An eBay Success Story – you can do it!
By DBL | February 12, 2012
I’ve often blogged how eBayUK can help to start a new business or grow a current SME with low risk, at low cost and with little or no financial aid.
I’m always extremely happy to hear positive eBay business stories as the media often only cover the negatives and the balance may scare some into thinking it’s all bad. For each negative there are umpteen times more positives that go unreported.
This particular story caught my eye about Bamford Trading who started on eBay back in 2005 have now attained a pretty impressive positive feedback rating of 264,000 with Top Rated Seller Status (TRS)
to boot. In this difficult economic climate eBay is the ideal place to start that ‘business in a box’ as mentioned in one of the videos below or to extend your business onto the web.
But how can a business get started on this monster global marketplace? What is it that takes an eBay business from zero to 264,000 feedback and TRS status? John & Gill Hewitt share some of their tips for success in the videos below.
Gill mentions research, this is the key before you invest in any stock. You can look at the top ten searched keywords in each category on eBay on eBay Pulse, this is free to use and a very useful tool, it also displays the largest shops (by quantity) and the most watched items. Another way is to search completed listings via the left hand menu on any eBay search. This will let you know what sort of price these items are selling for on eBay at this time of year, when they end and at which time it gets the best price.
If you like to delve deeper into selling data and also that of your competitors (yes including their turnover, best sellers and other time relevant data) then I suggest you sign up for Terapeak well worth a sign up even if just for a month before you make the decision to buy stock, always Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Anorak Recommends, Anorak Selling Tips, eBay | No Comments »
I blogged over ‘ere again :-)
By DBL | January 5, 2012
I blogged a bit on Tamebay
about shopping on the move,
It seems that peeps like eBay shopping apps
and it’s becoming quite the groove.
So next time you want fashion, dvd’s or bric-a-brac
Reach for your shiny smartphone and try the eBay app
With lots of stuff to choose from within 13 thousand cats
the ease of shopping anywhere without those heavy bags
eBayAnorak 😉
Topics: eBay, General Meanderings | No Comments »
Unwanted Christmas Presents (know your rights)
By DBL | December 26, 2011
Anorak, sifting through the news on Boxing day found a useful little gem on the BBC News website.
Just a few minutes of film to let you know your rights on return both on and offline for returning goods, don’t fall foul of illegal seller terms regardless of whether you shopped on or offline or have a gift you don’t like, this will make things a little clearer as to what to do. There are different rules for different places e.g. online from a business seller, online from a private seller or on the High Street. Also the legal rules differ on items that are faulty and those that are unwanted or ill-fitting.
And sellers time to brush up your legal seller terms, there’s a short guide to the EC Distance Selling Regulations here 🙂
But, if you have a gift you really don’t like … SELL IT ON EBAY OF COURSE!
Topics: eBay | No Comments »
I blogged here…
By DBL | December 3, 2011
I blogged here on Tamebay about illegal seller terms … go me 🙂
Topics: eBay, General Observations | No Comments »
Sue Bailey, so long my friend, sleep well :'(
By DBL | August 18, 2011
It took so long to start to write this, the news of Sue’s death was a real shock to me as it was to many and I didn’t think that there was anything I could write that would do her justice. Sue touched the online lives of many and her work and influence will be left behind in cyberspace for as long as it exists, as it will be with me.
‘Remembering and being reminded of the Sue we all know and love’ said Chris, when I said I didn’t know what to write, so here are a few memories of Sue Bailey, my blogmum.
My first cyber encounter was as a fellow bead seller on the Powerseller board many years ago probably circa 2004. Sue & Jazzy called me the ‘Demon Bead Lady’ and from then on I was known as DBL. This came about when a US buyer accused me of putting demons in the beads she’d bought (not the typical eBay buyer I must add).
Many lovely memories of those Powerseller board days. So many good times, laughing about anything and nothing, she’d put #eBay straight on many things and that never changed, even in one of her last Tamebay posts entitled eBay, this is why you deserve to fail she never held back.
I met Chris and Sue face to face for the first time at the eBay University at Coventry Stadium (2006 I think) a good few months before the first Tamebay blog post it’s one of those things with the web and the Powerseller board, you meet someone for the first time face to face and you already know so much about them. Tamebay was a breath of fresh air with it’s own brand of ‘eBayness’ and is the only place to go for up to date eBay news and information.
We kept in touch and met up at lots of eBay events. She helped me move my pathetic attempt at a blog on typepad over to wordpress.org and hosted it for me. I make words up now and again and ‘blogsprog’ was one she found rather funny and introduced me as so. Even Whirly said we were crazy (pot kettle).
She had so much patience and gave encouragement as I aspired to be a better blogger (the importance of regular blogging and outside links etc, well at least I’ve done one of those) and I even had a guest post on Tamebay too, such an honour.
When she left eBay selling to start ‘a real job’ we caught up now and again after London events to discuss the ‘goss’, over a ‘little’ white wine and chocolate cake. I remember a late night walking tour of Hammersmith during SB2.0 and sitting on a wall putting the world to rights and laughing so loud over something which I can’t mention here, but let me just say it was one of those ‘Sue’ tells it like it is’ type moments. The words mischief and mayhem come to mind if the chance arose.
Sue had a great taste in boots and I took a photo of these ‘fairy boots’ she had from John Pemberton white DrMartens with silver flowers, by the sounds of other tribute posts the boots and heels were noted too.
Lets just say, when she had an opinion, she didn’t hold back and she had such a straight talking ‘tell it like it is’ attitude that I loved. As the Farewell Sue Bailey Tamebay announcement said, Sue would give her honest, no holds barred opinion and was usually right. This was so true and one of the things I loved about her.
Remembering sayings as hash tags (due to censorship) #CTFIASTFD, #FTFO, #OFY & #FFFSFO.
In Sue’s words she was a ‘WordPress whisperer, blogger, writer, eBay fan, humanist, atheist, liberal, socialist, feminist, cat slave, wino, Whovian, amateur librarian, storyvore’
Some people make a huge difference in your life in many ways, Sue Bailey was one of them, thanks Sue for everything in tribute to an intelligent, beautiful and strong woman … I’ll never forget you my friend.
‘Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on‘ ~Eckhart Tolle
‘To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.’~Thomas Campbell. Thanks to Taexalia for that.
So long my friend sleep well until we meet again x
Topics: General Meanderings, General Observations | No Comments »
Anorak’s Been AWOL Again
By DBL | August 6, 2011
Anorak has been AWOL for the last couple of months, well as far as blogging is concerned. The truth be known I’ve just been working on other things.
I’ve been working with two new clients in the Clothes, Shoes and Accessories category, a new one in the Sporting Memorabilia and Photography categories, along with my regular clients in Home & Garden and Business and Office and Industrial. With each new eBay for Business client I’m continuing to widen my experience of different eBay categories and businesses each with their own problems and nuances. There are 13,000 eBay categories so I have a few yet to cover. I’ve been listing on my own ID to sell the last remaining stock to make room for something more diverse. I continue to list for other eBay clients at weekends especially Multi Variation Listings I find this part most relaxing perhaps this is why it’s a weekend job.
I had the honour of one my blog posts eBay Spring 2011 Update, the good bits being used by eBay in their eBay Top Seller Newsletter alongside posts from my favourite eBay news blog Tamebay and Matthew Ogbourne’s blog Last Drop of Ink.
And by no means least somewhere in there I am a Mum and wife, busy me.
The most exciting project of all I’ve been working on, with some of the best eCommerce experts in the business, is still under wraps but I will be sharing all that with you here very shortly.
Anorak firmly zipped on that subject … for now.
WATCH THIS SPACE!
Topics: eBay, General Meanderings | No Comments »
Multi variation listings limit & duplicate listing removal
By DBL | May 22, 2011
This week saw the start of the implementation of the duplicate listings policy and from Monday 16 May the automatic sweep began to identify duplicate listings and Tuesday saw the start of those being removed from the site.
Currently on the first sweep those ended listings will result in a refund of the relevant fees associated with them. If you relist them, or you have an automated relist in place on those listings (worth checking) on subsequent sweeps, sellers will not get their fees refunded and will most likely end up with a duplicate listing policy violation. The first sweep will take several days due to the sheer volume of duplicate listings, but I hear this will get faster as the site is cleaned of duplicates.
If you’re not sure whether you have any duplicate listings eBay have provided a duplicate listing finder tool (sign in required) specifically for the purpose.
While at the Channel Advisor EU Catalyst Conference in London this week, I asked an eBay Account Manager if there were any plans to increase the amount of variants allowed on a multi variant listing (MVL), there are currently 150, this is not enough. One listing I did last weekend had 5 sizes, 12 colours and 5 pack sizes totalling 300 variants, so this meant I had to either split it into two separate MVL’s or omit some of the variants. Splitting into two variants will dilute the Best Match boost of the product between both and omitting variants or pack sizes (to save on postage on a free P&P listing) will lower the buyer experience. My request has been noted but I won’t hold my breath.
So with the duplicate listings now being removed, can we please have more variants allowed in MVL’s?
Topics: Anorak Selling Tips, eBay, General Observations | No Comments »
Tamebay’s eBay Tools & services Guide 2011
By DBL | May 21, 2011
I attended the Channel Advisor EU Catalyst event in London this week an excellent event with the absolute best in eCommerce professionals all in one place. Networking with the likes of eBay, Google, Facebook and Amazon and the top eCommerce EU businesses is invaluable. If you’ve never attended Catalyst or even the smaller Insite events I wholeheartedly recommend you do.
This week also saw the launch of another invaluable resource Tamebay’s eBay Tools & services Guide 2011 a comprehensive list of tools and services for both the new and the more established eBay business. The best thing about this resource, it’s available for FREE on the Tamebay site!
An Anorak recommended resource 🙂
Topics: Anorak Recommends, Anorak Selling Tips, eBay | No Comments »
eBay for business pain points, what are yours?
By DBL | May 10, 2011
Many of my eBay for business clients have eBay business pain points whether they be customer service issues reflecting on DSR (Detailed Seller Ratings) scores or despatch problems.
There seems to be certain types of problems for certain types of business. B&M (bricks & mortar) businesses coming to eBay for the first time are not prepared for the amount of customer service that eBay buyers demand. These companies are used to despatching items in a reasonable time scale without any other contact with their customers.
eBay buyers expect their goods next day or the ‘WOW’ factor diminishes resulting in lower scores for despatch time DSR. Buyers see this as delivery time rather than despatch time. They expect an answer to their questions extremely quickly regardless of the day or time of a low DSR for communication may follow. With that big DSR stick buyers carry that can seriously damage your search ranking and sales, customer care and service must be of paramount importance to your eBay business.
Some are bemused by the sheer scale of eBay’s rules, regulations and requirements, often falling foul of eBay policies without prior knowledge of the policies they’ve broken. I often get frantic phone calls from new clients when they run into trouble hoping for a quick fix. Low DSR’s can be with you for up to 12 months especially if you are a low volume seller there ‘s a lot of hard work to do to regain it.
We’re talking constructively here, I’m interested in what your eBay business pain points are and what you think would solve them.
Topics: eBay, General Meanderings | No Comments »
Another eBay Scammer Bites the Dust!
By DBL | May 7, 2011
Another one bites the dust with a three year prison sentence … BBC article about a guy in Leeds selling tickets for the Leeds Festival on eBay netting near on £50k for tickets that didn’t exist.
One question though, why was the investigation ongoing for two years?
I have just received my Download Festival 2011 tickets, official and rocking!
\m/
Topics: eBay Media Trainspotting, General Meanderings | No Comments »