Dan Wilson: eBay is a Sphinx
by Chris Dawson
After a long summer of revisions the latest revision of Dan Wilson’s book, Make Serious Money on eBay UK, 2010 Edition, is in the shops and available on Amazon.
Dan, formerly Community Manager for eBay UK, has a wealth of knowledge and experience and I caught up with him yesterday to find out what’s new in his book, what he’s been doing since he left eBay and his advice for businesses that want to make serious money on eBay.
27 Responses on "Dan Wilson: eBay is a Sphinx"
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Absolutely spot on: there’s no good reason why eBay shouldn’t share at least some of the data they have. To give one specific example (as I’m sure I’ve said before), if they’d publish sell-through rates for items with free P&P versus paid-for P&P, they’d perhaps convince more sellers of the wisdom of the free P&P categories.
^^ but even then, I might believe what I am selling is special & the data not applicable.
Interesting what he says about communication, it does seem like ebay have pulled up the drawbridge. It will take some vision from them to reverse this and be more open about so many things.
1. having the data and choosing to ignore it
2. not having the data at all.
Very different.
Also “believe” – I’d hope that there’d be more facts than faith in running any
eBaybusiness.Is that Brixton Prison?
Sadly the pub was too noisy, it was raining and someone was digging up the street next to the beer garden, so we had to borrow the pubs little used function room.
I guess we could have gone somewhere else, but we both needed a pint after a morning working on the beach
Out of interest has the book any value to more experienced sellers?
never read it, dont have time,
though some of Dans tips posted on here sometime ago,
were quite useful, on first glance some may have been obvious,
but you tend to run past the obvious, because of so many other things involved with ebay selling
Here are the tips North’s talking about:
http://tamebay.com/about-tamebay/ebay-tips-2008-index
“I’m not selling it on eBay this time” a pure Gerald Ratner moment.
The trouble is (unlike Amazon) eBay isn’t a retailer and someone has to manage sales and shipping… mind you the book does cover selling on Amazon as well
A balanced view and good interview. However, I choked when he said he wouldn’t be “selling the book on eBay this time”, but that it would be available on Amazon and all good book shops. Did anyone else think that a book about how to make “serious money” on eBay not being available on eBay ironic?
“Amazon, all good book shops…. and WHSmiths”
Oops! I’ve just refreshed the page and seen that Richard beat me to it by pointing this out! *searches for the delete button*
No, keep saying it – his publisher Nicholas Brealey might read it and set up shop on eBay
Now there’s an opportunity for some enterprising soul.
If Dan can sell them and never see them.. he makes more money.
Fulfillment/Drop Shipping is pure gold if you get it right.
Personally I would have kept stum, cut the vid by 10 seconds, nobody will notice
It’s a good interview, and I agree with the thoughts about communication. eBay sometimes seem to regard sellers as ‘The Enemy’.
I’ve found Terry the Pink’s recent input into the PS forum refreshing and informative, and we need much more along that line in my opinion.
Personally I’m not convinced it’s possible to make any “serious” money on eBay now, and have recently written a blog entry on this very subject.
http://www.ethicalcompanies.co.uk/?p=925
we have a turnover of around a million across our various ids on ebay [tax man aware
]
may not be serious money to some. but it does us
Ditto. Although, how come I turn over 4mil + and drive a Peugot, and you do 1 and own a castle and a aston!!! you fecker Norf
we have a very creative accountant
Email me his address please!
It’s probably worth explaining why I’m not selling the book on eBay, not least because I think it speaks to why I think eBay should be one of many channels sellers use. And also why eBay isn’t always the answer to your ecommerce needs.
I can’t source my book, even as the author, from my publisher at a rate as competively as Amazon or big book retailers. So once I’ve taken the time, paid my fees and factored in a margin, I would simply be uncompetively priced.
The lesson there is: eBay isn’t an efficient marketplace for new and in season books.
It’s hardly a Ratner moment. My book isn’t crap. It’s brilliant. ;o)
You have to factor in the “free” shipping in the book catagory on eBay so I could fully understand why it is not economic for Dan to offer his new book on eBay. Out of £10 (for example) the eBay, Paypal and shipping (allowance £1) overhead is about £2.70 which would not leave a lot for Dan!
Here’s the link to buy it on eBay with handy affiliate tracking for us…
Excellent interview… .and I love Dan’s comment (explanation) as to why he isn’t selling his book on eBay.
Dan is an eloquent and knowledgeable guy – i enjoyed listening to this video – nice editing work Mr D
I never went to the eBay University…but I wish I went…I was a bit shy in those days!. The outreach programs for the general masses are really important. I know when I met some ebay staff for the first time, I really felt quite honoured and they are a really nice bunch of people who do really care. I think they need to spread that love to the masses!
I have ordered the book on Amazon – £7.77 – bargain, although I would be happy to pay £12.99 fully price just to read Dan thoughts. Even as an experienced seller, I think there is always an opportunity to learn from others. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1857885406/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1258226844&sr=8-1&condition=new
Dan makes a good point about data and metrics. Terapeak is a good source of general sales data, and with lots of work, you can form trends etc. My father-in-law spend hours interpreting my sales and my key competitors data on a weekly basis. I may in the future publish some secrets to mastering terapeak on Tamebay – talk to me about this Chris!
Keep up the good work Dan – hope the book sells well.
Great quote – “available from all good bookshops and WHSmith”