Building an eBay Business - A Marketing Playbook by Art Weinstein* [51]

      If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Jeff Bezos

eBay is an internet pioneer founded in 1995. Over the past 30 years, this Silicon Valley giant created a huge digital marketspace with more than 130 million active buyers worldwide and $10 billion in revenue. While eBay does e-commerce in almost every country in the world, about half of their business is from the U.S.  Do you have an interesting product to sell or unique market niche to exploit? Perhaps, you want to re-home some extra cool stuff around the house or turn a favorite hobby into a side gig to generate a second income? eBay offers incredible flexibility whether you want to work just a few hours a week to earn extra income or quit your day job and run your own small business. My Interest in eBay

As a marketing professor, I have taught courses in Customer Value and Marketing Strategy for more than 30 years. Previously, I was a marketing researcher and ran a Small Business Development Center.  I have written 8 books and 135 scholarly papers/case studies on customer-centric marketing practices. I spent most of my academic career researching and writing about technology and entrepreneurial firms and have consulted for some of the largest tech companies in the world. I have carefully studied the eBay business model, and as a consumer, I made occasional purchases for hard-to-find items from various eBay sellers. As I have a considerable amount of music CDs, boxed sets, and vinyl; one-of-a-kind rock band memorabilia; sports and other collectibles, I thought eBay might be an excellent outlet to share some of my excess inventory with buyers that have similar interests. That said, I pursued this "side hustle" over the past year. This assumption was validated as I have sold about 250 items (150 + sales) to highly satisfied customers in 35 states. eBay has recently named me a Top-Rated Seller as I have a 100% customer feedback score with 95 of 95 five-star reviews. Some of my interesting recent sales include an Alaskan mini-totem pole, a genuine hand-made wooden Australian boomerang, Asia (rock band) framed song lyrics, Beatles 45's, chess pieces bookends, Jacques Cousteau painting, New York Mets team sets of baseball cards, miniature Las Vegas slot machine toy, and U.S. mint proof coin sets.  Marketing Ideas and Insights I ramped up my knowledge of all facets of e-commerce and analytics via eBay’s impressive and easy-to-use sales platform. As a new seller with deep marketing acumen, I developed a viable and enjoyable hobby business. Along the way, I learned many business insights which I am pleased to share with others thinking about getting involved with this organization as an independent contractor. Below is a work-in-progress A-Z perspective. You will likely find many of these marketing tips very useful should you choose to work with eBay or pursue other e-commerce ventures.

Artificial intelligence (AI)
Bundling
Competitive analysis
Diversify
eBay community
Feedback
Get frequent updates via the app
Hobby or business?
Inventory control
Jump in with both feet
Keep at it
Logistics management
Metrics matters
New product development
Offers (managing)
Promote/advertise your items
Quick customer service
Regular communication with prospects/buyers
Segmentation, targeting, and positioning
Timing and seasonality
Understand your customer’s needs/wants
Variety
Weekend effect
eXamine what works, doesn’t work
Yes, be positive!
Zero in on your niche

The A to Z eBay Marketing Playbook - Part 1 (A-F) An expanded version of the above outline is being developed into a guide called "The A to Z Playbook for Building an eBay Business - 78 Winning Entrepreneurial Strategies." Here's an advance look at the first 6 concepts/18 strategies:     > Artificial Intelligence     AI has been called the most significant human invention since electricity. The power of AI can solve world problems in medicine or lead to societal destruction via military warfare. As a red-hot marketing tool, one useful application is writing ad copy which is essential in listing items on eBay. The company provides an excellent AI tool for this purpose which facilitates writing detailed, informative item descriptions. ·      Use the AI tool, but use it cautiously. It provides an instantaneous and workable draft that is creative and covers most essential product information. ·      From my experience, I found the AI-generated ad copy to be about 85% effective as factual errors are often made and some key selling points are neglected. Hence, a revision is necessary. ·      AI works for most items but rare and one-of-a-kind pieces will require the old-fashioned approach, good story telling without an AI assist. Ø Bundling Bundling means to package 2 or more units as a single item with a discounted selling price. This strategy can work effectively if you are selling low-priced items. Buyers appreciate the opportunity to buy multiple related items at a reduced price. Also, they only need to pay the shipping fee once. ·      I have found bundling works extremely well for the music products I sell. Rather than offering a single CD at $10, I may package 3 CDs by a single artist at $25. ·      You can design multiple bundle packages and reconfigure based on market demand – i.e., add, revise, or delete to your online store inventory. ·      At times, I’ll use an unbundling approach. For example, PROG magazine often includes beautiful, four-color postcards of the featured artist that month in the 100 + page magazine. I have sold these items separately to interested buyers. Ø  Competitive Analysis eBay customers are smart and well informed about pricing for the merchandise offered. It is critical for the eBay seller to be even more knowledgeable about competitive options and prices. ·      Use the eBay site as your main tool to shop the competition. If you cannot beat their prices find other ways to offer added value (e.g., free or discounted shipping, use on-site advertising to reach new prospects, etc.)  ·      Go to Amazon, Etsy, and other online sellers, as needed.   ·      Use specialized websites to research prices. For music products, I have found sites such as   discogs.com and valueyourmusic.com to be helpful. Ø  Diversify  Financial planners urge their clients to diversify their investments and not rely on a single stock. This is great advice for eBay sellers, too. Start your venture with multiple, related product lines to maximize your chance for business success. ·      Choose a main product line and add the most inventory in this category. Currently, my top line are music products - mostly CDs and boxed sets - which accounts for nearly half of my sales. ·      Add a small number (perhaps, 2 to 4) of additional revenue lines. My other areas of emphasis are books/magazines, rock ‘n roll memorabilia, sports collectibles, and commemorative coins. ·      Test market potential new product opportunities. I am currently exploring stamps. Ø eBay Community  The eBay business model offers a unique infrastructure. Devotees can win (buy) or sell almost anything. Trading on eBay is characterized by low selling costs, vast selection, motivation to engage in repeated transactions, and technological empowerment. To maximize your success, master the platform and all of its powerful features. In particular, get to know the Home Page, My eBay, Messaging,  Performance Measures, and Selling Tools. ·      The search box gives you a quick overview of what other vendors are selling and their prices. ·      Take advantage of eBay’s seller suggestions and training materials. ·      Create and continuously refine your eBay store. Ø Feedback  Generating excellent feedback from buyers should be a seller’s priority. Prospective customers carefully review detailed seller ratings (on a 5.0 scale) with respect to product description accuracy, shipping costs, speed of delivery, and communication. Customers are encouraged to leave comments for sellers and most of them do that. ·      Sellers should briefly respond to buyer comments to thank them for their business and personalize the transaction. ·      Enclose a packing slip with each purchase with a generic “we look forward to doing business with you again on eBay” message followed by a handwritten personalized note (a few words will suffice). ·      Deliver 100% satisfaction for each customer and every purchase. Briefly reply to every consumer that leaves comments. This will lead to repeat business and demonstrate your commitment to excellence for prospective buyers. Questions/Action Items 1. If you sell on eBay (or other e-commerce platforms), what strategies/tactics work best for you?     2. Comment on one or more of the guidelines in the Marketing Playbook: AI, bundling, competitive analysis, diversification, eBay community, and feedback. 3. What are some great niche opportunities for success on eBay, other online platforms?    * Art Weinstein, Ph.D. is the blogmaster of Customer Value in the Now Economy. He may be reached at artweinstein9@gmail.com.