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Selling online: six case studies

By Bobby Buys

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Published: 21Apr2009
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People usually associate consumer-to-consumer trading platforms with selling tangible products. However, there are more ways to earn additional or even primary income there. Let us examine six case studies that demonstrate this.

Case study one: The writer

Information is the most valuable commodity on the internet. It is also the easiest and most cost effective to distribute. Even if you are not a writer, there is plenty of information available on the internet that you can either purchase with resale rights or compile from various sources and then sell on yourself.

Information can be distributed in several formats. It can be contained in electronic format as ebooks (a highly cost effective mode). It can be burnt on a CD or DVD disc. It can also appear in hard copy as a professionally bound document. Books can take the form of anything from your favourite set of recipes to a 'how to' guide.

Case study two: The guest house owner

If you own a guest house, a lodge or a hotel, you will know that cash in the bank is better than empty beds. It follows that if you sell about half of the beds on an online marketplace at a reduced rate, you will sill make more than if those beds remained unoccupied.

Besides, by offering your product at lower prices initially, you will introduce new customers to your establishment. If they are happy with the accommodation and the service, you will get repeat business at normal rates and increased business from word-of-mouth referrals. You will also find that, as you build up positive feedback on the online marketplace of your choice, you will be able to demand higher prices.

The beauty of using the internet in this case is that you can respond quickly to low occupancy rates by listing your offer at the last minute.

Case study three: The entrepreneur

This is the classic seller on an online marketplace. It is a well-known fact that the best business involves buying something for a dollar and selling it for two. However, entrepreneurs should remember that people expect to get a bargain on online consumer-to-consumer marketplaces. If you do not provide your goods at a price that it is significantly lower than elsewhere, it is unlikely that you are going to sell much.

The idea here is for you to be able to offer your goods at a bargain and still make a fair profit. The key is to know what products to buy and at what price. You will also need to find reliable places from which to source your products. These could include real-world auctions, imports, wholesalers, liquidation sales, classifieds, garage sales and flea markets. The lower the prices at which you can source your products and the more bulk bargains you can hunt down, the more money you will make too.

Case study four: The masseuse or reflexologist

If you can provide a service - almost a n y service - you could cash in on these skills using an online marketplace.

It may be worth your while to list your services on an online auction with a minimum starting bid and without a reserve price. You could consider offering this as a special offer to first-time customers only, as you do not want to alienate your existing client base. Even if the winning bids are low initially, you could succeed in attracting new, repeat customers who then pay your normal rates for months to come. In time, you will probably find that the prices you can charge on the online marketplace will come very close to your normal rates.

This same principle can apply to any professional services. Consider legal services, web design, hairdressing, palm reading and many more. The ideal service to offer online is the one that entails little or no cost - so that almost all of the money you receive goes directly into your own pocket.

Case study five: The restaurant owner

Almost everyone goes to restaurants. Most of us end up going to a few of our favourite ones repeatedly. Here are some ideas for you, as a restaurant owner, to use to ensure that your restaurant is one of those favourites.

1) Auction on an online marketplace a three-course meal for two (drinks excluded), with the bidding starting from the lowest opening bid.

2) Auction a voucher for your restaurant that gives the bearer a discount when dining with four or more people.

3) Auction any special (a two-course meal for four, a speciality buffet, a Valentine's Day meal at the restaurant's best table, etc.) that will draw customers to your restaurant and entice them to return with repeat business.

Case study six: The artist

The more that you, as an artist, can get your work out there, the more the word of your good work will spread, resulting in referred sales.

Rather than having those paintings stacked up in your studio, why not get them out into the world by auctioning them on an online consumer-to-consumer trading platform? Even if you run at a loss initially, if your work is good, you will be sure to benefit from repeat customers, referred sales and positive feedback ratings that will push up the bidding on your subsequent auctions.

If you recognised yourself in any of the six case studies presented here, you may be inspired to start using an online consumer-to-consumer marketplace as a source of income.

bidorbuy.co.za is South Africa's largest online marketplace. Buyers and sellers come to bidorbuy to buy and sell virtually anything in auction format or at fixed prices. Contact details: bidorbuy Marketing Department; email promotion@bidorbuy.co.za, web site www.bidorbuy.co.za

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