E-Bay Marketing Success Plans

There are a number of strategies out there claiming to be your instant autopilot key to passive (no work) eBay success and fabulous wealth. While some do have their own merits not a single one is comprehensive enough to be the “holy grail” of instant Internet and eBay success.

Thus I have taken the major pluses from a number of these “Internet Marketing Guru” strategies and distilled, combined and molded them into a surprisingly simple, yet more comprehensive multifaceted ten step plan for eBay marketing success. Not only is it a lot easier to implement than you would think but best of all it is absolutely free.

No questions asked & no email or registration required. Just put the plan into action and start seeing the results. Please note that this not an instant riches now solution. It is a long term approach that begins to pay off right from the get-go and thereafter building momentum (and cash) over time.

You will not see a tremendous diversity of peaks and valleys. Instead you will get a continually accelerating and expanding incline. Without further ado here is the plan:

Business Case and Business Plan

First of all you should create a business case. While it is possible that nobody other than yourself may ever see it a business case is still of the greatest importance as it will help you to never lose sight of your ultimate goals and also to keep on track in the pursuit of your eBay marketing career. The business case will identify many objectives including those listed below.

Another crucial aspect of a business case and business plan is that it must be flexible and able to respond to change as and when required. In this sense you might like to look upon your business case as being a “living” document open to change on the fly.

Develop a business plan in conjunction with your business case. Document the market opportunity that you have spotted, your preferred strategy, backup strategies, the plan’s overall strengths and weaknesses and a brief budget. No need to go overboard here as once again this is for your benefit as in all likelihood nobody else will ever see it.

Compartmentalization

Compartmentalizing your eBay marketing strategies will help you to develop a multifactor eBay marketing strategy. Your business case should make provision for this not only by outlining what needs to be done next but also to provide the guidelines for a thorough documentation process that will record all of your data into various formats.

This will highlight the performance of various aspects of your marketing strategies. This body of knowledge will prove to be a life saver time and time over. As the little general said; “divide and conquer”.

Market Identification

Start by selecting a number of products and services that you are interested in and then watch their activity on eBay to see what sells and what doesn’t. In all likelihood you will notice some “sweet spot” items that always seem to sell quickly and for a good price. Make a note of them as you go along.

Monitor Your Competition

Check out what other vendors in your chosen category are up to and what strategies they are using. Try to identify flaws in their strategy and make particular note of them. This will help you to avoid making the same mistakes yourself and in all probability will give you an edge to exploit and so get one up on your competition. Beat them at their game if you will.

Sourcing Suppliers

Contact a number of suppliers of the products you wish to sell. It goes without saying that you should shop around and haggle to ensure that your prospective suppliers are giving you the best deal possible. Discuss the details of product supply and availability with your suppliers.

If for example you have a firm commitment from your suppliers that all orders for certain items can be delivered in one or two days 90% of the time and that immediate availability can be guaranteed year round. Don’t forget to source additional (backups) sources for your products. In this way you reduce your exposure to a single point of failure (one specific supplier experiencing difficulties).

Product Pricing Comparisons

Now compare the prices quoted by your potential suppliers and compare them with the current “going rates” for these products on eBay. If the prices on eBay are typically in excess of your buying price then you have identified a product well worth the effort for you to market.

In the Beginning

It is advisable to set forth and compartmentalize your eBay marketing strategy. In this way you can rapidly expand or contract your product range as circumstances dictate. The capacity for rapid response and scalability are both critical. Thus you should start small to “find your feet” and then work to expand both your empire and strategies.

The experience that you gain from the get-go in terms of what works and what doesn’t is invaluable in that it can be put to good use latter on by giving you the practical experience to know when and how to take the correct appropriate action(s).

Starting small and scaling from there allows you to gain a greater microscopic analysis of your current strategies as well as giving you the capacity to compare current results and reactions with those of the past.

Now you will be far better placed to extrapolate into the future as well as to intuitively knowing where, when and why a particular product or strategy should be immediately terminated. Remember that the timely cutting of loses always reflects into greater profits and profitability margins. Maximizing your gains while minimizing your loses is a tried and true formula that business of all sizes have long employed in developing long-term sustainability.

You should always try out as many strategies, products and as much “spin” as possible with eBay since it is so cheap. You will never know until you try. Upon finding a strategy/product that works do not be afraid of reusing it over and over again. Whenever on a good thing, stick with it. However; this does not mean that you should sit back on laurels.

Initial Outlays, Investments and Expansion

You may at this point begin to purchase stock and inventory. Document this thoroughly. You do not necessarily need to spend up big at this point. Reconfirm availability and turn-around times for various suppliers and products. Remember that your time is another resource that will need to be invested into your venture. This element will require very careful evaluation.

Goal Setting

Set weekly sales targets raising the ceiling regularly over time. This could be as simple as tens items per week for five weeks. Once you have achieved this raise the bar to say 15 units per week. You may do this for any combination of products, services etc. For example; specific items, a specific category of items or even for your entire inventory.

Automation

With some cash now in the bank it is time to change over from manual administration to automated administration through the use of specialized software that can take those repetitive tasks such as inserting the same block of text or pictures into various, forms, emails, replies, consumer enquiries, consumer help requests and item descriptions. Templates are a great way of doing this as is mail merge to send out special offers, newsletters etc.