| The Online Seller | Vol. 4, Issue 20 |
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Buy items on eBay to resell on eBay? Miriam Otto shares tips for flipping inventory … Dennis L. Prince explains why 80-character listing titles are not necessarily better … Our Top-rated seller discusses shipping carriers and labels in Part 3 of our video series on shipping secrets … Plus, our first-hand report on sourcing at storage unit auctions, the latest industry news and more! |
Special Features: Auctiva Blog Ask Auctiva Auctiva User Profile Auctiva Commerce Spotlight Weird and Wacky Listings Feedback Forum |
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Tips for finding undervalued items you can resell for a profit
by Miriam Otto
Lately, I've been spending some time sourcing inventory on eBay. I haven't done much of this in the past, but I think I've been missing out.
One of the things I've been doing is buying up the competition. If I discover a new product that not many people know about, I set up a saved search on it. To do this, I search for a product on eBay, then I click the "Save search" link in the upper left-hand corner, next to the number of results my search returned. Read story.
Listing Titles: Less is Still More
Additional character space is not all it's cracked up to be.
Video: Shipping Secrets Revealed, Part 3
Choosing your shipping carrier, and printing labels
Sourcing at Storage Unit Auctions
Learn secrets of the pros for finding items you can resell for profit.
Where Should You Sell Online?
Consider these factors to determine the best marketplace for your items.
Get Green to Help You Grow. Kabbage provides cash to online merchants selling on eBay, Amazon and Yahoo. By looking at your seller history, seller rating and transaction history, Kabbage looks at more than just your credit score. Get the cash you need today to source inventory, market your site, update your technology or anything you need to grow your business! Learn more at Kabbage.com.
News Stories
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Giveaway promoting new Integrated Shipping feature runs through October.
Auctiva will give away a fully loaded iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G service as part of a monthlong promotion for its new Integrated Shipping Labels feature.
From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, eBay sellers who print a shipping label on Auctiva.com will be instantly entered in a random drawing to take place Nov. 10. Read story.
USPS Gives Away Shipping Kits
Sellers can get regional or regular Priority Mail boxes.
Shoppers Eagerly Await Halloween
Consumers expected to buy and celebrate more this year.
eBay Kicks Off 'Pink' Event
Site highlights Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Holiday Shoppers to Seek Bargains
Buyers expected to do 'much more' comparison shopping.
Trial Payment Flow Makes eBay Middleman
Company hopes program will improve trust among buyers.
Free eBay Shipping Service from Stamps.com! Simplify your eBay shipping. Stamps.com imports order data from eBay, posts tracking information back to your store, and is compatible with First Class Mail International, so you can ship worldwide without ever going to the Post Office. Best of all, you can print eBay shipping labels for free. Sign up today and get a $55 bonus offer!
Auctiva Blog
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Armed with $750 in cash and two flashlights, we drove up to a local storage locker auction.
The popularity of shows like "Storage Wars" and "Auction Hunters" intrigued us, and we wanted to know if storage unit auctions were as profitable as they appear… Read more.
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"Better buyer experience!"—it's a favorite expression in eBay's offices these days. Providing good buyer experiences makes good business sense if you think about it. If buyers have a better experience, they'll likely buy more, and that means eBay sellers make more money (and so does eBay). Read more.
Ask Auctiva
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What impact is the economy having on buyers and sellers? Is it worth all the work and cost to keep selling on eBay? Director of Engineering Tom Urbanowicz answers these and other questions from Auctiva users. Read more.
Got a burning question about Auctiva, eBay or e-commerce in general? Through our Ask Auctiva program, you can speak directly to Auctiva's top managers. All you have to do is send an e-mail to "AskAuctiva" at the Auctiva dot com domain. Selected questions will be answered by Auctiva managers and published in an article on the Auctiva Education tab. Read some recent Auctiva Q&A articles here.
Please do not submit inquiries requiring an immediate response. Instead, please file a support request for technical or account-related issues.
Auctiva User Profile
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When trying out a new business venture, failure might deter some, but not online seller Carol Schoen. Indeed, the setbacks she experienced inspired her to dig deeper, look for a new product line and get her business off the ground.
Prior to opening PersonalizedCustomGifts on eBay and, later, on Auctiva Commerce, Schoen had sold anything on eBay that could be drop shipped, plus a few pieces of jewelry. But the overflowing inventory in her home office signaled a change was needed. Read story.
Get Featured Here
Got a success story you want to share? What amazing garage sale finds have you turned into monster profits online? How has using Auctiva's templates and auction management tools improved your eBay business? Drop a line and tell us in 50 words or less about an outstanding e-sale experience, and perhaps we'll feature your story in an upcoming issue of The Online Seller newsletter. Submit your story.
Auctiva Commerce Store Spotlight
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Mike Barnow has been boating all his life. His father owned a hardware and marine-supply store. "He was boating since he left the navy," Barnow explains.
Today, Barnow is following his father's example with a marine supply store of his own, Marine Supply Direct.
The store offers thousands of boating supplies and accessories, including cleaning supplies, fishing tackles, chairs, watersports items, and engine and fuel supplies. But it's pumps, steering systems, control cables and engine parts that are the most popular, he notes.
His distributor drop ships products to 48 states, so Barnow says he can list many more items than other sellers because he doesn't have to worry about storing items. It's a mixture of his vast inventory and customer service that make his store the destination for boaters, he adds.
Barnow took the store online after closing down his brick-and-mortar shop devoted to the same niche. Initially, he ventured onto eBay, but the listing and final value fees prompted him to look for another avenue to offer his products.
Not knowing a lot about designing a store, Barnow got assistance from Michelle G., another Auctiva Commerce seller who had helped a number of Auctiva Commerce merchants get their stores up and running. While she worked on the design, he focused optimizing his store for search engine visibility.
"When [Michelle] had the store ready, I opened with 400 items the first week. By the end of the month, I was showing up in the top five search engines for most of my items' searches," he notes.
Visit Marine Supply Direct.
Set up your own Auctiva Commerce Store and get complete freedom over your shop.
Weird and Wacky Listings
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Negativity is such a bummer, so you want to surround yourself with encouraging, upbeat types, right? Here's a guy who'll never utter a discouraging word. His name is Mr. Yes, and he's always got something positive to say. Now if only they could bottle his attitude and mass produce it. Oh wait, they already did.
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Wanna get away? Even if you can't afford to fly first class, you can experience the same level of luxury every day with your own set of leather airplane seats from a 747. The center console is still intact, complete with tray tables and flight attendant call buttons, so feel free to ring the bell for beverage service.
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Got a chip on your shoulder? Replace it with this smiley potato chip you can carry anywhere. Its cheerful grin will melt away worries and keep you motivated to chip away at any task. We suggest you refer to it for inspiration when you're full, though. While it appears to be a happy chip, we doubt it would be happy to be eaten.
Feedback Forum
In response to "Confessions of a Yard Sale Diva, Part 2," one reader writes: "I've been busy visiting the sales, as they will be ending very soon in our area due to weather. I've left my name and number at a few, [offering] to haul off everything they don't sell. I really scored at the last two. Lots of items and, when you sell them, it's all profit." Read the entire thread, and post your response.
If you'd like to comment on this newsletter, any article contained within, or on topics you'd like to see us cover in the future, Auctiva editors would love to hear from you. Send us your feedback.
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