eBay Back To School Sales Explosion!

by | Aug 17, 2019 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay

eBay Back To School shoppers are here sellers!

It may feel as if Summer will never end, but it’s already time for eBay’s Back to School (BTS) retail moment. That’s right: The eBay Back to School selling season is NOW. And it’s going to be HUGE on eBay.

Just how big is eBay Back To School you ask?

So, how big is eBay Back To School Shopping?

For starters, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts record spending this year: Families with children in elementary through high school will shell out an average of $697 (up from $685 in 2018), while families with college students are expected to ante up an average of $977 (up from 2018’s $942).

Best of all, those families plan to do roughly half of their shopping online. That includes eBay Back To School shoppers!

Furthermore, 85%-90% of those planning to shop online intend to take advantage of free shipping. (There’s a word to the wise!)

But the potential for profit doesn’t stop there.

Back to School encompasses everything from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. It includes children, teenagers, and adults. It’s kids and teachers, but it’s also parents, who shop for themselves while shopping for their offspring.

How can you attract these eager eBay Back To School customers?

If you think you have nothing to offer Back to School buyers, think again! BTS items go way beyond school supplies like pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. They run the gamut from electronics to apparel to accessories.

My complimentary downloadable Ultimate Guide to Back to School Products will help you discover coveted BTS goodies that you already have on hand — and maybe even already have listed!

You’ll be surprised to find out how much of your available inventory is popular with Back to School shoppers.

Once you’ve got a handle on your best BTS items, if you have an eBay store, now is the time to promote those items.

This is one retail moment during which every major retailer offers deals and savings. You can, too! So get smart, seller: Google some of those major retailers for inspiration. Then use eBay’s Promotions Manager to create deals of your own.

For example, you might offer a percentage or dollar-amount discount for buyers who spend more than $X with you.

Create a Promotion with Promotions Manager. Group you Back To School items together. That way, when your shopper lands on one of your products, they’ll be encouraged to buy more from you. Here are more possibilities that might pay off.

Put certain Back To School items on sale, and make a sale event for them.

Consider bundling products together to attract even more shoppers. Feature those special bundles on your social media. You might even want to make a dedicated store category for Back to School Deals and use eBay’s bulk-editing tool to stock it with selected items from your current listings.

In short, offer savings to get sales!

The Back to School selling season runs through mid-September, but the time to take advantage of this retail moment is NOW. Download your free copy of my Ultimate Guide to Back to School Products today to jump-start your BTS selling and cash in on Back to School!

Here’s How To Attract eBay Back To School Shoppers!

eBay Open 2019 Seller Updates Galore!

by | Aug 11, 2019 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay

Good news from eBay Open 2019: Policies and initiatives announced at the conference place sellers front and center! These policies impact sellers at all levels.

First, these new policy updates and initiatives unveiled at eBay Open 2019 are important. Furthermore, there are fine points to them that you might overlook.

For all sellers, with or without stores

  • New photo-editing tool! eBay has launched in beta a new photo-editing tool that whites out the background of your pictures. But please note the following important caveats:
  1. This useful tool is still in beta. That means it’s not yet perfected. It also means that not everyone can use it yet.
  2. Only eBay Open attendees currently have access to the beta. To get it, you had to sign up in the Seller Hub area. If you neglected to do so, reach out to customer service to see what, if anything, can be done to enable you to access the beta.
  3. You can only use the white background photo-editing functionality through eBay Mobile for the iPhone. Once the background is whited out, your listing can be saved as a draft and then completed from your desktop or laptop computer. The new whiteout tool will eventually be available on those devices as well. As of right now, the beta version is in a very early stage.
  • Multi-User Account Access! All sellers — with or without a store — can now utilize eBay’s new Multi-User Access (MUAA). Right now, the only part of your account to which you can apply multi-user access is listing. This means you can give an assistant access to the listing section of your Seller Hub.

eBay will add more areas as Multi-User Account Access rolls out, e.g. shipping and customer relations management. The company plans to include all aspects of selling in future iterations of MUAA. The steps to grant access to your seller account are in my complimentary Exclusive eBay Open Update Guide. 

Complimentary Exclusive eBay Open 2019 Update Guide!

New and better seller protections!

  • The biggest news for sellers is the MASSIVE improvements in seller protections. ALL sellers have new protections.Top Rated Sellers have BIG protections that actually put money in those sellers’ pockets.

Top Rated Sellers who offer 30-Day Returns get TWO financial as well as other protections.

Please note that for the following new protections, you DON’T need to offer free returns. However, you must be TOP RATED to receive these protections:

  1. If you get a false Item Not As Described (INAD) return, eBay will credit your invoice up to $6 to cover the cost of return shipping.
  2. If an item is returned in a different condition than when you shipped it (returned without tags, damaged, etc.), you may issue a partial refund for up to 50% of the item’s price.
  3. Negative feedback, defects and opened cases in Service Metrics connected to false INAD claims will be removed.
  4. Negative feedback and defects for transactions in which you give a partial refund will be removed.
  5. This process will be automated in your Seller Hub.
  6. You’re always welcome to call customer service. However, IF YOU’RE A TOP RATED SELLER, it’s not necessary to do so in order to receive the aforementioned protections.

For small to large sellers with eBay stores

Terapeak Product Research! Terapeak has rolled out to ALL sellers subscribing to a Basic or higher-level store. This justly popular and beloved marketplace research tool offers incredible data that will help you with your listings in a variety of ways. Different sellers are finding Terapeak via different routes, as simple access via Seller Hub seems to be in some kind of gradual roll out:

  1. You may now have a Research tab (replacing the Growth tab) in your Seller  Hub; you’ll find Terapeak in the drop-down menu under the Research tab.
  2. Google Terapeak, then log into Terapeak using your eBay user ID and password. You’ll see prompts for doing so on Terapeak’s website.
  3. Some sellers can log in through My Account > Subscriptions.

For Large Sellers With eBay stores

eBay Managed Delivery! For large sellers looking for an end-to-end fulfillment service, Managed Delivery is now available in beta to select sellers. eBay plans to roll it out site wide starting in the US in 2020. Managed Delivery is intended for very big sellers. My best understanding is that you’d want to have more than 1000 SKUs of inventory to send to the various fulfillment centers to make this option cost effective for you. I know one seller in the beta, and he is very, very happy.

Multi User Accounts are live on eBay!

In closing, Devin Wenig and his team have knocked the ball out of the stadium this time around.

There is excellent news for all levels of sellers!  eBay leadership clearly has been listening to the seller community. At the same time, they also are responding to the needs of shoppers.

Finally, what is a savvy eBay seller to do now?

With my complimentary Exclusive eBay Open Update Guide.  Dig in and study the policy changes.  You’re on the fast track to equip your business for more sales!

 

 

 

 

eBay Open 2019 Essential Attendees Guide!

by | Jul 9, 2019 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay

eBay Open 2019  essential attendees guide is here!

With eBay Open 2019 less than a month away, it means it’s time for sellers to start planning.  So, how will you make the most of your 3 days at this once-a-year opportunity? Get ready to get up close and personal with eBay executives, employees, and fellow eCommerce entrepreneurs!

How much you’ll get out of your time at eBay Open 2019 depends on how much effort you put into planning.

A few minutes spent planning your eBay Open 2019 day, maximizes your results!

Think now about how to best and most wisely utilize your time. Once you’re actually in Vegas, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the event. With the camaraderie of meeting up with old friends and making new ones, it’s so easy to realize on the last day that you’ve missed important workshops. And you haven’t talked with key eBay teams, and/or didn’t spend enough time in the Expo Hall.

Don’t be THAT attendee! Instead, do your planning now, and build in time for fun and spontaneity along the way.

What to bring to Las Vegas in July?

Here are some success strategies to keep in mind at eBay Open 2019, especially if you’re a first-time attendee:

  • Download the eBay Open 2019 App. Typically it’s released a few days before the event. Keep an eye on your emails from eBay Open. The app will have the daily agenda, surprise events and more.
  • Pack plenty of business cards. You’ll want them handy to enter vendor raffles and exchange with fellow sellers.
  • Yes, it’s VERY hot outside but bring a sweater or hoodie as meeting rooms can be chilly.
  • Wear your most comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking from hotel rooms to the conference.
  • Hydrate! Remember, you’re in the desert, so bring along your favorite reusable water bottle Bonus points  for yo if it’s eBay branded,
  • Take plenty of notes. Many events are taped, but it helps your memory to be a note taker.

Last but not least, have fun!

Back again this year are the super popular  Biz Boosts! Want 1-1 time with an eBay Customer Service representative?! Biz Boost offer you that opportunity. Schedule a Biz Boost appointment to discuss your eBay business in detail. Get recommendations for growing and improving it. You should have received an email from eBay’s Biz Boost Appointment Team about this via (regular email, not through My Messages); click on the link in the email and follow its instructions.

The annual eBay Open Unofficial Meet & Greet is the perfect way to kick off your eBay Open conference experience.

Hosted by the Dallas Meet Up groups’s Stephanie Inge with the help of eBetsy, this year’s opener for Open takes place from 7pm-10pm on Monday, July 22, in the Skyfall Lounge, located in Mandalay Bay’s Delano Tower. No tickets are required. Just show up and enjoy mingling with your fellow eBay sellers. eBay staff  have been known to attend.

Arriving early before eBay Open officially kicks off on July 23? You can register early for the conference: 12pm-5pm Monday or 8am-12pm Tuesday at the eBay Open desk in the lobby of Mandalay Bay. Regular registration starts at 3pm Tuesday. Additionally, the Expo Hall opens from 5pm-7pm for the eBay Open Welcome Registration. This is your chance to scope out the Expo Hall, so be sure to do your homework well in advance:

Go to eBayOpen.com/Sponsors to see who’s going to be there; then click to “Learn more” about each of them.

Make a note of those that interest you most. You can’t cover them all, so it’s important to pick and choose — preferably ahead of time. It’s well worth to walk the sponsor/vendor area. Vendors offer an array of services that are worth knowing about.

Day One on July 23 begins with the opening of The Expo Hall and Reception!

At the Welcome Reception, you can check with vendors regarding special offers for Open attendees or getting a demonstration of their product. Additionally, you can score T-shirts, collector pins, and other nifty swag. Not to be missed:

  • BULQ, purveyors of liquidation goods by the pallet or case, will be offering you a chance to win a $500 BULQ case; just get your eBay Open attendee badge scanned by a BULQ team member and sign up for a BULQ account (if you don’t already have one).
  • StreetPricer will be giving live demos of their eBay repricing tool. Repricing tools give eBay sellers an edge. StreetPricer can keep an eye on your eBay listings. It can move prices up and down maximizing  your sales and profits! I use this tool and love it. I’ll be on hand (Kathy Terrill -I Love to Be Selling)  with the StreetPricer team to give you expert eBay advice.
  • Scotch ™/3M is a first time sponsor at eBay Open 2019. Stop by and learn all about their shipping innovation Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll. Here is a recent blog post all about it! My YouTube shows you Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll in action!

eBay Open 2019 Wednesday and Thursday are chock-full of general sessions, workshops, and seller panels!

Before you head to Vegas, go to to eBayOpen.com/workshops to read up on the various workshops and seller panels to be offered, then prioritize them in order of their importance to you and your business. Note: Some sessions are offered more than once. Take time now to prioritize the session you don’t want to miss. Write down your questions, then check the workshop schedule to see who’s likely to have the answers for you.

Check out the speakers, too, for the general sessions as well as for the workshops and seller panels, at eBayOpen.com/speakers.

Typically the general sessions are headed by senior staff and executives. We’ll hear from eBay CEO Devin Wenig, eBay’s Chief Marking Officer Suzy Deering and more. Often after general session you’ll discover these chief executrices in the halls and reception areas of eBay Open. They are accessible to sellers, so walk up and introduce yourself.

eBay executives and staff love meeting sellers.

Bear in mind as well that in addition to the general sessions and workshops, Open offers pop-up mini-events. They all sound great, but you can only be in so many places at once, so be ruthless about sticking to your priorities: eBay search? Seller Hub? Shipping? Google?

Wednesday gets off to a relatively leisurely start, with breakfast offered from 7:30am-9am. After that it’s full-tilt boogie — with breaks for lunch and a snack — until Happy Hour in the Expo Hall winds down at 6:30pm.  Thursday gives you only an hour for breakfast but one additional snack break, wrapping up after a final General Session from 3pm-4pm. At some point, too, eBay will announce the winners of this year’s SHINE Awards. Voting for eBay’s SHINE award begins July 15. be sure to vote!

Then it will be time to get ready for the closing party, 6pm-10pm at Las Vegas’ House of Blues.

Between those 2 days, you could attend a total of 10 workshops/seller panels altogether: 4 on Wednesday, 6 on Thursday. But remember, you also need to allow time for talking with vendors in the Expo Hall as well as for networking with eBay team members, executives, and customer service reps!

See why you need to start planning NOW for eBay Open 2019?

Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll’s Arrival!

by | Jun 27, 2019 | eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay

I am bursting with excitement because I’ve got some very exciting news to share with you.

I am thrilled to announce that 3M  Scotch™ has selected me to be a Brand Partner with their Scotch ™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll!!!

Loved being a VIP guest of Scotch™ Brand at 3M Center corporate headquarters

You already know and love the Scotch™ brand. They are a trusted name for shipping supplies and adhesives.

To begin, in April, I enjoyed the privilege of traveling to where innovation happens.

I went to the 3M Center corporate headquarters, in St. Paul, Minnesota, the home of the Scotch ™ brand. It was exciting to be the company’s specially invited guest. There, I spent an entire day learning all about  the newest Scotch ™ shipping innovation: Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll. It’s so great, it may in fact be the only packing material you’ll ever need. (I’ll explain why in a minute.)

The team members behind this amazing new product personally demonstrated for me all the features that make Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll so incredibly useful.

In addition, I got to put their baby through some pretty strenuous hands-on testing. I even threw my wrapped packages across the room to challenge Scotch ™ Flex & Seal’s durability, so I can report from firsthand experience that it passed the Kathy Terrill throw test!

By now you’re no doubt thinking, “Kathy, just what is Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll?”

Scotch ™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll is a shipping innovation for eBay sellers!

Simply put, it’s the future of shipping. The brand-new Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll can replace boxes and polyvinyl or manila mailers. It’s an innovative way to ship relatively small to medium-size non-fragile items. Furthermore, it can save you up to 50% in time, shipping supplies, and storage space for those supplies. It’s recyclable, too! Here’s the skinny: it is a miraculous 3-ply shipping material that comes in 15-inch wide, 10 and 20-foot-long rolls.

The sturdy outer layer is both water and tear resistant.

The middle layer is a built-in cushion to protect your shipped item. Finally, the inner layer utilizes a very cool new adhesive technology that makes it stick securely to itself, but never to your item. Packing and shipping  is literally as easy as 1-2-3. All you need to do it: 1. Cut a piece of Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll to the appropriate size. 2. Fold it around your item (think calzone, not gift wrap). 3. Press around the edges to seal it tightly Then just slap on a shipping label, and voilà! Your custom-sized package is good to go, with nary an inch of wasted space. You don’t even need tape. Best of all, it’s recyclable as plastic.

New Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll revolutionizes packing and shipping for online sellers.

No more searching for the right box for shipping! Scotch ™ Flex & Seal saves eBay seller’s precious time!

No more searching for a box that’s just the right size, and no need to keep bulky assortments of boxes, envelopes, and filler on hand. Think how much space this will free up in your shipping station! (I already know how much space it’s freed up in mine.) To see new Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll in action, Check out my YouTube video “eBay Shipping Just Got a Whole Lot Easier”.

HERE is my affiliate link to purchase your own Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping Roll. Give it a try for yourself, then let me know what you think of Scotch™ Brand’s newest shipping innovation.

eBay sellers, simply cut, fold & press the Scotch™ Flex & Seal Shipping roll!

As Scotch™ Partner, I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Summer Selling Pain Relief Arrives eBay Sellers!

by | Jun 4, 2019 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay

There is selling pain at times for most eBay sellers.

There is too much to do, in too little time. Your home or office is full of unlisted inventory. Furthermore, shipping takes too long. Social media is time consuming. Additionally,how do you sort out what needs to done each day? What’s a seller to do?

The pain from struggling with time management is ongoing! Even here in NYC the city that never sleeps, it can seem as if there are not enough hours in the day. So what’s a busy seller to do? What really works?

Here are my top 3 tips to remove selling pain:

First of all, figure out where your time is going. You can’t begin to manage your time until you know what you’re doing with it. For one week, track what you do with your time each day.

Grab my complimentary time trackers. I’ve developed these exclusively for you, my eBay seller friend.

Relieve eBay selling pain with complimentary time trackers, just for sellers!

Be ruthlessly honest in this initial assessment.  Here are the Top Five Time Wasters eBay Sellers Face.The whole point is to figure out where you are wasting or otherwise making inefficient use of your time. Just remember that nobody works at maximum productivity every minute of every day, and you’re allowed to take breaks. So, don’t be too hard on yourself at this point! There is enough selling pain without adding to it!

Second, review your week-long timeline.

Now you can be judgmental: Is your time being spent where you’d like it to be? Is it being spent on the right things? Is your timeline aligning with your priorities?

Chances are you’ll find room for improvement. For example, could you spend 30 less minutes per day on Facebook and instead use that half-hour to take photos of items to be listed? What other bits and pieces of your day are being frittered away that could instead be devoted to getting something done?

Lost seconds add up to minutes, add up to hours, faster than you might think!

But still, don’t be too hard on yourself. Sure, we could all probably benefit from a little more self discipline; however, it’s equally likely that we could all probably benefit from scaling back what we expect of ourselves. Because when all is said and done, there are only so many hours in each day…and probably something not yet done by the end of every one of them! So, try to be realistic when you plan how to more effectively utilize your time. Additionally, streamlining choices, and getting 30 minutes back each day is a HUGE win. 30 minutes is a lot time for shipping or listing!

Third, set and write down 3 goals for your week. For instance:

  1. List 120 items
  2. Clean out storage closet
  3. 1 product-sourcing trip

Look at your calendar and figure out when and how you can accomplish those 3 things. Then go forth and do them!

At the end of the week (or the beginning of the next week; whichever works for you), take a few minutes to assess: Did you meet your 3 goals? Maybe 2 out of the 3? Maybe only 1? Yes or no? Again, be ruthlessly honest, but stop short of beating yourself up for any shortfalls. If you didn’t get everything done, then you just need to re-tweak your initial plan.

Without looking at what is working and what isn’t, you’ll go in endless circles, repeating the same errors or bad choices.

Maybe you really love Facebook, and it’s a bit of a mental health break for you as well as a marketing opportunity. So give up just 15 minutes, not 30. Furthermore, scale back your listing quota for the week to 100 items instead of 120. It’s important to succeed. You get MORE done that way.

Or say you love product sourcing, but personal and/or household errands are falling by the wayside. How can you bundle errands with sourcing? Is your grocery store close to a favorite thrift store or outlet mall? You get the idea!

So there you have it. Time management can be as simple and easy as 1-2-3. It reduces selling pain!

Complimentary time trackers to end eBay selling pain!

  1. Honestly assess how you spend your time.
  2. Set goals for using your time most productively.
  3. Take action; then reassess; and repeat.

Just remember when you’re setting your priorities that sleep is essential, as is eating, LOL. In addition, be sure to carve out time to spend with family and friends as well as give yourself some time to pause and smell the flowers along the way.

In the long run, you’ll not only get more done, you’ll also be happier doing it.

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