Now buyers don’t have to register to buy on eBay!

By now, most people know that eBay has launched a guest buyer program. I think this is where they were initially going with eBay Express, but it didn’t work out as well over there. I think it’s a smart idea to bring this to the core of eBay, particularly as the holiday season approaches.

Here’s how it works:

A buyer uses the Buy It Now option for a fixed price or store inventory item. He is then immediately directed to a PayPal page (which looks like it’s still an eBay page so they don’t freak out) to enter shipping information, credit card details, etc. (He does not have to be a PayPal user, just use their credit card processing form). Only once the payment is completed does the listing end. It’s very similiar to the Immediate PayPal Payment Required option.

The buyer then has the option of registering for eBay as well. Since all of the other details were already entered, all he needs to do is select a User ID, password and secret question. If the buyer registers, then he will be able to leave feedback for you (and you for him) if not, then no feedback can be left for either party.

So, how does this affect sellers? Well, the restrictions on the program aren’t as strict as for eBay Express, so you may see an increase in fixed price and store listing sales.

Here are the requirements:

• Premier/Business PayPal account
• Specify shipping costs in the listing (calculated or flat-rate)
• Item price under $2,000
• Qualify for the top-tier PayPal Buyer Protection ($2,000 level)
• Use eBay Checkout, not a third-party checkout system

Now as to how they are promoting it, according to Evan Liang at eBay, "We are hitting them at the most contextual point in the purchase cycle which is the sign in page. We are also considering adding some messaging on the visitor homepage but that’s not quite live yet. We certainly want the word to get out about this feature." So it looks like eBay is promoting this, but not in offline advertising.

Why the sign in page? Well, when a guest decides he wants something, he clicks Buy Now. This takes him to the register/sign in page. According to Liang, a lot of guests drop off at this point, not wanting to go through a full registration process. So by offering guest buying on this page, should help entice a buyer into purchasing. Then, once they’ve completed the purchase, it’s only three more boxes to fill out to become fully registered. Of course new buyers don’t think about that at the time, but it’s a good way to get over that initial hurdle.

Is it catching on? According to Liang (who wouldn’t give specific numbers), a few thousand new buyers are using the Guest Buyer feature each day. And the vast majority are converting to full registration immediately. There is a limit for Guest Buyers of 2 transactions before they have to fully register. Plus, items must be shipped to a US or Canadian address (assuming you offer international shipping to Canada on your listing). So no true "international" buyers can use this option.

For those who have preferences set to "confirmed address only," you may still receive guest buyer purchases. It will simply mean that both the shipping and billing addresses entered by the guest buyer match.

Personally, I think it’s smart to offer this in the holiday season because this is the time of year that we see most seasonal eBay buyers checking out the items. They may not be year-round buyers, but they always look for a deal on eBay. It makes sense to make a guest buyer purchase more like any other website purchase he may make.

Chargebacks will be handled in exactly the same way as usual, and blocked bidders or suspended users will continue to be blocked. eBay matches the registration information (address, credit card, etc.) so a blocked bidder can’t then just use the Guest Buyer process to circumvent the system. Since the listing isn’t removed until the payment is sent, there is less risk using a Guest Buyer than, say, a buyer with zero feedback who’s just registered and wants to pay with a non-PayPal method.

If you have a problem with a guest buyer, or you think it is a scammer that eBay’s system missed, you can report it to customer service. The buyer is given a default ID which you can use to report any issues, just like any other eBay buyer.

You will also get the buyer’s email address so you can sending shipping notices, etc.

All in all, I think this is an interesting new feature. I think the two item limit is a little low, but we’ll see how that pans out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that increase. You can read the continuing discussion about this new feature here.

Here is a great little eBook that has lots of good information on dropshipping and eBay product sourcing

I would like to take a moment and wish all of my readers a Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope that each of you get to enjoy the warmth of family and friends around you during this holiday season, and find some great bargains this weekend at the mall.

Here is a great little eBook I came across that has lots of good information on wholesale sourcing and drop shipping for eBay sellers. The book is called Successful Product Sourcing; How To Find Real Wholesale Products You Can Sell Online.

Its from the good folks at WorldWide Brands and I thought you might enjoy reading it.  Just click on this link to download your copy.

See you again on Monday

Skip & Karen McGrath

See Also

• Ten Little Known, Highly Profitable Niche Markets Hiding on eBay
  Here are ten highly profitable littel niche businesses that anyone can do

By state law everyone who sells another individual’s belongings online needs an auctioneer’s license. The law does not include people who sell their own things on online sites such as eBay.
The licensing process can take anywhere from six to eight months.
The Department of State oversees the online auction rules and auctioneer’s licenses. A spokesperson for […]

The author of Day Job Killer and Project X is at it again. His latest product, Google Assassin launches today at Noon Pacific and 3 PM Eastern

Some of you may remember that I helped Promote the highly profitable Google AdSense program Day Job Killer earlier this year.  That was followed by Project X that showed ordinary folks how to copy the really successful online affiliate marketers and AdSense gurus.

I used both of those programs to make money from clickbank ads and Google AdSense.  I also used Chris’s techniques to improve sales from my own AdWords program to promote my products.  Just that one technique easily paid for his course many times over.

Like anything out there on the web once a lot of people start doing it these techniques become highly competitive. The other problem is just the work involved.  Now Chris has come out with Google Assassin that automates the whole process of affilaite marketing and pay per click advertising.  The new system actually includes tools –some that reside on your computer and some that reside on his server.

Its a bit complicated to explain, so the best thing to do is watch the video.  The neatest thing about this program is that you can use it to make some spare change by spending an hour or so getting everything set up and then put it on autopilot.  Or, if you really want to work at it, you can make some really serious money.

This is not for everyone.  If you are just getting started or struggling with your eBay business, just keep working on that.  But if you have some spare time and would like to make some extra money –this is a very simple system to set up and run.  You can watch a short flash video here that explains everything.

See Also

• My Top 20 Wholesale Sources for eBay PowerSellers
  This is a list of my top 20 sources for eBay power sellers and small web site owners

Best of eBay is a community driven website dedicated to show the most eccentric listings on eBay. With Best of eBay you can nominate the most eccentric listings you find and eBay to be voted by fellow community members. In order to nominate and vote for a Best Of eBay listing you must be a […]

A decades-old law is attempting to force Pennsylvania online auctioners selling consignment goods to take college courses in auctoineering or face fines, and have their business shut down.

That headline is one of the most frequent reader emails I get followed by what sells best on eBay or what should I sell on eBay.

A few weeks ago I shared a list of some of the awful terms that sellers use in their auctions. Today, I thought I would share some of the more interesting emails I get from readers.

These are just a small sample from the past three months. Some of them are well intentioned, other frustrating and others from people who I really wonder about.  And, yes, these are real emails from readers. You can’t make this stuff up.

I have copy/pasted them exactly as they came in, so the grammar, punctuation, spelling and capitalization are exactly as received with no corrections on my part: I have removed the names and email addresses to protect the guilty.

i think that people who sale on ebay should pay taxes becasue there no better than people who pick up pop can for a living and please do not give my email address or name thank you.

Product: Ten Profitable eBay Niche
message: I need to get a refund for this item. It looks like a lot of work. I look for free money from eBay

 IF Skip McGrath is making so much money on ebay, why is he SELLING this information?
It looks to me, like he’s making money SELLING INFORMATION.
WHY should I BUY His imformation, when like everything else…it doesn’t deliver. WHY would he sell or even TELL his secrets?
Doesn’t he make enough on ebay without selling his secrets on a website.
I’ve sold on ebay for several years. (I looked up this seller and her feedback was 43, most of it as a buyer)

Skip – Your stuff is the best, but what should I sell on eBay to make the most money???

Your newsletter is just more ebay propaganda to get out money in more fees for ebay.

Skip do you teach me the secrets that work and if you do are they still secrets if you teach them to so many people? I want just the real secrets not the ones you sell to other people. Can we make a deal? I am happy to pay extra.

I looked at every wholesale source there is and none of them really sell at wholesale. How can people make money if no one really has wholesale prices. Why won’t real wholesale companies sell to me.

Mr. McGrath: What sells best on ebay? What is hot product and where can I get it? Thank you.

I live in Nigeria and work in orphanage and want to do eBay from here to make donation to our good cause. Can you send me a free book to help my orphans, God bless to you.

What products sells best on ebay and where can I find the best wholesale source.

You are screw job and so is ebay paypal why shold I buy you book ????????????? But I llike your newswletters

Mr. Skip I would like to be your agent in Nigeria and can sell millions of your product. Plesae contact me immediately to disuc uss this interesting and profitable business proposal. (This was sent from the same email address as the orphanage)

eBay hoses people and takes them for a ride why are you helping them skip mcgrath…I bet you make money too.

The last one is interesting.  I am not sure if he is confusing hoses with horses or where the ride will take me.

As you can see several of the questions are from people who want to know what to sell on eBay, or what sells best on eBay. I get this question stated several ways and is probably the most asked single question.  All of my books and several free articles deal with this question in great detail. I will take one more stab at the answer:

Forget selling hot consumer products. There is too much competition and the margins are very low. Find a specialized niche that is less competitive and most importantly find a niche that you know something about and enjoy working in.  Here is a link to my Free Articles page where you can read several articles about what sells on eBay, niche marketing and where to find the wholesale products to sell on ebay.

As for secrets; If you read the sales letters for my products, you won’t find many mentions of "secrets."  I don’t keep any secrets for myself.  Clever sellers are always looking for angles and often come up with new techniques, but once they use them then everyone else can pretty much see them.  So are there any secrets?  yes - but they don’t last very long. If you really want to make money on eBay, there is no substitute for learning the basics, doing the work and then staying on top of your business.

And I will leave you with a little advertising plug (I have to pay the bills too).

If you are struggling to find wholesale products, don’t forget that OneSource is having a holiday sale where you can save an extra $30 over my normal $20 discount on this excellent source of wholesale product information.  www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath.  This promotion ends November 30th.

See Also

• Wholesale Buying System for eBay Sellers
  Complete printed course teaches eBay sellers how, what and where to buy wholesale products to sell on eBay

As the Presidential campaign heats up eBay is playing an interesting part in the internet partisan fights.

Both eBay sellers and political activists are taking advantage of the eBay platform to make money, raise money, promote their favorites and slam their opponents.

For a while the Democratic National Committee was selling a Romney Flip Flop kit but for some reason these auctions are no longer showing up on eBay.  AuctionBytes reported earlier this week that Meg Whitman is supporting and raising money for Romney and that the Romney campaign was using AuctionPal as a channel for their supporters to donate items that are auctioned off to benefit the campaign. You can read the full AuctionBytes story here.

Ron Paul is selling .999% pure silver dollars on eBay but this may come to an end as Federal Agents stormed NORFED, his coin maker’s factory, yesterday and seized all of the coins.  In the Federal warrant that leaked an FBI agent stated he is “investigating NORFED for federal violations including "uttering coins of gold, silver, or other metal," "making or possessing likeness of coins," mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. "The goal of NORFED is to undermine the United States government’s financial systems by the issuance of a non-governmental competing currency for the purpose of repealing the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Code," he states. I suspect these coin auctions may be pulled by eBay or then will reduce as sellers run out of supply.

Some eBay sellers are just taking advantage of the popular keywords that a political name brings to sell goods like the fellow who is making his own T-shirts with the name of almost every candidate.  Another seller has designed a line of Political Clocks with irreverent sayings about each candidate.

Others are already selling campaign collectibles like badges, autographed magazine covers, baseballs, and other memorabilia.  And, other sellers who are highly partisan are using eBay as a place to make political statements for and against their favorite candidates.

I decided to do a count of the auctions to gauge popularity.  So far it looks like Hillary Clinton is leading in pure numbers of listings.  Here are the numbers of active listings for each candidate.

Hillary Clinton       619

Ron Paul              328

Barack Obama      294

Rudi Giuliani         160

Fred Thompson       59

John McCain           55

Mike Huckabee        49

Mitt Romney            29

John Edwards          24

Bill Richardson         12

Dennis Kucinich         9

Joe Biden                  6

Duncan Hunter          1 on eBay and 7 in eBay stores

Tom Tancredo           1 on eBay and 9 in eBay stores

Chris Dodd                0 on eBay but 6 items in eBay Stores

Hillary leads easily but this is partly due to the enormous number of her books sold by booksellers on eBay.  When I took the book sellers out, she still leads but Obama is pretty close –of course some of his listing are for his book as well.

Here are some of the interesting candidates auctions listed on eBay today.  I just picked ones I found interesting, so please don’t email me if I left someone out or put more than one candidate over another.  This is a non-partisan blog.

ICED TEA BOOK FRED THOMPSON RECIPES BRAND NEW!!

JOHN EDWARDS 2008 POLITICAL PINBACK CONFEDERATE FLAG

Mitt Romney dog MITT ROMNEY’S DOG.COM republican L@@K!

      Do you want this man as your President? 

NEW! RUDY GIULIANI / MITT ROMNEY DREAM TEAM BUTTON PIN

got mitt romney? VERY FUNNY BRAND NEW BLACK T-SHIRT

Huckabee Fundraising Wedding Ring
 

TheHillary.com Domain Name 4 Hillary Clinton Website!!
This is a one time NR auction!!! Awesome 4 Whatever.

Hillary Clinton Wood Intarsia Portrait Wall Hanging Art

DENNIS KUCINICH POLITICAL PINBACK GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

RUDY GIULIANI NEW YORK YANKEES HAND SIGNED BASEBALL CAP

Enjoi Foster Hillary Clinton Skateboard Deck Cheap!

Hillary Clinton Nutcracker

Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton Autograph in One
    THE TWO PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNERS 

Giuliani "I Suck" Political Clock

Obama "We’re all SCREWED!" Political Clock

Barak Obama Rama Air Freshener Car Air Freshener

JOHN McCAIN "NO SURRENDER" 2 PINS PRESIDENT 2008 GOP

RON PAUL 2008 1 oz Silver Liberty Dollar - GET IT NOW!

1-Ron Paul Sons of Liberty Patch

One note - if you count misspellings the results are slightly different, but the rankings don’t really change.  It is amazing the number of people who don’t bother to look up the correct spelling of the names of candidates before launching an auction.  Some of the common ones I found were: Hilary, Barac, Juliani, Kucinich and McCane.

It will be interesting to watch the political wars on eBay as the campaign heats up.

See Also

• FREE Online Newsletter for eBay Sellers
  The eBay Seller’s News is the oldest and largest publication for professional eBay sellers

he state plans to put its two mothballed passenger ferries on the online auction site eBay at the end of the month, hoping to fetch nearly $9 million for the two boats, the Chinook and the Snohomish.
The vessels, now sitting at the Washington State Ferry Eagle Harbor maintenance yard on Bainbridge Island, haven’t operated since […]

Limited Time offer for my readers

The 2 biggest questions you must have answered if
you want to run a profitable eBay business are..

1. What do I sell?

2. Where do I get it?

It doesn’t matter if you sell on eBay, Yahoo stores, or your own website.  Finding hot products to sell is something you’ll always have to do for your business. I know companies who spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars each year just to source products.

You don’t have to do that.

Worldwide Brands will handle the all of your product sourcing for you and let you concentrate on growing your business.

If you don’t already know who Worldwide Brands is, let me tell you about them…

Worldwide Brands is the top eBay product sourcing company
in the world.  They have the world’s largest database
of genuine, factory-direct, drop ship and wholesale
suppliers. Every company their database has been personally
contacted and pre-qualified to work with eBay and small
website resellers. 

They also do educational presentations for eBay Live,
host Product Sourcing Radio, and are the Official Product
Sourcing Editors for eBay Radio.

Early this year, they unleashed the OneSource tool and immediately gave online sellers the ability to use the same wholesale and drop ship suppliers that big name department stores, eBay Powersellers, and eCommerce store owners use.

With OneSource you get:

* Instant access to millions of products and thousands of drop ship, light bulk, liquidation, and import VERIFIED wholesale suppliers that you can use to source products to sell for a profit.

* Detailed demand, competition, keyword, and pricing
  market research.

* A lifetime 100% money back guarantee.

* 100% FREE customer service and hours and hours of free
  online education material.

Here is the link to get your special $50 discount. If you
are not familiar with Worldwide Brands OneSource, just
click on the Video Tour when you get to this page.

http://www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath

Right now, they are offering a limited time $30 discount on top of my normal $20 discount to OneSource. 

That’s a total savings of $50 but it ends soon.

The discount will only last until the end of November, so you need to move fast to take advantage of it.

I can’t recommend this product enough if you’re looking for wholesale products to sell.  It’s a great place to find wholesalers & dropshippers who have products you can buy and sell for a nice profit. 

This is currently the ONLY WHOLESALE SOURCING INFORMATION
I RECOMMEND…AND THIS IS THE ONLY LINK WHERE YOU CAN GET
THE $50 DISCOUNT:

http://www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath

EBay University instructor Janelle Elms said…

"They’re the only legitimate sourcing company that I’ll recommend to the eBay University  students."

And Andy Jenkins, who has done over one million dollars drop shipping items, had this to say…

"There’s a whole army of people behind this database. It’s the first place and usually the last place we look."

Make sure you get this powerful product sourcing tool for your online business. 

Click here to get it now for $50 off the normal price:

http://www.worldwidebrands.com/skipmcgrath

***************

If you missed my November newsletter is is online at:

http://www.skipmcgrath.com/newsletters/current.shtml

Skip McGrath

See Also

• Ten Little Known eBay Niche Businesses Anyone Can Start
  Little or no investment required. Ten great little money-making businesses for new eBay sellers.