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August 2008

  1. Message from Derek Gehl
  2. BREAKING NEWS:
    BIN gets a big boost -- and other developments
  3. eBay turns over Marketplace Research to Terapeak
  4. Jolly good! UK sellers can win a year without fees
  5. eBay goes green with WorldofGood
  6. Final thoughts


1. Message from Derek Gehl

There's been a LOT of carping about eBay over the past few months. As you likely know by now, they've been throwing new rules and changes at us like CRAZY...

(Just yesterday, for example! Check out the major fee changes for fixed price listings in our BREAKING NEWS article.)

Most eBayers are NOT impressed!

The consensus is that eBay is turning its back on the "little guys" who made them successful in the first place.

They're messing with the feedback rating, hiking LOTS of fees, banning sales of highly profitable ebooks, even opening the doors to "big box" online retailers competing against you... and everyone's worried that it's going to make achieving success on eBay MUCH harder than in the past.

And to be honest, I understand why everyone is unhappy. At first glance, these changes DO seem unfair.

I mean, how the heck is the average eBay seller supposed to compete with a massive online retailer like Buy.com, or maintain a solid feedback rating when you can no longer address negative feedback unfairly left by a buyer?!

But here's the thing...

Over the past few months, my group of Advanced eBay Mentors have been working with our clients (and on their own successful eBay businesses), and after a LOT of testing, we've discovered that eBay's changes actually make it EASIER for SERIOUS entrepreneurs to earn BIG profits!

So rather than LOSE business on eBay, you can actually MULTIPLY the number of people who bid on your listings, INCREASE how much you earn per auction, and even DECREASE many of your fees...

... if you understand the EXACT strategies for applying these new rules to your business.

To give YOU a leg up, we're putting the finishing touches on a brand-new system that walks you, step-by-step, through ALL of the new rules, and explains in DETAIL how to take advantage of them to beat even your stiffest competition.

We're just putting the finishing touches on it now, and we'll be releasing it straight from the printer's early next week, so you KNOW these are the MOST up-to-date strategies available!

I'll send you a quick email to let you know when it's ready for you to read.

Meanwhile, a week or so ago, I put together three FREE videos that explain the MOST important changes, and how you can exploit them to increase your eBay profits.

If you haven't had a chance to watch them yet, you can see them right here.


2. BREAKING NEWS:
BIN gets a big boost -- and other developments

eBay made MORE big changes yesterday.

Listed below are new policies for eBay in the US and Canada. Similar changes have been made on the UK and German sites.

Fixed-price listings revamp:

If you sell fixed-price items using Buy It Now, you could see some savings. But not necessarily. Depends what category you're selling in.

As of September 16, fixed-price listing fees will be a flat 35 cents and you have the option to have listings last for 30 days. You'll also be able to use the Good 'Til Canceled option, where your listing will renew automatically as well.

Listing fees in the Media categories will be reduced to a flat 15 cents. But from September 16 through the end of the year, if you sell books, video games, music or DVDs/movies and use pre-filled information, your listings will cost only 5 cents.

Considering that you're now able to sell multiple identical items in the same listing, this could add up to savings for some fixed-price sellers.

These changes go hand-in-hand with increased final value fees, of course. You can see a breakdown of the new fees on the update page. The backend fees vary by category, with some going as high as 12% or 15%.

While fees for a few products will go down, this is going to mean a big increase for most fixed-price listings (look for a major backlash!).

But it brings eBay in line with its biggest competitor, Amazon, which charges a flat 15% once an item is sold.

The numbers explain why eBay is struggling to compete. The Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) of eBay's fixed-price listings overtook that of auctions this year -- a first. And June figures showed eBay visits dropping by 10% while Amazon visits grew by 7%.

Therefore eBay has been doing everything possible to encourage sellers in the fixed-price end of the business.

On the auction front, auction fees remain the same. So what we have now is essentially a two-tiered system that allows eBay to compete head to head with Amazon for fixed-price sellers, while maintaining the old system for auctions.

There will probably be a big reaction from eBay Store owners. Their fees are now only slightly lower than those of general fixed-price sellers -- while their store listings don't appear as high in eBay's search rankings.

Fixed-price listings will continue to be displayed along with the auction listings, with store listings generally bringing up the rear. But there's nothing to stop store owners from taking advantage of the new BIN prices or increase their auction listings if those options make financial sense.

Here are some further tweaks:

No more checks or money orders:

eBay is going to integrate all of its approved payment methods in eBay checkout in January of 2009. That will mean that customers will be able to complete a transaction without leaving the eBay site.

But it also means that you will no longer be able to accept money orders or personal checks.

As of late October 2008, only these payment options will be accepted: Rewards for free shipping... and some limits on shipping costs:

Offering free shipping already improves your ranking in the search results. But with yesterday's announcements, there are a couple of other incentives that run from October 1 through the end of the year.

If you're a PowerSeller, you'll get double final value fee discount when free shipping is offered. According to eBay that's a 40% discount.

All sellers offering free shipping can use the Subtitle option for free (normally 50 cents). A subtitle is a great way to give more detail about your item right on the listing page and pull in more shoppers.

And to encourage reasonable shipping and handling charges in the Media category, eBay is imposing limits as of October. These limits are pretty low compared to what most sellers are currently charging.

Check them out and make sure you're offering at least one S&H option that's within the set limit.

Our Advanced eBay Mentoring Team will be taking a close look at all these changes, and in a few weeks we'll update you with their strategies for running a successful business in the new eBay.

Meanwhile, eBay reps will be answering questions during the regular Town Hall meeting August 22nd from 1:30 to 3:00 Pacific Time. You can register at http://pages.ebay.com/townhall.

Want more answers for your inquiring mind? Here's the overview of all the changes and the FAQ page.


3. eBay turns over Marketplace Research to Terapeak

If you're doing your research with eBay's proprietary Marketplace Research tool, it's time to make a switch!

On September 15, eBay is getting out of the research business.

Terapeak, a third-party market research tool, is taking over Marketplace Research, so you'll have to transfer your account to get continued service and to maintain access to your saved data.

If you transfer by October 15 and sign up for a full year, you'll save 60%.

Terapeak's packages start at $24.95, so at 60% off the basic service costs $14.97 a month, just $6 a month more than Marketplace Research basic package.

It's a great deal.

Terapeak is the research tool of choice for our Advanced eBay Mentoring Team. It uses ONLY eBay data and delivers stats on the total number of listings, bids, sales, sell-through rates for specific products and services. Terapeak also indicates what categories and subcategories are hot with demand and short on supply, so it can give you a big advantage in finding profitable markets.

Visit this special eBay offer page to transfer your account, or if you want to know more about the research tool, visit the Terapeak homepage.




4. Jolly good! UK sellers can win a year without fees

Five chances left to win! PayPal is drawing the name of one eBay.co.uk seller a month to win freedom from fees for a whole year.

That's no PayPal fees AND no eBay insertion or final value fees. So the more you sell, the more you'll win. (You'd still have to pay fees for features, picture hosting, seller tools, and reserve auctions... but if those were your only fees you could go wild testing all those features to see which ones increase your profits!)

The catch is that you need to offer ONLY PayPal as a payment method once you register. Any other payment options disqualify you... even the approved options mentioned in the first article.

Other requirements: Register here using the email address attached to your PayPal account.


5. eBay goes green with WorldofGood

eBay has partnered with WorldofGood.com to create a community where buyers and sellers can learn about eco-friendly products.

Users can start discussions, read and write articles, and ask questions about ethical commerce.

For eBay sellers, it's a great place to learn about how to do business in a more ethical and environmentally-friendly way -- and showcase your green credentials.


6. Final thoughts

I can understand if your head is spinning. All this upheaval is a lot to take in. The eBay you used to know and love is making a major shift toward fixed-price listings for popular commodities.

And that makes sense...

People look to the Internet as their big shopping mall now. They don't want to wait to see if they've "won" a brand-new pair of shoes or the top-selling DVD. They just want to buy and move on.

So if you're in mass-produced products, fixed price is definitely the way to go. It'll save you time and hassle. Possibly even some money. And eBay is going to do everything it can to keep you happy, because it doesn't have the marketplace all to itself anymore!

If you're selling things that are rare, unique, or collectible, don't forget... eBay is still the world's largest auction market. It's the first place people go when they want something they can't find. Auctions will continue to be a vital part of eBay.

The changes will keep happening... so if you're serious about making a profit on eBay, you want to know IMMEDIATELY how to swoop in and take advantage of new strategies while your competition is still reeling.

And that's exactly what you'll be able to do... with my new, completely updated eBay system coming out next week.

In the meantime, check out these free video interviews I did with eBay experts last week (of course they don't talk about yesterday's big announcements... but that's how fast things happen on eBay these days!)

Let us know how you're doing at ebaynewsletter@marketingtips.com.

Here's to your continued success on eBay!



Derek Gehl -- CEO
The Internet Marketing Center


If you're looking to start an Internet business...
  • WITHOUT a website
  • WITHOUT a ton of start-up capital
  • WITHOUT being a computer techie, and
  • WITHOUT a ton of business experience!
... eBay is the perfect place for you!

PLUS -- if you have an EXISTING Internet business -- you'll learn how to boost your sales by expanding into eBay's giant online auctionplace of 2,000,000 shoppers a day, with over $1 Billion in purchases made in 2006!

So if you're keen to earn life-changing wealth in the world's largest marketplace (I'm talking 241,000,000 registered users who are PSYCHED to spend money online), then check out my new Insider Secrets to Selling on eBay!

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