Introducing Magniphy - Your Complete eBay and Website Solution

The eBay Seller's News, November 2007, Volume 7, No. 11

Learn How To Sell More on eBay with The Newsletter for Professional
eBay Sellers by:  Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings

1. Introducing Magniphy - Your Complete eBay and Website Solution
2. Niche of The Month: Vintage Cameras and Accessories
3. Increase eBay Profits & Sales With Free Bonus Items
4. Don't Get Trapped by Product Sales Cycles
5. New Easy-to-use Photo Tool Puts Pizzazz Into Your eBay Photos
6. eBay Holiday Shipping Tips and Making Extra Profits with Gift Services
7. New Wholesale Sources for November 2007

"One hundred percent of the shots you don't take,
don't go in." ~ Wayne Gretzky

Musings

Last month I told you about our recent eBay Boot Camp. Based on that I have been doing some research into future events and learned a few things. When I speak with my readers and based on questions I got both at my Boot Camp and a recent local seminar I did for beginning eBay sellers, the topic that comes up over and over is wholesale sourcing.

So - no firm dates yet. But I am looking at something in the month of March. What I hope to do is put together a wholesale sourcing seminar in Las Vegas in conjunction with one of the large wholesale trade shows. The plan would be to meet for two days in the mornings and then spend the afternoon at the trade show actually helping people find sources and negotiate with wholesale suppliers. More than likely I will be partnering with another company and bringing in other speakers. I hope to have the details sorted out before our December newsletter, so stay tuned.

Sorry this item is a repeat from last month, but I am still getting questions about it, so just one more time:

I have been publishing for 7 years but my newsletters are indexed in the archives for about two years. This is because information can quickly become out of date. I keep getting email from readers who want the special $50 introductory discount off WorldWide Brands OneSource. Although it is mentioned in the old newsletters it is no longer available, but you can still get the $20 discount they offer my readers by using this link: www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath.

The Wholesale Members site that comes with purchase of The Wholesale Buying System and/or The Complete eBay Marketing System is pretty good and we have just added about 100 new wholesale sources. But I have to admit that WorldWideBrands has a much larger and more complete listing than I do. (I have two employees and they have about 30). OneSource is currently the only one, other than my own, that I recommend for information about drop shippers, importers and light bulk wholesale sources.

Liquidation or surplus goods are a long-time staple for medium and large eBay sellers, but there are some traps you need to be aware of. I have just placed a rather long --but very detailed article on our Free Articles Page by Tom Schmidt, Executive Vice President of Liquidation.com on the market for surplus goods and the ins and outs of using the secondary marketplace. So if you are interested in this highly profitable method of eBay wholesale sourcing you might want to read Find Wholesale Products to Sell on eBay in The Secondary, Surplus and Liquidation Market.

Time is running short but there is still a little time to take advantage of Jenni Hunt's Holiday Toy Guide. The holiday toy season is in full swing and Jennie has all the details about how you can make money taking advantage of toys that are hot and in short supply. Jenni's stuff is always very good and she gives a 30-day money back guarantee if you are not happy. Jenni's system is a great way to make some extra quick money for the holidays.

eBay has finally started TV advertising again with the Shop Victoriously campaign. The ads are fairly well done, but I think their Australian campaign is better. Check out this link on YouTube for the latest commercial from eBay Down Under.

Let's get started.

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1. Introducing Magniphy - Your Complete eBay and Website Solution

In a perfect world the budding eBay seller would be able to get an eBay Listing Tool, market research and an easy-to-use website builder, design services, live technical support and even business advice and coaching all in one place. Well I won't claim we have reached the "perfect" world yet --but this week we are a little closer.

I have recently concluded an agreement to partner with Magniphy, the newest company to emerge on the eBay and online marketing scene. In short Magniphy provides:

• Web Storefront Builder
• Magniphy eBay Research (Powered by HammerTap)
• Magniphy eBay Listing Tool
• Unlimited Customer Support
• And more...

What is the "And More...?"

Besides signing up for these great tools all in one place at a great discount price, Magniphy's marketing and design experts can help you with website, eBay store and logo designs, help with SEO marketing, eBay and internet marketing training --from webinars to online training materials and even personal business coaching.

Let's look at the eBay Listing tool first.

Unlike any other listing tool on the market today, the Magniphy tool helps you create great listings. As you create your title it shows you what makes a great title. As you write your description, it outlines your description for you --and if you need help you can click on a box and get writing and listing tips. The same goes for photos and writing your return, shipping and feedback policies. It is not only an easy-to-use listing tool, it is an intuitive training tool. And it saves you money on eBay fees that offsets the cost of the tool.

Magniphy's Listing tool is like having a Platinum or Titanium PowerSeller sitting right at your elbow as you create listings.

The Magniphy tool includes free photo hosting so you don't have to pay eBay photo fees and free scheduling --not just a one-time scheduler either. You can schedule your auctions to launch automatically at times and days of the week you set. Here are some other features.

• Templates: The Lister comes stocked with professionally-designed templates to give your auctions a professional, trustworthy look and feel.
   
• Product Tracker: The Tracker helps you keep track of each product you have created auctions for, so you can use them over and over. Making simple changes to auctions you've already created is simple, too.
• Advanced Settings: If you're an experienced eBay seller, the Advanced Settings mode will allow you to set up advanced auction options, such as multiple-item and dutch listings, as well as additional shipping options (like international shipping).

I was at Magniphy's headquarters last week and spent a lot of time observing and playing with the tool and I am very impressed and excited. Right now the tool is perfect for the beginning to intermediate seller. But I saw the development schedule and over the next few weeks and months we will be adding more advanced services including inventory control and a few things I can't talk about yet.

Now for research.

For the past year of so I have been offering my readers a special deal on HammerTap Research. I personally use HammerTap and have come to prefer it over the other research tools on the market. So I have good news on two fronts:

1. HammerTap has reduced their price from $24.95 to $19.95 per month. But my readers can get a 10-day free trial and subscribe at $17.95 a month as long as you have the program. If all you want is HammerTap, just use this link: http://www.hammertap.com/skip/
    
2. Now the really good news: If you opt to use the complete Magniphy solution for eBay and website marketing, you get the full suite of HammerTap research tools included as part of the deal. HammerTap has agreed to license their research tool to Magniphy.
    

OK, So you're ready to set up your website

Magniphy's Web Storefront Builder is based on proven technology that currently powers thousands of web sites. With Magniphy anyone can create a simple basic e-commerce web site in a few hours with no technical training and no knowledge of web site programming language or design. If you can type and know how to save photos to your hard drive, then you have all the knowledge you need to get started.

But it doesn't end there. As you grow, gain experience and expand your business, your web site can grow with you.

Rather than confuse new online sellers and first-time web builders with all the bells and whistles they don't need, we have the bells and whistles hiding in the back room. When you are ready, just ask, and we can turn them on. Magniphy offers virtually all of the advanced features you would expect from a sophisticated e-commerce solution without the big up-front learning curve you would experience with the major providers.

Support

If you are like me you probably hate the "trouble ticket" system. It drives me crazy when I pay good money for an online service like a research tool or a website builder, if I have to jump through hoops to get support. One company insists I go online, log in and fill out a support ticket. Then when I try to send the ticket, up pops a bunch of FAQs that I have to read first before my ticket will send. Then about 24 hours later I get an email with more FAQs and maybe a partial answer to my question.

Sorry - I prefer to just send an email --or even better pick up the phone and call. Now that is my idea of support and that is what Magniphy provides.

Training

Lastly there is training. How do you use all of these great tools? When you sign up for Magniphy to get access to our online learning tools --which I have contributed to-- don’t be surprised if you see me in some of the videos or webinars. I’ve been busy working with Magniphy on their eBay and wholesale sourcing training. Or you can take it a step further and sign up for the Magniphy University and access all the videos, webinars and even get personal coaching. Over the coming year, I’ll be contributing more and more to this curriculum, too.

So go here now to check out Magniphy and see if you will be the first one to join the $100,000 in sales club.

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2. Niche of The Month: Vintage Cameras and Accessories

I discovered this niche when I decided to finally give up my collection of film cameras, lenses and accessories. I am finally going completely digital and selling my old Nikon cameras, lenses and accessories.

When I started researching old film camera prices on HammerTap and eBay, I was astounded at how much they were worth. Of course I know there has always been a market for unusual or collectible antique cameras, but even cameras from the 80's and 90's sell very well on eBay.

Here are some screen shots from some recently completed auctions:

As you can see most of the really higher priced cameras are older rarer models, but these are surprisingly easy to find. There is a used music and book store in a small town near us that has a corner of the store where they display about 25 old cameras for sale. I was talking to the owner and asked him if people just walk in with cameras to sell. He said that happens once in a while, but mostly he gets his cameras from the local thrift shops, garage sales and by placing classified ads in the local paper. He also finds them at estate sales.

I asked if he sells on eBay and he said that he is just too busy, but every once in a while he will score a really rare camera and will put it on eBay for a quick sale rather than let it sit in the store. He told me he bought a circa 1970 Bolex movie camera at a small local auction for $120 and sold it on eBay for almost $1000.

He said that everyone is looking for the rare expensive cameras, but most of his bread and butter comes from lower cost simple cameras that he can buy for a few dollars and sell for between $25 and $100. Common cameras like Kodak's and Polaroid's are easy to find and can be marked up to 10 times the cost or more.

I admit that this is one of those niches where it would help to have an interest in or knowledge of photography, but there are plenty of books on the subject of old cameras and several websites dedicated to the hobby of collecting them. Here are some websites with lots of info, including some that do appraisals.

• Kodak Classic Cameras
• EyesCoffee
• Vintage Camera

Finally it is not just cameras that sell well. There is a good market of lighting, darkroom equipment, slide projectors, lenses, filters, old camera bags and accessories.

This is not only a great niche for making some spare part-time cash. When I was looking at sellers on eBay some of them were power sellers with high feedback who are making good money selling in this niche.

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3. Increase eBay Profits & Sales With Free Bonus Items

One of the things I covered at my eBay Boot Camp was a technique I use to increase my eBay sales. What I do is create free bonus items that I give away with each purchase. For example with my Rachael Ray Chef's Knives, I wrote a short eBook about knife care. I didn't know all that much about knife use or care, so I just spent a couple of hours Goggling and reading up on the subject. I took some notes and then just put my thoughts down on paper. You don't want to copy someone else's material --write your own. But, it is not really that hard. I also saw one seller who was offering a free video with the woodworking tools he was selling that shows how to set them up and use them. There is really no limit to what you can come up with if you just use your imagination.

If you just aren't up to writing an eBook or making a video about something, then visit the Library of Congress website where you can find tons of information in the public domain. For example if you were selling some type of garden product there are tons of free books on topics related to gardening. My eBay Info Product Course has lots of tips and techniques on creating information products for sale, or to create items to use as free bonuses including how to access public domain products.

You can also give away a low-cost physical product. I have just started selling the larger, more expensive 6 and 10 knife sets from Rachael Ray. With these I have enough margin to give away a free OziTech knife sharpener. I have just ordered a new supply of those and will add those to my listings as soon as they arrive.

One of the products I sell and use for bonus items with my other products is an eBook I wrote on taking good auction photos called Online Auction Photo Secrets. I use that book as a giveaway bonus when someone buys one of my EZ Cube Digital Photo Light Tents on eBay.

Of course one of the most popular bonuses is free shipping and there is plenty of research that shows that this really works this time of year when people are doing holiday shopping. What I do is offer free shipping with Buy-It-Now (BIN). I simply build the shipping cost into my BIN price. In just the past week alone I had 12 BIN sales for a total of $2004 worth of final value sales. My average price for those items when sold at the auction format is less than $1600, so I easily covered the $125 worth of shipping costs.

If you are offering a free bonus one of the best ways to promote it is with the subtitle. Yes this does cost 50¢, so you want to test it first to make sure it works at the price point you are selling. Obviously this would not be a smart choice if you are selling a $5.00 item as it works out to 10% of your margin. But on a $25 item or more the subtitle can be a good option if used correctly.

eBay does have a few rules about offering free bonus items. The rules are fair and easy to follow, however you should read them first. Basically the rules state that your bonus has to be offered fairly to all --you can't discriminate and give one seller a bonus and not give it to another.

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4. Don't Get Trapped by Product Sales Cycles

Almost every popular consumer product has a sales cycle. Without getting too technical there are basically two types of sales cycles. The first one is seasonal. Sunglasses and bathing suits sell better in the summer and ear muffs sell better in the winter. This one is pretty easy to deal with. Just avoid buying a pallet load of earmuffs in May unless you plan to hold on to them until November.

The other sales cycle has to do with product popularity and obsolescence. Consumer electronics, cars and games are good examples of this.

The Apple iPhone is so popular now that people are actually paying above full retail to get one. The problem is so bad that Apple has instituted a policy that you must use a credit card to purchase and they are limiting people to a purchase of two units each. Remember when Plymouth first introduced the Cruiser? They were so hard to get that dealers were charging $2000 over MSRP to get one. The same thing happens to popular game consoles and hot toys. Some toys are so hot right now that you can buy them from Toys-R-Us and sell them on eBay for a 50% to 100% markup.

The point I am trying to make is that trying to time a sales cycle and stay ahead of it is both a lot of work and some risk. Rather than chase hot products, I like to look for what I call eternal products --products with a very long life cycle.

Eternal products have two advantages: 1) brand names are not that important and 2) the sales cycle is years --not months long, so you can sell them without risk for a very long time. What are some examples of an eternal product?

One of them is the firepits we sell on eBay and at www.firepit-grills.com. We have been selling this same product for three years. Another one is my garden fountains. Yes they are seasonal, but we sell them every year. Barbecue grills are somewhat sensitive to brand names, but Barbecue tools and accessories are not. Craft supplies are another example of a fairly eternal product --they are always in demand and although some of them are seasonal they usually repeat so as long as you understand the seasonal timing you can usually manage your orders. Musical instruments would be another category. Yes, there are always some new models and hot items, but most instruments are not that sensitive to a sales cycle.

When I was at Magniphy's headquarters last week making training videos with Jen Cano of HammerTap, we we researching products like ionic air filters, kitchen pot racks and other products that sell all year around and from year to year.

So give this some thought when you are researching a niche or looking for new products. If you do buy a hot item with a short sales cycle, make sure you have the ability to move it out fast while the prices are high. You don't want to be sitting on a lot of Elmo's in July.

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5. New Easy-to-use Photo Tool Puts Pizzazz Into Your eBay Photos

Bling! It is a new software product designed to help eBay, Amazon and website sellers create dynamic product images that make your photos look like the big guys. I am not that crazy about the product name, Bling! It, as it makes you think about jewelry only --when the tool is actually useful for lots of product applications.

On eBay and in any competitive online environment, the best product shots get first notice. With Bling! It, your high quality product shots will help you make sales and gain attention.

Bling! It offers extreme ease of use for even the most casual eBay seller to create high-quality web-ready product shots that can compete with large sophisticated sellers. In the past, only the most seasoned Photoshop professional could create product shots like this, but with the availability of Bling! It, even a novice user can create “shot in the studio” quality product images in minutes. All that is required is a digital camera and a few clicks of the mouse. No Photoshop and no complicated layering, outlining, or hours in front of the computer.

Here is some of what the software can do:

• Sharpen product appearance without hiding a product’s characteristic imperfections
• Add drop shadows to provide a depth-of-field to the image
• Use the “Highlight Brush” to lift the image highlights to create a “shot-in-the-studio” feel
• Enhance product resolution independently from the background to make the product really stand out
• Embed a logo to make product shots even more professional and protect your image from being stolen
• Adjust the edge blending between the product and the background to preserve the warm feeling of a sweater or the furry softness of a teddy bear
• Customize the position, size and rotation of the product relative to the new background with the easy-to-use handling points
• Optimize the final image for use on various preset e-commerce sites such as eBay or Amazon

Here are a couple of shots that show what you can do:

Bling! It is software that downloads to your computer. My readers can get a 15-day Free Trial download at this link.

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6. eBay Holiday Shipping Tips and Making Extra Profits with Gift Services

As we get closer to the holidays your business should be picking up and as it does there are more items to ship. Karen and I were going a little crazy shipping and it was starting to get away from us, so we decided to stop one day and just spend a few hours reorganizing our shipping area.

If you are a small seller shipping a handful of items a week, you can put all your supplies in a box and just bring it out when you want to ship and work from your dining room table. But once you start to ship dozens of items a week, you will want to set up a more permanent location. We have a separate area in our office where all of our supplies are organized, but it can get away from you if you are not careful --hence the cleanup and reorganization.

Every shipper needs supplies from boxes, to bubble pak to tape and even newsprint, tissue and styrofoam peanuts. Having these stored and accessible is a real time saver. We keep our boxes flat to save space, so one of the first things we do every day is take out the boxes we will need for that day's shipments, grab the tape gun and put them together. Doing this all at one time is a real time-saver, rather than doing them one at a time.

Shipping fragile items can be perilous any time of year, but with the increased volume around the holidays, your packages can really get the rough treatment. When ever we ship fragile or semi-fragile items, we like to double box. There are other safe methods, but the advantage of the double box method is that your customer ends up with a package in a nice clean box just in case they want to give it as a gift. I have received many thank you notes and great feedback comments from customers who appreciate the extra care.

Double boxing is nothing more than placing the item in a box that is just large enough to hold it without it rattling around. Karen likes to place tissue paper around the item to give it that extra nice touch and to hold it in place. Then you place that box in a larger box and fill the void with bubble pak or styrofoam peanuts. Balled up newsprint works well too. I don't claim that we have never had a double boxed item received damaged, but it is pretty rare. And if it is damaged the customer can tell that it probably wasn't your fault.

Since you are spending all this time and care wrapping your packages, the other thing you can do if offer gift services. This can be very profitable. eBay allows you to charge fees for this. So, for example, you could charge a dollar or even a little more for the service of placing the gift card in the box and mailing it directly to the gift recipient. Then you can charge more if they actually want it gift wrapped. If you are good (and quick) at gift wrapping, this can net you an extra few bucks on each sale. Gift wrap is pretty cheap when you buy it in large quantities. We buy our supplies at Costco or Sam's Club. Wal-Mart also has pretty good prices on large packages of gift wrapping supplies. You can charge in the range of $3.00 to $7.00 for something that costs you $1.00 in material and 5 or 10 minutes of your time.

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7. New Wholesale Sources for November 2007

My Free Wholesale Search Engine is optimized to find real wholesale companies, but with any search engine, clever marketers can sneak results in, but we are working hard to optimize searches so you only see real wholesale suppliers. Remember though this is a search engine --I don't control the results and just because a company comes up it doesn't mean I recommend it.

The decorator candle market continues to be hot and really heats up this time of year. Candles sell well all year around but best from October through March. Here are a few smaller, less-well-known candle suppliers where you might find some products the others haven't found yet.

A Cheerful Giver sells a large line of salt candles. Click on the Wholesale Tab in the navigation link to request a wholesale price list.

McCall's Country Candles has operations in the US, Canada and Ireland. This is their new website for retailers (that's you).

The 1871 Candle Company is a division of Foxfire Creek Primitives. You will need to send in your tax ID number to access the wholesale prices. (If you don't have a state sales tax number, click here for info on how to obtain one).

Cranberry Barn sells a nice line of country candles. Click on the link for Dealers to get wholesale info.

The Goose Creek Company has a very nice line of jar candles, clocks and other accessories. There is no wholesale info on the web site. Send an email to sales@goosecreekco.com for wholesale dealer info. Or you can click on the link that says Showrooms and visit them if a showroom is near you.

Not all candles have to burn. CR Designs is a wholesale-only manufacturer of a great line of electric candles.

Gourmet foods and snacks are also a hot online seller, great for Christmas gift giving and sell well year around. Here are a few small specialty suppliers. Remember if you don't see a wholesale link or prices on the web sites, use the contact form to send them a polite professional-sounding email to request wholesale pricing.

The Garlic Lady has a fabulous line of products that I have used personally for years. Use the Contact form on the website to ask for wholesale information. These product sell very well.

Glass jar Goodies sells a line of cookie, muffin and brownie mixes as well as Chili and soups packaged in beautiful glass jars.

McCutcheons Apple Products features a complete line of home style gourmet food products.

It used to be that the best caviar came from Russia and Iran, but American caviar has become a large industry and is now being served in some to the best restaurants in the world. Little Pearl Caviar is one of the leading suppliers of US made caviar. Email them through the website for wholesale information.

Latin America Specialty Foods has been introducing new delicacies from Argentina and Chile since 2005. You can see the products on their website, but you will have to email them to get wholesale pricing.

Sassafras Gourmet Foods sells a large line of gourmet food products. Again, they are a small company and you will have to contact them through the website for wholesale pricing info.

Epicurean Foods, Inc. is a large distributor of hundreds of specialty food products. This link will take you to the info form to open an account.

OK - you are not interested in candles or food, so here are a few more general retailers.

Lately I have been doing a lot of product research and wholesale shopping at Global Sources Direct, the specialty site for eBay and small internet sellers where you can import in small quantities. The products and the deals come and go on this site and often only last a day or so. Therefore you want to bookmark it and check in every few days or so. One of the things I like about this site is that you can use PayPal and get PayPal buyer protection on your wholesale purchases.

Farmhouse Creations is a wholesaler of body and bath products.

DBC Wholesale sells a line of wholesale craft and floral supplies. The web site is new and you will have to call them at 1-866-383-2632 for their catalog and price list.

American Designs, Art, Prints and Posters sells a large line of art prints by topical category.

KCP Wholesale Distribution Company specializing in First Quality Closeouts including categories like Name Brand Cosmetics & Skin Care, HBA, Designer Alternative Eyewear, Sport Goggles and General Merchandise.

Fashion Wholesaler specializes in fashion surplus goods. Be sure and ask about the condition, price tags and if the items are shelf pulls or returns before buying any lot.

Lastly, if you haven't already seen it, be sure and look at my introductory wholesale product list, My Top Twenty Wholesale Sources for eBay PowerSellers for only $2.99 including a money-back guarantee if you are not happy. I obviously don't make much money at $2.99 --but the point is to introduce you to the value of my other paid products with no risk on your part.

That's it for this month.

Good luck with your eBay business,

Skip McGrath