The eBay Marketing Bible has been
sent to the editor!
I can't
thank everyone enough for their support. Without you all - I wouldn't
have been asked to join in the project. We'll get the final word about edits soon.
A big thanks is due to everyone who graciously agreed to have their
eBay stores, blogs, and stories included as examples in
the book. A special thanks goes out to
Janelle Elms, who introduced me to Cliff. Of course a big
thanks goes to Cliff, my co-author, and a final thanks to Deadline Dany
Byrne who pitched in at the last minute to make sure all the screen
captures for the book looked perfect!
Now, we wait
for the editors to read it and the typesetters to put it together. And
- I can get back to business!
I've got lots
to include in this newsletter so - let's get to it!
Amazon Fulfillment (FBA)
Amazon
welcomes third party sellers in all categories, not just books. This summer I attended an Internet Sellers Conference
specifically for Amazon sellers. It was a real eye opener for me as to
the possibilities. If you'd like to see my YouTube
video roundup click on this link.
Of the many new
tools Amazon is offering, I decided to start with FBA (Fulfillment by
Amazon). It fit in perfectly with this year's business plan. Before the
conference, I had been calculating out how much storage space I needed outside my home. My garage,
spare loft space and office space has been stuffed with inventory,
boxes and packing peanuts. So
the choice was easy: use FBA, pay Amazon a small storage fee AND let them pack it (or pay a storage locker fee and have to drive
there, retrieve the inventory and pack it myself).
FBA is the perfect solution
for my storage problem as well as helping me to cut
shipping costs, plus it allowed me to delay hiring and training an
employee to pack and ship. Here's how it works:
Step One - Seller
Central Account
When
my last shipment arrived from China, I set up the FBA account. To use
FBA you must upgrade to a Seller Central account, if you
don't already have one. In the beginning, I had
just a pro seller's account (the old version that looks like the
regular Amazon seller's account). You'll know if you have a Seller
Central account because the landing page will look different. Look at the Amazon
Logo - it should look like the logo above, with the words "seller
central." Setting up this account was the hardest part of
the whole process. I had to call a couple of times, because there are customer service people who don't know
what's going on (just like any growing company). The first one told me it was not possible for me to
upgrade my account; another seemed to think FBA was a place in the
solar system. I then contacted FBA directly via email at http://www.amazonservices.com/fulfillment/.
They called me back right away (within an hour) and worked to
change over my account. It took them a couple of days to complete, but
once it was done I was ready for FBA.
Step Two - Deciding
What to try
I
decided to start small and only converted one item from shipping at
home to FBA. The first order went smoothly. In fact, when you sign up for
FBA a customer service rep. walks you through the steps. (I've
converted several more items since).
When you change
your products over to FBA, they are then eligible for inclusion in
Amazons free shipping program. So, if you have items that fall below
the shipping minimum, you might find that your items are bundled with other
items into one order. You'll never know, but I believe this helped my
sales.
One seller I
talked to recently decided that the free shipping gave her a real
advantage with the physically larger, more expensive to ship items.
She pays a minimum to have them shipped to Amazon, because FBA users
can use Amazon's special discount UPS rates. Because she pays less to
ship to Amazon, and Amazon offers free shipping to its customers, she is more
competitive against the discount sellers on Amazon.
One item I
sell, was priced at $24.95 when selling from home. But, when I changed
it to FBA, I thought it might sell better if I raised the price to
$25.97 - thus bringing it over the free shipping threshold. It seems
to have helped - although at this early stage, I still need to track
it more against last years sales.
When the item
is converted to FBA you'll notice the change in status on your
inventory page. It is changed to "AFN" (See the photo above).
To see how many are
in stock, click on the link.
Step Three - Shipping
it to Amazon
This
seems to be the biggest sticking point, and may be where all the bad
reviews have come from. Amazon has a rather long, but easy, process for
setting up the shipment. If you don't get the right paperwork included
in the box, the warehouse may delay, or worse yet not be able to match
the shipment to your business and lose it.
I've included a
video demo below on the process. Here is an important check-list of
steps that must be followed for success:
-
Existing bar codes on
the products must be covered with the new bar codes Amazon
provides
-
Bar codes must be on
each of the
products in the shipment
-
Be sure to include the
packing slip inside the box, on top - so it's quickly accessible
-
Include both halves of
the printed packing label on the outside of the box.
Click
here to watch the FBA video
How is it going for me?
So far, I've
converted several SKU's over. When you first convert the products,
there is a delay - as they are shipped and indexed in the Amazon
warehouse. This delay, combined with the slow summer selling season and
consumer distractions - seemed to really kill the momentum of the
product sales. BUT, I think it had very little to do with Amazon FBA. As
soon as the customers started buying again, my products were selling
as well.
I'm very happy with
the results. I spend less time packing products, and love those
notices from Amazon that are rolling in regularly that state
another product was sold. I can almost fit my truck into the garage
now and I'm starting to see the floor of my office :) Although it is early days, I have not had
any problems with lost shipments or misplaced items.
If you'd like to
learn more about selling on Amazon and all the possible ways to get
your inventory on the site - please check out my recently released
webinar/CD on the subject: How to Sell on Amazon Marketplace Website 101 (Profit With Multi-Channel Sales, Volume 1) .
Microsoft and eBay
Team Up To Offer Cash Back on Purchases
Here's
the official announcement from eBay
Live.com and eBay are teaming up to give buyers a rebate of up to 30% off when you purchase on eBay and pay through PayPal.
More information can be found at the Fatwallet forums:
fatwallet dot com then the following extension:
http://fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/838081
I tried to send this notice
out to my customers on eBay and found, that eBay makes no exceptions
on their linking policy and blocked the email. Even a great incentive
like this can't be sent out. This is a deal we should be sending out
to all our customers with an invite back to our stores! But, it is a
great lesson in why it is so important to start your own mailing list
outside of eBay. You should set up an independent website or blog with
a sign-up link and put a invitation to join your newsletter in every
box you ship.
The Marketing Minute
- A Fun New Video Series
Click
here to watch the video
During eBay Live, I
asked as many sellers as possible to give me their favorite
marketing tip. Over the next several weeks I'll let them tell you,
in their words, their favorite eBay marketing tip. Watch my blog,
YouTube, Twitter
Facebook
or your email inbox for the latest video.
This weeks guest
is Ms Leo from you can find her store at: http://www.leosdomane.com/
Flip Tips - CD is now
available!
For more information or
to purchase the CD visit www.ghostleg.com
-
How to get the best
shots using a Flip Camera - lighting, the zoom feature,
tripods, panning and more
-
Techniques I've
discovered while using my Flip Camera
-
How to use the
software that comes with the Flip
-
How to use the free
Movie Maker Software that comes on all Window XP computers to
splice short takes together
-
When you might want
to upgrade to other video software and an overview of what
Sony Movie Studio can do
PS: You can still
purchase a Flip Camera - click
here to purchase
More On The Local Scene
The November
SeaBay Meeting:
Location Mountlake Terrace
If you have not been to the Meeting At Joni's you'll need to email her for directions -
Luvnroc's will be the Guest Speaker that Should be fun!
Nov 11th Tuesday Evening
Time 6:30 PM
The November Monthly
eBay Success Meeting:
The next Seattle EBay Success Group meeting will be held
Wednesday morning, 11/12,
at Lake Forest Park meeting room (near the food court by Third Place Books)
from 9:30 - 11:30 am.
Diann Edwards from d'clutter
sales will be talking about using eBay reports to improve your listings and help your sales. You might want to bring your recent reports with you (my
eBay>manage my store>traffic reports and/or sales reports).
Carol be talking about a consignment selling opportunity that she recently learned about.
Fall Classes:
Fall season is in full swing now. I'm
teaching eBay and Digital Camera classes locally.
eBay Basics in Mt Vernon - Nov 17
& 19th
more
information here
eBay Basics in Oak
Harbor - Dec 8th & 10th
more
information here
eBay -102 Beyond The Basics in Mt Vernon -
Dec 1
& 3rd
more
information here
Winter
Classes
Dany Byrne wanted to let
you know about some exciting new classes she'll be teaching this
March, at the Everett Community College:
NEW CLASSES BEGIN - March, 2009
Introduction to Blogging
Popular Publishing Class
You Tube Class
For more information
about her classes - visit her website at: http://www.dbyrneassociates.com
Online Classes this fall:
We've had so much interest in a Photo
Editing Class that Dany Byrne and I will be teaching an online series on
PhotoShop Elements.
There will be three tracks to choose: Basic,
Intermediate, Advanced. These classes will meet weekly and we will teach them in
order if you want to talk all three courses. Watch this newsletter for details.
Dates to be announced - but if you'd
like to be the first to know, please
send me an email
Learn To
Blog Now!
Blog expert Dany
Byrne
helped me skyrocket my new blog: www.photowalkstoday.com
to the top in no time.
Now she's offering her
techniques to everyone in her new book: Blogging With Wordpress.
Whether you are a new or
experienced blogger, you will find something to improve your blog
in this new book.
-
Learn the difference
between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
-
Find out how to
optimize your blog for top search engine rankings (SEO)
-
Learn how to earn
income from AdSense, Commission Junction, and affiliate sales
-
Discover which
Plug-Ins are 'Must Haves'
-
Learn how to
schedule "future posts" so you will never be
overwhelmed by the demand for constant updates
This e-Book is a perfect
guide to those ready to start a Wordpress Blog.
For more information or
to purchase Blogging
With Wordpress visit ghostlegpress.com
Buy
it now, Dany has tons of great bonuses, including a special
members only area and a webinar class for those who purchase
early.
Have
you visited my blog lately?
If not, you've missed these articles:
A Must Attend Auction!
http://clovercitysells.blogspot.com/2008/11/must-attend-auction.html#links
The Time Is Now To Start A Blog
http://clovercitysells.blogspot.com/2008/11/time-is-now-to-start-blog.html#links
Packing Tips Video From Amazon
http://clovercitysells.blogspot.com/2008/10/packing-tips-video-from-amazon.html#links
Shiprush is now available to help Amazon Sellers Too!
http://clovercitysells.blogspot.com/2008/11/shiprush-is-now-available-to-help.html#links
Plus a link to some really goofy pictures of Griff & me
http://clovercitysells.blogspot.com/
Twitter
Join me on Twitter! I've
just discovered a new way to stay in touch: Twitter. I've heard of
the site, but never bothered checking it out. Now that I have, I
can't believe how easy it is and how little time it takes to be
'social.'
Follow me on twitter at:
http://twitter.com/clovercity
That's it for now,
Cindy Shebley
eBay Certified Business Consultant
author eBay Marketing Bible
www.clovercity.com
Copyright 2008 Cindy L.
Shebley Enterprises
| 