WAHM Blog

I got an email today from a close friend who has an online eBay business. She has had an eBay store for almost 5 years now and does very well. Within the last 3 days she has had12 emails from scammers about her auctions (wanting to pay her off eBay) and had three fraudulent purchases.

It looks like there are some new Nigerian scams except they have moved to eBay now. The scammers are purchasing high ticket items from stolen eBay accounts and paying from stolen Paypal accounts.

All of them had a “story” as to why the items need to be shipped to Nigeria or to addresses not on the paypal account. This is SCARY for eBay business owners.

I am wondering if any of you eBay business owners are experiencing the same issues?

I can see this being a huge problem for eBay sellers. Not only due to the amount of products that will be mailed and payments taken back from Paypal, but also it is going to create allot more work for eBay sellers if they have to keep relisting items because they are being bought from scammers.

With the Ebay seller fee’s continuing to increase, I am afraid that the eBay store owners are going to be loosing even more money due to these scammers.  I am sure eBay is aware of these issues, however I also know it is impossible to catch them all before it is to late.

If you have an Ebay store or sell on eBay, please make sure you only ship to confirmed addresses and try to avoid any out of country transactions if possible. Most of the eBay scams involve out of country deals. Also, remember if someone emails you asking to purchase your items off eBay, it should raise a red flag!

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I just read that eBay has announced that no more digital goods can be sold on eBay. That means no more ebooks, templates, or software sales. Many marketers have used eBay for years to promote their ebooks and digital goods and will now have to find another way to stay in business.

It seems like to me eBay is going to lose lots of revenue from this change.

The only was digital items can be sold on eBay now are to list them as Classified Ad’s. I am not sure that will be profitable for any eBay seller at $9.95 per classified.

What does eBay have to say about this…?

Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived). To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format.

Using the Classified Ads format, sellers receive a 30-day ad at a fixed price. This solution enables sellers to continue to market their digital goods on eBay; however, because Classified Ad listings are a lead generation tool and do not result in transactions that go through eBay, Feedback cannot be exchanged between buyer and seller.

Now, I am not an eBay seller but I will also be affected by this change, as I have bought many digital items from ebay. From software to stock photos.

I really think this was a stupid move on eBays part. What do you think?

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Writing Product Descriptions That Sell
by Stuart Lisonbee, Doba Education Specialist

When brick-and-mortar retailers market their products, they rely on an attractive storefront, full-color ads, and prominent displays. As an online retailer, your web storefront and product descriptions are all your customers see.

Seek to achieve two goals in every product description you write:

• Convince buyers that they need or want the product.
• Persuade buyers to buy from you rather than one of the other thousands of merchants selling the same product.

Maintaining a “professional” appearance

Anyone can post a text-heavy product description with a stock photo of a product in a matter of seconds. The following image shows a product description that the seller slapped together with little effort in making it look professional.

To add a touch of professionalism, pay attention to your product description’s appearance, layout, spelling, and grammar…

Read More

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