Optimizing traffic to your ebay page without a store

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

I know there are plenty of ways to get traffic to your store,  but what if you dont have a store and have to first compete with stores to even get to the point where it is worth having a store.  I cant justify having a store right now obviously especially if the store costs are about to double.   The only thing I can think to do is charge a bit less and lose some profit in order to gain some sales.  Other then that maybe have a picture tht stands out more,  better product descriptions.     I think if you are truly selling niche products you'd have better luck competing without a store,  but finding a niche product these days is trickier then it seems.

I am doing a course on selling on ebay (inlaws paid a heap of money for it,  but then didnt have the time so passed it onto us)   Anyway this worked for me because I wanted to open an online store and want to use selling on Ebay to fund my stock for that store.    The products I want to sell are brands that dont allow selling on Ebay, which is good in my opinion.

But of course sounds like this course would have profitted more like 5 years ago and of course selling from Australia almost doesnt work at all.  Soon I will start dropshipping from the states and just sell within the states,  but even there I will competeting with heaps of stores.    Sorry to ramble on but thats my story.      Course has taught me heaps but only discusses maximizing traffic from a store point of view.

[foxette-in-sox]

I am doing a course on selling on ebay (inlaws paid a heap of money for it, but then didnt have the time so passed it onto us)

Reading the Site map & asking questions on these boards would have cost nothing & probably been of more benefit.

Having a store won't necessarily increase sales-good product,customer service,postage costs & time etc are what sells items & hopefully brings both more traffic & repeat customers.

JMO

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

Reading the Site map & asking questions on these boards would have cost nothing & probably been of more benefit.

LOL,   no kidding thats what I said,  but the inlaws will buiy whatever you sell to them in promise to make money.

I wont tell you how much they paid.....  oh ok just because its a hoot    10,000   non refundable bux!!!!   No lie,  with the promise if they follow all the steps they will make it back in 6 months.   Hah!

Anyway since im now doing the course for free,   I can outline the good points,

It gives you step by step which is important to keep you from fluffing about with your listings

It gives you tips on drawing in business from outside of ebay to drive traffic to your ebay store

It tells you how to advertise legally on your ebay page to your outside store

Everything you need to know about ebay basically that you would have to search and search or just never know at all

Affilate marketing

blogging

dropshipping

of course not a lot of it helps me without having a store.

Still not worth the money  but Ill take advantage for the time being.

[the3coopers]

In very general terms, having a Store is about saving fees, not making traffic. It does absolutely NOTHING to get you more sales, it's main advantage is the low 20c or 5c listing fee, the 30 day Buy Now duration and the 0.9% final value fee discount.

The only thing that you need to do is search (on eBay) for each item you list - bpoth Current Items and Completed Items. See what price point that things sell at and only price your stuff at a level which will get the turnover that you desire.

If everyone is pricing at $26.50 and you offer at $26, you'll get the sales.

[mini*lindy]

Soon I will start dropshipping from the states and just sell within the states,  but even there I will competeting with heaps of stores.

well I hope you have a very very reliable dropshipper who you have dealt with for many years, and I hope you know ALL the ebay .usa rules and regulations.

they are very different to ebay aussie and a seller can go broke in weeks if they are not on the ball with all their different 'protection' plans

if your dropshipper canot prove 'receipt' of the goods YOU sell, YOU will be liable for a refund to the buyer and still have to pay the dropshipper for the item

have you thoroughly invesitgated just how that would work for you, living in WA and running an ebay usa Store?

[koalablue12]

Tips on Freebies off the Inlaws ................

Take what you can.........give nothing back :^O

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

Mini,  well I am a member of gogodropship,  mostly us dropshippers and wholesalers,  the course Im doing is a US run course so I have them as support for the next 6 months.   Right now my main obstacle is getting a US EIN number but that seems like just a call away.     Now I wasnt fully aware that the rules on the US site differed greatly  so i will have to be really careful around that,  especially if Im so used to selling on the AU site.      Im not saying its going to be a walk in the park,  but dealing with free shipping all around the states seems better right now then dealing with Auspost,  and trying to compete with US international sellers.      However with the talk of store fees doubling and in general  i go through momements where all this ebay stuff seems like a good idea, and then momements where it seems like a waste of time lol.

Koala,  Haha  yes  well one day Id like to be profiting enough I can give them back well..... half the money,  the other half is what they can pay in stupidity.      Really when I think about it,  the course itself and access to the dropship/wholesale site that came with it,  gave me the motivation to start thinking about my business.    Im a stay at home mom,  and we just dont have the money to be throwing around at dropship listings or my dreams of owning my own store one day for that matter   lol.

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

oh and I just wanted to add there is an ebook Im tempted to buy myself about sellling overseas.   Its advertised on the

dropshipaustralia.com.au    Another great resource that could use some more forum members.

Cheers

[lemmayj]

A few things to remember if you're selling on ebay US

1) seller protection rules are different, and rely on proof of delivery.

2) paypal has a habit of putting holds on seller payments - often for 30 days (or more) even if you've got proof that an item has arrived, so watch your cash flow.

3) You'll end up with US$ in your paypal account, it'll cost you 1% extra (ie 3.4% base) in paypal fees to receive them and about 2.5% in exchange fees if you want to transfer them to an Australian bank account.

Dropshipping can be profitable but it's  totally dependant on the quality of your partner. If you're in Au and they're in US it'll be difficult to get any recourse if anything goes wrong. Be careful.

Read the US community boards for tips.

[phorum_junkie*]

STOP

Please, please, please stop and think.

If the people running these courses could make as much money on ebay, or dropshipping anywhere else for that matter, why would they not be making the money instead of telling goodness knows how many other people, who will all be competing against each other for customers, how to do it?

Your in-laws were conned, please don't listen to 99.9% of the advice these people are giving you.

Those who have paid the money themselves will continue to con themselves into thinking that if they just invest a bit more they will get their money back, then it will need a bit more and then......etc.

This is a new version of pyramid selling, walk away now before you lose your shirt and everything else too.