Even more ways to use e b a y to grow your export
- Use ebay to start out with doing research covering the markets you initially are interested in. You can monitor interests and trends and keep an eye on your competitors and pricing levels. Most importantly learn from the direct dialogue with the ebay community, which cannot be accessed via standard export research
- Use it as clearance site for your no longer needed products, mainly used for non-consumer able products, such as up by DIY sector
| Use it to even out domestic seasonal fluctuationsTayyab Akhlab, Founder and Director of My1stWish which sells clothing, shoes and accessories focusing specifically at the fashion conscious 16-24 year old age group.Tayyab says: The online fashion sector is growing, but merchants operating solely in their home markets will lose out on sales due to being restricted by the seasons. Targeting international customers means we can offer summer and winter items all year round, selling winter coats to Australians in July while Brits are buying bikinis.Adam Mackay is Founder and Director of Blue Water Sport and Mackay says: “We specialise in water sports equipment and have used international selling to help smooth our seasonal dips. When the European summer is over, there is still an accessible market in warmer climates such as Australia |
A few things to consider when starting out on ebay
- You must know the costs of doing business on the site. These are
ebay’s listing fees
local VAT
shipping cost
possible customs depending where the sales transaction takes place
(The average ebay cut of the sales transaction is 10%)
- Allow enough margin to cover Returns and Damages
- Offer excellent and fast customer response as there are always questions before the transaction takes place and an average. An estimated 45% of enquiries turn into sales
- Have cash flow ready if you do not have a proven credit history with your credit card merchant as they can hold your cash back. The average credit card merchant’s fee is 3% which will be deducted for each transaction and some admin charge is added on top
- Use clear category positioning to optimise traffic to view your and excellent customer services
ebay is a great place to trade, it can get your products online globally and be a strong bridge to your potential overseas customers – just remember to, as a minimum, double the product price to cover all the trading cost of doing business on ebay.