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Mark
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Joined: 02 Aug 2005
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 Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject: 6 Question Interview: Robert Frechette |
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Robert Frechette, author of Grand Stage Selling started selling on eBay part time, and grew his sales into a 2.2 million dollar business. Rob, based in North Carolina has gained the title of Number #1 eBay seller on five occasions.
"An extraordinary accomplishment", is how Jim Cockrum describes Robs business. AuctionCUT thanks Rob for being the first in the 6 Question interview series.
1) - In your opinion is it still possible for a newbie to create a business and full time living on ebay, or is it the marketplace still too crowded?
Rob: I think there's a tremendous opportunity for anyone who wants to start selling on eBay. In the past 6 months, we've added two more eBay accounts because of some different products we are offering. With more eBay accounts, it allows us to brand ourselves and sell more products in different ways.eBay is a very unique business opportunity. I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time developing a business plan and mapping out a lengthy strategic plan. The best way to get started is to simply spend a bunch of time browsing eBay. Once you focus on a eBay category and some product ideas, do a completed item search on eBay to see what customers are
willing to pay for products. For example, one of my first products that I continuously sold on eBay was used blue jeans from thrift stores. I can easily go to eBay and do a completed items search on Gap jeans, for example, to find out what used Gap jeans are selling for and compare that to my purchase price. This is a simple analyss for a gross profit.
eBay is the world's leading online marketplace. There always seems to be opportunity for more sellers.
2) - What would be the biggest single piece of advice you'd offer to those looking to sell on ebay?
Rob: Start! This is probably the single leading question I get from people. When I ask them how are their current sales going, many reply that they haven't even started selling on eBay yet. I think people make it way to complicated to get started and start earning some additional income. Sign-up for a free eBay and PayPal account, sell some things from around the house, and you're off and running. Then your next step is finding a continuous supply of items to sell and learning to manage your selling process.
3) - Whats the biggest lesson you've learned when building up your ebay business?
Rob: Measuring whether or not I am making money. Seems pretty simple, huh? Let me explain. Selling on eBay can be very time consuming. Especially for the part-timers who use eBay as a source for a second income.
People often think that because they are so busy, that they must be making a lot of money. Or people see your busy so family and friends think things are going well. You need to determine what your time is worth. Keep track of how many hours a week you are spending on your eBay business and compare that to your revenue and costs. I know of many people who sell on eBay that would make more money working at their local McDonalds.
4) - Are you surprised at how well your ebook has been received?
Rob: In some ways I am surprised with the number of readers. After selling on eBay for seven years, the eBook was just an idea. I really think people appreciate the advice from a very active eBay seller, not just some sales vendor or something like that. The bulk of the eBook is my story of how I started selling on eBay. It's like a case study. I've been working on the next edition, planned to release by the end of April. It will include more details, graphs and photos.
5) - Do you have any more goals within ebay or have you achieved everything you've set out to do.
Rob: I'm just getting started! Right now it's just may dad and I that work in our warehouse full-time along with a small 1st class group of part-time employees. Last year sales topped at about $3 million and we were the #1 volume sellers for 5 consecutive months. The volume selling statistic kinda scared me because while we worked hard, it wasn't all that complicated. I was wondering where all the other sellers were at! But technology has changed so much since we started that we can sell a whole lot more with little effort.
There are tons of other ecommerce opportunities, too. Just the other day one of our industry competitors (who doesn't sell on eBay) hit $200 million in sales. And their not much bigger than us.
6) - Any other comments you wish to volunteer to our readers?
Rob: eBay is one of the biggest opportunities right now. If you want to start a business, you can start today. I'm not in any way affiliated with eBay, so I don't have a bias reason to say that. Once you start selling, you'll have more ideas than you will time to implement. But, those ideas won't come until you get started.
Perhaps in the near future we can take some specific questions from your readers and post some replies.
Best wishes to everyone!
You can find out more about Rob Frechettes ebook, How I run a $2.2 million eBay business that sells 50,000 items per month at: http://www.dogpuss.com/?p=21 |
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| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:22 pm Post subject: Recommendation: Auction Selling 101 |
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