Increase Sales Over Night

Well a strong bold title Increase Sales Over Night, and yes it can be done, but you need to put some simple but for some people hard things into place.

Who reads the weekend papers , the best ones are the Sunday papers with all their added sections and the colour magazines ?

Ladies how many of you read Woman’s Magazines ?

Gents how many read lad mens magazines (And no not the top shelf ones)

And if you don’t please start to, they are full of ideas for items to sell. But that is another topic for another day as they say.

Something else I want you to do is start to keep all your junk mail – why , well for know just do it please.

Now cast your mind back, when was the last time you bought something through the mail……… either a real product or an information product.

For this example let us say it has some face cream, in the advert it said within 14 days you would look years younger etc etc. It looked good, the results read well, the price well was good. But at the back of your mind you thought what if it did not work I would loose $50.00.

You saw this cool gadget in a mens mag, that made your muscles grow and make you look fit, so all the girls wanted to go out with you. It looked good, the price was Ok, ……………. But again what if it did not work you would loose $100.00.

But there it is………………………………  In black and white………………………. (or colour)  something that made you reach for your credit card in seconds.  No not buy in 10 seconds and it is free.

A money back guarantee, no questions asked.

How many people in your niche use it ?   Guess not many.

Now please listen careful, and I hope this is you. This guarantee will only work if you are a honest eBayer or online seller. You only tell the truth and you do not sell rubbish and rip people off.
Now if you are one of these bad guys if yuo do it, you will be out of buisness in days………….. Sorry but thats the truth.

Right lets get back to the honest sellers of which 99.9% are.

A lot of people will look at your auction, buy it now and think yes I would love that product, but what if it does not work, what if I cannot use the cream etc.

Then their eyes catch that no questions asked guarantee, and they hit that buy it now button then and there. The reason is you have removed all the barriers.

Now as I said if you sell poor products, then you will be hit with refunds. But if you are a normal seller, selling great products then you will see an Increase in sales overNight.

And guess what your sales will go up and up but you will only get a tiny number of refunds.

A girl I know who works in direct response and sells a report on how to look good when going out clubbing did a test.

1)  Letter one went out, with no guarantee  and the price £20.00 she sold 1 in 100

2) Letter two went out, with no questions asked guarantee and the price £20.00 she sold 45 in 100. And she only had two refunds.

Go on give it a go, and see if your sales increase.

Happy Selling
Andrew

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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What Can I Sell ?

Another big question that new and old people ask is “What Can I Sell“. Now I am going to through this back to you and ask what would you like to sell. ** A Side Note here please note that when I talk about eBay you can read it as other sites as well in general**

So What would you like to sell, and once you have answered that question then the “What Can I sell” will be answered for you.

One thing I always say to people you are allowed to sell anything as long as they stick to the terms of the sites you are selling on and each site is very different in what they allow.

But the What can I sell answer you normally get from me is

@ What do you sell comfortable in selling.

@ Would you mind your mother or grand-mother seeing you sell them

@ Would you feel OK about going on the Oprah show and talking about your product (Not taking into account the amount you would sell please but all your friends would see you)

@ Is it legal and ethical, and at night can you sleep.

Now if you stick to those statements above when you choose an item you will not go far wrong.

Once you have sold all your items from around your home or buisness and have got a feel for selling, shipping, listing, now is the time to look at what you can sell further.

Go to your ebay home page and click on the categories button :

Once you have done that scroll down the page you are taken to and click on where it says item count

The next page will show you all the main categories and the sub ones and also show you how many items are being sold in each area it looks like this, this is just a small example.

I would suggest you spend some hours or a few days on eBay going through these and see what you can sell, and also make a note of what is selling and not selling, so when you next say to your self “what can I sell” you will know how to do some very basic research

Hope this helps you and starts to answer the question “What Can I Sell“

Another eBay idea brought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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 Increase My eBay Sales

I guess that along with most of the other sellers out there in the great world of eBay, you have often said to yourself  ”If only I could increase my eBay sales” – now let me think you have made some notes, tried to look at other sites, and then sat back gave a sigh and said how do I Increase my eBay sales.

Well stop looking, stop reading, stop giving up…………………….. Honest it is real simple and has been staring you in the face for ages, right from the day you joined eBay as a seller.

First off there are many different ways to increase you eBay sellers and each one will work, but today I want to tell you about a very simple, very easy, and all it takes is a few clicks of a mouse, and then to turn up the heat just takes a few more minutes, but if you just follow the few clicks your sales will increase.

You need to sell worldwide, or in as many countries as you can. 

Step One – You need, to scroll down to the international postage section.

Step Two – You need to choose the flat rate section.

Step three – either choose worldwide or just the countries you want to sell to.

Now a tip here you have the UK postage will can be free or what ever, then on your Worldwide postage work it out for USA or Australia and once you have sent it, you can refund the difference if it does work out cheaper.

By doing that simple step of selling overseas and setting a worldwide post you item is visable on all eBay countries.

But, don’t you just love those buts…………………………….. If you are selling your item as a Buy It Now listing it will not appear on the eBay.com site unless the buyer has enabled there default setting to show international sellers.

To be on the safe side and to have your items appear on the eBay.com site you will need to go to eBay.com and list your item there. 

Now to go a big step forward you could if you wish list on each of the other eBay sites in the language that they use. For example if you can speak german, write your listing in German and list there, same for French, Italy etc, etc.

The advantage of doing this is that your item will appear in each country in their own language and not english, very simple but also powerful, very power.

So try it, by first choosing worldwide shipping and see the difference it makes to your views and then your sales. And soon, you will no longer be saying How do I Increase my eBay Sales.

Happy Selling

Andrew Milburn and My auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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List and they will come.

Well as they say in the film and the book……………………………………… Built it and they will come, well it is really true in the e-commerce world. Spend the time listing and your buyers will come.

This is true for eBay, Amazon , Bonanzle, Etsy and the list goes on and on. If you spend the time sourcing for new products (by new I do mean new as from wholesalers, but also new stock, spend time asking friends, family, going around yard sales, car boots, thrift shops, and charity shops and build up your stock.

But the important thing is, once you have bought your stock, go home and list it. If the pictures need taking do it, but list, list and list some more. Then once you have listed it all, go buy some more and list and list.

Now a very strange thing happens as you list your lookers will come and out of the lookers your buyers will buy.

This weekend a friend from Church told me he had bought over 500 books mainly Christian study books from our local Christian book shop. His idea was to sell these at car boots to raise some money for a Charity he supported.

Now he had a problem, the books were very niche, they were study books, he went to a few car boots paid his money to sell ( here in the UK it is around £5.00 each time), and he was asking for donations. He did sell a few, but for the time it took etc it was not really worth it.

I suggested he sold on Amazon to start with then eBay, he did not seem keen as he did not know what he was doing and at the time did not want to spend time learning, I did offer my services as an Education Specialist.

So I put my other hat on as a Trading Assistant and offered to sell them for him. Now I have sold books in the past and as most people know they can be hit and miss.  As I was listing on Amazon I knew all that would be wasted was some time on a Sunday Afternoon listing if it all failed.

I got him to bring two boxes to start with for me to see what was what and start the listing, well after 185 books only one was not found on Amazon and it was found under the title, and most were well over a £1.00, so I was happy

******** Now the important thing here is I did not pay for stock, so would not be out of pocket, but and a big but I found he had only paid 0.10p for each book, so it will be good profits all round and a good profit for the charity he is raising money for *******

Another lesson here is at 0.10p per item (it is items as there were a few cd’s and dvd’s in the boxes you can make large profits if they are sold at just a £1.00 but if you can get 1/2 of the RRP you will make very good profits.

I am writing this just under 20 hours from I listed the books and 12 have already sold and half those have already paid, so I think my friend will do OK.

Happy Selling and I hope this lesson not only helps you with eBay but all e-commerce platforms.

Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Amazon, Education, eBay by andyuk
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eBay and the Recession

I guess if you are like most people you do not like the word recession it makes you come out in a cold sweat and for a few people gives them sleepless nights.

Well did you know that if you sell on eBay or other online platforms that you can turn that naughty word recession into a money make machine. Yes if you combine the world of eBay and the Recession you have a legal way to print money.

Right now I can hear people say well how on earth can eBay and the Recession work together, well I guess today is a blessed day for you as I am in a giving mood and I want other people to be able to take adavantage of this very simple system, and as you look and work it you will see everyone can and will be a winner.

So here are the very simple steps on how to use eBay and the Recession to make some extra money.

Before I start on these tips, you have to be open mined on what you will be selling. And it is also helpful to you if you have the internet on your phone.

Step 1. Walk down your local High Street and make a note of the shops which have a large reduction sale or a going out of buisness sale on.

Step 2. Go into each shop and see what they selling (is it easy to ship etc).

Step 3. Either in the shop or in local cafe go onto eBay and see what the items are selling for.

Step 4. If the items are cheaper in the shop that the completed listings on ebay that have sold you have a winner.

Step 5. Go and buy the items either one, two or all of them.

Step 6. Go home and list them and sell them.

Rinse and Repeat, many times.

For example I recently bought some Designer Label shirts form a local discount store in their sale. Now these shirts often sell on eBay for £50.00 plus, the minimum price they ever went for was £39.43 ( this is an important factor to look at).  I bought the shirt for £9.99. 7 days later sold it for £43.00.

My Customer was happy.
The shop was happy as they made a sale.
eBay was happy.
Royal Mail was happy
And yes I was happy.

Hope this has given you some ideas on how to make some extra money. And the power of eBay and the Recession

Another Resourse bought to you by
Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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Simple Steps For Free Pictures in eBay Listings.

I guess at times you have thought to your self, I wish I could add more pictures to my eBay listings, but then looked at the price of those extra photo’s, and looked at what you are selling, and said “There is not enough profit”.

At times if you are selling high profit or high priced items then you can afford to pay the extra fees eBay ask you. But help is at hand, and one of the popular places that you can use is called http://www.photobucket.com

Photo Bucket is a great web site which enables you at add photographs anywhere in your eBay listing for no extra cost – apart from a small bit of time and a bit of html code which you can copy and paste.

If you are not a member of photobucket pop along now and join, it is free and very easy. Once you are a member you need to log in and you will be taken to a screen like the one below.

All you need to do is follow the on screen prompts to upload your eBay pictures to Photo Bucket.

Once the pictures have been uploaded you will see that each picture has it’s own Direct Link html source code. It is this bit of source code that you will need for each picture.

As you write your eBay listing each time you want to insert a picture copy and paste the html code into your ebay listing in the place you need it to go. (when you do this make sure you have the html setting on eBay turned on).

To help you I have shown what the source code looks like below :

<Palign=center><STRONG><IMGsrc”‘insertyourdirectcodehere“></STRONG></p>

The bit in red will be different as it will be unique for each picture.

Hope this helps you and saves you some money.

Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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9 Steps To Make eBay A Success

When you are new to eBay and the world of online selling there are a few steps that you need to take and if these steps are taken, then your journey with buying and selling on eBay will be easier. The trouble is as soon as we have signed up as a seller on eBay we want to take off at once, but one needs to sit back, take a deep breath and follow these 10 simple steps and if you do then the world of ebay will be almost pain free.

In my postings, articles and you will often see other eBay trainers talking about something as a seller we need inprinted on our minds………………………….  We must always see ourselves through the eyes of our customers. This means when we list, when we take pictures, when we write disscriptions we must think buyer and not how much will we earn today. For if we forget the buyer and just think money then very soon our buyers will leave and go and find someone else who will care about them.

Step 1 – Before you start to sell go and buy a few items on your account, this works in different ways. The first way it gets you used to the site and how your buyers find the site and what it feels like to be a buyer buying something on eBay. Also it gets you some feedback, as not many people like to buy from a seller with zero feedback. You do not have to buy expensive things just small items, or you could buy yourself packing and postage stuff for when you start selling.

Step 2 – Take nice clean and clear pictures, try and take them in daylight and not to use a flash as flash can spoil the look of your items. Also when you take your pictures if your item has any damage take a picture of it, so your buyers can see what they buying. Also be open and honest with them.

Step 3 – Always include your contact details (phone number, email address in your listings – or your About Me page), by doing this people feel at home and they also feel that they can trust you. When they see your contact details they think you are an honest and also a real person, it works wonders to build confidence with your buyers.

Step 4 – When ever you get a message or an email from your customer or a buyer respond as soon as possible, the same day if you can, if not the next day at the very latest. A tip that I use, if I find I am getting the same question over and over again, try adding the question and the answer into your listing, as this saves you and your buyers time. And if you know your listing will bring questions due to it’s size, shape, age etc, do a set of questions and answers and put these at the bottom of your listing, again saves everyone time.

Step 5 – Never except cash in the mail, this covers you, the Post Office, and the buyer The best way is PayPal or one of the other eBay approved Payment people. You get your money straight away, and if anything happens you both are covered.

Step 6 – to set your eBay selling price you can either use eBays completed listing feature to see what other items have sold in the past, or you can use one of the other eBay research tools (there are a few of these and in a later post I will cover these, but for now as you are a new seller, use the eBay completed listings)
If you are selling new items, use the RRP that the wholesaler has given you. But never be greedy, but at the same time sell for what the market allows.

Step 7 – A very big no, and one that will get you in trouble with buyers, eBay and also me (lol) is this, never , ever sell an item (for instance a DVD) for $1.00 and add $15.00 postage, when the real amount is $1.00. Buyers will soon spot this and not buy from you. Also eBay will remove your listing. In some eBay catogries you will notice that ebay make the seller have free postage and packing, this process has been brought on by greedy sellers who put up the Postage costs.

Step 8 – Use a user name that promotes your listings, but you do need to be a bit flexible here. Lets say today you are selling dog toys and call your user names “TimsDogToys”  now that is a good name………………… But what happens 6  months down the road and you want to sell cat items, it might be a bit hard for you. So if you want to sell a mixture of items pick a generic name such as “TimsHotProducts” this will allow you to sell anything and everything. With your name spend some time and brain storm a few names and ask some friends too what they think.

Step 9 – Never ever use brand names in your titles unless you are selling that brand. You must never say like XYX product. Also it is best not to use unknown names in a listing as people would never search for an unkown name. You have 55 characters to write the heading so use it wisely. Also do not use words like WOW, or Cool, or *** or, @@@, they are just a waste of space. You need to be using keyword rich words.
Another resource bought to you by
Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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Four Steps To An eBay Profit

Did you know that the way you set out your eBay listings can either mean you make a sale or your don’t, and I would even go as far to say to means the difference between people viewing your listing or skipping over your listing to someone else. Today as eBay has many sellers and buyers the way you structure the listing is so important and gone are the old days where you could write anything and your item would sell.

So here are my 4 steps that I hope will help you get ahead of the listing game on eBay and to an eBay Profit.

eBay Profit Step 1 - Set Up your About Me Page
By setting up an about me page shows the world that you are a real live person and there is a human being behind the auctions. Once you have set up your About Me page, you can leave it, it is something that you do not need to do every time. I would suggest though that you do keep it up to date by adding things and taking things off a few times a year. This again keeps people your buyers interested in you, your About Me page and more important make them look at your eBay listings.
Something else that makes people feel at ease is if you include pictures of yourself, your family on your About Me page. A picture says many things and makes a buyer feel connected with you the seller.

Ok Your About Me page will take some time to plan and tweek, but like I said once it is up and sorted, it will just take a few minutes a few times a year to keep it up to date.

eBay Profit Step 2 – Review Your Listings

When ever you do a listing for an Auction, Buy It Now, or for your eBay shop will be asked do you want to review it. This process happens when you have written everything and added the pictures. eBay will then give you the opportunity to review the listing, now many eBayers just say no thanks………………………… Please do not do this, spend some time and go through everything because there is a chance that you may have mis-spelt something, missed a word out, used the wrong picture etc.
Once you have done a few reviews it will only take a few minutes, but those few minutes will save many minutes if you need to either take the listing off, or go and added a picture, or even in the worst case have to take the listing off eBay.

eBay profit Step 3 -  Your Characters Matter.

Did you know that eBay give you 55 characters for your headline ? Please put these to good use and do not miss use them with things like **  @@ ## etc, they both look silly and are of no use to the search engines and the people searching for the item you are selling.
Also do not waste the 55 characters with words like wow, cool  fab, again they mean nothing, waste space, and again the search engines do not like them.
Fill the 55 characters with search engine food and sell your item with them.
But a word of caution here never keyword spam. By this I mean if you are selling a pair of Jeans do not say looks like Wrangler as eBay and Wrangler do like this, and your ebay listing could be pulled and taken down. Only use a brand name if you are selling a brand name item.

Again if the item is brand new tell them this in the heading, but again be truthful as in the end it will hurt your ebay business.

eBay Profit Step 4 -  Is what I call the Tell and Show Method

What do I mean by the Tell and Show method I hear you say, well it is easy really.

Tell means that you write the body of the description as though you have no photo’s and you have to write to explain the item. Another way to put it imagine you are telling your best friend about the item you have at home and they say OK sell it to me. As they are your best friend you will tell them in full detail about the item including the story how you got it and why you are selling it. And of course as they are your best friend you will be honest with them and if there is a little bit of damage to the item you will them .

Now when you write your ebay descriptions I want you to write them like that for if you are honest and open people will buy from you time and time again.

Now the show method is …………………………….. Take the pictures as if you are not going to be able to write any thing. And if you combine the two you will have a great sales piece that will have people buying from you without problem.

Before I close, I would like to say some about the Tell and Show method, if the item you are selling has a fault in it, please take a picture of this and also write about it as again your buyers will like you if you are open and honest with them.

By following the above 4 steps you will be on your way to earning very good eBay profits.

Another resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Tags: Education, eBay by andyuk
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For sometime now I have been thinking about the name of my blog………. My Auction Empires. When I started out blogging my main focus was Auctions…… I did not think about the future, this was a big mistake.

Today I have renamed this blog My Online Empires as this name covers all the areas of earning money from and on the internet.

So a word of advice to my readers out there, when you buy a name or are thinking about the name for your business, please think long term and not just short term.

Have a great day.

Andrew Milburn and My Online Empires

Tags: 30 Day Challenge, Affiliate, Amazon, BANS, Donations, Education, FundRaising, Marketing, OSI, PayPal, Postage, Product Sourcing, Public Domain, Recomended Products, SEO, Social Marketing, Trade Fair, Trade Shows, Trading Assistant, UK Product Source, USA Product Source, USA Trade Show, Uncategorized, eBay, eBay News, eBay Tools by andyuk
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How To find Out What Is Hot On The Net

Have you ever looked at listings on eBay or read some new report and thought to yourself if only I knew that was hot news, or how did they know that product was going to be hot ?

I guess most of us have over time thought this, and then we miss out again and again……………….. Well folks I have good news for you, from today onwards you will be able “How to find out what is hot on the net” and the cost nothing, yes you heard me nothing. Well no money but it will take you some time but if you master these tips and sites below you will always be able to Find Out What Is Hot On The Net, and act on it.

Also once you have mastered this How To find Out What Is Hot On The Net, you will be able to use it to get out of a market before you lose money on it.

Today I am going to give you the list then over the coming weeks I will take each one and show you how to use these no cost online tools.

1)     Google Trends   http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends

2)    Yahoo Buzz  http://buzz.yahoo.com

3)    Lycos 50  http://50.lycos.com

4) AOL Hot Searches  http://hotsearches.aol.com

5) Ask   http://about.ask.com/en/docs/iq/iq.shtm

6) Google News http://news.google.com/news?ned=us&topic=po

7)  eBay Pulse  http://pulse.ebay.com

8)  Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases

9) eBay what’s Hot   http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html

10) Google Zeitgeist    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

If you use each of the above links you will soon be able to Find Out What Is Hot On The Net.

Hope you find the above useful and if you know of any other sites please leave them in the comments or send me an email.

Another Resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires.

Tags: 30 Day Challenge, Affiliate, Amazon, BANS, Donations, Education, FundRaising, Marketing, OSI, PayPal, Postage, Product Sourcing, Public Domain, Recomended Products, SEO, Social Marketing, Trade Fair, Trade Shows, Trading Assistant, UK Product Source, USA Product Source, USA Trade Show, Uncategorized, eBay, eBay News, eBay Tools by andyuk
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