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What Buyers Want January 6, 2012

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, buying, selling, trade me, trademe , add a comment

Ah, if we only knew what people wanted to buy …

Well, as it happens we do have some ways of finding out. First, let’s take a look at some recent research from Nielsen USA, which asked those 13 and older what they intend to buy in the next six months. Here’s what they said:

You’ll notice that all these items are objects of techno-lust, which probably says more about the limited scope of the questionnaire than it does about the consumer. Still, it’s a useful guideline if you’re in the business of offering gadgets for sale.

If not, where else could you turn for information about what buyers are looking for?

First, look no further than the good old Trade Me newsletter, which each month reports on the most popular recent searches:

Secondly, to take a look at what is actually selling on Trade Me, wander over to their Sell-Through Statistics, where you’ll find what percentage of items in each category is actually selling:

This data will give you a heads-up on, for example, whether you’d be better concentrating your attention on selling antique clocks or antique flags. You’ll need to explore further, of course — some categories simply don’t have many listings, so percentages can be misleading — but this section is a good place to start your research.

Next, head to Google Zeitgeist and click through to the Top Ten lists for Kiwis — things we were searching for in 2011:

You’ll be able to drill down further, and find the hottest searches by month. For example, in November 2011 one of the most popular searches locally was for “Adele” (if you don’t know who she is, ask a young ‘un):

Where else can we turn for information on prospective buyers?

If you can identify the types of products you want to see, head to Google’s Keywords Tool. Here you can search by specific keywords, to determine the approximate local demand for a given keyword or phrase. For example, if we search for “ipad”, we find that there are an estimated 246,000 local searches for phases such as “which ipad”.

If you’d like to develop an even better understanding of your buyers and what they want, may we respectfully direct you to:

PS We had paused our Advanced Selling on Trade Me course because of other demands on our time, but because of popular request (Mr Tom Popular requested it!), we’ve decided to run the course on a very limited basis in 2012. The first release is on Wednesday January 18, and we offer a special $124 Early Bird discount for bookings received by Wednesday 11 January, so we recommend you check the course out NOW.

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Twelve Top Trading Tips July 10, 2011

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, buying, selling , 2comments

What does it take to do well on Trade Me these days? Here are a dozen tips to spice up your trading:

1.Know What’s Hot
What are the most popular items on Trade Me right now, within your chosen category? Here’s one way to find out:

(a) Click on the ‘Browse’ button, just under Kev the Kiwi.

(b) Find your category (we’ve chosen Carpet, Tiles & Flooring in the Building & Renovations section for our example).

(c). Click on the link to take you to the chosen section.  Once you get there, you may want to drill down a little further (in our example, we might refine the search to focus on carpets).

(d) Once you’ve reached your chosen destination, use the “sort by” feature and sort by “”Most Bids”:

(e) Browse the top results and you’ll see what’s currently most popular within the category — very useful whether you’re selling or buying, especially in categories driven by fashion, technology or price.

2. Know What’s Cool
Want to see what auctions the Trade Me team think are cool — and they should know! Head here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/cool-auctions. Content refreshes daily.

3. Know What’s Selling
The Trade Me numbercrunchers are always hard at work analysing what’s happening on the site — and once a month they publish a roundup of the percentages of items that sell in each of Trade Me’s categories. It’s a great way to identify how well you’re doing versus your competitors and peers — and even whether you’re selling the right types of products (grass on the other side always sells better, of course).

You’ll find the monthly Sell-Through Statistics here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/SellThroughRates.aspx

4. Know What Others Paid
Wanting to sell that seldom-used coffeemaker but not sure what you might get for the effort? By using Trade Me’s Expired Listings search facility you can identify recent prices and determine whether it’s worth the effort of posting on Trade Me.

(a) Head to the search box at the top of the Trade Me listings and click on “More Options”.

(b) Type your search term into the box (and make certain that “Expired Listings” is selected).

(c) Sort the results by “Most bids” and the items that actually attracted bids will rise to the top of the results.

(d) Check out the comparative prices paid for items similar to yours (for up to the last two months) and make your decision.

5. Know What Others Think Of The Seller
Before you buy anything of value on Trade Me, check out the reputation of the seller — see the feedback score in the “About The Seller” box near the bottom of each auction.

At least 100 Feedback Ratings and 100%? Great!  Otherwise, dig a little deeper — click on the feedback number and read the actual feedback posted about this seller (especially any negative comments).

6. Know On What Days & At What Times To Finish Your Auction
Best days to close your auctions (because more buyers are browsing on Trade Me): Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays. Best time? Usually between 9pm and 10pm (but watch out if there’s a popular TV programme on the night your auction is due to close — the box still has great drawing power if the show has the right stuff).

7. Know What An Item Costs Elsewhere
Don’t just do your comparison shopping on Trade Me — try searching on PriceSpy or PriceMe, check out current deals on TreatMe, Groupon or GrabOne, and keep a watch on local retailer catalogues. Deals are all around us.

8. Know What Photos You Should Provide
Before you list an item on Trade Me, take a look at those selling competitive products. what photos do they provide? Is there anything special about what you’re offering? Capture it on virtual celluloid and upload it to your listing.

9. Know What To Say About Your Product
If you describe your product in very few words on your listing, you deserve to get a lousy price. Do your homework, list as much relevant information as you can and you’ll come out better off.

10. Know The Rules
Trade Me has rules. Read up on them (here or in the book Trade Me Success Secrets).

11. Know What To Do After The Sale
Your customers will judge you on what you do after the auction is over. As soon as you’re paid, ship!

12. Know When To Bid
The one essential piece of advice you need to know before you bid for anything on Trade Me is this: you shouldn’t bid at all until the last few minutes of any auction. Read more here.

PS If you want to find out a whole lot more about all this stuff, take a good look at the Second Edition of Trade Me Success Secrets.

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What Kiwis want for Christmas November 30, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : Christmas, auctions, selling , add a comment

So you want to make a few extra pennies for that Christmas break? What better way than selling a few goodies on Trade Me!

Hold on a minute, though — before you run off and start baking those gorgeous Christmas cakes (caution: may contain nuts, if you’re following the recipe), pause a moment and let’s have a look at what prospective buyers have been searching for in recent times. We just might find inspiration which will help guide our choices …

First let’s sneak a peek at the very hottest choices on Trade Me — the Top 15 Most Popular Searches on Trade Me are carried every month in the Trade Me newsletter, so that’s a good place to start.

As you’d probably expect, the iPhone (#1 in October), iPad (#5) and iPod (#9) are amongst the most sought-after goodies on Trade Me (as enthusiastic but cash-strapped consumers look for bargains). Unless you’re an authorised Apple orchard, you probably don’t have access to those products at a price that makes the igadgets worth reselling. However if you are able to source useful accessories (eg cases & covers) at a hot price, the continuing popularity of the core items suggests that there’s still good demand for add-ons.

Another technology on the Most Wanted list: GPS (#8), the ideal gift for the male of the species. Finally, a technological compensation for the genetic aversion to stopping and asking for directions.

If your prospective customers’ tastes run more to fashion than firmware, perennial favourites that keep making the bestseller list on Trade Me include Karen Walker, Country Road, Trelise Cooper and Roxy. Demand is clearly there; your challenge is to arrange supply at a profitable price point.

If we dig beyond the published Top 15 list and take a look at the fifty most searched-for items on Trade Me (this time for September 2010), here’s what we note:

If what we ‘ve covered so far doesn’t do it for you, let’s take a look beyond Trade Me, at what consumers are searching for through Google. We can’t drill down very far for New Zealand searches, but we can for Australia so let’s take a look at what was hot across the ditch in the last seven days:

To figure out more popular items worth selling, head to Google Insights for Search and do your own crunching.

PS Merry Christmas!

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7 Key Facts for serious Trade Me sellers October 1, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, selling , 2comments

If you want to get serious about selling on Trade Me, take note of these seven key facts about Kiwis buying stuff online.

1. More of us are now shopping online. In April this year the Nielsen Company was reporting (in its 2010 Online Retail Report) that 45 percent of New Zealanders (and 57% of regular Internet users) are online shoppers.

The implication for Trade Me sellers: your market is bigger than ever — but it also includes a segment of potential purchasers who are new to all this, and consequently still nervous about shopping online. So you still need to be on your best behaviour as a seller and offer reassurance to those who are newbies.

2. We’re shopping online more often. 35% of New Zealanders who shop online made six or more purchases on the Internet in the past 12 months, an increase of 12.7 percent on the previous year.

That’s good news for Trade Me sellers. Those who are already buying online are now buying more often — great for those who offer products that can be repurchased on a regular basis.

3. Here are the Top Ten types of products purchased online, according to that Nielsen 2010 Online Retail Report:

You may not be able to sell Airline Tickets (for security reasons, most air tickets cannot be resold) but all the rest of the categories are fair game.

4. These six little words, added to your listing, can double the number of prospective bidders for your auction: “add this item to your watchlist”.

5. Auctions that have a $1 start and reserve price attract 20 times more bids than other auctions.

6. The five Trade Me categories that showed the most growth over the past twelve months were:

  1. Mobile Phones
  2. Business, Farming & Industry
  3. Health & Beauty
  4. Antiques & Collectables
  5. Computers

7. The consumer’s ability to pay (or willingness to do so) still plays a role in determining the success or failure of our auctions. Our latest consumer research study (September 2010) tells us that Kiwis are still watching their pennies.

Kiwi consumers aged 25-54 have cut back on:

PS Apart from these seven sets of facts, there are a few other things you need to know if you want to sell successfully on Trade Me. For further homework, may we encourage you to check out our Trade Me Success Secrets book or (if you’ve already mastered that) our online course on Advanced Selling on Trade Me.

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What does it take to sell stuff on Trade Me in 2010? August 19, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, trade me, trademe , 2comments

This internet thingy is catching on. The latest (August 2010) Media Trends Report from Roy Morgan Research shows us that buying stuff online is now pretty widespread in New Zealand:

used-internet-for-buying

So 58% of us have used the internet  for buying things.

What sorts of things are Kiwis buying online? Again, Roy Morgan Research to the rescue:

Top Ten Products Bought Online
(within the last three months, Jan-Dec 2009)

Trade Me’s influence is clear — most of those products (largely excluding travel, which can be found on sister site TravelBug) are readily available through our favourite online auction site.

So have the dynamics of selling on Trade Me changed, now that there are more than a million and a half items regularly listed on the site?

Better, Faster, Cheaper (pick all three)

Once upon a time, sellers could get away with offering products on Trade Me that were EITHER Better OR Faster OR Cheaper. Now we need to try and deliver across all three metrics — competition in most categories is as intense on Trade Me as it is in the real world (if not more so).

And customers today are more demanding. They want perfect orders, shipped and delivered on time.

What’s a “perfect order”? According to Edward Marien of the University of Wisconsin, customers are looking for:

  1. The Right Product in the
  2. Right Quantity from the
  3. Right Source to the
  4. Right Destination in the
  5. Right Condition at the
  6. Right Time with the
  7. Right Documentation for the
  8. Right Cost.

US consumer products giant Procter & Gamble has its own definition of a perfect order: “a product that arrives on time, complete (as ordered), and billed correctly.” By P&G’s internal calculations, the company estimated that an imperfect order was costing it an average of US$200 each time.

The company found that additional costs for getting things wrong included:

Those are industrial-strength concerns, of course. The Trade Me equivalent would be:

All in all, it’s better to be an overachieving seller, delivering more than you promised.

Seven tips for improving your Trade Me sales

In many ways, though, delivering on The Perfect Order is really just about the hygiene factor — getting things right after the sale.

If you want to increase the percentage of your listings that actually sell, start with these seven tips:

  1. Always include shipping costs in your listings.
    American research shows that one in five online shoppers abandon their purchase because shipping costs aren’t shown alongside the product costs. Today’s consumer doesn’t want any hidden surprises.
  2. Tell visitors why they should shop with you
    Unless you”re offering a one-of-a-kind product that’s simply unavailable elsewhere, chances are you have competitors on Trade Me selling similar products. So don’t rely on the product attributes to do all the selling job — tell your browsers why they should choose you. Talk about things such as value for money, your excellent customer service record, the merits of your organisation (not just your product).
  3. Include Customer Reviews
    According to Nielsen’s NZ Social Media Report (July 2010), 1.92 million Kiwis now look to their fellow Internet users for opinions and information about products, services and brands. It’s not that they don’t trust sellers — they just trust their fellow consumers more. So incorporate the words of your customers into your listings, If you have really flattering feedback, feature it prominently in your listing (don’t expect visitors to check out past praise in your feedback — they won’t, they’ll just look at the percentage of positive feedbacks).
  4. Have a highly-visible, no-hassle returns policy
    For many potential buyers, a money-back-guarantee will make the difference in convincing them to go with you rather than a competitor. Yes, there is the risk that your products will be returned to you, sometimes in unsaleable condition — but if you’re delivering The Perfect Order (as defined above), your percentage of returned orders will be much lower than your percentage of increased sales achieved as a result of your returns policy.
  5. Check Out Your Competitors’ Images
    What are your competitors doing well that you might copy (and indeed improve upon)? Take a look at their listing photos — are they sharp, professional, attractive? Do they show key aspects of the product that yours don’t? If you put your photos and theirs side by side, which look more interesting, desirable, show off the product features best?
  6. X-Ray Your Competitors’ Words
    Start with their headlines. What features have they highlighted? What keywords have they used? Are they using subheads as well? Are there any headlines which sound better than yours? Then take a look at the main body of their listings. How compelling are the words they use? Are there any benefits they’ve emphasised that you’ve overlooked? Review what others are doing, and then polish up your own stuff.
  7. Use Real-Life Stories to bring your listings to life
    It’s one thing to have nice marketing copy describing a product — but it’s far more compelling to see real-life tales from other customers describing how they use the product. Once you have a base of happy customers, invite them to contribute their stories. Even if most won’t, you just might find some real gems. [Okay, you can't do this with every product, but where you can, it's worth the effort].

Tip of the Iceberg

What we’ve covered here is only part of the story of what it takes to sell effectively in 2010.

If you want to join the 15,000 or so professional sellers that Trade Me estimates conduct business on the site, you need to dig rather deeper.

Here are just some of the questions that professional sellers have asked (and found out the answers to) and most of us don’t know:

If you’d like to significantly improve your Trade Me sales performance, allow us to introduce our new course:

Course TM-1: Advanced Selling On Trade Me

This is a seven-week eCourse providing a comprehensive masterclass on selling on Trade Me. The course presumes you are already familiar with the basics of selling on Trade Me (if there are a few gaps, you can do your homework with our own TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS book).

This is an ONLINE-ONLY course — you can take part from anywhere, in your own time.

This eCourse is conducted on a web-based e-learning software platform, enabling course participants to proceed at their own pace, accessing materials online. This particular eCourse provides content in a variety of multimedia forms, including videos, slideshows, flash-based presentations and PDF files. No special software is required to participate.

Course lessons are released weekly, for participants to access in accordance with their own timetables. Interaction with the course tutor is enabled through the platform software tools (with telephone backup if required).

TIMING
This eCourse started on Wednesday August 18, with the delivery to participants of Lesson One. New lessons are delivered weekly on Wednesdays.

LATE ENTRIES
Late entries are accepted within the first three weeks of course commencement (up until September 8).

COURSE CREATION AND TUTORING
This course has been created and will be tutored by Michael Carney, author of the best-selling book about buying and selling effectively on Trade Me, TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS (now in its second edition).

WHO SHOULD TAKE PART
Anyone who wants to sell as effectively and profitably as possible on Trade Me.

——————————————————————————–

The full course details are at http://trademesuccesssecrets.com/ecourses/ but here’s a sneak peek:

COURSE CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

LESSON ONE: ABOUT THE BUYERS

LESSON TWO: PRODUCTS THAT SELL

LESSON THREE: TOP SELLERS & THEIR STORIES

LESSON FOUR: GETTING NOTICED

LESSON FIVE: KILLER CONTENT

LESSON SIX: HOW MUCH?

LESSON SEVEN: GETTING THINGS DONE

CONCLUSION

——————————————————————————–

INVESTMENT

This seven-part eCourse is available for $297 +GST ($334.13 total). However we offer a special highly-reduced rate:

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: SAVE $100

Pay just $197 +GST ($221.63 including GST) if you book and pay before MIDNIGHT NEXT WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 8.

Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment, which can be by bank deposit or credit card. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.

If you’d like to pay by credit card, here’s the link to sign up for the Early Bird Special (via international credit card processor PayPal): CLICK HERE TO PAY.

We also offer a couple of instalment options, if you’d rather not pay up front:

  1. Pay five monthly installments of $70 per month (total to pay, including GST, $350): CLICK HERE FOR THIS FIVE-MONTH PAYMENT OPTION
  2. Pay twelve monthly installments of $30 per month (total $360): CLICK HERE FOR THIS TWELVE-MONTH PAYMENT OPTION

If you would prefer to pay  by bank deposit, or require an invoice before making payment, please send an email to info@successsecrets.co.nz with your contact details.

(The service provider will be shown as Netmarketing Services Limited in your transaction and on your credit card statement)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

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Feedback Etiquette June 29, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions , 13comments

Feedback is a really important contributor to the smooth running of business on Trade Me.

Although these days we’re all pretty comfortable with the notion of buying and selling stuff on our favourite auction site, it still requires a leap of faith: we’re sending money to people we don’t know, for goods we haven’t seen.

Without some variation on the Feedback system , we’d be completely in the dark about the trustworthiness or otherwise of those on the other end of the trade.

The Feedback system isn’t perfect – but it’s a very useful guide to other members of the Trade Me community and helps keep us honest. Imagine how much better behaved we’d be in real life if we all had to walk around wearing Feedback ratings given to us by our colleagues and customers!

We had an enquiry from a reader which raised some useful questions about Feedback on Trade Me:

C.U. from Martinborough wrote:

“I’ve been wondering why everyone who’s browsing my Trade Me feedback (which is good and part of the ‘getting to trust someone’) can actually see what I had purchased or sold. I don’t (a) think it’s anyone’s business, (b) think it matters and (c) find it helpful if you’ve (for example) bought something as a surprise present.”

Thanks for the question, C.U. Firstly, to the issue of the surprise present: I’ve sold a few copies of my TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS book to bidders who intend to give the book away as a present — I usually know in advance because people ask me to sign the book “Happy Birthday [O So Lucky Recipient]“.

On those occasions, I usually hold off giving feedback until I receive it from the buyer, to avoid tipping off the recipient in case they have access to the buyer’s Trade Me account. Similarly, you should specifically ask sellers to delay feedback if you intend to give the item as a gift.

To the more philosophical question of why feedback should link through to item details:

If you’re a buyer considering whether a particular seller is trustworthy, even when they have a number of positive feedbacks it can be really important to see exactly how they gained those feedbacks.

A whole industry sprung up over on eBay, selling downloadable items for one cent each, purely to build feedback. As a result, it has been really easy on eBay to build a host of positive feedbacks with minimal cost and little effort [although the rules over there have since been changed to try to stamp out the practice].

Trade Me don’t allow downloadable items to be sold on the site, so that particular problem is avoided here in NZ; but you can still amass positive feedback for limited expense by buying a pile of $1 items, paying promptly and requesting positive feedback. Your feedback total looks good but you haven’t actually done much to deserve it. So, when you set out to sell a high-value item, the feedback numbers can mislead us about exactly how trustworthy you are.

In such circumstances, it’s really important for prospective buyers to have the ability to see for themselves exactly how you acquired that glowing feedback score.

Also, from a purely commercial point of view, if I’m a potential buyer interested in buying a widget from you, it’s useful information for me to know how much you earned from earlier widget sales. I don’t want to overpay!

So what’s the best way to give Feedback?

Some pointers on Feedback etiquette, firstly for sellers:

For buyers:

If, despite all the above, you do get negative feedback:

Trade Me will not review negative feedback unless:

If you feel that any feedback has breached these terms, you can report it to Trade Me (as long as it’s not more than 30 days old).

And one more thing: you can be held legally responsible for damages to the trader’s reputation under New Zealand law. So keep your feedback factual.

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Making An Offer They Can’t Refuse June 2, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions , 12comments

You’re listing a product to sell. What price should you ask? How do you decide?

Selling on Trade Me is all about encouraging early bids and creating emotional attachments with the items. Your pricing strategy has a very real influence on whether early bidding is successfully achieved. To understand exactly what pricing strategies are right for you, you first need to understand the psychology of bidding.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BIDDING

Scenario 1: The high starting bid
You have a widget for sale. You bought it for $20 and you think it’s worth $40. You list it with a minimum starting bid (same as the reserve) of $39.95.

After a few days you’ve attracted some casual viewers but no bids. Then a widget-lover finds the auction and looks over the listing details. He sees the high starting bid price and wonders to himself:

If his widget-addiction is strong, he’ll make a bid. If your product description is mind-boggling and everything else stacks up, maybe that could tip the balance. Otherwise, no sale.

Scenario 2: The $1 No Reserve Auction
Same widget, different pricing. You still think the widget’s worth $40 but this time you start the auction at $1, No Reserve. Right from the start, you get more traffic — your widget shows up in the Widgets category and also in the $1 No Reserve Category. You attract a few casual viewers who have some interest in your item. Since the price is so low, they’ll place a bid on it if they have any interest at all, or if they think they can resell it and make a quick profit.

That mere act of someone making a bid transforms the fate of your widget. Now it attracts more interest — someone’s bid on it; it must be worthwhile. More people see the widget listing and more bid on it. There’s an increasing perception of the value of the widget (based on bidding behaviour which is really the blind leading the blind).

The bidding gets up to $10 or $15 when those with a merely casual interest stop bidding. Now your widget-lover comes along. When you started the bidding at $39.95, the price was high and he had to try to justify the purchase to himself. Now it’s a low price, obviously a great deal — and a host of others are interested in the widget. But our hero is a widget-loving expert and right away he develops a sense of ownership — ‘I know and understand widgets; this one is mine!’ He bids $20 and becomes top dog, leading the bidding.

Enter Widget Lover #2. He sees the widget, he sees all the bids and maybe recognises the user name of Widget Lover #1. The opponent effect kicks in — a bidding war erupts. Up, up, up goes the price, past $30, past $35, past $40. Widget Lover #1 finally gets the prize, for $49.77.

Why was Widget Lover #1 willing to pay more in this second scenario? Suddenly he really wanted it — but might lose out. The widget’s relative value had changed as a result of the auction itself. It wasn’t just a case of ‘do I really need this widget?’ any more. Now it was serious: ‘I have to win this auction — this is my widget. I’m the widget-lover.’

So how do you tap into the psychology of bidding to increase the potential return on your widget? There are five primary pricing strategies used by sellers at the start of their auctions:

1. STARTING BID = MINIMUM AMOUNT YOU WISH TO RECEIVE FOR THE ITEM
(Often flagged in listing headlines as ‘Start = Reserve’ or ‘S=R’.) This is a fairly straightforward pricing strategy: set the starting price (and the reserve) at the amount you think the item’s worth.

Recommended when

2. STARTING BID = $1, WITH NO RESERVE (HEADLINE SHORTHAND: $1NR)
Simply start the bidding at $1 and set the reserve at $1. [NB: A word of warning with this strategy: be mentally prepared to let your product go for as little as one dollar. Not every auction proceeds according to plan.]

Recommended when

3. LOW STARTING BID + HIGH RESERVE PRICE
You could start your auction at an attractive low price (even as low as $1) with a significant reserve price (say $40) as protection in case bidding is too low.

Recommended when

4. STARTING BID = ENOUGH TO COVER YOUR PURCHASE PRICE AND LISTING FEES
This pricing strategy (where Start also equals Reserve) is a halfway-house between strategies #1 (high minimum bid) and #2 (no minimum bid).

Recommended when

5. STARTING BID = PERCENTAGE OF LISTED VALUE (AND START=RESERVE)
With this strategy you price your starting bid in relation to an existing price guide or published price. For example, you might sell DVDs and start all of your auctions at 60% of recommended retail prices. Or you might sell a collectable item such as stamps or comic books, where price guides and catalogues exist and you can quote them in your listings.

Recommended when

MAKING A FIXED PRICE OFFER
At the end of an auction, the seller has one final opportunity to offer the item at a fixed price. It’s a blunt instrument – price is the only variable under the seller’s control at this stage. If you just want to be rid of the item, offer it at that legendary “price they can’t refuse”.

Otherwise, choose a price that you’d be happy receiving — if someone accepts, it’s a done deal.

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Actually It Is All About You May 10, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions , 1 comment so far

Buyers come to Trade Me for one of two reasons: either in search of great deals or looking for unique items they can’t find anywhere else.

You can build a business on Trade Me by offering products at low prices — if you know where you can buy them cheaply enough. Conversely, if you’re a veteran collector of popular but hard-to-find items, you might be able to carve out a niche buying and selling the things you love (if you can bear to let them go).

But if you really want to succeed as a Trade Me seller, your best opportunity lies in offering unique, personalised items with a high perceived value, so that you’re effectively providing both uniqueness and a great deal.

Those unique personalised items can either be something you’ve created yourself or else could be otherwise ordinary products to which you’ve added personal value in some way. With the Trade Me online marketplace groaning with nearly a million and a half listings every day, you simply must have products that stand out — products that attract interested watchers and eager bidders and sell more profitably than the merely average offerings of your competitors.

One early trader who understood the importance of uniqueness was Arsenalboy, the seller of ‘the butt of the last cigarette officially and legally smoked inside Malt Restaurant and Bar in Auckland, 11.59 pm on December 9, 2004 before the smoke-free legislation came into force seconds later.’

First he gathered up the butt, risking life and lungs in the process. Then he created a certificate attesting to the genuineness of the artifact, and then framed and displayed the aforementioned items in a unique and pleasing manner.

Anyone could have done it. Arsenalboy did. The auction attracted what was at the time a precedent-shattering 139,627 pageviews and sold for an incredible, nicotine-stained $7,475.

There are scads of more recent examples (the Scary Washing Machine comes to mind), but hopefully you’ll see the point without us having to belabour it.

SO WHERE DO YOU START?
Adding significant personal value to your products can be achieved in many ways. Here are some of the most successful:

If you’re struggling to think up ways to personalise your offerings, get some help. Grab some of your more creative friends and get them to brainstorm with you.

A QUICK GUIDE TO BRAINSTORMING
Where possible, get as diverse a range of participants as possible. You’ll end up with a broad range of experience and expertise and a more creative outcome.

THE OBJECTIVE: TO MAKE YOU THE ONLY PERSON SELLING WHAT YOU SELL
That probably sounds optimistic at best, impossible at worst. But once you personalise your offerings — or at least personalise the way you present them — you will indeed be able to turn yourself into the only destination able to offer the brand called You.

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Selling on Trade Me: Business or Hobby? February 3, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions , add a comment
Spending too much time on Trade Me? Here are ten ways to tell if your flirtation with Trade Me is turning into a serious business — and, if you are indeed in that position, ten things you should know to make that business soar.
BUSINESS OR HOBBY – DOES IT MATTER?
If you’re running a business, your business expenses are deductible but you have to pay tax on your income. If it’s a hobby, you can’t deduct any expenses but then you don’t have to pay tax on your sales either.
Inland Revenue’s point of view, paraphrasing its published advice on the subject: the same rules apply, whether you’re selling on Trade Me or offline. If you sell stuff you don’t want or need any more, there are usually no tax consequences. However, if you sell things on a regular basis you might be regarded as being in business and consequently should declare the sales for income-tax purposes.
THE TEN TELL-TALE SIGNS THAT YOU’RE RUNNING A BUSINESS ON TRADE ME
As a general rule you’ll be considered to be in business (and should declare and pay tax on your Trade Me sales) if:
1. You acquired your products with the purpose of onselling them
OR
2.Your intention is to make a profit from your selling activities
OR
3. If your business involves dealing in such products
Note the ‘or’ — any one of these conditions is enough to lead to the conclusion that you’re running a business on Trade Me. A key factor that Inland Revenue will consider when evaluating your case is how often or how regularly you’re selling on Trade Me. A high feedback count in a short period of time may be good for business — but it’s also a good indicator that you’re actually running a business.
Business or hobby — it’s one of the ‘grey areas’ of tax law. Some of the other issues that Inland Revenue (and the courts) consider if they need to establish whether an operation is hobby or business are:
4. Scale of operations
If it’s relatively large-scale, it’s probably a business. If it’s small-time, it could be a hobby.
5. Volume transactions
Many sales make business work. Just a few sales suggest a hobbyist (or a really lousy businessperson).
6. Commitment of time, money and effort
If you don’t have a life any more, it’s a business. If you’re only occasionally engaged in Trade Me-selling, hobby status seems likely.
7. Frequency of sales
Regular = business; occasional = possible hobby.
8. Financial results
Large sums of money changing hands, whether profitably or not, indicate a probable business venture. Small dollar values suggest you aren’t very good at this, and if it’s not just a hobby then maybe it should be.
9. Type of activity
If you’re dependent on Trade Me for your livelihood, tick business. If it’s mostly for fun, tick obsessed.
10. Buttoned down
Do you have systems and processes set up for your Trade Me efforts? Quacks like a business to us. Or are your operations loose as a goose? Then you’re either feeding a hobby or setting yourself up for a major business quack-up.

Spending too much time on Trade Me? Here are ten ways to tell if your flirtation with Trade Me is turning into a serious business — and, if you are indeed in that position, ten other things you should know to help make that business soar.

BUSINESS OR HOBBY – DOES IT MATTER?

If you’re running a business, your business expenses are deductible but you have to pay tax on your income. If it’s a hobby, you can’t deduct any expenses but then you don’t have to pay tax on your sales either.

Inland Revenue’s point of view, paraphrasing its published advice on the subject: the same rules apply, whether you’re selling on Trade Me or offline. If you sell stuff you don’t want or need any more, there are usually no tax consequences. However, if you sell things on a regular basis you might be regarded as being in business and consequently should declare the sales for income-tax purposes.

THE TEN TELL-TALE SIGNS THAT YOU’RE RUNNING A BUSINESS ON TRADE ME

As a general rule you’ll be considered to be in business (and should declare and pay tax on your Trade Me sales) if:

1. You acquired your products with the purpose of onselling them

OR

2.Your intention is to make a profit from your selling activities

OR

3. If your business involves dealing in such products

Note the ‘OR’ — any one of these conditions is enough to lead to the conclusion that you’re running a business on Trade Me. A key factor that Inland Revenue will consider when evaluating your case is how often or how regularly you’re selling on Trade Me. A high feedback count in a short period of time may be good for business — but it’s also a good indicator that you’re actually running a business.

Business or hobby — it’s one of the ‘grey areas’ of tax law. Some of the other issues that Inland Revenue (and the courts) consider if they need to establish whether an operation is hobby or business are:

4. Scale of operations

If it’s relatively large-scale, it’s probably a business. If it’s small-time, it could be a hobby.

5. Volume transactions

Many sales make business work. Just a few sales suggest a hobbyist (or a really lousy businessperson).

6. Commitment of time, money and effort

If you don’t have a life any more, it’s a business. If you’re only occasionally engaged in Trade Me-selling, hobby status seems likely.

7. Frequency of sales

Regular = business; occasional = possible hobby.

8. Financial results

Large sums of money changing hands, whether profitably or not, indicate a probable business venture. Small dollar values suggest you aren’t very good at this, and if it’s not just a hobby then maybe it should be.

9. Type of activity

If you’re dependent on Trade Me for your livelihood, tick business. If it’s mostly for fun, tick obsessed.

10. Buttoned down

Do you have systems and processes set up for your Trade Me efforts? Quacks like a business to us. Or are your operations loose as a goose? Then you’re either feeding a hobby or setting yourself up for a major business quack-up.

CONGRATULATIONS, IT’S A BUSINESS!

So your operation fits one or more of the Ten criteria above? Well done! Time to get even more serious about doing business on the site. Here’s another top ten list for your collection, this time of  10 key points to improve the prospects for your Trade Me offerings:

1. There are four wholesale levels when it comes to manufactured products: manufacturer, importer, distributor and intermediary. The further up the chain you have to buy, the harder it is to make money when you sell. Try to get as close as possible to the original manufacturer of a product. How? If you see a product you think would be a profitable seller on Trade Me, check the markings on the product and/or the packaging for point of origin. Then pick up the phone, ask for sales and start talking likely volumes. At the very least they’ll point you in the direction of the nearest importer or distributor.

2. Don’t be an early adopter. Never buy new or soon-to-be-introduced products unless you’re absolutely certain they’ll sell on Trade Me (based on historical results for similar products).

3. Don’t buy fad products, unless you buy at bargain-basement prices direct from the manufacturer or importer and you’re buying right at the height of the fad (which, frankly, is unlikely).

4. All products have life cycles. First, they’re launched, full of hope and excitement. Ultra-hot new products, where demand exceeds supply, can sell on Trade Me for a premium — if you’re able to find a dependable product supply source and can get in when demand is at its peak. (Guess wrong about a product’s popularity, however, and you’re cooked. Anyone want to buy a Catwoman plastic toy — we’ve still got a few hundred left?)

5. Not all products survive the launch phase. But those that do tend to become established then turn into a steady seller at retail. During this phase you’re unlikely to match the buying power of the large retail chains, so it’s not a good time to sell this product on Trade Me (except for pre-owned versions bought for a song and resold at highly discounted prices).

6. In the next phase of the product life cycle, sales begin to dip as customers move on to the next big thing. Retailers will start clearing stock at discounted prices — but not at enough of a discount to make it worth your while buying up product. Once again, this is a poor time to buy for resale on Trade Me.

7. Finally, the products fall into the liquidation phase, flogged off for pennies in the dollar. This is when you’ll be able to make a decent profit — so long as the product still has inherent appeal for potential purchasers.

8. Don’t buy products in volumes that represent more than 10% of the total quantities available on Trade Me. You won’t corner the market; you’ll just take a bath.

9. Don’t buy a product if there are more than 10 competitors selling the exact same thing on Trade Me.

10. Never buy a liquidation or end-of-line item unless it carries a well-known brand name.

For a whole lot more about running a business on Trade Me, may we direct you to Chapter Seventeen of Trade Me Success Secrets, available through our Trade Me Store.

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Making Money Online December 1, 2009

Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, make money online, trade me, trademe , 3comments

So you’ve decided to get serious about Trade Me and make some real money on the site. But what should you sell – and where can you find goodies at the right price to make a good profit anyway?

WHAT SHOULD YOU SELL ON TRADE ME?
For some, the answer to this question is easy: sell products that you know a lot about – and indeed, are passionate about. That could be anything, from coins of the nineteenth century to slightly used designer clothing. If you know your products well enough to be a little, um, obsessed about them, then you’ve probably already identified what’s a good deal and what’s a ripoff anyway – and often you’ll already know where to buy your specialist products for a really good price.

For others, the choice of what to sell is not so clear-cut. Many of us have passions that don’t easily lend themselves to profitable trading. Collecting the various ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ models, for example, can be great fun and all-consuming—but the stock easily available to Kiwi collectors may not have a high resale value, at least not on Trade Me.

And that’s the point of this particular article. We’re exploring what it takes to make some reasonable dollars online, not just earn some spare change by selling off those odds and ends cluttering up your garage – or by parting with precious items that you’ve spent half your life collecting.

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO EARN ONLINE?
Before you even choose what products to sell, you need to decide how much money you want to make on Trade Me – and how much time you’re prepared to devote to doing so. When we interviewed some of the top Trade Me sellers for the TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS book, they told us they were spending 60-70 hours a week on Trade Me related tasks, and listing 200-300 items a week. That total suggests that they were photographing and listing an average of 3-4 items per hour (not to mention wrapping and despatching perhaps one item per hour, based on selling one in every three or four items listed*).

*Across Trade Me, typically the sell-through rate averages around 25%. In other words, one in four auctions usually close successfully. That response rate is much higher for specific categories, as you’ll see later.

Of course, those top sellers were trading fulltime on the site – your goals may be somewhat more modest. Even so, you need to identify some key metrics before you decide on your product selection.

For example, if you want to earn $500 per week (before tax) from Trade Me, but are only willing to spend 20 hours a week working on auction tasks, then the following maths might apply:

If you’re selling one product for every four listed, then each product sold must also include a listing cost allocation for the three not sold. Those costs (within general auctions) can range from 25 cents to $5 or more per listing, depending on your selection of promotional items, subtitles and other options. So your calculations need to take those into account (x4). And then there’s the success fee of 6.9% per sale item (up to $150). All in all, you could be looking at fees totalling as much as $20 for every four items listed (and one sold).

In other words, in order to clear $25 per successful sale, you may need to earn at least $45 more than your purchase price per item. Clearly you need to choose (and then buy) your products very smartly indeed. You also need to be very careful when deciding which promotional options to choose, to minimise your costs but maximise the appeal of your auctions (for which advice, may we point you to Chapter Eleven of Trade Me Success Secrets).

CHOOSING A PRODUCT 1: THE PRICE RANGE
Continuing with our example, then, if you’re wanting to earn $45 per item, you could perhaps be looking at selling products with a perceived value of (say) $150, which you need to source for around $100 each in order to achieve your desired profit margins. That clearly rules out a wide range of products; but still leaves plenty of scope for the imaginative mind (refer to Chapter Nine of TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS for strategies to customise each product and thus improve its perceived value to potential purchasers).

CHOOSING A PRODUCT 2: STUFF THAT ALREADY SELLS ON TRADE ME
Every week, around 1.4 million items are listed on Trade Me. Every week, around 350,000 of those items sell. Trade Me collects and kindly reports on which items are more likely to sell than others, and you’ll find that information (updated monthly) here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/SellThroughRates.aspx .

We’ve been tracking these statistics since Trade Me first started publishing them in late 2005 (just in time for the first edition of TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS), which was a great relief – we weren’t looking forward to crunching the numbers ourselves, which would have required looking at some fifty thousand pages (every week).

What we found in 2005 – and it’s a result that remains true today – is that Baby Gear and Mobile Phones are consistently the most sought-after categories on Trade Me. A higher proportion of products in those categories sell on a regular basis than almost anywhere else on the site.

Of course, not everybody can sell Baby Gear and Mobile Phones, certainly not all the time (and the categories would plunge in terms of success rates if everybody tried). So we recommend you look at the monthly sales results by category (through the prism of your price constraints, of course)  and decide if any of those are for you.

CHOOSING A PRODUCT 3: FINDING NEW PRODUCTS AND TRENDS

Even though online auctions can consume your every waking hour, there is, in fact, life outside Trade Me, radical though that notion might be. If you want to identify hot products and categories before they begin to become popular on Trade Me, you need to start your searching elsewhere. Ten suggestions:

1. The Trade
Manufacturers are constantly bringing out new products, as they look for ways to increase their sales and meet the evolving needs of their customers. Don’t wait for these new products to hit the public arena before you hear about them. Talk to industry experts, read trade journals, go to trade fairs and exhibitions.

2. Read
Haunt your local library, bookstore or news-stand. Some of the hottest new global offerings are written up in international news magazines such as Time, Newsweek and Business Week, especially in regular Hot Products issues. For techno-business trends, sample Wired, Fast Company and (locally) Unlimited and Idealog. For more technical products, Popular Science and Popular Mechanics provide inspiration. In the world of fashion, you’ll find the many international editions of titles such as Vogue will spark ideas. Whatever your product category, there’ll undoubtedly be international magazines serving that interest.

3. Watch TV
In particular sample some of the magazine-type shows on CNN and BBC World. You’ll get advance warning of hot trends brewing offshore. If you’re interested in the latest entertainment-related products, check out shows such as E! News Live, Entertainment Tonight and The Late Show with David Letterman.

4. Web Trends
If you’re interested in broader trend analysis, a number of global websites specialise in new trends. Inevitably, many of the trends thus uncovered are still some time away from commercial reality in New Zealand. However, for a sneak peek at some of the opportunities you might be considering for next year, visit (and, where available, sign up for newsletters at):

5. Closer to home: Kiwi ‘what’s hot’ lists
‘What’s Hot and What’s Not’ lists make regular appearances in many local newspapers and magazines. While some of the selected hot items are fleeting at best, bizarre at worst, others will provide the seed of an idea for a profitable product to offer on Trade Me.

6. Any and all magazines
Even weekly magazines such as the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Day and New Idea are great sources of inspiration for what’s current. Squeezed in between those tantalising tales of celebrities in trouble you’ll find:

7. Mailers and advertising ephemera
Tear down that ‘No Junk Mail’ sign on your letterbox and enter the world of sell, sell, sell! Devour those advertising circulars. Pay particular attention to products that have pride of place on the cover or have a full page inside that’s all about them. Those are products that will sell strongly at retail and — if you can source them at the right price — are potential sales champions for you.

8. Network
Talk to shopkeepers and shop assistants. Ask them what’s hot in their store. Those that have been paying attention can point you towards some best-sellers — and probably some surprises. A word of warning: take any overly passionate endorsements with a grain of salt. These people are in the business of selling and may have you in their sights!

9. Searching online
Once you have an inkling of the type of product you might sell, search online via your search engine of choice. What exactly are you looking for?

10. Number crunching
Many leading New Zealand retailers are public companies, and required to publish regular reports on trading patterns. Read their quarterly, half-yearly and annual reports and review any historical sales data that’s available in those reports (sometimes it’s in the accompanying commentary, explaining anomalous results). Use this information where you can to identify product categories that have been historically popular at certain key periods, eg, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc.

CHOOSING A PRODUCT 4: WHAT ELSE?
Once you’ve identified possible products, you need to identify where to buy them, at a price that enables you make a decent margin. It’s never easy, but it is possible, as some of Trade Me’s top sellers reluctantly revealed when interviewed:

WHERE DO TOP SELLERS GET THEIR PRODUCTS?
We asked contributors to TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS where they get their products. They were understandably reticent — in many cases that’s the secret of their success — but we were very persuasive and managed to encourage a number of them to unlock their Book of Secrets, at least a little.

As you can see from these reports from our experienced sellers, you can find resaleable products just about anywhere. If you just want to make a bit of pocket money, you don’t have to worry too much about regular sources of supply. But if you really want to build a sustainable business on Trade Me then you’ll have to put some serious effort into tracking down reliable suppliers, building relationships with those suppliers and (frankly) investing not just time but money.

For those who don’t particularly want to specialise in a single category, some other thoughts:

SOURCES OF SECOND-HAND GOODS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC

LOCAL RETAIL OPPORTUNITIES
Trade Me is accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. As such, it’s a great shopping venue for buyers in more geographically isolated parts of New Zealand. Residents of far-flung outposts can now get access to products normally sold only in the larger metropolitan areas, while still enjoying their more pleasant lifestyles. Astute city-clicker sellers have noted this fact, and have been known to frequent their local retailers, buying discounted and sale items and reselling them online. Inexpensive products can often be found (with a certain amount of rummaging around) at stores such as:

In fact, any retailer who has regular clearance sales should be on your list of potential product sources. If you know of retailers who have sales at a particular time of year (eg, Smith & Caughey’s twice-yearly events) you should add them to your calendar. New store openings are also a good source of bargain buying, but you need to be quick.

FACTORY AND OUTLET STORES
Although some ‘Factory Shops’ sell their wares at prices little different from traditional retail outlets, there are enough genuine factory shops out there to serve as a good source of products. The ideal factory shop will also be one of a kind and physically close to the factory it supports, so that few Kiwis have easy access to its lower prices.
SECOND-HAND DEALERS AND PAWNBROKERS
These classic institutions, which had the resale of second-hand goods pretty much to themselves in the days before eBay and Trade Me, can still be fertile sources of products to resell, although the dealers’ margins can mean it’s not always profitable to list them online. Second-hand dealers range in size and scope from single stores to national chains such as Cash Converters. Pawn shops occupy a lower profile in the retail sector generally, and are more likely to be found in areas bordering poorer households.

OPPORTUNISTIC EVENTS
There are, we are told, only two sure things in life: death and taxes. Estate sales, liquidations and bankruptcies are essentially the side-effects of both certainties, and while we naturally wouldn’t welcome such eventualities, they do tend to create opportunities. Typically, the recipients of deceased estates have little interest in many of the items hoarded by the dear departed, and will tend to dispose of them in bulk without worrying too much about the value of specific items. Similarly, receivers and liquidators are more interested in quitting chattels quickly than in realising optimal resale prices. Watch out for such opportunities: good profits can be made reselling the items individually.

ENDS OF LINE
We live in a disposable world of conspicuous consumption. Products with heaps of life still left in them are consigned to oblivion when new (sometimes only slightly) improved versions are introduced by manufacturers. But what happens to the old products? Where do superseded cellphones go to let their batteries run down? When the latest PlayStation rolls out the door, what happens to all those unused (but redundant) previous-generation consoles?

If you can find the right sources, perhaps some of those retired products could find new homes through your Trade Me listings. We can’t always afford the latest and greatest new product, and you could be performing a valuable public service by providing a new life to these obsolete senior citizens — and making a decent profit at the same time.

TRADE SHOWS AND CONVENTIONS
There’s nothing quite like the last day at a good trade show. Exhausted exhibitors, weary of the whole thing, just want to pack up and go home. But they’d rather not have to lug home all the products they still have on display, so they’re often willing to quit stock at a substantial discount. So if you intend to go to any tradeshow, make sure you leave it till the last day — and preferably the last afternoon. Then get ready to haggle.

RENTAL AND LEASING COMPANIES
Companies that lease out equipment, whether on a short-term or long-term basis, inevitably end up with used but often still serviceable products when the leases expire. They are bound to have existing arrangements in place to dispose of those goods, but will probably listen to a compelling alternative.

UNCLAIMED ITEMS
We’re a forgetful lot. We leave our belongings on trains and buses. We drop stuff into drycleaners or repair shops and never get around to picking them up. We send packages to the wrong addresses. We leave goods in storage. That’s why the companies reserve the right to sell unclaimed goods. To you.

CONFISCATED GOODS AUCTIONS
There’s something vaguely voyeuristic about bidding for goods that have been confiscated by police or customs. We tend to imagine all sorts of sordid tales about the former owners of these innocent household goods. Unfortunately, that morbid fascination also tends to make such auctions very popular, so bidding can be brisk for many items. Our best advice: get a catalogue in advance, if you can, and check out potential resale returns in advance. Failing that, turn up early, identify and inspect the items you could resell. If possible, work with a partner by cellphone to identify the prices such items are currently fetching on Trade Me. Subtract your costs and your margin and that’s your top bid price. Don’t bid beyond that point (sometimes easier said than done, if you happen to fall in love with a particularly choice offering).

CHARITY AUCTIONS
Auctions have always been a popular method of supporting good causes. They have become even more effective with the advent of Trade Me. Products are donated freely, all the dollars raised go towards the designated charities and everyone’s happy. Of course, not all products at the auctions achieve their maximum value. The high-profile offerings capture attention and bids, but some of the products slip through at bargain prices. That’s your cue.

TRADITIONAL AUCTIONS
While Trade Me auctions continue to draw more and more members, they’re not the only game in town. Traditional auctioneers still handle large quantities of goods, and they’re still a great place to pick up unexpected bargains. We recommend looking out for special-interest auctions (eg, those which involve the sale of complete stock and chattels of restaurants, industrial goods suppliers, contractors, etc). Typically, these auctions attract industry insiders looking for the specialist equipment available only at such auctions. The insiders generally have little interest in the everyday chattels common to all businesses — computers, fax machines, copiers, printers, desks, tables, chairs, etc — and such products can be purchased at much lower prices than if they were being sold at general office or computer-equipment auctions.

LOCAL WHOLESALERS
Where can you find genuine local wholesalers who might be willing to deal with you? You have to ask the right people. And that would be who? The local manufacturers who made the products or the local branches of multinational manufacturers for products made offshore. Specifically, you should call them up and ask for the sales department. Simply tell the person in that department that you own a retail business, and you want to sell some of their products. Ask them for a list of their wholesale distributors. They’ll have that information readily available, and should be willing to give it to you.

Next step: call the wholesalers they give you and ask about their terms — discount structure, minimum stock requirements, payment terms, etc. They’ll probably need you to set up an account, and you still have to deal with the issue of whether they will sell to a small home-based Internet business. Many of them won’t, so this research can take a great deal of time, but it is very important to your business that you do it right.

INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALERS
If you thought local wholesalers were tough to track down, just wait until you try to find genuine international wholesalers. The Internet is flooded with millions of people and organisations claiming to be wholesalers — a quick Google gave us 4,560,000 results — so you really will have to put in the hard yards. If you’ve identified a specific product you want to sell, the first steps can be the same as those we’ve suggested for dealing with local wholesalers: call the sales department at the manufacturer and find out their wholesale distributors. The next step, however, would be a lot harder: finding someone who’s willing to (a) deal with small orders; (b) ship stuff all the way over to New Zealand; and (c) overlook the fact that there’s probably someone in New Zealand who already has the distribution rights for this market.
LOCAL ONLINE AUCTION SITES
There are a small number of online auction and classified sites operating in New Zealand in competition to Trade Me. It’s fair to say these sites have been attracting relatively limited numbers of visitors and as a result the bidding on specific items is less frenzied. There may well be products listed on these sites that could be purchased cheaply and then resold on Trade Me.

INTERNATIONAL ONLINE AUCTION SITES
If you can cope with such issues as currency exchange, shipping costs and the higher risk of fraudulent activity, the world’s online auctions are a fertile source of products for you to resell locally. You should inevitably begin with eBay.com of course, and that may well occupy you enough. But eBay has many international offshoots. If you can handle languages other than English (or use the automatic translation options on Google’s browser bar plugin), you might well pick up some useful bargains on non-Anglo sites.

PRODUCT SOURCES ARE EVERYWHERE, BUT…
With a combination of knowledge, experience and imagination you can find potential product sources anywhere. But if it was easy, everyone would do it. It takes as much diligence and determination to turn an idea into a business on Trade Me as it does in any business venture.

PS That’s definitely all we have space and time for in this way-over-length article. If you want more, may we respectfully direct you to TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS, which covers the topic in even more detail. The second edition of this best-selling book is of course available for sale at our Trade Me store.

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