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October 3, 2005

In this issue:
* The Effects Of Katrina & Rita On Your Internet Business
* Feature Article: A Fascinating Look At How Armand Morin Uses eBay
* Get A FREE Copy of eBay Secret Interviews
* eBay USA Launches The Reseller Marketplace
* eBay Pro Stores For Online Store Building?
* eBay Consignment Stores Kicked In The Teeth

The effects of Katrina & Rita have been well documented on the news media. The horrifying pictures have resounded in the consciousness of all of us and my writing skills are certainly inadequate to express my feelings about the heart rending scenes we've all witnessed.

Instead, I'd like to muse about a less emotional topic - the effects of these two storms on Internet business, yours and mine. These two storms have devastated our oil refineries and we're going to feel the effects for months and possibly years to come. Getting oil isn't the problem - getting refined oil is the problem.

Here in Atlanta we're feeling the gas crunch. Metro Atlanta uses 90+% of the refined gasoline we normally get. Currently, we're only receiving 60% of our normal supply, up from 40% only a couple of weeks ago. For a time, that wasn't a problem because the state used its reserves. But those are gone now, and there are many stations here in metro Atlanta that have no gas at all. Rationing is almost certain to follow and, according to the news, it might be a year or more before we receive the allotments we used to get. Diesel fuel is in even shorter supply - the diesel fuel necessary for such organizations as the public school system.

The shortages and the escalating prices of each gallon will have a strong effect on our economy. Inflation and increased prices - very increased prices - on many commodities is certain.

The Internet will most likely increase its share of the consumer dollar. As folks travel less, they will be turning to the Net to buy and have goods delivered directly to their home. Shipping products will cost more, but the individual gas savings will make up for this.

Hopefully, this will increase public demand for alternative sources of energy, something that has been possible for a long time but has never received the support it deserves.

There has been a ripple of uneasiness in the consciousness of Atlantans, and it is a tangible thing. These storms have revealed a vulnerability that we weren't aware of before. It's uncomfortable. And maybe that's a good thing. Being shaken out of complacency often leads to giant growth spurts.

Feature Article: A Fascinating Look At How Armand Morin Uses eBay

Months ago, I was interviewed for a product called eBay Secret Interviews, along with Armand Morin, Chris Malta, Jim Cockrum, Todd Taylor and Dale Calvert. This was produced by the Hundred Million Dollar Roundtable. a nine-member 'exclusive club' who got their name because together they have sold a hundred million dollars worth of products via mail order and the Internet. (As the lone woman in a group of 14 guys, I really had to stand up for myself. :-)

I know Chris, Jim, Todd and Dale well and have heard them speak or read their writings often, so the biggest revelation was what Armand Morin had to say about eBay.

Go to eBay and check out the following entries:

Back to Business & Industrial Overview > Websites & Businesses for Sale

Today there are 6559 auctions and I've never paid much attention to this category. I was surprised to discover that millionaire Armand Morin spends a lot of time here! He buys businesses for trivial amounts of money - usually $200 or less - and either:

1. Turns them into ongoing profit streams
2. Resells them for a generous profit

The tiny investment coupled with the large returns captured my interest immediately and I've spent a lot of time in this section in the last couple of weeks, including buying a couple of sites & businesses myself. Here is some of what I've found.

Quite honestly, I'm new at this myself and I can more easily spot deals that don't suit me, rather than those that do. For instance, this site sold for $202.50 and is a shopping website that promotes Amazon and AdSense:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Google-Adsense-Amazon-Integrated-SHOPPING-Website-WOW_W0QQ
itemZ7549997328QQcategoryZ46689QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is simply a one page site that can be created by software in a very brief time - plus if I buy software I can then build as many other sites as I wish, instead of just owning just this one.

Here is a site which claims " $8,500+/MONTH WITH PROOF - NR! OVER 500,000 UNIQUES PER MONTH - 15 MILLION+ PAGE VIEWS:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ESTABLISHED-WEBSITE-8-500-MONTH-WITH-PROOF-NR_W0QQ
itemZ7549996375QQcategoryZ46687QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Even if this is true (and I'd need really strong proof), the BIN is $38,500.00. Armand looks for potentially valuable sites that are undervalued and this definitely isn't one of them.

Here is a business that is most likely legitimate, and possibly very valuable to someone:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDSHIELD-REPAIR-HOME-BUSINESS-FOR-SALE-L-K_W0QQ
itemZ7549973466QQcategoryZ46685QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

First of all, you'd need to live in New Jersey.

Secondly, it advertises house calls to repair windshields. Even if I lived in the area, I certainly don't want to do that.

However, it might be possible to make a business like this pay ... what if I located a windshield repair company in the area who would pay me a referral fee for every customer I sent their way? Has possibilities.

One site sold for 99 cents but it is selling firearms:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Firearms-Accessories-E-COMMERCE-BUSINESS-for-sale_W0QQ
itemZ7549358717QQcategoryZ46687QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

There are incredible regulations and restrictions for selling weapons in the US. Unless you're really determined, don't go there.

Here is a site that sold for $132 and it's about AdSense + Mesothelioma:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MESOTHELIOMA-COM-GOOGLE-ADSENSE-WEBSITE-3-DAYS-ONLY_W0QQ
itemZ7550022599QQcategoryZ46687QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Do you know why the topic is Mesothelioma? It's because it's the highest paying keyword on Google AdSense and the auction mentions this. "THIS ADSENSE WORD IS WORTH $35-$75/ CLICK!" But here's the thing ... advertisers can choose to restrict their ads to Google-only. I checked the first 20 sites on Google and none of them have Google ads on their site. Coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it. If all we had to do was put up a quickie site and click on it 2-3 times per day to make $100/day, there would be zillions of people doing it - and there aren't.

One site is offering "597 Ready To Use Sales Letters and Business Forms". 10 years ago, and more, when I was involved in mail order, that same old tired offering was around. It was old then and it's even more tired today.

Then there are the absolute and total ripoffs (not even close to 'questionable"):

* One sells you a beat-the-casino system that is "guaranteed" to make you money and also guarantees that you can never lose even a single penny. Yeah, right.

* One that will submit your site to a bazillion search engines and "guarantees" a listing in the Open Directory. At this time, the Open Directory has one million+ sites backed up for review. Possibly, the seller is an editor for the Directory, but even if he is that doesn't mean that he's an editor in the exact category the buyer needs. What if he's an editor in a sports section and you have a movie site?

There are other sites selling books that are found for free on the Internet or are written by other people. That is in violation of eBay rules, which says the seller must own the copyright on whatever he is selling.

Actually, I've placed bids on two sites. Armand likes BIN, because he doesn't want to wait but in this case I'm willing to see what happens.

* One is a pet site that is already set up for dropshipping. It looks good and has a multitude of products. Could I build it myself? Yes, absolutely. But - the price is modest and it would cost me or one of my employees that much in time.

If I win the auction I will definitely make some changes. For instance, it has a "fake" forum. It currently says there are two guests and one member in the forum - but those words are printed on the website, so obviously they're not true.

It also is "ready to accept orders", but it's connected to PayPal and I will definitely add my own merchant account if I win.

* The second sells an ebook that I would like to own. Yes, I could have it written for me, but this one is already in existence and I will own the rights to it.

And, no, I'm not telling the auction URLs. I don't want anybody bidding against me, if I can help it. :-)

One piece of advice - stay away from the how-to-make-money-on-the-net sites. It's a terribly crowded field, and some of the best marketers in the world play here so it's very hard to compete unless you're a skilled marketer yourself.

Here is a small sample of what Armand teaches:

* Private label your own products for maximum eBay dollars
* Spot a lucrative "Google flaw"
* Armand's two requirements for buying a business on eBay
* Why to rub your hands together in glee when a website has crummy sales letter
* See Armand took a $29.95 set of ebooks and turned them into an auto-pilot profit
* Why you can forget the eBay duplication issue
* Understand why to run from Guaranteed Traffic websites
* How to figure out what when a website or business is profitable
* Understand the power and problems of "turnkey", or duplicate, sites

http://auction-secret-interviews.com

You can listen to a 15 minute recording of Armand being interviewed on the page above.

Get $50 Off eBay Secret Interviews:

If you would like to get $50 off the price of the program, use the code below when you are checking out.

sei-ag

Get A FREE Copy of eBay Secret Interviews

If you want an even better deal on the eBay Secret Interviews, consider our October special.

Anybody buying the CD of our Auction Genius Course, complete with bonuses, gets a free copy of eBay Secrets Interview. If you've ever considered buying our CD, now it the time. You can find the details here:

http://auction-genius-course.com/october.shtml

eBay USA Launches The Reseller Marketplace

eBay USA has added another benefit for being a Powerseller - the Reseller Marketplace. According to eBay, this is what the Reseller Marketplace is about:

* A new eBay marketplace for business buyers to acquire inventory for resale.

* A way for wholesale-oriented sellers to tap into the power of the eBay community without selling directly to consumers.

* A venue for liquidating returned, refurbished, or otherwise excess inventory in bulk lots to eBay Powersellers for resale on eBay and in other channels.

Powersellers can purchase overstocks, liquidation and other excess inventory directly from manufacturers and wholesalers. Buyers must also have 98% or better feedback rating.

http://reseller.ebay.com/odcs/custom.html?template=start

eBay Pro Stores For Online Store Building?

Nobody ever accused eBay of being a stupid company, and with their ProStores program eBay has once again shown their smarts.

Pro Stores opened this summer and seems to be in direct competition with already established systems like Yahoo stores. It allows eBay and non-eBay sellers the means to create their own customized storefront, rather than create one from 'scratch'. It can have its own URL, rather than being 'http://stores.ebay.com/mystorename" and it is independent of eBay.

A Pro Store has four tiers of services and costs $6.95 - $249.95 per month with a 1.5% - .5% "Successful Transaction Fee". Naturally, the more you pay, the more functionality you receive. A user can set up shopping carts with secure checkout services, use design templates, connect with merchants, manage inventory and more.

Naturally, since Pro Stores is owned by eBay, there are advantages for eBay members:

* There is a one month free trial, and then eBay store owners receive a 30% reduction in their monthly charges. "You must be a current eBay Stores seller on the day you are billed for your monthly ProStores subscription fee in order to receive the 30% eBay Store subscriber discount."

* ProStores integrates with an eBay store so that both stores can be managed together and PayPal is auto-integrated.

Pro Stores was a predictable development because eBay recently acquired the Kurant Corporation which owns sophisticated store-creation software.

Does this option make sense for YOU?

It depends. Setting up a complex site like an online store requires savvy and knowhow, and these options certainly simplify the process for tens of thousands of sellers. For folks like me who have had this infrastructure for years, it would simply be additional overhead.

To find out more:

http://www.prostores.com/product-information.shtml

eBay Consignment Stores Kicked In The Teeth

In August, the owner of an eBay consignment store was searched, handcuffed and arrested by police in Traverse City, Michigan. Steve Swaney, owner of the The Drop Spot, was charged for refusing to fingerprint his customers, as required by law of pawn shops and other 'second hand stores'. Swaney argued that since the store doesn't own the items it lists on eBay, they aren't subject to such laws.

In September, a judge ruled against the consignment store by refusing its request to drop the motion against them. The owner has given up his fight, due strictly to finances. He says his 11 month old store has already spent $5,000 and cannot afford to do more.

This is a tough blow for eBay consignment stores. Customers will most likely think twice about dropping off items if they are forced to be fingerprinted. I know I personally wouldn't co-operate with such a request. Big Brother is alive and well.