23/7/10 Powerseller Profiteer Newsletter

Why following the crowd isn’t always the best way forward and chocolates and wine can get a bit tiresome.

Hello!

Yes, it’s the end of the school year again and I’ve now got 6 weeks of child friendly activities to plan to stave off the inevitable boredom the summer holidays bring once the novelty of not having to get up early has worn off – which is usually after about a week!   

My two girls’ finished school last Friday and so on Thursday I found myself in a panic doing the ‘teachers gifts run’ which I had left until the last minute having had to contend in the previous weeks with daughter number 1’s confirmation, daughter number 2’s First Holy Communion, Speech Day, Sports Day, Leavers’ Mass, School Play and Parents Evening. In amongst all this I somehow found time to get some work done which was a miracle in itself! 

The end of term ‘teachers gifts’ scenario has to be honest got a bit out of hand recently – there’s only so many times you can give the predictable decorative mug or a bottle of wine and the number of teachers I have to buy for seems to increase every year what with teaching assistants, part-timers, supply teachers and so on. On top of this, it’s actually getting quite competitive - woe betide any parent who spends less than a small fortune on each teacher! 

Now, don’t get me wrong, my school playground isn’t a particularly bitchy place or full of smug cliques who sniff at those who don’t conform and do things differently, and I certainly don’t begrudge buying the teachers presents at the end of term as they do a sterling job with their pupils, but this year I just felt like I really did want to do something different rather than follow the crowd and produce chocolates and wine on the last day. 

So this year I mentioned that I was seriously contemplating giving cards to all concerned with a lovely hand-written note or poem from the girls’ telling of their appreciation of their teachers during the past year. 

But, when I mentioned this in the playground it was met with gasps of horror! Apparently I couldn’t not spend money on the teachers’ gifts – I would seem stingy, non-appreciative, cold even. 

Okaaaay….. 

My argument was that a lovely hand-written letter of thanks from the children was much more personal and thoughtful than a bottle of plonk picked up from Tesco’s with the weekly shopping and wrapped in colourful paper to make it look better. Yes? 

Apparently not. So, unusually for me, and short of time, I relented and did the obligatory ‘gifts run’ on Thursday. It ended up pretty much as always – chocs, flowers, wine….and a mug. Although I think the mug might possibly have been me – bowing to conformity – following the crowd. 

Oh and this was further confirmed when my younger daughter informed me at 3pm on Friday that her teacher….“lurves chocolate and got loads…’ (17 boxes to be precise), on the last day of term. 

Anyway, enough of the waffling, this scenario does apply to your eBay business albeit in a round about kind of way because you’ll notice I’m talking about competitiveness and conforming. 

I know as well as the next person just how competitive eBay can be. Finding your first profitable niche can seem daunting with so many other sellers already selling seemingly everything under the sun. And even when you have started to sell successfully the battle isn’t always over, as there are often others ready to step in and undercut you. 

But, before you walk away from your computer and throw in the towel let me reassure you that with a bit of dedication, a little hard work and the right information you can certainly compete in a competitive market and you don’t necessarily have to conform to what others think is right. In fact sometimes doing your own thing can work to your advantage. 

I want to introduce you to one piece of information that will help your eBay listings stand out dramatically amongst your competitors and it’s something that I don’t see that often in listings. I’ve actually read posts about this on the eBay forums where members have stated that they wouldn’t ever do this as it looks like boasting or blowing your own trumpet. What? That’s ridiculous and you’ll see why in a minute because I’m talking about using feedback quotes within your eBay listings to promote your goods and your services. 

I am incredulous that despite just how successfully this strategy works time and time again, I still see listings from eBay sellers who don’t feature it and openly dismiss it on the forums! 

Now I know that visitors to your product listings can certainly see the feedback from other buyers if they follow the link to your own feedback, but why make them take this extra step to see how brilliant you are when you could simply provide the information at their fingertips! 

You should be proud of the compliments you have received from past customers and you should be shouting it from the rooftops and used correctly in your listings, displaying your feedback will give your sales a real boost over your competitors. 

Why is feedback so important? 

Before I let you into the secrets of using feedback successfully within your listings, let me first tell you just how much of a difference it can make. 

In creating an eBay listing you are actually selling two different things; your item obviously, but also you are selling yourself. Your description and photos may work sufficiently well to sell the item, but how will visitors to your listings know that you yourself are a reputable seller, and that they should spend their money buying from you? 

Simple! By reading the feedback from your other happy customers. 

All you need to do is add a couple of genuine sentences from past clients detailing how happy they were with the service and the product. You can do this by simply cutting and pasting some of your feedback comments or you can use some easy to use special software called Feedback Analyzer Ad Creator which will set your feedback out in a very professional looking table which you can then place in your listing. 

You can find it here: Feedback Analyzer Pro    

These feedback comments will instantly build your credibility with new potential buyers and as you know, buyer trust is essential to help you to complete sales successfully, particularly if you are selling within a very competitive market. 

Did you know that many of your own prospective clients will be happy to pay more money for a good service? Give them confidence that the service that you provide is worth the money that they will pay, and not only will they be more likely to buy from you this one time, but you will also increase the likelihood that they will return time and time again. 

It isn’t just about convincing your visitors that you are great though, you also need to convince them of the merits of the product that you are selling. If you have had any feedback lately that relates to the items you sell rather than your service consider including these statements in your description to show that real people are enjoying your product, and that it lives up to the hype that you have generated in your description. 

What’s the best way to use feedback effectively? 

I’ve told you, and hopefully convinced you, why it’s important to use feedback within your auctions, but this newsletter doesn’t end there. No, I’m going to give you some help and I’ve put together a few simple rules that will help you to use feedback from your customers within your listings for the greatest effect. 

Always use genuine feedback. 

If you are just starting out you might be tempted to simply invent some feedback to place on your listing pages. Please don’t do this. This is not a good strategy as some particularly pedantic visitors may search through your feedback to see if you are being genuine. What’s more, you should be aiming to build up a reputation for honesty, not for doing anything to make a sale. Don’t have any feedback yet? That’s fine. Just find a couple of cheap items to sell, it doesn’t matter if you don’t make much of a profit, all you want at this stage is to gain some positive responses. 

Use up to date feedback. 

Keep the testimonials that you use on your listings up to date. You may have had a great piece of feedback in 1999, but it could convince potential clients that you and your eBay shop aren’t up to date. Using up to the minute feedback allows you to incorporate a date, and even a time, to show your buyers that you have recently proved reliable and successful in selling. 

Ensure your feedback is appropriate. 

This is particularly important in using feedback that describes a product rather than the service that you provide. I know I wouldn’t be impressed if I was reading a testimonial of a potato peeler when I was looking at a new fan for the desk in my office! Keep your testimonials relevant to the product in question and your visitors will appreciate it. If you are finding it hard to keep track of what testimonial to use where, you can create a simple spreadsheet with the different items that you sell, and the different feedback that you could use with each. 

Carefully consider your feedback’s position. 

The location of your feedback within your listing description is important. Incorporating some positive testimonials about the product within the description is appropriate, but don’t let it detract from the information that your buyers need to see. Likewise, you may wish to catch the attention of your visitors by including some praise for your service at the top of your listing, but don’t let it be so much as to stop them reading about the product itself. Have a play around with the positioning of your feedback until you are happy with it. 

Don’t use too many testimonials. 

A handful of testimonials are an incredibly powerful tool. Forcing your visitors to scroll for four pages while they struggle to find any information in the midst of your praise will have the opposite effect, losing you business. As you create your listings, always remember that your visitors can always find the rest of your feedback within your profile if they want to read more. The testimonials used within your auctions should highlight and promote your service and products, without overwhelming your buyers. 

I suggest you try this out and see the difference it makes to your sales. It’s a very easy way of out-smarting your competition and letting potential buyers know how good you and your products are. So, in this case, rather than following the crowd and worrying that you are ‘boasting’, you should strike out on your own and really shout about your positive feedbacks. 

As always I wish you the best of success,    

Amanda 

P.S If you haven’t got your name on my Priority Members List for Ultimate Product Sourcing Secrets yet you’re missing out on some free videos and important information. Sign-up here right away UPSS

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© Amanda O’Brien 2010 

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