With all that has been going on at eBay and with the lack of action at my eBay store I thought I would update you on my plans.
I think I’ve had the most hectic four weeks of my life. With all the stuff going on at eBay I also moved home last week and this was the main reason I haven’t done anything for the last few weeks. I have spent the last six days decorating my new home but it’s all been worth it as I am typing this blog post from my brand new freshly painted office 
But now it’s time to get back to work and I just thought I would let you know what plans I have following eBay’s policy changes.
First of all I thought I would mention something that should now be pretty obvious. If you rely on one source of income your business is doomed to fail over the long term. I have stated many times that multiple income streams are the key to success. I also go into more detail at Resale Rights Revival so if you have not read that free report now is the time to check it out.
I also want to point out a few people seem to think my business is over, well here’s my answer to that:
www.mentorshipmonthly.com
This is my monthly mentoring program that covers all aspects of making money online via a digital newsletter that I provide each month. I hardly ever cover eBay related material.
www.freemonthlywebsites.com
This site I co-own with Dave Nicholson and Daniel Sumner. Free Monthly Websites is now over two years old and it provides a free AdSense website each month. It is not eBay related.
www.createprofitableebooks.com
This site takes you through the process of writing a profitable eBook. Once again eBay is not covered.
www.resalerightsblueprint.com
Another product showing you how to profit from resale rights eBooks. Again I hardly cover eBay.
www.sevenkeyelements.com
This eBook shows you the seven key elements every successful marketer follows. Once again I don’t mention eBay.
www.privatelabelplanet.com
This website provides private label content on a monthly basis. No eBay related material.
And last but not least.
www.johnthornhillcoaching.com
My coaching program is now into it’s 13th week and guess what? I still haven’t covered eBay.
So the lesson is there for all to see. Try to create as many products as you possibly can and try not to rely on one company or organization for your income. As you can see although my niche is mainly Resale Rights eBooks I still try to be as diverse as possible.
So now it’s time to let you know what I plan to do with my existing eBay related products now the digital dust has settled.
Well the first thing I plan to do is update my flagship product at www.ninetydaypowerseller.com and I hope to have that website updated by the end of the week. I still strongly believe it will be easier to gain and retain PowerSeller status by selling info products on eBay. Even if you do have to create physical products. I plan to add all you need to create a physical information product. I am also updating the eBook website that is supplied with this package. Once I have completed the update I will be putting the price up as the new material I will be supplying will at least double the value of this product.
I will then add more stock to my eBay inventory and be working on re-launching my coaching program.
So this brings you right up to date with my plans. Expect to see some major changes at www.ninetydaypowerseller.com and expect to see some items for sale on eBay from me soon.
As always please feel free to share your comments.
32 Comments
Martyn
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Nice to see you have decided to put your feet up. !!!!!
martyn
John R. Cumbow
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Glad to hear that you are not giving up on eBay. And it’s good to re-hear the advice to NOT rely on just ONE source of income.
I was listing just a few eBooks on eBay before they pulled the plug. Fortunately, it was not my only product. My physical product sales on eBay have continued as before, as have my digital and other sales OFF-eBay.
Looking forward to the updated Powseller products. And I’d like to see more information about eBook sales using eBay’s “classified ads”.
Keep up the good work,
John R. Cumbow
http://www.MisspelledBargains.com
Find the misspelled eBay auction
bargains that other bidders miss!
Bob
April 21, 2008Hi John,I purchased resale rights blueprint from you a few months ago and being that the blueprint has now changed, do I have to pay again for the new version or will just get the update for free,thanks.
Reply from John:
Any products I update will be available to existing customers for free.
RandySmith
April 21, 2008Great to hear from you again John,
Moving house can be so stressful….. good to hear you’re now settled in.
You missed your other great quote in your post, and it’s the one that has always stayed in my mind since I joined your forum over two and a half years ago….
“Many Streams Make A River!”
I thought I better mention it as I quote you as saying it on so many occasions …LOL
Thankfully – I’m not dependant on ebay – But I do look forward to all your updates, as I think this is a great time to start seriously considering ebay and the opportunities that will now arise from it.
Warm Regards
Randy
http://www.SalesLetterABC.com
Alan Ackerley
April 21, 2008Hi John,
I think that this eBay challenge is a great wake-up call for anyone just starting in IM. (ie. Me!). It couldn’t have come at a better time to show me just how important multiple income streams really are. Many thanks for sharing your business plans with us.
Best regards,
Alan Ackerley
Author of “21 Gambling Eye-Openers” – Take the Gamble out of Betting.
http://www.21eyeopeners.com
Ameer Islam
April 21, 2008Best of luck John. Please keep us updated.
Paula Brett
April 21, 2008John, I couldn’t agree with you more. I always tell people that staring with your 90 Day Powerseller program was the best thing I ever did. It has lead me on to so many other things and now I don’t need rely on eBay at all, it’s just another part of my business.
Hope you’re not getting a headache with the smell of new paint 😉
Best wishes
Paula Brett
http://www.PaulaBrettBlog.com
Ray Johnson
April 21, 2008Hi John
Glad the house move is sorted for you, hope you and family are happy there for the years to come pal.
Is it nearer to Coventry than Grindon? Probably still a 700 mile trip
I gotta pop over and share a crate of Newcy Brown or Red Stripe 
Was speaking to Slick the other day on MSN and he gave me a few pointers RE: physical products – I just KNOW your products are gonna be top notch.
My advice to your list members? – Buy all John’s eBook based products NOW then get the physical ones FREE 😉
Talk soon,
Ray
Carol Smith
April 21, 2008Thanks for the good advice — pertinent and up to the minute as usual.
For a couple of months prior to the eBay change, you had been discussing a updated site for PlanetSMS. Is going to now be tied in to the 90 Day discussed above.
I was not a big eBay seller but have been helping several aspiring marketers that wanted to be. Your words have been repeated by me numerous times to keep these newbies moving forward.
Carol Smith
Taking Newbies By The Hand
Daniel
April 21, 2008Hi John,I have a website of yours, and been waiting for all this up-date to take affect. My feeling on eBay is this, first of all I do not believe eBay should have pulled the plug on honest sellers. But I think they are trying to get a point across, rather than take the time to search out the dishonest ones, why not just treat everyone as a violator and get them all. I did have a chat with one of the “live” people about classified adds. You can still sell a digital product, still can download it, but you can’t use a link to take someone off eBay? Someone needs to explain to eBay what a classified add is.
$9.95 a month, only if you play at my house.
Kevan
April 21, 2008Hi there,
Thanks for the emails you are sending.
I would think people can now see that
you have just been busy. Glad to see
you and yours are fine.
Wish you all the very best in your new
home.
Cheers for now
from Kevan..
Alex Price
April 21, 2008I’ve never thought should be the only source of income John, which is the main reason your ebook made so much sense to me.
Glad to hear from you again.
regards,
Alex
Eruwan Gerry
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Although I’m an ardent follower of eBay, I truly agree on your advice of not placing all your eggs in one basket.
I always see eBay as an opportunity and not as an end. That is why I’m always adding various other money making opportunity to my resume apart from also having an business on eBay.
Thanks for all your great advice and do keep it coming!
All the Best!
Keith Purkiss
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Glad your new office is ready.
I’m also moving house and have a lot of decorating and other jobs to do
I’ll keep an eye out for the new products and I’d recommend to everyone buying at least one so they can see how your new process works.
Thanks
Keith
Socrates Socratous
April 21, 2008Hey John,
Congrats on your new house.
I bought the house I currently live in, one year ago ON THIS DAY,
so I kinda feel your excitement.
My mom always told me, “Every obstacle is for a good reason”
I am glad to see that you are coming back stronger than ever.
Let me know how I can help you in any way.
-Socrates
thelma
April 21, 2008Hi John!
I’m glad to hear your move went well! Send us pictures when you can.
Keep up the great work. It is nice to know that Amazon accept
digital products, ebooks and all to sell as well.
Sometimes, we have to start over in order to bring out new ideas and work towards an even greater sucess.
There is so much opportunity out there! John,you are so ahead of the game because you know the techno part of it and can let it work for you.
All I can say, is that there are many things to think about besides making money!
I love the beach, nature and doing things with my grandchildren and making plans for my next art exhibit. I’m going to try to exercise more if I can just get away from this computer!
I am near so many beautiful parks, lakes, and nature centers in the area I live that I enjoy them all. If anyone is in the area, check out New Hope in New Hope, Pa; the Cape May Zoo, near the shore, and the Silver Lake Nature Center in Bristal, Pa and where I went to high school, the Cohanzi Zoo, in Bridgeton, NJ. These are some of the greatest place I know in this area for any of you to visit and
let your hair down!
Love and Cheers to ALL,
Thelma
The 'sell photos online' Dude
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Great to hear you are at peace in a new home.
I always love reading everything you talk about.
It keeps me centered and balanced.
By the way, for your readers (and you) I have created a free report about how to monetize from WordPress blogs leaving my own photo based blog as an example.
Just see the post ‘100 Million WordPress Templates’ here:
http://photomarketeers.com
Love to know what you think about it John.
Thanks so much – take care.
Martin (Thailand)
Kristine
April 21, 2008Hi John,
Will all your updates with the 90 days PowerSeller Challange be avaliable to existing members at your membership site?
Thank You,
Kristine
The Rich Boy
April 21, 2008Hey, The Rich Boy here.
I just switched from digital to physical and honestly it wasn’t that hard. With the help of a great company I recently found… I can burn, label, retail package, and ship ‘on-demand’ to my customers on complete AutoPilot.
If you are interested in learning more, go here:
http://partner.shipwire.com/fulfillment.php
If you know anyone else who might find this useful, please recommend them here. I know what its like to have a great income end IN ONE DAY and not know how to get back in the game.
The best part is, there are no trips to the post office, ever. So its as good as before, selling digital items with automatic delivery.
Take it easy, and keep making money.
The Rich Boy
http://www.TheRichBoy.com
Dave Ovenden
April 21, 2008Hey John,
Great to hear your house move went well – it can be very stressful at the best of times!
It’s also good to hear that you are starting work on updating your existing products. I’m a member at ninetydaypowerseller.com and so I’m looking forward to the new info that you will be providing there.
Best regards,
Dave Ovenden
http://DaveOvenden.com
Robin Skeen
April 21, 2008John, although I’ve mostly been a lurker on your sites, it never occurred to me that you were out of business! If people thought that, they haven’t been paying attention too closely. Not sure if I will get back to eBay or not, but still interested in what is going on there. I’ll look forward to the next thing. Be well.
Harjit Irani of http://www.auctionsinaction.com
April 21, 2008Hi John
I know you are working hard for us all. Thanks for that.
Zara
April 21, 2008Hi John
I look forward to the updated webcopy and stuff for the clickbank affiliate program attached to the e-shop – glad your not throwing in the towel!
I haven’t been able to use my outlook express as an autoresponder for a while anyway – as hotmail stopped the free use of mail collection that way (unless your willing to pay for it, no thanks, it weren’t that good!) and I mean, heck there’s more to marketing than autoresponders and digital auctions, I’ll check out some of your other sites, see what your are offering
Zara x
Marc Sampson
April 21, 2008Hey John,
I bet you are glad and relieved that the move is over and all the stress and hard work is over. I hope you and your family will be happy in your new home.
Now you have more hard work in front of you, and I can’t wait to see the results, also being a member of your ninetyday powerseller challenge package.
I couldn’t agree with you more about not relying on eBay, and the recent policy change should prove this to everyone. I have too mentioned this on my blog.
There are so many different options out there, we just need to go out and investigate and research them. I am in the process of doing this as a part of my research for my first eBook.
Keep up the good work and all the best.
Marc Sampson.
http://www.marcsampson.com
Robert in Minnesota!
April 22, 2008Hello John,
It was several years ago since I first had contact with you and your eBay business, but do appreciate your products and advice I have learned from you over that time. Thanks for providing value in your advice you give so openly.
Wish you all the best in your endeavors and keep on keeping on!
Robert in Minnesota!
Maurice M
April 22, 2008HI there
very interesting hope you get your Ebay business back on track, several Ebay powersellers semm to be starting their own websites after some time at Ebay attracting its loyal costumers with them out of Ebay. I guess ebay will soon make something about it (?) Hope no.
Ebay Store Hosting Service at http://BullionHost.com
Maurice
Web Hosting Store
Ken
April 23, 2008Hi All,
My CD’s on eBay are flying off of the shelves! If you are considering doing it, just know that it can be done – at a nice profit. It is a matter of producing and delivering at minimal cost.
See my eBay store:
http://www.OurWorkAtHomeParadise.com
I am looking in to outsourcing some of this work, does anyone have any first-hand experience with any CD duplication, or production and delivery companies?
Thanks,
Ken Soszka
Michael
April 23, 2008Hi there
All that ebay fiasco was just a good test to see who can adapt. We all need to remembers that winners are the one that can adapt to changes. To be honest, ebay is just a small piece of the puzzle in making money on the internet, the good thing about it is that is has tons of traffic, targeted traffic. In a sense its cheaper to be on ebay than to use PPC. One article you might want to do is ” Could most of your survive the internet scene without ebay ” thats when you’ll see whos diversifying.
Michael
Bob
April 26, 2008Hi John,
I was wondering if you or someone else could help me. I have been an eBay member in good standing since 1998 and am a Power Seller. (I have sold many “90 Day Power Seller Challenges” in a package called eBay Extreme 5.0. I would always follow up and tell my customers to be sure to update and read it; that it indeed help me to become a Power Seller.
Once the digital ban went into effect, I immediately put my store on vacation settings while I started to convert my digital products over to CD’s. I ran a few listings with CD’s which sold quite well.
Then one day out of the blue I received an email from eBay advising me that I have been suspended for 30 days due to feedback manipulation. They took away over 400 feedbacks. I have tried to communicate with customer service several times but just keep getting the same canned response. They told me that I could appeal after 30 days which sounds to me like if my appeal is not approved, I may be banned for life. I am not allowed to even log on to eBay.
I am totally baffled by this entire episode. I did sell several lower priced eBooks, (nothing lower than .99) in order to drive business to my store. .99 was the going rate for these eBooks as well. I by no means tried to artificially increase my feedback by selling the lower priced eBooks. What would be my motivation for doing so? Before I was suspended I noticed that many were still selling digital downloads. Therefore I don’t know why I was singled out since I was following the rules.
The bottom line is that I have over 400 violations that I feel are totally unjustified. Why would eBay allow me to sell .99 items, then punish me retroactively for the feedback that I received? All my feedback was hard earned. I personally followed up on every sale to make sure the customer received the item. I always helped digitally challenged customers who had problems downloading and unzipping files. Also, I never solicited feedback from my customers. I had over 1500 100% positive. My lowest DSR was 4.8, the rest being 4.9’s.
I would appreciate any advice as to how I can best handle this situation and get reinstated. Again, I am totally innocent of these charges. This whole thing has me very upset and depressed considering the amount of work I put into my eBay business.
Thanks in advance,
Bob
David
April 29, 2008Hi John,
I am a recent addition to your blog list and I have also recently purchased Resale Righs Blueprint. I cannot believe the amunt of valuable content within your product.
I guess like all of your other readers I am eagerly awaiting for you to reopen your eBay Store! I wish you all the best and congrats on your new home.
David (from Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
http://www.multimediainformationproductsonline.com/recommends/InstantCD/
ronnie
June 2, 2008You should change some of the wording in this post. You stated in this post, you hardly ever talk about ebay on your Mentorship Monthly site, yet the site is like 95% about ebay.
I don’t mean to be rude, just frustrating when you sign-up for a membership expecting one thing and find it is exactly the opposite from what was stated.
If people want ebay info, and you want to provide it, more power to every one, not a problem. Just don’t say it’s not in there when it is..:(
Peter
October 29, 2010Hi John,
I have been following you for a long time and one of the first products I bought was Powerseller Challenge, fantastic. Since then I have bought Resell Rights Bluprint again a fantastic product. Keep up the good work, I can’t wait to see the new version.
Hope you get settled in your new home quickly.
All the best
Peter
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