Possible Hot eBay Item - Limited Edition Pink Swiffer

I saw these in the P&G coupon insert and also in Target. The limited edition PINK Swiffer - released for October, national Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They cost the same as the regular Swiffers. Usually these limited edition items are eventually hot sellers on eBay. At this time, there are not any on eBay for sale. You may want to pick a couple up the next time you are in Target - they may be worth something in the future. I can see these being a big hit for those who love all things pink, college students, etc. If this tip doesn't pan out, you can always return them to the store (save those receipts!) or give them as a fun holiday gift.

Happy Selling!

Source for eBay Inventory - Sample Sales

Manufacturer’s Representatives are usually a one or two person business that represents a company. These reps usually sell goods in small quantities to local retailers. They often have samples of their merchandise to show prospective buyers, they get the samples free. Then, the reps make a little extra cash selling the samples by having private sales, like you would at a garage sales.

Here is an example. Silpada jewelry is a good seller on eBay. According to Hammertap, it has a 75% listing success rate (which is darn good!) - that means that 75% of the items with "Silpada" in the title are selling on eBay. Only 25% of items with "Silpada" in the title remain unsold. Here is the result on a Silpada search on Hammertap:



Now, to find a Silpada sale. I looked on Craigslist and found this ad for a Silpada sample sale. (It was in Boston, just to show you how this works.) The rep is getting rid of her inventory and going out of business.

You can look for other sample sales on Craigslist. Just look up your city, and do a general search for sample sales. They will be all over the place in all different categories.



Now isn't that a cool tip. But, I can't take credit for it. I learned it on a site called My Silent Team. (I am a contributor there, too.) Look for this little box (scroll down past the big yellow text box) where you can do a trial membership for $5 for 5 days.



If you don't like it, all you have lost is $5. But trust me, this is by far the best eBay membership site I have encountered. 100% information, no drama, no whining, and really creative strategies to help boost your eBay business.

Happy Selling!

eBay Seller Success Story - Vintage Flower Loom Books

I received this email from Abby about her success story back on August 27:

I'm so sad that garage sale season will be winding down here in Michigan. I have had fabulous success buying (extremely) low-priced vintage items and selling high. My favorite was 2 "Studio 12" vintage flower looms w/ 2 project books that I bought for $0.25 and sold for $78.77! The only reason I bought them was because I had seen straw flowers made with the flower looms on Martha Stewart. I searched for flower looms and could only find them on ebay--I paid about $6 for it. I knew I could resell the looms for that much, which was a decent return. Never did I imagine that this particular brand w/ the project books would go for so much! Now I look for the looms wherever I go, whether it's a garage sale, thrift store or whatever. This is the kind of thing that makes ebay so fun!

Click here to see her listing.

Abby's Cost - .25
eBay selling price - $78.77
Profit before fees - $78.52

Wow! That sure is buying low and selling high! Thanks for the info Abby, and congrats on the sale.

Do you have an eBay seller success story to share? If so, email the information to me at ebaycoach@yahoo.com and I will post it here to share with everyone.

eBay Research Webinar Available for download

If you missed the webinar on Thursday, or you would like to download a copy for future refercence, it is available for download, free of charge. Click here to download the webinar. Please read the download requirements on the landing page and allow a few minutes for the download as it is a large file.

We covered quite a few topics including how to research what to sell on eBay, how to work directly with manufacturers and distributors, the pitfalls of drop shipping, and much more. Don't have time to listen? Just play the sound while you are working on your listings or shipping your items.

Happy Selling!

eBay Seller Success Story - Nike Shox

Janice sent in this success story:



Nike Shox Running Shoes

Janice's price at Goodwill: $4
Fees: $6.46
Selling price: $65.75
Profit: $55.29

Not bad for a pair of used shoes. Congratulations, Janice, great find! If you have a success story to share, please sent it in to me at eBaycoach@yahoo.com and I will post it.

Related Articles:

Thrift Store Item to Sell on eBay - Nike Shox Shoes

Thrift Store Items to Sell on eBay - Birkenstock Sandals

eBay Seller Success Story: Frye Boots

Keep on thrifting!

Article Writing Sites - Passive Income Update

Hi, eBayers, I just wanted to give an update on my article writing ventures. If you haven't tried article writing as a way to earn money from home, it is definitely worth looking into.



The Examiner. This was my first month's payment - $76.08 . The Examiner is looking for writers! Everyone is good at something, what are you good at? Maybe it is cake decorating, gardening, interior design, vegetarian cooking, crafts, bargain shopping, physical fitness, healthy living, or fixing things around the house. The Examiner will pay you to write for their site.

The Examiner is a highly indexed site - Google does the work for you by sending traffic there - all you do is write short (300 word) articles, 3-5 times a week. The more you write, the more you make. I shoot for 5 articles a week. You are paid based on traffic and advertising revenue. You can even include your affiliate links, links to your blog or website, or other links that benefit you - using discretion of course. Want to give it a shot? Here is what you do.

Watch this short video about how to apply
(Would you mind telling them I sent you?)

View the 110 Examiner cities - choose your city or go national

Begin the application process here



eHow. I have been writing for eHow for just over 2 years. (Has it been that long?) I have about 250 articles there. My August earnings were $377.70. And check this out, I didn't even write any articles in August! (Click here to see my articles by date - nothing for August 09.)This was 100% passive income. Like the Examiner, eHow is a highly indexed site that generates its own traffic, so all you do is post articles. Here are two great manuals that explain how to maximize your eHow earnings. I have read both of them and they are both very helpful.

Need Extra Cash

Maximize eHow Earnings (by eHow's top earner)

One of my goals for 2009 was to generate $500 a month through writing online. As of August, my monthly total is $453.15. That's pretty good money for sitting at your computer a few hours a week and typing.

I hope you will check out these opportunities, they are definitely the real deal.

Happy Selling,

eBay Coach Partners with Skip McGrath for Free Webinar

I am excited to share with you that I recently joined the coaching team over at Skip McGrath Coaching.Mr. McGrath is the most knowledgeable and highly recognized eBay guru on the internet. He is an editor for eBay radio, has numerous books in print, and is currently an active seller even today.

Mr. McGrath and I will be hosting the free webinar which will focus on the most common questions we hear as an eBay trainers, "How do I find out what to sell on eBay?"

From Skip's latest newsletter:

I will be putting on a free 45 minute eBay coaching Webinar featuring eBay Power Seller Coach Suzanne Wells who is one of our lead coaches at the Skip McGrath Coaching Program. The 45 minute lesson will be followed by 15 minutes of your Q&A and will cover these topics:

Demonstrate the use of free eBay tools on the eBay website, using keyword tools on the internet, and demonstrating HammerTap and Terapeak

Exact key words to use in completed listings searches

Special features of completed listings features

How to use free tools on the eBay site

How to interpret results on all types of research tools

How to uncover niche products using creative techniques

Where to find information on discontinued consumer products on the internet

Click here to register for this event. The webinar will take place Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 8 PM Eastern Time. This is a no-sales pitch 100% educational webinar to help eBay sellers. The webinar is instructional in nature, not a chatting forum. You won't want to miss it. Make your reservation quickly because space is limited! Attending a webinar is simple - you will receive detailed instructions once you complete your registration.

Hope to see you there!

eBay Seller Success Story: Vintage Polaroid Land Camera

Nick from my SAHMs Facebook group sent me this great seller success story. (Yes, we let guys into the SAHMs group!)



Vintage Polaroid Land Camera w/Case

Nick's cost at a garage sale: $5
eBay selling price: $75
Profit before fees: $70

Impressive sale, Nick! If you have a success story to share, please sent it in to me at eBaycoach@yahoo.com and I will post it.

Related articles:

Discontinued Item to Sell - Kodak Kodachrome Film

eBay Seller Success Story - Vintage Royal Typewriter

Online Appraisals for Vintage Items

Happy Selling!

Did You Get Your Cash Back from Paypal?

I received the above email in my inbox this morning. Isn't PayPal great! If you use the Paypal debit card as a credit card for purchases, you earn a cash back bonus. It certainly helps pay those fees. If you already have a Paypal account, all you have to do is ask for a debit card to directly access your money. There is no cost for a debit card.

Click here for the exact instructions on how to earn this cash back credit from PayPal.

Happy Selling!

eBay Seller Success Story: Under Armour Golf Shirt

Thanks to Wes for sending in this success story:

Suzanne,

"I wanted to also share a good thrift store find that I found at the local Goodwill. I found an Under Armour Mens Xl Golf Shirt that was tagged as $6.00, but I got for $3.00 because it was the right ½ color for that week. I listed it on EBay, and it sold 3 days later for $23.05. I didn’t know if it would do well, but I took a chance on it, and still made a decent profit."

Here is the listing:



NWOT Under Armour Golf Performance Polo Shirt

Under Armour is a great brand to sell, even used. Click here for a list of more golf shirts to sell on eBay, or check out my eBook, "The Golf Shirt Bible."


Happy Selling!




Join me at My Silent Team

Understanding eBay's Best Match

Search results on eBay are returned in the order according to eBay's Best Match. 80% of buyers don't change the order, and/or don't even know they can re-sort the results by price, ending time, or other factors. So, knowing that buyers are going to view the listing in the Best Match order, you as a seller must learn how to get to the top of the results. Most buyers won't read through pages and pages of results. You need to be near the top to be seen.

Understanding Best Match is critical because your auction listings can be rewarded or punished in the search result listings based on the following factors set forth by eBay.

If your listings are punished by the Best Match system, you may never appear on the first page of search results. This means that potential buyers won't see your items. Buyers can't buy what they can't see or find.

If your listings are rewarded because you understand how Best Match works, you can rise to the top of the search results. Here is how to improve your rankings in Best Match.

Relevancy

The relevancy score is determined by historical buyer behavior for a particular search query - what a particular buyer has searched for in the past. For listing titles that are similar to yours, eBay determines how many times in the past those auctions were clicked on, added to watch lists, bid upon, and ultimately resulted in a sale.

Desirability

Listing where supply is low and demand is high will score well for desirability. The fewer sellers offering a product, the better your chance of appearing higher in the search results.

Keywords

Keywords are the words that the eBay seller includes in the 55 characters of the listing title. Load your title with relevant, desirable keywords. Your title is the key to buyers finding you. Use the bayestimate tool for optimizing your item's title.

These words are used to determine the relevancy and desirability scores of the auction listing. Selecting the right keywords represent the most efficient way to influence your search result ranking in Best Match. Visit the “BayEstimator” on the eBay Labs website to test how your keywords score for a particular search query.

Item Specifics

Best Match ranks listings the same way that search engines rank webpages. The more information on your listing, the higher you will rank. Always fill out as many of the item specifics as possible when creating your listing.


Seller Performance

If your feedback score is less than 95% positive over the last 30 days, you will not receive much exposure. If your DSRs are less than 3.9 for the past 30 days, you'll be lower in the rankings. If your shipping DSRs are above 4.7 and your overall DSRs are 4.8 or above, you'll be rewarded with a higher ranking.

Click here to download the free 95-page eBook, Best Match Made Simple. (Kind of seems like a contradiction in terms - a 95 page book about something simple?)

Complicated, yes, very. Important to know, absolutely!

Happy Selling,




eBay Store Critique - $19.95, Money Back Guarantee