Category Archives: Consulting

Small Business on eBay – The Straw That Broke This Cornerstone's Back

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Cornerstone Commercial Supply, a name most of my regular readers will remember from articles in the past year is calling it quits on eBay.

Cornerstone is an established small business with over 30 years of quality service dealing with the public. They offer a unique niche product selection which would seemingly be ideal for eBay. Commercial carpet cleaning products, tools, and machines both new and used.

Just as a small bit of background, let it be known that the owners of Cornerstone Commercial Supply are not rich people. They are the father and daughter team of Richard and Connie Carpenter, they both work every day to survive in this difficult economic environment.

Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter has been in the Commercial Carpet Cleaning business for over 30 years and as a distributor for over 12 in his present location.  He and his daughter Connie are honest, hard working dedicated people who give the customer a fair shake even when it is not necessary.

I consulted with Cornerstone Commercial Supply to bring them onto eBay as a client of iBusinessLogic in 2007, with the very best of intentions, now I feel as though I owe them an apology for what it is I have done.

It seemed to me to be a perfect match back in the end of 2007.  We researched similar product sales on eBay with advanced eBay research tools. This research revealed a steady and growing market for the professional carpet cleaning products, with competition already established and selling on eBay.   We had a solid plan and in our view, no other carpet cleaning supplier had approached the niche as we would, with a dedicated and well designed eBay store, a full product line, and very competitive pricing, we felt we had a good chance of growing a nice secondary business on eBay for Cornerstone Commercial Supply. Continue reading “Small Business on eBay – The Straw That Broke This Cornerstone's Back” »

Top 10 eBay Trading Assistant Drop Store Reality Checks

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TA Consignment

Running an eBay consignment business can be complicated, time consuming, and nerve wracking...

As a business, consignment selling on eBay is not the easy get rich quick scheme some would have you believe. While initially setting up an eBay consignment business may sound like a ticket to easy street...

Whats better than selling other peoples stuff and making a 40% commission from the sale?

Having a retail store without owning inventory...

When one gets right down to the facts, its not that simple...

eBay consignment has its rewards and challenges, like any other business. The difference here is the dependence eBay consignment sellers have on outside influences. Outside factors have a great deal to do with how well an eBay consignment based business will prosper or if it will even survive.

Some of those outside sources of influences are:

Continue reading “Top 10 eBay Trading Assistant Drop Store Reality Checks” »

Antiques Appraisals – Where, How, Why? Trading Assistants Should Know Walt Kolenda – AuctionWally

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As Trading Assistants we see the gamut of merchadise come through our doors each day....

Usually we can evaluate the value of this merchandise in the blink of an eye, or possibly with a quick online trip to Terapeak...

But when something is presented by a client... say possibly a fine piece of antique furniture, do you get that uneasy feeling in your gut that says "I might need a real appraisal on this one"?  Antique Desk

If you don't get that feeling, you must have extensive antiques experience or your just flying by the seat of your pants. Not knowing the true value of any fine antique can cost you and your client hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

To sell an antique properly, you must know more than the projected value at auction of the piece.  You will not get that projected value if you do not describe it correctly in your listing with all of the historical detail possible.

How do you get that information?  From a book?

You could, if you had the time...

From Terapeak or Hammertap? - Not likely...

From eBay? - Please, you would be depending upon some other seller who may not know what he is talking about...If you could find the same exact piece listed at all... (Not likely with antiques)

How about from an appraiser? Yes a real, licensed expert in antiques appraisal!

Isnt that expensive? - Sure, locally you could spend quite a bit of cash on a certified appraisal, but what if you could get one completed online from your photographs?

With the same Seal of Approval and accuracy? Something you can take to your buyer with confidence...

Continue reading “Antiques Appraisals – Where, How, Why? Trading Assistants Should Know Walt Kolenda – AuctionWally” »

Cornerstone Commercial Carpet Cleaning Supply – eBay Stores Design – Update -

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cornerstone-logo.jpg

Cornerstone Commercial Supply Inc. is the proud new owner of an eBay Store designed by DesignLogic with Frooition and All Business Auctions.  Cornerstone Tools

Our design work was completed over the holidays and installed on January 7, 2007.

Within hours of the installation of our custom eBay store design the client, Cornerstone Commercial Supply Inc., logged thier very first eBay store sale... Congratulations Cornerstone!

Richard Carpenter - Owner of Cornerstone is very pleased with the immediate and verifiable advertising exposure already generated by the site. "We have already had inquirys from professional carpet cleaners in other states asking about purchasing our best Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning machine packages and we do not even have any of them listed in the eBay store yet". "I am really excited about all of the exposure this eBay store".  Read More...

Call Scott Pooler at iBusinessLogic / All Business Auctions to learn about the benefits of an eBay store for your business.

727-596-6900

11 Most Commonly Suggested ways to Make Money on eBay and why you should Avoid most of them

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eBayPardon us for a moment while we play "Devils Advocate" to explain the reasons why some of these 11 most commonly suggested methods for making money on eBay, are impractical or more accurately, are methods destined for failure.

If your goal is to start an eBay based business you should read this article.

The best way(s) in our opinion, to make money on eBay as part of an well crafted eBay business plan, will be revealed after our review of these more "commonly" touted methods.

The text in this post edited in italics is a previously compiled list of 11 common methods for sourcing products to sell and make money with on eBay. The article was originally written by a self appointed drop ship guru by the name of Mike Makler AKA "The Coolest Guy in the Universe".

Last Year over 20 Billion Dollars worth of product was sold on Ebay. (Yes Billion with a "B"). Many people are earning $10,000 or more selling on Ebay. Many more would like to sell on Ebay but they face that big hurdle - Where Do I find Items to sell on Ebay. Here are the 11 Best Places to Find Items to sell on E-Bay.

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

Original Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com
About The Original Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members

1 - Garage Sales

The Strategy that works best with Garage Sales is stop by at the end of the day and offer to buy all the merchandise they have left. You can often spend $25 - $50 and then resell on Ebay for $500 or more.

  • Why is this a very difficult way to make money on eBay? - Because for every item you spend the time to find at a garage sale you must perform several time consuming steps before that single item can be sold on eBay. Each item must be evaluated, cleaned, tested, described, photographed, categorized, listed and stored. This is a lot of time invested in each item purchased at "Garage Sales", and that time is multiplied by a factor of however many items you purchase in that lot for $50. Therefore, for each 20 item lot you purchase for $50, you will spend approximately 20 hours of your time getting those items listed on eBay. How much is your time worth? Lets say you value your time at a very low $10 per hour, now your investment in these 20 items is worth in excess of $250, not including the time or gas money spent in finding the original "Garage Sale". Will each lot or haul from these "Garage Sales" net even one item which will return your investment in time and cash? Will all of the items sell on the first listing on eBay? How much more money will you invest in eBay fee's and charges to sell these used cast off "Garage Sale" items? - Garage Saleing is a fun pass-time for the retired and a possible business endeavor for people who work at Flea Markets, but for eBay it is a losing proposition. Suggesting that eBay sellers should source product using this method is similar to suggesting to gamblers that they can get rich by playing bingo.

Continue reading “11 Most Commonly Suggested ways to Make Money on eBay and why you should Avoid most of them” »

Where do you get your information? From eBay?

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When we sign up as sellers on the service known as eBay, what is it we are buying?

As sellers we are buying access to millions of Internet savvy consumers actively searching and looking to make a purchase of some kind... In addition, we are buying access to the information and systems developed by eBay to sell our products or services to those consumers. 

eBay is a repository of information.  eBay is a clearinghouse of transactional data and a venue to exchange information, in the form of marketing goods and services.  As a corporation, eBay profits a great deal from the knowledge they have developed over they last decade as the premier Internet auction house and marketing service in the world. eBay in turn sells that information and that system to us as sellers and we buy into that service each and every day.

Some may think eBay shares all of this knowledge, gained during years of Internet marketing, away freely. But in fact eBay earns income from every tidbit they choose to release to the public via the fees generated from each new seller who signs up to sell on the eBay system.

eBay has been phenomenally successful, when they share information - most everyone listens and follows what eBay says.  As sellers we pay eBay for the information exchange which occurs with consumers on the eBay site. We also buy into a system designed to effectively and easily sell products to the public.

If you own a successful business and/or have developed a popular product or service... you have information gained from the years of sweat and effort that went into the development of your business.

Information is the currency of most successful people. When you have information others covet then it follows that you have a valuable asset. Continue reading “Where do you get your information? From eBay?” »