Part of being a successful eBay seller is to keep tabs on the competition. Right now, it looks like US sellers offering goods on the eBay UK site are giving up and heading for the hills. Just this week, 3 sellers that I follow have closed their stores. One is no longer a registered user – POOF – just disappeared. One seller even added a note to all of her store pages explaining that she won’t be offering her products on eBay UK, or worldwide, due to a weak conversion rate.

It doesn’t have to be this way! Granted, the USD / GBP exchange rate is at an all time low right now (1.45%), you don’t have to lose money or go out of business. Simply change your GBP prices to reflect the lower rate. For example, if you are currently offering a product at £10 and your profit is $8 based on a 1.9% exchange rate, just change the price to £12.75. Problem solved. (Be sure to change your shipping fees to reflect the higher rate.)

So why aren’t more sellers just adjusting their pricing? My guess, they are too lazy! Many have hundreds of listings and when they set up their stores, they never considered that the exchange rates would fluctuate. So now they are stuck with 500 – 1,000 listings based on a 1.9% exchange rate. These sellers are either making extremely low profit, or they are operating at a loss. Even worse, some don’t even know that they aren’t making any money as they never track inventory costs, fees, profits, or any other financial information.

This is another example of the attitude, “eBay is easy money.” Many sellers who open UK stores think that they can set up their stores, add hundreds of products, and watch the money roll in without ever having to make adjustments, check on their competitors, or fine-tune their stores. I see this happen all the time. Newsflash: NOTHING ON EBAY IS EASY. eBay is work just like any other business. The market, demand, and consumer buying habits will continue to fluctuate and to continue to make a profit, you have to make adustments.

You can go in one of two directions now.

Proverbs 12:24: “Work hard, become a leader. Be lazy, never succeed.”

As Bill Gates said, “I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.” In other words, don’t give up, just spend some time adusting your pricing. For more detailed information on eBay UK selling, check out my eBook, “How to Maximize Profits on eBay UK.”

[Image Source: Flickr, eBay Coach Photos]

Post from: EveryJoe

US eBay UK Sellers Dropping Like Flies

The value of the dollar against the GBP just keeps dropping. Today the rate is less than 1.5. According to XE.com, the conversion rate is 1.47. The rate last November was 1.9. If your eBay UK pricing and shiping rates are still based on 1.9, you’d better spend some time changing them or your profits will substantially suffer.

Some sellers are temporarily closing their stores to make the conversions, or to wait out the recession and see what rates do. Click here for more details on adjusting your UK pricing – unless you just like working for free.

[Image Source: Flickr]

Post from: EveryJoe

Dollar at New Low Against GBP – Adjust Your eBay UK Pricing

If you are not selling on eBay UK, now is the time. Learn why US sellers are turning to eBay UK, and how you can make money selling there.

Post from: EveryJoe

US Dollar is Weak, British Pound is Strong: Sell on eBay UK

In an earlier post, I mentioned selling on eBay UK and asking eBay Trust and Safety before listing an item. You need to make sure that the item is allowed. I recently inquired about selling a product (that about 20 other sellers currently offer).

My question:

Hello, I would like to offer [PRODUCT NAME] on eBay UK. Is this item allowed? I see other sellers offering it, however, I wanted to verify that the product is allowed before listing it. Thank you!

eBay UK’s Response:

We appreciate you taking the time to ask whether or [PRODUCT NAME] you want to sell is allowed on eBay. While we’d like to be able to give you a definitive “yes” or “no” answer, please understand that we’re not in a position to do so. There are two reasons for this:

(1) We haven’t seen the item.

(2) eBay isn’t an expert in the legality or authenticity of specific items. Unlike a traditional auction house, we’re not involved in the transaction and we don’t see items before they’re listed. We simply act as a venue for buyers and sellers to meet. If reported to us, listings may be removed for breaching the law, a rights owner’s intellectual property rights or because they blatantly breach eBay listing policies. I recommend you review our listing policies in detail to help you decidewhether or not to list your item.

Copy these links into new browser windows for more information:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/policies.html

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/questions/prohibited-items.html

I hope this explains why we can’t give you a specific approval, and helps you decide whether to list your item. I sincerely hope your eBay sales run smoothly.

Interesting. We are supposed to ask first, but when we ask we don’t really get an answer. Hmmmm.

Post from: EveryJoe

Help from eBay UK

This question was posted on my Stay at Home Mom’s Selling on eBay Facebook Group:

“I wanted to start selling internationally too. I was wondering if you open a store on eBay.com and then list worldwide for shipping or if you go to another site, like the UK ebay and then list there. What is the best way to get the most exposure for your items. ”

Both strategies have advantages and disadvantges. Selling directly on another eBay site can be more advantageous as you have more factors in your favor through the Best Match algorithm as a direct seller. The users of that site will see the products in their currency, which they like. But, there are several more steps involved when selling on an eBay international site.

First, you will need to convert all of your pricing to the foreign currency. (eBay doesn’t do this for you.) The customers will pay you in that foreign currency, and you will need to convert the funds to USD once in your Paypal account. Any refunds will need to be made in the foreign currency. You need to understand the exchange rates (which change several times a day), to understand your profits and costs.

Secondly, the fees are different. Each eBay international site has a different fee structure for listing fees, final value fees, auctions vs fixed price, gallery photo, etc. You will need to study the fee structure to understand how you will be charged for selling your items there.

Third, the regulations and prohibited items are different for each site based on laws in that particular country. Verify that the item is allowed before listing it. (Don’t assume other sellers have done their homework on this one.) If you list and item that is not allowed, your listing will be ended. Too many of these, and your account will be closed.

You will need to understand what items are not allowed to be shipped into other countries. If you ship an item out, and the foreign country’s customs finds an item that is not allowed, it is not delivered to the customer and you won’t get the package back. You will be out the money (if you refund the customer) and you will be out the product. The rules for prohibited items change frequently and the laws in other countries are very different than ours in the USA. Click here for the USPS official list of prohibited items by country.

Also, educate yourself on customs fees. Understand the value that is exempt from customs fees for any country you ship to. As a general rule, the customers don’t know. If the value of an item is over a certain threshold, the customer will be charged a duties fee (sometimes more than the product cost to start with) – and they will probably leave negative feedback and think it is the seller’s fault for not understanding their system. So just educate yourself on the fees that your customers may incur.

Selling directly on the international site allows you to target your customers directly. For example, if you want to sell toys to the UK this year for Christmas, you would be better served to list your items directly on eBay UK. You are putting yourself in front of your audience, working with them in their currency, and basically selling to them on their turf instead of expecting them to find you on eBay USA.

If you sell on the USA site and offer international shipping, that works, too. Plenty of interntional customers come to eBay USA to make their purchases. You don’t have to worry about converting any currency.

[Image Source: Flickr]

Post from: EveryJoe

Selling on eBay International Sites

I received this email from a US seller who sells items on eBay UK.

“Tell your readers to be careful listing items on the eBay UK. This week my listing for (an over the counter medicine) was ended as it is a prohibited prescription item on eBay UK. I didn’t realize that because about 25 other US sellers offer it, too. I am confused as to why so many other sellers can offer it and their listings aren’t removed. If you have ever read the eBay UK help section on Prohibited and Restricted Items, you will agree that the verbiage is rather vague and cryptic. So, I emailed eBay UK to get to the bottom of the issue. Here is their response:

‘Please note that our prohibited items policies cover tens of thousands of products and auctions are listed continuously. By the time we remove a prohibited item, a new prohibited item is listed. Therefore, at any given time, you may see prohibited items listed on eBay, but it does not mean they are allowed. You may ask eBay UK before you list an item. However, as a rule of thumb, if the drug comes in large quantities, it’s almost always pharmacy licensed in the UK and not allowed to be sold on eBay UK.’

In other words, the members have to police each other. But there is a little more to it. Competition is brutal on eBay UK. Rather than lowering their price to beat their competitors, some sellers play dirty and examine other sellers’ listings with a microscope to find something petty to report. Unfortunate that some sellers cannot exist on their own merits, they must attack other sellers in order to stay in business. Warn your readers that if they get involved on eBay UK, they will be in for a territorial fight. Don’t ever assume that because a seller has an item listed that is is allowed. The ones who have been there know what is not allowed, and they get a rush out of reporting the new sellers.

As for me, I will continue to mind my business and run my store as best I can. I don’t have time to be the eBay police, and frankly, have better things to do than to sit around reporting violations all day. I’d rather be listing new items, doing more research, and serving the customers who want to buy from me.

Thanks for your blog, so many good ideas!”

V.A. Taylor, eBay Power Seller

[Image Source: Flickr]

Post from: EveryJoe

Deciphering the Rules on eBay UK