The Online Millionaire

Dealing with negative feedback

2007-01-20T00:25:00.000-05:00

After 8 years as a member in great standing on eBay, I got my first negative feedback rating today.

I was suprised and a bit taken aback.

Apparently, a bottle of perfume I shipped to the buyer was seized by customs at the Canadian border. I'm not really sure why, but it happened; I've never had this sort of problem before and I ship internationally all the time.

The buyer posted negative feedback without ever contacting me or notifying me that there was a problem with the order. (I've checked this buyer's track record, and she's bought five things on eBay and given negative feedback three times. Seems like she might be a little reactionary and quick to give negative feedback without first contacting the seller with customer service issues or problems.)

Had the seller contacted me about the customs problem, I would have refunded her money -- even though I'm not sure the error was mine. But now I'm stuck with negative feedback, a black mark on an otherwise stellar eBay record. That makes me mad and sad.

I posted a response to the negative feedback and hope that my future customers will read that and still choose to do business with me.

In the meantime, I've offered to refund the buyer's money if she'll agree to mutually withdraw feedback.

I'd love to hear other sellers' experiences with feedback. Have you ever successfully gotten someone to withdraw feedback? What were the circumstances of your first negative feedback rating? How do you respond to negative feedback? And most importantly, what's your opinion of the feedback system on eBay? Does it protect buyers and sellers in the way that it's supposed to?

eBay Listing Sale

2007-01-17T23:42:00.000-05:00

If you've got items to list on eBay, do it tomorrow.

The site is offering 20 cent listings for one day only -- Jan. 18.

Insertion fees for auctions and fixed-price listings are just 20 cents.

Take advantage. You'll be saving almost 50 percent on insertion fees.

I guess this is eBay's small gift to sellers after announcing a fee hike earlier this month.

Internet Merchants Association Conference Set for February/March

2007-01-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Just got word from Steve Grossberg of 1Busyman's Budget Video Games that the first Internet Merchants Association conference will be held in Las Vegas February 27 through March 1, 2007.
The IMA is a trade association comprised of eBay's top sellers, but the conference is open to all levels of e-commerce entrepreneurs.

Conference sounds like a great networking and educational opportunity.

Here's more about the conference and the IMA from Steve:

Currently IMA has a little over 200 members who are amongst the largest sellers
on eBay and we and rapidly growing. Many IMA members are former PESA
members.
We are opening the conference up to all ebay PowerSellers and not just IMA members and anticipate having around 200 plus attendees from IMA and eBay. This conference will be co-marketed with the three AMD/ASD trade shows.
We have commitments from eBay, Amazon, and Google to be presenting and in attendance and google will be the featured partner with 3-4 hours of presentation time. Scot Wingo from ChannelAdvisor will also be presenting on multi-channel selling.

We also have a customs broker who will be presenting on how to get started importing items for your business. And we have an executive director of the SBA scheduled to speak. Combine this with all the sourcing of products available through the ASD/AMD trade show and I think you guys will agree this should be a huge
success.

IMA members were recommended to stay at the Flamingo Hilton and if
you book on the

Commission hijackings

2007-01-17T20:13:00.000-05:00

The January/February issue of Revenue magazine has an interesting article about how some hackers are hijacking commissions from affiliates. And on the flip side, how some unscrupulous affiliates are padding their commisisons by claiming sales or leads that they didn't generate.

The issue isn't online yet, but when it is, I'll post a link to the article.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your comments about this issue.

Has someone ever used computer tricks to steal commissions from you? What did you do about it?

Taxes for online businesses

2007-01-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

It’s January, and I’m in the mood for taxes.

Not really, but they’re a reality of life, so I’ve been spending a fair amount of time these last few days getting my receipts, paid invoices and other tax paperwork in order so I can forward them to the accountant.

Oh, the joys of being in business for yourself.

And that brings me to the purpose of this post.

Even if your online business is just a sideline, you must report any money you earned as income on your state and federal taxes to avoid any hassles (or penalties) later.

For tips on taxes for online businesses, check out this article from Entrepreneur magazine. The article is old, but the information is still useful.

eBay raising fees - again

2007-01-08T18:06:00.000-05:00

Well, eBay is at it again, with a new fee structure that goes into effect on Jan. 30.

The change that is likely to affect most sellers is that the insertion fee is being raised from 35 cents to 40 cents on all auctions with a starting bid of $1.00 to $9.99.

If you're not already doing so, this should provide you with an extra incentive to start your auctions at 99 cents or even a penny. You'll save 20 cents in listing fees on every auction if you do this.

Sure, there's some risk to adopting this pricing structure, but many Titanium PowerSellers have found great success this way.

Remember, eBay shoppers are hoping for a bargain and there's something incredibly appealing about the notion of paying 99 cents for a diamond ring, a DVD player, a new computer, etc. Usually, a 99-cent auction invites a frenzy of bids and you, the seller, end up getting a fair price for your item.

Just remember to do you Marketplace Research before posting a penny or 99-cent auction to make sure that there's sufficient demand for the product that you're selling. And I wouldn't try this approach with commodity items like DVDs, books or CDs. Try using the store format instead if you're looking to minimize your eBay fees.

Let me know what you think of eBay's new fee structure and yearly rate hikes.

"The Online Millionaire" now available in bookstores

2007-01-08T11:33:00.000-05:00

My second book for online entrepreneurs, The Online Millionaire: Strategies for Building a Web-Based Empire on eBay and Beyond is now available in bookstores.

Buy your copy at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble or directly from the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, and you will be well on your way to building your own ecommerce empire.

I'll introduce you to the merchants profiled in the book and include excerpts in later posts, but here's what you can expect from The Online Millionaire, the second book in my e-commerce entrepreneurship trilogy. The other books are The eBay Millionaire: Titanium PowerSeller Secrets for Building a Big Online Business and The eBay Billionaires' Club: Exclusive Secrets for Building an Even Bigger and More Profitable Online Business (due out in April 2007 from Wiley.)

Here's more about The Online Millionaire, from the book's introduction:

This book will show you how to become the next huge online success story.

Your goal as an Internet entrepreneur should be to have a presence on every Web-based marketplace where your customers and potential customers shop. InThe Online Millionaire, I'll introduce you to the most popular online channels and reveal the tricks of the trade for excelling in these marketplaces.

You'll learn the ins and outs of selling on eBay, Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Overstock.com, and other auction marketplaces. You'll also read about how to use search engines and comparison-shopping sites to attract customers and drive sales. Plus, you'll find out how to go about building your own professional e-commerce store, along with proven ways to make money promoting other companies on your site.

While it is still the 800-pound gorilla of e-commerce, as you'll realize by the time you reach the final pages of this book, online entrepreneurs now have many other options to reach buyers beyond eBay. I'll show you exactly how to launch your own multi-channel online marketing empire, regardless of the types of products you sell. You'll discover how each online channel works, what it costs to sell there, how to get started, and what products sell best.

So, let's get started on this journey to creating a thriving online business that can put your company front and center on all of the world's top e-commerce sites.