Does eBay Own Your Online Auctions? Start Turning the Tables!

Monetization

Net auction selling (and eBay, specifically) is attractive for several reasons...

• easy to do
• no financial risk
• only an auction listing is required
• lots of targeted traffic actively searching for your type of product or service
• fun and excitement
• etc.

These positive attributes paint a rosy picture, and for the most part, this "picture" is valid. That's why entrepreneurs continue to join and stay with eBay. The payback potential is high and there is a strong sense of community among auction sellers. On a daily basis, you get to meet and/or do business with people who share similar interests to yours.

However, it's only after you have been in the auction business for a while that the blush begins to fade a bit. Online auctions require real work just like any other real business. And therein lies the rub... all your hard work to succeed with online auctions is not building a business of your own with true value (i.e., one that can be sold). It's really building eBay's equity. And we all know that eBay is worth billions of dollars.

Here's why eBay has the upper hand at this point...

1) eBay gets you, and millions of others, to do the tough, physical part (sourcing, packaging, shipping, payment collection, etc.) for them, from home, as free labor. So they don't ever need to own, warehouse, or ship a single product.

2) eBay collects a small amount for each transaction, which adds up to billions of dollars per year.

3) eBay owns all the traffic. Their automated software runs the network of buyers and sellers. This is not good news for you because if you don't own your traffic, you can't own your business.

So, realistically, you are working for eBay. You are depending on eBay for what is basically an hourly wage, while your "business" fails to build its own equity. All those hours of scrounging for boxes, packing sold items securely, trips to the post office, e-mail correspondence, payment collection... and it's eBay shareholders who profit the most.

It's time to take back your e-business and dreams! Here's how...

Step #1) Own your targeted traffic. This is essential. Building quality keyword-focused content web pages with high Search Engine rankings is the most effective way to solidify your own traffic foundation. And that foundation is an essential prerequisite for the next step...

Step #2) Diversify. Use eBay/auction selling as only one part your monetization plan. Once you see your traffic gaining momentum (remember, traffic must come before monetization), introduce two or three additional income streams that fit with your theme. One of them will, of course, be your already established auction business. By opening up other options, eBay no longer has the same grip over your business as the sole money-making source.

This independence allows you to use eBay, rather than the reverse where eBay uses you. Take advantage of their well-oiled gigantic network to drive traffic to your auction listings and to supplement your own traffic efforts to your Web site.

Diversification helps you make every visitor count. Let's say that you specialize in US commemorative coins. Your monetization plan might look like this... list a few coins at eBay on a regular basis, sell coins from your site, promote your locally-based coin appraisal service and/or recommend a couple of quality coin-collection books at Amazon. (Remember to check out Google's AdSense program as another revenue-producing option for your site.)

Diversification will definitely improve your bottom line and that leads nicely into the third and final step...

Step #3) Build equity. Publish a quality, information-packed e-zine. If you do that, you will easily build a large subscribers' address list. This list is more than just a list of names and e-mail addresses. It is your lifeblood. It will help you generate recurring sales (or commissions or leads, etc.). This is the essential ingredient for sustaining your business longterm.

So why are these three steps so critical?...

If eBay tripled their fees tomorrow, or did something else that would have a detrimental effect on your auction business, you would still have all your traffic generated by your site, your e-zine subscribers' list, and your customers. And you could react assertively and immediately to eBay's actions by either...

• Switching some of your auction business to a category-specific auction option.
• Shifting greater emphasis to other monetization models.
• Modifying your e-zine content appropriately, so that recurring business generates other types of revenues (for example, direct sales instead of auctions).

The bottom line?

Get the right online auctions start. That way, you own your e-business (and not eBay). You depend only on yourself. And your equity is yours. A WIN situation for you!