Sept 1, Web Sellers’ News

In this issue: A dinner with eBay Brass? Bonanzle Batch Editor class on sale, news about the eBay Partner Network and a chance to win the eBay Marketing Bible.

John Donahoe & Jim Griff Griffith Come To Seattle

and buy us dinner!

 ebay-photos

This week I had the pleasure to join 10 other Seattle sellers for dinner with eBay CEO John Donahoe & eBay’s Griff for dinner.

We had a great time, the food was fantastic, we heard company stories – and best of all – had a chance to ‘bend John’s ear’ about our concerns and ask who, what and why.

John was very open about eBay’s direction, their new policies and even took notes back to San Jose.

We had a chance to hear about what’s coming down the road in 2010 too. And, I have to say – for the first time all year – I feel extremely positive about my future selling on the eBay platform.

One interesting question that was posed to John was “why isn’t eBay buying more advertising in the mainstream media?” I thought Mr. Donahoe’s answer was very interesting. If you’d like to read the more about it, I wrote an article on it. You can find it in the public area on the Web Sellers Circle.

They may come to your town in the near future – I urge you to attend. Griff posts upcoming dinners through FaceBook, it’s on a first come bases. If you’d like to attend I suggest you become a friend of Griffs on FaceBook.
——————————————————————————–

The New eBay Partner Network Quality Click Pricing
 

What’s Quality Click Pricing?

Until now, eBay Partner Network has paid for sales and leads. That meant if someone clicked on your link, but didn’t buy, you were not compensated. With Quality Click Pricing, eBay will now pay affiliates for every click sent to an eBay site instead of only clicks that make a sale.

This is eBay, so of course the new pricing structure is very, very confusing, it has to do with secret algorithms, quality of leads – determined by eBay – and the amount of traffic you bring to eBay as an advertiser. But, in the long run I believe that this change will be beneficial to smaller affiliate marketers. When I say ‘smaller’ – to give you an idea – those who make under a $1000.00 a month in eBay affiliate income. If you want to learn more, the EPN is hosting a Free Webinar on Sept and the recording for last weeks webinar is posted here.

The change will happen the first of October, 2009, for anyone who’s currently an affiliate. The eBay Partner Network just made their comparison tool available inside our seller dashboard. I checked my clicks verses income this weekend and am really pleased with the results. I looks like I’ll make about three times as much as I normally do. Can’t beat that!

For more information about joining the eBay Partner Network or about creating affiliate websites check out my informational CD: How To Make Money Using eBay Widgets
——————————————————————————–

Congratulations To New Jerusalem Gifts On Their Recent eBay Store Makeover!

 nj-before-after

I want to take a second and congratulate Web Sellers’ Circle Member Maureen Hager from New Jerusalem Gifts on her new store makeover.

Her store design and colors match her web store for cross platform branding. The navigation in her eBay store to her products is simple and quick. Customers want to find what their looking for fast – and Maureen has accomplished by putting her products front and center on her new store landing page.
——————————————————————————–

Bonanzle Batch Editor – The Best Tool With Possibly the Worst Name!

batch-editor-case-disk

If you haven’t tried Bonanzle yet – here’s how simple it is to move your eBay inventory onto Bonanzle -it takes about 5 mouse clicks.

Want to see the move in action? Click here to watch the Bonanzle import tool video

Once you have the items imported to Bonanzle you probably want to take out a few words, change the formatting – put the items on ‘reserve status’ if you are temporarily sold out or add Google attributes for SEO. They can all be done -just a easily – by using the Bonanzle Batch editor.

We had Phaedra Perkins Stockstill teach us how to use the Batch Editor – and I’m amazed how many things you can do with it and HOW EASY IT IS TO USE!

Only $19.99

This is a Pre-Order Special! Good Only Until Sept 3rd, after which the price will return to the full price of 24.99, so get your copy now.

I know what you’re thinking when you hear batch editor: it’s going to be mess: hard to use, boring to learn and why would I want to go through all this trouble anyway?

Let me tell you a story. When I moved my inventory onto Bonanzle from eBay it took about three mouse clicks to bring over – it was soooo simple! Once my booth was populated with the same listings as eBay, I started getting emails from my fellow Bonazlers. They gently pointed out how often I mentioned eBay, or used eBay specific terms like ‘PowerSeller’ or ‘Auction.’ Fixing all my listings seemed like so much work that I took them down instead. Any of you who are used to eBay understand how much work it would have been to go item by item to change the same word over and over again.

If I had known about the Bonanzle Batch Editor, I could have changed those listings in a snap and would have been making money months sooner.

When I saw Phaedra’s demonstration, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This isn’t the kind of batch editing I expected. It’s visual, easy to use and includes a very simple, convenient ‘find and replace.’

Whether you are moving listings from eBay, cleaning up your Google Connector Information, or just managing your Bonanzle Booth – this tutorial will save you time, save wasted effort, and even increase your profits.

The Bonanzle Staff understands what sellers need. They made every effort to make this tool shine.

Once you start using it, you won’t be able to manage your booth without it.

Don’t miss the class. Buy the CD!
 
——————————————————————————–

Share Your eBay Stories For Your Chance To Win A Copy Of The eBay Marketing Bible
 

 

fb-how-to

One thing that was mentioned at the eBay dinner was the demise of eBay Live. It made us all kind of sad… and got me to thinking.

It would be fun to reminisce a little about past eBay events, both official and unofficial.

So, let’s share our favorite photos and stories.

Here’s the deal: Post your favorite photo on the CloverCity FaceBook page, along with a quick blurb about why it was your favorite photo or event.

Was eBay Live your first chance to learn about the education program? Or was it your first chance to meet eBetsy, Griff, Meg, John, Janelle Elms, your true love or_____ face to face? Was the ‘eBay University’ coming to town the turning point in your career? Or was the eBay Radio Party the best party in Las Vegas? Was eBay Live the first shin-dig you ever attended with an ice sculpture or flowing chocolate fountain – or was it the music from ‘Mr. Lister’ never leaving your head – let us know your favorite story and share your photo.

 

Add your photo and blurb on the CloverCity Fan page – the photo/story with voted  with the most ‘thumbs up’ votes by September 30th -wins the book. (*photos must be taken by you – you may submit as many photos/stories as you wish)

Go NOW and look for those favorite eBay photos! Post them ASAP.

 ——————————————————————————–

Looking to fill in your inventory gaps this fall?

Here’s a directory of vendors – just waiting for sellers. Country business magazine has a list of all their advertising sponsors all in one searchable database.

http://www.country-business.com/giftindustry/directory/default.aspx
——————————————————————————–

What’s Happening At The Web Sellers’ Circle

Sheryl Shuff CPA continues to guide us through QuickBooks

Phaedra Stockstill’s class about the Bonanzle Batch Editor is available

Our first Affiliate website winner has built her web site – and step by step video instructions are being posted.

The forums are lively – subjects include Affiliate marketing, Bonanzle, Bookkeeping, Camtasia and more!

We just received this wonderful testimonial:

Just wanted to say that I think Web Sellers Circle is awesome. I think its well organized USEFUL information that is all in one place, for small to medium online retailers. Some of the info on your site can be quite costly if purchased otherwise. I know that you guys have just started and I look forward to its growth and keeping us informed, continuously educated and connected. Many thanks to you & Dany.”

Karen Wasserman
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Fairy-Princess-Costume-Wings-Tutus__W0QQ_armrsZ1

We’d love to have you join us. Remember we’re offering a $1.00 – twenty one day trial. Please check it out.
——————————————————————————–

One Last Word

Facebook

CloverCity

Promote Your Page Too
 

Don’t forget to join me on FaceBook and show us your favorite eBay photos and share your stories for a chance to win a free copy of the eBay Marketing Bible.
——————————————————————————–

That’s it for now,

Cindy Shebley
eBay Certified Business Consultant
author eBay Marketing Bible
www.websellerscircle.com
——————————————————————————–