Make Serious Money on eBay UK, Amazon and Beyond

Dan Wilson

• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781857886085
• eBook ISBN: 9781857889581
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: E-Commerce
• Index: Business

Do you want to make money selling online? If so, there's never been a better time. Today, you can profit not only from eBay, but also by plugging into Amazon and other exciting marketplace opportunities. And, whether you're just looking at a clear-out, need a second income, or want to establish an e-commerce enterprise, this book is your indispensable guide. In this brand new third edition of his bestselling Make Money on eBay UK, Dan Wilson has distilled nearly 15 years experience with eBay, small businesses and internet selling. Whether you are a fledgling seller, full-time trader or e-entrepreneur, Make Serious Money on eBay UK, Amazon and Beyond is the guide to keep by your side.

Part I | Mastering eBay and building a business

When it comes to ecommerce, there’s only one place to start. eBay provides a low-investment, low-risk gateway for entrepreneurs interested in getting their share of the action. It offers access to a readymade global marketplace populated by 200 million buyers, as well as off-the-peg tools to help sellers promote, manage and develop their sales.

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF eBAY >

On Labor Day 1995, a Silicon Valley coder called Pierre Omidyar launched what was to become eBay onto an unsuspecting internet. Originally, it was called Auctionweb and soon it was attracting a small but loyal following of geeks who used it to trade collectables and tech equipment. The site was primitive and for Pierre it was a labour of love, not a business.

As it grew, Auctionweb started to attract attention. Soon his web service provider began charging him more to account for the huge leap in web traffic the site was taking. Reluctantly, Pierre started charging a few cents for the service and soon small payments flooded in. Pierre wondered if he had stumbled onto something special.

At the heart of eBay lie two key principles. One was that the market had to be as free as was possible. Existing marketplaces (stock exchanges or the oil market, for instance) benefited bigger players and established traders. Prices and conditions were fixed to favour vested interests. It was rarely possible for outsiders to compete fairly.

He also believed that prices were better set by buyers rather than sellers. After all, what is a fair market price other than what someone is readily willing to pay? This concept was central to Pierre’s affection for auctions. In an auction sellers are able to set the minimum price they are willing to accept and if someone thinks that is a fair price they will buy. If two or more people are willing to pay the price, or more, they bid against each other until the highest price they are willing to pay is established. The fair market price is set by buyers on the basis of what they think something is worth rather than by outside controls, cartels or vested interests.

The second touchstone of eBay’s ethos lies with the simple maxim, codified by Pierre as the most important of the eBay values: people are basically good. He saw it in the earliest days of eBay and it still lies at the core of eBay’s rules. It is manifested in the feedback system and also in the leap of faith that people have to take to trade with strangers online.

> 1995: Pierre Omidyar founds eBay in San Jose, California

> 1996: eBay introduces Feedback systems

> 1996: eBay hires first Customer Support rep, Jim Griffith

> 1998: Meg Whitman joins ebay as CEO

> 1998: The company goes public with the eBay IPO on the Nasdaq

> 1999: eBay buys alando.de, later becomes eBay Germany

> 1999: eBay.co.uk and eBay.au open for businesses

> 2001: eBay introduces Buy It Now feature

> 2001: eBay buys PayPal

> 2007: John Donohoe succeeds Whitman to become eBay CEO

eBAY TODAY IN A NUTSHELL >

eBay is now a marketplace where individuals and businesses sell to an online audience of about 15 million people a month in the UK. Global in scope, eBay helps you buy and sell too with people all over the world.

Sellers offer goods for sale using an online form to post pictures and a written description describing the goods for sale and buyers can either bid using an online auction system or buy instantly using the Buy It Now feature. Buyers judge the trustworthiness of sellers using a feedback system of user reviews. Some eBay sellers are accredited as Top-rated Sellers for delivering consistent good service and get better visibility in search and other perks.

Almost universally, buyers pay sellers using the online payments processor PayPal, which is owned by eBay. Sellers sometimes offer Free P&P to buyers, but if there are carriage costs they are typically covered by the buyer. Postage costs are detailed on the View Item particulars when the buyers examine the item.

Once payment is received by the sellers, the item is dispatched. Sellers pay listing fees to make their wares available for sale on eBay (but do look out for free listing promos!) and also pay a Final Value Fee commission on a successful sale. The listing fee and commission depend on the value of the goods sold and the category they were listed in. Both buyer and seller then leave feedback for their trading partner depending on how the trade went.

In the event of a sale going awry, buyers are covered by eBay Buyer Protection and sellers who get ripped off by a buyer (usually because of a dodgy payment) are protected too by PayPal.

Increasingly eBay is becoming an outlet for bigger retailers and high street names and is moving away from the ‘hobby sellers’ who were the mainstay in the past. But that said, many small businesses prosper on the site and there is still an army of individuals selling a few bits and bobs to turn a shilling.

It’s the nursery for any budding ecommerce entrepreneur for three key reasons.

BUILT FOR BEGINNERS >

Other marketplaces, especially Amazon, require you to have an established commercial operation up and ready at the get-go. You need to provide them with all manner of business bona fides and details when you register. eBay isn’t like that and is open to all. That means you can start selling very quickly indeed, and have your first items up for sale in minutes.

REPEATABLE SUCCESS >

If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere. As you strive for success on eBay, you’ll learn all the skills you’ll need elsewhere. Crafting superb listings that convert browsers into buyers, learning the labyrinth of postal services and couriers and even dealing with tricky customers are all vital skills and entirely transferable to wherever you sell online.

Learning the ropes on eBay is also good for honing your competitive skills and helping you understand that it’s a fairly cut-throat and relentless marketplace out there. eBay is very competitive and you’re fighting other sellers to get the attention of the buyers. It’s good practice.

ANYTHING’S FOR SALE >

The particular joy of eBay, and its unique selling point, is its flexibility. It’s the only online marketplace where you can sell quite literally anything. That said, there are some exclusions that we look at later in the book, but they’re mostly common sense and not particularly onerous.

And this freedom really is great news for the ecommerce beginner. You may have a solid plan and a grand scheme to sell glorious brand new widgets imported from China or free-range organic, hand-crafted artisan sprockets exclusive to you from craftspeople in Borneo. Nevertheless, diving in head first is not the finest plan.

The best way to get started on eBay is with a good old-fashioned clear-out. Learn the ropes selling things you don’t need and treat your first forays purely as a learning experience with the aim of generating a bit of pocket money. There’s no better way of learning the ins and outs of the world’s biggest online person-to-person marketplace.

1 | Getting to grips with eBay

The first aspect to consider is the tools of the trade for online selling. You’ve probably got everything you need to start trading on eBay. A computer with web access is vital, and a fast connection to the World Wide Web will save you time. It doesn’t matter whether you favour Apple Mac products or are happy with a PC: eBay and Amazon work just fine on either. However, be aware that a few of eBay’s features such as Turbo Lister are not Mac compatible. Don’t let this discourage you, though: other apps and programs are available that will do just the same.

Indeed, there’s no reason why you couldn’t run a very successful small ecommerce business from an iPad. The only limitation would be the storage of files such as images, although cloud storage might suit you for this.

CREATING DIGITAL IMAGES >

While a digital camera is essential, in the early stages of your ecommerce career the camera on your phone may well suffice. Indeed, combined with the eBay mobile app, taking photos on your smartphone can be one of the quickest ways to list an item on the site.

As you progress, an investment in the best camera you can afford will certainly reap rewards. That will probably mean a digital SLR with a great lens and a good zoom facility. Images are increasingly important in the very competitive arena of ecommerce and amateurish snaps just don’t cut the mustard.

As ever more customers are buying using their mobile phones, really crisp and clear imagery can clinch the deal. And that’s not only about the kit – you need expertise too, so it’s well worth taking the time (maybe even taking a course) to learn how your camera works.

If you’re selling as a business, for a relatively modest outlay you can establish a well-lit, fit-for-purpose photographic studio in a corner of your workspace. This will save you time and enhance your ability to produce first-class snaps for your ecommerce listings.

A flatbed scanner as well as a digital camera is a good way of capturing images if you’re selling small or paper items that will fit on the screen. Scanners (especially those combined with printers so they can operate as a photocopier too) really are as cheap as chips and are a sound investment if you’re selling products like postcards, stamps and jewellery.

PRINTING >

A printer is a necessity because you’ll have to print out dispatch notes and other paperwork. However, one that’s cheap and cheerful will be more than adequate to begin with and you probably have one of those already.

A laser printer will allow you to print many more pages a minute than the inkjet variety, at a fraction of the overall cost in the long run. The expense is easy to justify when your business is dispatching dozens of items a day and you may be able to buy one second-hand on eBay itself. Don’t forget to investigate the cost of toner cartridges, which for either variety are often more than the printer itself. Also, gadgets like a special label printer to make address stickers for your parcels are dead cheap (circa £20) and very useful.

PACKING >

From your earliest days as a trader, it’s a good idea to ensure you have a ready supply of packaging materials: padded envelopes, packing tape, bubble wrap and cardboard. You really can never have enough of that stuff and keeping it to hand will save you time when you dispatch your wares. It’s fine to recycle material you’ve received, but that won’t be scalable as your enterprise grows, so it’s best to buy what you need in bulk to save cash. And guess what? eBay’s a great place to buy packaging supplies at much better prices than you’ll find in your local shops.

MOBILE APPS >

The ever-increasing use of mobile phones has hugely influenced ecommerce and what the pundits call m-commerce or mobile commerce. In essense, many people now access the web and buy online using a smartphone (such as an iPhone or Android/HTC device) and also a tablet such as an iPad. This has transformed how people buy: no longer are they shackled to their desktop or laptop. Lots of this trading happens on the move and it’s increasingly becoming the norm.

You may well have a smartphone or a tablet yourself, so make sure that you get the relevant apps for your devices as one of the first steps on your ecommerce journey. On many phones such apps will be pre-loaded or you can get them via the app store for your gadget. The full array of eBay apps is showcased at:

> http://anywhere.ebay.co.uk/mobile/iphone/ebay/

Don’t forget that you can get apps for PayPal, Amazon and all sorts of other ecommerce sites and services. A good way to find what’s available is to visit the site in question and often you’ll be given the option to download the app there and then.

You need such apps not only to use for your own purchasing, but to see what your listings look like on a mobile device – through a buyer’s eyes. If they look great, you’re on the right track. But if your images are grainy or unclear, it will demonstrate that you have work to do to clinch the maximum number of sales.

> Tip: False economies
Successful ecommerce merchants stick to doing what they do best and outsource the rest. Finding ways to save time and energy will reap rewards as you develop your business. Your time is not best spent on trifles but on sourcing better stock and researching sales trends that produce profits.

When it comes to equipment, something that saves minutes every day gives you hours of extra time over the course of a year. So take the time to consider factors other than cost when investing in software and hardware.

Remember as you read this book that when your business grows in sophistication and develops over multiple channels, the tools of the ecommerce trade will need to develop with you. A powerful computer will be necessary to run sophisticated management programs, accounting software and all manner of other apps to keep your business running smoothly. You’ll also need proper back-up systems so that in the event of a meltdown, you don’t lose everything. (Believe me, it happens. One seller I know had to cease trading because he lost all the data on his computer.)

REGISTERING WITH eBAY >

If you haven’t done so already, registering with eBay is the work of moments. The first s...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Welcome to the World of eBay, Amazon and Ecommerce
• Part I Mastering eBay and Building a Business
• Part II Selling on Amazon, Becoming a Multichannel Seller and Lots More
• That’s all, folks!
• Further reading