colleague some flowers for her birthday. Little does he know the flower shop has also adopted eBay's ground-breaking strategy.
John: "Good morning! I'm kind of in a hurry - I need to get twelve yellow roses!"
Florist: "Ooooo that sounds nice! Who are they for?"
John: "One of my workmates is having a birthday. I know she'll like these - hey where'd you get those donuts?"
Florist: "Next door - last two they had! ...I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
John: "What's that?"
Florist: "Well, we have this new policy, we can only sell you ten identical roses - would you like two red to go with the ten yellow?"
John: (frustrated) "No! - you don't have twelve yellow?"
Florist: "Well, no we wanted to offer a better selection to the customers, so we put a limit of ten on any one type. You can go to our other store and get more though."
John: "I don't have time for that. - Okay, give me the ten yellow and just give me the best match for the other two. I still need to get some gas on the way to the office."
Florist: "There you are. I hope she likes them!"
John drives to the gas station across the street from eBay. He runs his credit card and starts pumping the gas. It stops at ten gallons.
(Click click click) - "Hey! - What's wrong with this thing?"
Attendant: "We only are selling ten gallons of the gas."
John: "But I need more than that."
Attendant: "You can buy more. Just pull ahead to the next pump."
John: "That's ridiculous! It's inconvenient."
Attendant: "You actually could also just choose a different grade, which is a different price. And you'll have to run your card again. Sorry, it's policy."
John: "Forget it. (then muttering to himself) This is a PAIN!! Who comes up with this stuff? I still have to get more donuts...I'm going to be late for my meeting now...why is everything always so complicated?"
What's wrong with this policy?
eBay is moving ever closer to the social engineering we have seen in government programs. They feel buyers are too stupid to find what they want on their own. eBay knows best.
The fact is, buyers are finding what they want. But it's not on eBay anymore. (Click click click) - "Hey! - What's wrong with this thing?"
Popularity: 23% [?]
August 1st, 2008 — eBay News and Talk
Oh I know, you thought eBay just fiddled around with sellers - well not anymore! eBay announced today they will be changing the way they pay for ACRUs (Active Confirmed Registered User). Up till now, you could up as an eBay affiliate, and send visitors to eBay via ad or link. If that person registers and buys something within 30 days, you'd get $25 flat - easy.
Those days are pretty much gone.
Some people are making a lot of money as eBay affiliates. Most make money by referring users who are already registered. When those people buy something, the affiliate gets a little cut of eBay's commission. ACRUs are not as plentiful as they once were. Lots of people have already registered, and people who aren't registered already - aren't in a hurry to do so.
The new system for ACRUs will be based on the quality of the aggregated traffic sent to eBay. In other words, if you have multiple affiliate sites, sending traffic to eBay, your traffic will be lumped all together to determine your quality level. Quality level will be based on a large part on the revenue generated by the users sent to eBay.
Payouts will now range from $1 to $50 for an ACRU. eBay will decide the quality of referrals, and will place affiliates in "tiers." To move into better payout tiers, an affiliate will need to improve the quality of their traffic. Initially, all new affiliates will automatically be placed in the lowest tier. Their traffic will be reviewed once per month to see if they will move up and get paid more. This new structure only affects ACRU payouts, and will immediately affect new affiliates. If you are already signed up as an active eBay affiliate, the changes will not take place for "a few months."
The bottom line is, eBay is applying the same "carrot on a stick" philosophy here as they do with Powersellers. "Work your tail off to send us traffic, and we MIGHT just throw a few nickels back to you."
Earlier this year, eBay switched the management of their affiliate program from an outside company, Commission Junction, to an in-house program called the eBay Partner Network. The switch was painful for affiliates because they had to migrate existing links from their websites to the new network links. In some cases this meant reworking thousands of links. The eBay Partner Network (EPN) then had problems with reporting, and the dust still hasn't really settled.
Now, in true eBay tradition, they are making changes to the program before the previous changes have had time to set. It's like framing a new building while the concrete foundation is still wet...
You can find the full announcement and all the details here.
Popularity: 20% [?]
