Comments on: Dan Wilson: eBay is a Sphinx

By: John

John — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:26:36 +0000

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”

By: TheBrewsNews

TheBrewsNews — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:38:59 +0000

Excellent interview… .and I love Dan’s comment (explanation) as to why he isn’t selling his book on eBay.

By: Sue Bailey

Sue Bailey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:12:09 +0000

Here’s the link to buy it on eBay with handy affiliate tracking for us…

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:03:18 +0000

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!

By: whirly

whirly — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:25:29 +0000

Email me his address please!

By: northumbrian

northumbrian — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:11:43 +0000

we have a very creative accountant

By: whirly

whirly — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:57:07 +0000

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

By: northumbrian

northumbrian — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:22:09 +0000

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

By: Dan Wilson

Dan Wilson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:27:24 +0000

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)

By: Sue Bailey

Sue Bailey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:36 +0000

Here are the tips North’s talking about:
http://tamebay.com/about-tamebay/ebay-tips-2008-index

By: Steve Antony Williams

Steve Antony Williams — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:56:14 +0000

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

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:33:32 +0000

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.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:56:23 +0000

Now there’s an opportunity for some enterprising soul.

By: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:50:37 +0000

No, keep saying it – his publisher Nicholas Brealey might read it and set up shop on eBay

By: whirly

whirly — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:50:08 +0000

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

By: Debs

Debs — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:44:18 +0000

Oops! I’ve just refreshed the page and seen that Richard beat me to it by pointing this out! *searches for the delete button*

By: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:43:38 +0000

“Amazon, all good book shops…. and WHSmiths”

By: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:42:40 +0000

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

By: Debs

Debs — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:42:15 +0000

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?

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:39:46 +0000

“I’m not selling it on eBay this time” a pure Gerald Ratner moment.

By: northumbrian

northumbrian — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:49:23 +0000

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

By: chrisod

chrisod — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:12:14 +0000

Out of interest has the book any value to more experienced sellers?

By: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:04:11 +0000

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

By: Sue Bailey

Sue Bailey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:34:34 +0000

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 ~~eBay~~ business.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:33:18 +0000

^^ 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.