GoDaddy auctions for today (5/31/2009)

thoroughbredblog.com PR4
informaticositz.com PR4
glendalegreeters.com PR4
aglessmarketing.com PR4
re-make.net PR4
marblesound.com PR4
miamicondoflipping.com PR4
coloradobusinesscouncil.com PR4
osogolozo.info PR4
eosrealm.net PR6
bmecentral.net PR6
mercosur-info.com PR6

Ultracart KILLS 1ShoppingCart

I have done EXTENSIVE research into different carts and have found Ultracart to be the big winner for a number of reasons listed below so I decided to share it with all, because all the gurus push 1ShoppingCart as they have affiliate deals with them, but in comparison it sucks!!

Ultracart beats 1ShoppingCart on so many levels it's crazy. Here are the major reasons why Ultracart is better (and no i am not affiliated with them or anything i just think they have an amazing product)


Scripts and embed tags on the checkout page!!!!! you can add video, or popups, or countdowntimers, or audio testemonials, or anything else you want to your checkout page! IF you dont realize how huge this is you need to read more!


No easy cancel! they have a feature named this which specificaly allows you to turn off all emails to recurring customers and make them call you to cancel their subscription.
This is huge because 1ShoppingCart sends every reccuring customer an email every month telling them how much you charge and how to cancel and you can't control it or even modify the copy!
We can argue ethics all we want but recurring works best when people forget about it and let it run for months on end, 1ShoppingCart effectively kills that! (this was the prime reason i wanted to leave 1ShoppingCart)
[Also their recurring billing system is an order of magnitude more flexible than 1ShoppingCart]


Full customization of the checkout process in 2 different ways:
A. design your own forms and just pass the data to Ultracart to verify!! TOTAL Flexibility
B. pay Ultracarts in house dev team $75/hour and they will customize the forms in your account for you! (this is what im doing, i like to have somebody i cna call and complain to if my tech stuff doesnt work and i dont have a full time web guy yet)


You can host the secure page on your own domain! this doesnt sound like a huge deal but it is. Through ultracart you can buy an SSL certificate, then when people check out with you they dont get sent to mcssl.com or ultracart.com or watever like with 1ShoppingCart, instead they stay on your site and simply checkout at secure.yoursite.com, now that may not sound big but i just think its an awesome thing for customers to never have to leave your environment!


Built in upselling system after the initial sale. Basically you set up your upsell items and the items that trigger them (so if somebody buys your dog book you can offer them dog soap)
then you can set up different paths to test (HUGE DEAL!) so u can offer htem upsell 1, 2 then 3 or split test it against offering 3, 1 then 2.
Easy useage for this "Priority order handling" give them the opportunity to pay you $4.95 to rush to fulfill their order before everybody elses = free money! but does it work better before or after youve asked them to buy the other upsells?!
The best part is this all happens AFTER they put their credit card info in and their order is set on a timer so even if they close the browser it goes through for the initial product and any upsells they choose after 45 min.
This feature alone is gonna save you countless hours manualy entering in upsell orders if you had to do it via a script!

There are a litany of other features but these are the big 5 that really got me to switch!

Oh yeah, and its cheaper!

eBay Upsell Tactics

My TOP 7 tactics to up-sell customers or to sell them a different item.. that are within the eBay rules.

Here's what I use/have seen being used:

1) Listing a popular product using a premium listing package (looks like alot of sellers actually do this and list at a loss to gain hits), and then in the listing link through to high profit items in a store.

2) Listing an item and give progressive bonuses (if the $$ amount hits this point, this bonus will be given.. this point another bonus.. etc - no idea if this is actually permitted, but I have seen it.)

3) Sending out emails at auction close, payment, shipping, and after receiving that plug high profit items.

4) Bundling a popular item with highly profitable ones and charging more.

5) Send a letter for free consultation in physical items. you can probably do it digitally as well. But I do both to hit both points. do a 20 to 30 minute strategy session to upsell (probably works better in how to... information products, markets or niches).

6) Pick up the phone and call customer to do customer "satisfaction survey", to make sure they got their items and there weren't any issues etc. Then upsell them on the phone via free strategy session or directly.

7) Add them to autoresponders by giving them free ebook or additional items (if using aweber, 1shopping cart, get response, constant contact etc.) otherwise if you're using arp3, you can probably add them to your list directly yourself as they are your customer. Just give away free ebook to keep things kosher with hosted autoresponder services policy etc.

A great alternative to BANS

I was searching for an alternative to BANS, something that was more of a store to use under mydomain.com/store and put BANS under mydomain.com/auction and found this site.



Popshops.com

Its set up so you can choose millions of products from all the major affiliate programs and list them as a store. They have free, $5, $30 and $60 versions. The $30 version has all the features most would need.



Here is a demo shop that has 2100 pages indexed (you design your own template and include the product listings with javascript or php)

If the 3 year old can do it why can't we right?





The only other service I know of like this is Datafeedr and it's $97 a month.
IMO datafeedr looks better than Popshops....I like how it intergrates into your blog better by just one file. But on the down side the $97 a month is a bit rude, it should be free lifetime updates and not by the month.

I found Wordpress Datafeed Import, that's $137 one time and no monthly fee. You might want take a look at it, if you haven't seen it already.

Master tips to profit on Ebay

The following is an update to my previous post: "How i profit on Ebay"

1. Ebay's new rules don't seem to prevent you from bundling an ebook in with a 'hard' product. Offering a free ebook on a related subject helps differentiate you and can be the difference between winning the sale and losing it to a competitor. This is especially true when prices are identical and margins are tight.

2. The upsell is in the niche. Setting up niche stores is THE way to profit in a competitive market. Buyers will always prefer to buy from a niche store that looks well populated and run by experts or enthusiasts in their field. In fact many customers will pay more for the same product for the same reasons. Both the store and the listings have to look professional. Spends some time on this - look at what others are doing and emulate the best ones. Good design, graphics and detail are the biggest persuaders in a crowded market.

3. Once you have their first order it's imperative you get them to opt-in to a list. Don't rely on Ebay's newsletter system. It just doesn't work. You need to send a request with the confirmation with a strong incentive for them to opt-in (another free ebook perhaps?) and use an external autoresponder, or make use of one of the ebay orderprocessing services like MarketWorks to handle this for you.

4. Once you have qualified prospects in an enthusiastic niche, who have purchased before and opted in then you have a basis for a long term, high profit business. Here are some ideas:

ALWAYS offer free or discounted shipping for multiple purchases. ALWAYS. I can't stress that enough. ALWAYS. Got it?

Regular, information rich newsletter - give as much info away as you can. The more they value your emails the more often they'll read them

Discount vouchers/coupons - always good to make former customers feel they are getting something for nothing

Loss-leaders - monthly low cost 'offers' to build repeat business and get people back to your store. A good loss-leader should undercut your competitors but still cover your costs. A reasonable loss leader will make a small loss but have a natural sell-up product that many customers will be tempted by.

"We'll Find It For You" service - offer to find specialist products for customers by request. Even when you can't source the product they want, you can offer them alternatives - it works, trust me on this! Keep an eye on Ebay's Want It Now service - it can be a good source of ideas for products, and you may even pick up the occasional order - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/wantitnow/

5. Support your niche store with a website as soon as you are ready and can afford it. It gives you credentials and the opportunity to upsell/cross-sell and bundle in ways that just aren't feasible on ebay. Plus you can sell ebooks!

6. Get up to Powerseller as quickly as you can. If you're serious about using ebay as a long term business then PowerSeller status is a must. The FVF discounts can make a big difference to profits and the extra support is handy too. As you'd expect many buyers will choose a PowerSeller over an ordinary business in a competitive decision.

How I Profit On eBay

I've been selling items on eBay for about a year, slowly building a business.

When I started out, I thought price was everything.. and was looking for those "miracle" sources online... well they don't exist. Perhaps at tradeshows and through trade magazines, but I haven't gone through that yet.

The fact of the matter is, if you are drop shipping or buying in light bulk wholesale then your profit margin will be small.. but it is possible to make a profit -- in the upsell. People will pay a premium and give you an ok margin (considering your risk is nill with dropshipping) in the upsell. You need to be selling products that are either little known, or creating unique product bundles. I don't worry about what Amazon.com or other sites sell my products for.. if your customer was looking to buy from Amazon.com then they would be on Amazon! There's no reason to care just because someone was too lazy to look around for the best deal.

That being said, I never sell at a loss on eBay, and most of all I try to never undercut the competition. I do occasionally have low bid auctions, but I set my buy it now price at a premium to other sellers, and I usually get it.

You simply have to list, test, and eliminate unprofitable products. It cost very little of your time to "test the market" on eBay. You just need a few small repeatable successes.

Also, I highly recommend you have different accounts catering to a specific niche, preferably with your username equivalent to your .com.. although the recent eBook changes have made it alot tougher to build feedback.

In summary of this long winded post:
1) Accept that you will have tight profit margins from dropshippers or light bulk wholesalers.
2) Sell lesser known products or create unique products.
3) Upsell like crazy.
4) Never sell at a loss or undercut the competition. Forget about competing with anyone on price.
5) Eliminate products that don't work out, and keep trying new ones.
6) Different accounts is good if your username matches your.com