eBay is running a listing fee sale this week. eBay sellers who have an eBay Stores subscription can list Auction-style for FREE from May 7–13, You pay zero insertion fees, even for your high-ticket items.
Both current and new eBay Stores subscribers are eligible for this offer.
This offer applies to Auction-style listings (with the exception of 1-day listings) on eBay.com, eBay Motors Parts & Accessories and eBay Canada. Most categories are included. This Promotion started on Monday May 7, 2012 and will end on Sunday, May 13, at 23:59:59 PT.
All existing selling limits (as well as category and item limits) still apply, and may exclude and prevent certain sellers from creating the maximum number of listings—50,000—in this promotion. See terms and conditions for full details.
If you have been thinking about opening an eBay Store, this could be a great time. For as little as $15.95 a month, an eBay Stores subscription offers discounted Fixed Price insertion fees and final value fee rates, free pictures, and some neat marketing tools to help boost your sales.
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The Complete eBay Marketing System by Skip McGrath is a complete printed course for beginning and intermediate level eBay Sellers. It includes access to a special members-only website where we list wholesale sources that will work with eBay and Amazon sellers.
Drew Davies writes for Big Yellow Self Storage in the UK – providing business storage for eBay and Amazon sellers and other businesses. Check out their business section or their blog for more information.
Storage Tips for Online Sellers – Home or Offsite Storage?
Unless you use drop shipping or sell virtual products, storage is always going to be a key consideration, especially when you first start your online business. The question of what’s best to do with your stock isn’t an easy one to answer and depends on many factors. Most eBay sellers, for example, will initially use a spare room to keep merchandise, or the garage or attic – but it can be difficult to scale up once you get bigger. Is it better to think ahead and investigate offsite storage solutions (such as warehousing, industrial units or self storage) or invest in making the best of the space you have?
There are several things to consider. The first, of course, is cost. Although it might be cheaper in the conventional sense to use ‘free’ space at home, it might limit your potential earnings if it means that you can only buy a finite amount of product to sell – false economy if you miss out on bigger orders, which could increase your profits in the long term. Access is also an issue – attics and basements might seem like ideal unused space for storage, but keeping stock in these harder to reach places can make the sales process more challenging – especially in terms of deliveries. One solution can be to better harness the ground floor space you have. Installing shelving units in your garage – either purpose build or DIY – can free up space: just make sure you consider the size and the weight of the things you’re storing. Smaller items can be placed within baskets and then onto shelves to reduce the room they take up. And finally, there’s security. If you’re an operation with more expensive products (such as electronics) you’ll want to invest in alarms and store items in secure rooms with adequate locks.
There are times though, when home storage might no longer be suitable: if you have overspill, a bigger than expected order, or if you’re growing the business. You might consider partnering up with another business and looking into sharing a warehouse space or industrial unit to keep overheads down. This solution has drawbacks – security becomes an issue if people outside your operation have access to your stock, and defining the space to avoid no mix-ups is paramount – but it can be a less costly step away from storing your merchandise at home. With warehouses you’ll need to consider the necessary evils of business rates, service charges and utilities – plus upfront deposits.
Self storage, often seen as the bastion of household storage – is becoming increasingly popular with small businesses and start ups (in July last year, the Self Storage Association, reported a 5 per cent annual shift away from domestic towards business customers). The draw is flexibility – store what you want for just the time you need in the space required (from 10-500 sq ft), with the all-inclusive cost attractive too. There are ways to make self storage work especially hard for you – if you’ve savvy with your deliveries and sales you can upsize and downsize rooms without penalty (do check T&C’s first), shut down a storage room completely between orders and expand quickly for that unexpected delivery.
This guest post is brought to you by Outright.com, the simplest way to manage your business finances online.
Tax time is always very stressful, especially for ecom sellers. There just seem to be so many more steps involved so you end up with several sleepless nights of crunching numbers YET AGAIN because you accidentally skipped over a box of receipts. We know how it is.
So believe us when we say we fully advocate the use of the tax extension Many people ignore the fact that they can file a tax extension because they think it makes them look lazy or perhaps even a little shady. But believe me, the IRS doesn’t care and neither should you! Most small business owners who file for an extension genuinely need more time to finish their taxes for one reason or another.
If you are considering filing for a tax extension – you’re not alone. Let’s take a look at the process:
Paying In
First and foremost, let’s get one thing out of the way. Many people say the tax extension is just for people who want to put off paying their taxes, but this is just flat out not true. How do we know? Because the tax extension doesn’t extend the time you have to pay your taxes, it just extends the time you have to file your tax FORMS.
Therefore, if you file for an extension, you have to pay the IRS what you owe. But how do you know how much you owe before you file? You simply have to send in a payment of what you estimate to owe, based on the information you have.
So even when you put off filing you have to at least start the process!
How to File
Though it seems like it would be complicated, filing for a tax extension is surprisingly simple. It’s so simple, in fact, that you’re almost guaranteed to receive an extension if you file! Since when has anything from the IRS been guaranteed?
Just grab Form 4868 from your local tax office, library, or post office, or use the link provided to print it out. Fill it out, including how much you estimate you owe, and send everything in. That’s it! There are some websites out there that help you file this form, too, like Turbotax.
Some ecommerce sellers have gone beyond the independent seller route and have registered as a corporation. If this is the case with your store, then you’ll want to file Form 7004, which is for corporations to have more time to file business income tax. (Unfortunately, either your taxes or this form was due March 15th, so I you’re behind file right away!) Filing Form 7004 is a little more complicated, but still worth it if you’ve run out of time need to readjust your tax strategy.
Found a box of old receipts and need more time for taxes? Outright.com has you covered. Sign up today for a free account and make tax time a little less taxing!
I have been invited to speak at the eBay users group in Dallas Texas on the evening of March 28th. If you live within driving distance of Dallas and would like to come – here is the information and a link to register/RSVP.
Canyon Creek Country Club
625 W Lookout Dr, Richardson, TX
Enjoy dinner, drinks and an evening with the nation’s leading eBay and Amazon expert, Skip McGrath of Online Seller Seller’s Resource, bestselling author, marketer extraordinaire and recently featured in Woman’s Day Magazine.
ENTRY COST — $20.00 Cash or $22.00 via Credit Card
Entry fee includes everything and a delicious buffet dinner (salad, bread, entree, side dish, vegetable, dessert, non-alcoholic beverages, tax and gratuity).
I hope to see you there.
Cash in with top-dollar tablet trade-in values during eBay’s limited-time offer
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– eBay, today announced a limited-time offer for eBay Instant Sale, eBay’s electronics trade-in program, allowing customers to lock-in top-dollar values for tablet trade-ins, including up to $475 for the iPad 2. From today through March 10, customers can secure limited-time trade-in offers for their current tablets, in both working and non-working conditions, using eBay Instant Sale.
After locking-in their trade-in offer, customers aren’t required to ship their tablet for trade until March 20, ensuring they won’t go “tablet-less” before the new iPad is available on March 16.
Guaranteed trade-in values during the offer period apply to all tablet devices accepted through eBay Instant Sale. Examples of trade-in offers for popular tablets include values of up to:
How it works: After securing their guaranteed eBay Instant Sale trade-in value anytime between today and Midnight PT on Saturday, March 10, customers have until Tuesday, March 20 to postmark their tablet for trade-in using the free shipping label provided. Customers will receive payment in the amount of the trade-in value they initially secured once the tablet is received and its condition is verified, even if values decline from the time the customer locks-in their offer to when they ship the item.
eBay Instant Sale is also introducing an easier way for customers to identify the condition of their tablets to secure the best offer available. Instead of asking customers to choose from multiple “condition options” when describing the condition of their tablets, eBay Instant Sale allows customers to simply select between “working” and “not working” conditions. This helps reduce customer confusion in instances where their product is determined by a trade-in program to be in a lesser condition than the customer initially indicated.
Highlights/Key Facts:
eBay Instant Sale is an online tool that gives people a cash offer for tablets and other electronics in 60 seconds or less. To date, customers have used eBay Instant Sale to generate more than 7.3 million trade-in offers for electronics products.
eBay Instant Sale Tablet Offers At-A-Glance – Since launching in October 2010:
More than 640,000 tablet trade-in offers have been generated through eBay Instant Sale
Of the total tablet offers generated, 94% have been for iPad models, 4% have been for Android tablets, and 2% have been for tablets running other operating systems.
Anyone can visit instantsale.ebay.com and enter basic information about their tablets or electronics devices to receive a cash offer.
Payment will be deposited into the customer’s PayPal account once the item has been received and its condition has been verified.
The eBay Instant Sale mobile app for iPhone lets people get an instant trade-in offer for their tablets and other devices on-the-go.
In instances where a device has no trade-in value, eBay Instant Sale will responsibly recycle it free of charge. According to Demos, a public policy research and advocacy organization, Americans own 3 billion electronic products with a turnover rate of about 400 million units each year, yet less than 14 percent of those gadgets are recycled. eBay Instant Sale provides an engine for the reuse of functional smartphones, keeping waste out of landfills and preventing new manufacturing.
“In the past year, people who want the latest electronics have used eBay Instant Sale in record numbers to trade in their old devices, making trade-ins a natural part of the electronics lifecycle,” said Gregory Boutte, vice president of eBay Electronics and Motors in North America. “In 60 seconds or less, eBay Instant Sale is helping to put money in people’s hands to use for the new iPad, while allowing them to hang on to their current tablet until the new iPad is available.”
After my last newsletter I got a ton of mail about the new eBay policy that sellers have to provide tracking on 90% of their shipments. One group that is most affected by this are those sellers who sell flat items like post cards, sports cards, stamps, or any flat item. Most of these sellers send their products to buyers in a simple first class envelop for 45-cents. The problem is the post office (USPS) doesn’t provide tracking for First Class letters. But they do offer tracking for larger First Class packages.
I had over a dozen readers send me their solutions. Here are some of the ideas I got:
message: I am an eBay power seller who uses mainly first class shipping in envelopes. My carrier told me the secret to getting free tracking through USPS is to pad the envelope with lightweight bubble paper to increase the thickness. I fold my wrap into thirds to get the desired thickness. It doesn’t add to the weight but does cost a little more in supplies.
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message: Hello, I am an avid reader and have purchased many of your products. I think there are some wires crossed with the issue of tracking on First Class Mail and Media Mail packages.
We ship extensively using both methods and when we purchase postage through either eBay or PayPal they automatically add delivery confirmation. It is free for First Class now and it costs .19 for Media.
This suffices for tracking on eBay. These are both shipped as package slash thick envelope. Get this, even the thin envelopes are shipped this way, but if they are under three quarters thick, we will simply take a black sharpie and mark out the delivery confirmation info on the shipping label and it is good to go. The tracking still goes into the eBay system but the post office will not refuse your First Class envelope because the tracking has been marked out.
Or you can also just add a packing peanut to the envelope to get it over three quarters inch thick. We use the marker method and have not had any refused. Hope this will help your readers.
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message: When I read the story about the person who ships first class and can’t get tracking, I was very surprised at her problem. I ship most of my products the same way, but include some cardboard, it doesn’t take much, and write or stamp Do Not Bend on the package. Since the package is now what the post office deems Rigid, it is now has to ship at first-class package rate with free tracking.
It works the same for any package that is rigid, nonrectangular, or not uniformly thick, this is a direct quote from the USPS website.
If you don’t want to add cardboard, throw a packing peanut into each flat envelope so that it is not uniformly thick. It works the same way and how much does a packing peanut add to the weight? The answer is not much! To sum up, for the price of one packing peanut added to each 9×12 envelope she sends, she can now track her first-class package and be a Top Rated Seller.
I get this question from a lot of readers. The short answer is: If you are selling more than $20,000 a year online – Yes.
First of all let me make clear that I am not a lawyer, accountant or CPA and I am not giving legal advice as I am not qualified to do so. This is just the opinion of someone who has been involved in online business for over 12 years and offline businesses for over 30 years.
Also there are several types of corporations including S-corp, C-Corp and LLC. When I use the word corporation I am referring to all of these in general.
There are several advantages of incorporating:
Limited Liability – Limiting your liability is number one in my book. If you do all of your business under your corporate shell, then if someone sues you, they can’t sue you –they sue the corporation. That means that all of your personal assets are protected. Losing a lawsuit won’t cost you your home, car and savings.
Credibility – When you deal with wholesale vendors and other companies and your are incorporated you will be taken more seriously.
Business Name Flexibility – you can have an unlimited number of DBAs (Doing Business As) under one corporation. Say that you sell jewelry on eBay and clothing on Amazon. Well you can have one name for eBay such as “Betty’s Jewelry Box” and another for Amazon such as “Betty’s Boutique”. both names can be under the same corporation or LLC.
Taxes – the topic of taxes is too complex to address here, but take it from me, when you incorporate you can save a lot of money in taxes as there are things in the tax code for corporations that are not available to sole proprietorship’s. Talk to your accountant or tax preparer for the details.
Many people incorporate for the last reason – tax savings, but believe me the other reasons are just as important. I was once the subject of a frivolous lawsuit. Although I had plenty of personal assets, I keep my corporate assets lean and never keep big balances in my corporate account. I just called up the lawyer who filed the suit and told him what my corporate assets were and he dropped the suit when he realized there was no big money to get. I didn’t even need to hire a lawyer.
The easiest and fastest way to incorporate is right online. I use My Corporation. I used to recommend Legal Zoom, but a couple of my readers reported a bad experience. I used My Corporation to start my latest venture and it went smooth as silk. If you want more info on incorporating, I have a longer, much more detailed article on my website – http://www.skipmcgrath.com/articles/incorporate-ebay-business.shtml
A couple of days ago, amazon announced a new policy that will force sellers to split their shipments between warehouses. The idea is to get merchandise closer to customers to lower Amazon’s shipping costs (while raising ours). I have had a ton of email from upset sellers –but this is just one of those things we can’t do anything about. Large companies like Amazon and eBay always look at their bottom line before they look at your bottom line and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
The Amazon Prime program has been hugely successful for Amazon, but the free 2-Day shipping is very distance sensitive. Placing inventory at multiple warehouses is a big cost saver for Amazon. So yes this is a pain for sellers and will cut into our profits, but for now, my profits are so high on Amazon that I am not about to leave over something like this.
Here are the details of the Amazon announcement:
Dear FBA Seller,
Effective February 25, 2012, inventory may be assigned to multiple fulfillment centers at the ASIN level during the shipment creation process to help better position it to reach customers at the delivery speeds they choose. We anticipate that both you and customers who purchase your products will benefit from this change, including for the following reasons.
Products located in multiple fulfillment centers can gain a competitive advantage over products located in a single fulfillment center. Order cut-off times for Prime and expedited shipping can be extended by as much as three hours with inventory in multiple fulfillment centers, so your offers will more likely be available for last-minute orders in more locations.
Products can be available for fulfillment to customers sooner than if you shipped them to one fulfillment center, and we then transported them to other fulfillment centers.
The impact of regional and local events on your products will be reduced. Events such as snowstorms, flooding, and earthquakes can disrupt transportation in a region or local fulfillment center. Having your inventory in multiple locations during these events increases our ability to ship orders to customers on time.
Please visit Inventory Placement for more information. If you still have questions, please contact Seller Support (sign in required).
Thank you,
Fulfillment by Amazon Operations
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There is another way to make money with Amazon. Take a look at my training course:
“Social Store” is the perfect selling tool for the eBay seller. With “Social Store” you can create a customized Facebook business/fan page displaying all of your eBay items quickly and easily. In addition, the app sees to it that your Facebook page will always be in sync with your eBay store or listings.
As we all know, Facebook is seen to be the next e-commerce platform, therefore it’s essential that a seller be present on this great media platform. “Social Store” gives you this terrific opportunity easily and only for $0.95 a month.
The app helps you drive traffic from Facebook to your eBay listings using Facebook’s “viral promotion” inherent feature giving you maximum public exposure for your items and listings with minimum effort. The bottom line is that you’ll surely increase your sales and revenues.
So will this app benefit me?
We believe it will. The different social networking platforms are great for promoting ideas, creations, goods and eBay items. This is mainly because millions of people are populating these channels constantly. Therefore, “Social Store” is a simple and quick solution for your promotion needs. Enjoy!
What our customers are saying:
“This is by far the most genius app on Facebook or eBay. It is one of the easiest to set up, and a great way to link to of the biggest online networks. Sales are for sure to increase and the word of your name will quickly be spread. In addition, customer support always replies within minutes to any questions or concerns. All around a great investment and experience!”
They also offer a payment plan, but please note that the $50 discount does not apply to the payment plan.
The discount link is right to the shopping cart. If you want to read about Worldwide Brands or see their video, click here first but don’t forget to go back to the above link before you purchase if you want the discount.
For the past week our sales on eBay and Amazon have been humming along. It turned out to be a great holiday season –much better than we hoped. Then this morning it stopped. I am so used to hitting the computer in the morning and seeing orders coming in, that it was a disappointment this morning when we only had one order overnight.
It is now officially too close to Christmas to order anything from eBay or Amazon and get delivery –but get ready for the day after. Both eBay and Amazon are reporting record sales of Gift Cards –and those folks will be spending that money next week. In fact, last year I remember that orders started hitting on Christmas afternoon and kept up strong for the next three days.
The second half of the holiday selling season starts right after New Years Day and goes right up until Valentines Day. Last year, January was our second best month (after December). I think what happens is that people have put off spending money on themselves over Christmas and once its over they start up again.
So even if you still have merchandise that can’t sell in time for Christmas, get ready to move it out over the next few weeks.
Cheers and a very Merry Christmas to all of my readers.
Today’s post is a guest post by Jennifer (Escalona) Dunn, Professional writer, blogger, and social media consultant. www.jennescalona.com What do you want to say?
Unexpected Mail: The PayPal 1099 is Coming
We know Halloween is already over, but be prepared to have the dickens scared straight out of you. If you haven’t seen recent reports, PayPal announced they will be sending you some unexpected mail come January.
No, not a coupon to offset their fees. Starting next year, certain frequent users will get brand spankin’ new 1099 forms for their taxes!
Whoa now, it’s ok, come back from behind the couch. It’s not really all that bad! Let’s take a look at this form and what it means for you – and what to do about it.
Why Me?
Well, first of all, you may not actually BE getting the new 1099 PayPal form. Only highly active PayPal users will get this in 2012. For one, you have to accrue at least $20,000 in revenue through PayPal – you can find this number by looking at your gross sales volume. Also, that $20,000 must be accomplished in over 200 PayPal transactions for the year.
As you can see, it’s not just everyone who gets this fun piece of paper in the mail for next tax season. Basically, if you just have a side eBay store you sell one or two items from a month, then you don’t have to worry about it. However, if this eBay store becomes your main source of income, then watch out come January!
Don’t Worry – Write Everything Down
But we’re making this piece of paper sound like it’s a missile crashing into your living room – and it’s truly not. If you’ve dealt with one 1099, you’ve dealt with them all.
The major thing to keep in mind about the PayPal 1099 is you must keep accurate records for your transactions. This is the first year PayPal and other payment processors will be sending out 1099’s, and there will be growing pains. Don’t rely on the information PayPal has given to the IRS to be totally correct. It’s up to you to make sure the IRS has the most accurate intel on your financial records. If not, then you’re putting yourself at the mercy of others, and this is the first time PayPal has done this!
Another reason you should keep accurate records of all your transactions is because the 1099 doesn’t cover everything your store needs for taxes. Namely, anything you paid out of pocket to fund your life’s work: business expenses. If you bought a new printer or shipping supplies and don’t report it on your taxes, then the IRS has no idea that happened and will expect you to pay taxes on that income.
This could result in you paying out way more than you really owe to the government. Then the PayPal 1099 really does become a huge pain – in your bank account! With proper record keeping (heck, it’s good for your business anyway), this new process becomes old hat.
At Outright.com we help online sellers quickly and easily track income, expenses and taxes. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask Outright on Facebook, Twitter or at support@outright.com any day and time – we’re here to help!
I drank the eBay Kool Aid on free shipping a long time ago. The simple reason is because it works. I have tested my listings both ways and free shipping does increase conversions on eBay. It works all years around, but it really works well during the holidays.
One of the major downsides to offering free shipping is that you pay eBay a final value fee on the shipping amount you build into your price –and believe me that adds up. So you not only have to add the shipping cost into your price but you should also add a little bit for the extra fee also.
But it turns out there is another major disadvantage to offering free shipping. Most sellers like me put the words “free shipping” right into the listing title to get the buyer’s attention. It turns out that if you do that, Google will not index your listing. I learned that just this morning when I read Ina Stenier’s blog: Could Offering Free Shipping on eBay Hurt Your Google SEO?. If you are offering free shipping in your eBay listings, I strongly recommend you read Ina’s post.
Learning digital photography is both fun and interesting.And if you are going to sell on eBay, Amazon or from a website, then you really need to learn how to take great photos.
As someone who was a film camera buff for years, I was late to digital photography. But, once I converted I dove in with all I had.
There is so much you can do with digital photography and these books have really helped my expand my techniques and dramatically improved my results.
These are not in any particular order. If you are a beginner, take a look at numbers 9 and 10:
CNN recently asked 1000 Americans how much money they would have to make each month to consider themselves rich.
The answer: $10,000 a month
If that is all YOU need, then you need to be on this free LIVE event this Friday (a/k/a Black Friday)
See all the details here.
You’ll discover the EXACT system being used to build dozens of $10k+/month businesses, plus you’ll learn the latest hacks, loopholes and sneaky tricks from a master of the game, Ryan Deiss.
This live online event will be at least 2 hours of PURE content, and just you being there will make you a much smarter marketer.
Here is just a little of what he’ll reveal…
During this free online training event you’ll discover:
* Why the “30 Days To $10K” Formula works so well and so fast, and how you can leverage it between now and New Year’s Day.
* The three big “shifts” you need to make if you want to build a 5-figure monthly business
* Why selling a PRODUCT online is the surest recipe for failure (did you get that???)
* Why you don’t need to know anything about traffic generation to build a 5-figure business, seriously.
Beat the crowds on Black Friday and Join me! this is going to be much more fun than getting clobbered by granny with an xbox at Wal-Mart.
See you there, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers
Skip McGrath
P.S. #1 – This is obviously a program to sell you something, but I promise you will learn a ton of great stuff from the webinar whether you decide to buy or not. AND – The webinar is free but if you decide to buy the training program it comes with a money-back guarantee.
P.S. #2 There is a VERY cool FREE $197 gift when you register.
In my last newsletter I told you about Janelle Elms Home Run Guide and many of you took advantage of it. Janelle has been selling the guide for $49 during the introductory period –but that ends November 30th. So you don’t have much time to take advantage of it.
The Home Run Guide is an easy to use e-book (including a special download for Droids and iPhones) that will help you separate the junk from the profitable treasures at garages sales, estate sales, rummage sales and thrift stores. Have you ever wanted to have all the collectible experts in your back pocket while you search garage sales and estate sales for buried treasure? Janelle collected dozens of experts (including me) to write about their special niches and how they source and sell products.
Here are just a few early and unsolicited testimonials from folks who bought the guide:
The information in this guide is incredible and to get this information all in one source is a great bargain. I have written books on sourcing products from Big Lots and other sources but the information here is unprecedented. Great job and get value. This book can make you thousands everytime you head out for sourcing inventory. Thanks again.
Bill Basinger
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I read the guide and went out looking for sheets, I came across one and bought it for $1.50. It ended today for $37.00 – if it wasn’t for the guide I would have never bought it!
OK, one more! I am sooo hooked on this guide! Bought another one for $3.50 and it sold for 54.59! I haven’t even read the entire guide yet!
Christina Serrano
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Ok here is a home run for the week. I bought this towel at a yard sale for a quarter and was so happy when it got a bid for 9.99 and it closed at alot more ($62.16) Wow, who knew.
Deana Thielet
(Here is another item I picked up at a garage sale – http://cgi.ebay.com/400239113756#ht_2925wt_754 – check out that price!!)
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Here is the best part about this book which we purchase right from the get go. My husband has always been a good supporter of our business. He does the shipping and some of the other things. But I was the one who shopped and listed. NOW he is devouring the book and going with me to thrift. This is priceless in itself!!! Two of us searching will return a hundred fold to our business. I even find a copy in his “library”.
Sherry Gilson
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What I love about the book so far is the stories! I mean it’s great to get the facts too. But the stories are really special. The book has me reminiscing about that feeling I had when I first realized a 1st edition cookbook I was selling was going to top $100. The stories are priceless
Kerry Boozenny
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Amazon hit all of us who purchased Kindle Fires to resell when supply is short with a big backhand when they announced they would do two things.
1. Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire at a small loss. It costs them $209 to manufacturer and ship each Kindle, but they are selling it for $199.
2. Because of this Amazon had to get as many Kindle Fires out to market as fast as possible so they could recoup the loss with book, movie and music sales. Therefore they manufactured a large supply and besides selling them online they are being sold in large chain stores such as Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. So right now there are plenty of Kindle Fires in the supply chain.
But this won’t last long. One of my sources at Amazon told me the sales are exceeding expectations. This means the supply should tighten up soon. The very worst case that will happen is if the supply doesn’t tighten up, you will still be able to sell your Kindle Fires for what you paid for them and get your money back with perhaps a small loss in eBay fees. But I am very hopeful that the supply will tighten up soon and you will see Kindle Fires start selling on eBay for more than the $199 Amazon price.
I don’t think the prices will reach insane levels like what happened with the new iPads, but I do expect to see prices in the $249 to $299 range as we get closer to Christmas.
So don’t panic. I am still sitting on the ten Kindle Fires I bought (less one for myself). Lets see how things play out over the next couple of weeks.
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MORE INFO:
Here is a comment that just came in from Jordan Malik -
Two more factors are pointing to the Kindle Fire being in WAY short demand AND reselling for a high price:
2.) ebay Purchases of Kindles have hit a high of $349; and a high of ~$260 for *PRE-ORDERS* (i.e. customers were clearly told their order was a pre-order)
It’s still way too early to tell exactly how reselling will go for the Kindle, but I am still confident that Amazon will not be able to keep up with orders (i.e. there will be delays due to orders clogging up their pipeline; and there will be delays due to several ‘out of stock’ notices on Amazon because I believe the overseas bulk shipments of Fires to Amazon will not be able to keep up with the demand.
Today’s blog is a guest post from Global Sources. They recently ran one of my articles in their newsletter so I am returning the favor. Besides they have some great resources for eBay and Amazon sellers that you can use. I would definitely recommend subscribing to the magazines for your niche.
Guest blog copy_October 2011
Many buyers don’t do business with China suppliers because they think most of them are unreliable. Well, Global Sources has got the sourcing help to find trustworthy suppliers, not fly-by-night shops. Each verified supplier on our site and in our magazines is visited at least three times to make sure that their company is a real, export-ready, with real products and real offices. Some of the specific tools we offer buyers to source more confidently, with less risk are:
Online sourcing directory
GlobalSources.com lists millions of products from hundreds of thousands of suppliers. Use our search functions to sort and filter suppliers by business type, location and more. Contact suppliers directly using our convenient online inquiry form to get answers to questions on product specifications, pricing, shipping and more.
Industry-specific sourcing magazines
Subscribe to free e-magazines and receive new issues monthly by e-mail. Every month buyers get updates on new products, news on market trends and accurate contact details for hundreds of verified suppliers. There are 18 industry-specific titles, so each magazine provides targeted information. Clicking on a supplier ad in the e-magazine lets buyers contact that supplier directly or go to their websites to learn more about them. Print subscriptions also available.
China Sourcing Fairs
Meet thousands of suppliers in-person at Global Sources’ specialized tradeshows, held in seven key locations in Asia, South Africa, the US and the Middle East. Buyers can sit down with suppliers to see all the latest products available. Check out upcoming tradeshows at China Sourcing Fairs. And if you can’t visit in-person, look at our Online Sourcing Fairs, which allow you to “virtually” visit the fairs (both past and future).
New product updates in your chosen categories
With Product Alert updates, buyers know when new products in their selected categories are posted online. On the same day, in fact. Fine tune the types of products you’re looking for by choosing from over 6,000 categories. And receive industry news in your areas of interest too. Save time and effort with these free product & news updates.
In-depth information on key China industries
China Sourcing Reports offer buyers detailed profiles of key manufacturers in China and elsewhere in Asia – plus information on best-selling export products, pricing forecasts, industry trends and more. See all 98 sourcing reports currently available. Prices range from $75 to $400.
PLUS…learn how to avoid common pitfalls when you’re sourcing from China. Check out the “What Every Buyer Should Know” page. This is where we’ve posted proven best practices, insights from experts in the field and first-hand advice from experienced China buyers.
Global Sources has been helping buyers make more confident, more informed China sourcing decisions for over 40 years, through its online directory, trade shows, research reports and monthly magazines. Learn more about Global Sources’ products and services.
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