Why your company should be selling on eBay

Why your company should be selling on eBay Summary Sale on eBay accounts to 10% of the entire worlds ecommerce sales and in the UK, eBay accounts for more page views than Google, Yahoo and MSN put together. Companies can no longer afford to ignore the sales potential presented by its 187 million users worldwide and could be an important sale channel for your company. The problem: Increasing sales, finding new markets Every company wants to reach new customers, find new products for their products and promote their brand. However they also need to be conscious of costs.

eBay presents a cost effective opportunity to sell your products and services to an enormous international marketplace. eBay should be treated as any other marketing channel, as a potential source of sales and customers

Why your company should be selling on eBay

Increase brand awareness and acquire new customers

Having a presence on eBay can generate brand awareness in both the offline and online worlds. Listings on eBay are not just items for sale but act to market your products to eBays vast user base. Furthermore, if you are not selling on eBay then someone else is controlling you brand on this important channel.

The ebay interface is now fully customisable so can be modified to reflect your corporate identity. Some of the worlds largest companies sell on eBay. Some of the worlds largest and most respected companies use its platform e.g. Dell, Canon and HP. These companies act as an excellent outlet for old stock or returned goods.and also as a cost effective channel for selling their new stock and promoting their brand.

Cost effective

Compared to building an ecommerce site eBay provides a very cost effective platform for selling and marketing online. eBay shops start at £6 per month and auction listings start at £0.15 (£0.05 for shop inventory listings). This compares very favourably with the price of cost per click campaigns on Google or other search engines. Your competitors are probably selling on eBay already. If you are in a highly competitive market, the chances are that you competitors already have a presence on eBay. By searching on eBay it is easy to see what items are being sold, who is selling them and for how much they are selling.

Testing ground for new products

If you are looking to test the ground for a new product, the instant market provided by eBay can provide an excellent litmus paper for measuring the markets appetite.

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International exposure

eBay is now operational in 29 countries opening up your company to an international marketplace of 187 million users and a $40 billion market. On eBay items can be listed internationally or just nationally depending on the requirements of your business.

Sell surplus stock Due to its huge marketplace, eBay is an excellent way to sell surplus stock and unwanted assets. Items in eBay auctions fetch up to 50% more than offline auctions and 4 times more traditional liquidation channels. Next steps Starting selling on eBay is easy. Set up an eBay account and do some research into your market to

* Do your research. Investigate who in your market is selling on eBay * Set up an eBay * Do some market testing. Select some product such as discontinued lines which you think will sell well on eBay and experiment with different product combinations and starting prices.

Building a first rate eBay business will take a little longer and you may want to employ the services of an eBay consultancy to develop an impressive eBay presence.

Auctioning4u-eBay Drop Off Shop www.auctioning4u.co.uk

Trevor Ginn is an eBay Consultant for Auctioning4u-eBay Drop Off Shop, the UKs fastest growing chain of eBay Drop Off Stores.