Update on eBay Wholesale Sourcing Seminar

The eBay Seller's News, January 2008, Volume 8, No. 2

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

In This Issue:

Musings

1. Update on eBay Wholesale Sourcing Seminar
2. eBay Overhauls Trading Assistant Program
3. Free Video Capture & Hosting for eBay Sellers
4. How The Coming Economic Slowdown Is an Opportunity For eBay Sellers
5. New eBay Wholesale Sources for January 2008

"The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most." ~ Robert Kiyosaki

Musings

I was hoping eBay would have announced their January fee increases by now. There have been a slew of rumors about Yahoo buying eBay or eBay and Yahoo merging.

The latest news is that Yahoo has offered around $40 a share for eBay. eBay's current share price is hovering around $29, so that would be a good deal for eBay shareholders but not too great for Yahoo because they would be diluting shareholder value about 40%. A straight merger makes more financial sense for the combined company but it is doubtful eBay will agree to that. Neither eBay or Yahoo will confirm the rumors and Ina Steiner of www.auctionbytes.com reported that spokespersons for Yahoo and eBay Japan have said there is no deal in the works, but the rumors persist.

This may be what is holding up what promises to be eBay's largest fee announcement in years.

In last months issue I told you about a Free Webinar on Wholesale Sourcing that took place on January 15th. We had right about 100 viewers who attended. In case you missed it, the complete webinar is available. Click here to view and listen to the webinar.

This year's eBay Live will be held at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago June 19-21st. eBay has not yet opened registration. They usually do this in February. But, if you are planning to attend, you may want to start lining up hotel reservations now. Once eBay makes their announcement rooms will fill up fast. Chicago is also home to the Chicago Mercantile Mart which is one of the largest wholesale merchandise marts in the world. This is a great place to source wholesale products, so you may want to plan an extra day before or after the conference to visit.

Correction: In the last issue I had a story about the Person-to-Person (P2P) lending site, Prosper.com. In the article I talked about how car loans worked. I stated that you are paying interest on the full amount of the loan even though you have paid back part of the principal. This is incorrect. (It is pretty obvious I am not an expert in finance). Although there are some loans that are structured this way, most automotive loans only charge interest on the outstanding balance. Several readers also pointed out that P2P means Peer-to-Peer --not Person-to-Person lending. When I looked on the web I found that both terms are commonly used and are pretty much interchangeable.

I had over 140 readers take advantage of the Prosper offer of $25 if you sign up to lend money or $35 if you borrow money. Several readers asked me when that would be paid. Once you open your Prosper account you have to first fund your account and make your first loan to get the $25 in your account. Once you fund your first loan it takes Prosper about 2-3 days to transfer the $25 into your account. If you decide to borrow money, Prosper will pay you $35 once your loan is funded. Click Here if you would like to join Prosper and take advantage of the $25/$35 offer.

I don't know if you have noticed, but we have recently added a search engine to allow readers to search our site. For those of you who have purchased either the Wholesale Buying System or The Complete eBay Marketing System, we have also added a search engine to the member's only web site that will allow you to type in products or the name of a supplier to help you find it quickly on the site. Please note that when searching products on the members site, we list our results by broad categories. For example if you searched a term like fashions or accessories you will get better results than specific products such as searching a term like blouse or purse.

Let's get started with this month's topics:

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1. Update on eBay Wholesale Sourcing Seminar

We now have a hotel set up for our eBay Wholesale Sourcing Seminar in Las Vegas from February 29th to March 1st. The event will be at the Rio All-Suite Hotel located just minutes from the Las Vegas strip and the convention centers where the ASD/AMD wholesale trade show following the event will be held.

I have partnered with Magniphy and WorldWideBrands to put on this year's seminar. My readers can save $1000 in hotel room credits and cash discounts if they sign up before February 15th.

There will be a total of 4 instructors over the two days and at the end of the seminar we will all be attending the giant AMD/ASD Wholesale Trade Show.

This is one of the largest wholesale trade shows in the world. Products include fashions, jewelry, gifts, surplus merchandise, electronics, housewares, tools, home & garden and toys and games. There are over 3000 wholesale suppliers exhibiting in three different convention venues.

Click Here to read more about the seminar or to sign up for the special email list to get advanced information and up to $1000 in discounts.

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2. eBay Overhauls Trading Assistant Program

On January 15, 2008, eBay essentially cancelled their Trading Assistant program and re-launched it with new standards for program members and new benefits for TAs. the new benefits include:

• Better search functions to help potential customers find you fast
• An opt-in lead management system to distribute leads directly to TAs
• A new evaluation system to help showcase your satisfied customers

eBay will retire the current TA Directory on February 11, 2008, and only those Trading Assistants who have registered for the new program and have agreed to the terms of one of two new user agreements will show up in Trading Assistant search results. Even if you are an existing Trading Assistant or Trading Post, you'll need to register and accept the updated user agreement before February 11th to stay in the program.

I think this is a good move from eBay and frankly, long overdue. The TA directory is clogged with thousands of TAs who are not really active and I think it's a positive move to increase the experience requirements.

Here are the changes to the program as announced by eBay:

1. Qualification: To qualify, all Trading Assistants on eBay are now required to have an eBay Membership in good standing, a minimum of 100 eBay Feedback (98% positive), and sales of at least 10 items on eBay in the prior 3 months.
2. Titles: The name "Trading Post" has been changed to "Registered eBay Drop Off Location." Use of the term "Auction" or "Auctioneer" in a Trading Assistant business name, signage, and marketing materials is no longer permitted (unless you are a licensed Auctioneer).
3. User Agreements: There are two new user agreements; one for Trading Assistants and one for Registered eBay Drop Off Locations (including new insurance requirements).
4. Profiles: Each Trading Assistant may have only one profile in the directory, but you can now refer potential clients to your own Trading Assistant web site. If you're an Education Specialist you can also link to your profile and classes.
5. Marketing Materials: The program has a new look with updated logos, customizable collateral, mailers, and business cards--all free and accessible when you register for the new program.

The most interesting of these changes are the insurance requirements in number 3 and the fact that you can link from your TA profile on eBay to your web site. I am up against a deadline for this newsletter and running out of space for this issue, but I will be researching and studying the new agreement and the insurance issue and report on those in the next issue, the first week of February.

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3. Free Video Capture & Hosting for eBay Sellers

If you have been waiting to try adding video to your auctions, here is a great free tool. AzooocaCapture is a new product by Azooca, an LA-based video communications company, which provides video upload, capture, and hosting services for eBay and Craigslist users.

Azooca's motto is "We host, you post". They are not a video-sharing site like YouTube. That is, they are a private hosting site that does not offer search capabilities and openly welcomes commercial use. The result is a Web 2.0 application that is extremely easy to use and bandwidth-friendly for dial up users.

Standard features include the ubiquitous user-selectable player, or an old school URL link for playback purposes. For frequent users, Capture offers a simple file storage and management area.

AzoocaCapture is a free utility. Azooca said they will be monetizing the site in the future by selling 15 second pre-roll advertisements or small banner ads within their player. For now, just enjoy this great selling tool.

On an inside note, Azooca tells me that they are adding a special upgrade feature for eBay Power Sellers next month. eBay Power Sellers will be able to define a single advertisement that will automatically play before each of that eBay Power Seller's video listing. Azooca believes this feature will be a useful branding tool for their Power Sellers.

AzoocaCapture states that initial ads are being played an average of 210 times per listing.

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4. How The Coming Economic Slowdown Is an Opportunity For eBay Sellers

Our economy has been growing steadily since the low point about a year after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. In some years it has grown more than others, but in general the growth has been pretty good for the past six years. No economy can grow forever without a correction and it looks like we are in one now. Depending on which talking head on TV you listen to, the forecasts are from a slowdown of a 1.5% growth rate to a recession where growth may actually be one or two percent negative.

Economic slowdowns affect everyone, but they usually affect business activity the most. In a slowdown, businesses of all sizes from Mom & Pop stores to retail giants have to cut costs. The two biggest cost centers for business are labor and inventory. Unemployment is pretty low and the supply of skilled labor is pretty tight in most markets, so although some businesses will reduce their labor force, it is unlikely we will see massive layoffs. The hardest hit are homebuilders, the banks and mortgage companies. So construction and finance are where you will see job reductions.

The other big cost center is inventory and this is where the opportunity exists for eBay sellers. Businesses of all types are going to dramatically reduce their inventories over the next six months. There are two ways for eBay sellers to take advantage of this: The liquidation market and consignment selling.

If you have cash to purchase goods, you are going to see some huge sales by liquidation, closeout and surplus dealers both online and offline. I am already seeing this on some of the popular liquidation sites such as Liquidation.com and CloseoutCentral.com. Listings on both of these sites are up and have been climbing over the past few weeks. Typically these sites sell in pallet loads and a typical order is between $1000 to $5000. There are some risks and pitfalls to buying surplus and liquidation goods. Here is a Free Article about the liquidation market you should read before making a purchase.

The other opportunity for eBay sellers is consignment selling. Stores and retailers of all sizes are candidates for being approached to sell their goods on eBay. Forget the big chains --they already have deals with liquidation dealers. But independent stores and dealers of all kinds are very open to being approached. One of my readers recently made a deal with an RV lot to sell their excess RVs and travel trailers on eBay. You want to focus on higher value goods. I wouldn't approach an apparel store that wanted to dump a load of socks. Lot for goods that will sell for $50 or more. Better yet look for high value items, RVs, boats, computers, office equipment, etc. Don't just check with stores. If you have any small to medium manufacturing companies in your area approach them as well.

My book, How To Start & Run an eBay Consignment Business comes with sample letters you can customize to send to businesses and others who have products to consign. When you purchase the book you will also get a link (printed in the book) where you can download sales letters, promotional material and sample contracts you can use. Click here to visit my eBay book store. When you get to that page, just click on the image of the Consignment Book to see an expanded description.

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5. New eBay Wholesale Sources for January 2008

Chad Maslak is the real deal. He has been in that business for years and is consistently profitable. And, he really shares lots of details, sources, tricks and tips that can make anyone successful at this. The Liquidation market can be very risky if you don't know what you are doing, but Chad's Liquidation Guide can show you how to cut the risk and insure profits on every transaction.

Silverstar International sells a large line of beautiful sterling silver products including picture frames, baby gifts and candlesticks.

Sunflower Hill Soaps sells a line of personal care products for adults and children, including Sunflower Hill Kids - Frog in a Bog, Bog Wash and more. Minimum order $250.

Picnic At Ascot is a superb supplier of a full line of picnic hampers, barbecue tools and wine totes. These are really high quality products and now is the time to order for the coming spring season. These goods typically start selling on eBay right after Valentines Day. They do not dropship, but their MOO is $250.00.

PaddyWack Lane sells a very popular line of children's role playing costumes. Unless you are a parent or grandparent you may not know it but kids costumes are popular year around --not just at Halloween. When you get to the website, click on the link at the bottom of the page that says Retail Application.

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.

Timewell Corporation - Offering jewelry making supplies including findings, beads, charms, chains, and tools. Some areas of the site are for member only and are password protected. You will have to register to get a password

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That's is for this issue. See you again the first week of February.

If you missed the last issue, click here to read it.

Skip McGrath
The eBay Seller's News