Simplx Blog

It’s coming back around again: eBay Live! 2008 will be in Chicago Illinois, at the McCormick Place West, from June 19th through the 21st.

Every year, eBay sponsors this multi-day event to give eBay buyers and sellers a forum for rubbing shoulders, hearing seminars, and sharing ideas. Attendance at eBay Live! exceeds 10,000 people, and includes exectutives and key members of eBay’s corporate staff as well as eBay gurus from all over the country. You can register for eBay Live! here!

Highlights
eBay Live! has a lot to offer its attendees this year, including the following:

• The Keynote Address

Start your day with free coffee, donuts, and the latest eBay news from John Donahoe, CEO, eBay, Inc. and Lorrie Norrington, President, eBay Marketplaces Operations. You’ll learn all about eBay’s new direction and how it affects you.

• ASD/AMD Sourcing Pavilion

New this year, eBay members will be given access to more than 65 wholesale companies at the ASD/AMD Sourcing Pavilion.

• Education

Over 120 classes, seminars, and workshops tailored to making guests more profitable eBay traders.

• Networking Events

Get to know other eBay Community members at networking breaks, lunches, and dinners to build lasting friendships, share ideas, and develop profitable business relationships.

• The Closing Gala

An exclusive performance by Chris Isaak and an evening of dining and dancing to round out the eBay Live! experience.

• Special Guest Speakers

eBay Live! 2008 will also offer a blockbuster list of guest speakers, including:

• Jay Berkowitz

• Jeffrey Gitomer

• Seth Godin

• Andy Sernovitz

We encourage you to visit eBay Live! 2008, network with your peers, and share your passion for eBay with thousands of other eBay Community members. For more information, click here.

Popularity: 18% [?]

New Merchants:
C. Alan Company – 10% commission
C. Alan Company is a silk flowers and plant distributer including artificial trees, cactus and home decor type products. Wholesale and retail sales are open to the Public with no resale license required.

LensCrafters – 10% commission
Trust LensCrafters for great values on contact lenses! In addition to everyday low pricing, rebates, and instant discounts on top contact lens brands, LensCrafters offers eye care convenience nationwide and money-saving coupons on the most fashionable eye wear and brand-name sunglasses available. Get it all in one place at LensCrafters.

QualitySilkPlants – 10% commission
Quality silk plants, silk flowers, wedding flowers, fake trees, artificial cactus and Tabletop fountains all at wholesale prices to the public. *Free shipping for orders over $75.00.

Smith & Hawken – 6% commission
Any outdoor space, from the grandest garden to the coziest balcony, holds the potential to be extraordinary. At Smith & Hawken, they’re dedicated to helping customers unlock that potential with products distinguished by authenticity, style and, above all, craftsmanship. It is their goal to not only offer products of the finest quality to their customers, but also service that consistently surpasses their expectations.

The Great Indoors – 2% commission
Everything that you need for your decorating or home remodeling project is at The Great Indoors. You’ll find thousands of the newest products featuring the best designer specialties and premium brands like Kenmore, KitchenAid, Danze, Moen and more! Great prices are available every day on the latest looks and trends.

Deactivated Merchants:
Competitive Cyclist
JC Whitney

Popularity: 18% [?]

This week I’ll round off the series with an overview on using auction research software to your best advantage. This article will help you decide whether or not you can benefit from auction research.

Introducing Auction Research Software
In a nutshell, auction research lets you look at a group of closed eBay listings to discover:

• Whether a product will sell and for how much

• Ways to increase a listing’s chances of selling

• Ways to boost your profits on each listing

• Market trends for your specific product

• The size of the market and your specific competition

I know what you’re thinking. This is all really great, but how does it work? Research uses licensed data directly from eBay to research market information on your specific product, a category or a specific seller. This takes out all the guesswork for you as you create you listings.

With auction research, you’ll learn answers to these questions, and more, for your eBay listings:

• What auction type should I use?

• Which ending day will bring me the greatest success and profit?

• How long should my listing duration be?

• What starting price will create a bidding frenzy?

• What keywords should I use in my titles to hook buyers?

• What listing features will work, and which ones can I live without?

• Which category will give my listing the greatest amount of exposure?

And much more!

How Does Auction Research Work?
Auction research analyzes closed eBay auctions and shows how various listing features (starting price, closing day and time, auction duration, special features, etc.) affected the success of the auctions. Using auction research software, you can determine how successful your chosen product will be in the eBay market, what features to use to optimize your chances of selling, and how to create a listing that will give you an edge over your competition. You can also use auction research to anticipate changes in the eBay market (holidays, seasons, etc.) and learn from your competetors’ mistakes and successes.

For example, let’s say I want to sell portable DVD players through eBay. Using auction research software, I can type in my product keywords (portable, DVD, player, and whatever brand name I’d like) and retrieve statistics on successful portable DVD player auctions. Using that information, I can determine which keywords will attract the most buyers, when to open and close my own auctions for the best chances of a sale, how much my opening price should be, whether I should use a gallery picture, and more. Knowing what’s worked for other eBay sellers helps me create the best listing possible. And knowing my competition gives me an edge in the eBay marketplace!

Popularity: 22% [?]

New Merchants:
Chi Activate – 5% commissions
Imagine a new you, healthier, more active, and more beautiful. Chi Activate provides unique, quality beauty, skin care and health products with the greatest service.

Fake Millions – 10% commissions
Your #1 Source for Million Dollar Bills, novelty money, funny money and play money. Over 200 designs to choose from.

Novelties Wholesale.com – 10% commissions
Wholesale novelties, general merchandise, gag gifts, trend and fad items at discounted pricing. If its HOT we got it!

The Gag.com – 10% commissions
Your #1 Source for Funny Gag gifts, pranks, magic and novelties. Something for all ages.

Wholesale Balloons.com – 10% commissions
Your #1 Source for Balloons. Wholesale Balloon pricing for parties, functions and more. Mylar, Helium, Latex, and themed Balloons available.

Deactivated Merchants:
Cuddledown
Maggie’s Bedding Warehouse

Popularity: 19% [?]

This week I’ll share advice about eBay’s rules. More specifically, I’ll share advice about staying out of trouble.

The Most Common eBay Beginner Errors
Did you know that eBay devotes a whole section of their website to their policies about what buyers and sellers can and cannot do on eBay? If you haven’t the time to study all eBay’s rules before you begin, I offer the following advice on common rule violations for beginners:

Be Polite
In general, if you are polite and use courteous language, you will avoid violation of several eBay rules.

Play Fair
Remember that good old Golden Rule, “Do unto others…”? It works particularly well on eBay. If your auctions are fair and ethical, you will avoid violation of several eBay rules.

Do Not Misrepresent the Name Brand
As I’ve mentioned in a previous article in this series, name brands are important on eBay. Therefore, it’s important to note that according to eBay’s rules, sellers can’t include any keywords in the title that do not apply to the item for sale. This includes name brands. So, if you have a nice-smelling perfume, don’t be tempted to say: “Compare to Body by Victoria Secret” in the title unless, of course, it is Body by Victoria Secret.

Don’t Include a Link to Your Website, Unless…
In general, I advise you not to include a link to your website from your auction listing. However, as mentioned in the rules above, eBay does allow you to include links to outside websites that provide more detail about your product. The trick, then, is to include the link to a product description page that does not lead directly to your shopping cart. But (and here’s the good part), the page you link to can contain links to other pages in your site. These pages can lead directly to your shopping cart or catalog.

This is an approach worth thinking about if you are trying to increase traffic to your website! (And who isn’t?)

Be Careful About the eBay Users You Add to Your Marketing Contact List
One of the major reasons for you, as a website owner, to sell on eBay is to increase your marketing contact list. But you need to be careful about who you add to your list. eBay states that you can only contact eBay users who have won an auction from you or who have contacted you first. This means that you should not contact bidders who haven’t won your auctions unless they contact you first.

And when you do contact an eBay user, don’t try to sell a product directly (that violates another rule). Just advertise your website.

Don’t List High-Priced Items at First
As long as your feedback rating is low (under 100), don’t try to sell a high-priced item, such as a $2,500 flat-screened TV. Extravagantly priced items send up red flags to eBay’s fraud department and, if you’re feedback is low, they will shut down your account. Once they shut it down, it will be a few weeks before you can go back to business on eBay.

My advise is to start with low-priced items and gradually work up from there. Eventually your track record will speak for you.

Verify the Mailing Address
Before shipping the item to the winning bidder, verify the shipping address your buyer has provided you first. I sent an item to the eBay-registered address for one of my winning bidders and had it returned to me. Why? I was using UPS to ship the item and the address was acceptable for USPS (United States Parcel Service) but not for UPS. I eventually had to resend the product to a different address. This not only cost me more, but it also irritated my customer.

Always Give Feedback
Don’t neglect to leave feedback. The person on the opposite end of your auction is hoping to increase their feedback rating, just like you are. It’s also important to leave the most positive feedback possible. If there were glitches in the transaction, be fair. If it wasn’t intentional and the user did everything they could to correct the situation, give positive feedback.

Ironically, if you leave too much negative feedback for other users, it will hurt your own eBay reputation in the long run.

eBay Rules Every Seller Should Know
I’ve highlighted several eBay “no-nos” below, but if you’re interested, you can view the complete list at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/index.html.

General Rules

No Unwelcome Email/Spam: Do not send unsolicited email to other users.
No Offers to Buy or Sell Offsite: Do not offer to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay site.
No Profanity: Do not use racist, hateful, sexual or obscene language anywhere in a listing.
No Using the eBay Logo: Do not use the eBay logo without a written license agreement from eBay. However, eBay offers buttons for your your site that link to the eBay home page or to your auction list.

Seller Guidelines
No Circumventing Fees: Do not try to find ways to avoid paying eBay listing fees.
No Duplicate Listings: Do not list more than ten identical listings as separate auctions.
Use Keywords Correctly: Do not add irrelevant or misleading keywords to listing titles.
No Links Outside eBay: Do not include links to websites, home pages, or any page that has items for sale outside of eBay.

Note: I found a loophole to this rule. If you link to a page that further describes the item, it’s allowed, even if the page has links to your catalog.

No Catalog Sales: Sellers can’t list catalogs from which buyers may directly order items.
Categorize Items Correctly: Items must be listed in the appropriate category.
No Choice Listings: No auctions that allow winning bidders to choose from a variety of options.
Shipping and Handling: Shipping and handling fees must be reasonable and cannot be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.
No Misleading Titles: Titles must accurately describe only the actual item or items you are offering for sale. Use of words such as “like,” “style,” and “not” in the title of your listing will often result in a comparison violation.
Payment Surcharges: Sellers may not charge eBay buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment.
Reserve Price Violations: Do not include a reserve price anywhere in the title or description if the auction isn’t officially listed as a reserve auction.
No Want Ads and Trades: No advertising a desire to buy or trade items.
No Shill Bidding: Do not bid against your own items to increase the price (friends and relatives can’t bid, either).
No Misrepresentation: The item you sell must meet the description you entered in the listing.
Non-Selling Seller: Sellers cannot refuse payment or delivery of an item at the end of a successful sale.

Taxes

You must comply with all applicable tax laws.

Feedback
Feedback Extortion or Solicitation: Do not threaten negative action to achieve the desired feedback. Likewise, do not solicit a desired feedback in return for a favor.
Feedback Abuse, Withdrawal, and Removal: Use caution and good judgment when leaving feedback. If a court were to find that your remarks constitute libel or defamation, you would be held legally responsible for damages to that member’s reputation.

Popularity: 26% [?]

New Merchants:
Gardener’s Choice – 20% commission
Gardeners’ Choice offers the highest quality horticulture at affordable prices including fruits and vegetables, ground cover and vines, tomatoes, plants, flowers and bulbs, trees, bushes and shrubs, grass seed, gardening accessories and more! At Gardeners’ Choice, you can get gardening tips, free samples and great service.

Homeroom Direct – 16.5% commission
Homeroom Direct, family owned and operated since 1987, is one of the foremost catalogs and web sites for everything that teachers need for work. They provide a broad spectrum of items including classroom and organizational accessories, learning tools, educational games, teaching reference books and stationary.

InkPlusToner – 25% commission
Ink Plus Toner is online store for discount printer ink cartridges and toner cartridges. They are dedicated to supplying the highest quality printer supplies, including ink cartridges, laser toner cartridges; inkjet cartridges refill kits and inkjet photo paper, to individuals, businesses, government and educational institutions. They carry remanufactured, OEM and compatible ink cartridges for inkjet and laser printers.

Online Fitness – 8% commission
Our site offers thousands of quality products from world-class manufacturers all laid out in an intuitive and user-friendly manner.

PexSupply – 6% commission
Pex Supply offers the finest quality plumbing and heating supplies at the lowest prices on the web. Specializing in PEX plumbing and radiant heating supplies, PexSupply.com has products by top manufacturers such as Wirsbo, Honeywell, Takagi, Bosch, and Taco. An in-depth learning center, customer service representatives and daily how-to tips enable customers to understand the products before installing them in their homes.

Deactivated Merchants:
iGourmet
Enesco
Rocawear

Popularity: 21% [?]

New Merchants:
6ave.com – 2% commission
Sixth Avenue Electronics is the Premier Source for high-end electronics and accessories.  We have the products you want, the products you need, and the experience and knowledge you should expect from a retailer. With firm roots in the consumer electronics industry and a growing chain of stores in New Jersey and New York, Sixth Avenue Electronics is paving the way into the future.

Andy’s Airplanes – 30% commission
Apparel, toys, video and music from the show Andy’s Airplanes created by Jon Pierre Francia. The show, Andy’s Airplanes, follows Andy on his adventures to new destinations to meet new friends and learn about their culture and history.

Aramark – 10% commission
ARAMARK Corporation is a world leader in providing award-winning food and facilities management services to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, international and domestic corporations, as well as providing uniform and career apparel.

Arbico Organics – 10% commission
For the past twenty-eight years, Arbico Organics has been in the business of producing and marketing sustainable, environmental products. Arbico specializes in sustainable environmental alternatives where balance and cooperation with nature are strengthened. To achieve this biological balance, Arbico incorporates low input sustainable agricultural techniques. Such techniques emphasize organic farming inputs, bio-intensive pest controls, pro-environmental fertilizers, and preventative management.

BigMansLand – 10% commission
Big Mans Land is proud to be your clothing source for big and tall mens clothing. They offer a large selection of big and tall clothing for todays big or tall man at unbeatable prices. You will find dress pants, casual pants, jeans, casual shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts, underwear, swimwear, shorts, belts, wallets, sweat shirts, jackets, outerwear and much more!

Bird Manger – 10% commission
BirdMangersTM were invented in Oklahoma and are now Manufactured in Oklahoma, USA by our own talented craftsmen!  Customers are never numbers!  We value you, and your birds!  BirdMangerTM  constantly strives to improve the product.  We build BirdMangersTM to last the lifetime of the pet for whom it is purchased.

FindLegalForms – 25% commission
Since 2001, FindLegalForms.com has helped over 750,000 customers by providing high-quality and easy-to-use legal forms. We offer more than 10,000 attorney-prepared legal forms to safisfy virtually any legal need.

Gateway Computers – 1.5% commission
Gateway offers an extensive range of computers, electronics, and software and continues to get excellent reviews for innovative technology and quality U.S. phone support, enabling you to drive orders.

Ghirardelli – 10% commission
We are one of very few American manufacturers that make chocolate starting from the cocoa bean through to finished products. Throughout the process, we take special steps to ensure that our premium chocolate delivers our signature intense, smooth-melting chocolate taste.

MacMall – 3% commission
Save time and cash on your next Mac purchase!

Deactivated Merchants:
AbeBooks

Popularity: 28% [?]

New Merchants
Fortunoff – 5% commission
Fortunoff provides customers with necessities and niceties: fine jewelry and watches, antique jewelry and silver, everything for the table, fine gifts, home furnishings including bedroom and bath, fireplace furnishings, housewares, and seasonal shops including our outdoor furniture shop in summer and our enchanting Christmas Store in the winter.

GlobalGolf.com – 6% commission
Since 2001 GlobalGolf has been a leader in bringing golfers of all abilities great deals on new, used, and certified pre-owned golf clubs as well as a selection of over 40,000 name brand golf shoes.

KidSurplus – 5% commission
KidSurplus.com is all about giving you low prices and the largest selection on the web of brand new, high quality children’s products. We’re proud to offer an impressive variety of name brand kid’s apparel, shoes, toys, baby products, books, media, furniture, and women’s clothing.

MGM Shop – 7% commission
MGM Shop is where you will find clothing, toys & games, jewelry and more from movies made by MGM. Get your own posters, glasses, patches, apparel, figures, collectibles, calendars, books, coffee mugs and more from you favorite movies like Pink Panther, Rocky and Stargate. Shop new items, gifts by price and best sellers at MGM Shop.

Origins Online – 12% commission
Since 1990, Origins has been creating and innovating healthful choices in Skin Care, Hair Care, Bath and Body, Color and Sensory Therapy® products using the best of nature along with trying to do what’s best for the planet and what’s best for you.

Deactivated Merchants
The Noble Collection

Popularity: 19% [?]

New Merchants
Back to Basics – 8% commission
Back To Basics Toys was founded in 1988 by discerning parents who wanted their children to enjoy the same quality of play that they remembered and cherished. They remain committed to being a unique source for classic toys that foster creativity, learning and fun! You are sure to enjoy their selection of classic toys, games, hobbies, musical instruments and more!

Backwood Sports – 10% commission
Backwoodsports.com, is dedicated to selling quality products at unbeatable prices. We provide our customers a wide selection of items, fast shipping and excellent customer service.

BeltOutlet.com – 10% commission
BeltOutlet.Com is a growing business that is constantly expanding our product offerings. We offer a large selection of travel supplies, which includes many styles of money belts and security items. Also we provide belts, men’s and women’s wallets, suspenders, fanny packs, checkbook covers, gift items, rain gear and men’s accessories.

Lensmart – 8% commission
Lensmart, powered by drugstore.com, offers discounted name brand contact lenses and eye care products, conveniently shipped straight to your door.

Vitamin World – 10% commission
Vitamin World manufactures over 1,000 high quality vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other nutritional supplements in their own state-of-the-art facilities. The manufacturing facilities total over 1 million square feet and they produce supplements in every available form including tablets, two piece capsules, softgel capsules, powders and even liquids.

Increased Commissions:
Some of our merchants have offered increased commissions for a limited time.  Be sure to take advantage of these while they last.

Ice.com
Office Depot

Deactivated Merchants:
The Children’s Place (May 8)

Popularity: 20% [?]

New Merchants
Blue Bee – 8% commission
Blue Bee sells thousands of luxury and designer clothing items to men and women including brands like 7 for All Mankind, Diesel, Great China Wall, D&G Dolce & Gabbana, Paul Smith, Da-Nang, Marc Jacobs, John Varvatos, and Paul Smith.

Calumet – 3% commission
Calumet is known not only for our extensive online catalog, but also for expert advice and our commitment to customer service before and after the purchase. From film and the traditional process to digital cameras and printers, we stock everything for the pros, enthusiasts and memory-makers. All at one easy-to-use website.

Disney Movie Club - $20 commission
Through Disney Movie Club you always have access to the complete catalog of club movies, plus extras like online discounts and special offers not available anywhere else. Here, you’ll find over 1,000 Disney titles, including new releases, animated classics, preschool favorites, and live-action features. Members enjoy special offers, discounts, and exclusive merchandise and collectibles!

Exposures – 6% commission
Exposures catalogs and ExposuresOnline.com help you protect your memories and one-of-a-kind moments with exquisite genuine leather albums and scrapbooks handcrafted and collected from all over the world. All have archival quality, acid-free pages to hold on to your memories forever. Choose from our collection of fine frames and display pieces to share your remembrances with all.

Homelement – 5% commission
Homelement.com is the premier destination for everything in home furnishings and decor! We have all the top brand-names and designer lines from all over the country.

Deactivated Merchants
Bissell
BuyBeauty
GearTree

Popularity: 20% [?]