Renegade eBay Strategy - Feedback

Let's talk about feedback. We all know that feedback is an essential component of eBay, in fact it's probably a large part of why the company has been so successful. In marketing terms we might refer to feedback as social proof. I'll explain what I mean. We all make decisions based on what others do, yes we are influenced by others to an extraordinary degree.

If someone tells us that they enjoyed a great meal or watched a really good movie, chances are that we'll do the same, based on their recommendation. That's social proof.

The principle works on eBay too. When we read the feedback comments left by buyers and sellers we take note. If those comments are predominantly positive then we naturally trust the person behind that account.

So not only is feedback an essential aspect of eBay that virtually all buyers and sellers devote significant amount of time to reading, it is one that deserves more attention than you give it now.

For most sellers, leaving feedback is a few rushed words, fairly generic, and posted without much thought. The renegade seller on the other hand realizes that there is an opportunity to make more of this important aspect of eBay.

Firstly, don't leave feedback to chance. Rather than letting buyers write the first thing that comes into their heads, prompt them a little. How can you do that without seeming impolite or demanding?

Send out an e-mail around the time you expect them to have received their item, and politely ask them not to leave feedback until they are 100% satisfied. If there's something that needs to be fixed, tell them you want to do that. Let them know that you live for happy customers!

Next, guide them as to what to write. Suggest to them that your customers are delighted because of the fast shipping, friendly service, fair mailing costs, quality of items, and any other benefits you can think of. This is an NLP technique that plants the thought in their mind, so that when they come to leave you feedback, you've already told them what to mention! Is this deceiving customers? No, not if you genuinely do deliver these benefits. You are simply helping to remind them.

Another important renegade feedback strategy is to include a marketing message in the feedback YOU leave. For example, instead of the usual, "Great transaction, recommended eBayer etc etc" that most buyers and sellers default to, use the space to further promote your items.You might say, "Thanks from BobMillsPosters.com -- eBay's #1 Collectable Poster Store."

In the above example, notice that the feedback message points people back to a domain name, which would be either the eBay store or your own website. Also, notice that the first letter of each word is capitalized -- an effective marketing technique to make the wording stand out.

Remember, feedback comments stay on an account for a very long time, so use that precious 'real estate' wisely.

Sales From The Crypt

In today's contemporary society, where everything can be done already over the Net, online shopping is one lucrative activity for the seller and convenience for the buyer.

This is where eBay comes in the limelight. Every online shoppers and online traders can benefit a lot in eBay. But because of its wide diversity, things being sold on eBay had increased to amore wider, broader, and weirder.

Yes! With the wide access and convenience eBay gives to its members, there were reports that even the weirdest things were auctioned and even sold on eBay.

Here are some of them:

1. Ghost in a Jar

There was an actual report about an item, dubbed as a "ghost in a jar", being sold on eBay. The seller narrated in his item description how he got the jars (there were two, actually). The seller claimed that the remaining jar contains some "black thing" based on what happened to the other jar after it fell to the ground and emitted some sort of black smoke.

The auctioned placed 60 bids during the listing and had reached $90 million. Though, there are no concrete reports as to whether the sale was really closed or who got the item in that amount.

2. Vampire killing kit

This refers to a kit suitable for some "vampire hunters". This kit includes an ebony wood stake, a crossbow with four silver-tipped arrows, a variety of surgical instruments, and a large bottle of holy water.

3. UFO Detector

This is a modified magnetometer manufactured by a Brazilian company. It was said on the auction that this item can actually detect an approaching UFO or can spot an UFO activity.

4. Russian Test space Shuttle

It's a spacecraft built by a Russian company. The actual reserve price for this item is $2 million but was auctioned and bid on eBay with only a small percentage from its actual selling price.

5. Serial Killer's Fingernails

This refers to the fingernails of a certain Roy Norris who sailed to Southern California, in 1979, for a killing binge that murdered five people. He was with a certain Lawrence Bittaker.

These fingernails are placed at the back of a Christmas card with Norris' note, signature, and black thumbprint.

These are just a few of the weirdest things that a buyer can get on eBay. In fact, there are thousand others lurking in eBay and are waiting for some eager and gullible bidders.

Scams: How to identify and avoid - List of the most known ,including Ebay Scams

Telephone lottery scams: These include the Canadian lottery scam and the El Gordo Spanish lottery scam, which deceptively uses the name of a genuine lottery. People respond to an unsolicited mailing or telephone call telling them they are being entered into a prize draw. They then receive a telephone call congratulating them on winning a big prize in a national lottery - but before they can claim their winnings, they must send money to pay for taxes and processing fees. The prize doesn't exist.

Prize draw, sweepstakes and foreign lottery mailings: many typical scams take the form of prize draws, lotteries or government payouts. Most appear to be notification of a prize in an overseas draw or lottery in return for administration or registration fees.

Premium rate telephone number scams: Notification by post of a win in a sweepstake or a holiday offer includes instructions to ring a premium rate 090 number to claim your prize.

Investment related scams: An unsolicited telephone call offering the opportunity to invest in shares, fine wine, gemstones or other soon-to-be rare commodities. These investments often carry very high risk and may be worth a lot less than you pay. The shares are not quoted on any stock exchange and you will not be able to sell them easily afterwards. 'Solid' valuable investments, such as gem stones, are often said to be stored in secretive Swiss bank vaults, so you can never see your investment.

Nigerian advance fee frauds: THE MOST KNOWN SCAM. An offer via letter, e-mail or fax to share a huge sum of money in return for using the recipient's bank account to permit the transfer of the money out of the country. The perpetrators will either use the information given to empty their victim's bank account; or convince him or her that money is needed up front for bribing officials. Pyramid schemes: offer a return on a financial investment based upon the number of new recruits to the scheme. Investors are misled about the likely returns as there are not enough people to support the scheme indefinitely - only the people who set up the scheme are able to make any money.

Matrix schemes: are promoted via web sites offering expensive hi-tech gadgets as free gifts in return for spending £20 or similar on a low-value product such as a mobile telephone signal booster. Consumers who buy the product join a waiting list to receive their free gift. The person at the top of the list gets their free gift only after a prescribed number – sometimes as high as 100 – of new members join up. In reality, the majority of those on the list will never receive the expensive item they expect.

Credit scams: another advance fee fraud, originating in Canada. Advertisements have appeared in local newspapers offering fast loans regardless of credit history. Consumers who respond are told their loans have been agreed but before the money can be released they must pay a fee to cover insurance. Once the advance fee is paid, the consumer never hears from the company again and the loan never appears.

Property investment schemes: would-be investors attend a free presentation and are persuaded to hand over thousands of pounds to sign up to a course promising to teach them how to make money dealing in property. Schemes may involve the opportunity to buy properties which have yet to be built at a discount. A variation is a buy-to-let scheme where companies offer to source, renovate and manage properties, claiming good returns from rental income. In practice, the properties are near-derelict and the tenants non-existent.

Work-at-home and business opportunity scams: often work by advertising paid work from home but which require money up-front to pay for materials; or by requiring investment in a business with little or no chance of success.

Ebay Scams/PaypalBank scams

1. You can receive an email from "your" bank or paypal asking you to log in in order to..(say verify something) the page you are redirected is actually a phishing page and all the information,including your account passwords will be stolen. DO NOT EVER trust any emails like this. If in doubt,call your bank or go directly to the website(eg. www.ebay.com) and inter your account details there.

2. EBay scams may involve people trying to buy goods from you with money order,where they pay you with  fraudulent bill. You sent the goods,thinking your bank will clear this up,but it would not.... Always wait until the money are cleared by your bank,before sending stuff. Sometimes they use their own shipping company.

3. Ebay scam which is also popular involves stealing someone elsese account(by the means of #1,etc). Then they post an item for sale for a price you can't resist. When you purchase it, they will ask you to pay,using money order or similar service.  They can also set up a fake escrow service. Beware.

Use commone sense for every purchase. If it's too good to be true- IT IS. No free cheese in this world other than for your pets :)

Grabbing Buyers From Reviews & Guides

One of the lessons that eBay has learned in recent years is that content is king. To be honest, until recently even eBay themselves admitted that the site lacked content. In other words, the site did not have much in the way of useful information; it was purely a place to buy products or services.

Some of the most recent developments to encourage user-provided content were: eBay Wiki, eBay Reviews and Guides and eBay Blogs. By eBay's own admission the aim of these sections is to build valuable content that will encourage users to come back to the site more frequently, as well as to influence the search engines in a positive way to increase the visibility of the site overall.

These features have been largely ignored by most eBay users, but they present a powerful opportunity for the switched on seller (that's you). How so? In return for providing content to these sections of the site, eBay promises a nice payback. It's a ‘you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' kind of arrangement.

The opportunity that exists in eBay Reviews and Guides is great because it's a flexible and open format.

According to eBay's own definition, Reviews and Guides (which are actually independent sections of the site in their own right) were provided as a way for users to research suitable products and benefit from the wisdom of eBay members that have experience in a particular product category, either as a seller or as a user. ‘Reviews' contains comments and ratings about all kinds of commonly sold items on eBay.

Note that eBay limits reviews to specific types of products that they list. ‘Guides' are short articles or reports that contain information and opinions about almost any topic you can think of.

There are two key ways to benefit from these sections of eBay:

1.Use the free information as a research resource for creating your own information products.

2.Write informative and useful information about the niche that you sell in, and then promote your own products.

The first point should be self-evident. Reviews and Guides is a rapidly growing information resource that's available for free, so it's a great tool for research when creating information based products.

The second area is a little more complex, but don't be put off, because it represents an outstanding way to generate interest in your eBay listings, for free. Here are some of the ways you can use Reviews and Guides:

1. Have a friend or relative post an objective review of your product. Make sure it's realistic and credible, and be sure to include details of what makes your product superior to the competition.

2. Write a Top 10 products review for your industry (guess which is No.1?)

3.Write a ‘white paper' report about a product that you sell.

4. Write a guide that explains how to use your product.

5. Write a guide that explains unusual uses for your product.

6. Write a guide that explains the pitfalls to look out for in hiring a service you offer.

7. Write a guide that gives tips and advice within some aspect of the niche that you sell in.

8. Write a guide that explains how to replace or repair a product.

Be as creative as you like, and remember that you can include pictures, photos, illustrations, basic formatting, and eBay links to specific products or eBay searches. If you do use any kind of photo or drawing, make sure it closely relates to the content and that it enhances rather than detracts from the text (that's a common mistake).

Also, in preparing your writing, ask yourself what people would be most interested in reading about. After all, you want to attract as many readers as possible. As with any copywriting, the headline (and title) that you select are the most important aspects to consider in drawing readers in.

Obviously, don't stop after producing your first one, aim to produce a steady stream of reviews and guides to increase your presence and influence on eBay (and the search engines that love this type of solid content). Set a goal of producing at least one review and one guide each week. If you can do more, even better.

Both reviews and guides can be voted on by readers, so make sure you keep an eye on that, as you want to maintain a favorable impression.


Please read and re-read the following information so that you fully grasp it. The two most important aspects of writing an eBay Guide are the links and the tags. Links are clickable text that will redirect the user automatically to another page within eBay. There are two types of links available to you – links to specific product pages, and links to eBay searches. I recommend that you use the latter because product pages will change from time to time, whereas searches will always be valid.

When you create a guide, eBay will help you create a search link by prompting you to enter relevant words to search for. This is much easier to do than it sounds.

For example, if you are in a niche selling guitar accessories, you would include words like guitar pedal, guitar stand, guitar amp, guitar strings, and so on. In identifying the most suitable words and phrases (tags), ask yourself, “If I was to search for this type of article, what search words would I enter?”Now, this is the clever part. If you give this some thought, it's possible to create a search term that's so specific that it only brings up your items in the results page!

For example, going back to the example of selling guitar accessories, if your store name was ‘ABC Guitar Accessories' and your listings had the word ‘ABC' in them, your search terms would be ABC guitar pedal, ABC guitar stand, ABC guitar amp and so on. Again, the aim is to create search terms that are so specific that your listings are the only ones that match, so they are the ones that are displayed.

This is a very powerful tool because you are now able to influence readers of your guides to visit your listings, and yours alone. Since you've just provided them with useful information in your guide, it makes sense that you are starting to build a rapport with them, and they are far more likely to buy from you than another seller as a result. It's simple human nature at work.

Tags

The other element of an eBay Guide to give attention to are the tags.

The word ‘tags' is simply ‘eBay speak' for keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that eBay prompts you to enter when you create your guide, to help others locate the guide in the future. It's the search terms that will cause your guide to be found, so you can see how important they are.

As an example, if your guide was ‘Tips for Planning the Perfect Hawaii Vacation', your keywords would likely include:

Hawaiivacation
Maui
Ohau
Kaui

There's a balance to be had in how specific your keywords are because you are only allowed to submit a maximum of four. For example, if you used the keyword expression ‘Hawaii surfing vacation' you would lose out on a lot of other more general searches.

Finally, as you might imagine, it's easy to spend hours in these areas of the site, so be careful not to fall into that trap. Use these features as tools to increase your presence on eBay, but don't get bogged down with them.

Branding Your Ebiz - Creating A Name Your Customers Trust

If you want customers to spend money with you online, you have to make them feel confident they’re dealing with a legitimate business. They’re giving you their personal information, as well as their credit card number. If your website sends a clear message you run your business from home, they may not feel comfortable entrusting you with that kind of info. That’s why it’s important to create a brand your customers recognize and trust. What’s a Brand? A brand is what differentiates you from every other eBiz out there: • A brand is a set of expectations you create in your customers’ minds in regards to your business. It comprises everything from the quality of your website to your customer service to your actual merchandise. More than just a name and logo, it’s your buyer’s entire experience with your company. • A brand is a reputation. A good brand adds value to your product—buyers expect a certain quality based on the brand name. If they recognize your brand and have a good association with it, they’re likely to choose it over other similar products, even if it costs a little more. Your Branding Should Be Consistent Explains Eileen Parzek, of http://SohoItGoes.com, “Consistently use a brand design throughout all your different marketing material… It gives a sense you’re bigger than you really are.” You need to figure out what your marketing message is and carry that message through all your promotional materials. If you have business cards, press kits, and print materials, they should reflect the design of your website from the fonts and color palette to the logo and tagline. Your format should also persist through all of your web pages—the layout, the tone of your copy, even your navigation. Having a unified, professional-looking web store can go a long way towards building a customer’s confidence in you. A well-designed site gives your business credibility—customers associate the quality of your site with the quality of service and merchandise they expect from you. Your Branding Should Be Continuous Your brand should evolve to reflect the changing needs of your target market—branding’s an ongoing process. It begins, ideally, in your business’ startup phase and continues through the life cycle of your business. Says Parzek, “[Branding] is not something you ever stop doing. You have to be conscious of it at all times.”

5 Rules for Negotiating Like a Pro

Copyright 2006 Mary Greenwood

No matter whether you are negotiating a raise with your boss, negotiating a vacation schedule with you ex-spouse or negotiating with a seller or buyer on an on-line auction, there are certain rules or principles that will help you settle your disputes.

Rule 1. Focus on the goal. Don’t be distracted by your emotions. It is important to check your emotions at the door before trying to negotiate anything. Emotions such as anger can make one lose control. We have all seen someone who gets red in the face and starts shaking his finger and generally looks as though he could easily have a heart attack. Sometimes that person is so mad that he is incoherent. You need to get past that stage if you are going to succeed. If you are the one who is angry and upset, you need to focus on what you hope to accomplish and tell yourself that nothing is going to stand in the way of that goal.  It really does not matter whether you like the other side or not. Some parties are rude, obnoxious and insulting. Try to get past these insults so you can focus on resolving the dispute. The other side may be baiting you so don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they have gotten to you. If you focus on the goals of the negotiation, it won’t matter whether you like or respect the other party.

Rule 2. Look forward, not back. The past is called the past for a reason. If one party gets too involved in what has happened in the past, it can be counter-productive. One party in a divorce case, may be so intent on documenting everything the husband has done wrong, that the wife is not even thinking about the goals of the negotiation beyond blaming the husband. You have to figure out a way to get to the present and deal with current issues of custody or visitation. Ask the other party what they want now to resolve the dispute.

Rule 3. You don’t have to be right to settle.  What are the three words we want to hear the most, even more than “I Love you”? We love to hear those magic words, “You are right”. For some people, this is even harder to say than “I love you”. And if you say, “You are absolutely right”, that is even better. When someone says, “It is the principle that counts” or “It is not the money, it’s the principle!” I know that the negotiation is in trouble. That is because the party is making a judgment call that it is more important to be a martyr than settle the case. When someone is obsessed with the principle of a situation, he/she is still emotionally vested in his/her feelings. Unless you can get beyond those emotions, the dispute is not likely to be resolved. Feeling that you are right can be a heady emotion, but it has no place in the negotiation. If the other side is only interested in being right, chances are the situation won’t be resolved.

Rule 4. Know what you want and what the other side wants. Knowing what you want may seem obvious, but many parties don’t know what they want. They are so angry that they have not even asked themselves how the issue can be resolved. If they don’t know what they want, how can they go about getting it? They may want to hash and rehash the circumstances that got them into this negotiation. Depending on the complexity of the situation, you should have a detailed plan of what you want.  In addition to knowing what you want, you also need to know what you are willing to give up to get what you want. Generally you can get what you want if you are willing to pay the price for it.  Don’t ever begin a negotiation without knowing what you want.

Rule 5. Be prepared and do your research. Once you have an idea what you want, you must do your research and preparation. That could be as simple as listing your arguments on a sheet of paper or as complex as doing the research to cost out a request for wage increases. Either way, you need to be prepared. Otherwise, you might make a concession or agreement that you will later regret. You need to know the rationale behind your requests and a good estimate of the costs, including the future costs. Nothing is more embarrassing than making a presentation and having someone question the accuracy of your numbers and having the whole presentation fall apart because the data is confusing, or even worse incorrect. If you are not completely prepared, consider delaying the start of the negotiation. If you go in with little or no information, and try to wing it, you will regret it later. You cannot be over-prepared. Even if you don’t use everything you prepared, it does not matter. It is important to have as much information and research as possible just in case you need it.

5 Benefits Of Using Feeds - How Feeds Can Help Your Ebiz

What’s a Feed?

Feeds are a way of sharing content. When you make material from your website available for publishing on other sites, you provide them with a feed. Basically, it’s a code that lets them post your articles and blogs. There are different kinds of code—XML, RSS, Atom, etc.—but essentially they’re all just different ways of accessing a feed.

According to internet expert Sydney Johnston, “The great thing about a feed is everybody wins.” The article writer gains exposure, the reader learns about something of interest to them, and the online seller gets an endless source of pertinent content.

What Can a Feed Do for My Online Business?

Feeds are useful in a number of different ways:

• They Eliminate Spam-filters. They’re 100% opt-in, so readers can subscribe and unsubscribe at will. Feeds are delivered directly to your subscribers, so you don’t contend with filters knocking you out of their inboxes.

• They Provide Free Content. One of the best ways to differentiate your site is to supply readers with interesting material—educate them on topics relating to the product you’re selling. If you sell preschool toys, chances are you don’t want to study child development and write numerous articles on the subject—so find someone else who’s already done that and make their feed available to your customers. The constantly updating, applicable subject matter gives your visitors a reason to keep coming back.

• They Can Improve Your Search Engine Rankings. In the past, search engines were unable to read feeds, but software is now available to translate them into live links the engines can see (check out http://CyberWS.com). Search engines love fresh, dynamic content, so feeds are ideal. They provide relevant information that updates automatically. Not only do your customers get the facts they’re looking for, but the search engines like your site and give it better position.

• For Affiliate Marketers, They’re an Alternative to Banners. You not only give your customer valuable knowledge, but if they click through and purchase something, you get credit. And unlike with banners, you don’t look like you’re putting up junk ads or spam.

• They Can Increase Your Traffic. Anything you write, you should make available as a feed. When other sites pick it up, it’s free advertising for you—all their traffic is able to click through the feed to your site. So you gain new potential customers you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Feeds on any subject are easy to find. There’s a whole collection of search engines just for feeds, like http://Plazoo.com and http://Feedster.com. Says Johnston, “The future of the internet for entrepreneurs is feeds. If people don’t master them, they’re going to get left behind, period.”