AuctionCUT - Auction and eBay Forum

Mark · Site Admin Joined: 02 Aug 2005 Posts: 725

Avril Harper is a self made powerseller by tearing up old books and magazines and selling them on eBay. In her ebook, "I Make Good Money Tearing Up Old Books and Magazines and Selling Them On eBay!" Avril talks us though this secret and undiscovered market.

1) Are there still hidden opportunities within eBay or do you feel the market is saturated?

Avril: I have never come even close to thinking eBay will ever be saturated. I have been in business now for about forty years, first of all selling vintage postcards at collectors' fairs, then as a writer and publisher, today as an eBay seller.

My eBay business is the least competitive market I have ever worked in, it is so easy to make money on eBay and competition is almost non-existent for serious sellers. I believe this because all business evolves and changes as new sellers arrive on the scene, others give up selling or even die, new products arrive which are ripe for exploitation, other products become
over-competitive, and so on.

The clever seller reacts to changes in all important market changes, such as checking newcomers for new product ideas (without copying too closely), or looking for people no longer selling on eBay whose products may be worth re-introducing.

It's always important to get there quickly to exploit a new product and move out fast when another product goes out of fashion or is no longer profitable.

Anyone starting on eBay selling much the same products as many other eBay sellers will rarely make much money. You need to choose different or unique products or look for some way to create exclusivity for very common products, such as by offering bonus gifts which are not available elsewhere and are highly desirable in their own right.

I recommend looking for people to make items specifically for you to sell on eBay, such as craftworkers or even small manufacturers. Most people who make great products are lousy at marketing and really do need someone able to market their wares on eBay. You could even find patterns and designs from the public domain, for all kind of products, and get someone local to create products for you. Get them to sign confidentiality agreements and make sure to copyright the pattern in your name to prevent others stealing your ideas.

As a measure of how much I consider eBay likely to ever become saturated for old and new members, I can honestly say if I worked ten times the hours I work now I would never in a million years run out of product ideas!

2) Why sell on eBay and not other venues or other auction sites?

Avril: No reason at all, but we all have limited time to run any business. I consider eBay the best, easiest and most inexpensive way to sell anything, online or offline, and with so many ideas I am currently unable to find time to handle I see no reason at all to move into other potentially less effective marketing arenas.

3) What is the biggest lesson you've learnt when building your eBay business?

Avril: My biggest lesson is to regard everything I do on eBay as a numbers game, in the same way I do my writing and publishing business and any other venture I become involved in. My motto is: 'The more I list, the more money I make; the more customers I serve, the more money I can make by adding those people to a mailing list for back-end offers; the more .. (the ideas actually run into hundreds and eBay is usually the pivot supporting my many numbers game ideas).

So:

* The more craftworkers I find to make products exclusively for me, the more money I will make on eBay.

* The more eBooks I write to sell in their own right or to promote affiliate products, the more money I will make on eBay.

* The more postcards and other paper collectibles I buy at auction, the more I can list on eBay, and the more money I will make on eBay.

Multiply all of that hundreds of times and I haven't even touched the surface of the sheer potential of making money on eBay.

4) As an eBay Powerseller what benefits do you think this progran brings to sellers?

Avril: When I wasn't a PowerSeller I thought becoming a PowerSeller would be like a dream come true. So I worked hard and made PowerSeller status in all three of my eBay accounts, all on the same day. But the dream turned out to be just a dream. PowerSeller status gave me nothing but a feeling of achievement. It really meant very little for me personally. However, when I started on eBay I actually trusted PowerSellers more than other non-PowerSeller eBay traders, so there must be some kind of respect and credibility attached to being a PowerSeller.

But there are problems to contemplate too, such as someone recently buying four items from my eBay shop then immediately leaving four negative feedback ratings. He hadn't paid for the products, he hadn't received the products. That day eBay forums showed this person had worked the same trick on several UK PowerSellers, purely out of nastiness and jealousy. Thankfully eBay has a policy of removing feedback left by ill-intentioned individuals who are usually quickly expelled from eBay.

5) How can you ensure repeat custom from buyers using eBay?

Avril: If you are selling products people want they will almost always come back for more. This is especially so for niche market products, in my case the likes of topographical postcards and ephemera. If you are considerate to customers, put their best interests first, and always remember these are the people who pay your mortgage and feed your kids you will never go far wrong.

6) Any other advice for AuctionCUT members about any aspect of eBay?

Avril: Just do it! If you regard eBay as a numbers game and accept that some things you do will be profitable and others will lose you money you will never go far wrong. The only important thing to do is to expand on the things that do work and learn from whatever you do that doesn't work. Keep on listing the profitable products, remove those that don't work. Then keep on doing that and you really can't fail.

Read more about Avril Harper at: Dogpuss

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