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December 12, 2002

In This Issue:
* Last Issue Of 2002
* Next Auction Genius Course
* Feature Article: Selling Consumer Electronics On eBay
* News From eBay
1. Just How Many eBay Users Are There ... REALLY?
2. Boo To You, eBay
3. Free Health Insurance For Power Sellers?
4. Hallmark Popup Raises Seller Temperatures
5. PayPal Makes It Easier To Sell In Other Countries
6. Groan ... The Latest PayPal/eBay Scam
* And FedEx Follows UPS And The Post Office
* Internet Taxes Looming On The Horizon?
* Is Your Email Getting Dumped Into The Garbage Can?
* 25 Signs You Are Living In The Year 2002

Last Issue Of 2002

Do you have the Christmas spirit yet? Is it harder and harder to work each day? If so, you're not alone. So, a warm and wonderful holiday season to each and every one of you. And see you in January!

Next Auction Genius Course

The next Saturday auction Genius course will begin on January 11 of 2003.

We have now started one on Mondays, so a new one will begin every four weeks, rather than every eight weeks.

http://auction-genius-course.com

Feature Article: Selling
Consumer Electronics On eBay
by Harry (Skip) McGrath

“I probably get more emails from readers asking: "Where can I buy the latest Sony, Panasonic, Kenwood, (etc.) digital camera, stereo, Playstation, DVD (etc.)" than I get on any other subject. Sellers see someone selling the latest Sony Digital camera and want to know where they can buy them wholesale to sell on eBay.

Let me be up front about this. New (current model) consumer electronics products are tightly controlled by the major distributors. The major Japanese manufacturers sell only through large wholesale distributors who sell only to chains and stores that can buy in volume. It is a common misperception that consumer electronics are marked up a large percentage. Stores such as Circuit City or Video-Only often make as little as 10% markup on hot products. Most of their profits come from selling the warranty contracts, accessories, software and older products where the markups may be as much as 100%. These stores also do an incredible volume that makes selling at a small markup profitable. Club stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club will sell a digital camera for as little as 5% markup.

So where do these new cameras, TV's, DVD's, etc. selling on eBay come from? One place is the factory stores. Most of the large Japanese manufacturers have factory outlet stores that sell returns, overstocks, obsolete and refurbished products. People who live near these stores routinely visit them daily, buy a product and put it on eBay the same evening. (Sony’s web site lists their factory store locations)

Some electronic products are being sold by a store-owner who buys a few extra units to sell on eBay. Employees at the big electronics chains get product returns at cost, or buy them with their employee discount just to sell on eBay. Lately some of the large dealers are selling directly on eBay. You can't tell from the username. (Stores are alloted more of a hot product based on their sales. Some smaller stores will sell electronic items on eBay at cost - just so they can increase their allotments). Large pawnshops are also now selling on eBay.

If you want to sell consumer electronics on eBay, your best source is the closeout dealers. Here you can find items that are only a few weeks or months out of date. Often, department stores such as Sears, Macy's and so on, buy too much product and have to move it out. The department stores are relatively unsophisticated buyers when it comes to electronics. They are one of the most frequent suppliers to the closeout dealers. Closed out electronics are often available as low as 20- 30% of the original selling price. You can sell them for 50-60% of the list price –still leaving room for a nice profit.

The other method is to make a deal with a small store owner to sell his excess inventory. Small stores are very cash flow sensitive. They can’t afford to have too much merchandise sitting on the shelf. Also, if they can increase their sales of slow moving items, they will be allocated more of the hot-selling items.

You may also know an employee who works at a store selling consumer electronics who could partner with you. He or she could buy the goods with their employee discount. You can sell them and split the profit.

A surer, and easier, way to consistent profits is to sell used electronic equipment. You would be amazed at the market for old Hi-Fi and Stereo equipment. For example, I met a power seller at eBay Live that sells "vintage stereo equipment." He buys all of his merchandise at garage sales, thrift shops and flea markets. It is amazing what people will pay for old amplifiers, record changers, reel-to-reel tape decks and speakers. He recently purchased an old Ampex tape deck at a thrift shop under $10. It sold on eBay for over $100. Another person I know hunts the junk shops for any old Apple or Mac computer hardware, accessory or software. She gets unbelievable prices for these things on eBay. You can find working early Macs for as little as $25 and they can sell for over $200 on eBay.

- - -

Skip is one of the savviest eBay sellers around. Check him out at:

http://resource.auctionknowhow.com

News From eBay
1. Just How Many eBay Users Are There ... REALLY?

eBay has announced that they now count membership based on activity of an account. Anyone who has bought or sold, or even placed a bid, in the past 12 months is considered “active”. By this standard, there are 24.2 million unique eBayers.

Further, if one person has multiple active accounts, each one of those is considered active, as well. These numbers also include international eBay sites.

2. Boo To You, eBay

Ebay has recently changed their policy regarding the "terms and conditions" you place in your auctions. Until recently, sellers have been able to refuse bids from buyers with lots of negative feedback. This is no longer the case. This is a move that benefits only eBay and its fees – not an honest seller who must deal with people of ill intent. Not a good move, eBay.

3. Free Health Insurance For Power Sellers?

Months ago, eBay announce it would begin providing free health insurance for Power Sellers and apparently, the program is moving ahead. This seems to be a smart move on eBay's part, because it certainly pressures Power Sellers into keeping their sales up. After all, who wants to give up free health insurance? It is usually a major expense for the self employed.

4. Hallmark Popup Raises Seller Temperatures

eBay has promised that it will never put advertising on pages paid for by sellers – meaning no ads on individual auction pages. Yet in a violation of the spirit of this promise, eBay has allowed the Hallmark Card company to place popups on many of its pages, including those owned by individuals. Perhaps even yours ...

This popup has apparently affected a buyer's ability to bid on your auction, because it appears at the “post bidding” portion of the View Item page. The buyer cannot bid more until she has gotten rid of the Hallmark popup. It is especially damaging to last minute bids (we may wish they would bid earlier, but none of us will turn down sniping bids!)

Hallmark MIGHT be more sensitive to the bad publicity than eBay, especially since some irate sellers have organized a boycott of Hallmark products. If you want to protest, or have been affected, send an email to Kristi Ernsting:

kernst1@hallmark.com

The popup advertises a contest, and will continue through December 20 – the hottest time of the year on eBay.

Here is supposedly a way to protect your auctions. If anyone tries this, please send feedback:

Use the Rockboss method (this can be used to control a variety
of invasive cookies and pages) -
1) While in MSIE, go to TOOLS on the tool bar. Click "Internet
Options" at the bottom of the Pull-Down list.
2) In the Internet Options, go to the SECURITY tab.
3) Click the RESTRICTED SITES icon.
3) Click the SITES button.
4)Add this URL in the box provided: http://holiday.ebaypromo.com/
5) Click OK to close that screen.
6) Click OK again to close the first screen. You're done.
For AOL.
1) Go to SETTINGS.
2) Preferences
3) Choose Internet Properties (WWW).
4) Follow steps 2-6 above

5. PayPal Makes It Easier To Sell In Other Countries

Until November of this year, PayPal users could only accept payment in US dollars. Now, however, we can accept Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, and Japanese Yen. You can use these currencies with any of PayPal's website payment tools.

6. Groan ... The Latest PayPal/eBay Scam

The latest in the sordid line of scams is sending out emails informing us that your PayPal account has been given "limited access" or your eBay account has been tagged as fraudulent.

And, to correct these problems you will have to log into a phone website, and give information. Of course, their only goal is to drain your PayPal account. Never give information unless you are logged on to the official PayPal or eBay sites.

And FedEx Follows UPS And The Post Office

In a move that surprised no one, FedEx announed a rate increase for January 6, 2003. Since the Post Office and UPS have recently increased their rates, this move was expected. Rates will rise an average of 3.9%.

http://www.fedex.com

Internet Taxes Looming On The Horizon?

Recently tax guys from 30 states met in Illinois agreed on a “voluntary” collection of taxes when a minimum of 10 states, representing 20% of the US, have joined. Then, they will ask Congress for a mandatory, nationwide online sales tax . However, considering the current state of the economy, it's very uncertain that the Senate and House would agree.

Is Your Email Getting Dumped Into The Garbage Can?

Do you know that much of the email you send out may be deleted – before the recipient even receives it? That really stinks, doesn't it?

Actually, the culprit is that demon of the internet – Spam. Not only do the spammers load up our e-mailboxes with junk we don't want (do you really want various body parts enlarged?) but the spam fight injures legitimate, honest folks like you and me.

The large ISPs and important free e-mail hosts (like Hotmail and Yahoo! mail), are trying to stop spam. Much like tuna nets catch dolphins by mistake, their spam filters catch us.

If you want to make sure that your e-mails are less likely to be considered spam by ISPs, by Yahoo! and Hotmail (which tosses you into their “junk” folders) and even by individual filters set up by an ever-growing number of recipients around the world, then you can use the free spam checker that I now use.

Here's what to do:

STEP 1: Copy-and-paste your subject, but start your subject with the word "TEST" (without the quotes, in UPPER CASE) so that we know this is a test e-mail. (If the subject does NOT start with TEST, we'll assume it's REAL spam and delete it). Here's a sample subject...

TESTFlower-Lovers Ezine #007: Peonies for the Yukon

STEP 2: Copy-and-paste the rest of your message and simply send it, exactly the way you would send it to your recipient, to...

auctionknowhow-spamcheck@sitesell.net

You'll get a report back (in seconds, perhaps a few minutes if volume is heavy) telling you how good or bad your e-mail is, from a spam-detector's point of view. You will receive a full, free report of all corrections that you should make to your mail, in order to stay out of the junk folders. It does NOT, of course, actually comment on WHAT you write - first, it's not that smart. And second, the actual content is YOUR business! ;-)

25 Signs You Are Living In The Year 2002

Does this issue's “funny” ring a chord with you? I sure recognize myself here! (especially #2).

- - -

1. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave.

2. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

3. You call your son's beeper to let him know it's time to eat. He emails you back from his bedroom, "What's for dinner?"

4. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site.

5. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven't spoken with your next door neighbor yet this year.

6. You check the ingredients on a can of chicken noodle soup to see if it contains Echinacea.

7. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.

8. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.

9. Every commercial on television has a website address at the bottom of the screen.

10. You buy a computer and 6 months later it is out of date and now sells for half the price you paid.

11. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 years of your life, is cause for panic and turning around to go get it.

12. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and take planning.

13. Cleaning up the dining room means getting the fast food bags out of the back seat of your car.

14. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is that they do not have e-mail addresses.

15. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow.

16. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet.

17. Your idea of being organized is multiple-colored Post-it notes.

18. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.

19. You get an extra phone line so you can get phone calls.

20. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.

21. You get up in morning and go online before getting your coffee.

22. You wake up at 2am to go to the bathroom and check your E-mail on your way back to bed.

23. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :)

24. You're reading this.

25. Even worse; you're going to forward it to someone else.