The Powerseller Princess

PowersellerPrincess.com is for Sale!!

Maren Kate — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:34:23 +0000

Hi,

So sad to say that my days as the ‘Powerseller Princess’ are numbered, I have been having tons of success in some new ventures and my blog that tracks my entrepreneurial journey Escapingthe9to5.com. Which is great in a way but also means I have to let other things go like this site.

So now I am looking for someone who loves eBay, who is an active seller and who wants to spread their income past what they are making now into a website where the profits are endless if you really blog and put out good content for others! I am COMPLETELY open to different offers, this site has pagerank, has great keywords and best of all has TWO products to sell.

Whoever takes it over will get everything, I know I’m not doing it justice because it really is a profitable niche.

Interested?

Contact me at marenkate{at}gmail{dot}com or hit me up on Twitter @marenkate

Cheers!

My New Dedication to Powerseller Princess

Maren Kate — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:47:54 +0000

Hey All!

So its a new year and I’ve been slacking. Lately I have been putting all of my effort into my other blog Escaping the 9 to 5 and neglecting good old Powerseller Princess, which is just wrong. So I decided that for every post I do on my other blog I will be doing a post on this website, no matter how short, it will be informational and most of all helpful to anyone trying to make more money on eBay by powerselling.

For a minute I was thinking of turning Powerseller Princess over to another eBay seller who has reached a certain level of success and letting a new person really push this site to the next level, but for now I’ll keep doing it myself. One convinced me was checking my Alexa ratings, something you can do here. It said my page rank wasn’t great but amazingly my inbound links from other sites were at 49, which is great for a blog that posts haphazardly like I do. What it showed me was that lots of people are looking for advice on hot selling items on ebay, how to sell on ebay and powerseller tips.

What I want from you now is this, tell me what you want to read about, anything that has even remotely to do with eBay and making money selling online and I’ll write on it! Also I am rededicating myself to comment more often and really get involved in building a community around PowersellerPrincess.com.

Cheers to the New Year all you powersellers!

Selling on eBay | Something for Nothing!

Maren Kate — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:46:27 +0000

So in the ever increasingly difficult world of selling on eBay what is there left to pitch? I mean how many variations of power cords or cell phones can one person sell? I know that it gets frustrating, so maybe this post will be for those of you who still want to make money on eBay but are tired of the constant hustle and low profits margins to get there.

Enter the world of hand crafted goods… as close to something for nothing as one can get.

This handmade box was probably found in a second hand store somewhere for a fraction of what its going for, as they say… one man’s trash another’s treasure.

Hand painted art is always in style on eBay.

These purses are made from cigar boxes which are free if you ask for them at any cigar shop, they have them piling up all day. Then you cover it with cloth or a design on the outside (or leave the original cigar box design) and connect a wire handle to both sides. Put some beads on it to fancy things up and you’ve got yourself merchandise for pennies on the dollar.

From these 3 examples there are hundreds more of items that were made with almost no cost except creativity. Find a niche like this on eBay and not only will you always have buyers but you’ll never have to be buried under the cost of doing business again.

I love comments! Please drop me a line below

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Top eBay Sellers Use These 7 Techniques

Maren Kate — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:31:37 +0000

These 7 tips are the one’s that are the most important in dramatically increasing your success on eBay. Follow these powerseller secrets and you will notice increased revenues, happier customers and increased success selling on eBay!

1. Research, Research, Research. One of the first things you can do is to go to the Browse link on the eBay homepage and see if you can find similar items already listed and if there are any active bidders on them. This will help you set your price.

2. Buy a Digital Camera for your photos and learn how to take the clearest, most detailed shots to place on your listing. A close-up lens also comes in handy for smaller items. Good pictures will increase your success rate 50%.

3. Write Good Descriptions. Be honest about the quality, age, condition etc. of the item you are selling. Point out any flaws etc. A potential buyer will trust you more if you are absolutely honest. Especially about any flaws in your item. You want your buyers to see exactly what they will be getting so there are no misunderstandings, which usually result in negative feedback.

4. Time Your Listing Right You never want to list your items so they end during the day, unless it’s the weekend during the day. 7-day auctions work the best unless the item is expensive, then list it as a 10-day. You will pay a little more to do it this way, but it’s worth it to let as many people as possible see your listing. Try to list something everyday from 7pm until 9pm.

The last 4 hours of your auction gets the most clicks. That is the busiest time for bidding on items. If you list too late in the evening, you’ll lose people to sleep or TV. If you start out listing on the weekends especially on a Sunday. If your listings end around 4pm many more people will be home to watch your auctions end! This increases your chances of making more money.

5. Make Payment Easy as possible is also a big deal. A small minority of people still want to pay with check or money order – you need to weigh the pros and cons of dealing with people outside of the electronic payment system. First, it is much slower waiting for mail and matching paper payments with online sales, and there is the added risk of bounced checks after you have shipped products.

6. The Importance of Good Feedback. Your feedback score, as an eBay seller, is of the utmost importance. It’s your online credibility and therefore one of the cornerstones of your business. If your competitor has a higher score—they’ll get the sales. Increase your positive feedback score by:

a. Communicate with your customers & lookers immediately. Answer all questions fully. Keep your buyers informed by email through every step of the sales & shipping period. Send a follow-up email after shipment to make sure your buyer was satisfied.

b. If a buyer is unhappy, do whatever you need to do up to & including a refund to keep them from filing a complaint/losing them as a future customer. Again, respond to their original complaining email that day. Let them know you’ll make sure they are satisfied through the process.

c. Don’t overcharge on shipping. Be fair with your prices. This is one of the areas that triggers a lot of buyer complaints. Get as much as you can on your item but charge reasonably for shipping.

7. Create an Item Title that Sells. ‘Tweaking the Title’ is the single most important element in an eBay listing because buyers search based on the words in the title. Take a look at some successful listings that sold what you want to list and see how they wrote their titles. Your goal should be to fill out the maximum number of characters (in your search title) using as many matching search terms as possible while still clearly describing the item. Go to eBay pulse (pulse.eBay.com) and look at your category to find relevant keywords to include in your title.

Not Making Enough Selling on eBay? Try Etsy!

Maren Kate — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:42:48 +0000

So I’ve noticed a disturbing trend over the last two years, things I would have sold for lots on eBay are now selling for a fraction of the price. This has forced me to get way more clever in my listings and also to look elsewhere for selling channels. In doing this I found Etsy, which is like a hippy eBay from 7 years back… in a good way.

Etsy is all about handmade, hand crafted and artistic wares. Its lay out is simple, its point is obvious and its not a monster marketplace like eBay… which at this point in time seems like a good thing.

Selling on Etsy is easy

Now first off let me tell you this, I’m not writing this in cahoots with Etsy. I have no affiliation with them at all, I just like to promote up and coming websites that I see potential in. So how does Etsy differ from eBay? Well first of all, you have to be more creative.

You can’t sell lightbulbs, laptops or socks (unless you made them). Instead each product on Etsy is unique, fun and usually eco friendly.

Also you can shop locally, by colors and a bunch of other interesting avenues to find items. When you sell on Etsy you can set your own price too and unlike eBay these fixed prices are the norm so they sell better.

Point is: If you sold/sell on eBay in any kind of creative market, think of selling on Etsy as well. I have friends that have had revenues increase 10 fold just by changing venues from eBay to Etsy or by adding Etsy on a side selling spot. Another good idea if you are feeling the eBay slow down is to sell on your own website, where you promote your items and market to a much smaller ‘pond’ of niche buyers. You can build an e-commerce store simply with Wordpress and the help of a designer from Elance.com and you’ll be on your way to increased revenue, more control & less fees.

Its a win win for everyone! If you like this post please comment and if you like me you can follow me here!

Successful eBay Sellers Do These 10 Things (You Should Too!)

Maren Kate — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:17:08 +0000

1. Research the item before you list:

Go to EBay and type in what the product is and see if any identical items are listed. Next go to completed listings (bottom left of the page) and see how many items sold in the last three weeks. If a MINIMUM of 3 of the items sold, then you have a possible item to sell. Average out the prices of the items sold (if they are similar) and you have a possible selling price for the item you are considering. Besides finding the average selling price, you can see the average starting price, and features, and key words that attract buyers. When you complete a search look for the radio button that says Completed Items located in the left hand panel of the search results. Click on that button and it will show you a list of what the item sold for in closed auctions instead of ongoing auctions.

2. Use a low starting bid:

Getting that first bid is very important. Buyers are more likely to bid once they see other bids on an item. Be careful about using reserves. Reserve pricing turns off many buyers, but if this is the only way to protect a valuable item then it’s worth a try. A low opening bid with no reserve will usually jumpstart bidding and increase your final selling price.

3. Write titles that attract buyers and complete descriptions of the item:

Buyers search for key words so use them. Your item title helps bidders find your items. EBay gives you 55 characters compose your title with the buyer in mind. There is no such thing as too much information. A good description is concise, organized, and easy to read. Use bold for subheads, bulleted lists, and white space between paragraphs. Be sure to include descriptions such as style/type, brand, size, color and condition that your buyer would naturally be interested in.

4. Always Include Photos:

A good picture will sell your item and reassure your buyer. The more photos the better (up to a point). I usually post about 4-6 photos to show all angles of the item. Take clear, well-lit photos that point up any and all features and any and all problems about the item. Use good lighting and an uncluttered background to get the most out of your photo.

5. End your auctions on the day and time when most buyers are online:

This is usually in the evening between 4-8 PM (Pacific Time). However this is not true for all items so it pays to check eBay’s completed listings to determine the best time and day for your category. For example, merchandise purchased by businesses usually sell better during the business day when the owners are at work and looking for the items.

7. Take Excellent Care of your buyer:

Always respond quickly (read this to mean immediately) to any buyer questions. Always send the buyer an email telling them when and how you shipped their item. If they have a problem, even if you think it’s without merit, make good on the item. Offer to refund and give them the item that they are complaining about. Replace it if that’s what they want. Whatever it will take to satisfy them—do it. Sure, some people will take advantage, but the majority won’t and it’s more than worth it for a good review and repeat sales.

8. Don’t stand in Line at The Post Office:

The best thing to do is schedule shipment pick-ups in advance with the Post Office. And they will pick up at your house and save you time & hassle. Or, you can print postage online with the Pay Pal checkout feature or by going directly to the Post Office website at www.usps.gov. Once your packages are ready just take them to the back door of the post office and drop them off.

9. Save on Your Shipping Supplies:

If you use Priority mail, the United States Postal Service offers a variety of free shipping supplies, delivered directly to you within a few days. The other source is a local gift shop, kitchen store, house wares store, discount store etc. These places receive shipments every day and usually break up the boxes for recycling. Many of them will gladly give you their boxes, Styrofoam and bubblepak.

10. Don’t Mark Up Shipping:

Gouging your buyer on the shipping cost is one of the reasons a buyer might rate you poorly. Always charge the actual rate for shipping. If you offer or pay for insurance, check out www.ShipInsurance.com for lower insurance rates.

People Buy More from EXPERTS | eBay Selling Tips

Maren Kate — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:17:21 +0000

Okay, what is one of the single best things you can do for your eBay business in 2010?

Become an EXPERT in what you sell.

Lets say you sell beanie babies, if so you better be the single most fanatic, enthusiastic & educated plushy toy seller on eBay. I want you to have a blog off site (try blogger.com, or typepad.com) where you pump out consistent (at least once a week), good content on your area of expertise. Check out the post & video on 5 Reasons You should be Blogging NOW.

Next sign up for Twitter with a username that highlights your expert status like “Beaniebabylover” or “beaniecollector” and start to tweet daily on fun, interesting beanie facts.

Then get on Facebook, sign up for a fan page which you can link to your Facebook personal page. Make it a fan page for your eBay ‘brand’ so name it something that links with your eBay username. Like ‘The Beanie Expert’ or ‘Beanie Lovers United’. Want to know how to start a facebook fan page with little to no experience check out this post by a fellow internet businessperson Pat Flynn.

Now its time to network, network, network. Join groups on Facebook & on eBay for people within your field. Granted most of you won’t sell beanie babies, but you can sell other (maybe more profitable things) that have groups of like minded sellers for you to join. Think main keywords like: jewelry, electronics, computers, cars, bikes, etc.

Use these simple steps to pump out good content and in less than a month you’ll start to get some traction online. You’ll notice people linking to you, asking you questions and tweeting at you. This is where you start to engage and hopefully build the kind of bond where a interested party will become a loyal consumer for life.

Trust me it works! Its how I have built up my eBay business and how I’ve built up other businesses like my social media marketing firm. I spent no money on ads instead just networked like crazy online through blogs, social networks and joining groups of like minded people. Check out my post on Escaping the 9 to 5 on how I made $4444 in 7 days using some entrepreneur tricks & methods.

Cheers to your success in 2010 & if you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments!

The Best of Powerseller Princess | 7 Posts to Jump Start your eBay New Year

Maren Kate — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:55:54 +0000

The best of PowersellerPrincess’s ebay selling tips, lists of the hot selling items on eBay & breaking the silence on lots of eBay powerseller secrets. Regardless if you’ve just gotten started or if you have been selling on eBay for years these 7 posts are ones you won’t want to miss on your way to ultimate eBay selling success!

One Man’s Trash: one of the first posts on PowersellerPrincess, back when we were just a baby blog! This post will tell you how to take crap and turn it into cash!
Why Become a Powerseller? this post explains the difference between just selling on eBay and power selling on eBay. Powersellers can make a living on eBay, a very good one, where as normal sellers rarely make more money than a few bucks. Make the choice this 2010 and make some real money on eBay by powerselling!
5 Wholesale Resources for eBay Sellers. Five great wholesale tips and tricks, including resource links, to help power sellers find inexpensive and quality wholesalers online.
7 Quick Ways to Make Money on eBay Fast! This is for those of you who need cash fast. If you’ve just started selling or need to pay off some Christmas debt this is a great way to get inspired and get ideas to make fast money on eBay.
Niche Businesses on eBay. Niching down when you sell on eBay is a must nowadays. There are just too many big boys (and girls) who will crush you in large markets like general electronics. Instead learn to dominate your niche and really make some money by becoming a big fish in a small pond.
Go from Zero to $$ in 60 Seconds. This post is for the motivated eBay sellers and entrepreneurs among you. If you really want to rise above the rest and make some serious money on eBay here are the ways to get there.
Top 25 Selling Items on eBay. A list of the top 25 items that are really moving on eBay. Pick a few, find a supplier and get closer to your platinum star!

If you have any questions, comments or testimonials please comment below! And happy selling!

The Future of the eBay Powerseller in 2010

Maren Kate — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:35:04 +0000

Dear eBay Powerseller,

Hi pal, we’ve come to the end of the year for selling on eBay. How was it for you? Was it grand, were your expectations met and exceeded? If so congrats! I’m happy for you and instead of reading the rest of this article pat yourself on the back, consider yourself one of the lucky few and go eat a congratulatory donut or something.

If you are still reading you didn’t get to pat yourself on the back or eat a donut (sad face) but it doesn’t necessarily mean your a bad salesperson or your eBay biz is going down the tubes. It just means the times, they are a changing. When I started Powerseller Princess I also began a blog called Escaping the 9 to 5 where I wrote about my life as a start up entrepreneur… I blog there more than ever as my businesses (eBay and this website and my social media marketing firm) grow bigger every day.

But when I started the blog and the subsequent social media marketing business a little while back it wasn’t because business on eBay was booming. It was actually harder than ever to make big money on the giant reseller. Now as I started researching new tactics and ways to do things I documented them all on here and I found a lot of money I’d been leaving on the table. I’ve shared those secrets with you all as well as a lot of the places I find inventory for the last year. But now I have something else to add to my eBay power selling advice. I think its time for you to diversify.

Now in no way do I mean quit selling on eBay. Instead I mean its time to get with the new social attitude of the web and push your eBay auctions even harder on sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. But I also mean you may want to consider selling on other platforms and begin creating other side businesses as you grow your eBay revenues. This is what I have done for the last year and its been great. I have made more money than ever and with less effort. A lot of how I did that via selling on eBay I outline in my eBook which still works like a charm for those of you who want to be true eBay power sellers and make a living online. Other ways I make money I’ve outlined in various posts on my Escaping the 9 to 5 blog.

Why do I say diversify? Because why make less when you can make more? Even if you are bringing in 5, 10 or 20 k a month selling on eBay why not double that by selling on some other platforms and using some social media style strategies in marketing.

Here are some eBay powerseller secrets to use. A great place to sell if you are into any kind of handmade, unique or vintage items is on Etsy. The fees are much lower and because its more specialized you are a bigger fish in a small pond. Another place is on Craigslist especially if you sell a lot of larger pieces that are costly to mail.

Here are some other strategies to make sure that you are still a Power seller in 2010 and that you make more next year than you did this previous one.

Get Social. I’ve said it time and again, you MUST get social to survive on eBay these days. You need to build a solid, loyal following on Twitter and you need to create a strong Facebook presence for yourself. Linkedin and Youtube are great places to get a foot hold too. If you are interested in building a loyal Twitter following with no work except just tweeting and interacting check out my social media project here.
Get Real. If you are selling on eBay you need to treat it like your REAL job. Buy business cards, get an LLC and act like a big business for goodness sake. When people ask you what you do say “I’m founder at blank, Inc” or “Sales manager at blank corp.” then if they ask what that is go into what you sell on eBay. Selling on eBay isn’t a game anymore, it isn’t easy breezy to make money there… instead you have to fight and create to carve out a profitable niche for yourself and your eBay store. So stop treating it like its a hobby and get serious about success.
Get Creative. Run contests, offer sales, offer free shipping for people who follow you on Facebook or Twitter. Build an e-commerce store on a separate platform like Wordpress that runs all your eBay auctions on its front page and people that are searching for words similar to what you are selling can find you not just on eBay but on Google as well.

Have a happy New Year my dearest eBayers and I hope for the biggest sales of your life next year! If you have questions, comments or testimonials please leave them in the comment section below!

Where to get Inventory | Best Selling Items on eBay

Maren Kate — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:15:02 +0000

Often people ask what to sell on eBay and then how to find the best selling items on eBay from vendors etc. Today I’ll answer both of these burning questions so you can get your eBay power selling ready to make 2010 your most profitable year ever!

Firstly, what sells the best on eBay depends for each niche. If you sell primarily clothing then even if Xbox’s sell they may not be the best thing for you to add to your store. Instead focus on your ‘niche’ and then dominate that smaller market.. its a better plan that trying to be a jack of all trades on eBay since the big boys will beat you out every time.

So here are some great places to find items that will sell well on eBay and to find them for a reasonable price. Some are big vendors, some are small ones but all I have researched and think are good bets. If you have extra ideas please post them below! Also I am not sponsored or paid by any of the companies I name so this is a completely unbiased list.

Alibaba - A manufacturer directory, Alibaba allows you to join for free and I like it because it has a large base of suppliers, vendors and manufacturers all in one place. Take some time to look around, comparison shop by googling the name of the products you are interested in and then make sure they are selling by searching them on eBay. If you find a deal grab it up & then resell for some quick cash!
Liquidation.com – For the eBay power seller who has a little capital and likes a challenge check out this site. You can buy pallets of items, returns, refurbished items or things that haven’t sold in department stores. Check it out, there are some great deals to be found if you search this site religiously and do your research.
American Apparel - The popular clothing brand started off selling wholesale and still do a large business in that end. If you sell apparel, make your own t-shirts or can get creative with clothing this site is for you. The larger the orders the cheaper each piece of clothing gets. It offers incredible value and great apparel, also the brand name of American Apparel will get you more $$ per sale than a generic cotton clothing company.
China Invasion – the site is actually called chinavasion and has tons of wholesale electronics online. They even dropship! Order a few items and have them shipped to yourself first, this way you can make sure of quality, but if they deliver start dropshipping & cut out even more hassle from your power selling experience.

Thats it for now! If you’d like my ULTIMATE vendor secret sign up for my newsletter and get the name of the place I go for my wholesale needs. If you have more info please feel free to comment below or just give me a shoot to let me know your reading