TLFeBOOK Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way Other Books by Joseph T. Sinclair eBay the Smart Way eBay Business the Smart Way eBay Motors the Smart Way eBay Global the Smart Way eBay Photography the Smart Way Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way Use Froogle, Datafeeds, Cross-Selling, Advanced Listing Strategies, and More to Boost Your Sales on the Web’s #1 Auction Site Joseph T. Sinclair American Management Association New York • Atlanta • Brussels • Chicago • Mexico City • San Francisco Shanghai • Tokyo • Toronto • Washington, D.C. Special discounts on bulk quantities of AMACOM books are avail- able to corporations, professional associations, and other organiza- tions. For details, contact Special Sales Department, AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Tel.: 212-903-8316. Fax: 212-903-8083. Web site: www.amacombooks.org This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent pro- fessional person should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sinclair, Joseph T. Building your eBay traffic the smart way : use froogle, datafeeds, cross-sell- ing, advanced listing strategies, and more to boost your sales on the web’s #1 auction site / Joseph T. Sinclair. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8144-7269-9 1. eBay (Firm) 2. Internet auctions. I. Title. HF5478.S473 2004 658.8’7--dc22 2004024907 CIP © 2005 Joseph T. Sinclair. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Printing number 10987654321 To my extraordinarily talented friends and colleagues, who were mem- bers of the North Bay Multimedia Association of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Lee Callister, Mike Campos, Steve Kirk, Ann Smulka, Michael Wanger, Joe Zizzi, Sharon Rockey, Steven Gilman, Sherry Miller, Ken Milburn, Bob Dougerty, Ross Millerick, Janine Warner, Jeff Schriebman, Bruce Ford, Luong Tam, Roy Nolan, Arleta Quesada, Ron Pellegrino, Terry McNally, Bruce Ford, Melinda Bell, Don Means, and Bob Charlton This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................xv I. Introduction to eBay Marketing Plus . 1 1. Introduction ........................................................................... 3 eBay Plus ............................................................................................. 4 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 12 2. The New Datafeed Marketplaces ......................................... 15 How It Works ................................................................................... 16 Froogle and Yahoo ........................................................................... 16 Other Marketplaces .......................................................................... 18 II. The Basics . 21 VII VIII CONTENTS 3. Customer Service ................................................................23 What Is Customer Service? .............................................................24 Personal Touch ................................................................................25 Cost-Effectiveness Review ...............................................................25 4. Copy Writing ........................................................................27 Guidelines .........................................................................................28 Cost-Effectiveness Review ...............................................................35 5. Writing Titles .......................................................................37 Writing to Be Found ........................................................................38 Cost-Effectiveness Review ...............................................................41 6. Advanced Photography Techniques ....................................43 Why Good Photographs? ................................................................44 Cameras ............................................................................................45 Better Photographs ...........................................................................46 Efficient Workflow ...........................................................................53 Cost-Effectiveness Review ...............................................................57 III. Beyond the Basics . .59 7. Data, the Key to Business Success .....................................61 Data Basics ........................................................................................64 Catalogs .............................................................................................68 What Database? ...............................................................................73 Cost-Effectiveness Review ...............................................................74 8. eBay Auctions and Stores ...................................................75 eBay Auctions ..................................................................................75 eBay Stores ........................................................................................77 CONTENTS IX The Datafeed Duo ........................................................................... 78 An eBay Store as Your Website ....................................................... 78 Cost-Effectiveness Review .............................................................. 80 9. Creating Froogle Ads ........................................................... 83 Details ............................................................................................... 86 Results ............................................................................................... 89 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 90 10. Creating Yahoo Ads ........................................................... 93 Details ............................................................................................... 94 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 95 11. Creating Ads for Other Marketplaces ................................ 97 Example Marketplaces ..................................................................... 99 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 99 IV. Making It All Work . 101 12. Auction Management Services ........................................ 103 Datafeed Devices ............................................................................ 105 What Are They Doing Now? ....................................................... 107 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 107 13. eCommerce Software ...................................................... 109 Independent Websites .................................................................. 111 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................ 112 14. Developing a Datafeed Strategy ...................................... 113 Datafeed Party ................................................................................ 113 Benefits and Burdens ..................................................................... 115 Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 116 X CONTENTS 15. Developing a Multi-Domain Website ...............................119 Website Visitors ..............................................................................120 Servers .............................................................................................120 Your Online Retail Business .........................................................122 Portal Website ................................................................................124 Making It Work ..............................................................................127 Cost-Effectiveness Review .............................................................128 V. Special Techniques . .129 16. Getting Found by the Search Engines ..............................131 Website Optimization ....................................................................132 Cost ..................................................................................................132 eBay Stores ......................................................................................133 Portals ..............................................................................................134 Search Engines ...............................................................................135 Cat and Mouse ...............................................................................135 An Alternative .................................................................................136 Cost-Effectiveness Review .............................................................136 17. Email