Selling Children's Products - New Rules!

If you are selling or planning to sell products in your online business meant for children, you need to be aware of a new law that will take effect December 31, 2011. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has established new tougher rules concerning children's products that may contain lead paint.

In December, manufacturers and distributors of imported children's products will be required to have their products tested for levels of lead paint by an authorized testing lab. As a product is approved the labs will issue a certificate of acceptance. More information is available about this process and their implementation at this CPSC website page. There is also a FAQ page with answers to common questions.

So why is this important to me? You may ask. Well, if you sell or resell children's product's that may contain lead paint to U.S consumers, you may need to show that certificate of acceptance to eBay.com, Amazon.com, or any other selling website you use in order to continue selling your merchandise. So, a word to the wise -- go check out the website links in this article to see if you will be affected and if so, contact your distributor or the manufacturer to see if they are prepared for these changes.

I have also added a CPSC Recall box on this blog which will allow you to sign up to their email list of notifications. Presently, you cannot sell any item on eBay or Amazon that has been recalled by the CPSC.

Ken, Dr. Ebay

What Sells on eBay

People always want to know what sells on eBay. The answer is almost everything! Everything from the largest vehicles (think yachts, trucks, jet planes...) to the smallest stone (think diamonds, rubies, pet rocks?...). Some other profitable categories include: anything that people collect, anything that people need or use regularly, new and used clothing, and the list goes on. One way to see what's selling best at any particular day is eBay Pulse. eBay pulse will give you the top 20 times that have sold on eBay that day.

One of my favorite niche categories to sell on eBay is called memorabilia. By memorabilia I mean things that remind people of good times, fun times, often childhood times. For example, as a child did you have a special doll or toy? Maybe you had a Radio Flyer Wagon. These are still made today, but the older models bring big bucks on eBay. Imagine how much fun this man still has with his. Radio Flyer Video

Smile and go find something to sell on eBay.

Ken
DR EBAY

Checks Again OK on eBay with Paypal

Many eBay members were not happy when eBay decided to no longer allow payment by check. This was part of eBay's efforts to limit many bad checks being received by eBay sellers.

Paypal has just announced a new check payment method now allowed on eBay. It is called 'eCheck'. Any eBay buyer with a Paypal account can now send an eCheck to pay in whole or in part for an item bought on eBay. There is a small $.50 fee.

For those who are not familiar with eChecks, Paypal debits the buyer's checking account and when the echeck clears, Paypal then credits the Seller's account.

So, for those who miss paying by check, you now have an alternative.

Ken
Dr eBay

New eBay Green Box

At eBay's final "eBay on Location" meeting in San Jose a few weeks ago, they announced their creation of a green shipping box. They come in three different sizes. They plan to give away 100,000 of these new boxes beginning sometime in October, 2010.

A green shipping box is not new. I understand that UPS has them already. But eBay's box is rather unique. By design, it is intended to be used 6 times. The box even has an interior design encouraging recipients to save it and use it again. eBay has designed the interior with six panels for each of the six recipients to write a little message to the next person receiving it. If the box does reach the end of it's useful life before the sixth use, of course it is fully recyclable. A great idea!

If you are an eBay seller and would like to receive some of these boxes, make sure you get to the eBay Green Team site and opt-in to email so you will know when they become available.

Ken
DR EBAY

Learning from Online Rockstars

Learning what you need to know to be successful in the online marketplace can be a real challenge. There are many places to get information on succeeding online and at eBay, but as you probably know they are not all equal. There are people selling information on this subject on eBay and through email who aren't worthy of your time. Many offer everything from out and out false information to products that aren't even worth one dollar. However, if you read about it here, I am putting my reputation on the line and you can be sure it is worth every penny.

Another learning site I would like to share is the Online Success Intitute, now known as OSI Rockstars. This site is run by Janelle Elms, a well respected former eBay University teacher. Janelle has created this site with some of the most friendly people I've met online. Besides classes she herself has created, there are many others created by other talented and successful people, many of whom are eBay Top Sellers. There is an annual fee which allows access to all the classes, past, present, and for the length of your membership at no additional cost. Janelle also provides a weekly newsletter for members and many other opportunitiesas well. I highly recommend OSI Rockstars to you. Go visit the site and I think you'll be very impressed.

Ken
DR EBAY
OSI Rockstar

Monthly eBay Call on Skype

Recently I blogged about the first anniversary of the Virtual Online Learning site at meetup.com. I can't say enough about Dana Crawford and her VOL website. It is all about learning how to make money in the online world we call eBay. But there are plenty of classes you can take where you can apply what you learn to the online world in general.

One of my most favorite things with VOL is a monthly Skype meeting, hosted by James Kirk Pace. You just call in on skype.com for free from anywhere and for a couple of hours you get to speak to others experienced online sellers. Many of them are Powersellers and Top Sellers on eBay. Most of them also sell on other online marketplaces too. You can ask questions or talk about what you are doing and get some feedback and everyone is so friendly.

Hope to see you there. Just visit them at VOL.

Ken
DR EBAY
Lifetime VOL Menber

eBay Fifteen Year Anniversary

eBay just celebrated their fifteen year anniversary a few weeks ago. Many of you know that eBay was started by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. It was originally known as AuctionWeb and was just one of Pierre's websites in his business. The nam was later changed to eBay. Did you also know that the first item sold on eBay by Pierre was a broken laser pointer which sold for $14.83.

Well, we've come a long way since then. I've been active on eBay since the year 2002 and so much has happened since then. The Internet continues to change almost daily it seems. And eBay keeps evolving and getting better to in order to keep up with the Internet and the ever changing marketplaces thereon.

As a celebration of eBay's fifteen years, I encourage you to tell us about the best thing you ever bought or sold on eBay. Just leave a comment below.

Ken
DR. EBAY









http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/ASKDANNA/VOL/BlogBadges/BlogChallenge1.jpg

Can You Always Trust Feedback?

Feedback is something all eBayers are familiar with. But as Danna Crawford writes at Practical eCommerce, feedback comes in many forms and not all of it is to be trusted.

One example of feedback that is not to be trusted, I have personally experienced. It involves a condo at the beach that I own and rent out. It is in a building at the beach that has dozens of condos. It is a very nice building with two pools, a spa, barbecue deck, and many other amenities.

Several years ago some people rented one of the condos. These people apparantly had no respect of rules. Rules like no running by the pool, no glass bottles in the pool area, no public drunkeness, no disturbing other guests... all meant to help everyone there have a safe and enjoyable stay. These people repeatedly broke these rules and were given numerous warnings to no avail. Finally, one night the police had to be called because other guests' safety was at risk. The people causing all this ruckus were finally asked to leave.

Within a few weeks some slanderous comments were left on a public website that asks for evaluations of vacation stays at various beach hotels, motels, and other rental properties. Year after year those same or similar comments were left. All were similar enough that any intelligent person could only conclude that they were left by the same person or group.

This is just one example of how reputations can be ruined or hurt by anger and bitterness through no fault of the 'seller'. The lesson here is that whenever you are reading feedback, whether it is concerning another eBayer or in any other form, take it with a grain of salt, as they say. Remember, when people are happy or satisfied, they often don't leave feedback, except on eBay. For more, read Danna Crawford's post.

Dr. eBay

eBay Auction Fees Lowered Again

A major announcement by eBay today restructures Auction and Fixed Price fees. For instance, beginning March 30, 2010, up to 100 auction listings per month with a start price under $1 are free to list. Also Final Value Fees (FVF) for auction items are a flat nine percent but never more than $50, which does simplify working with FVFs. In addition, there will be new lower listing fees for all other start prices.

Fixed price listings, both store items and direct listings will be considered the same for search purposes. This means that all store fixed price items will always appear in search results, unlike today where store fixed price listings only appear in search if the threshold is met and often don't appear at all. Now you can eliminate direct auction or fixed price listings to drive traffic to your store.

Another thing I like is the new eBay fee illustrator. This new tool allows you to put in your average estimated listing data and the tool will respond with recommendations as to which store level, or no store, is the best choice for you!

You can find all the details eBay Annoucements.

Happy eBaying!!

eBayers Donate Sales Proceeds to Haiti

As a follow up to my blog about eBay Ink last Thursday, the latest issue of the eBay Ink blog tells how eBayers are stepping up to the plate to help the Haitian people after their devastating earthquake earlier this month.

Yes, you can buy, sell, or donate items while on eBay with the proceeds being sent to The American Red Cross, Save the Children, and other nonprofits doing relief work in Haiti. So far, over 326,000 donors have raised over $1,000,000 and climbing, for the work in Haiti.

How can you get in on this worthwhile effort? Click here to get to a special eBay page to learn how to help in Haiti by simply buying or selling something on eBay. You can also make a cash donation on the same page if you prefer.

In addition to the eBay effort, Paypal Checkout is waiving the payment processing fees for donations to Save the Children. You can also make donations to Save the Children through Amazon Checkout, and Google Checkout if you use those services. Click here for the Save the Children donation page.

eBay Ink

Here's a resource any serious eBayer should be watching. It's called eBay Ink. These are regular posts by eBay's resident blogger. His name is Richard Brewer-hay. He is an eBay, Inc. employee. His job is to blog about the conversations happening inside eBay and outside of it too.

It's a great way to keep up with what management is thinking and lower department heads are working on for the future, even before the official announcements are made about changes to the platform. Richard also welcomes comments and questions about his blog posts.

As I write this, Richard has blogged about his Favorite eCommerce Podcasts. The topics include: "eBay Radio", "ColderIce (Internet eCommerce & eBay)", "eBay & Beyond: Basics to Business", and "The River, The Ranch & The Bay." These are all great topics and I'm sure you will learn a lot if you give a listen.

eBay Changes To Continue

eBay CEO John Donahoe said yesterday that eBay will continue making changes [to it's business model] over the next three to four years. eBay is moving from 40% fixed price and 60% auction format to a 60% fixed price and 40% auction format, he said.

The most recent change is that Paypal which is 35% of eBay's sales now has developed the technology behind TwitPay, the new Twitter addition that allows Twitter users to send money to another Twitter user using TwitPay. Go to TwitPay for details.

Multiple Income Streams

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Free Books, No Shipping

Free eBooks and no shipping. ebooks? Are you thinking worthless, not a real book, old, public domain, or filled with affiliate links? Those terms might be applied to some ebooks, but not all. With the advent of Amazon's Kindle, Google Book's library, and other advances, books in electronic form are now in the mainstream and worth another look.

Many published authors are offering their 3, 4, 500 page books in PDF format for free. Fellow blogger dlfreebook has set up hundreds of links to get recent books in PDF format for free. Sometimes these will be one revision back from the latest edition in the bookstores. Would you like to read eBay's Jim Griffith's The Official eBay Bible, Andrew Goodman's Winning Results with Google Adwords, or Lee Jordan's Blogger: Beyond the Basics, all for free? These and many more are available to you.

Many of these ebooks are in PDF format, so you will need Adobe's Reader to read them. Also most are in compressed formats for downloading like ZIP and RAR. When I downloaded some from dlfreebook, I was given the opportunity to download a free uncompression untility called jZip. It was quick and easy to install and there is no adware, no spyware, no pop-ups, no trojans, and no toolbars. jZip handles ZIP, RAR, and many other compression formats.

Enjoy. If you know of any other great free ebook sites like this, please leave a comment.

Getting Targeted Twitter Followers

Do you Twitter. If you have any kind of business, you need to market it on twitter.com. There are many and varied ways to market on Twitter, but we'll start with the first one.

First you need to get targeted followers to your Twitter tweets. There are a number of ways to do that, but here's how I do it. My way isn't the faster or easiest, but it may be the most effective. Here it is:

1. Begin by locating several other Twitter members who have similar business' to yours. If you eBay, then find sellers on Twitter who you respect or you know are active in marketing their ebay business. If you do something else, find people in that genre on Twitter. All you need is one to start.
2. Go to that Twitter member's page by clicking on their Twitter ID.
3. Click on their 'Followers' link in the upper right of the page.
4. Now this is the most important part. Mouse-over each ID in the list one-by-one to see each person's Bio. Look at the bio to see if that person is involved in your area of interest. If you ebay, do you see the word 'eBay' in their bio? If so, click to follow them. If your genre is selling jewelry, look for people who may be interested in jewelry, etc. For instance, I sell many things for children (clothing, toys, books, CDs,...), so if I see someone who appears from their bio to be a mom of small children, I click on them too, even though the word 'ebay' doesn't appear in the bio.
5. The other thing to watch for while going through the list of followers are Twitterers who you know and respect in your genre. Make a note of their Twitter ID and repeat this process with their list of followers.
   
6. You have just followed these people. Most will soon follow you.

There are other ways to find targeted followers, but this is perhaps the only way to create a list of super-targeted followers for your future marketing related tweets.

Watch for my next blog on this subject for tips on using Twitter to get your message to your followers. Hope this helps.

Ken

Buyer's Guide To eBay Feedback

I couldn't wait to share this with you. If you sell on eBay you should check out my friend Marlene's blog for her letter to buyers about how to rate a seller from whom they've just purchased.

In the Savvy Seller, she lays it all out for the buyer so they understand the different DSR ratings. After reading her letter, the buyer will know that a 3 doesn't mean 'Good'. And that a seller is failing if their average rating is 4. There's no way I could improve on her "Holiday Note to Buyers", so just go read it.

Ken

Store Tips for Holiday Sales

As the holiday season approaches, the best selling season also approaches. Anyone with a store, online or brick and mortar, will tell you that their sales jump up during this time of the year. If you are selling from your store on eBay, Amazon, Auctiva, your own website, or any other online store, taking advantage of the holiday buying fever that seems to increase each year is nothing but common sense. But how do you do that?

1. Decorate Your Store - Add some holiday graphics to help visitors to your store get in the holiday buying mood.
2. Have a Sale - Pre-holiday sales can help jump start your selling season. People who come to your store for the sale may come back and bring their friends (via word-of-mouth) even when the sale is over. There are many procrastinators out there. Get them to buy early or they may end up buying elsewhere on the eve of the holiday.
3. Advertise Your Store - Put up flyers, send ads out to your email list, get your store on some of the bump sites, use Twitter, tell people on Facebook and MySpace about your store, consider using Google Adwords, etc.
4. Stock up on what will sell - Think gift items and consider using the pre-wrapped "Gift" shipping option for your eBay listings! Also, try to stock up on items that are HOT!
5. Shop for Closeouts Now - If you live near a summer resort area, everything is on sale now! Many of those items will make great gifts. You can also haggle if you are buying in quantity for resale. My friend Jen at Down the Shore with Jen just posted about End of Season Deals.
   
6. Use Buy it now style listings - People are often stressed out at this time of year and will not waste time with auctions.
7. Offer free shipping on some items- Many buyers come to the online world at this time of year to avoid the crowds and the time needed to shop.Not having to compare shipping costs from seller to seller simplifies and shortens their experience.
8. Start Now! - There is a lot to do to get ready. Don't wait until October or November. Many people start their holiday shopping soon after Labor Day.

Hope you can put these tips to use. Best wishes for a successful holiday selling season.

What Don't You Understand About NEW and USED?

eBay just announced they will make changes to product attributes, called Item Specifics, in certain categories in August. In Books, DVD & Movies, Music and Video Games categories, eBay will change "Condition" values from "New" and "Used" to "Brand New", "Like New", "Very Good", "Good" and "Acceptable."

I think this change will muddy the water and introduce a level of ambiguity to the condition of the item for used books, DVDs, movies, music, and games. NEW and USED are pretty easy to understand. On the other hand, what do "Like New", "Very Good", "Good" and "Acceptable" mean? Without eBay defining each of these, sellers can't accurately describe their items in terms that the buyer can agree with.

There are published descriptions for various condition levels out there already, such as at the International Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Some used book sellers are already using one of the accepted standards, such as IOBA, and the rest are doing their best to describe the condition of the item in the listing description. And that works up to a point with the current NEW and USED condition specifics.

In my opinion, eBay needs to publish a similar set of definitions for each of these categories and they need to be easily accessible by both buyers and sellers. Otherwise, I think there will be a steep rise in the number of dissatisfied buyers and unpaid item disputes due to the confusion this change will create.

So, what do you think? Leave a comment below by clicking on the word "Comments".

These Are The Basics

In my life as an eBay addict, I have picked up quite a lot of knowledge about how to do things on eBay, the right way. Some from reading books and ebooks, some by reading eBay help topics, some by joining in online and face-to-face discussions with other eBayers, some by taking eBay classes, and some by trial and error. In an effort to help those of you just starting out as well as those who have been selling for some time, I'd like to share a little of what I've learned over the next few posts here on "When Do I Get To Retire?" It never hurts to get back to the basics. These are the basics.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. People everywhere are fascinated by pictures and depending on how one displays the picture of the items you are selling, a decision to buy or not to buy hangs in the balance. Often a prospective buyer will scan the search results and not even read a listing with a poor picture or none at all. Every listing needs at least one digital picture of the item. The picture must be clear and sharp and preferably in color. The background must be a solid neutral color that provides good contrast for your item. Your picture must be cropped so the image of your item fills all or most of the frame. These are the basics.

It is said that one who fails to plan is one who plans to fail. The same goes for research on eBay. Research of products similar to, or the same as, your product is essential. Before you list your items up for sale, check out what other sellers are asking for the same kind of product that you want to sell. This shows you what prices and practices (Titles, Descriptions, shipping methods, etc.) you will be competing against. In addition, search for the item you are selling under "Completed Auctions". This can help you to determine how much the items are really selling for. Setting your beginning bid or fixed price too high will mean failure. Remember also to pick a product that is selling before investing in inventory. These are the basics.

After the picture, the Title is the most important element in your listing. After all, the picture and the title are the first things the prospective buyer will see in the search results. The title must be filled with keywords. Keywords are what your buyer will search for to find your product. Think like your buyer. What keywords will she type into the search box. Put them in your title. You have 55 spaces. Try to use them all. These are the basics.

Your description is not only about listing the basic information about your product. You must market it too. Make an effort to describe your product in detail. Break your description up into paragraphs. One long paragraph will scare buyers away. Bulleted lists work well too. Learn to use words that make your buyer want your product instead of the ones the other sellers have listed. Free is always a good word...as in free shipping for instance. You can think of other words too, but don't sound like a used car salesman. People will go to the next seller. These are the basics.

Buyers like name brand products, great prices, good customer service and fast shipping. The good news is that in eBay, this is totally under the sellers’ control. So while selling, make sure you always include the correct shipping costs and explain how it will be shipped. You have no control of how long it will take to get there, so don't make those promises. These are the basics.

Choosing what payment methods to offer your prospective buyers is not just a personal choice. You need to try to meet the payment abilities of the greatest number of buyers while tempering that with your ability to deal with an occasional problem. Paypal handles most credit card purchases along with seasoned buyers with a Paypal balance. However, some buyers either aren't comfortable with a service like Paypal or they have no credit cards or even a checking account. So, your choice of allowing, or not allowing, money orders, bank checks, or personal checks may mean the difference between you or another seller getting the sale. These are the basics.

A good reputation matters more than anything else on eBay. Unless you are just on the site to sell one item and leave, the first thing that you should focus on is getting good feedback on your sales. A good percentage of eBay buyers will check the track record (called Feedback) of the person from which they are considering bidding or buying. So the better the comments and ratings you have from your past buyers, the better the chance you have of getting new buyers. These are the basics.

Lastly, providing good customer service will give you an edge over other sellers. This is shown in your attentiveness to questions sent by prospective buyers during the auction, how comforting your return policy is, and the amount of follow up in terms of emails that you provide to your customer after the sale. These are the basics.

Yes, these are the basics. But there is so much more to being successful on eBay. Check back regularly for more ramblings from an eBay addict. You never know what you'll learn. Also, if you live in the New York City greater metro area, consider taking one of our classes at Auction Progress, where you'll get the whole story, not just the basics. Our motto is "Helping eBayers Get to the Next Level."

Ken


Technorati Profile

Finding a Local Group of eBayers

Okay, as I've said previously, I am an eBay addict. Some eBay addicts are buyers. They never sell anything, they just buy, buy, buy. To them it's like the Home Shopping Network without the TV. It's even better since it's not on TV, because their non-computing friends envy them for their techie status.

Others are sellers. (Actually, I've never met a seller who isn't also a buyer on eBay.) They want to make some money. How much money depends on the person. For some it's a hobby and others a business. I think the last statistic I read was that there are over 12 million sellers on eBay running a full time or part time business. With the exception of this last group, it's not about the money...well, not just about the money. If you are an eBay addict, you eat, sleep, and play eBay as much as you can get away with. For some it even borders on OCD, we... 'er they feel drawn to the computer all the time. Did I sell anything in the last 5 minutes?; Did anyone send me a question about one of my listings?; Are their any new sellers in my niche? etc., etc., etc.

So, one of the things that eBay addicts enjoy, is talking to other eBay addicts. Well, since this whole thing revolves around the computer and the Internet, how does one do that? Let me count the ways.... There are discussion Forums on eBay's website. There are Groups on eBay. There are even Blogs on eBay. You can also send email to other users through My Messages of eBay. I have a baseball cap with the eBay logo on it that sometimes gets another eBayer to say hello. With the possible exception of the last one, these methods are not really 'talking' to other eBayers.

What's the answer? You attend a local eBay networking group meeting. If you can't find one, you start your own local group. A couple of years ago I found a group in the neighboring state. It was an hour and fifteen minutes each way for a two hour meeting once a month. But I went, month after month...for awhile. It was great! Then one day I was reading some of the discussion topics in an online eBay Group meant for eBayers from my state. One discussion was titled, "Meeting other eBayers in Person." That got my attention. There was a lot of posting on the topic back and forth for months, but nothing ever came of it.

So I just went ahead and started a group. It's called the eBayers of Northern NJ. We meet one a month at a local Panera Bread restaurant which has free WIFI. It's not a big group , but we put notices in some of the local newspapers and we regularly get new visitors. It's so enjoyable to talk to others face-to-face and share what we buy or sell on eBay. We trade tips and techniques and stories about the products we buy or sell.

You can do this too. Go to eBay Groups and search for any groups with the name of your state as part of their name. Then join some of them and ask if there are any face-to-face networking groups in your area. If not, consider starting one. You can then go back and tell the people in those groups you visited, about the new group you started. Another way to find eBay meetings is to go to the website: Meetup.com. There you can browse groups by city or search for a meetup group with the word 'eBay' in the name.

Now, I'm looking forward to the big daddy of eBay meetups in a few weeks, the eBay Live convention in Chicago. This is eBay's annual education, networking, and exhibition gathering. I'll tell you all about it, in a month from now when I return.

Ken