As if you haven’t by now heard, millions upon millions of people of people buy and sell on eBay every single day. Some only make a few sales here and there. Others have figured out what it takes to become “Powersellers.” Powersellers are the very small underground of eBay sellers that do at least $2,000 per month in sales on eBay and maintain a 99% positive pointer rating. Powersellers are the ones that really know what they’re doing and if you really want to be successful on eBay then follow the secrets they revealed to me.
So, what are the secrets, tips and tricks that will produce you to become a Powerseller as well?
Well, I’ll be completely trustworthy with you… I may be well on my way but I’m not a Powerseller yet. But, one thing that I know from making several successful businesses is that if you want to become the best at a touch, you need to copy those that are by now successful, question them to mentor you and question questions and take notes. And now I am going to take what they taught me and pass it on to you.
This is part three of a four part article series. You will find links to the other parts of this article series at the end of this article.
SECRET STRATEGY #12 – DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER HAPPY… EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING MONEY ON A DEAL!
Of course, we’ve all heard “the customer’s permanently right!” On eBay it’s even more right. Here’s a touch odd that you probably don’t know: when a customer tells other people that a company or product sucked, the people they told are 5 times more likely than the person that told them to not do business with that company or buy that product. Five times more likely than the person that really bought the thing!
Now, on eBay it is even more vital as a seller to make sure that you maintain a highly positive rating because every single potential customer can see the negative ratings left for you. In addition, for every 1% (for sellers that have a rating under 1000) you’re your pointer is lowered, you will lose 11% in bids. That’s why every Powerseller says that their rating is more vital than cash that they lose off one deal. Personally, I can tell you that I know that several bidders have bought my information harvest and then questioned for their cash back even though I know that they are still using the product (FYI, there are certain tricks that you can use to make cash off even those that rip you off.)
I also highly recommend that you subscribe to SquareTrade and register for the Better Business Bureau Online if you be eligible. I’m sure that you are familiar with the BBB so let’s talk about SquareTrade. SquareTrade has been working with eBay pretty much since eBay started and they are a certified eBay partner.
In the end, what they do is reconcile disagreements with customers but, even more beneficial, they immediately investigate negative pointer is soon as a customer leaves it for you and they work with eBay to remove negative pointer that is malicious (i.e. your competition buys a product just to leave a negative pointer.) If they determine that the negative pointer was indeed caused by the seller, they attempt work out a resolution with the buyer so that the negative pointer can be removed.
Many Powersellers have been subscribed to SquareTrade for years and they also told me that it pretty much pays for itself straight away because when buyers see the SquareTrade logo on the listing that the seller is making every attempt to make sure that their customers are fully satisfied. Check out SquareTrade:
http;//www.a-to-z-web.com/links/squaretrade.html
Next, I believe, as do all the Powersellers that I spar with, that you should permanently place forward a powerful guarantee. I, for one, place forward a 180-day, no-hassle, satisfaction, cash-back guarantee on any information product that I wrote and at least a 30-day guarantee on everything else. One thing that I do not do is place forward a “100% Cash Back” guarantee even if if a customer questions for all of their cash back, I give them exactly what they question for. What I do is permanently send them an email telling them that they will get to keep the product since there is no way me to make sure that they don’t use it. Most of the time they question for 25-75% of their cash back but very rarely do they question 100% of their cash back.
Also, for physical harvest most Powersellers require that bits and pieces be returned in their original condition. And they charge a restocking fee for all returned bits and pieces. But remember that their customer’s satisfaction permanently supersedes these policies. Just keep this in mind: your pointer rating is your best advertisement but can also be your largest downfall. Never let your emotions get in the way and permanently make 200% sure that your customer walks away pleased… even if you have to bribe them with extra gifts.
SECRET STRATEGY #13 – BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE
While you don’t need your own website from the very beginning, every Powerseller I spar with has their own website. Why? One, they do not want to be at the mercy of eBay. Certainly, eBay doesn’t make it a goal of theirs to hurt businesses that sell on eBay but on occasion they do. For example, a few years ago, many people realized the power of selling their cars on eBay. At that time, it cost around $60-80 to place an ad in the newspaper or AutoTrader but only a couple of dollars to place an ad on eBay.
So, many auto traders started making businesses where they would sell their cars on eBay. Well, eBay soon realized this new popularity and then produced eBay Motors. Now, it expenditure $40 to list a car and $40 at the close of the sale. This is still a pretty excellent deal but certainly more risky than it was previous to. But, Powersellers realize two things: 1) that it is not excellent to be at the mercy of others and 2) that they can make more cash selling through their own web site.
That’s why it’s very vital to set up your own web site as soon as possible. Furthermore, when you have people buying through your own web site, you don’t have to pay eBay fees which can save tons of cash. Irrevocably, many Powersellers have urban ways to use eBay as a traffic generator rather than really try to make cash off eBay. For example, they might have an informational product that they are selling like “The Most Spectacular Fishing Trips In The World” and to promote this product, they sell various fishing bits and pieces such as lures and rods.
Of course, they want to make a profit off these bits and pieces but the huge cash is in the back end product. In this case, one could sell the fishing guide as well as have affiliate tie-ins to companies that selling fishing tours in the areas that were talked about in the guide. On top of that, if you get the customer’s email address then you can contact them in the future about new harvest or air force. Even if you cannot set up your own website straight away, at the very least, make sure that you get their email address for use in the future.
SECRET STRATEGY #14 – ACCEPT EVERY FORM OF PAYMENT THAT YOU POSSIBLE CAN!
Powersellers make it as simple as possible for their customers to pay for an item and give them as many options as possible. Many sellers are opposed to accepting credit cards because of the fees that credit card companies charge. This is the most ridiculous belief when it comes to business for several reasons. One, the average credit card buy is 30% higher than buys made by cash or check. So, do the math. Do you make more cash by offering credit card payments or less? Sure you have to pay 2-3% to the credit card company but you will make 30% more on the sale.
Now, many people then say “Well, why should I accept personal checks or cash orders then?” Because, even though credit card payments are the safest way to pay on the Internet, many people believe that they’re just not safe. I try to tell people that using their credit card on the Internet is really safer online than offline as the credit card companies attest but, most of the time, they simply don’t believe me. And you know what?
I despise having to go to the bank to deposit a check and wait until it clears but the pun thing is that even though I accept checks and cash orders, the winning bidder rarely wants to pay via check or cash order. This goes back to the first reason why you should accept credit cards… because people that pay via credit card are willing to pay more usually making them the highest bidder. Irrevocably, when you accept more forms of payments, you’ll receive more bids and the appealing thing is that this can evenly times make a bidding frenzy.
SECRET STRATEGY #15 – START WITH THE LOWEST BID POSSIBLE AND AVOID RESERVE BIDS
Many sellers are terrified of early their auctions at $.01 and not having a reserve price. They are worried that if they do this then the item that they’re selling will sell for less than its worth. First of all, an auction is capitalism at it’s best. Whoever is willing to pay the most gets the item. In the end, whatever the highest bid ends up being IS what the item is worth.
Of course, if you have read the rest of this article then you’d know that there are many things that you can do to receive higher bids on your auction like count photos and writing a fantastic description. But, the Powersellers that I spar with all told me that they start 99% of their auctions at $.01 with no reserve; the rare exception being extremely expensive bits and pieces that they have never sold previous to.
You see, one Powerseller that I interviewed told me about a small experiment that he conducted on several occasions. In the end, what he did was place identical bits and pieces up for auction which he knew that he normally had sold for $300 (with a early bid of $9.99) in the past, placed them in the same categories and started and finished them at the exact same times. The only difference between the two auctions was that one auction he started at $.01 and the other he started at $25. In fact, if one searched for the particular item that he was selling, these two auctions would show up right next to each other.
At the end of the auction, the one that started at $.01 had expected 63 bids and finished with a winning bid of $343. That’s $43 more than he had ever made off a previous sale. The auction that started at $25 finished with only 43 bids and a final price of $287 for a difference of $56! Remember that everything was exactly the same apart from for the early bid price.
Why does this happen? It’s pretty simple really. First of all, you’ll receive bids from a larger number of unique bidders and remember that every time a name is outbid, they receive a notice that they have been outbid. In affect, eBay is promoting your item for you even more.
Second, more bids draw more bidders. Question yourself this: when you are scrolling through eBay listings, what catches your eye more: an auction with 3-4 bids or an auction with 20. Some people claim that it doesn’t make a difference but the numbers verify otherwise. Bids beget more bids.
Irrevocably, people permanently want to “win!” You know, when you go to Wal-Mart and buy a touch, they don’t say “You Won!” do they? Of course not! But on eBay, you’re the “winning bidder!” The more people that you draw into your auction then the more people you will have wanting to win.
Don’t be frightened! Permanently start your auction at $.01 and “no reserve.” This option permanently makes more cash. But there is one exception to this rule: don’t do it when you are just beginning to sell an extremely expensive item that you have to place a lot of your cash on the line. For example, when I first started selling sporting tickets on eBay, I really had no thought what I was doing or how to effectively list an item. But once I figured that out, it really didn’t topic how much I bought the tickets for because when I listed them at $.01 and no reserve, I made about 18% more per sale!
Special note: if you have no reserve on your auction, permanently place “no reserve” (minus the quotes) in your auction title or, if you don’t have enough space for that, then place “nr” in the title. Do this because many people are opposed to auction with reserves and so they will permanently search for their keyword plus “no reserve” or “nr” and if your title doesn’t have these keywords then they won’t see it.
Well, that’s it! Armed with these secret eBay strategies, you too should be well on your way to making a very substantial income on eBay. But, should you wish to obtain even more information about how to make cash on eBay and the rest of the Internet, please stay our eBay store for some fabulous informational harvest.
Unleash Life Success Coaching eBay Store
http://www.a-to-z-web.com/links/ulsc-ebay-store.html
And be sure to check out the extremely powerful A2Z Web Building & Internet Marketing Platinum Package. It’s over $1,500 worth of the best web building and Internet marketing books and programs in the world for less than $50. Check out our eBay rating and you will see that people like this package!
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Irrevocably, if you missed any of the four parts of this article, you can read the other three at the following addresses:
http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-1.html
http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-2.html
http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-3.html
http://www.a-to-z-web.com/ebays-secrets-4.html
Tags: Ebay, Part, Powersellers, Secret, Strategies