Shopster's Dropshippers, eCommerce, and Selling Online Blog

What exactly is "dropshipping"?

For people looking to get going in any industry, there's always going to be some ridiculous industry jargon to look up.  In online retail, one such example is "dropshipping"... or "drop shipping".  Either seem to be perfectly acceptable (we use the first one).

A good portion of my time is spent on Wikipedia, which defines dropshipping thusly:
[It] is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to wholesalers, who then ship the goods directly to the customer. The retailers make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price. (Read the whole article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropshipping)

Essentially, the products you sell are housed by a supplier that sends them directly to your customers when an order is placed so that you don't have to carry the overhead associated with product warehousing and order shipments.

This is the kind of product sourcing Shopster specializes in - we're an eBay Certified Solution Provider in the product sourcing category, don't you know? [Shameless plug alert! - Michael]  We route out dropship suppliers, form relationships with them, and import their product data to our virtual warehouse.  This gives our subscribers a million-strong product selection with real-time inventory updates for their Shopster storefronts (called an "RShop") or to list on eBay via our Listing Manager.   Of course, if someone wants to use Shopster solely as a product source for alternate selling strategies, that's open to them as well.

A subscriber to Shopster gets access to our virtual warehouse, an online storefront, our Listing Manager, product fulfillment, and transaction processing - as well as full customer support.  [Which is what dropship scams are missing.]

Well, I hope that covers some major points about dropshipping.  If there's something in particular you'd like to know, post a comment and I'll see what can be done about getting you an answer.

Happy selling!

The eBay Certified Provider Program

We've received a few questions since announcing that Shopster is an eBay Certified Solution Provider.  Shopster users looking to sell on eBay (as well as established eBay sellers looking to try Shopster out) are curious about the difference between eBay's designations of Certified Service Providers and Certified Solution Providers.

From eBay's help page on the topic:

• Certified Service Providers - non-technical providers who offer services such as auction strategy and Web site template design
• Certified Solution Providers - technical providers who offer services that include integration with the eBay platform and custom software development

"What do the certifications have in common?"  Good question, reader.  The certifications have the following in common:
1.  50%+ applicable services staff have become eBay Certified Consultants.
2.  Satisfied customers checked by eBay.
3.  Offer eBay-related services to eBay users.
4.  Provided business overview to eBay.

"So, where do they differ?"  Another good one.  In terms of the certification process, Certified Solution Providers have to prove the following:
1.  50%+ applicable technical staff have become eBay Certified Engineers.
2.  Offer a commercial-tier certified software application.

It's these last points that make eBay Certified Solution Providers like Shopster stand out from Certified Service Providers.  eBay has verified that Shopster's Listing Manager for eBay integrates directly with the eBay platform - and that we offer a commercial-tier certified software application.  That's something that Certified Service Providers can't boast.

Happy Selling!

Two tools for more successful eBay auctions

Shopster's most successful retailers and dropshippers (re: auction sellers) constantly keep up-to-date with eBay sales trends.  Even if you're a niche seller, it's in your wallet's interest to find out what's selling in your vertical.  There are two tools you can utilize to get the product sales data you need to help guarantee some successful auctions.

1.  eBay Pulse is "a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay." 
The main page gives you a quick "top 10" of popular searches on eBay.  You can then drill down by category  [ed. you know, just in case you want to set a trend by not selling iPods].
2.  TeraPeak is a product data tool that helps you "base your online sales on eBay research, not guesswork."  If you're a Shopster user, we've already integrated our Listing Manager for eBay with TeraPeak's data.  So, when you're creating listings directly from your Shopster account, you've already got access to the product data you need to make smart listings.

Whether you're selling on an online storefront (RShop) or dropshipping on auction sites like eBay, you should be doing research on what others are selling - and more importantly, what buyers are looking for.  eBay Pulse and TeraPeak will help you there.

Happy selling!

PS: Not already a Shopster user?  Why not try it out for free for seven days?

Shopster is now an eBay Certified Solution Provider!

HUGE NEWS: Shopster is now one of only 28 eBay Certified Providers!  eBay created the Certified Provider Program "to qualify third party companies with demonstrated expertise   and experience, and to give you tools to locate them."  We are now one of those qualified providers.  You can find us in the product sourcing category in the eBay Solutions Directory.

Shopster integrates directly with eBay - allowing eBay sellers to list dropship products from the Shopster virtual warehouse on eBay with a few simple clicks.  Members of our support team have also been designated as eBay Certified Consultants, so sellers can get their eBay questions answered by someone in the know.

eBay is the leading online marketplace and Shopster is proud to have earned the Certified Solution Provider designation.  (Read the eBay Certified Provider Program blog post about Shopster.)

Now that Shopster is just that much more awesome what should you do?
1.  Try Shopster for free for seven days.  Or, log in if you're already a member.
2.  Open an eBay account, if you don't already have one.
3.  Authorize Shopster on that eBay account.
4.  Read our Quick Start Guide for eBay Sellers.
5.  Need more info on Shopster's Listing Manager for eBay?  Read the walkthrough.
6.  Need some info on dropshipping in general?  Peruse our Dropshipper Education resources.

Most importantly:  Get out there and start selling on eBay!  If you need any help, just check out the resources above or contact our support team directly.

Happy Selling!

Email Primer: 5 Questions About Your Email Strategy

Email has one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) of any marketing technique.  If you utilize it properly, it can add a boost to your marketing efforts.  It's a complex process, but I'll sum it up by having you ask yourself five quick questions.  As a side note, generally the purpose of an email is to get a specific action - a click.  The actual job of selling or converting or getting a sign-up is borne by the landing page you send them to.

Before jumping too far in, I've posed some questions you need to ask yourself.

1.  What do you want your recipients to do?
2.  Where are you sending them?
3.  What are you offering in your email? 
4.  Why does that matter to your recipients?
5.  Would you open it?

Questions (1) and (2) relate to your "Call-to-Action".  This is the purpose of your whole email.  It's not enough just to send out the email, you need to consider what results you want from it. 

For (1), are you trying to get them to buy a certain product?  Are you trying to get them to sign up for your newsletter?  What, precisely, do you want?
For (2), what page are they going to?  Do your email body links send them to a certain product page, feature page (category-level landing page on your Shopster RShop), promotion page, or your home page?  Is the call-to-action you want actually on that page?

Questions (3) and (4) relate to your email body copy.  The contents of your email should accurately reflect the purpose of your landing pages.  And, the contents should offer a reason for recipients to follow-through to your landing page.  Is there a good enough reason in your email for them to actually be interested?

Question (5) relates to deliverability. Does the language of your subject line (a) reflect what the email contains, and (b) reflect a legitimate email offer/newsletter?  You're a good gauge of how someone seeing the email in their inbox would react.  You wouldn't open an email with the subject line "Gr3at D3al$ on hot product$!!!!!" and neither will your audience.  Keep subject lines short, to the point, and free of spammy-sounding language.

So, getting down to it:
1.  Your emails need to have a specific purpose.
2.  Your emails need to direct interested recipients to the right place.
3.  Your emails need to be opened to be successful.

Put forethought into your campaigns and you'll see the results in the ledger.

Happy Selling!

PS:  If you're looking for an email solution, try Vertical Response or Constant Contact.  If you're a Shopster retailer, try out the built-in newsletter campaign manager.  You can read a tutorial on that one in our help docs.

Early effects of eBay fee restructuring

A little while back, we reminded you that the new eBay fees would be taking effect.  Many forecasts predicted we'd see a fall in total listings for a few reasons - impending PowerSeller boycott being foremost.  I think more than a little of that can be attributed to push-back against change, and a general misunderstanding of the fee restructuring (read eBay's official overview).  But, now that we're about two weeks into it, I started looking for some figures to get an idea of how eBay has been affected by the changes.

I came across a post on Auction Bytes' blog entitled "Category Listing Numbers May hold Key to eBay's Future".  Auction Bytes is "The Independent Trade Publication for Online Merchants" and is a veritable goldmine of constantly updated information that dropshippers and online retailers will find useful.

The author of the post (David Steiner) indicated that there has been a net growth in total eBay listings from January 26 to March 1 of this year.  The fee change came on February 22nd.  Growth in listings amounted to about 5%.  However, Steiner goes on to show that growth in listings is not uniform across all of eBay's categories.  Some category growth was as high as +40% (tickets) and as low as -11% (travel).

As far as this relates to Shopster retailers and dropshippers, notice that some of the highest growth came in high volume categories of our warehouse.  (re: Clothing, Shoes & Accessories; Entertainment Memorabilia; and, Consumer Electronics)

So, while we won't know for sure how the fee changes will affect eBay's numbers in the long run (at least until the end of Q1), the changes do seem to have increased the number of listings.  Which, I feel, is promising.
(read David Steiner's full blog post)

[ed.update: Just finished poking around Auction Bytes a little more and found their eBay Fee Calculator.  I highly recommend all Shopster sellers check it out to see how the new fees will affect them.  Read the post, then try the calculator.)

Keyword Saturation and The Long Tail

I'm busy sifting through a few hundred pages of materials I brought back from MarketingSherpa's Email Summit.  While down there, I made a point of going around and talking to anyone with a booth.  I picked up a large assortment of white papers, case studies, and other industry papers.  I'm always looking for new things to try out, old things to do better, and (sometimes) looking to see if I'm doing something right. 

It was about the time I found myself reading "... IP-based protocols are Sender Policy Framework (a.k.a. SPF)... Fundamentally, these protocols provide... sending network to the receiving network" that I realized it was time to write up a new blog post.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that bit on sender protocols will come in handy later.  It's just that I'm also sure that was page eighty of a number of papers that have blended together in my head.)

If you sat in on our webinar, then this won't be new to you: Utilizing a multi-tier keyword saturation strategy will increase your conversions.  Keywords can be grouped into basic categories going from high-level and general to exceptionally specific.  Focusing on one single category of keyword will reduce your saturation strategy's effectiveness.  When I say "keyword saturation", I'm talking about writing targeted articles, reviews, etc. for your storefront.  I'm also talking about your meta content (meta keywords, meta descriptions), and even your pay-per-click campaign.

Essentially, you should be trying to take advantage of the following:
1.  High volume, lightly targeted traffic.
2.  Low volume, highly targeted traffic.  (re: The Long Tail)

If you're too general (with too many high-level, ambiguous keywords) you'll be attracting a lot of traffic that isn't really looking for what you're offering.  If you're too specific (with too many very detailed keywords) you won't attract very much traffic.  This is problematic because with a low volume of traffic, you'll have to work extra hard on those conversions.  Utilizing a mix of kinds of keywords, you achieve an averaging effect for your conversions.

Keep this in mind when you're writing up site content and choosing your PPC keywords.  Alrighty... back to those white papers.

Happy Selling!

PS: I heard a rumor that some big announcement is forthcoming from Shopster.  I hear it's about something that's beneficial to dropshippers and online retailers alike.  (It occurs to me that this is a fairly vague rumor... I'll look into it.)