Sent to recipients of his free ebook… 12 Kick Butt Business Ideas!
I have a product I sell on eBay called “How To Make Cigar Box Purses for Fun and Profit.” (I’ll tell you how I came up with that product in a future issue — it’s a pretty interesting story
You can take a look at my Auction Description Here
Note: I put a copy of the description on my website and linked to it instead of the actual eBay auction itself because depending on when you view this issue there may or may not be an auction running at that particular time. This description is exactly the same as my actual eBay auction description for the product.
I started selling that product on eBay in December of 2003. It was doing pretty well — selling 4 or 5 copies a week — so I came up with the idea of selling it by advertising on Google Adword.
I created a single page website (a Mini Site) and registered the domain name: MakingCigarboxPurses.com.
Here’s the cool part…
I simply used the same description from my auction to create the website. I set the delivery of the product up on ClickBank and added a ClickBank order link.
When I say I “used the same description from my auction” I mean I literally copied the HTML from the auction template and pasted it into my HTML editor. It took me about 15 minutes to set this website up.
After the website came online I went to Google Adwords and created a campaign to promote the site. I bid 6 cents on the relevant terms: Cigar Box Purse, Making Purses, etc.
I had to wait about 24 hours for the site to come online but I spent no more then 30 minutes TOTAL actually working on this project. All the real work had already been done when I listed the item on eBay.
Here is the actual website I set up:
But, did it work?
Like a charm! The sales from my website are more then double the sales from my ebay auctions for the same product. Sure, I have to pay the ad costs for the Google Adword ads but my return on investment is just under 300%. So, for every dollar I spend on google adwords I make $3.00.
That is a good lesson in how to leverage your eBay auctions to create more income with very little work.
Steve Lomans on January 8th, 2006 at 4:39 am
Dear Chuck,
Nice article, alot of useful information there! I have a been a long time ebayer myself and have made quite alot of sales, but unfortunately due to the nature of my items, i need to list in mass numbers (most auctions range from $1-$5), by mass I mean 1000’s, anyway once ebay starts taking away the listing fees and final fees, I am not actually making alot of money
anyway I have actually started looking for alot of ebay alternatives, you know these free ones, overstock, bidville to name a few, i have also started looking for local auctions sites (i am from australia), the one I goto mainly is www.eroo.com.au, i suggest you check it out, its very young, but looks good, and the admin is very nice to ex-ebayers and serious sellers, he offered me VIP membership, which means no site fees for me…ever (which is great :D)
well thats my rant
steve
Angela on February 7th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I couldn’t agree more… this is very helpful… I spend countless hours for just a few bucks that yes, grows and grows, but it’s a LOT of work… this is a great way to capitalize on what work I’ve already done to make even more! You have a terrific site here! Thanks for all you do, Chuck!!!
Steve Lomans on June 4th, 2007 at 12:31 am
I’m replying to steve lomans. I’d like to contact him. my name is also steve lomans. could you please leave your contact details at my son, craigs, email address.
Cheers