Re-discovering eBay... by Richard Grady

Hi Folks!

Re-discovering eBay & Amazon....

I will apologize firstly for the fact that this might be a bit of a brief newsletter...

The truth is that I have been absolutely up to my eyeballs with work for the past couple of months as I have been putting together a brand new website. The site is aimed purely at the UK market (sorry everyone else but if it works, the concept can be expanded...) and if you are interested in buying stock to sell pretty much anywhere (online or offline) it will be relevant to you. I can't say much more now but I will say that the site should blow the conventional 'wholesale directory' type of site out of the water!

All things being equal, I hope to launch the new site some time next week and my newsletter subscribers will be the first to know when the doors are open so stay subscribed!

Anyway, back to the newsletter, as I say, I have been working some really long hours as the new site starts to come together and the days are all just blending into one. I usually have the newsletter written several days before publication but here we are on Wednesday evening and I haven't even started it (and I have several hours of website work yet to do).

Rather than bore you with the details of the problems I have been experiencing with setting up the new site (I am sure you really don't want to hear about PHP and HTML issues!), I thought I might mention something else that I have been doing recently and that is, re-discovering eBay & Amazon.

It is some time (a couple of years at least) since I did any selling on eBay (although I have used it quite a bit as a buyer) but this week I decided to list a few items that have been lying around the house for months. Makes sense as I am never going to use them again so I might as well let someone else benefit and make a little money on the side ;-)

The one thing that I used to really hate about eBay was packing stuff up and taking it to the Post Office but I had forgotten the bit that I LOVED - watching people bid on the auctions and seeing your money going up! Now I should say that I only listed a few hundred pounds worth of stuff - certainly nothing that is going to make me rich but even seeing relatively small bids on your items for sale is exciting.

In fact, I was having such a ball that I started listing some of my old books and DVDs on Amazon's Marketplace. Now, if you have never heard of the Amazon Marketplace, let me tell you, this really is a very neat selling venue and a superb business concept on both sides. Quite simply, Amazon allow you to list books, CDs, computer games, DVDs, electronic goods etc for sale on their website (you don't even need to write out a listing - it is auto-generated via the ISBN/barcode number!). When someone is about to purchase a book (or whatever) via the main Amazon site, they are also given the option to buy a copy of the same item from 'Marketplace Sellers'. This means that they could get a second-hand (or new) copy of the same product cheaper from a different seller. If they opt to buy from you, Amazon takes the payment from the seller and sends you an email advising you of the sale and giving you the name/address to send the book/whatever to. Then every couple of weeks Amazon pays your money into your bank account.

Of course, Amazon takes a small commission for providing the above service but they also charge the buyer a standard amount to cover postage costs. It is a win-win situation and I think it is a very shrewd move on Amazon's part (in fact, they probably prefer it when someone buys from a Marketplace Seller since they get paid for doing absolutely nothing).

So I ended up listing 20 or so items on Amazon as well and in less than 2 days, I have already sold half of them and earned over £100! Remember this is in respect of a few books and DVDs that would have just sat on my shelves for the next 6 months/year/who knows? How often do you read the same book twice or watch the same DVD more than once?

eBay and Amazon offer two different ways of selling your second-hand possessions and both ways are quick and easy as well as being enjoyable. Having 're-discovered' both sites as a seller after several years, I am enjoying selling on both - eBay because of not knowing what the final sales price will be and Amazon because it is just SO easy (you don't even have to communicate with the buyers!).

I still can't stand the packing and shipping though! :-)

By the way, if you are interested in getting your hands on a cheap copy of Corey Rudl's 'Insider Secrets to Marketing your Business on the Internet', I am currently selling one on eBay. The course is the 2005 edition and was/is sold for around $200 by the Internet Marketing Center. Shipping needs to be added to this which can make it a pretty expensive purchase (shipping is $91 to the UK as they will only ship by overnight FedEx).

I am actually featured in one of the course manuals which means I get sent a free copy of the course every time they published a new edition. I have just received my 2006 edition so I don't need this one.

Check out the auction at: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8414592392

Good luck!

Until next time....

Richard Grady

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