Is Branding on eBay Important?

Today’s post is contributed by Christ Taylor of Page Mage.

Do you want to stand out from the millions of other sellers you’re competing against? Have buyers trust you and purchase from you? And have customers come back to shop from you again? Branding helps provide all of those benefits.

What is a brand? It’s everything about your business and you as a seller. It’s your store name or Seller ID, the customer service you provide, how you pack your items, the policies you present and more. All of these talk to potential buyers. It helps them differentiate between you and your competition and quickly decide if they want to buy from you…and buy from you again.

What is your brand? Make a list of what you want buyers to think about your business. Why should they buy from you? Do you want them to think you’re credible? An expert in the products you sell? The best price? Great customer service? Attentive to detail? Then take a step back and evaluate. Even ask others – how do they think of your business? Is it what you want?

Your listings top the list. A potential buyer first experiences your brand when they look at your item listing. How do you look? There’s a new product called Billboards that lets you create more professional looking listings and also lets you make announcements across all your listings automatically.

How does it work? Simply you create a header and footer for your listings. You do this in their “builder”. It’s all drag and drop so you don’t have to use HTML. Choose from a library of templates and customize for a unique look. Include your logo (if you have one), images, text and design. When you’re done you push a “publish” button that automatically inserts them into all of your listings. The end result is a unique look that stands out from other listings.

What can you do with it?
- Brand your business; Promote special offers like free shipping or a sale; Drive sign-ups for your seller newsletter; Communicate policies; Cross-sell seasonal items or new hot items that you want to push; And more.

You can learn more at: http://pagemage.com.

6 Tips for Selling Used Clothing on eBay

eBay power sellers selling new apparel overstocks are also frequenting yard sales, consignment shops and thrift stores to make purchases to sell on eBay. Huge mark-ups can be realized when you purchase items often as low as ten to twenty-five cents each. The benefit to selling clothing sourced at thrift stores is the high profit margin. You may only pay $3- $5 for an item and sell it for ten times that much on eBay. It is difficult to find such high margins selling clothing purchased wholesale. Designer labels that are new or gently used are easy to find when you follow these suggestions.

1. Heavily worn or faded clothing should be avoided. Some pieces will not be worth your time to clean or repair. Focus on items that are in sellable condition. Take time to inspect your items for stains, rips or tears.
   
   
2. Thrift store inventory is constantly changing. Become a regular shopper in your area. When stores need to purge their inventory discounts are often offered for large quantity purchases. Don’t hesitate to ask. Some stores will offer bag sales to fill a shopping bag for $1 - $3. “Stuff your bag” sales are a cost effective way to get inventory. Even if you end up with a few duds, you will still make money on your investment.
   
   
3. Do your homework. Research which brands are selling well and keep a list for reference when shopping at garage sales and thrift stores. Limit your purchases to high end, brand names for the most resale profit. You can download my free BOLO (Be on Look Out) list at this link.
   
   
4. Items that have a higher resale value at on eBay include jackets, blazers, outerwear, and leather shoes. Cashmere is always a great find, even if damaged. Rule of thumb: The more it costs new, the higher resale value it will probably have on eBay.
   
   
5. For yard sale shopping wait until the last 30 minutes before the end of the sale to shop. These sellers are usually ready to deal at the end of the day so they don’t have to put it all away! You can get bargains galore as they practically give away items at the end of the day.
   
   
6. When your shopping is done inspect your purchases again at home. Most of the time items will need to be washed and wrinkle free prior to reselling. Be prepared to spend some time freshening up your finds so that buyers will receive their items in good condition.

Selling on Artfire – Another Online Marketplace

Selling on Artfire – Another Online Marketplace

Today’s post is contributed by John, who has the store Honeysuckle House on Artfire.

Who ever came up with the adage “There is no such thing as a free lunch” never visited the new online selling site Artfire. It was Founded in 2008 in Tucson Arizona by John Jacobs. John was actually a triple platinum seller on eBay when like a lot of sellers became upset with all the policy changes and felt what he seemed to be a "tax" on creativity with insertion/final value fees. Instead of complaining about it he decided to just do it in a better way. Since the November 2008 launch Artfire has experienced a growth of 2600%. John states Our company's core principles are based on providing the best e-commerce tools we can for our customers and supporting them with unmatched customer service.

Artfire is an excellent site for selling handmade, fine art, vintage, craft supplies, designs and media. The site is similar to etsy with one major exception, it is FREE for the basic membership. The pro membership is $9.95 a month. With either membership there are no listing fees, renewal fees or final valuation fees. With the pro membership comes some nice benefits over the basic membership making it well worth the small expense. Benefits such as product feeds to Google Shopping, Bing Shopping and theFind.com, they even have a Facebook Kiosk that you can add to your Facebook page to promote your items.

I have been selling of Artfire for about a year. Listing items is very simple. If you have an etsy shop you can actually import one or all of your items with just a couple of clicks. Listing new items is almost as easy. You can even have up to 10 pictures for each listing. One of the nicest aspects of Artfire is it relationship with Google and it's GBase. Many of my products are not only showing up on the first search page of Google but the picture of the item is there as well. The customers that I have experienced are great too.

Artfire is having a special going on right now. New users can get their 3rd month free, if the pro account is chosen. Click here to find out more.