?

相当一段时间以来，eBay商品繁多的品种使其在和亚马逊(Amazon.com Inc.)的较量中一直处于上风，这个拍卖网站允许数百万个人和公司销售几乎任何能想得到的商品。现在，亚马逊准备向eBay发起挑战。

致力扩大商品种类

亚马逊致力于扩大其商品种类已经有数年时间，其途径是允许个人在亚马逊各类商品网页上出售类似商品，比如二手以及新的书籍、音乐等。

今年早些时候，该公司悄然开始让小型商户在其网站上出售亚马逊本身没有的商品，亚马逊每月向这些商户收取一定费用。亚马逊称自今年1月份以来，小型商户通过这一方式提供了数以万计的商品，包括手工喷漆的儿童用大便坐椅、摩托车模型以及邮票等各种商品。

但这些个人商品与商品五花八门的网上杂货店eBay相比仍相形见绌，eBay每天平均有2500万件商品在售。但亚马逊和eBay这两家起始点不同的网上市场在最近几年已经开始短兵相接。亚马逊已经主要通过让其他零售商和个人在网站上出售其自身商品的方式扩大了商品种类——eBay是这种销售方式的先驱；而eBay则在其销售商中间推广亚马逊式的以固定价格而不是通过拍卖出售某些商品的概念。

造成销售商间关系紧张

然而亚马逊的新举措造成销售商间关系紧张。上个月，亚马逊一个重要的早期合作伙伴Toys‘R’Us公司在新泽西州法庭对亚马逊提起诉讼，使这个问题暴露于大庭广众之下。自2000年以来，Toys‘R’Us与亚马逊签订协议，成为玩具、游戏和婴儿产品的独家销售商，但是这家新泽西州的零售商指控亚马逊违反了独家供货合同，因为亚马逊开始允许更多商家出售与Toys‘R’Us竞争的商品。Toys‘R’Us称，它已经在亚马逊上发现超过4000件来自其他商家的此类商品。

亚马逊拒绝透露将可能实行何种政策变动，并认为Toys‘R’Us的诉讼没有法律依据。亚马逊发言人Pat鄄tySmith称，“我们相信我们可以拥有多个玩具商品销售商，增加产品范围并提供Toys‘R’Us的商品。”

这一裂痕揭示了亚马逊在将网站向所有商户开放的努力中存在的一些固有问题。该公司将商品种类扩大到服装、运动商品以及美食等商品，此类商品主要来自于GapInc.、FootLockerInc.以及Dean&Deluca的大型零售商。这些零售商为售出商品向亚马逊支付佣金，外界估计佣金比例大概为交易总额的10%至15%.但是一些分析师相信，亚马逊与部分商户的特惠关系将使其难以平衡与越来越多的小型商户的关系。ForresterRe鄄search的分析师CarrieJohnson说，“他们试图无所不包，满足每个人需求。Toys‘R’Us的诉讼案是首次将这一商业模式存在的问题暴露于公众面前。”

eBay不惧怕竞争

相反，eBay对所有销售商——不论其规模大小——有一套统一的规定。该公司向商户征收同样的费率，并且不向任何一方对任何一种商品做出独家销售权的保证。

尽管eBay吸引诸如IBM、沃尔特-迪斯尼公司等大型商户的努力让一些小型商户感到担忧，但是大型公司整体上在eBay并没有表现得特别成功，小型商户仍然有很大的空间。eBay发言人Hani Durzy拒绝就亚马逊吸引小型商户的努力进行评论，但eBay管理层曾表示，他们不担忧来自亚马逊的竞争。

eBay当前享有的高利润是亚马逊进行改变的一个原因。分析师称，亚马逊向第三方在网站销售收取的佣金构成了其利润的大部分，这使亚马逊对自有商品打折并提供免费运送服务具有更大的财务弹性。

亚马逊的最新举措也许会有较好的运气，因为当前个人提供的商品将与亚马逊的主要服务更好的整合在一起。该公司称，比如在购物者搜索商品时，这些产品将出现在醒目位置，他们还将被包括进亚马逊自动推荐的行列。但是购物者并不能单独搜出这些新商户；购物者必须搜索一种商品，这些商户才有可能出现。购物者可以通过同一个亚马逊结账页面为此类商品付账。

EBay首席执行官Meg Whitman日前表示，该公司将通过扩大其现有业务和整合最近收购的几家公司来取得更大的发展，该公司目前没有进行更多收购活动的计划。

    Whitman目前正在准备对欧洲进行旋风式访问，她是在西班牙马德里举行新闻发布会时作出上述表示的。EBay在上周刚刚以大约5000万美元的价格收购了印度的拍

卖网站Baazee.com，至此该公司已经在几乎所有重要的电子商务市场拥有了自己的业务。

    Whitman说：“在我们拥有业务的这些国家，它们在电子商务方面的总额加起来占到了全球电子商务市场92％。尽管在其他一些较小的市场还存在一些机会，对于那些拥有巨大商机市场，我们都拥有了自己的业务。不过这里面只有一个例外，那就是日本。”

    她还表示：“在全球其他国家和地区可能还会出现一些机会。我们对于在亚洲开展业务非常感兴趣，我们还希望扩大我们在欧洲市场的存在。不过就目前而言，我们还是希望整合我们已经收购的公司，并确保我们可以在现有的市场领域取得不错的成绩。”

    两年前，由于雅虎日本分公司在日本市场取得了支配地位，eBay决定从日本市场撤退。不过Whitman此次表示该公司还是希望可以在日本重新建立一个交易平台。

    不过她也表示，eBay在近期之内还没有重返日本市场的计划，因为目前在日本并没有很好的收购对象。

    Ebay号称拥有1.05亿的注册客户，在高峰时刻每秒接收多达6000条的新广告，该公司希望可以建立了一个全球性的电子商务网络。 （明金维）　     

梅格·惠特曼一句“短期内不要求易趣盈利”，透露出一个重要信息，原来中国最大的C2C社区易趣是个虚弱的巨人

　　北京很久没有这样热闹，四月的第二周，尼葛洛庞帝、杨致远、梅格·惠特曼，这些互联网业界曾经的和现在的巨头纷沓而至，所有的声音都一个论调：中国的互联网又到了前途无量的时刻。目的也自然只有一个：分羹一杯。

　　4月14日，ebay总裁梅格·惠特曼在北京表示，未来ebay将继续投资培育中国电子商务的未来。与此同时，易趣也发布了新标识“ebay易趣”。就在前一天，杨致远在北京宣布与新浪联手建立的新拍卖网站“一拍”正式亮相，并推出YST(雅虎搜索技术)以争霸中国搜索市场。这意味着杨致远已经确定B2C电子商务和搜索“定位”为雅虎中国的两大主力业务，战书同时下给了ebay和搜狐。

　　挑战ebay的不止一家。早在2003年，阿里巴巴斥资1亿元人民币创立C2C交易平台淘宝网，借势阿里巴巴成熟的电子商务网站运营经验，凭借不收商品登录费的优势，直逼易趣。国内的C2C市场已经开始形成三足鼎立的格局。

　　惠特曼一再强调，这个行业内的先来后到是非常重要的。对于ebay在日本与雅虎拍卖网站交锋时的失手，惠特曼说，“日本雅虎成立比我们早了六个月，在日本这样一个国家，6个月已经足够确立领先者的优势”,由此她认为，中国的竞争格局不同，在中国市场，易趣是先来的。但淘宝的免费攻势却似乎不给惠特曼机会。中国互联网实验室CISI人气榜显示：2003年，易趣涨幅为78%，淘宝网则高达768%。易趣不得不降低自己的收费门槛，对执行了两年多的收费价格做出调整，调低在易趣网拍卖的商品登录费用，实行8元封顶。用意很明显，通过调整登录费用吸引更多的卖家，提高交易量，固守C2C老大的地位。

　　在惠特曼看来，免费在多个市场都存在，这不是关键因素，交易成功率更加重要。 她还声称，对易趣的发展现状很满意，对中国的投资是长期的。易趣目前的商品成交率在50％～60％，远远高于竞争对手。截止去年底，易趣拥有430万注册用户，第四季度通过易趣交易的商品价值达4400万美元，是中国最大的拍卖式电子商务网站，同时是第二大在线广告商。这些已有的成绩使ebay决定为易趣的发展增资，目标是在中国创建出一个更安全可靠的交易平台。

　　不过事实上，这或许只是个美好的愿望，易趣在国内市场的扩张步伐，远达不到ebay的期望。为扼制淘宝的发展势头，坊间传言易趣不惜以重金与几个门户签订排他性广告协议，封杀对手。然而雅虎和新浪的合作将使得易趣的网络广告封杀没有任何意义。面对竞争急剧升温的C2C市场，惠特曼把宝押在一个预测上，即2007年中国电子商务的发展速度将是全球平均速度的四倍，这使她坚信随着本地贸易以及海外贸易的不断增大，未来的10到15年间，中国将成为ebay全球最大的市场。借道易趣进入中国市场的ebay，在一片免费声中仍然实行收费政策，而这并没有使易趣扭亏为盈。ebay还要在易趣上砸多少钱，惠特曼没有明确的解答。在C2C竞争日益加剧的情况下，雄心勃勃的ebay易趣看起来更像一个虚弱的巨人。

　　尽管新加入者不断，ebay并不打算在中国寻找其他合作伙伴，“目前，我们所有的追加投资都是给易趣的”，惠特曼宣称，暂时对其它电子商务模式和电子商务网站不感兴趣。

　　作为中国C2C电子商务标志性人物，易趣总裁邵亦波缺席了这次ebay主导的发布会。或许整个竞争中，最轻松的也是他，因为已经拿到了投资，未来几年还会继续获得ebay的追加投资，并且不用担心被惠特曼强求实现盈利。

　　虽然惠特曼一再表示，对中国的投资是长期的，目前的投资对ebay并不是什么负担，但ebay更换易趣标志这一事件已可见ebay的强势态度。或许下一步，易趣将完全成为ebay的中国机构。在中国市场上，ebay投入了在美国本土之外最多的资金和精力。在日本已输雅虎一步的ebay，不能在中国市场上丢掉以1.8亿美元的代价收购易趣而获得的先机。

（旧金山讯）美国在线拍卖网站eBay已将目光瞄准亚洲新兴市场，这场市场争夺战才刚刚开始。

　　eBay去年通过收购易趣网，取得在中国市场的先机。上周，该公司宣布计划斥资5000万美元购买印度最大的在线拍卖网站Baazee.com，再次引起市场关注。

　　此举料将帮助eBay在印度站稳脚跟。印度的互联网普及程度不及中国和美国，但其中产阶级规模正在快速扩大。

　　该公司执行长惠特曼（MegWhitman）接受专访时告诉路透社：“历史说明了第一个作出正确决策的人将最终胜出。”

　　日本是亚洲最大的在线拍卖市场，eBay在此吸取到惨痛的教训。

　　eBay在日本市场姗姗来迟，在与先到者Yahoo Japan的竞争失利后无奈退出。

　　惠特曼说：“我们未能成为进军日本市场的先锋，我们期望将不再重蹈覆辙。”

　　惠特曼还补充：“我们也绝不能失去中国市场。”

　　他指出，如果一切进展顺利，中国将在未来5到15年间成为eBay最大的市场。

　　但分析员指出，目前中国市场潜在的机遇大于实际获利，市场状况并不稳定，“未来五年内，所有人的眼光都将注视着中国。由于这里竞争激烈，目前又属于早期阶段，eBay不见得有把握成为市场领导者。”（路透社）

周三在线拍卖商Ebay公司说，它将以约5000万美元的价格，收购印度最大的网络拍卖私营企业Baazee.com公司，使它的国际业务扩展到印度这个新兴市场。位于加州圣乔治市的eBay公司一直在开发国际商业市场，希望该市场最终能超越其在美国的业务。去年公司就曾出资1.8亿美元收购了中国最有名的在线拍卖网站–

易趣网。

    Baazee.com网站位于印度的孟买市，是在2000年1月份成立的，现在它的注册用户已超过100万。像eBay一样，它也向人们购买和销售如消费电子、家居装饰和珠宝等物品。在印度网络的普及度相对较低，根据IDC的数据显示，当前印度只有1700万网民，预计两年后将增加到3000万以上。EBay公司首席执行官Meg Whitman在声明中说，虽然印度的电子商务还处于起步阶段，但他们相信在未来的长时间里将有很大的商机。预计收购协议将在今年第三季度完成。eBay公司说，收购行动不会影响公司的收入和股票收益。

新华网浙江频道6月19日电六月的杭州既没有春天里桃红柳绿的诗情画意，也没有秋日西湖论剑时的清爽洒脱。在这个火烧火燎的日子里，声称从不烧钱的阿里巴巴、总说怕别人知道自己在干什么的马云，却在6月11日大大地喧嚣了一把——召集全国1000多家在阿里巴巴网上做生意的公司在根据地杭州召开了“第一届网商大会”。

    无巧不成书。就在阿里巴巴大宴四方宾客的时候，易趣网董事长兼首席执行官邵逸波在京宣布：易趣网近日将与全球最大的电子商务平台eBay实行对接，开始其网站平台的整合，预计今年秋天全部完成。

    “这就意味着，易趣几百万用户和eBay全球27个国家和地区的一亿多用户，不需要重新注册就可以直接进行网上交易。”易趣公关经理唐磊在接受本报记者采访时说。

    阿里巴巴与易趣分明已经感受到了来自对方的威胁。有人认为，行业正酝酿洗牌。

    得陇望蜀进入B2B

    表面上看，这次把网商召集在一起只是希望对该公司B2B经营活动构成一种促进，但实际上阿里巴巴与易趣的争斗已经开始升级——阿里巴巴意欲通过淘宝网切入C2C，eBay则希望通过收购易趣切入中国市场，因此易趣在去年易主之后处处与阿里巴巴的嫡系部队淘宝网作对。

    “eBay在国外做C2C已经十分成功，但如果想有什么大发展就必须要找到一个更新的盈利模式。中国是eBay看好的市场，最直接、最省力气的进入办法就是收购中国做得最好的一家C2C公司，于是eBay选中了易趣，而被eBay看中的新盈利模式很可能就是B2B。”一位参会记者说，“只是易趣未必会对外这么说。”

    从阿里巴巴的客户来看，尽管已经坐上了全球B2B第一网站的宝座，但其号称拥有的392万网商(截至今年6月10日)中的306万中国用户同时也可能是易趣的客户——既然可以带来生意，中小企业不可能只选择一家作为电子商务的通道，他们可能同时注册很多B2B网站，尤其是在其他专业B2B网站上。

    就易趣上客户的特点分析，本来就已经很难界定谁是B2B、谁是C2C——在该网上进行交易的很多人都是个体老板，拿自家产的东西来卖。这就是易趣对阿里巴巴最大的威胁——从C2C到B2B，客户角色容易转变。

    但阿里巴巴副总裁金建杭认为，从C2C到B2B，是件非常困难的事情，尽管eBay在美国的C2C领域中已形成了绝对优势，但是客户的转变决不容易，而反过来，B2B经验应用于C2C领域是件顺理成章的事情，这也将打乱eBay的阵脚。

    有媒体报道，雅虎国际业务负责人约翰·马科姆之前曾警告eBay说，仅仅因为它已在发达国家中形成了一个胜者通吃市场，并不意味着它在发展中国家也会这样——中国可能就是一个例子。

    中国的B2B市场刚刚起步，中小企业正是B2B的支柱力量。阿里巴巴的绝大部分会员都是中小企业，有着生命周期短的通玻一个中小企业，大多数生命周期在三年左右，这就使阿里巴巴需要不断补充新鲜血液。好在，尽管中小企业处在随波逐流和随时可能夭折的威胁中，但总体数量亦在不断飞速增长。

    当然，阿里巴巴开启宝藏的咒语不只有一句。

    C2C上演龙虎斗

    曾经发誓不进入C2C的马云终于自食其言地做起了淘宝网。而淘宝生来就得到了阿里巴巴“血液”中的精华部分。

    “现在，淘宝网的主力都是从阿里巴巴精挑细选出来的精英。”金建杭说。

    尽管刚刚融到了8200万美元的风险资金(见表一)，尽管谁都知道阿里巴巴现在日进人民币百万元，尽管金建杭在接受本报记者采访时信誓旦旦地表示不准备上市，但1亿元人民币的投入加上“三年可以不盈利”的“大方”计划还是让人们多少都替淘宝网捏着把汗。原因很简单，淘宝还没有找到一个可行的盈利模式。

    这与易趣先赔后赚的思路异曲同工。

    “我们现在还不盈利，”易趣公关经理唐磊在接受本报记者采访时表示，“易趣现在就是要先培养用户在网上购物的习惯！”

    据唐磊透露，易趣现在的收费模式分为两部分，都是针对卖家的：一部分是登陆费，每件售卖的商品登陆一次是1元到8元不等，另一部分是交易费，按交易额的0.25%至2%收龋而易趣在2003年里的交易额是10亿元人民币。易趣如此泰然地花时间培养用户，绝对是因为融到了资(见表二)。

    然而，在资本方似乎是阿里巴巴比易趣更具优势。尽管刚刚获得1.5亿美元，但易趣依旧是纯粹靠风险投资的支持，而淘宝网的后台——阿里巴巴则已经建立了良好的盈利模式并日进斗金：该公司主要收入“中国供应商”的费用是每年6万元，现在注册的企业大概5000个；诚信通的收费标准是每年2300元，目前大概有4万用户，该公司预计今年诚信通用户将超过10万。不输于易趣的是，阿里巴巴也在不久前再次获得了国际风险投资的垂青(见表三)。

    这一切都为淘宝迎头赶上易趣创造了时间和资本上的条件。

    从经营上看，也似乎是马云的脑袋中对电子商务的致命弱点看得更清楚，并且也更有办法。“目前，淘宝把诚信通也应用到了淘宝的交易中，而且现在还不收交易费。”金建杭自信地表示，这正是淘宝迅速在易趣嘴里“虎口夺食”的绝招。

    根据淘宝的介绍，现在淘宝网已经吸引了注册用户86万。

    而此时易趣的隐忧也是明显的。

    “易趣的高层全部换血了！”一位IT专业杂志的资深记者认为，已经控制了易趣的eBay并不了解中国市场，进中国后的第一件事就是换人，目前的高层中很多都是德国的，“这些空降兵进中国后的本地化是个严重的问题，大多数最后都是和董事会争吵，不是一天两天就能解决的。”

    而更引起各方注意的是，易趣这个尚无盈利模式的电子商务网站，最近却在各大主流媒体上刊登排他性广告——“这是在以惊人的速度、广度和力度烧钱！”一位知名网站的编辑对此评价说。

    做老大是不容易的。无论如何，淘宝已经通过和易趣相争，把自己挂在了第二的位置上。

    乱世B2C

    电子商务B2C模式在经历了寒冬之后，从2001年开始呈现复苏迹象。根据CCID对电子商务网站的监测，电子市场的总体规模不断增长，2003年中国电子商务交易额共计2756.0亿人民币，比2002年增长52.3%(见表三)。其中，B2B市场的交易额继续快速增长，2003年全年B2B市场交易额共计2704.0亿人民币，比2002年增长51.6%。而2003年中国B2C市场的交易额继续高速增长，全年B2C市场交易额共计52亿人民币，比2002年增长108.0%。

    在不断升温的电子商务中，还有一块烫手的山芋——B2C。在这个领域，鱼龙混杂，没有行业领头者。与B2B和C2C只做平台相比，B2C面临着更为严峻的现实问题，例如诚信、支付手段和配送服务。在《电子签名法》、信用体系建立滞后的情况下，B2C企业正在现实与梦想之中艰难摸索。

    以经营IT数码产品为主的B2C电子商务网站搜易得为例，2003年IT数码产品在中国B2C电子商务中的销售总额为10亿元人民币，搜易得占了半壁江山，达到5亿元。

    去年全国IT数码产品的总销量是3509亿元，通过B2C电子商务方式成交的却只有10亿，人们上网购物还是有顾虑。搜易得IT数码商城CEO郭洪驰在接受本报记者采访时表示：“诚信是目前B2C乃至整个电子商务领域发展的最大瓶颈。”

    对此，郭洪驰的办法是，用网站自己的品牌信誉做担保，与海淀区消费者协会签订协议，承诺对消费者进行先行赔付。这种做法成绩斐然。目前，搜易得的先行赔付基金已经随着销售额的增长从60万上涨到了100万。

    “根据对搜易得目前营业状况的统计，2004年营业额将达到15亿元。”郭认为，“中国幅员辽阔，而且发展不平衡，从服务和安全的角度考虑，电子商务有效服务的区域受到限制，同城交易、本地服务显得至关重要，特别是B2C模式，更是如此。”

    搜易得以特许经营连锁的模式在全国建立地方分站，根据目前的拓展速度以及市场对B2C的接受程度，郭洪驰认为在一年半左右的时间里，搜易得将会在超过20个一级城市中实现同城交易、本地服务——“同城交易、本地服务目前是切实可行的，而在将来则是势在必行的。”郭表示。

    除了诚信外，支付手段和人才匮乏也是制约电子商务发展的巨大瓶颈。

    “主要面向电子商务应用的《电子签名法》还在制定过程中。”中国电子商务协会理事长宋玲在出席网商大会接受本报记者采访时表示，“目前讨论的焦点主要是三个：第一，现在电子商务的交易额还不够大，参与电子商务的企业还不够多，因此出台这个法令还为时尚早；第二，《电子签名法》与我国一些传统的法律有冲突，例如票据法、合同法等；第三是技术，是否会被解密。”

    同时，宋玲认为，电子商务人才的缺乏也是制约我国电子商务发展的一大因素。事实上，由电子商务协会推出的国际电子商务培训认证项目早已启动，目前全国有近4万人参加了各门课程的学习，近2000人获得了电子商务专业毕业证书或全国电子商务中级职业证书。但这些数字对于电子商务整个行业来讲，无异于杯水车薪，还远远不能满足行业的发展需求。(经济观察报/杨阳)

Copyright 2000 Quiksilver Enterprises, Inc.

Dutch Auctions – Your Key to Making Millions!

If you’re a Low Volume Seller, you need to run multiple Dutch auctions to really make a killing on Ebay. Consider this example; you sell designer watches on Ebay for $150.00 each and you have 200 different types of watches. Therefore, you decide to run 200 separate featured in category auctions in the Jewelry and Jewelry > Watches categories.

If you don’t make use of the Dutch option and list only one watch at a time, then your maximum potential for sales each week is 200 watches. If your profit margin is $75.00 and your average percentage sales equals 60%, then you’re weekly income is $9,000. Not bad, but not $100,000 per month either!

Now let’s modify that example. Instead of listing 200 auctions of one watch at a time, you should instead list 200 dutch auctions selling 100 watches at a time for each style of watch you carry. You would still have 200 auctions online each week, but your sales potential jumps from 200 to TWENTY THOUSAND (200 auctions x 100 dutch watches in each auction = 20,000).

Obviously, you won’t sell 20,000 watches each week. If your product is popular, you might sell 5-10 watches on average from each dutch auction you feature. Now let’s recalculate your weekly income after running the Dutch auctions: 10 watches x 200 auctions x profit margin $75.00 = $150,000. A little better than $9,000, isn’t it? To be on the safe side, let’s allow for a FIFTY PERCENT MARGIN OF ERROR in our calculations. Perhaps you only sell 5 watches per auction, or you only make $37.50 per watch, or you only list 100 instead of 200 different types of products.

You would still make $75,000 per week! Even if we allowed for ANOTHER fifty percent margin of error on the second calculation, you’d make $37,500 per week!

As you can see, Dutch auctions are the key to success on Ebay. When you combine the dutch option with the featured or category-featured option, then you’re playing a winning game. High Volume Sellers need not worry about Dutch Auctions in general, but Low Volume Sellers (the most common and often the wealthiest) must use this option to rake in the profits!

Market Analysis

Market analysis is very important to determine what sells and what doesn’t. When you’re paying Ebay $100 listing fees for featured auctions or $15.00 listing fees for category featured dutch auctions, you need to continually evaluate the profit potential, profit margin, and sales percentage of your products as relates to the length of auction, type of auction (featured, featured in category, bold face title, etc), description & sales pitch, price, and a number of other factors. I’m not going to provide you with a complete plan for performing a market analysis because this isn’t an economic manual, but I will give you a few tips.

The best way to perform market analysis on your products is to purchase our Auction Master 2000 which automatically calculates your best-selling items and recommends which items you should discontinue and which items you should feature.

If you don’t use the Auction Master, then you’ll have to do some pretty tiresome calculations by hand. In particular, you should evaluate the following points FOR EACH OF YOUR PRODUCTS:

· Sales percentage (number of listings for a certain item / number of sales)

· Profit margin (average profit of the item)

· Profit potential (largest profit from the sale of the item)

· Category sales percentage (sales percentage for a certain item listed in different categories. Which category does it sell best in?)

· Featured auction profit margin vs. category featured profit margin (does your profit margin from featured auctions for a certain item exceed your profit margin for category featured auctions? If so, you should feature the item. If not, you should only category feature it)

Performing a market analysis is one of the most important ways to maximize your net revenue once you have listed enough auctions to collate plenty of raw data. If you use our Auction Master 2000, it is a very easy step. If not, it may cause some headaches.

Trial & Error – It Works

As I have indicated, trial and error is one major tool for success. It works, pure and simple. Don’t be afraid to try out new ideas or to feature dozens of your most popular products. Find out what sells and what doesn’t – continually order new products from your supplier that you feel will become big hits on Ebay. Do not get into a rut selling the same thing over and over again; you will saturate the market after a few months.

The most important use for trial and error on Ebay is to use the regular auctions as a testing ground for your new merchandise to determine its sales percentage and corresponding marketability, as well as its profit margin. You can then make an educated decision as to whether or not to feature the auction or choose the dutch option, or both. Impulse selling is much like impulse buying – you regret it soon afterwards. Don’t use the fancy options on Ebay until you first use trial and error on all of your products.

Writing Your Sales Pitch

Successful sellers on Ebay know how to write an item description (sales pitch) that instantly perks the browser’s interest and then draws them in after a few sentences. The first part of your Ebay sales pitch is the title, which should be catchy and immediately focus a potential customer on your auction. If you get them to click on your auction, then you have won half the battle.

I recommend bold-face titles at all times using catch words such as “HOT ITEM”, “WOW!”, “RARE”, “UNIQUE”, “SUPER DEAL”, “UNBELIEVABLE!”, “BEST VALUE”, etc. I also suggest using all caps so that your title stands out above the rest. DO NOT use fancy symbols or other “cheesy” ways to attract attention to your auction. Such tactics immediately turn off most potential customers and make your business look unprofessional and even ridiculous.

A big part of your sales pitch is the picture that you attach to your auction, but you must also provide an enthusiastic and energizing description that makes your potential buyer feel like he NEEDS your product. Before you start writing the sales pitch, refer to the profile of potential customers in your niche market that you should already have compiled. What are their likes and dislikes? What are they looking for? How old are they and what jobs do they generally hold? What are their hobbies and interests? What makes them tick? A successful sales pitch appeals to the base interests and self-interest of the customer.

When writing a sales pitch, attention to psychology counts more than attention to writing style. You need to make your item description APPEAL TO THE TYPE OF CUSTOMER WHO WILL BE VIEWING YOUR AUCTION. I recommend using some basic HTML coding to enhance the description, but I do NOT suggest giant letters and distracting objects such as blinking, animations, or more “cheesy” items in that regard. Your potential buyer wants to know what your product will do for him, and does not need a lot of useless distraction. Again, your item description must appeal to the profile of the buyer and promote a feeling of professionalism and trust in your company. We do offer a complete how-to manual on writing a successful sales pitch – you may visit our website at http://quikprophet.com/desc/software/auction_master.htm to order the manual.

Complementing Your Auctions With a Website

An internet website equipped with E-Commerce (the ability to accept credit cards) greatly enhances your Ebay auctions. It is relatively easy to learn how to set up a basic website and E-Commerce can be purchased for as little as $50.00 per month. This is absolutely essential for Ebay sellers because it gives you the ability to accept credit cards not only on your website but as payment for your Ebay auctions! I have known vendors who tripled and even quadrupled their profits on Ebay simply by accepting Visa / Mastercard. You can set up a merchant E-Commerce account by accessing the following URL: http://www.quickcommerce.net and then following the instructions and filling out an application.

After setting up a website with your products, you can use Ebay as a free advertising tool for the new webpage! I receive hundreds of hits each day just by featuring a few of my auctions. I make a profit on the auctions but I also make a residual profit when Ebay customers visit my website. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND paying a professional banner creation company to create a catchy banner for your site and then linking it to all your Ebay auctions.

This creates a two-fold benefit; Ebay users who see your banner may click on it to visit your site, and they will also consider you to be a more professional and established seller than much of your competition because you spent the time and money to create a high-class banner. Combined with your feedback rating, this gives you an edge over the competition – and the slightest edge can literally translate to MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR! I suggest Buy-A-Banner for banner creation: http://www.buyabanner.com. You can create one for under $100 and the return will be well worth it.

Feedback – It Matters

I’ve heard some Ebay users remark that feedback isn’t all that important, that no one reads that stuff in the first place. Quite the contrary. While newbies and Ebay novices will often overlook the feedback for lack of understanding and inexperience, almost ALL veteran buyers will view your feedback before buying your product. If they see comments such as “product not delivered”, “this guy is a fraud”, “terrible seller, would not trade with again” then they will never purchase your merchandise. You need to have an outstanding feedback rating brimming with positive comments to really make huge profits on Ebay.

Also, you need a feedback rating of 10 or more to list dutch auctions or to feature an auction. The way to ensure quality feedback is simply to deliver a quality product quickly, efficiently, and honestly. If you are looking for a “quick fix” or a “hit and run” scheme then Ebay is not the place for you. You can build a hugely profitable and legitimate online business using internet auctions without defrauding anyone!

There will always be a few rogue customers who claim they never received their product or you were too slow to deliver it, or else were unhappy with what they received. We all know that the customer is NOT always right. My recommendation for dealing with such problem buyers is simply to offer a 30-day no-questions-asked refund on any physical product that you are selling (services, information, and software excluded for obvious reasons). If they persist in causing problems, just ignore them. One or two negative feedbacks won’t destroy you – 10 or 20 will.

Customer Service Recommendations

Always answer a customer’s email. Whether the customer is praising your product or complaining, whether he is offering his input or asking a question, he or she deserves an answer. Particularly on Ebay, where feedback really counts! If you fail to answer emails, you may receive such comments as “unresponsive seller” or “ignored my repeated inquiries” in your feedback file. You will also earn yourself a poor reputation and lose respect in the online trading community.

My recommendation: Keep your answers short, courteous, and to the point. Provide all relevant information and be friendly, but don’t get bogged down in long email conversations back and forth, and don’t let the customer lead you on an irrelevant tangent. Your time is money. Also, you should create a classy signature file that inspires confidence in you as a seller and looks professional.

Finally, I strongly recommend creating a folder in your email program entitled “pre-written messages” in which you have template messages already created to answer common questions such as: 1) When has my item been shipped? 2) When did you receive payment? 3) How long does shipping take? Etc, etc. Customize your pre-written messages to fit your particular product, as you will notice very similar questions and comments from customers as time passes. It is MUCH EASIER to send out a pre-written form email than write a specific answer to each inquiry. However, make sure that it doesn’t sound like you are using a form email and make sure to add a personal touch when possible. When considering email customer service, you must balance time, efficiency, and courtiousness to maximize your working potential.

Ebay Secret Tips-n-Tricks!

· You can relist auctions that have sold! Go to the URL for the ended auction and click on “relist”. Ebay allows you to relist the item even though it sold, saving you time and effort so that you don’t have to copy and paste the title and item description into the form again. This is particularly useful for High Volume Sellers.

· Use Ebay as a vehicle for advertising your products and websites! You can create a banner and link that banner to all of your auctions, gaining thousands of impressions of exposure for your website or products each day.

· Use Ebay’s bulk uploading tool if you run more than 10 auctions at a time. With “Mister Lister”, you can upload hundreds of auctions at once, saving you much time and effort. Click on the Ebay help files to see how it works and to download the software.

· Dutch Featured Auctions are your key to success! The way to maximize your profits on Ebay is to determine your hottest selling items through a market analysis tool such as Auction Master 2000 and then list then as Dutch Featured auctions. Using this secret technique, you can make as much as $100,000 per month on Ebay, or more!

· Information is your greatest asset. Read up on online marketing and read EVERY Ebay FAQ and help file. Know everything about your venue of sale. We offer several other important manuals designed to enhance your Ebay skills including the Auction Master 2000, The Mega Wholesale Database, the Complete Drop Shipper’s Directory, and the manual How to Write a Winning Sales Pitch. Your success on Ebay, or with online marketing in general, is directly proportional to your level of knowledge and experience.

· Don’t be afraid to try new things on Ebay! List new products, try out new categories, and use the proven methods of Trial & Error to find out what works and what doesn’t. DO NOT fall into a rut and remain content with a solid income of $1000 – $5000 per week. The profit potential on Ebay is tremendous – make it work for you.

· Offer quick shipping! Your customers want their merchandise quickly and efficiently. Charge reasonable shipping rates and send their items priority mail when possible. Make each customer feel that his order is important to you – because IT IS. This will be your key to positive feedback and satisfied customers. Happy buyers come back for seconds.

· Set up an E-Commerce account. You need to be able to take credit cards and online checks to be a successful Ebay seller. Many customers will only pay by credit card and will choose another vendor if you don’t offer them that opportunity.

Suggested Reading:

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay

Buying And Selling On Ebay

Copyright 2000 Quiksilver Enterprises, Inc.

The Basics of Making Money On Ebay

Overview

It doesn’t take a genius to make millions of money on Ebay, nor does it require you to have any specialized computer knowledge. You don’t even need to be a skilled entrepreneur, because Ebay does most of the work for you. With over 1.5 billion page views per month and more than 1000 categories, they bring customers TO YOU and save you enormous advertising costs. Your job, therefore, is to make a successful sales pitch to the customers who see your auctions, and doing that isn’t as easy as you might think. You will be competing with more than two million other Ebay sellers, many of whom are veterans at online marketing and highly knowledgeable in the niche markets found on Ebay. So how do you compete with them? The answer is simple: INFORMATION!

This manual provides you the information needed to get ahead on Ebay and gives you an instant edge over your competitors. I will provide you with insider secrets on Ebay trading that I have learned from years of online auction sales. And I’m not making an empty sales pitch, because I’ve already sold you the manual! If you read this handbook carefully – not once, but several times – and if you follow the advice set forth in these pages, you will be armed with the knowledge necessary for an extremely lucrative home-based business buying or selling virtually anything on Ebay.

Requirements

A computer, an internet connection, an open mind, and a modicum of intelligence. You will also need to be familiar with the Ebay format and know the basic functions of listing items on the online auction site. This manual is not intended for complete Ebay novices nor does it cover basic features such as registration or how to list a product. I have written this handbook with the serious Ebay seller in mind who wants to learn the secrets of making hundreds of thousands of dollars using proven selling strategies CUSTOM DEVELOPED specifically for Ebay auctions!

This manual also complements our database program Auction Master 2000 which you can purchase for only $19.99. However, it is by no means necessary that you own Auction Master 2000 to learn from this manual. In this handbook I intend to provide you with valuable information – Auction Master 2000 provides you with valuable software. Using both products, which are designed to work together, the potential for profits is staggering.

Getting Started

I’m going to assume you are familiar with all of the basic features and functions of Ebay. Before you even entertain thoughts of making a six figure income online, you need to hash out a few basic ideas. What do you want to sell and why? Who do you want to sell to? Will your product appeal to everyone or only to a select niche market? Are your potential customers pre-qualified for your product? (We’ll discuss what that means in a later section). Where can you obtain your product? How popular is your product? What is the age-range and income-range of your potential customers? Start thinking about all of these questions right now.

The most important advice I can give you about online marketing in general is to develop a MARKETING STRATEGY before you even start selling your merchandise. Let’s start with the most important decision you have to make: what to sell.

What to Sell

With over 1000 categories, you can sell virtually anything on Ebay. But choosing what to sell can often be overwhelming. My advice is to look first to your own hobbies and interests, because the most successful sales pitch ALWAYS COMES FROM THE HEART. It sounds corny, but it is TRUE. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, and you aren’t willing to stand behind your product, your online business will certainly fail. You should never sell a product that you aren’t enthusiastic about, or else you should be able to fake your enthusiasm better than a Hollywood actor.

Either way, you must pass on the positive energy about your product to the consumer. This applies not only on Ebay but throughout “marketing land” in general, both online and offline. It is true that some things sell better than others. Information and software are particularly hot sellers because almost all computer users are pre-qualified for those products. In other words, the fact that they are using a computer means they need software, and the fact that they are using the Information Superhighway means they are already looking for information! Another example is this manual itself, which is designed specifically for a huge pre-qualified niche market on Ebay. The fact that you are an Ebay seller meant that you were instantly interested in improving your trade by learning the information contained in this booklet!

Selling to a pre-qualified market can be very profitable, but you must be enthusiastic about what you’re selling or it will surely fail. Once again, YOU SHOULD ONLY SELL A PRODUCT THAT YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT. That is the absolute best advice I can give you with regards to online marketing in general!

Finding your Niche Market

Once you have a product in mind, you need to pinpoint your niche market. This is very easy to do. Brainstorm a list of interests, hobbies, topics, subjects, and ideas that are similar or related to your product. For example, if you sell knives (as I do) then you would consider the following interests/hobbies relevant to your product: camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, knife collecting, diving, martial arts, sporting goods, kitchenware, cutlery, tools, collectible hand tools, knifemaking, etc. The Ebay users who visit such categories on the auction site make up your niche market! Once you know where your customers go, you need to KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS.

Brainstorm a list of their interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes, age range, income potential, likely vocation, marital status, etc. Devise a complete dossier on your potential customers in that niche market. The reason for this will become clear later as you learn to write an effective sales pitch. The sales pitch aims at attracting a certain profile of Ebay user and is the most profitable tool you can use to increase the percentage sales of your products.

Choosing a Category or Categories

Ok, you have put a lot of thought into your product and completed the introspective phase of getting started. You’re excited about your merchandise and you’re ready to start selling it on Ebay auctions. The next step is to find your niche market; as applies to online auctions, this refers to the category you will list your item(s) in. Considering Ebay has over 1000 categories to choose from, this should be a relatively easy process. But there is one important trick you strategy to know. Before listing your item in any category, follow these simple steps: First, browse through ALL Ebay categories and write down which ones you feel are relevant to your product. You should be able to find at least 5-10 possible choices.

Next, write down the number of auctions currently online in each of those categories (the number of auctions online will appear next to the category name). An average in any category is about 1000, so if there are more than 1000 you may conclude that the category is active and if there are less than 1000 you may consider it inactive. I consider categories with over 3000 auctions to be popular and those with over 10000 are most popular. Using this ranking system, rate the categories that you have chosen for your product. I recommend listing in active or above categories only because they get the most traffic – if you put your product in an inactive section of Ebay, you may get little or no bids, even if you feature it. Avoid categories with less than 1000 auctions online!

Keeping Track of Your Auctions

Once you have more than 5-10 auction listings online, you will need to develop an effective system for keeping track of them all. Simply listing the items and sending a confirmation email to the winners is not enough. For example, if a customer purchases one of your products and asks whether you received payment yet or not, you need to track down the item number and see if you have received his check. Other customers may want to know when the item was shipped or have other questions pertaining to auctions they won in the past.

The easiest way to keep track of your auctions and perform a complete market analysis on your products is with our exclusive Auction Master 2000 which can be purchased on our website at http://quikprophet.com/desc/software/auction_master.htm. If you list less than 5-10 auctions at a time, you can probably keep track of them with the old pen-and-paper method, or with a simple spreadsheet. If you choose this method, follow these steps for keeping track of the auctions: use a separate sheet of paper for each auction you list. Write down the item number, URL, listing date, listing price, and category, along with any other comments or pertinent information.

When the auction ends, write down the ending date, the sell price (if any) and the buyer’s contact information. Index the auctions by auction number for quick reference in a file. Again, this method works ok for fewer than 10 auctions online each week. If you have more than that, you must use a database system of some kind, either Auction Master 2000 or some other appropriate software. Selling the merchandise is only half the battle – you MUST keep track of your sales or you will quickly find yourself lost and confused. Particularly on April 15th!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

An essential aspect of every Ebay auction in which a physical product is sold (excluding services, information, or software) is an image file! Hardly anyone is willing to buy what they can’t see. If your competitor shows off an impressive picture of his product and you don’t, then you lose business. It’s just that simple. To attach a picture to your Ebay auctions is not that difficult and is the subject of a completely different manual, but the basics you will need are a digital camera and a way to host your picture such as an internet website or a special image hosting company.

Ebay has extensive help files on how to attach a picture to your auction. The picture should be used to highlight the best aspects of your product – make sure that the lighting and the setup is correct and that you take the time to take a top-quality, gripping picture. When browsing through auctions, often the image is the first thing to attract potential customers, so the more effort you put into taking an outstanding digital picture the more profitable your business will be. In fact, if you are selling a physical product, I cannot in good conscience recommend listing it on Ebay until you have a quality picture to attach to your auction. The picture sells – remember that!

Your Strategy

The key to making enormous profits on Ebay is to develop a detailed and efficient strategy long before you list your first item. First you need to know what type of product you want to sell, where to find your niche market on Ebay, and develop a profile of your average customer. In addition, you should already have determined which categories are appropriate for your product. Now you are ready to set your strategy for the business. Read this part of the manual very, very carefuly. I’m going to present you with a strategy that you can apply to virtually any product you wish to sell on Ebay. I will generalise the outline so you can fill in the specifics related to your own particular niche market and merchandise.

There are two types of sellers on Ebay which I will call High Volume Listers and Low Volume Listers. High Volume Listers are those who list more keep more than 10 auctions online at a time. Low Volume Listers keep fewer than 10 auctions online at a time.

The profit margin of the product you sell determines which category you will fit into.

For example, if you sell real estate and make $10,000 per sale, you may only need to list a few properties each week on Ebay to make a real killing with your internet business. The same applies for the sale of expensive jewelry, automobiles, and other items with a large profit margin. However, if you sell magazines or other inexpensive items you may only make $5-10 per sale. In this case, you would need to list hundreds of items at a time to make large profits, and thus you would become a High Volume Listing.

I know what you’re thinking – why would anyone go through the effort of listing so many items when it seems so easy to list a few large items and make a fortune? The answer cuts to the heart of internet sales itself: ONLINE BUYERS ARE MOST WILLING TO SPEND UNDER $50.00 FOR A PRODUCT. This makes sense – would you pay thousands for something you have never seen? Another reason that High Volume Listers are more common and often make more money on Ebay is that it is very easy to buy inexpensive items at wholesale prices, but very difficult to buy real estate or automobiles at wholesale prices.

Armed with this information, you must consider the product you’re selling and make an intelligent, informed decision on whether to become a High Volume or a Low Volume Seller. If you have plenty of free time to devote to your new business, I recommend you opt for the High Volume option. But if you are an Ebay seller at nights and on weekends, you may wish to start off with the Low Volume option until your business really takes off. Again, only you know best which option to choose based on the amount of time you have available and the profit margin of your merchandise. Once you determine what type of seller you will be, you are half-way to developing a sales strategy on Ebay.

The next step is to integrate everything you have learned so far in this manual and project your selling strategy into the future. For example, let’s assume you have decided to sell jewelry on Ebay. Here is a test case for consideration: You have identified your niche market and found the associated categories. You know that your buyers will probably spend $50.00-100.00 per purchase and you realize that the average profit of your auctions will be about $60.00. You have plenty of time and your profit margin is low, so you decide to become a High Volume Seller on Ebay and choose to list 100-200 auctions per week.

You estimate that 70% of your auction will end with winning bids, which is the ebay average. Based on this prediction, you calculate your weekly income at $6300. Using Auction Master 2000, you plan to keep track of your auctions and use the built-in market analysis feature to discontinue unpopular items and relist the popular ones. You have a wholesale account set up with your jewelry supplier and have already purchased enough inventory to cover your first week of Ebay sales. You plan to relist every auction as soon as it ends and place one weekly order to fill your inventory along with one weekly outgoing mailing to your buyers. Your basic sales strategy is set and you are ready to begin listing your auctions!

In the example above, you will notice that the seller thought of EVERYTHING before listing a single item, making sure that he/she was prepared for the task ahead and establishing a solid gameplan. Before beginning, you should project your sales strategy into the future and run through all possible problems, resolving them in your mind. If it helps, write out a paragraph like the one above and analyze it for errors of logic. KNOW YOUR SALES STRATEGY BEFORE YOU BEGIN.

I strongly recommend listing all of your auctions as regular auctions before you begin. Do not feature them or use the Dutch Auction option at this time. Test out your sales strategy and evaluate the popularity of your product in its niche market for several weeks before continuing. The rest of this manual contains advanced tips designed for sellers who have mastered the concepts already set forth and who have performed a basic market analysis of their products based on the results of several weeks of auctions.

Advanced Selling on Ebay

To Feature or not to Feature

Featured auctions get more bids. They also cost more – a lot more. Before deciding whether or not to feature your item, you need to evaluate its popularity. You should perform a basic market analysis either on your own or using our helpful Auction Master 2000 software.

There are two types of featured auctions – those which are featured in category cost $14.95 and show up at the top of the item’s category main page. This ensures that anyone who visits that category will probably see your auction, as the normal browser scrolls down a few screens and then leaves. I recommend featuring your item in its category if it has an average sales percentage of 50% or greater. In other words, after running regular auctions for a few weeks, you should choose the “featured in category” option if more than half of the auctions for that item have ended in a sale. I also HIGHLY SUGGEST choosing the boldface title option whenever you feature one of your items, as it draws more attention to your product.

A regular featured auction costs $99.99 and generates even more bids than a featured in category. Of course, it also costs a lot more, and as such you should only choose this option if you your item(s) has a sales percentage of 60% or greater. By featuring many popular auctions, you will make enormous profits on Ebay. But the key to success is running those tiresome regular auctions for weeks to figure out which items to feature and which items to discontinue. Trial and error works!

NOTE: Ebay will not let you feature auctions selling information, services, or adult material due to complaints from users. If you sell that type of product, you should run a featured in category auction only.

Suggested Reading:

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay

Advanced Techniques >>

全球知名网上拍卖商eBay的首席执行官日前在北京表示，中国正在逐渐成为全球电子商务的重要成员。与此同时，“雅虎”公司宣布，计划于2004年中期打入中国的网上交易市场。

　　*eBay首席官预测未来*

　　惠特曼女士是素有“网上集市”之称的eBAY的首席执行官，日前正在亚洲访问。本星期四她在北京大学演讲时说，中国的电子商务发展迅速，并且预测未来十到十五年，中国将会为全球电子商务蓬勃发展的重要地区。

　　惠特曼女士说，中国正在逐步成为全球电子商务的重要国家。中国的消费者迅速掌握了能使网上交易为其服务的种种方法。惠特曼女士尤其对“易趣网”的迅速发展表示满意。这是eBAY为适应中国市场需求而收购的一个地区性网上拍卖和交易系统平台。据报道，“易趣网”2003年底在中国已有登记用户四百三十万，网上交易额一亿两千四百万美元。惠特曼表示，eBAY将会继续在中国扩大投资，以帮助中国的电子商务走向成功。

　　与此同时，享有“ 搜索引擎之王”的“雅虎”星期二宣布，今年中期将在中国开设网上拍卖交易平台，合作夥伴是中文的“ 新浪网”，以便同eBAY在中国市场一争高下。

　　*网上商务中国仍缺硬件软件*

　　专家认为，目前中国网上交易发展的最主要障碍是支付手段的问题，因为中国社会消费习惯仍然以现金交易为主。个人支票以及信用卡的持有率相对很低，极大地妨碍了网上交易的最后兑现。另外，邮政系统在拍卖品的递送方面也存在很多问题。不过，左右整个交易过程的却是个人的诚信记录。中国目前还没有一个记录个人经济行为的健全系统。