1) Offer incredible value -- If you offer your customer incredible value, you will attract large numbers of buyers. That’s simply a no-brainer. For example, let’s look at a listing which is offering digital cameras for $1...
Is the seller serious? Is he has studied his market and knows perfectly well that the price will rise as more and more people bid. In fact, let’s look at two previous auctions that began in the same way...
and...
In both of these auctions, he sold only 20 cameras at a time yet he had over 200 bids each time. The price went to $60 and $68.50. So why does he start the bidding at only $1? Simple. He wants to entice buyers.
Warning... Don’t start items at some really low bid until you have done your homework. Know the value of your item and its market. You might face the awful situation of either losing a pile of money on your auction or getting thrown off your auction site. Talk about a losing proposition.
2) When you ship your merchandise, offer another product -- Be sure to include information on your other products. This way, the customer is paying to receive your advertising material. What can be sweeter than that? This is an incredibly powerful way to build a business. As an example, here is a section of an ad that I received in some merchandise that I bought…
The seller wanted me to join his wholesale buying club. So I paid for shipping and he won a chance to make more money from me. Put this strategy on your “do” list.
3) Always remember the back end -- All entrepreneurs need to understand the “back end” of every business. It is so much easier to sell to an already-existing customer than a new one unless your products are garbage, of course. Marketing gurus claim that it costs at least ten times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing one.
Let’s say that you are auctioning comic books. Contact every person who bids. Thank them for bidding. Build your e-mail list in this way. You aren’t spamming at all. You are simply thanking them for bidding. When you send this appreciative message, ask for permission to send them future notices of items as they become available. If they are interested, you will be creating a gold mine for yourself. And, as was discussed before, you can also keep in contact with your customers through developing newsletters.
Check out the listing below. Even though the auction has over three more days to run, the seller has more bids than he has supplies…
It’s easy to get the e-mail addresses of every person who bid on his watches and let them know whenever he has similar items in the future. After all, these buyers have already expressed interest in his product. The key is to keep the back end of your business at the front end of your mind at all times.
4) Make your offer irresistible -- The TV show, “60 Minutes,” did an interview with a marketing genius named Bob Stupek. This brilliant man bought a rather run-down hotel in Las Vegas away from the famous “Strip.” The local business community snickered at the ignorance of this newcomer. He fooled them all.
He created the irresistible offer. He offered two nights lodging in a deluxe room with free, unlimited cocktails and champagne, free show tickets, with big name entertainers, restaurant discounts and…
… $1000 to “roll the dice.” All this was included in the price of $396 per couple. In addition, there were always freebies throw in like vacations to Hawaii or cameras. How can he afford to do this? He counted on people gambling, and obviously they did because the offers continued.
So how can you make your offer irresistible? One way is by providing “excessive” value. That is, allow the customer to see that the value is considerably more substantial than the price.
Here is another example of a company that has mastered this principle. Their business model is worth careful study...
Further, they offer an incredible value for the price. Here is the exact copy of the ad...
Custom suit + accessories: The winning bidder is entitled to order any style and fabric. Our extensive online fabric and style choices exceed 400 options! The winning bidder will also receive with our complements. Two (2) custom tailored 100% Egyptian cotton dress shirts . (A US$120.00 per shirt retail value*.) (* GQ quoted US$240.00 per shirt ref. 06/00 issue) and Two (2) 100% Pure Silk hand made ties. (A
US$55.00 per tie retail value.) and One (1) Designer Leather Belt This auction item you are bidding on consists of the following: One Custom Made suit, two hand made dress shirts, two silk ties, one designer Leather belt and Free FedEx
Global Shipping! The total retail value of this auction:
US$4800.00
i) Lead your customer to your Web site. Rather than saying something like “check out our Web site,” their listing says “Online references available.”
ii) Understand your customer’s mindset. My very first thought when I read this ad was that if I were a man (and potential customer) I would be worried about the fit. After all, unless I am there, how can I be sure it will be right? The company is aware of these concerns and answers their questions at their Web site. An apprehensive or confused customer doesn’t buy so provide the necessary confidence.
iii) Provide testimonials of happy customers raving about your products. Their testimonials include e-mail addresses for verification, just like SiteSell does for all its products. In this way, prospective customers know that the testimonials are genuine. See examples at http://auctions.sitesell.com/
Which of the following two testimonials is more believable to you? The first is from our tailors and a second is from a seller offering printer cartridges...or...
(Although, the tailors really should proofread their site instead of making errors like “possible.”) 5) Have a powerful guarantee -- SiteSell.com sets the standard. If you aren’t happy for any reason you can get your money back. No questions asked. In an auction, a powerful guarantee will definitely boost sales. It removes any sense of risk. Will there be some who will take advantage? Yes, most likely there will be but most experienced marketers don’t consider that a significant risk.
If you offer a personal guarantee, remember to broadcast it to the world. For example…Just a note to let you know that I have a brand new
online store featuring quality gifts from around the world at discount prices. For the month of October I am offering a 20% rebate to all first time buyers. I accept Visa,
Mastercard and American Express through a secure server.
The holidays are fast approaching, so now is the time to
start your holiday shopping. All merchandise is guaranteed or your money back. No questions asked.I have many more
items available (over 3000), so if you do not see what you are looking for email me. Also, for $5.00, I have a huge
beautiful catalog available. The $5.00 is refundable with your first order.
Please visit my site and register even if you do not wish to purchase anything at this time. Click on this link to visit my store: www.affordableglobalgifts.com
Thanks for reading my email.6) Offer premiums -- Create desirable premiums, so your customer thinks… “I’ve just got to have this!”...
The item price is $7.77. Looks like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it? A vacation and $1,000 worth of bonuses for $7.77?7) Make it easy for your customers to buy -- Make it easy for your customers to find you and to buy from you…
If you are interested in trading cards, it would be easy to find satisfaction. There is a direct link to the Web site and the 800 telephone number is given as another option.
8) Provide an incentive to buy more -- This seller offers an incentive to buy more…
9) Enlist your customers as part of your sales team -- This seller is selling cartridges and rewards his customers if they help him to sell his products...
10) Let your customer know exactly what she is getting -- There are a lot of CDs for sale on the auction sites. Many lack a clear explanation for customers to know exactly what they are about. In this case, the listing gives specific details...
11) Recycle your bestsellers -- Constantly recycle your products. Think of new ways to sell products or combine or create new varieties of the same ideas.
This auctioneer sold both leather jackets and travel certificates. Here she is offering the jackets and including the certificates as “bonuses”… 12) Always try for the “upsell” -- An enterprising seller of amethyst earrings also suggests buying a pendant to go with them. Not only that, she makes it easy by providing a live link that will take the buyer directly to a matching pendant…
For some reason, this is rarely done in listings. Take advantage of it. Why settle for one sale when you can have two, or three, etc.? 13) Publish a newsletter -- A newsletter will build a customer list quickly. If all your letter is going to be is “Buy! Buy! Buy!” then skip the effort unless you have the most awesome deals in the world. But if you are specializing in something and want to offer information of value, then it’s very worthwhile.
An regularly scheduled e-zine that offers customer-focused, quality content is the perfect communication tool for building trust and credibility -- I can’t stress this enough!
14) Always advertise your other auctions -- There are many sellers who advertise their other auctions. The question is how do you want to do this?Version #1 -- This is an example of how not to advertise. This seller lets buyers know that he has 36 other auctions. He has included a notification of this on his auction. When the buyer looks at his listings, he will see this... Imagine yourself as the buyer and think about how this works. You first click on an item which takes you to a page that gives all the details and pictures for that item. You then click back to the list to see the next item. Are you likely to do this? You’re right. It’s not the most effective approach unless you have very targeted traffic who don’t care about the inconvenience.
Version #2 -- Here is a much better way...
This seller has dozens and dozens of items for sale. But instead of wading through all of them, she makes it easier to focus on a particular interest. Version #3 -- This is my nomination for the most powerful way to display your merchandise...
15) Fix mistakes -- A listing can be a mixture of great marketing ideas and mistakes at the same time. Randy uses the auctions to promote an enormous amount of products from Instant Chai Tea Mix to Pumpkin Spice Flavored Coffee to Chocolate Dipped Biscotti. The entire list extends to six pages!...
Randy does several things right…i) His Web site is pleasant and he includes information about all his products.
ii) His auction prices are lower than those on his Web site which encourages customers to buy from the auctions.
iii) He is shrewd about shipping, too. Shipping for one item or five items is $6 which encourages buying more, of course. Another plus? The prices for these kinds of items are very good.
iv) He will send a printed catalog through the mail -- an added bonus and more publicity for him.Randy should fix the following...
i) He includes a section on his Web site called “Special Offers.” Clicking on that listing, however, leads to an empty page (at the time of writing this book). Either he should promote some specially priced items, or remove that section from his site entirely. An empty page is a big turn-off for a customer.
ii) The “Newsletter” listed on his site consists of several paragraphs about the owners and their store. It isn’t really a newsletter because it doesn’t change. There is nowhere to sign up for periodic updates about their products or information about items in the store. There are two features called “Coffee Facts” and “Perfect Cup” which are brief information pages on coffee and how to brew a great cup. He needs to expand on this with more coffee trivia and tips.
iii) His request for distributors is a good idea but misspelling the word detracts from his credibility...
iv) He writes all his listings on a black background which makes them harder to read. Text on black background isn’t effective. You want to attract not repel those surfing eyeballs of your visitors.
It’s a good thing to “fix” things once you identify them. However, the best way to be successful is by avoiding mistakes in the first place as you will see next... 