The 6th annual eBay Live conference wrapped up Saturday with Kool and the Gang helping attendees celebrate good times, but now it's back to business. For those of you who didn't make it to Boston, here we'll highlight some of the exhibitors that caught our eye or made announcements. Note that while some top-notch vendors such as ChannelAdvisor, MerchantAdvantage, Infopia, HammerTap and Endicia were at the show, we've covered their latest news in previous stories so aren't including them here.
And, coming soon, we'll be posting coverage on some of the seminars we attended that provided tips on product photography, research and product sourcing and general selling and marketing advice from some PowerSellers and eBay staff. For now, though, here is your virtual tour of some products and services that can help you make more money on eBay.
Sourcing and Drop Shipping For online merchants who need to find items to sell, identifying reputable product sources is something that requires a lot of research. Here are some that you may want to check out.
GetOneSource.com: OneSource is run by WorldWide Brands, and for a registration fee, you gain access to its continually updated database of wholesalers, including drop shippers, light bulk and large volume wholesalers, liquidators and importers. The company is the only one in this market that is certified by eBay, and it vets the businesses, including overseas-based ones, ensuring that they are legitimate, and its list includes a wide variety of sources. For instance, a booklet passed out at the conference showcasing 40 "hot" suppliers includes everything from medical supplies to religious gifts from Jerusalem, to lingerie to furnishings and giftware.
SurplusSourcing.com: This company primarily focuses on digital cameras, storage media, cell and cordless phones and monitors from many name brands, and offers specials for eBay sellers. It also sells wholesale lots.
GovLiquidation.com: Government Liquidation, a subsidiary of Liquidity Services, Inc. is the exclusive contractor of the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for the sale of surplus and scrap assets of the United States Department of Defense (DOD). There are 500 categories of commodities, including: aircraft parts, uniforms, medical and dental lab equipment, trucks and boats and building and construction materials. Registration is required.
ViaTrading.com: This wholesale supply company will supply your store, or, drop ship wholesale lots. Its inventory includes cosmetics, dolls, clothing, tools, luggage, jewelry and more. ViaTrading works directly with major retail stores across the country to help them eliminate excess inventory by redistributing it to secondary channels such as flea markets, swap meets and, of course, eBay. The company launched in 2002 is short-listed for inclusion in the fall issue of Inc. 500 fastest growing company for 2007.
Photography, Web Design and Auction Software Ebayers generally tend to know more about selling stuff than about Web design and product photography, but these two factors can play an enormous role in boosting sales if done well. There are businesses catering to each of these tasks, and for a small investment, you can get photography equipment that will help you show off your products, and an eye-pleasing site design to match. Many of the design programs also include auction management tools.
Sharpics.com: This photography firm run by Danica Mazon, co-founder, oversees all facets of its product development, from conception to production. They offer an impressive line-up of affordable products that make it easy to capture high-quality photos for use on Web sites, as well as promotional materials. Its upgraded version of the D-Flector portable studio unfolds into a table-top background stand and includes three backgrounds in reflective silver, matte white and black. Using the D-Flector, you can blow out the background to show a true, pure white backdrop, so the object pops, and appears to be floating in air. For highly reflective items such as jewelry and glassware, the matte white and black backgrounds work best. You can also position it for flat photography of books or stamps. The smaller size costs $69.95 and the larger $119.95. Other products include a Compact Studio Light kit and Tabletop Monopad.
AcutionSplash.com: This is a service that offers free picture hosting (including Supersize), 100 free templates and a desktop dashboard for managing auctions. And, when shooting video, the AuctionSplash will convert and host it for you. Since the company launched in April, it has hosted 2,000 eBay auctions. The program is downloaded and runs on your desktop, linking to the eBay API over a secure connection, so you don't have to log in and out all the time. It also includes a listing creation tool, listing scheduler and selling and feedback managers.
Auctiva.com: Another impressive free service, Auctiva also provides image hosting, templates, gallery, storefront, listing and management features. The Sellathon ViewTracker tells in real-time how bidders found your site, what keywords they used, what category they browsed, how they sorted search results, how much time they spent on your auction as well as recommended times for holding auctions.
AsWas.com: Billed as a full-service consulting firm offering individualized attention, this company helps eBayers launch or improve their businesses through listing design, creation and presentation of brand and identity, sales and marketing strategies and other services.
Vendio.com: This customer acquisition and sales management company recently bought Andale and at the conference unveiled a unified Web site featuring the newest offering, Vendio Complete. The new sales management plan is designed to help sellers increase conversions, build brand loyalty, simplify inventory management and track performance. Key features include automated feedback and refund management, cross-sell galleries, automated relisting, design templates, checkout coupons, pricing tools such as rules-based actions to ensure you don't oversell, financial reporting and customer behavior tracking.
Customer Support and Help Desk Providers Parature.com: Unfortunately, conflict resolution is a part of customer management. Parature offers a hosted-solution that lets online sellers provide24/7 on-demand customer support from any Web browser, create a knowledge base to answer commonly asked questions, track, route and manage customer support issues and measure customer satisfaction with reporting and survey and reporting tools.
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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