Reptiles Tortoises

Friday, June 13, 2008

Selling on eBay And The Economy

As an eBay Consultant and Power Seller with over 13,000 sales, am often asked questions like, "Do you think eBay is on the way out?" or, "With the economy's downturn, aren't you afraid your eBay business will fail? Doesn't that make you nervous?"

My answer is, "Absolutely not!" Here's why.

1) eBay offers less expensive alternatives to traditional consumer purchasing. For example, I sell mostly apparel and shoes. Consumers can purchase my products for a fraction of what they would purchase them for in a traditional retail setting. So, actually, if the economy suffers, eBay sellers have more job security because more consumers will come to us to purchase our items - our products are more affordable.

2) Internet shopping is the trend of the future. Many people rely on the internet to shop, compare prices, and for fast shipping of purchases. We live in an instant society - people want things immediately. Internet shopping is a time saver for many consumers. For example, instead of spending their lunch hour getting into their car, driving to the mall or other retail store, possibly getting stuck in traffic, and searching for needed items, many consumers sit at their desk and place their orders on-line. Busy moms don't have to take their crew of small children to the store, and senior citizens can comfortably shop from home without the hassle of parking, walking, or carrying packages.

3) As gas prices continue to climb, internet shopping becomes more attractive. Resourceful shoppers will stay at home and shop on-line as opposed to unnecessarily using gas.

4) According to the eBay 6/07 quarterly report, eBay has over 244 million users with 133,000 signing up every day. eBay continues to grow.

5) According to "eBusiness and eCommerce Solutions," internet opportunities grow with the number of internet users. The World Wide Web is globally pervasive. The internet has attracted more users in more countries than any other communication tool in history."

6) The internet has 1.1 billion users globally - more and more of them are coming to eBay.

Learn more about selling on eBay by visiting The eBay Coach Forum, and by subscribing to The eBay Coach blog.

Suzanne Wells is an eBay Power Seller, author of "The Stay-at-Home Mom's Gude to Successful eBay Selling," eBay Consultant, and mom of 2 in Atlanta, GA.