By Charlene Davis

Thanks to the Internet, e-commerce has made its indelible stamp on the business world by completely revamping how various companies and industries operate. And under that huge umbrella of “doing business on the Internet” falls a legendary business success story: eBay. What began in 1995 as a little website where approximately 10,000 individuals traded goods with one another during the first year, now has more than 135 million registered users with a half million of those folks making a full- or part-time living with businesses that sell on eBay.

So the question that begs to be asked is: Should you add eBay as a sales venue to your operation? Consider that in 2004, eBay’s annual gross merchandise sales exceeded $34 billion and $1.2 billion of that was in the business and industrial category. Statistics like this clearly indicate that eBay provides extraordinary opportunities to reach a worldwide market with different products and services.

Benefits of operating a business on eBay:

Targeted Traffic – Through eBay’s superb search engine optimization, customers who are specifically looking for your product will be directed to a landing page featuring your eBay store or auction page. With more than 79 million searches conducted on eBay daily, this will be a much added boost to your online marketing campaign. Listing your product on eBay will save money traditionally spent on advertising, as well as eliminate the difficulty of building and trading links or finding joint venture partners to promote your product.

Increased Sales – eBay can be used in conjunction with your existing business as an additional selling platform by directing visitors to your non-eBay site. You can sell slow-moving or discontinued inventory or promote a new product to a huge audience by listing it on eBay. It’s also interesting to note that some retailers have closed their brick and mortar stores in favor of operating a more profitable business on eBay.

User Friendly – Setting up as an eBay seller is probably one of the easiest things you will do as part of your business, as you will be guided through every step of the process. Creating a seller’s account is free, although you will have to provide specific information that can be verified as part of eBay’s fraud-prevention measures. There are also helpful communities and discussion forums on eBay and throughout the Internet which will answer questions and help you enhance your online selling skills.

Test Marketing – eBay is an effective site to use for testing marketing to determine demand and price points for various products.

Tools of the Trade – eBay wants their sellers to be successful so it provides a large variety of tools to make businesses as profitable and efficient as possible. There are also many third-party tools available as a direct result of eBay’s impressive growth.

In addition to selling, many entrepreneurs buy at greatly reduced prices on eBay every day. To target those shoppers, eBay has designated a specific category for “Business and Industrial” with hundreds of subcategories that range from dental equipment to vending concessions to printing supplies. Thanks to eBay’s innovative feedback system, these buyers enjoy a high level of quality customer service. eBay recommends that their sellers maintain a feedback ratio of 98 percent or higher; however, most sellers strive to keep their feedback above 99 percent by making customer service their number one priority.

As exciting and innovative as eBay is right now, the eBay of tomorrow will prove to be even more so as it shifts and evolves to match the constantly changing world of e-commerce. So jump on board and let eBay help to enhance your business and expand its growth today.

Charlene Davis is a freelance writer specializing in business, technical subjects, and e-commerce. Her book, Make BIG Profits on eBay: Start Your Own Million $ Business (co-written with Jacquelyn Lynn), Entrepreneur Press, 2005, was written for entrepreneurs who want to build a highly profitable business on eBay. For more information, please go to http://www.cdavisfreelance.com

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