Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay® to Amazon®, craigslist®, and Your Own E-Commerce Website

Book description

REMEMBER WHEN eBay USED TO BE A GREAT PLACE FOR SMALL SELLERS TO BECOME BIG SELLERS?

Unfortunately, recent changes at eBay have made online auctions less reliable and profitable. So where can you sell when you can’t sell on eBay? Online auctions are the past; fixed-price selling is the future. It’s time to move beyond eBay and first-generation online selling and start Selling Online 2.0. Second generation online selling means migrating from eBay to other online marketplaces, including craigslist, Amazon, and your own e-commerce website. You’ll need to make some new plans, learn some new skills, and change some of the things you do--but you’ll find that there’s more money to be made on your own than relying on traditional eBay online auction sales.

  • Put together a plan to maintain your sales level and profitability--to counteract eBay’s changes

  • Discover how to shift from auction sales to fixed-priced listings on the eBay marketplace

  • Find out if running an eBay Store or selling on Half.com makes sense for your business

  • Learn out how to sell locally on craigslist and other online classifieds sites

  • Discover how to sell fixed-price merchandise on the Amazon marketplace

  • Find out how to launch your own e-commerce website--and promote your online store

  • Learn how to sell products across multiple channels--and manage multichannel conflicts

  • Introduction     1

    What’s in This Book     2

    Who Can Use This Book     3

    How to Use This Book     3

    There’s More Online...     4

    Making the Move     4

    I BEYOND ONLINE AUCTIONS: CREATING A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE BUSINESS     5

    1 The Problem with Online Auctions     7

    What eBay Used to Be Like...     7

    Why Is eBay Abandoning Smaller Sellers?      10

    Changes Are Afoot--and You Probably Won’t Like Them     12

    Emphasizing Fixed-Price Sales over Auction Sales     12

    Changes to the Fee Structure     12

    Changes to the Payment System     14

    Changes to the Feedback System     15

    Changes to Search Results     15

    eBay’s Deal with Buy.com     16

    How Do eBay’s Changes Affect You?      16

    2 Planning for Selling Success     19

    Planning for Life Beyond eBay Auctions     19

    Asking--and Answering--Key Questions     20

    What Type of Merchandise Do You Want to Sell?      20

    How Much Money Do You Want to Make?      21

    How Do You Intend to Manage Your Business?      23

    Where Do You Want to Sell?      25

    Conceiving a Business Plan     26

    Understanding the Components of a Useful Business Plan     28

    Mission     29

    Opportunity     30

    Strategy     30

    Organization and Operations     31

    Strengths and Weaknesses     31

    Financials     31

    Writing Your Business Plan     32

    Implementing Your Business Plan     33

    II FIXED-PRICE SELLING ON EBAY     35

    3Migrating to Fixed-Price Listings     37

    Why Fixed-Priced Sales Are the Way to Go     37

    Comparing Fees     38

    Comparing Listing Lengths     40

    Factoring in Customer Demand     41

    Different Ways to Sell at a Fixed Pric     42

    Understanding eBay’s Fixed-Price Listings     43

    Understanding eBay’s Buy It Now Auctions     44

    Understanding eBay Stores     46

    Understanding Half.com     47

    Creating an eBay Fixed-Price Listing      50

    Creating an Auction Listing with a Buy It Now Price     51

    Managing Fixed-Price Sales     52

    Before the Sale: Setting the Price     53

    After the Sale: Payment and Shipping     53

    4 Fixed-Price Selling in an eBay Store     57

    What Is an eBay Store?      57

    Benefits of Opening Your Own eBay Store     59

    Challenges of eBay Store Selling     60

    Understanding eBay Store Subscription Levels     61

    Understanding Insertion Fees and FVFs     63

    How to Open an eBay Store     63

    Further Customizing Your eBay Store     67

    Managing Your eBay Store     68

    Listing Merchandise for Sale in Your eBay Store     70

    Handling eBay Store Sales     71

    Marking Down Your Merchandise     72

    Viewing eBay Store Reports     73

    5 Fixed-Price Selling on Half.com     77

    Getting to Know Half.com     77

    Understanding the Half.com Shopping Experience     79

    Understanding Half.com Fees     80

    Listing on Half.com     81

    Pricing Your Half.com Items     83

    Calculating Shipping and Handling Char

    Product information

    • Title: Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay® to Amazon®, craigslist®, and Your Own E-Commerce Website
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: March 2009
    • Publisher(s): Que
    • ISBN: 9780768690545