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By Chris Malta & Robin Cowie's articles
There’s no better time than the New Year to re-evaluate your product sourcing strategy. You can’t look at your product sourcing in 2007 the same way that you did in 2006. Consumer trends cycle and change—you need to understand what buyers want NOW. According to seasoned trend-spotter Lisa Suttora, of http://WhatDoISell.com, there are five specific strategies you should be incorporating to see your eBiz succeed in the coming year: •Niche Down The first strategy is to sourc...
Posted: 2007-04-05
Category: Business
Easy Access If you’re considering getting started in e-commerce, having your own eBay store is a great way to gain experience—it’s like putting your own website up right on eBay. According to eBay University Instructor Janelle Elms (http://JanelleElms.com, http://StoresSuccessVideo.com), there are considerable advantages to starting online with an eBay store rather than an independent website: •It’s quick and easy. Launching a website involves time and preparation—you h...
Posted: 2007-03-29
Category: eBay
Slow Burn Many people turn to hot lists to make product sourcing decisions. These lists are designed to tell sellers what buyers want at the moment. The problem is most of these lists are static, so they quickly become obsolete. When a hot list comes out, everyone jumps on board and quickly floods the market with those items, leaving little room for competition. Both product sourcing and market research are dynamic in nature. The difference between a hot list that’s goin...
Posted: 2007-03-16
Category: eBay
Every time you’re out—at the mall or in a store—you see ideas for great products you can sell through your e-business. But before you decide whether a product is worth pursuing, you have to determine if you can compete with it. That requires performing some market research to understand what the market will bear. And that is what makes http://Frucall.com’s free, phone-based service a valuable resource, not just to shoppers, but also to Online Sellers looking for information o...
Posted: 2007-03-16
Category: Internet Business
As more and more merchants move online, it becomes an increasing challenge to stand out from the pack. While price may influence a shopper’s choice, it’s usually not the deciding factor: most buyers would prefer to pay a bit more for an item they feel safe buying, than to spend less and worry they’re throwing their money away. That’s why, as an online retailer, creating a safe and stress-free environment for your shoppers should be a top priority. With internet scams and i...
Posted: 2007-02-13
Category: Business
The easier you make it to contact your business, the more contact your business will get. That’s why so many small businesses are turning to Web 2.0 applications, such as web-initiated calls to generate sales leads. Also referred to as click and connect, these calls let your customers make live contact with you by clicking a small icon you can paste in your blogs, emails, or website. Explains Bill Binnig, of http://Jaduka.com, a Web 2.0 solutions provider, “[You] take simp...
Posted: 2007-02-13
Category: Business
“It” Products—Giving Buyers What They Want Whether this is your first holiday selling online or your tenth, you need to understand the current market in order to take advantage of the upcoming shopping abandon that most of your buyers will experience this time of year. Trend-watcher Lisa Suttora, of http://WhatDoISell.com, shares five specific sales trends that retailers should be conscious of entering this holiday season: •iPod accessories. Just because you can’t affor...
Posted: 2007-02-05
Category: Business
You probably realize that, as a retailer, you need to get as close as possible to the source of your products to maximize your profit margins. But if you’re like most retailers, you may think that means going to the product manufacturer. You might assume that because the wholesaler stands between you and the manufacturer, the wholesaler is a middleman. But by that logic, you as a retailer are also a middleman, standing between the manufacturer and the end user. To Each His...
Posted: 2007-02-04
Category: Business
As your eBiz grows, and housing large stores of inventory becomes feasible, importing becomes a cost-effective way to source products. If you purchase in large volumes, the incredible deals you can find by purchasing directly from overseas manufacturers may outweigh the costs and complications involved. The key to importing profitably is to do your homework: Research your suppliers According to Peter Zapf, of http://GlobalSources.com and http://GlobalSourcesDirect.com,...
Posted: 2007-01-31
Category: Business
To make the most of the holiday selling season on eBay, you need to understand the current eBay marketplace. Market research can help you figure out everything from the best time of day to sell an item to the best auction title keywords, the best starting price, and the best listing duration, so you can pull in the highest possible profits. EBay offers some free, as well as paid, tools to help with that research. And companies that buy eBay’s licensed data, like Terapeak, ...
Posted: 2007-01-31
Category: Internet Business
Many people associate the words “tax loopholes” with questionable accounting practices. But according to tax strategist Diane Kennedy, of http://TaxLoopholes.com, “A loophole is nothing more than a government incentive—tax laws are written to favor people wanting to start businesses because businesses stimulate the economy.” Tax loopholes are just legitimate deductions the government allows in order to encourage certain behaviors. Exploiting loopholes isn’t about skirting the...
Posted: 2007-01-30
Category: Business
With the holiday season ramping up, shoppers are coming online in droves. In fact, online holiday sales this year are predicted to increase twenty percent, as consumers grow more and more accustomed to the ease and convenience of shopping online. Internet business advisor Ana Rincon (http://OnlineBusiness.About.com) reveals ten tips for increasing your online sales over the holiday season: 1.Fine-tune your website. The biggest buying season of the year is not the time to h...
Posted: 2007-01-30
Category: Travel & Leisure
Of the millions of transactions that transpire on eBay each day, only an infinitesimally small percentage are fraudulent. However, even that small percentage means that fraud does still occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming the victim of a scam? By recognizing common signs of fraud: 1. “Phishing” expeditions. According to eBay guru Skip McGath (http://SkipMcGrath.com), “phishers” send out mass emails, posing as eBay, or any company, and asking the recipient to con...
Posted: 2007-01-25
Category: eBay
3 Classic E-tailer Mistakes Since the birth of e-commerce, certain faulty thought patterns have plagued online retailers. Says Lisa Suttora, of http://WhatDoISell.com, “There are things I see people do that are very, very common, [that] really hinder their ability to grow their business and make the profit they want.” Having the right mindset when sourcing and selling your products is critical in avoiding those regrettably typical seller mistakes. Mistake 1: I’m ONLY go...
Posted: 2007-01-25
Category: Business
It’s a scary fact that nine out of ten new businesses fail in their first year. But that also means that one out of those ten new businesses makes it. What sets these successful ventures apart from their less-successful counterparts? According to JP O’Brien, founder and president of http://KeepMore.net, the difference is that a successful entrepreneur treats their business as a business. This focus ensures they capitalize on tax breaks and deductions, and keep more of their h...
Posted: 2007-01-25
Category: Business
