I’ve been receiving lots of emails from my students saying their eBay sales have decreased dramatically in the last year or so and was wondering if the eBay market place is no longer viable. I want to address this concern here.

Is eBay’s market place dead? The answer is no. In fact, the marketplace is getting better and better with more satisfied Buyers than ever before. Fraudulent transactions are at its lowest. Many Sellers are have been given the Top Rated Seller status for their performance on the site.

If your sales on eBay have slowed down, my suggestion is to take a close look at your business. Has your niche or product line no longer popular or saturated online? Is it readily available everywhere else online, other than on eBay? Are your competitors able to source a lower wholesale price and able to sell at a price below what you are selling at? Are your shipping and handling charge aligned with what your competitors are charging? Are your listings ending at the most popular time of day or day of the week? Are you taking the advantage of selling your products internationally – this alone will increase the exposure for your listings and potential Buyers.

Some Sellers blame their decreased sales on the changes that eBay made over the years and I disagree with that. Being a former eBay employee, I have to say, eBay is a very smart company. They test and analyze every piece of data they can get and research the online marketplace for one simple reason – to be the best in the marketplace. The changes are made due to research results. Think about it. Why would a multi-billion-dollar company like eBay change their policies if there would be negative impact on their marketplace, especially when eBay depends on their Members to sell and buy on their site? Even after a change in policy, concerns are closely monitored to ensure the any impacts to its members are at minimal level.

Change is constant – it is just a way of life. As a business person selling on eBay, like any business, changes will occur. It is up to you to research and to analyze your business regularly to stay competitive. My suggestion is to take eBay’s changes seriously as they are the experts. Experiment with the changes to find out how it is impacting on your sales. Use market research tools such as Terapeak to help analyze your niche.

If your business is solely online (like selling on eBay), you may want to consider selling elsewhere, to expand your market. Here are some examples of other marketplace opportunities:

  • Sell on your own website. Set up your own website using a simple platform such as WordPress or pay a college student to set it up for you. Use PayPal shopping cart buttons for your customers to pay you.
  • Sell on other ecommerce websites, such as etsy.com or amazon.com, etc.

Writing a blog on your own website about your niche products or give expert advice will instill confidence in your Buyers. Writing a Guide about your niche products on eBay will drive traffic to your listings. Using social media such as Facebook pages to talk about your new product line may also help drive traffic to your eBay Store or listings.

As a smart online entrepreneur, having multiple streams of online income is crucial to your business. Selling your products may be just one stream of income. Having a website or blog with advertisement income from Google or other affiliate sponsors is another stream of income. Successful entrepreneurs, such as Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki both believe joining a Network Marketing business program as another stream of online income because it is basically a ‘business in a box’ without having to reinvent the system. The training, the website, the product or service are all in place, ready to be sold. Just follow the company’s instructions to become successful.

More on the subject of having ‘multiple streams of income’ soon!

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