eBay
eBay already have huge exposure and an existing customer base for you to tap into. Opening an account is straightforward so it’s a great route to market for a small business.
Develop a reputation as a good trader via the feedback rating and you’re goods could be selling like hot cakes in no time. You can gain positive feedback in a few ways:
- Become a trusted buyer first by buying a few items to show that you’re using the platform to trade fairly.
- Play fair! Always deliver on your promises. Deciding not to sell once you’ve received the money or sending a damaged or faulty item is asking for negative feedback.
- Not using the “buy it now” feature? Try to schedule your auctions to end a time that potential customers can bid, Sunday evenings are often a good option.
Amazon
Amazon are one of the biggest companies in the world. In the run up to Christmas 2013, Amazon made an average of 426 sales per second. Here are a few tips for trading on Amazon:
- Get a pro merchant subscription. By paying a small fee of £28.75 per month you can avoid paying percentage fees per transaction and give you some seller privileges.
- Price competitively against similar products or you won’t make sales. Remember though, the aim is to make money, so don’t forget to make a profit.
- Having good product descriptions is important. People won’t buy unless they are sure they’ve found what they were looking for. Don’t go overboard, just explain clearly what the product is. Sometimes too much information is just as bad as not enough.
Selling through your own website
Trading through your own website is another option. You have to generate your own leads and customers which can take time but you won’t have to pay fees to trade. There are lots of methods used to increase traffic to your site, search engine optimisation and paid search being just two. Here are a couple of quick tips:
- Develop trust. Add some customer reviews and testimonials to your page, and use pay pal as a balance platform. People are less likely to pay you money if they aren’t confident you are legitimate.
- Use tools like google Ad-words to find the best key words. Go for highly searched terms relating to your business that have low competition. The aim is getting to the top spot in search engines, this is a free and proven way of doing so.
- Incorporating social media is also a good way of driving traffic to your site and generating sales. People who follow your social sites are 81% more likely to buy from you as you are constantly in their site.