Ebay Powerseller Million Dollar Ideas by Brad Schepp, Debra Schepp (2006, Paperback)

I've been waiting for this book for SIX months!

If you read the first book by Brad and Debra Schepp (eBay Power Seller Secrets) You'll love this book, if you didn't read the first book, eBay Powerseller Secrets, I highly advise that you buy both! Brad and Debra Schepp write with an easy to read style. I feel these two books have more value than the other 40 eBay and ecommerce books I have on my shelf. I like the fact that this book delves deeper into the culture of eBay sellers than most other eBay books.

You won't find anything about the SYI form or how to list your item. This book is far more advanced and gives you insight into who the successful PowerSellers are on eBay and why, it may as well be the who's who of eBay PowerSellers. Brad and Debra are associate members of the Professional eBay Seller's Alliance, they seem to have the inside track on everything eBay. They even write for the auction industry news authority Auctionbytes.

Unlike other authors that pretend to be experienced eBay experts, Brad and Debra don't, they bring you the stories and facts from the experts in a far more valuable format that reads more like entertainment than a boring business instruction book. I do advise that when you sit down to read this book to have highlighter or sticky notes handy, the concepts fly at you and you can't put this book down, do yourself a favor and mark the spots when you have those million dollar AHA moments while reading. Instead of getting the perspective of just an author, Brad and Debra bring you the perspectives of many different sellers. Brad and Debra put some soul and personality into the book bringing wisdom from what appears to be over 100 of the top sellers on eBay.

They touch quite a few topics that are near and dear to my heart.

How to find products (the simple and cheap way)

Multi Channel Sales (Our New Mantra)

The future of listing enhancements (Free pictures, audio and even video)

Google Adwords, Froogle and Gbase.

Your eBay community and interaction with it. (Sharing with others produces returns)

Bonus section (Top 500 sellers and the top 200 fastest growing sellers on eBay)

Brad and Deb's first book eBay Powerseller Secrets:Insider Tips from eBay's Most Successful Sellers encouraged me to start my own me page and helped develop processes that I use today. They are solid no bull writers that practice what they preach, I'm sure if they wanted to , with all the information they have gathered, they could be one of the top ten sellers on eBay, but you can definitely tell when reading their books that their passion is writing about eBay and technology, they capture the soul of eBay and bind it for you. If I could only have one eBay book, this would be it.

Excellent Book. If you want to sell on eBAY, and have a half way decent shot at making money doing it - You have to read this book. As with most books, it stresses the importance of research. To get top dollar for the items you are selling, you need to know everything you can about the item, and what current items like it have sold for recently on eBAY. They also suggest going one step further, and becoming familiar with the top sellers in your category.
Think about it. If you just take a few hours to find the top sellers in your category, and discover what they are selling - how they are selling it - what they use for starting prices - what they are using for key words in their titles - what they charge for shipping - and, so much more.
Armed with this info: You can start your items at a lower opening price. You can charge a lower shipping price. You can write a more accurate description. Or, You can use better pictures.
Just one other tip you can take from this book and run with. "Use a photo as if you had no descriptions to go with it, so a person could look at the photo and understand what the product was like...And when writing the description, write it as if you had no photo to go with it. (page 67)
These two tips alone will make you way more than the $24.95 cover price of the book. They will also put you well on your way to becoming a genuine eBAY Powerseller.

If you want to be a Powerseller, or are already an experienced ebay powerseller this is the book for you.

Brad and Deb dig deep into the ebay world to share tips and secrets of the pros with you. Among the powersellers interviewed are Adam Hersch, Harleyglasses, White Mountain Trading Company, and more.

The book offers case studies of what many of these powersellers did right, and also what they did wrong.

One of the best tips the book has to offer is - "You make your profit when you buy, not when you sell." It's so simple, but how many times does it elude you when you are rushing to find that sure fire next best seller? If you can't buy an item at the right price point - Let it go. I've bought cd's at $2.00 each, and sold them for 1 cent trying to make my money with $5.50 shipping. It doesn't work. Move on.

Another key point they focus on is creating your customer base, and honing in on it. There may be 300 million people on ebay, but for your particular product line there may only be 100, 500, or 1000 people. Concentrate on these people, and do everything you can to draw them into your auctions. Keep catering to them, and you will be the first one they turn to every time.

Shipping is another key strategy looked at in the book. Make it work to your advantage. If your competition is charging $20.00, charge half of that, and absorb the rest back into your auction. Better yet, offer free shipping, if it will give you an advantage. And, no - you're not really shipping the item for free, just giving the appearance of it. The cost will still be figured into your sale price.

Finally - they talk about your ebay store, and beyond. You cannot make it on ebay today without an ebay store. It is your presence - where your customers can find you. Build a great store, stock it with items matched to your customers wants and needs, and watch it grow.

And one final tip, be prepared to give up everything and start over on a moments notice. Ebay is constantly changing, and if you're not changing with it - you won't be a player much longer.

Read the book. Try some of the ideas. Grow your business.