Stock for Sale

When you have leftover stock or used items from another business, you could sell those items on eBay. This can be a great way of eliminating items that won’t sell. For example, items that didn’t sell in your shop, or items that you have found to no longer be in demand in the city or town that your business is located.

This can be a great way to make some money, if you know what you are doing. Of course you are already an expert in the items you are selling, as you already use them in your business. You are also assured of the high quality of the items you are selling as they come from your own stock. eBay is just a new market for you to sell your old inventory.

On top of that, you’ll be building a good eBay reputation that can help you as a buyer. If you should ever want something for your business, there is a good chance that you will be able to get it on eBay for a discount.

Sales and Advertising

This is where the power of eBay truly lies. As an eBay seller you are given an “About Me” page, where you are allowed to write anything you would like and link to anywhere on the internet. Meaning that you can use it to build traffic to your website. You just link to your website from the “About Me” page and link to your “About Me” page from every auction you list.

To get started creating your “About Me” page, click on “Community” in the toolbar. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Create an About Me page”. You will next be given the option of entering your own HTML or letting eBay guide you through the process. All you need to do is describe a little about your website, add a link to it, and you are done. You will notice an immediate increase in traffic to your site.

Thousands of people swear by this technique to drive traffic from eBay to their website. Add a little persuasive sales copy on your website, and you may be able to sell directly to buyers, eliminating the eBay middleman. Even better is that all that traffic will be targeted, as those who click through were already interested in your auction to begin with.

This technique can be especially beneficial to anyone who already has an e-commerce site. Even if you don’t already, you may find it worth your time to set up a website that does nothing more than list your eBay inventory with a few dollars discount on each item and a PayPal “Buy Now” button for each item. Then make sure you have a link that reads “Visit my website for even more bargains” on your “About Me” eBay page and you are all set.

Hope you find success with these techniques to help grow your business.

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called “Spark an idea Thursday.” As part of this tradition, I’ll be sharing with you my experiences and interpretations for each week’s topic for those of you who sell products or services online.

I invite you to grab our image over there to the right and carry the tradition through to your own blog. If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

The theme of this week’s Spark an Idea Thursday is: Spark an Idea about Creating a WOW Experience.

Naturally, when I heard this topic, I started thinking about customer service and awesome ways that small business owners can really make their customers say, “Wow!”

I also thought that with Jenn being our eBay Go-To Woman, she might have a slightly different perspective than I do. So we chatted about this topic on the phone for a bit and I put together this list of ways to create a WOW experience in your online business.

1. Jenn said that from a buyer’s persective, she is WOW’d by added bonuses with real value that arrive unexpectedly with her order. She said that the bonus must have real value, and be something more than just the typical free shipping.

She suggested adding a free sample of a new product for a customer to try, throwing in an extra, complementary item with the product purchased. She cautioned though that the extras must be of actual value – not just a $10 gift certificate when everything in your store is $80 or more.

2. Going above and beyond to provide your product quickly and with great quality is another way to give your customer’s that WOW experience. Just this week, I had a client order a banner advertisement as part of my Watersweb Hot Summer Sale. He sent in his order and within a few hours, I had the banner done, revised and returned to him.

His response:

Just got in and saw the banner! Wow!!!!! That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! Great, awesome, stupendous!

Now, that was a WOW experience for him! Getting things done fast and done right is a sure-fire way of impressing your customers.

3. Jenn and I both agreed that unexpected follow up makes us think, “Wow!”

One thing that I teach my clients is that when a customer complains, or if you see there is a problem with their order, this is a perfect time to call up the customer, see how their doing, find out what is going on, and most importantly, find out what you can do better.

The side effect of this phone call for the customer is that she is thrilled her problem has been taken care of – and WOW’d that you called her out of the blue to handle it quickly and efficiently.

Of course, sometimes you can’t make a phone call, so even an email that you send is better than just waiting for the customer to call you.

And of course, you can contact your customers randomly and out of the blue to find out how their doing and what you can do to help them.

Make sense?

Head out there and start WOWing your customers!

You may have already received a blow to the wallet from your affiliate programs if you live in certain states. Large merchants are dropping local affiliates in response to new laws that require the merchants to pay sales taxes in those states.

Historically, merchants only pay sales taxes in states where they have a physical presence and on physical products. So, if a merchant is in Oklahoma and so is the buyer, the merchant pays Oklahoma sales tax. However, if the buyer is in Texas, no sales tax is charged because interstate commerce is protected from state sales taxes by federal law. So most online sales escape taxes, because the buyer is located in another state.

Now, the new laws require online merchants to collect state sales taxes in any state where their independant affiliates operate. Basically, these state legislatures are claiming that if I’m an affiliate of Amazon, for example, then my home office is a physical location for Amazon. So if I sell a product in my state, to someone else in my state, through my affiliate link, then that product should be taxed in my state.

States currently affected include:

• California
• Hawaii
• North Carolina
• Rhode Island
• New York

Overstock and Amazon have dropped thousands of affiliates in those states, an action that could seriously impact the income of many of those affiliates.

How do these laws affect small merchants?

If you’re a small merchant with affiliates in those states, you may have a reprieve in some cases.

So far, in New York, you must have cumulative gross receipts of $10,000 to New York residents during the previous four quarterly sales tax periods in order to be required to pay the sales tax. This is good news for small merchants who don’t do that much business. However, if you’re a larger merchant, or an affiliate of a large merchant, this could hit you hard.

Check with your local representatives if you live in the other states and want to know if you’re exempt or not. If you do, let us know here.

Pros and cons?

All this said, I’m personally not against large corporations having to pay sales taxes in the areas where they have a physical presence, whether the presence is an affiliate marketer or an actual office. Tax-free online sales have in many cases hurt local economies and these taxes would level the playing field.

That said, I see how these taxes can prohibit new online businesses from even starting out, and this could damage to local economies as well.

What do you think?

You can read the following links for more information:

Internet Sales Tax War

Possible Tennessee Legislation

NY Affiliate Voice

The Amazon Tax and Affiliate Marketing