Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities in Community Help Boards in Community

Last Post Sep 14, 2006 12:06 PM by: deirdre@ebay.com

Replies: 84

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Aug 31, 2006 2:12 PM

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Topic: Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Host: worldwidebrandsinc
Date: Thursday 09/14
Time: 11:00 am to 12:00 pm PT
Location: Workshop Board

Description: Many people struggle with deciding on a product to sell on eBay. Matt Hedges, marketing manager for WorldwideBrands.com and author of the book The Online Research Guide, will step sellers through the process of selecting a product to sell from the millions of possible options available to eBay sellers.

Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

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Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 10:58 AM

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Welcome and thanks for joining us today!

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Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:00 AM

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Greetings ALL!

I’m very glad you could make it to this workshop. It’s designed to teach you some research skills that can help you decide what to sell, from millions of possible products.

I’m Matthew Hedges, Marketing Manager and one of the original Research Specialists for eBay-Certified Solution Provider Worldwide Brands, Inc. I’m also Producer of Entrepreneur Magazine’s eBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows, and author of The Online Research Guide to Picking Products That Sell.

If you find it difficult to decide what to sell on eBay, don’t throw in the towel yet. Frankly, just about every new online seller has the same question: What on earth should I sell?

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:01 AM

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It’s not impossible to pick good products to sell.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when confronted with millions of choices. But take comfort in the knowledge that, if it were actually impossible for a beginner to pick good products to sell, then no online retailer would ever be successful! And this isn’t the case at all. There are many successful eBay retailers that have turned online selling into their fulltime job. It’s absolutely possible to earn serious money online provided you’re willing to work hard. But you need to realize from the start, product selection is not simply selling random products and waiting for the money to start rolling in.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:02 AM

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Logical Approach:
I take a very logical approach to product selection. I base my decisions on actual online Market Research, not on what I think might be a good idea. You can’t base your product choices on a whim. Randomly picking products to sell, or basing decisions on whether or not YOU like a product, can cost you a lot of money. When you research BEFORE you start selling, you can find a lot of information to help you determine whether or not your products are worth pursuing. And often, your research will inspire product ideas you’d never even considered.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:03 AM

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The Basics:
What is Market Research? It’s pretty much what the name implies—you’re researching the market. The Market is comprised of online shoppers and online retailers. And Research is simply gathering information about the Market that’s directly related to the product you’re thinking of selling.

The information you gather can show you whether or not you’ll be able to compete in the current market, and help you understand what kind of demand there is for that product, as well as its advertising and marketing potential. Since your market is online, the majority of your research is performed online as well. Your ultimate goal is to find out whether “Product X” is a good idea to sell, or whether it should be avoided.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:03 AM

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Hello Matthew!
Thanks for doing this workshop- planning on learning alot today!
Dean.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:04 AM

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Most people realize they need to research, but they don’t really know how to research. Before you start researching, you need to understand the basic elements involved: Keywords, Demand and Competition.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:04 AM

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Keywords:
Imagine what a mess it would be if there were no search fields on eBay. Sellers would just throw their products into one big pile, and it would be up to the customer to sift through and find what they were looking for. What a nightmare! Fortunately, that’s not the case because in the online world just about everything gets sorted by keywords.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:04 AM

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When you search on eBay, whether you realize it or not, you’re typing in keywords. For example, if you wanted to find picture frames, you’d type the keywords “picture frames.”

Keywords are just words we use everyday when we type. Easy enough, right? Well, from a research perspective, they tell us an enormous amount of information, so learn to love keywords. They’re our friends. We’ll get into that more in a bit. For now, let’s keep moving with some of the basic components of online research...

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:05 AM

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Demand:
Simple Definition: How many shoppers are looking for that product?

A big difference between an online business and a physical store is that the Internet offers potentially a lot more customers. You’re not bound by location; your customers don’t have to be within driving distance.

Since the Internet is so massive, finding out how many people are looking for a particular product seems like an impossible task. However, when people search for products online, remember they’re typing keywords into their search engine browsers.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:05 AM

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Competition:
Simple Definition of Competition: Retailers who are currently selling the products you’re thinking about selling. There will ALWAYS be competitors (unless you make a completely unique product and manufacture it yourself…but that’s another workshop :o) People often want to sell something no one else is selling. The problem with that idea is that if only one retailer were selling a Manufacturers’ products, that Manufacturer wouldn’t be in business very long—just like you wouldn’t be in business for long if only one customer was buying from you. Don’t get turned off by competition. It can be measured and can provide you with very useful information during your research.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:06 AM

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Work with REAL Wholesalers so you don’t get false Research Data:
I work for Worldwide Brands (www.worldwidebrands.com) and we specialize in locating REAL Wholesalers willing to work with online retailers. There are many advantages to working directly with wholesalers, one of which is always getting TRUE Wholesale prices. If you aren’t working directly with the Manufacturer or Factory-Authorized Wholesale Distributors, your market research will be skewed. Middlemen, who get in between retailers and actual Wholesalers, increase the true wholesale prices. You could end up thinking that ‘Product X’ isn’t a good idea because the profit margins are too low, when in fact, if you worked with the actual Wholesaler, you could compete. So bottom line, you need to work with real Wholesalers.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:07 AM

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Realize that you can’t sell certain products:It’s very important to keep in mind that not all Wholesalers will work with online retailers. On any given day at Worldwide Brands, we contact hundreds of Manufacturers and Factory-Authorized Distributors. I can tell you there are far more Wholesalers that are NOT willing to work with online retailers then there are ones that will. Of course we only list those who’ll work with online sellers; but my point is, it’s not uncommon to find real Wholesalers that won’t work with small businesses, e-store owners, auction sellers, etc.

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Sep 14, 2006 11:07 AM

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Typically, certain products, like Consumer electronics (i.e. - Ipods, Computers) and Designer Clothing, are areas only Big Retail chains can afford to sell in. Why? Why can’t you sell iPods if you want? Apple’s retailer minimum orders start in the $100,000 range. That’s a bit steep for most people starting an online business. If the real Wholesalers don’t drop-ship or offer small volumes, and you can’t afford to buy in large volumes, then you don’t have a supply for that product. So realize there will be products you can’t sell simply because you can’t meet the minimum orders the real Wholesalers require.

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Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities

Member Workshop: How to Choose a Product from Millions of Possibilities