The Number 1 Biggest Secret to Selling on Ebay
Ebay.com is a Tool. It is an awesome tool that can be used to make you tons of money in a short period of time without alot of work or effort on your part. But there is a big secret about using ebay.com to really explode profits and over 90% of ebay.com users know nothing about it.
It is a concept used by big name marketing experts like Dan Kennedy, Joe Vitale, John Carleton, and others. So what is this amazing little secret? Only this: selling to the same customers over and over.
Dan Kennedy imparticular has stressed how this can really explode your profits, here's why; first, you already know they are interested in what you are selling because they have bought from you before. They trust you and your customer service and if you have kept in touch with them the right way they feel like they "know" and "like" you. People buy from people they know and like.
Second, every dollar you spend to advertise your product goes alot farther if the customer seeing and responding to your ad buys from you again and again. This way you can eventually build up a loyal customer base and spend your marketing efforts on there people and much less on "getting new customers". Remember people buy more easily from those they know and like so it's much easier to make higher profits from responsive people than from a "cold market".
So how does Ebay.com tie into all this? Well lets look at selling on the internet in general. First for $0.35 cents you can list your item where people come looking for it intending to buy. This is so important simply because getting a steady stream of visitors to a website so you can capture their email address either takes a lot of Search Engine Optimization, alot of time, or alot of money, and in most cases all three.
The secret to using ebay.com is in both after the auction and your "about me" page. First when an auction ends you should have the buyers email address to contact them concerning payment, etc. You just got their email address for further communication. The first email you send them should attempt to help them "get to know" you. You should also show excellent customer service by leaving good feedback and following up via email after the auction to ask them if they recieved the item and if they are happy with their purchase. Mention that you occasionally offer great deals that are for past customers only as your way of saying thank you. Try to be specific about the deals like "free shipping" or "25% off your next purchase" or a package deal that you don't offer to anyone else. Then ask them to opt in to your newsletter to find out when these sales happen. If you can, offer them a free gift for opting in to your newsletter, this increases response rates.
The second way to use ebay.com is the about me page. On this page always have a link to your website where customers can order similar products or "reorder" an item they may have purchased before. Once you get them to your webpage try to get them to opt in toyour newsltter by offering them some kind of free gift as a bribe.
So remember the real secret to using ebay.com for exploding profits is selling to the same customers over and over again. Getting new customers is much more expensive then selling to ones that already know and like you.
Jennifer Parks is the author of Selling on Ebay the Blog which offers free software, information, secrets, and tips for selling on ebay.