Monthly Archive for November, 2006

Recently an ex-neighbor gave me her new email address. She apologized for the length of it and said her 16 year old son had created it for her. I waited until she left before I chuckled. So much for kids knowing everything about computers!

With the ability to choose any name that wasn’t already taken, he had selected firstname/lastname/randomnumber@bigISP.com.

If you don’t get the joke, it’s simply this: AOL suggestively assigns screen names
such as yourname/randomnumber@aol.com (If I suffered brain damage
and signed up for an AOL account, I would be offered some variation on fluffy1234@aol.com).
There are so many of these name/number combos floating around now that people
like my ex-neighbor’s son simply assume that’s what an email address has to
look like.

So. Do you use templates and pretty borders in your auctions? Do you do it
because you assume that’s what an auction has to look like?

Let’s try an experiment. Odds are this time of year you have a stack of mail
order catalogs sitting around. Open the Coldwater Creek book to any page.
See how the designer works with a two-page layout to create harmony and balance
while showcasing five or six items? Some of the photos bleed off the page.
There is no wasted space. There are no borders. Just stunning photos of
gorgeous items.

In catalog selling, every square inch must pay for itself because the books
are so darn expensive to create, print and mail. Catalogers are obsessive
about evaluating the selling power of their book and are constantly trying to
boost it. You should be trying to increase the power of your auction layout,
too. You have even less space to work with. Don’t waste it on borders.

There is no rule that says you can’t use the same picture twice or more in an
auction. I put my photos inline using HTML. Then I use eBay’s one free
picture hosting to showcase the best picture. And finally, I put all the
pictures in eBay’s new Picture Show, which is FREE. Picture Show creates a
slide show on the left side near the top of the page. Anyone who lands on your
item page will see the picture first.

That’s power. Get some.

A close examination of the Top Guides on eBay reveals that a sure-fire way to be popular is to write something anti-PayPal or scam oriented….not exactly what Meg & Bill had in mind. And the number one guide writer, IMHO, is wasting a great opportunity to build out his own site.

Microsoft’s adCenter (Their Google Adwords equivalent) is offering up to $200 worth of free ad clicks for giving them a test drive…listen in as I explain how to cash in.

Varien’s eCommerce Cache reports that on-line shoppers have the bucks to spend, according to a National Retail Federation study…but what’s really interesting is what the study says about on-line shopping comparison sites.

A free service that will track auctions according to your criteria and then notify you by e-mail when new ones are listed…a good way to keep on top of your competition.

The “2006 Feedback Hall of Shame”..the 25 eBay sellers with the worst feedback ratings.

An eBay/Google search game that awards points for the strangest eBay ad results.

A free search program that prioritizes, organizes and speeds your searches.

eBay’s Classified format presents some very interesting possibilities for marketing your business…and contrary to what you may believe, you’re not limited to a few categories…listen in as I explain how you can make it work for you.

A shipping comparison site where you can find the best prices and shippers…all for free.

A service that will automatically adjust your eBay Store pricing, either up or down, according to market conditions.

How about your own action figure? If you’ve got an idea, these folks can deliver the finished goods.

Pricing books/media in the field using Amazon’s data with a cell phone and a scanner is a fast, simple, and affordable way to know the value of books and other media BEFORE you purchase….and there is a service that will do just that!

A really imaginative company that produces cat & dog toys that are decidedly hip…and that also offers wholesale pricing.

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Links from this week’s show:

Overstock.com’s Clearance Sale: Save an additional 10% on a wide variety of merchandise.

eBay’s Top Reviewers - Look at the Top Reviews and see all that it takes to be popular is to write anything anti-PayPal.

Microsoft’s $200 Worth of Free adCenter Clicks - Great timing for the 4th quarter….offer good till 01/15/2007.

Holiday Shopper Demographics - What is really surprising is what searchers are not using.

BayMonitor - Automated, customized alerts for new auction items by e-mail.

2006 Feedback Hall of Shame - Know anyone with worse than a -108?

eBads Search Game - Funny eBay/Google Ad results.

AuctionSieve - Automated search program.

eBay Classified Ad Fees - Inexpensive marketing.

RedRoller - Compare shipping options and costs from major carriers.

PriceCoaster - Automate pricing for eBay store listings.

Toy Agency - One stop action figure design/manufacturing.

Zazzle- T-shirts,mugs, posters, etc. your way.

SellerFusion - Dynamic pricing of books/media using Amazon data.

Fat Cat, Inc. - Hip cat and dog products. Retail opportunities.

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Enough about me, let’s talk about you.

Look at what you’ve got going for you: a computer (or access to one), the
skills to use it and some hard-won knowledge about how eBay works.

Now let me ask you: Is your eBay merchandise worthy of you?

I’m looking at an eBay seller who has 25 cent thingies in her Store, with 75
cent shipping. Hokay. What are her costs?

• 5 cents for a Store listing.

• 3 cents FVF (Final Value Fee).

• PayPal transaction fee is 30 cents plus 1.9 to 2.9 cents…let’s just call it 33 cents.

• Say 5 cents for the envelope, 39 cents for postage

And what have we got? Assuming she got this thing for free, a 15 cent profit.

Not so fast.

With 142 items in her eBay Store, this thingie must pay its own way. A basic
Store is $15.95 a month, so the thingie has an 11 cent load to bear. Oh dear.
Our profit is now just 4 cents.

But surely if you sell enough and it takes only seconds to address this thing
and drop it in the mail…

Our seller received 113 feedbacks in the last 30 days. Assuming a 50% laziness
rate, let’s say that makes 226 sales. 226 times 4 cents.

Oh, you look. I’m afraid to.

$9.04 for one month’s work.

When I meet a seller like this, I ask why they work so hard for so little
return. “It’s fun!” is a typical response, or “I’m just trying to get rid of
this stuff.”

My responses are “Wouldn’t it be more fun to make some serious money selling
something people want, and doing it with the same amount of work?” and “Lot
this stuff up, take a bunch of pictures, and have one listing that starts at 99
cents.”

Guys, eBay was trying to tell you something a few months back when they
revamped Stores fees. The results are in: You didn’t listen. Only 6% of
Stores closed.

I try to avoid making pigskin prognostications, but look for
Store fees to go up again, perhaps next spring, and continue going up until the
math-impaired among you finally get It.

fLufF

An article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) asserts that the Big Box stores are making inroads on the internet, making up ground on upstarts like Amazon, eBay and Overstock…maybe yes, maybe no…what can a small seller do?

Thinking about starting your own e-commerce store?…or maybe you’ve already made the leap. In either case, wouldn’t you love to know what your competition is paying for top words/phrases on Google’s Adwords? There’s a site that will do just that..at least, until they start charging for the information.

Every seller needs to know how to figure Gross Margin and apply it to their sale’s efforts; listen in as I explain the reasons as well as point out a site that will do the math for you.

Why should you avoid $.99 price endings?..there are two very good reasons that can give you a leg-up (see photo) on your competition.

Innocent enough ads in Craigslist and elsewhere on-line, advertising job opportunities complete with employment contracts, are actually recruiting Money Mules for internet phishing thieves.

Speaking of Big Box stores, if you happen to have a very large blue one near you, you might have an excellent opportunity to source product for re-sale.

Thinking about including video in your auction? There’s a site that explains how to do so easily using YouTube or Google Video. And if video isn’t for you, how about a site that will stream endless images in your auction for you and help beat the costs and limitations of most auction sites?

So, you’ve written an e-book or are considering it…where to host it, how to deliver it and how to do it all for $5 a month with no additional fees? I’ve got the site for you.

In addition, Last Minute Auctions for .99 and no bidders…a Wize site for product review…a jewelry wholesaler who will execute custom product for you…and last but not least, where you can buy Ralphie’s Dad’s ever-so-stylish leg lamp!

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Links from this week’s show:

SpyFu - See what your competition is paying for top placement in Google Adwords.

Gross Margin Explained - Business basics you should apply to selling.

Big Crumbs - Save, as in cash back, on shopping through 122 major on-line retailers (Overstock,eBay,Best Buy, etc.) and get rebates for you and your referrals..for Free!

Profit Margin Calculator - Simple on-line calculator for figuring Gross Margin, selling price and Gross Margin percentage.

Money Mules Article - Work at home and help fuel international money laundering in your spare time.

Using Videos in Your Auctions - Easy tutorial on how to use YouTube & Google video to support your on-line auction or web site sales.

FilmLoops - Service for slipping film loops( think slide show) into your auctions…and a way to get around image limitations for free.

E-Junkie - $5 per month hosting and fulfillment for your e-book or information product with no other fees.

Last Minute Auctions - eBay auctions for a buck or less with an hour or less left to run.

Wize.com - Unbiased product reviews from across the web.

NotCot.org - Very cool site with the very coolest products form all over the web. Too cool for words.

Badali Jewelry - Jewelry wholesaler that will also execute custom designs.

Red Rider Leg Lamps - The Ultimate Christmas Gift (see above) from the ultimate Christmas Story.

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Responding to the internet’s latest tulip mania, Sony’s PS3, eBay announced today that it was imposing limits on sellers:

Only established eBay vendors - those who have racked up comments from at least 50 previous customers and have positive ratings of at least 98 out of 100 points - can list PS3s before Friday. Each vendor can list only one PS3 per eBay account.

The listing must include a photo of the pre-order receipt, and the seller must guarantee shipment within 30 days from the date of purchase. Before Friday, PS3s can be listed on eBay only in auction formats - not as “buy it now” items.

This is all well and good, addressing a number of lessons learned from previous problems the site has experienced with ultra-hot items and actually going a step or two further by setting the 50 previous customer standard, positive feedback threshold, limit of one PS3 per account, etc..

However, as was discussed in my previous post regarding site security, the 50 comment and 98/100 comment thresholds are easily circumvented by working the penny auction/auto-feedback daisy-chain whereby virtually cost-free sales are exchanged for immediate and positive feedback; 50 purchases or so = 50 positive feedbacks, cost: 1/2 a buck, if that.
The photo of the receipt requirement can be easily side-stepped by either hijacking a receipt photo from a legitimate auction or simply PhotoShopping a facsimile. Seeing is believing on the internet, only never believe what you see.
The guarantee requirement is irrelevant, at least from a scammer’s point of view.

This brings us to the auction only limit, which has some merit but then expires on Friday,thus opening up the scammer’s favorite format; the one day auction.

By avoiding the elephant in the room, namely eBay requiring buyers to register credit card info and other common sense hurdles, eBay has chosen to write rules on a barn door that is still wide open. Overstock eliminated 1 day auctions in March , a move that addresses the cut and run tactic and a move that at least ensures that there is time for the community and management to get wind of suspicious listings and do something about them. The likelihood of eBay following suit is remote.

And so it goes.

A couple of thoughts, apart from the scamming, occur to me.

One is that this fill-in-the-blank item madness on eBay has joined the canon of Yuletide chestnuts along with Macy’s parade, Bing’s White Christmas and Christmas Story.

Another is that in eBay’s announcement, this was stated:

“With the Xbox, we saw a high number of well-intentioned sellers unable to meet obligations due to restricted supply.”

And thus eBay has ever-so-lightly announced that apart from evil-doers, it is now a guardian - protecting us so it seems - from our “well-intentioned” but nevertheless avaricious Yuletide selves.

Good luck…or as Ralphie (as an adult) says in Christmas Story:

“Life is like that. Sometimes at the height of our reveries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.”

I’ve often mentioned how effective personalization is as a marketing and product feature. In other words, by allowing the customer to customize his/her purchase you not only differentiate yourself from competitors but also can enjoy a better price for your item.

Of course, what you currently sell can be limiting insofar as customizable options are concerned. But at this time of year especially, gift-wrapping as an option is the perfect upsell.

Think about products that you could sell that offer the buyer the option of making it uniquely their own…and they will gladly pay.

How much? Well, I found this quote in an article in Fortune from Motorola chief technology officer Padmasree Warrior (wonderful name!) very revealing:

We made $2 billion providing ringtones to service providers. It’s interesting that people will pay $2 now to get two lines of a song to play when their phone rings, but they resist paying 99 cents for a full song on their PC or MP3 player. Why? Because it’s personalizing the device. It makes a statement about who you are…

Also, if you’re thinking about gift-wrapping and are gift-wrap challenged…here’s a source that makes it easy.

What’s going on with “daisy-chain” penny BIN auctions for screen savers, e-books, etc. on eBay? Apart from the obvious ploy to hasten a newbie’s feedback rating to 10 and thus open up multiple items and 1 day auctions, it appears that there is a more sinister game afoot. Botnets, run by criminal elements, are using semi-automated spiders to sign-up with eBay and then crawl the site in search of these auctions.

Why?

Listen in as I interview security expert Chad Harrington from Fireeye as he explains the evil that botnets do. In addition, I report on my chat with Guillaume Lovet, Threat Response Team Manager from Fortinet.

eBay’s Rob Chestnut announces a pilot program on eBay Motors that will dramatically change the transparency of bidder’s IDs.

eBay’s plan, announced in October, to anony-mize the infamous Yellow Button has hit some snags.

First things first, picking the right URL for your new e-commerce site takes planning and much thought…the name you pick as well as the domain itself can make or break you.

Button, button…I’ve found a site that will create HTML buttons for your auctions; its a simple task that plays well in catching shopper’s attention.

Wholesale poker supplies…wholesale miniature tools…and a site with all the info you need to get up to speed in the vintage clothing market.

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Links from this week’s show:

Fortinet’s Guillaume Lovet Article on eBay & Botnets - Midway down the page, screenshots and a detailed explanation.

eBay’s Rob Chestnut’s Post on the Coming Changes to the Display of Bidder IDs. - Say good-bye to the transparent marketplace….and not a moment too soon.

The Yellow Button Chronicles - eBay’s plans for anonymous e-mail forwarding are postponed.

CNN Article on Picking the Right URL - What you call your site makes all the difference…good checklist to keep in mind.

Button Menu Maker - 3-D Buttons for your auctions.

Trademark Poker Supply Wholesaler - Call the 800# for wholesale pricing information. Licensed Products.

Pappa John’s Toolbox - Miniature tool wholesaler…Dremel, etc..

Vintage Fashion Guild - International seller’s collective for the vintage fashion biz…Resources, tips & tricks, forum.

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se’cure
­adjective
1. free from or not exposed to danger or harm; safe.
2. dependable; firm; not liable to fail, yield, become displaced, etc., as a
support or a fastening: The building was secure, even in an earthquake.
3. affording safety, as a place: He needed a secure hideout.
4. in safe custody or keeping: Here in the vault the necklace was secure.
5. free from care; without anxiety: emotionally secure.
6. firmly established, as a relationship or reputation: He earned a secure
place among the baseball immortals.
7. sure; certain; assured: secure of victory; secure in religious belief.
8. safe from penetration or interception by unauthorized persons: secure radio
communications between army units.

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It dawned on me recently that when some people talk about a site being “secure”
(#8) or not, what they’re really saying is that *they* don’t feel secure (#5).

As Michael pointed out in a recent show, one study shows that the number of
people who recognize a phish email is dismally low. So apparently if Grandma
Jane eBayer is getting mail that purports to be from eBay and PayPal on a daily
basis, it reinforces her perception that neither eBay nor PayPal are secure
(#8), even though it’s actually her lack of knowledge about what maketh a phish that is the prime cause of her anxiety.

Add to that the persistent rumor that some of the malicious emails come from
insiders. “How else could they know my real name?” Grandma Jane doesn’t
remember the contests she entered or the online warranty cards she’s filled
out, and she will not believe you if you remind her. She thinks privacy
policies are in place to protect her privacy. She’s certainly never read one
or considered the implications.

Compounding the problem is that when company reps try to educate Grandma Jane,
she just tunes them out and tunes in QVC instead. Those nice hosts, she
almost feels like she knows them. And such pretty jewelry, and what a great
value. All she has to do is pick up her old analog cordless phone and give her
credit card number.

So safe, so certain. Shucks, she’s been doing it for the
last forty years, starting with that Veg-O-Matic guy, Ron Popeil.

Pay no attention Jane to the man parked at the curb, operating that scanner.

Your identity is secure.

fLufF

This week eBay continues with its transformation into a maelstrom of every known web 2.0 social gadget with the introduction of it’s “Pop” page…its as if a 13 year old has been given the keys to the world’s largest e-commerce website and in true MySpace fashion, is trying to out cool the rest of his middle school classmates.

Additionally, there is another popularity contest pitting communities against one another in order to win $$ for the winning zip code’s favorite charity - so much for need-based giving - as well as another that encourages members to pound away on their keyboards in hopes of becoming the 1 millionth click on the Matchup popularity game ( e.g. Angelina Jolie vs. Muqtada al-Sadr, etc.). The latter contest resulting in a handsome payoff of..drum roll, please..$250!! This from a company that netted a billion or two last quarter.

Meanwhile, social scientists from Harvard and Berkeley have determined that the majority of internet users are clueless when it comes to what they’re doing on-line….many no doubt graduates of eBay’s click-till-you-drop school of netiquette.

Persisting to swim upstream, I have a recommendation on how to use auctions for A/B split testing….and maybe a formula for you to actually use your spare time selling (after voting for Angelina) to cleverly outwit your competitors.

Several wholesale sites to recommend, strategies for bundling, an example of text you should never put in your auctions….

I’d like to tell you more but you’ll just have to listen…..someone from a neighboring zip code has just challenged me to wikis at forty paces.

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Links from this week’s show:

BigCrumbs.com - Make money saving money from sites like Overstock.com, eBay, Gap, etc.. every time you buy something from eBay, you’ll get up to 36% of the SELLERS’s fees as cash back.
eBay’s Pop Page - Bread and circus; a million clicks and more or less nothing to show for it.

The Secret of Phisher’s Success - Its academic, people are clueless.

Bruce Schneier’s Blog on Fraudulent SSL - What you see is only what you think you see when it comes to SSL encrypted sites.

eShop Africa - Very good wholesale site for African Imports.

Turtle Papers- Wholesale fine stationery and gifts.

Aquarium Plants - Wholesale fish related books, equipment, flora, fauna, fins.

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In his Blog, Entrepreneur’s Journey, Yaro Starak makes some very good points re using PayPal as an e-commerce payment solution. Forgetting for the moment all of the PayPal negatives that pass for wisdom on-line(e.g. Google search results for “PayPal Sucks” = ~ 87,000 results) , Yaro instead focuses on PayPal’s strengths….and end-of-the-day, these strengths are foolish to ignore.

First a few facts, quoting from eBay’s 3rd Quarter financial results:

PayPal had another excellent quarter, highlighted by increasing penetration on-eBay and excellent growth in our Merchant Services business.

PayPal net revenues totaled $350 million in Q3-06, a growth rate of 41% over the $247 million reported in Q3-05. PayPal had nearly 123 million total accounts at the end of Q3-06, a 41% increase from the 87 million reported in Q3-05. Those accounts helped drive record Total Payment Volume (TPV) of $9.1 billion in Q3-06, a 37% increase from the $6.7 billion reported in Q3-05.

PayPal Merchant Services posted a record $3.3 billion in global TPV in Q3-06, representing a 59% increase from the $2.1 billion reported in Q3-05.

Now, to expand a bit on Yaro’s post:

1. PayPal is the standard. Nothing comes close and they are fast approaching that point(if they aren’t there already, at least in the US market) where the brand is as ubiquitous for payment services as eBay is for auctions.
2. Opting out of PayPal, for whatever reason as a payment option, simply excludes you from a very significant piece of the internet pie. In my experience, the only evidence supportive of not accepting PayPal and still thriving as an internet business is anecdotal. And as for the alternatives, whether merchant accounts or PayPal wannabes, it simply isn’t in the cards. Far from perfect, there is much to criticize in PayPal’s operation BUT not anymore than the general level of complaints visited upon any large enterprise…particularly one involved in the transfer of money.
3. Perhaps Yaro’s most interesting point (or hypothesis) is that psychologically, people treat PayPal as “Play Money”, making the point that an expenditure of funds as a PayPal customer is simply a few keystrokes…and not the step-by-step of credit card input; each step of which is an interruption in the purchase flow. Cart abandonment is a critical bit of forensics for any internet merchant and there are reasons apart from data entry that interrupt the flow(shipping calculation for one). Time-to-completion is on PayPal’s side and the less time thinking about the purchase, the more likely it will be completed. Further, PayPal is known as a brand while your site is an unknown to a potential customer…your site actually benefits from the association by force of the customer’s likelihood of having a successful experience elsewhere using PayPal. Third-Party security statements a site affiliations with Verisign, HackerSafe, etc. do not trump PayPal’s ease and familiar name…and ease trumps all in our society.

One note that I will bring up re Yaro’s post, he states that PayPal doesn’t pay interest on account balances when in fact it does (currently 5.2%) which is even more reason for the ease-minded consumer to leave the money there, ready for the next impulse buy.

Do you have some broken sterling silver or do you have some broken sterling silver or gold jewelry just sitting around in a drawer?