As we all know eBay has changed their policy on selling digital products via their website. This change has been primarily made to stop feedback manipulation by the ‘one cent eBook’. Many of you may be thinking is this the end of digital products and also the end of many online businesses. But it isn’t that bad and it could actually be the motivation people need to maximize the potential profit made instead of having everything on autopilot and becoming lazy due to not having to lift a finger.
The main thing you will notice is this change will result in a massive gap in the market as the ‘one cent eBook’ will become extinct, however don’t be so naive as to think this will end all feedback manipulation as there will be people out there who will continually try to cheat the system.
So how do we keep selling our products? The answer is to turn them into a multimedia product because eBay has nothing against selling products what are not digitally received. So turning your eBooks into physical products is the answer, as soon as it is physical it isn’t digitally received therefore is not breaking any rules on eBay. This is great news for all the people out there who provide excellent customer service as this will now be a key factor in selling your new physical products on eBay and also you can charge more for these type of products as much as 10 times meaning more profit for the people who stay with eBay and make eBay work for them.
Another benefit is also the chance to up-sell is changed hugely. As if you provide a professional looking multimedia product with covers and maybe even printouts to accompany the CD they instantly respect your opinions and trust that any other products created by you will be as good as the one they received.
This is where there is a chance to capture their email via an opt-in form or even direct them to your other eBooks on the internet via links in the product and if it is outside eBay it can still be automated. This adds people to your list and also has the chance of them making even more purchases.
Think of your new physical products as a website on a CD and a means to advertise your other products without breaking the rules of eBay. With this in mind this change could be what the hard-working internet marketers out there needed as it will weed out the minor competition leaving a path to success for the people with the right ideas and well worked out businesses.
6 Comments
Nickolas
September 20, 2008As I understand, this new Ebay policy makes your product “Your own e-book business” almost useless, since all e-books included into this product cannot be offered on Ebay because they are not available to your buyer to turn them into physical product. Also, the website in your product certainly cannot be expected in the first 10-20 in Google and it means that selling all those e-books outside of Ebay will be a very hard task. How do you expect your customers to use the website that they got in “Your own e-book business”? To buy all those e-books? Or to promote it to the first 10 in the Google which is not possible for a novice? I would appreciate your advice.
Judi Mehrens
September 20, 2008John,
What felt like a fatal blow has indeed turned out to be opportunity. I’d just starting seeing some results of starting an ebook business on eBay when the axe fell.
However, these months later, I’m building my ebooks on CD biz, increasing sales a bit each month and picking up some subscribers. Since I’m fortunate enough to be a Monthly Mentorship subscriber, I’ve had great help in getting through the restart pains.
It’s clear that a great many of the folks relying on digital delivery just packed it in, leaving us in much better shape. Now, to get the upsell/backend finessed…
It’s taking a bit more work, I’m more concerned with the quality of what I’m putting out there, but I’d say the change is definitely in the opportunity column.
Nickolas
September 21, 2008John, I am sorry for my first comment. I did not think right. I must be a moron. As soon as I sent it, I have figured out how to make physical product from e-books which you included into website of your product. So, please, ignore my questions of Sept.20. I am reading now your 7 days course and I like it so far. Thank you.
Ray Johnson
September 27, 2008Hey John,
This is definitely an opportunity to sell ebooks and (originally) digital products to the masses on eBay an for more. I go into selling on eBay and how to Make Money On The Internet on my blog.
Thanks
Ray Johnson
David
October 17, 2008Could I get an answer to this question.
If you sell ebooks on ebay why can’t the buyer be given a link to your own ebook site and make the purchase from there instead of having to ship a CD?
Marc Sampson
January 5, 2009Hi John,
With it now being 2009 and a new year. Hopefully this will be the first full year of CD ROM sales rather than digital delivered eBooks.
Anyway, I just wanted to share with you and your readers how my sales have changed since the digital delivery ban came in.
I am selling more products and also for a higher value. I sell several items at £9.99 each, and het a few sales each month. I wouldn’t have dreamed of getting £9.99 for an ebook when it was digitally deliered. In November 2008, I done over £200 worth of sales. That is the first time I hit £200. I am going to keep growing my inventory, and in 2009 I know sales will get even better.
Marc Sampson.
http://www.marcsampson.com
http://www.stores.ebay.co.uk/Info-Sources
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