28/5/10 Powerseller Profiteer Newsletter

How the changes coming to eBay in June 2010 will help your eBay business to become more profitable

Hello!

Have you noticed that it seems like changes and upgrades happen much quicker these days? My eldest daughter has only had her mobile phone for a few months but already there is a bigger, better one available with cooler ring tones, technology I can’t even begin to get my head round and an assortment of luminous colours! Of course she now wants a new one (the answer’s no). 

I’m literally waiting for the moment when I order my main course at a restaurant and the menu changes before my dish has even arrived at my table! 

Seriously though, changes usually happen for a reason. Whether it’s because of demand, technology, ease of use or other factors – whatever the reason, change is inevitable. Fortunately though change isn’t always a bad thing and in my view you should try and find the positive sides to change and embrace them. Don’t worry I’m not going all hippie on you, I just want to make sure you understand that often it’s important that you go with the flow where change is concerned and this includes in your personal and professional life. 

There is a point to me telling you this because in June, eBay will be making some further changes to the site and like the last batch of changes, these will actually help you increase your eBay profits. So, I think you’ll agree that change is definitely not a bad thing!  

Anyway to help you understand exactly what these changes are and how they will affect you and also to prepare you to take advantage of them, I thought I’d give you a few pointers this week. 

Category and sub-category changes 

Now, if you are still quite new to eBay, it wouldn’t surprise me if you are a little over-whelmed by the sheer volume of potential categories that you can place your products – there are literally hundreds as you will know and this can sometimes make it difficult to know exactly where to list your items.  

Now, I know it’s not hard to work out where a Sony PlayStation game goes but other items might fit into more than one category, or on the other hand not easily fit within any at all! 

Deciding on the correct category for your listing is something that is often overlooked but what you must bear in mind is that whilst lots of potential buyers use the search tool to look for the item they want, there are others who aren’t entirely sure what they are looking for and so actually traipse through the category looking for the product that suits them. They may not even know exactly what they are looking for until they see it! 

And this is where the importance of listing in the correct categories comes in, especially as come June, eBay are re-jigging some of the familiar areas where you might have products listed. 

This won’t apply to all categories so may make absolutely no difference to you at all, it depends where you list, but if one of the categories listed below is one that you use then you’ll notice a few changes: 

Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles 

Clothes, Shoes & Accessories 

Computing 

Consumer Electronics 

DVD, Film & TV 

Mobile & Home Phones 

Photography 

Vehicle Parts & Accessories 

Video Games 

Don’t panic though! Your listings won’t be deleted, altered or affected in any way even if the sub-category in which you are listing is removed. Instead, your items will simply be shifted to the most relevant new sub-category and eBay will let you know that this has been done so you don’t need to do anything, just be aware that your listings may move. 

And this is a good thing because if your listings are moved, it means that they were originally in the wrong category and will now appear in a more ‘relevant’ category or sub-category making your products easier to find and so more visible to potential buyers which means more sales. 

There are loads of new sub-categories coming in June and if I went through them all here your Inbox would explode, so instead, keep an eye on eBay Announcements and consider this a big opportunity to increase your profits through these new categories. 

As I’ve already mentioned, eBay will automatically move your listings to what they deem the most appropriate new category, however, I strongly recommend that this weekend you take a moment to look at your listings and check they are in the most appropriate place. Then, once the new sub-categories are launched spend a few moments browsing through them and take a sneaky peak at where your rivals’ stock now appears to ensure that you are listing in the right location for your products. 

Save time with automatic emails 

Another change that will dramatically save you time and allow you to spend more time sourcing products to add to your inventory are new automatically generated emails. As you know I am a firm believer in the importance of good customer service and keeping up the constant communication with buyers and prospective buyers has a lot to do with staying popular and bringing repeat custom! So, these emails may just help take a load off, and cover those occasions when you are so busy packing products or tracking down wholesale goods that staying in contact slips your mind. Previously, to be able to use a really good selection of automatic emails you needed to sign up to Selling Manager Pro (which is still a far superior tool by the way) but come June you will be able to send the following automatically generated emails: 

An order confirmation email 

“But there’s already an order confirmation email!” I hear you cry! Yes, eBay will already email a buyer to let them know that they have been successful in their purchase but this existing email will now be replaced with more information including details of the transaction and details of the seller’s contact information. 

A payment reminder email 

If, two days after your auction has ended or a buyer has clicked ‘Buy It Now’, you still have not received payment then eBay will automatically send an email with a gentle reminder. 

A feedback reminder email 

As with the order confirmation email, there is already a system in place to request feedback, only now it will be fully automated and the jury’s out on this one. I’m not certain this is necessarily a good thing as I know buyer’s often don’t like to be hassled for feedback. Perhaps as the reminder will come from eBay rather than you as a seller it might work. I will wait and see.  

And of course, if the personal touch is important to you (which I hope it is), and you are organised enough to handle emailing your own buyers with payment reminders etc, then you will be free to opt out of this automatic email from around mid-June. My advice would be to give it a try first though as you may find it makes your life much easier. 

Automatic FAQ’s 

Ok, now let me paint a little picture for you. Imagine you have created the perfect listing. The title is accurate and contains all the keywords that potential buyers are sure to search for and you’ve polished your product description to perfection. You have made sure that all of the answers to the crucial questions are actually answered somewhere within your listing. You have included great images of your product from several angles…all is well and looking good. 

And yet, within the first day of listing you get an email from a buyer wanting to know if your item is new or used, or perhaps what colour it is (yes, even with photos posted this can happen believe me). 

Now, rather than gritting your teeth and resisting the urge to say what you really think in your reply to the buyer as well as wasting time, from June eBay will automatically produce a set of questions and answers based on the information provided by you. Hurrah! Why didn’t they think of this before! So, this might include information on posting and packaging, the condition of the item, what colour it is and even details of your returns policy. 

To put it bluntly, this means that before a buyer can ask you a really stupid question, they will be presented with the answer. Genius. What’s more you can customise your answers too so you can add a personal touch if you wish. 

I don’t doubt that the occasional obvious question will probably still sneak through the net but any reduction in the amount of email queries you get will help to free up your time and letting you dedicate your precious minutes towards more sales. 

Changes to the revisions system 

Finally I just want to quickly tell you about the beta testing of a new bulk updates tool. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how frustrating it is if you want to make amendments to a large number of auctions due to an initial mistake or a change in the marketplace so the ability to change your price, title, subtitle and quantity of your auctions will be a great addition for you. And with more updates to come providing yet more options to update listings, the bulk update facility is definitely one to watch out for! 

As I’ve said, this is in beta testing mode and unfortunately only a select few will have access to it initially – I’ll let you know if I am a ‘chosen one’, but keep your eyes peeled because in July the trial will be open to anyone who applies for it before the full release later on this year. 

So there we have it. I think you’ll agree that all these changes are positive ones which ultimately will help your eBay business not hinder it, especially as the updates that I’ve mentioned to you today are all time savers. Even a really efficient eBay business can get bogged down so time savers like these can definitely help to increase your profits. 

As always I wish you the very best of success, 

Amanda 

*******************************************************

If you are a new subscriber and have missed previous newsletters, you can catch up here: http://www.powersellerpod.co.uk/Newsletters.html  

The £2,500 Per Week eBay Powersellers Secrets: http://www.powersellerprofiteer.co.uk 

The Ultimate eBay Success System: http://www.canonburypublishing.com/ultimateebay/  

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/powerselleraob 

Subscribe to my Blog: http://broadwaypublishingcompany.blogspot.com 

Visit my Website: http://www.powersellerpod.co.uk 

I produce this newsletter on the understanding that these are my own personal opinions and experiences, which are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. I cannot be held responsible for any error in details, accuracy or judgment whatsoever. 

© Amanda O’Brien 2010 

 

Back to Top