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April 17, 2002

In This Issue:
* FEATURE ARTICLE: The Absolute Truth About Auction Success
* Creating An Effective "ABOUT ME" Page
* Success With HALF.COM
* And Speaking Of Used Books ...
News From Yahoo:
* 1. Yahoo And Spam
* 2: Create a Free, Custom Auction Booth
* 3. Yahoo Auction Linking Policy
* 4. Promoting More Sales
* Paws For Style
* Anybody Watch Last Week's Frasier?
* I'll Never Complain Again

FEATURE ARTICLE: The Absolute Truth About Auction Success

There are two kinds of people in auctions (and anything else):

1. Those that hang in there and succeed
2. Those who give up

We all know that there are a lot more folks in #2 than #1.

If you want to be part of the successful group, then all you need to do is keep experimenting until you find your way. Because if you are willing to be flexible in your ideas and keep paying attention to your results, you WILL succeed. It's just not that hard, believe it or not. I repeatedly say that auctions are the easiest business I have ever seen, and it's the truth.

- - -

SELLING METHOD #1:

Here's what most people do:
1. Decide on a product they love (or are at least interested in)
2. Go hunting for buyers

Let's assume that all your life, you have loved sport trading cards: baseball, football, basketball – you love 'em all. You decide that will be your playground. You go out and buy a really great collection of cards. You KNOW they're going to sell. You're ready for action.

According to eBay, today there are 347,198 sports trading cards for sale!

This is going to be a little tougher than you thought. How in the world are you going to even get noticed, much less sell all your new cards at a profit?

SELLING METHOD #2:

Before you get a single card:
1. Take the time to figure out what people want to buy
2. Find the merchandise they want – and sell it to them

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"But, how do I know what they want to buy?

There are two ways to figure this out. Either focus on the MERCHANDISE, or on SELLERS who are already making money selling whatever you want to sell.

- - - - - - -

FOCUS ON MERCHANDISE

This is what I have always done. I have sold books for years, and have spent heaven only knows how many hours figuring out what buyers want. I have invested hours each week doing research and have compiled quite a large list of books that I know will sell. So, whenever I go to book-buying spots, I know what I should buy. It took me a long time to figure all this out, but I now have a lot of specialized knowledge that allows me to make a reliable income every week.

FOCUS ON SUCCESSFUL SELLERS

When I started in auctions, there was no one to study. The online auction business was brand new and none of us had any idea about what was going to happen. We just made it up as we went along.

Today, that isn't the case. There is lots more competition – but there are also role models to see.

A few days ago, I sent an email about a software program called Deep Analysis. It is great software that analyzes auction categories by seller, rather than merchandise.

Deep Analysis is simple to use and saves incredible amounts of time. You simply choose a category you are interested in, and the software does all the work for you. You can just let it run and do other things, and it will take an enormous amount of data and sort it in lots of different ways, and you may then put the information into a spreadsheet, print it, or use it in other ways.

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Important note: they are working on adding a "keyword" search function to the software. This means it will then do searches by merchandise, rather than by seller. Those folks who already own Deep Analysis will receive this upgrade for free. I am assuming that when they add the keyword search feature, the price will go up. It usually does.

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How Can I Use This Information?

Running an analysis of a jewelry category, I discovered five sellers that are really doing well. One of them is Bret Buckstein, and you can look at one of his auctions here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=858015977

What can we learn from him:

1. His ID is pawndirect@aol.com. This allows buyers to contact him directly, rather than going through eBay's longer process, which demands a user ID. (I read somewhere that eBay was no longer allowing an ID that was a complete user name, but I created a similar one just last week?)

2. He first explains exactly what the buyer is getting: "GENUINE PLATINUM *3/4CT* TANZANITE & DIAMOND BAND". He explains in more detail in his description, assuring buyers that this ring contains real diamonds, real tanzanite, real platinum.

3. He mentions that there is no reserve, and that it is a real bargain – emphasizing value throughout his ad. Everyone wants a bargain price, but nobody wants "cheap" merchandise.

4. He mentions that it would be a great "gift", thereby extending the audience ("If you don't want it, maybe your girl friend or mother will").

5. He mentions the size and the possibility of having it re-sized by a local jeweler, just in case a possible buyer is worried about fit.

6. He makes the shipping charge clear, and will ship up to three items for the same price. This encourages people to buy now, rather than later.

7. He focuses on customer service: "We will deliver to you, the best customer service on the internet...BAR NONE. We will achieve this by answering your email in a professional, timely fashion...always email you to confirm arriving payments...and ship all merchandise within 24 hours of payment receipt!!"

8. He is clear about payment terms: it must be within 7 days.

9. He has several payment options: "VISA or MASTERCARD THROUGH PAYPAL, money orders, cashier checks, and personal checks".

And, he has live links for the following:

10. "CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL OF OUR BARGAIN AUCTIONS!!" Always, always, always advertise your other auctions.

11. "CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR UNCONDITIONAL RETURN POLICY!!" This is very reassuring to buyers.

12. "CLICK HERE TO GET TO KNOW US & OUR SHIPPING POLICIES!!" He repeats his shipping policies and tells a little bit about his company.

Just looking over the listing of a popular seller will tell you exactly what information to include in your listings. Am I suggesting that you COPY him? No, not at all! You need to develop your own style and personality. But, this kind of information will tell you exactly what buyers lwant to know.

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Next Step: What To Sell?

All you have to do is go to this link, which lists all his current auctions:

http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICo
Command=ViewListedItems&userid=pawndirect@aol
com&include=0&since=0&sort=2&rows=0

Just follow him around for a time, and you will see EXACTLY what he is selling. Repeat your search for the next few weeks, and then periodically thereafter, and you will know what people want to buy. Do the same for the other power sellers in this category.

Here is one of the biggest advantages of the auction business: it's all laid out right in front of us. We can see exactly what others are doing and use that knowledge to our advantage.

Of course, other people can study you, too. And when you become successful, you can be sure that they will. That's why you can't ever stop paying attention to what is successful.

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Finding The Correct Merchandise

Once you know what is selling well, go and find it.

How? Perhaps you can find it in our wholesale database:

http://wholesale.auctionknowhow.com

Or, there are lots of methods for finding goodies to sell that are discussed in Make Your Net Auction Sell!

http://auctionknowhow.sitesell.com

If you want to sell something that is very specialized, then you most likely know sources of supply. In our example above, if you are sports card crazed, then you already know where to find cards.

Most people don't believe it, but finding something to sell is the easy part!

"But what if I just can't find anything that the Super Stars are selling?"

Look at it this way ...

Every day there are 6,500,000 items for sale on eBay (and growing!) Of course, some of those are duplicates, so let's assume that only a tiny 1% are actually hot sellers.

That means there are 65,000! great items for you to sell.

Let's assume that you can only find 1% of the 1%. That means you still have 650 different things to sell.

I've never, ever, had even 65 different things for sale at one time, much less 650.

Of course, I've had that many over a period of time, because styles change, fads come and go. At one time, you couldn't miss with ginsu knives. Now they're rare.

Merchandise that remembered Dale Earnhardt was the hottest seller on eBay for a while, but not now.

Today, Harry Potter goodies are the rage. A year from now, probably not ... unless there's a "Harry Potter 2" movie out.

The point is: you CAN find something to sell that people want.

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A personal experience with Deep Analysis:

I have tested this software again and again before recommending it to anyone. And, naturally, I used it in categories that are interesting to me.

Have you ever heard that saying that opportunity is all around us – we just have to be able to see it? I ran an analysis on one particular category and suddenly realized an awesome opportunity was right in front of me, one that I had never seen until using the software, even though I have looked at this category many, many times.

Only one seller is really making any money, and as I started looking at his auctions, studying what he was doing, I realized that I would love to do this. When I got out my calculator, I saw that he had made $5,973.17 in 22 days! I know his expenses and he made about $5500 in March, with a very part-time business.

Result: I am starting an entirely new branch to my auction business, one that I really, truly enjoy and that will bring in some healthy profits. I've never done this before, so I'm having a great time with it.

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A tip: I have created yet another ID, one that suits this category. Being "earringqueen" when you are selling DVD players, isn't as effective as something like: "dvdexpert"

- - - - - - -

Please don't write and ask me for my new ID and category information. I make my living on the auctions and creating competition for myself is foolish. This is a very small category, with only one successful seller right now. Adding several more competitors wouldn't be in my best interests. Besides, it doesn't matter what I am doing, because you know my methods. You can find spots for yourself that you would love.

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Do you need the Deep Analysis software? No, you absolutely do not!

I've had it for less than a month. I've done all my research the time-consuming way up until now.

One way to evaluate the software is to set a dollar figure for your time. If you want to make $10,000/month and work five, eight hour days, then what is your time worth?

* $2500 week
* 40 hour week
Time: $62.50

It's your business and your decision.

Creating An Effective "ABOUT ME" Page

I often print articles from Gary Hendrickson because he is a savvy auction seller and he has a great article that is worth sharing. In Make Your Net Auction Sell!

http://auctionknowhow.sitesell.com

I made a point of suggesting a really effective "About Me" page on eBay, since it is one of the few "uncensored" spots. How any buyers actually check it out? I have no idea. But, even if it's only a small percentage, your sales are certain to increase if only a small amount. So, why not have one?

- - -

"Do you have an "About Me" page? You should. Next to an actual web site, an "About Me" page is the best way to promote your auctions and your auction business. But, to be effective, it must be done properly.

If you take a few minutes and look at 25 randomly selected "About Me" pages, you will find that more than 90% of them are poorly done and do nothing to help their owner promote themselves or their auctions.

The majority of pages are filled with vanity items - pictures of the owner's dog or cat, their children, or photos of their latest vacation. None of this does anything to promote the owners business or increase their income.

Grandma may enjoy seeing the photos you took last week when all three of the kids had the mumps. The gentleman from Arizona who's trying to decide if he should or shouldn't bid on your like- new Game Boy could care less about them.

When composing your "About Me" page you want to accomplish three objectives. You want to give a potential bidder some background information about yourself, you want to stress the nenefits he or she will receive by doing business with you, and you want to turn that potential bidder into a regular customer.

For example, don't just write "I've been buying and selling rare sports cards for 15 years." Where's the benefit for the bidder if he buys from you rather than someone else offering the same vintage football card?

Give him or her a benefit by saying, "I've been buying and selling rare sports cards for 15 years, and I recognize quality cards when I see them. You'll see that my grading is fair and conservative."

You want to be able to tell your visitors about yourself, but before doing so, put some thought into what you are going to say. Let your potential customers know how they will be better off by doing business with you.

In essence, you want to tell your customers "Look - I'm no different than you are." People like to deal with others they feel comfortable with. People who are similar to them. If you can instill this feeling in a potential bidder, they may very well turn out to be your best customers.

Here are three ideas to help you can go about that.

1. Include a picture of yourself.

People like to know who they are dealing with. When you add a picture of yourself to your "About Me" page you help people to remember you. You break down their resistance.

2. Write in a conversational tone.

Use short words and paragraphs. If you don't have the best grammar in the world, that's just fine. Write like you would talk. One way to do this is to get your spouse or a friend to type your message while you say it out loud. You will find that you will get a much more friendly page.

Talk to your visitor as if they were sitting across your kitchen table from you, because in effect they are. They have arrived at your page and want to learn more about you can provide for them. Let them know right from the beginning what's in it for them. You only have a few seconds to do it, so make a friendly impression.

3. The most important people to your customer are "Me, Myself, and I."

After you've written your message, take a minute and count the number of times you've used the words "I", "my", and "me." Now rewrite your message and use the word "you" instead. Rather than saying, "I won't waste your time" say "You won't be wasting your time."

Once you've identified yourself and stressed the benefits the visitor derives from dealing with you, it's time to turn him into a regular customer.

If you have a web site, put a link to it on your "About Me" page.

Give your visitor a chance to add himself to your mailing list. If you don't already have a mailing list, start gathering e-mail address now. There's an article in our Nov. 14, 2001 issue explaining why this is essential even if you never plan to write a newsletter.

Remember, the real purpose of your "About Me" page is to let your customers get to know you as a real flesh and blood person and not just a username. One who is a valuable friend, an expert, and someone who can be trusted."

Success With HALF.COM

Last issue I mentioned a wonderful new book by Gary called How To Sell Common Everyday Books On Half.Com Like Crazy!

Here is feedback from a happy user named Bob Maroney:

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"Gary--I purchased your Half.com ebook a week ago and have been following the advice you gave to the letter about finding books that sell for $19.95 or better on Half.com. As luck would have it we had a major book sale in one of our neighboring towns last Sunday and since I only had time to go through one complete category in Half.com I went to the sale looking for books that I had gotten just from that one listing in Half.com--Cooking. I spent about 45 minutes at the sale and purchased 4 books which I found using the criteria you had laid out in your ebook. The total cost to purchase these books at the sale was $7.00. I listed them on Half.com and sold the last one this morning. My total gross profit from the Half.com sale was $109.75, or a net profit of $102.75. I am elated to say the least.

The majority of the books in this sale were priced from $1.00 to $5.00. It's a shame that I didn't have more categories to review at the sale but I have a few things on my plate right now that I am trying to clear up and for the first week that's all I had time to list.

The price of your ebook at $19.95 is a steal and anyone who really has a sincere interest in making an additional $1000+ a month should not hesitate whatsoever to purchase it. It is so rare to find anything on the Internet that is so truthful, honest, concise and to the point as your ebook, as well as, so easy to follow. You should be commended. Thank you, and I look forward to purchasing your next ebook."

Bob, is an honor graduate of our Auction Genius Course™. Read what he says about it ...

http://auction-genius-course.com

- - -

I am going to move in the next few months, so I want to unload everything I don't want, rather than moving it around with me. I have often given books to charity, but after reading Gary's book, I sold two that I would have given away. My profit: $51.18. I listed them on eBay, rather than half, since I wanted quick action. But, he was right about demand. After I move, I am going to start using his plan for selling on half.

http://sellonhalf.auctionknowhow.com

And Speaking Of Used Books ...

I recently received a letter from Jeff Bezos, the king of Amazon. Amazon has been attacked by the Authors Guild, which claims that their sale of used books hurts the sales of new books. The Authors Guild claims that its member authors are being financially damaged by used book sales.

In response, Bezos sent a letter to all used books seller requesting a defense of Amazon's practices. He believes that used book sales stimulate books sales in general, while building the reputation of the author.

The Author's Guild asked all of its members to withdraw their links to Amazon. Personally, I don't promote their affiliate program, because I think it is much too weak. If the buyer doesn't purchase when she comes directly from your site, you don't get paid. Nevertheless, I am convinced there are lots more book sales than there would be at the much more expensive hardback, new retail prices.

What do you think?

News From Yahoo

1. Yahoo And Spam

Yahoo has had some financial problems lately, and many of their services are no longer free. In addition, they are going to start making the making list of their users available to commercial customers. Meaning, if you're using Yahoo, your "offers" are going to increase astronomically.

Here's a paragraph from an email: "It's unfortunate that a company as big and well known as Yahoo didn't find the time nor make the effort to contact its members to let them know they had sold them out. It's despicable!"

This simply isn't so. I have had several messages from Yahoo informing me of this change in policy and offering exact directions for opting out of this spam. If you're a Yahoo user, here's what you need to do:

Go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/

A) Click on Account Info in the upper right hand corner.

B) After logging in, get to your Account Information
screen, go down to the "Members Information"
section.

C) Click on "Edit your marketing preferences".
You'll notice that you’re probably signed up for everything.
Click on the 16 "no" buttons down the page.

D) Scroll to the bottom of the page to "Other Deliveries"
and click on the last two no's
Then click on "Save Changes".

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2. Create a Free, Custom Auction Booth

Yahoo has a new page on how to build an Auction Booth using their "page builder tutorial". The benefits are:

* display all of your auctions in one location
* customize the layout of your auction pages
* add a logo and a stylish background design
* provide photos and graphics -- pictures sell products
* link to additional product information and extra images
* include descriptive text, promotional copy, and much, much more!

There are some really nice looking pages displayed:

http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/promo/booth.html

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3. Yahoo Auction Linking Policy

YA allows links to your website in your auctions (yahoo for Yahoo!). Their policy for links in auctions is here:

http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/legal/linking_policy.html

4. Promoting More Sales When Yahoo sends an email to a losing bidder, they will also mention similar merchandise that you have for sale, hoping to encourage more sales. What a great idea!

http://auctions.yahoo.com

Paws for Style

The Humane Society of NY has an annual auction to raise money for homeless and mistreated animals. This year their "Paws for Style" auction is being held on SellYourItem.com

Designers Bill Blass, Ralph Lauren, Joe Boxer, Kate Spade and FuManSkeeto by NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick, among others, lent their talents to create original designs to be used in a fashion show held on March 12th in New York.

Singer Willa Ford, Fox News channel's Brian Kilmeade, rapper lil' Kim, actress Hallie Kate Eisenberg and Rosie O'Donnell Show band leader John McDaniel and their canine companions, just to name a few, donned coordinating outfits, for the event held at Exit, for this worthwhile cause.

The auctions began on April 10th will run for 30 days. There are starting bids as low as $20 for these one of a kind designs. 100% of the ending bid will go directly to the Humane Society of NY.

Looking at it this morning, I noticed a Ralph Lauren Cashmere Sweater, Collar and leash, starting at $50. I imagine this kind of merchandise will sell out before it's over.

http://www.sellyouritem.com/ListAuctions.html?User=Paws4Style

Anybody Watch Last Week's Frasier?

Several times in past issue I have mentioned a product called "Ginger" or simply, "IT"http://ginger.patentcafe.com/index.aspThe point of the past mentions is that creativity and cleverness pays on auction sites, just like anywhere else. The product is a scooter – sort of. It's an invention that is supposed to revolutionize transportation and three of these little goodies sold for over $100,000 each on Amazon auctions.Many people are fascinated with these things and I have really wanted to see one in action. Well, on last week's episode of Frasier, we got our chance. Niles rode one throughout most of the episode, while others begged for a chance to ride (he refused. :-)

I sure want one. I don't know what I'd do with it, or where I'd ride it, but I want one, anyway. Quite a tribute to human cleverness.

I'll Never Complain Again!

Back in the mid-1970s, a man was driving through Arizona and stopped at a gas station in the middle of a torrential downpour. This was in the days of "full-service" gas stations. He sat inside his dry car while a man, who whistled cheerfully while he worked, filled up his tank in that awful rain.As the customer was leaving, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry to get you out in this weather."

The attendant replied, "It doesn't bother me a bit. When I was fighting in Vietnam I made up my mind in a foxhole one day that if I ever got out of this place alive, I would be so grateful I'd never complain about anything again. And I haven't."