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.

[emporiumdownunder]

A few years ago your store listings never come up in searches people had to go to your store to view them on ebay maybe that is where this course is coming from in regards to store traffic which is out dated. Now all ebay listings come up in search results so its not so much about getting people to your store to view listings that would otherwise not be seen when the stores were the old way. So I wouldn't worry about the store side of it just yet.

Letting your customers know that you have other styles colours etc available is a good thing try links in your listings for your other products.

Keep looking for products to sell, a good variety of products helps a good description, photos, customer service ect is all needed

Everthing you need to know is right in front of you on ebay from ebay's info pages to these boards other listings completed listings and then you have google so much information for free.

Please please be careful these courses can be a con, please don't let your inlaws purchase anymore follow up products from them if thay want to throw money away tell them to throw it at you to buy product for your ebay business. :^O

Also please be careful of any other companys they recommend there will always be a kick back, thet are not doing it because they have a good heart they are doing it to make money. Before you sign up to anything google first and do your research.

Dropshipping can be a minefield but can also work if done the right way, also keep in mind that ebay are all for fast shipping.

best of luck:-)

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

Thanx everyone,   yeah I know as far as how much this course costs,   you would never be able to  make that money back in sales in this day and age anyway.    As far as forking over more money no its done.    As far now as the course information goes,    Yeah its been great information,  the guys who run the course pretty much pioneered along with ebay,  they've written books blah blah,   yes I trust they know Ebay inside and out.  Now are they making heaps of money conning people into thinking they will actually make the money back...absolutely.

Lots of people are actually dropshipping out of the states, you need to be informed but it can be done.     Ive been researching dropshipping long before i started the program I am aware of what it entails,    Its not big at all yet in Australia,  may never be, and so people are wary of it. Most of the dropship companies are in the states,  and the ones that are in Australia  are a complete ripp off.  Too bad because its actually a profitable way for alot of companies to help offload stock,  or make the numbers to buy more stock = more discount.    Of course dropshipping is no where near as profitable as wholesale  but its an ok place to start if you dont have money or space to store and buy wholesale.  If you look hard,  there are resources with information about international dropshipping.  But with anything its so important to do the research,  read the fine print.   If the old inlaws had done that,  they would have seen that dropshipping is not an easy sale,  that running a business like that is impossible to do in Australia,  and had they known that they would have needed to run a business out of the states they would have said no way.  Actually if they had just done a search on the company they would have seen all the people trying to get their money back.

Im from North America and plan on going back one day so international trading works for me just fine.

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

Sorry about the bad spelling and run on sentences in the above. LOL

[phorum_junkie*]

The only thing I can think to do is charge a bit less and lose some profit in order to gain some sales.

If I have an auction item that doesn't sell I don't drop the price, I wait a few weeks and lisat it with a higher start price as a lot of buyers seeing a low start price think it is probably not worth much!

the guys who run the course pretty much pioneered along with ebay,  they've written books blah blah,   yes I trust they know Ebay inside and out.

I hope it isn't the ones I can't remember the names of who make these claims but their advice is questionable at best, terribly out of date about a lot of things and totally untrue at worst.

Ive been researching dropshipping long before i started the program I am aware of what it entails,    Its not big at all yet in Australia,  may never be,

You obviously don't know ebay very well, there are thousands of dropshippers and their reputation, for the most part, is BAD.

If you correctly state the item location as the USA or wherever then many buyers will avoid your items as they think they will take longer to arrive and if you wrongly put the item location as Australia they will be less than happy when they receive something from overseas.

[thesoulyearns]

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

Not necessarily. It may depend on your sales record, your photo of the item, your listing, the condition of the item, etc... but checking the Completed Listings is a great way to start. When I check, I make a point to see how much it sold for and how much it didn't - if there's a few people listing the same item, of course. Then I try to see what the successful seller did right, how my item may compare to theirs and just try to replicate that sale.

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

If you correctly state the item location as the USA or wherever then many buyers will avoid your items as they think they will take longer to arrive and if you wrongly put the item location as Australia they will be less than happy when they receive something from overseas.

P.J.   I would never dropship from the states into Australia,  postage and shipping time would kill me.   Rather I would use my other ID and sell only to the US  have my items so that they only appear to US bidders.     Having a few dropshippers that carry the same item in case one doesnt have it in stock is also important.  Also choosing dropship items that sell.  I sell baby gear so thats easy  for instance lots of people could go the shops and buy their baby bottles  but what do i see selling on ebay.com bottles regular name brand bottles you can find easily in the shops,  priced the same.   Why?  because people shop out of convenience.         Yes ill still research more but selling in the states can be done.

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

You obviously don't know ebay very well, there are thousands of dropshippers and their reputation, for the most part, is BAD.

Sorry dont want to pick on you,  and Ive appreciated all your advice,    but who does know Ebay its an ever changing enviornment that works slightly different in all the countries it operates in.  Theres also lots of dropshippers doing well, not here in Australia but in the states,  and no this isnt a quote from the course lol.  Like I said Australia wouldnt know alot about DS we dont dropship here and we hardly have any dropshippers.

[rumplebear1951]

Ive been researching dropshipping long before i started the program I am aware of what it entails, Its not big at all yet in Australia, may never be,

Sorry but you are so wrong it would be funny under other circumstances...every second seller of cheap Chinese junk, mobile phone covers etc is dropshipping and there are literally thousands of them.

I have been using ebay as both a buyer and seller for well over 10 years and there have always been dropshippers...and also sellers complaining that they have been left high and dry by

their suppliers.

The old adage that is something seems too good to be true, then it probably is, really holds true here.

[putney32]

You obviously don't know ebay very well, there are thousands of dropshippers and their reputation, for the most part, is BAD.

Sorry dont want to pick on you,  and Ive appreciated all your advice,    but who does know Ebay its an ever changing enviornment that works slightly different in all the countries it operates in.  Theres also lots of dropshippers doing well, not here in Australia but in the states,  and no this isnt a quote from the course lol.  Like I said Australia wouldnt know alot about DS we dont dropship here and we hardly have any dropshippers.

there are thousands of aussie ebayers dropshipping here.

in fact there was one last year, reporting on the powersellers board how well he was doing,  thousands of $ in sales a month, then his dropshipper got into trouble, and this poor guy had his paypal a/c frozen with thousands of dollars in it,  it took months and months to sort out, cost him a lot of time and money and health !

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

Ok i didnt realize so many people were actually dropshipping in Australia,   i looked into it and thought no way, with the shipping cost and time it wasnt feasable,  I guess alot of people would be dropshipping from china for cheap price and postage but still shipping time would be a factor and I dont know know the enviornment lanquage etc.     Im sorry I still dont think its a completely negative thing..... yet.   Granted I stick within the states and with reputable suppliers.   Alot of the suppliers I looked into actually have dropship clubs basically specialize in dropshipping,  dont know if this makes a huge difference but they are reputable Im sure,      Actually Im sure alot of companies in Australia do use dropshipping.     I ordered a toy from an Australian toy company,  took forever to get here, when it did, it was broken had to send it back,  but then they had to  send it back to another company and ask  them if I could replace it,   took forever again to get back to me.  So some dropshippers fail some dont.