The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing [Paperback]

Janelle Elms (Author), Phil Dunn (Author), Amy Balsbaugh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072260912 | ISBN-13: 978-0072260915 | Publication Date: June 16, 2005 | Edition: 1

In this must-have book for eBay entreprenuers, eBay experts reveal how to reach the more than 100 million registered users and catapult your sales. Learn how to make listings stand out, inspire buyer confidence, close a sale, and keep customers coming back. An eBay University Instructor, a Fortune 100 marketing specialist, and an eBay PowerSeller offer valuable marketing insights and tried-and-true techniques for propelling eBay sales to the next level.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Creative strategies that can boost profits now!

Learn and apply proven techniques for marketing your products on eBay effectively--and watch your profits soar. The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing gives you an action plan for creating a comprehensive marketing and sales strategy so you can gain a competitive edge. Inside, eBay and marketing experts reveal how to make your listings stand out, inspire buyer confidence, close sales, and keep your customers coming back. You’ll also get valuable advice on enhancing and expanding your business.

• Create a sound business plan
• Take advantage of built-in and third-party sales tools
• Establish a strong eBay brand
• Write compelling product descriptions
• Be an effective salesperson
• Ensure customer satisfaction and retention
• Measure your success and improve your business

Janelle Elms is a lead eBay University instructor, Silver PowerSeller, and creator and teacher of the popular eBay 101 and 102 classes.

Phil Dunn, M.A., is a marketing and advertising consultant for Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Pitney Bowes, and IKON.

Amy Balsbaugh runs a lucrative eBay antiques and collectibles business, and has been a member of eBay’s PowerSeller program since its inception.

About the Author

Janelle Elms (Kirkland, WA) is a lead instructor with eBay University, creator and teacher of the eBay 101 and 102 classes, and a Silver Power Seller on eBay. Phil Dunn (Costa Mesa, CA) is a marketing consultant and advertising writer whose clients include Fortune 100 leaders Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Pitney Bowes, and IKON. Amy Balsbaugh (San Francisco, CA) has been selling antiques and collectibles on eBay since 1998 and is an original member of the PowerSeller program.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (June 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072260912
• ISBN-13: 978-0072260915
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strategic planning for eBay businesses, September 29, 2005

By 

Sophie Stevenson "Sophie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing (Paperback)

I sell professionally on ebay, and when I tell people what I do for a living, many times they'll laugh or think that I'm not serious. But this book "gets" that there are lots of us out there who are serious about selling on ebay - we run legitimate businesses with real inventory, real employees, and real profit and loss - we aren't just cleaning out granny's attic for some extra cash. This resource is a true asset for people like us. It addresses some serious issues about selling on ebay and earning a living doing so. It's about so much more than what people usually consider "marketing" - it includes tangible plans for building a comprehensive small business plan and strategic planning for the future success of the business.
The tools chapter is also fantastic - they've done a really comprehensive review of all the tools available. The chapter on writing good item descriptions is also great. I've always struggled with description writing, but the authors disclose the secrets that advertising pros use to write good ads, and I'll be darned, it works great for ebay too!

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Basics, July 26, 2005

By 

Matthew J. Mclaren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing (Paperback)

I like this book a lot -- as you can tell by the stars. Most of the eBay books out there are kind of offensive, in that they show you how to do some basic things that are pretty much second nature to most of us. You have to wade through pages and pages of kindergarten lessons to get to any meat.

Anyone with a few months of selling on eBay doesn't need a eBay "how-to" book. This one, however, takes you much further - into the areas and concepts that advertisers have been using for decades to get us to buy all kinds of stuff. It covers visual design and advertising writing techniques that help you actually get more $ out of bids. There's discussion of the psychology behind the tips. The tools chapter alone is probably worth the price of admission. The customer retention advice and strategies are really helpful - I'll bet very few sellers employ even a fraction of the ideas they offer. All good stuff. The best eBay book I've read so far. And I've read a lot.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing - Review, July 22, 2005

By 

R. F. Parker "Frank Ross" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing (Paperback)

The title of this book makes it sound like a white-paper or a report, but it is really 200+ pages of conceptual, well-written marketing advice. Each "step" is actually a high-level concept and each forms a different section of the book. Each "step" is then broken down into many significant concepts and terrific bits of advice.

I think the people who will gain the most value from this book are those (like me) who have had some experience selling on eBay, but maybe have had to wing it a bit and maybe have not been doing things as effectively as they could. This book approaches eBay selling from a marketing perspective and doesn't deal very much with the actual mechanics or "Nuts and Bolts" of selling. This alone makes it worth its weight in gold for anyone who is running web-based businesses without the benefit of formal marketing training. Having said that, this book is also very accessible to those who have not yet sold on eBay (but you might need supplemental material).

Often when you have a collaborative work written by 3 different authors, you end up with 3 different writing styles intermingled and that can create a 'bumpy' reading experience. But this books flows amazingly well and reads very smoothly.

This book is very current! There are a lot of books out there on the subject of eBay, but unless the book is reasonably current, it may not provide up-to-date information. This is because eBay has undergone a lot of changes in the past few years. But this book is hot off the presses; it just became available earlier this month.

Perhaps the best part of this book is that you can take the information and apply it elsewhere. While it is written with the eBay seller in mind, the concepts are global and can be used in just about any business.

One of the authors (Phil Dunn) maintains a blog centered around this book where you can read excerpts from the book. At a price that is barely more than a few eBay listings, this is an amazing value.