How to Break Through the Top 10 Roadblocks to Finding Products to Sell
Host: whatdoisell
Date: Tuesday 10/16
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time
Location: Workshop Discussion Board
Link: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000444082&start=0
Description: If you want to build a business on eBay - you must have SOMETHING to sell on a regular basis. Yet this is the #1 area where people struggle in building a part-time or full-time income. Please join Lisa Suttora, Founder/CEO of eBay Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com as she discusses the 5 core reasons that people struggle with finding a profitable product to sell and the 5 things that cause people to overlook the most profitable products.
Introduction
Hello and welcome to today’s workshop!
My name is Lisa Suttora and I’m the Founder/CEO of eBay Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com™.
I look forward to spending the next hour with you talking about the #1 question on every eBay sellers mind – finding products to sell!
Workshop Format
The workshop content is directly below. After you’ve read through today’s workshop, I’m here to answer your questions about how to find products to sell, struggles you have when sourcing products, how to expand your product line etc.
The #1 Barrier to Building a Successful Business
Recently we polled over 30,000 eBay sellers about the #1 problem they have in growing their business on eBay.
By a landslide, the #1 problem for both newbies and PowerSellers alike is finding products to sell.
If you’ve ever struggled with finding products to sell on eBay, then this workshop is for you.
So Many Products…. But Nothing to Sell?
Never before in the history of retailing have there been so many products to sell. New products enter the marketplace at a faster rate than ever before.
Innovation is at an all time high.
We live in a nation of niches. People looking for specialty products that reflect their thoughts, interests, feelings, values.
There are a plethora of products available to sell and an abundance of opportunity.
Yet everyday I receive emails from people saying “I can’t find anything to sell online.”
Why, with more products than ever before on the marketplace, do entrepreneurs bursting with potential run into a roadblock when it comes to finding products to sell...
The 10 Roadblocks
In the past several years of consulting with and talking to thousands of entrepreneurs about product sourcing and helping people find products to sell at WhatDoISell.com, I’ve identified the 10 roadblocks that I most commonly find among people who are at a loss for what to sell online.
Most people see themselves in many of these roadblocks. But even if you see yourself experiencing only one or two of these roadblocks, they can seriously hinder your ability to source products.
In today’s workshop, we’re going to identify these roadblocks and show you how to go through them, over them and around them so you can achieve product sourcing success.
Roadblock #1: Selling What You Love
Sometimes good advice is taken out of context. An old saying goes “Do what you love and the money will follow.” And a lot of people have taken that advice to heart. And they look to sell products that they personally love.
And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with selling what you love, you run into problems if no one else loves it.
When it comes to product sourcing, many people look at what they love and their quest stops there.
I once had a client who collected wooden owl figurines. He LOVED owl figurines and had them everywhere in his house. He decided he was going to sell owls on eBay. He went out and sourced owls that he loved. That he thought were the cutest things he’d ever seen.
He put them up for sale. And they sat. And sat. And didn’t sell. He was depressed to say the least. He thought eBay didn’t “work”. He thought online sales were a dying market.
Both inaccurate statements.
What he DIDN’T realize is that owls were OUT. Done. Yesterday’s news. The owl craze had come and gone. People had moved on to other things. Cows were in. Cows were SO in that everything “cow” was selling. Cow figurines. Cow artwork. Cow clothing. Cow home décor.
But there was a problem. My client hated cows. He thought the cow craze was the silliest thing he’d ever seen. He didn’t want to sell cows.
He wanted to sell owls.
And so that’s what he did.
I’d like to say this story had a happy ending. But the owl craze didn’t come back and he is no longer selling online. Because he ONLY wanted to sell a product that he personally loved.
He wasn’t willing to make owls his HOBBY and cows, or tools, or lamps or bathtubs his BUSINESS.
Don’t let this happen to you!
You can LOVE selling on eBay. But you must sell what the BUYERS love. And when you approach product sourcing with that mindset, an amazing thing happens. You’ll find that there is a whole world of products out there that you didn’t even know existed that you can fall in love with as well.
Roadblock #2: Selling What You Know
In a perfect world, you’d be able to follow your interests, following your passions and as a result sell a line of products that you already have a working knowledge of.
Unfortunately, the world is perfect mix of imperfection. And right now 87% of eBay sellers don’t know the name of their next hot product. In fact, they don’t even know that product exists!
Why? Because there are so many new products that come into the marketplace each day that you very likely haven’t heard the name of your next hot product yet.
It is true, you NEED to become an expert in your product line. That is one of the solid advantages that you as an eBay seller have over a big-box store like Wal-Mart.
But you first have to research new products, determine if there is a demand for them and THEN become an expert on your product line.
If you limit yourself to only selling the products you know about today, you’ve automatically limited your business.
We had a lovely gentleman who was a member of WhatDoISell.com. When he became a member of the site, he was a Federal Government Agent. He had a dream of running his own business and started selling collectibles. Mostly kid’s toys – old Barbies, Radio Flyer wagons, etc.
He knew nothing about these products other than that there was a market for them. He made it his business to get out there and read and research everything he could about these collectible toys.
He became an expert in a very short time. And he had a ball learning about something that was completely opposite of everything he knew.
Get in the mindset of learning about new things, new products, new ideas. Read daily. Make it a habit. That’s how you’ll find your next product.
Roadblock #3: Not Moving Out of Your Head
When I first started consulting with entrepreneurs who wanted to sell products online, the first thing I’d have them do is go through an exercise where every product, every piece of information, every news story, every conversation, every advertisement that they encountered during the day would be put through a mindset. A method mindset I created called The Product Sourcing Mindset™.
The Product Sourcing Mindset™ is a method that teaches you how to look outward and observe what is going on in the world around you. To “live” in the world in which your buyers live in. Read what they are reading. Watch what they are watching. Go where they are going.
Instead of sitting at your desk trying to think up an idea for a product to sell, The Product Sourcing Mindset™ has you looking outward, turning on your “radar” and observing the world around you.
As a result you see things differently. You see opportunities that others miss.
And all of a sudden you find yourself in the enviable position with more ideas for products to sell than time to sell them.
For those of you who have seen me speak about The Product Sourcing Mindset™ at eBay Live or are members of WhatDoISell.com, you know that I’m passionate about this concept. Why? Because I see it transform people’s businesses every day.
There’s nothing more satisfying than watching a budding entrepreneur go from saying “There’s nothing to sell.” to “I have so many ideas, I can’t decide what to sell.”
For everyone reading this workshop, give it a try. Open your mind to every piece of information you come into contact with today and start collecting information and ideas.
But be warned! When people first start using the Product Sourcing Mindset™ they often find that all the new ideas keep them awake at night!
Fortunately, you’ll find a cure for that in the next roadblock we’ll discuss. (And you’ll be able to sleep nights.)
Do you want to learn how to live the Product Sourcing Mindset™? You can learn how to have an unending supply of ideas for products to sell in the Member's Area at http://www.whatdoisell.com
Roadblock #4: Relying on Your Memory
To successfully build a house, you need to have the right tools. The same applies to product sourcing.
Without the correct tools you can’t source products effectively.
Disorganization, forgetting important data and wasted time spent looking for an important piece of paper and not being able to find it when you need it, are all enemies of an entrepreneur’s success.
The same holds true for your product sourcing endeavors. Without a strategy to catalog your product sourcing information, time will be lost and great product ideas will come… and go… before you have a chance to act on them.
Enter the Product Sourcing Notebook™. Another exclusive method created at WhatDoISell.com, a Product Sourcing Notebook™ is a small notebook you carry with you everywhere, with the sole purpose of recording and documenting any product idea or trend that catches your eye during the day.
Once documented, you can THEN start by doing your market research to see if there is a demand for your product.
The goal is to get it OUT of your head and on to paper. Otherwise, you’ll loose your great ideas before you even get started!
Roadblock #5: Banish Your Preferences
Would women buy NASCAR products? Would men buy cosmetics? Does that sound ridiculous to you?
Hold on to your preferences, or even more to the point, your prejudices…. when it comes to finding products to sell on eBay.
A few years ago, I was speaking at a local meeting for eBay sellers on the topic of product sourcing. At the meeting I talked about the up and coming trend of men’s skincare and cosmetics.
I explained why there was a demand for these products, did a professional product line profile presentation, identified the target market, and basically presented a “niche in a box” that night.
There were several people in the audience looking for ideas for products to sell.
When I got through presenting this money making niche, I expected people to be clamoring to get more information.
But instead something very different happened.
They laughed.
And snickered.
And said “I would NEVER sell men’s skincare products. That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Everyone had their prejudices against the idea of selling men’s skincare and cosmetics.
Undaunted by their response, I went continued presenting this hot niche idea and discussed in-depth in our exclusive LIVE Member’s Only Monthly Teleclasses at WhatDoISell.com.
In one of our Member’s Teleclasses a 35 year veteran of the construction industry spoke up. He said that he was developing and manufacturing a hand cream product for construction workers that would come in a black container and could be used on the job site without calling attention to the fact that is was hand cream. He said that for 35 years, he had been “stealing” his wife’s hand cream because his hands were cracked, dry and bleeding all the time.
No one laughed that night.
The next time you find yourself scoffing at a product or trend, I challenge you to stop yourself and look at it from a different perspective.
Remove your judgments about what is valuable to people and start looking at what other’s need and want. That’s what they’re spending their money on and that’s what they’ll buy from you.
The Exclusive Monthly Member's Only Teleclasses at http://www.whatdoisell.com are only one of the many advantages of membership. If you're serious about building a business on eBay, visit us at http://www.whatdoisell.com and see if we're a match for your needs.
Roadblock #6: You’re Trying to Be Everything to Everybody
In his recent eBay workshop, best-selling author Seth Godin (author of some of the top marketing books written) said this:
“Do you sell a commodity product? Are you trying to be more average than the average seller?
The prevailing mantra on eBay is a trap. Many sellers look for what’s selling, look for how it’s described, look for how the listing is structured and then sell EXACTLY the same thing.
While this may be easy to describe and feel like you’re doing hard work, it’s a recipe for a lousy living (not to mention boredom). The reason is simple: if everyone is doing it, if everyone looks the same, then the buyer has only one choice: buy the cheap one.”
As a side note, I HIGHLY recommend that eBay seller read Seth’s workshop. Those of you who do will be 99% ahead of the crowd. You can find it at:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000427312
Most people are afraid of small, afraid of niche, afraid of specialization, afraid they will miss the sale. Driven to be big right out of the gate.
Big is not bad… eventually.
But to begin with, you need to sell one product to one person and then build on that sale.
If you want to be big out of the gate, you can plunk down $500K for a McDonalds and sell burgers to the masses. But I would venture to say that most of you don’t want to do that!
You need to specialize. To look for the niche. To serve it. And then expand.
There is a store in Seattle that sells environmentally friendly home products. They started out by selling just a few environmentally friendly home products. Over the years, as they learned how to satisfy those customers, they were also able to find out what other products their customers wanted.
They added those to their product line. They built the business. Today they sell hundreds of products. But they didn’t start out with hundreds of products. They got to know their customers first.
Can you start a niche store with hundreds of units of inventory? Sure! If you do your homework and have the working capital to buy $50K of inventory all in one fell swoop.
But most eBay sellers don’t start out that way. Most eBay sellers start out on a limited budget.
Specialize.
Be someone to a small pool of fish. Get your sea legs and expand from there.
Roadblock #7: You Skip the Test Marketing
The other day I talked to a brand new eBay seller who was lamenting the fact that she didn’t have $10K to go out and get started buying some inventory.
Curious, I asked her what she would buy if she did have the money.
Clothes she answered. Sweaters, skirts, hoodies…
What kind I asked?
She said she knew a guy who was selling a bunch of clothes from a local store that was going out of business and she thought it would be a good way to start her eBay business.
The problem was that she hadn’t done any test marketing of the products or any research on market demand.
And I knew from her description of the clothes that the “great deal” was actually items that had little demand on eBay.
It was a blessing that she didn’t have a large amount of money to spend on inventory because it would have been a devastating loss of start up capital.
When you are sourcing new products, you MUST test market them first. Buy one unit. But it retail. List it on eBay. See how it sells. The purpose is NOT to make a profit but to assess market demand. In real time.
Take a loss on the product if you have to. It’s better to loose $17 on one picture frame that doesn’t sell well than it is to loose $670 on a Lot of 25 frames that were not test marketed first.
All retailers test market.
Nordstrom buys a few products to test market first and then places a re-order. Target orders a sampling of the latest toys and then stocks up en masse’ after they see how they sell.
This is one of THE most important steps in finding products to sell. You never truly know how it will sell until you list it. Then you can move on from there.
Roadblock #8: Trends are For “Fashion Plates”
Does the idea of tracking trends make your eyes glaze over? Do you just want someone to “give you the fish” and tell you what will sell?
With hundreds of different industries and thousands of different product lines, even the Psychic Friends Product Sourcing Hotline can’t give you that information for every product category.
Do this one thing and you will have an unending idea for products to sell.
Read everything you can get your hands on in the industry you want to sell in. If you want to sell women’s footwear, immerse yourself in that industry’s publications and media.
If you want to sell bathroom sinks. Fill your office with every piece of information you can on the trends in bathroom sinks.
There’s just no way around it if you want to sell profitable products on eBay.
And here’s the thing…. Once you get into it, it’s fun! It’s exciting! It can make product sourcing the best part of running your business.
When you get excited about the products that are available, that carries over to your entire business and your customer’s feel it.
And your sales will reflect it!
Roadblock #9: You’re Afraid to Be Different
In Roadblock #6, I discussed the importance of specialization. Of carving out YOUR niche rather than copying someone else’s.
How many of you find yourself looking at other sellers products with envy and saying “I want to sell THAT.”
It’s human nature to do that – that’s for sure. But to be successful on eBay you can’t follow the heard. You must have the courage to be different and find your own path.
The thing about it is that finding your own path is SO much easier than competing with the dog-eat-dog world of the “me too” sellers.
The sellers who want to compete on price, as Seth Godin talked about in the workshop I referenced in Roadblock #6.
(In fact, pick up Seth’s book called The Dip. He talks about what it takes to make it in a “me too” entrepreneurial world. It’s a great book. Short, fast, easy read, and a very powerful mindset to live by.)
If your competitors are all going “right”, stop for a moment and take a look “left” to see what’ there.
For every trend there is a counter trend. For every person who wants to sell high-tech electronics, there is a successful eBay seller selling low-tech crafts or do-it-yourself kits very successfully.
High-tech is profitable. Low tech is the counter trend and is profitable too. In many cases MORE profitable.
Make it a habit to read about fresh, unexpected business ideas. Start hanging out with places and people who have a unique view on the world. At WhatDoISell.com we call them Idea Hotspots™.
You can find out more about Idea Hotspots™ at http://www.whatdoisell.com
Most importantly:
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Roadblock #10: Fear of Mistakes
Do you feel like a failure every time you source a product that doesn’t sell. Or that doesn’t sell for as much as you’d hoped.
Do you question your ability to find the right products?
This is one of the hardest roadblocks to success to get over. The fear of product sourcing failure.
Everyone picks products that don’t sell. Everyone picks products that are lackluster. The best retail buyers in the most exclusive boutiques on Rodeo Drive buy duds. It happens ALL the time.
If you pick the wrong product and it doesn’t sell, accept that as part of the process of doing business.
Clear it out, donate it, learn from it and move on.
Don’t relist it forever and don’t hang on to it indefinitely hoping that it will sell someday.
No one has a 100% product sourcing success rate.
If you find yourself picking more losers than winners, go back and re-read Roadblocks 1-9 of this workshop.
99% of the time I find that the problems people have in picking profitable products to sell on eBay originate in one of these roadblocks.
A few final thoughts -
You may have come to this workshop hoping for a list of hot products or wanting to know what other successful eBay sellers are selling.
But I hope leave this workshop with something infinitely more valuable.
The knowledge that your success on eBay rests squarely between your ears. It’s in your mindset. It’s in your approach.
If you can get past these 10 Roadblocks I described above, or even most of them, there will be no stopping you!
I’m not saying it’s always easy, but it is DOABLE.
For everyone.
If you want to make an income on eBay, whether part-time, full-time or somewhere in-between, recognizing these roadblocks in your approach to product sourcing and then addressing them will move you forward faster than any list of “hot products” every will.
Thank you all for being here today and I look forward to answering your questions!
A from our Legal Department: The statements and opinions made in this discussion board are those of the workshop host only and do not reflect eBay policy or eBay's opinion with respect to such statements.
Cheers,
Deirdre
eBay Community Development
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