How to Use Twitter for eBay Marketing - Part 1

I have been getting lots of questions about Twitter, what it is, and how to use it for online marketing. I will be doing a series on my blog about using Twitter for eBay. I'll explain the process, and give you step by step instructions on how to use Twitter and increase traffic to your eBay store, and hopefully increase your sales. (If you are not subscribed to my blog, please subscribe using the button to the right, so that you will receive all posts in this series.)

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to send and view messages known as tweets. Tweets are just lines of text (no more than 140 characters) shown on the author's profile page and shown to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

Why do I need to bother with Twitter?

The number one benefit of Twitter is the huge traffic it can refer. If used properly and on a regular basis, Twitter can provide your blog, eBay store, affiliate programs, or whatever you are promoting, with quite a few new visitors. The amount of traffic you can receive from twitter is directly proportional to number of followers you posses. In other words, you want lots of followers - people who will see your posts and visit your links.

Your assignment: Go to Twitter.com and set up a profile. It's a good idea to use your real, full name in your profile so that if people are searching for you, or if you come up in their list of contacts when they do the email address search they'll see you. Put a link to your eBay store, blog (where ever you want people to go), in your profile.

Then, start following people - add new people every day. About half of them will follow you back. (Follow me - ebaycoach)We will go into more detail on how to get those in your target market to follow you, but for now, just start following people.

Stay tuned for the next step. (Click here to see all the posts in the Twitter for eBay series.)

Happy Selling!

Happy Halloween - Best Halloween Video EVER!!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween. This is my favorite Halloween video. Make sure your speakers are on. Watch closely and pay attention - see if you can spot the hidden goblin in the car.



If you like it, forward this post to a friend! I just love Halloween!

Discontinued Item to Sell on eBay - Kellogg's All Bran Fiber Drink Mix

Amy sent in this super hot tip:

"Check out my item no. 300356238803 (auction ended). I saw this item on clearance and bought a couple just to see what would happen. They sold for $10/box! So I went out and found every box I could find, just in my area of Nashville. I haven't hit other areas yet, but I need to get on it quick. I had several people email me and ask if I could get anymore of this. Please share this with everybody if/when you get time. In this particular auction, I probably spent $50-$60 at most on the lot, and look at my profit!! Thanks for your great website - I love it!!"

Here is Amy's auction:


HUGE Lot Kellogg's All-Bran Fiber Drink Mix Lemonade

Amy is right - these are selling for about $8-$10 a box. Click here to see all the completed listings. Thanks so much for sharing, Amy! I am going to look for this when I am out shopping today.

Have a great day on eBay!

Michael Jackson Vintage Still Hot on eBay

Michael Jackson's final album was released today - "This is It." As I was watching all the hype surrounding the album's release, I could only think of how I remembered The King of Pop back in the 1980's. After looking on eBay, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Michael Jackson vintage is still going strong. Here are a few goodies to keep in the back of your mind as you are out at garage sales, thrift stores, or flea markets.



Vintage 1984 Michael Jackson Vanity Fair Record Player


Michael Jackson Vintage Sealed JACKSON 5 XMAS ALBUM


Vintage Black Mag Ebony 1983 Michael Jackson Diana Ross

Click here for a comprehensive list of vintage items that are good sellers on eBay.

And if you really want to increase your knowledge of vintage items, check out my colleague Bridget's eBook Thrift Store Goldmines. Bridget has done an excellent job laying out all the vintage categories such as shoes, handbags, kitchen items, clothing, household goods, even sewing notions. This book is really full of great information - one section even shows you how to identify a vintage label on clothing as compared to our modern clothing labels. This eBook is well worth the investment if you are into finding and reselling vintage items. Click here to check it out.

Happy Selling!



Thrift Store Goldmines

On the Hunt for Zhu Zhu Pets Hamsters - Hot Holiday Toy

You've probably heard about these by now. If not, click here to check out my article on The Examiner, but be sure to come back here to read the rest of the story.

So, here are the facts.

1) They are nearly impossible to find. I have personally been looking at WalMart, Target, and Toys R Us. Target doesn't even carry them. The other 2 stores just have empty spaces on the shelves where they should be. I have already heard stories of people waiting in line for Toys R Us to open every morning - and mobs of shoppers plowing each other over to get these. Be careful, it is dangerous out there.

2) According to Hammertap, the sell through rate is right at 77%. Very good. But, the confusing part is that sellers are offering these in all kinds of different lots - Zhu Zhu pets themselves, the houses, the accessories - in all sorts of combination. So it is hard to get a reading on what you can make on just one piece.



3) Every store who offers them online is out of stock. And if you can find them, there are purchase limits. i think they are all on eBay. I did a search for Zhu Zhu pets and found 7,650 listings. Click here to see for yourself.

4) The single Zhu Zhu pets hamsters that sell for $9.99 retail are selling for as high as $25 each on eBay.

5) My advice at this point: Get what you can get, and save your receipts, in case you need to return something that doesn't sell. This looks to be like the Tickle Me Elmo, Hannah Montana doll, or Guitar Hero craze. But you absolutely have to watch the prices on eBay. It may fizzle out at any time. This is a timing issue. It is up to you to watch the selling prices and decide when to list your item and for how much.

6) My personal note: Don't be a hot toy hog. Please don't make all of us eBay sellers look bad by grabbing every single Zhu Zhu pet thing on the shelf so your cart is overflowing. I just can't help thinking that it is not good Karma to do that. Buy a few, leave a few. Remember that there are people in your community who are going to buy these for their kids for Christmas, and they may not be able to afford paying 3 times the retail price because every single one is on eBay.

Want to know more about what toys will be hot this year? Click here to check out Jenni Hunt's Holiday 2009 Toy Guide.

Happy Selling!

Make More Money on eBay - Become a Trading Assistant

If you are looking for ways to make more money on eBay, but don't have the time to find more inventory, or don't have the cash to buy more inventory, consider becoming a trading assistant. And now is the time to look into this option as people need money for the upcoming holidays. There are plenty of people out there who know that they can make money on eBay, but don't have time, don't know how, or just don't want to hassle with it. Here are the benefits of being a Trading Assistant, also known as a Consignment Seller:

1) Inventory comes to you.
2) You don't have to buy anything to resell.
3) You can learn about other product lines by selling other people's stuff.
4) You can pick and choose what you want to work with.
5) You can increase your feedback using other people's stuff.
6) You can increase your sales numbers.
7) You can make local contacts that may lead to repeat business.
8) Large items can be sold on Craigslist for local pick up.
9) You are listed in the eBay TA directory, so people looking for a TA can find you.
10) eBay provides the advertising materials to help you promote your business.

Here are the requirements for becoming a TA:

To become an eBay Trading Assistant, be listed in Trading Assistant Directory, and gain access to marketing materials, you must agree to and abide by the eBay Trading Assistant User Agreement and you must reside in the U.S.*

1) Have an eBay account in good standing at all times.
2) Have sold at least ten (10) items on eBay in the previous three (3) months and maintain 10 sales per 3-month period.
3) Maintain a minimum feedback score of 100, with at least 98% positive, at all times.
4) Abide by the terms of the Trading Assistant Style Guide.

The key to running your TA business is to decide what you will and won't do. You can set your own commission level. I am a TA. Click here to see my profile if you want to see how I set up my selling guidelines.

eBay provides promotional materials such as flyers, business cards, and advertisements that you just print off and use to promote your business. I hang signs in my gym, grocery store, and other community bulletin boards. You can place ads very inexpensively in your local newspaper or other small community newsletters.

Click here to find out more about the eBay Trading Assistant Program. I also have an agreement I get my clients to sign, so email me at ebaycoach@yahoo.com if you would like a copy.

Happy Selling!

eBay Coach October Article Writing Update

I am determined to get my readers writing and making money writing articles, and making money on the internet in addition to selling on eBay. Maybe this will inspire you! Here are my earnings from September from both eHow and The Examiner.


eHow earnings for $438.94. I added only 4 new articles in September, and have a total of 260 articles. You can see that most of this income is passive - earned on articles I have written over the last 2 1/2 years. Anyone can write for eHow! Just get over there and start writing how to articles. Click here for a fantastic guide on how to make money on eHow.



The Examiner. My payment for September was $309.96. Most of this is from referrals (thanks to all who joined under my referral!). The Examiner has the best referral program out there, $50 per qualified referral. Click here to find out how to start writing for The Examiner.

Now, here is something else. Affiliate programs through Clickbank are a great non-labor intensive way to generate income using the internet. Affiliate programs are when you sell something provided by someone else, namely an information product, and get paid a commission. You can promote these on your eBay About Me page, a blog, Twitter, Facebook page, article writing sites, and through eBay Classified Ads - and make a commission. Below is a snapshot of what I have earned in the last 2 weeks on Clickbank - $204.21:



I will be sharing more about ClickBank in the future. Click here for a FREE ClickBank guide for newbies, so you can start learning about how it works. Anyone can do it.

If your eBay business is slow, or you have some time on your hands, you can start doing some of these things to earn money at home on your computer.

Happy Selling!

eBay Coach on eBay Radio - Information Products

I was a guest on eBay Radio yesterday and we discussed selling information products on eBay. Digital downloads are not allowed, but that does not mean people won't buy the eBooks on CD! Information products are easy to sell, require no inventory, can be completely automated, and you can build your library to an infinite number of information products for zero cost.

Click here to listen to the interview!

Have a great day on eBay,



How to Start an Automated eBook Business on eBay

eBay Seller Success Story - Norwool Norwegian Sweaters

I have personal experience with Norwool Norwegian sweaters. They are at the top of my look for list right next to Dale of Norway. Paula sent this in:

"Hi Suzanne,

I just had to tell you about this sale I recently had. It has been by far my best one yet. I purchased this Norwool womens sweater at a thrift store for $4 and it sold for a whopping $200. The funny thing is that I think I really had under-priced it to begin with. I started it at $19.99 auction with a Buy it now price of $99. After the bids got past $50 the BIN dropped away and the bids kept going up and up until it reached $200. When I first bought the sweater I was disappointed because it wasn't the brand "Dale of Norway" which is also a good seller, but obviously this brand "Norwool" is just as good if not better." Here's the listing:


NORWOOL-NORWAY WOOL WOMENS CARDIGAN SWEATER-XXL 3X

Not only are these very high quality sweaters, but the fact that this one is such a large size really helped the selling price soar. Way to go, Paula. That is one amazing sale!

Click here to check out my ever growing list of thrift store finds, and please send in your success story to eBaycoach@yahoo.com

Have a great day on eBay!

2009 Holiday Toy Guide is Here!

I've been getting a lot of questions about holiday toys - Zhu Zhu Pets and such - but unfortunately I am not a toy expert. But my colleague Jenni Hunt is. (Hey, I can't be an expert on everything about eBay!) Jenni is the acknowledged eBay expert on toys and is a colleague of mine on Jim Cockrum's "My Silent Team."

Jenni puts out her Holiday Toy Guide every year, and she really knows her stuff. As Jenni says, "You can't afford NOT to sell toys on eBay this year." You can actually buy the hot toys at FULL RETAIL price and make a huge profit selling them on eBay. Why? Because you may have access to something others do not. Your Walmart, Target, or Toys R Us may have more of the hot toys than another across the country, or you can plan to be there at the right time to get them before the store sells out.

Example - one year a specific Hannah Montana doll was the hot thing. I walked into my Walmart, 1 mile from my house, bought 3 of them, and sold them for 3 times my cost to eBay buyers in different states. If you don't mind a little craziness and chaos before the holidays, you can make some serious money selling toys on eBay between now and December 20. (Yes, people really wait that long!)

Here is what is included in the Holiday Toy Guide GOLD Package:

Down-loadable Holiday Toy Guide ebook

8 weekly reports listing toys expected to be popular and how they are performing on eBay

3 month subscription to MyToyGuide focused on used toys

Check out Jenni's Holiday Toy Guide and stop guessing what the hot toys are or listening to speculation on your groups and forums. Get the facts from an expert!

Happy Selling,

eBay Seller Success Story - Trixie Belden Books

I received this email from Cheryl:

"I came across an almost complete set of Trixie Belden paperback books for $5.00. I almost didn't buy them because I've gotten burned on Nancy Drew books. But wow!...these are selling.

I almost passed on them. I'm sure glad I went ahead and bought them! Based on the number of sell through, the high selling prices on many singles and on lots, the number of bids per sold item, etc, this is a series to watch out for!

The originals that I had as a child were the Whitman laminated cardboard cover. Even though they are the originals, they don't seem to sell as well as the newer paperbacks. It may have to do with the condition. The plastic tended to come off the covers, and they weren't bound well. At least the 8 or so Trixie Belden that I still have are in rough shape after almost 50 years!

The last 5 titles, #35-#39 will sell high, with #38 "The Indian Burial Ground" appearing to sell for the most. Completed Listings has two that sold for $41& $49. Mine is up to $35 with 1 1/2 days left! As of right now, the sales total over $112. The hits and watchers on those 5 are really high.

Based on how the books seemed to sell, I grouped #1, #2-20 together in a lot. The rest, #21-#39, (missing #24), I listed individually, all starting at $9.99. Based on completed auctions' results, I don't expect all of them to sell. $9.99 is higher than most of those are selling for. But after Wednesday, I'll just move the ones that are left into my store at either $9.99 or $14.99, with a "Best Offer" option. I expect to sell the rest that way."

Wow, Cheryl, thanks so much for that information! My sister and I used to read both Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books. I have no idea what happened to them! Cheryl didn't send the links to her auctions, but here is a completed listing for "The Indian Burial Ground," that sold for $56.00. Outstanding!


Trixie Belden Indian Burial Ground #38 Mystery

Do you have a great eBay find that you would like to share? Send it in to me at ebaycoach@yahoo.com and I will post it here.

Happy Selling!

Make Money on eBay Without a Product

Yep, you read that right. Did you know you can make money on eBay promoting your affiliate products? Products that belong to someone else? I am not talking about your About Me page. This is bigger.

eBay Classifieds. As part of the team at Skip McGrath Coaching, I have been learning about all these "renegade" techniques for using eBay. This one is really good. Here is what you do.

eBay Classified Ads show up mixed in with all the regular listings. Most of them are in the "Everything Else" category, but some are also allowed in travel, real estate, and specialty services. The cost for an eBay classified ad is $9.95 for a 30 day listing.

You craft your ad to drive traffic to your affiliate programs. Let's say you are participating in the Silent Sales Machine affiliate program. This program pays you $12.50 for each sale - you don't have to buy the item to do the affiliate program. So look what this guy did - he has a classified ad for this eBook and in the listing is his affiliate link.



One sale pays for the ad for the whole month. And you can get a bunch of these going. My eBay colleague Tracey Edwards has put together a fantastic ebook that explains how to all this. Learn how to do this, and play by eBay's rules, and make money promoting your affiliate programs on eBay with Auction Classified Cash. I have just finished reading this 58-page eBook and Tracey has some very clever strategies. In fact, I placed my own classified ad and am seeing some good results. It isn't for an affiliate product but for my website, and my stat reports confirm that I am getting traffic to my blog from the ad.

If you are looking for a way to make passive income on the internet, this idea might be for you. Maybe you already have a bunch of affiliate programs you are promoting, or just need a change of pace on eBay because you are tired of all the listing and shipping. If you aren't doing any affiliate programs, go to ClickBank and find some. It is free to sign up for an account and you can choose from thousands of information products to promote.

Check out Auction Classified Cash for all the details on how to use eBay classifieds - this really does work.

Happy Selling!



Auction Classified Cash

Update on my Auction Items - Banana Republic Sweater, Rothschild Coat

Last week I shared with you some of my actual auction items, where I got them, and how much I paid. The auctions are over, and here are the results.

Banana Republic Cashmere Sweater. Got it for $5 from my dry cleaner, unclaimed item.

My cost: $5
Selling price: $36
Profit after fees: $28.38


Rothschild Coat. Got it for $4 from a Kohl's clearance sale with a $5 off coupon.

My cost: $4
Selling price: $20.50
Profit after fees: $14

GA Tech pullover. Got it from Sam's Club on clearance for $5 last year. Didn't do as well on this as I predicted. Yes, my auctions bomb, too.

My cost: $5
Selling price: $11.95
Profit after fees: $5.03

So, my total profit on these 3 items was $47.41. The key to this is replication. Learn what sells, and continue to sell those types of items over and over. Using this business model of getting items locally, logic says that if 3 items bring a profit of $47.41, 100 items would bring $1,580.33. And this is exactly how many sellers run their eBay business.

So, how do you learn what sells? Research, trial and error, and experience. And of course, reading this blog. Check the sidebar for many ideas on where to get inventory to sell.

Happy Selling!

Hot Item to Sell on eBay - NCAA Event Tickets

This is some excellent advice I found on the eBay Guides and Reviews:

"Here is a GREAT way to make some awesome Christmas income. It is a little known fact that many college bowl game tickets go on sale in the summer and early fall. Try sticking to the big games that will be played Dec 30-Jan 8. The Rose and the Fiesta Bowl are the 2 hardest to get. The Fiesta Bowl has a waiting list you can sign up for at their site. The Rose Bowl is a public sale in December, usually only online and phones. The Orange and the Sugar both go on sale between July and September. Go to Ticketmaster and search for "Bowl games". (If nothing shows up, keep checking back periodically) Now the best part. For most of these bowl games, once you get tickets, you get to renew them every year (exception The Rose Bowl) and you can usually upgrade your location or add more seats. If you have bought Orange, Sugar, or Fiesta in the past....you will get the offer to buy BCS Final tickets with the regular bowl game. Even nosebleed seats for the Championship Game turns a profit." - eBay Guides

Know anyone who has access to NCAA tickets, has season tickets, or is an alum? Maybe you know someone who works at the university that can get tickets to resell. If you are an alum, you can get season tickets and resell them on eBay for big money. For example, my Dad is a University of Alabama alum. He is in his 70's and pretty much over the crowds and driving from Atlanta to the games in Tuscaloosa. So, he gets the alum tickets for a song, we resell them on eBay, mail them out, and everyone is happy. Event tickets are a great item to sell on consignment - easy to list and ship. And big profit!

Happy Selling!



How to Sell Event Tickets on eBay

Vintage Item to Sell on eBay - Ice Cream Scoops

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream......scoops....vintage ones! Check this out. I was snooping around on eBay, I mean doing research, and found this:



Very Unusual Vintage Ice Cream Scooper

I mean, come on! $294 for an ice cream scoop? I want to find one of those. Actually, I got the idea when was looking through my colleague Julia Wilkinson's newest eBook, Big Bucks Flips. It is a huge eBook (81 pages long) of stuff just like this. The same kind of info you get right here on my blog, but way more of it. Julia is the author of several published eBay works, and is a yard sale expert. This book is totally worth the $19.95. Click here to check it out.

If you have a unique or interesting vintage, garage sale, or thrift store item you have sold on eBay, email me the information and I will post it here.

Happy Selling!

Insane Coupon Giveaway!

I have an insane amount of coupons to give away! These are actually all clipped and ready to go. I haven't counted them, but it is a gallon Ziploc bag full. We got into selling them on eBay as a feedback booster (I got 2 negs in one week from international customers - boo!) and I never got around to listing these. These coupons came from newspaper inserts and many don't expire until 11/30 or 12/31. Coupons up for grabs!

To enter, just leave a comment below. For extra entries, help me promote this giveaway by doing any of the following:

(Please remember to put an email address in your comment, or make sure it links to a place where I can easily find your email! I need a way to contact you if you win.)

Post on your blog
Post on Twitter
Post on Facebook
Post on a forum or group (Facebook, Yahoo Groups, etc)
Stumble this post
Digg this post

Be sure to leave a comment for each extra that you do, and your email address so I can contact you if you win! Good luck!

Update on the Banana Republic Sweater

A couple of days ago I shared with you a few items I posted on eBay. One was a Banana Republic cashmere sweater. (Click here for the post.) I wanted to report that the item already has a bid, and 10 watchers. (I get excited about this just like you do!)



You can also see that the item has 4 days and 23 hours left (let's say 5 days) and has already had 73 page views. This is what we want - lots of page views means lots of interest, and hopefully, lots of bidders. Click here to see the listing for yourself.



This was the sweater I got from my dry cleaner (an unclaimed item) for $5. You really need to check out this source for inventory. You can get very nice items really inexpensively! Click here to learn how to get unclaimed items from your dry cleaner to resell on eBay.

Cashmere is a good seller on eBay, and it is also a highly searched term on Google. Here are the findings from my Google AdWord Keyword Tool Search:



You can see from the Google AdWord search that the word "cashmere" was searched on Google over 1.8 million times in the last month. You can also see related words and phrases with the word "cashmere" so you can identify consumer demand for this item. If you are not using the Google AdWord tool to research your items, click here for instructions. The Google Adword tool is free to use.

See how all of this works together? I will keep you posted on this item and we will see if it hits the $20-$30 mark.

Want to improve your eBay listings and learn more creative techniques for finding inventory, using keywords, and making more money on eBay? I provide private one-on-one eBay Coaching. Please contact me at ebaycoach@yahoo.com for details.

Happy Selling!

How to Start an Automated eBook Business on eBay

Information products are one of the hottest items on the internet and eBay. eBooks used to be sold on eBay as a digital download, meaning that the customer received a download link as soon as the seller received payment. The rules have changed on eBay, and all digital material must be mailed to the customer on CD. That doesn't mean you can't make money on eBay selling ebooks.

Check out my new eBook that explains how to get free content off the internet, package it on a CD, and sell it on eBay. This is an automated model that repeats itself over and over again. Set it up once, let automation do the rest! You can set up your first ebook listing in less than a couple of hours. It really is that easy.

Not only do I explain this business model, but I tell you exactly how to find the hot topics that are searched for millions of times a month on Google - that NO ONE on eBay is selling eBooks about. (Using the Google Adword Keyword Tool.) Your ebooks listed on eBay will show up in Google Searches - and information seekers will find your eBay listing.

Get it now! And as on all my ebooks, there is an option to get it free.

How to Start an Automated eBook Business on eBay

Have a great weekend!

Local Sources for Inventory - I Really Use Them

The proof is in the pudding. I get a lot of questions from readers asking about the best dropshipper or wholesaler. It is so much more profitable to find items locally - and you don't have to buy as much at a time. Wholesalers often require you to buy large quantities of merchandise and that requires large cash outlay. It doesn't have to be that way!

I am a real eBay seller, just like you. I use local sources for my inventory - items are plentiful and cheap. You can also use free tools online to find deals on items to resell, again, without using a drop shipper or wholesaler. Here are my most recent listings, where I found the item, and how much I paid.



Ralph Lauren polo top. I found this using a tool called Single Bid Auctions, it is free. You can pull up items by keyword and grab items for 99 cents - auctions that start at 99 cents with no bids. Here is the listing where I bought this item for 99 cents + $4 shipping: Ralph Lauren shirt. This person has several fatal errors on her listing - did not put NWT in the title, did not spell out the size, item condition says preowned when it is actually NWT, and she does not accept returns. Nobody bid on it but me. Click here to see how I relisted it. I also added free shipping to get me higher in Best Match.



Austin Reed 100% wool sweater, new with $135 tag. I found this using the same tool. Click here to see the original listing. Again, fatal errors that resulted in hardly any bids. The picture is sideways. No close up of the price on the tag. No returns accepted. Did not put NWT or NEW in the title. Shipping is too high - this will fit in a flat rate mailer for $4.95. No measurements. I got it for $11.20 and can probably get about $30 for it. Click here to see my listing.


Girls Rothchild coat. Retail price on tag = $70. I got this on clearance at Kohl's in May, it was marked down to $9 and I had a $5 off coupon. I can probably get about $30 for it. Click here to see my listing.


Georgia Tech microfiber pullover jacket. Retail price $45. I got this at Sam's Club last winter after football season was over and all of the Georgia Tech apparel was on clearance. My cost = $5. Click here to see the listing. I will probably get $25 - $30 for it.


Banana Republic 100% cashmere sweater. Got this from my dry cleaner for $5. (Click here to learn how to do that.) It will probably sell for between $25 and $30. Click here to see my listing.

So, there you go. I really do this stuff I talk about. And it works. Want me to have a look at your store? Sign up for my Store Critique service. 100% money back guarantee.

Happy Selling!



Find sloppy listings and resell the items for way more than you paid for them!