Slow Burn
Many people turn to hot lists to make product sourcing
decisions. These lists are designed to tell sellers what buyers
want at the moment. The problem is most of these lists are
static, so they quickly become obsolete. When a hot list comes
out, everyone jumps on board and quickly floods the market with
those items, leaving little room for competition.

Both product sourcing and market research are dynamic in
nature. The difference between a hot list that's going to burn
you and a hot list that can put you ahead of the retailing
curve is whether or not that list is being continually updated
with new research data. When a list stays current, you know
that the items on it aren't items that were hot
yesterday—they're items that are hot NOW!

EBay to the Rescue!
That's what makes eBay's hot items list one of the best
around—every month, they put out a new list based on their own
data research. So essentially, they're doing a large part of
your market research for you, at no cost. You can find this
information at http://eBay.com/sellercentral—just download the
hot list PDF file.

Janelle Elms (http://JanelleElms.com), an eBay University
instructor, recommends printing these lists out each month and
keeping them in a binder so you can track trends happening on
the site. Explains Elms, "I have seen items show up on the list
for eight months at a time; [that] means buyers are demanding
[products] that sellers aren't providing. If things show up
month after month, it means sellers aren't paying attention to
this list." EBay's hot lists tell you what people are looking
for, and when they're looking for them.

It's in Your Head
EBay's hot item lists are also a great way to get into a buyer,
rather than a seller, mindset. Most sellers tend to follow what
other sellers are doing, but successful sellers look at what
buyers are doing. If you're an online retailer of pet supplies,
looking to update your product line, you might consider moving
toward organic pet foods. It's a popular seller trend right
now, the rationale being that pet owners are often willing to
spend a great deal of money on their pets. However, a current
buyer trend in pet supplies is training tools and guides for
cat behavior. But if you're not looking at things from a
buyer's perspective, you'll miss out entirely on these prime
selling opportunities!

Use What You've Got
Sellers often work harder than they have to because they ignore
the resources available to them. What you expect to be in demand
may have very little to do with what shoppers are actually
wanting. Says Elms, "Trends change, products change, what's
popular changes, but eBay provides you a dynamic database that
really keeps you up to date." And taking advantage of this
resource automatically gives you a step up on the competition.


About The Author: Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of
http://WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The
Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows.
Visit http://www.productsourcingshow.com for more FREE eBiz
info from Entrepreneur Magazine Radio!

 

Few things are more frustrating than visiting an eBay store and
be presented only with a mile long list of items that one has to
scroll through. It is very difficult to find items in a long
list if you are looking for a particular type or genre of item.


What many eBay store owners do not seem to realize is that eBay
buyers are not desperate to find and buy their particular items.
There are so many auctions going on at any particular point in
time, that the browser Back button is probably the most used
function when browsing or searching for items.

The default sort order for the listing display in an eBay store
is listing end time, with those auctions ending soonest
displayed at the top. There are other listing sort orders
available as well, but unfortunately none of those are
necessarily very well suited for a store inventory display.

The primary means at your disposal to make it easier for an
eBay buyer to find what he or she is looking for are the
categories.

Think of the categories as virtual aisles in your store. You
need to use those virtual aisles in your store to guide the
buyer through the merchandise on offer.

The easier you make it for the buyer to find the desired item,
the better the chances that the person will buy your item and
not someone else's.

You know your merchandise best and know how you can slice and
dice the types of merchandise into meaningful categories.
However, do not limit a particular item to only one category.
With an eBay store, you can list an item in two different store
categories free of charge. Make full use of it.

An eBay buyer might miss an item while browsing one category
but notice it in the second category. This is synonymous to
putting cans of the same cream in both the dairy section and in
the baking section of a groceries store.

You cannot predict all the uses that a buyer will have in mind
for your merchandise, but you can at least cover off the most
obvious ones. When a buyer visits your eBay store and sees the
categories, they will first think of what they want to use the
item for and see if there is a matching category.

You can have up to 300 different categories in your eBay store.
Make full use of it to help your buyer easily find the item (or
even similar item) they want to buy.

Generally, a person visits your store wanting to buy something,
i.e., with money in hand. It is a great loss when they leave
your store because they couldn't find your item that is hidden
amongst tens or hundreds of other items.


About The Author: Jason Griffith writes eBay Store reviews for
http://BestAuctionStores.com
(http://www.bestauctionstores.com), a site dedicated to
providing eBay Buyers with the ability to review and rate eBay
stores.