Newsletter #1 - featuring; eBay fee increase, Skype.

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Help My Auction Free Newsletter

www.helpmyauction.com

Date 20th October, 2006 Issue #1

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In This Issue:

1. eBay fee increase, where to list.

2. To Skype or not to Skype - that is the question.

3. "Visit Amanda's Blog!"

4. Tell us what you think.

===================== FEATURE EDITORIAL ======================

1) eBay fee increase, where to list.

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If you are anything like me, you would have been pretty shell shocked
when the news of the eBay fee increase hit. Well, things have settled
down a bit now and we have had time to get our heads around things,
but can we afford to just got back to our normal way of listing?

Of course not!

Now I have already told you all why an eBay store is still worth while
and great value for money, but we must all be vigilant in where we list our items.
The days of the Store Inventory Format (SIF) always being the cheapest are
gone and now is the time to put some serious thought into each new item we list.

Let run some examples,
Auction Store
$5.00 opening bid $5.00 bin
$1.09 with gallery $0.11 with gallery
$0.26 FVF $0.50 FVF
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$1.35 $0.61

 

$10 opening bid $10 bin
$1.09 with gallery $0.11 with gallery
$0.52 FVF $1.00 FVF
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$1.61 $1.11

$20 opening bid $20 bin
$1.34 with gallery $0.21 with gallery
$1.05 FVF $2.00 FVF
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$2.39 $2.21

$50 opening bid $50 bin
$2.09 with gallery $0.51 with gallery
$2.06 FVF $5.00 FVF
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$4.15 $5.51

$100 opening bid $100 bin
$3.09 with gallery $0.51 with gallery
$3.56 FVF $10.00 FVF
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$6.65 $10.51

$500 opening bid $500 bin
$4.09 with gallery $0.51 with gallery
$15.56 FVF $50.00 FVF
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$19.65 $50.51

$1000 opening bid $1000 bin
$4.09 with gallery $0.51 with gallery
$30.56 FVF $100.00 FVF
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$34.65 $100.51

Now of course there are other factors to think about here;
Auction runs for a maximum of 10 days, so to get 30 days coverage
you would need to pay the listing fees 3x over at least.
Store inventory runs for 30 days for the same price.

There is also your average sell through rate to consider. This is the
hidden cost of auctions. How many times did you need to list the
item before it sold, on average?

I hate seeing the huge figure on my sellers account when an expensive item
sell from my store, I am cringing just thinking about it. But when I really
run the figures honestly, MOST times SIF still comes out the winner.

I know most of you if you are serious about your ebay listings will already
have an ebay store, but if you don't, be sure to check out my very own
"how to open your own Aussie eBay store" course. it's a step by step guide,
which walks you through opening your own ebay store and explains what is
what along the way.

You can find it here;
http://www.helpmyauction.com/storecourse.html

Enjoy your number crunching, but do not forget to run to quick run through
before you set pricing for each.

I am on the look out for a free comparison calculator so that running the
base figures is easy, as soon as I find one, I will put it on my site,
www.helpmyauction.com and will put the link in the newsletter.

Keep your eyes peeled.

 

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2) To Skype or not to Skype - that is the question

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If you haven't heard about Skype by now, then you must have been
living under a rock :-)

Skype is a major internet communication company, that offers
VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone services, along with all
of the other standard internet communication products you would expect, like
video conferencing, etc. Or in their own words
"Skype is a little piece of software that allows you to make calls from your computer."

You can find out more about them here,

Skype for Business

Skype is completely free if you are talking, typing or video calling between
two Skype members. For calls and SMS to landlines or mobile phones,
they offer extremely cheap rates and by making the most of their VIOP
service you can cut down your phone bill.

They also offer some really cool features for business, including
local numbers in different capitol cities, which call through to your
own VOIP phone or your computer. You can literally have a phone
presence all around Australia or even the world, without leaving your own
house or store. There are also nifty features like, voice mail and call forwarding,
really everything you would want from your home phone.

If you didn't already know, ebay bought Skype out in early 2005 and have since integrated
Skype into the USA ebay auction listings.

The info structure is now in place for Skype to be introduced into eBay
Australia listings - it is only a matter of time, could be a few days or a few weeks,
but it will be soon.

SO thus we lead into the topic at hand - to Skype or not to Skype?

Do you want Skype in your listings?

Let's look at the pros and cons;

Pro - you can give your customers, last minute answers on items ending with minutes
to go, where as they wouldn't bother to send an email.

Con - will "Pablo from South America", be tying up your time with questions
about your marital status or level of attractiveness? The last thing you want when you are
busy and trying to run a business is time wasting internet leeches taking up
your time and most probably making your stomach churn.
This type of ploy, could also suit scammers, bogging down your line, with
requests for you to end your item and send it to their Priest in
Nigeria - they will pay you via Western Union double what it is worth though...
or so they say.

Pro - You can apply your advanced sales closing skills to win you
extra business, once you get a customer talking.

Con - you wanted an online business so you didn't have to talk to customers.

Pro - Your buyers will know that there is a real person attached to the other
end of the transaction - it is hard to build trust on the internet, but being able
to speak or chat to someone on the other end, would definitely help that.

Con - again, you wanted an online business so you didn't have to talk to customers.

Pro - If you had your webcam attached you could show your buyers the item,
should they have a great desire to really see something.

Con - Could lead to buyers getting unrealistic expectations of sellers and
the hours they think sellers should keep.

So, there is alot to consider when thinking of using Skype in
eBay listings.

Me personally, I will be giving it a try for a set period of time and
closely monitoring the results. Only if I can see a marked increase in sales
and sale prices, with no real strain on my time, would I consider keeping it.

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3) "Visit Amanda's Blog!"

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Check out "The Help My Auction Blog Spot!" with Amanda Callbutt
at: http://helpmyauction.blogspot.com/

Here Amanda shares her thoughts, ideas, insights, and
strategies with you, our customers and subscribers.

Every week, sometimes even a couple of times a week, Amanda shares...

1. Updates from the Help My Auction! website: What is
happening at HMA?

2. Cutting-edge industry updates: Every month Amanda meets
extremely successful online and offline business owners who are using
the hottest new moneymaking strategies and industry insights...
and now she'll be sharing them with you.

3. Announcements! Be the first to know about new courses and
resources, sometimes even BEFORE they have been created,
so you can beat your competition to the punch!

4. Amanda's personal opinion, thoughts, and insights on many
different auction site and e-commerce topics.

If you want to get to know Amanda and what is going on in the
day-to-day world of internet auction selling, then this is the place to be!

Go to: http://helpmyauction.blogspot.com/

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4) Tell us what you think!

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We'd love to hear what you think of this issue!

Please send your comments, questions, and ideas for
upcoming issues to us at:

mailto:suggestions@helpmyauction.com

Your feedback matters to us!

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Copyright 2005-2006 by Help My Auction!
All rights reserved.

www.helpmyauction.com

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