Use a Yahoo Store plus online auctions to get more traffic to your website

Using EBAY to drive traffic to your Yahoo Store.

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Use these “Theories” at your own risk.

 

Some of them can get you booted off of Ebay if you use them irresponsibly. 

 

Seriously.

 

So why am I even including them at all?

 

Because they work.

 

Listen carefully.  Ebay has strict rules regarding the advertising of other merchant service or e-commerce web sites in it’s auction listing.

 

What they DO allow is a hyper link or URL that will lead a potential bidder to a location where you can give them more information the product that’s up for auction.

 

Ah Ha!

 

Once again, being an expert that can talk in depth about a product pays dividends.

 

Using Auctions to Drive Visitors to Your Yahoo! Store

 

This is how we do it...

 

We will put an inexpensive item up for auction in an appropriate Ebay category.

 

One product that comes to mind is the infamous Braveheart Sword, from the movie of the same name.

 

The starting bid was 99 cents; we put a reserve in at about 30 bucks

.

In our listing, we described the sword in some detail, put a nice picture of it up and held our breath for 10 days.

 

In this one example, the Braveheart sword got almost 800 page views.  It reached the reserve and the high bid ended up at $67 plus shipping.

 

We made about 5 bucks net profit.

 

$5 - So What!?!?

 

In accordance with Ebay's policies, we put a hyperlink to a page that contained more information about the Brave heart sword.

 

It just so happens that that hyperlink was to A Squared Armory’s Braveheart Sword listing.

 

Did I mention that the Auction got 800 page views?

 

We kept an eye on our traffic stats in our Yahoo store.  During our Brave heart auction, traffic to that particular page Quadrupled!. Store wide, our stats went up by 12%

 

The insertion fee for Ebay using the auction service Andale was $3.55.  We figured that we got at least 100 unique visitors to our store because of that ad.

 

$3.55 divided by 100 unique visitors = 3.5 cents per visitor.

 

The cost to be in the top position for the keyword “Brave heart Sword” on Overture = 44 cents.

 

Hmmmmmm…

 

 

Oh yeah, we made $5. 

 

So, the net cost of 100 visitors to A Squared Armory via Ebay Auction description... = ZERO.

 

Consider for just a moment how effective this can be.  I mean, if you already have a dropshipper to source your products, how much effort is it to put one of those products that relates to your store's products up for auction?

 

Not Much Effort at all...

 

Now, I will state once more.  Even though we are using a legitimate link to a page that has more information about the product that we are auctioning, Ebay COULD decide that this link is still against their policy.

 

So consider yourself warned!

 

Ebay will warn you first.  If they do that, and you value your Ebay Seller account,

 

STOP IMMEDIATELY!

 

PLEASE – PLEASE - PEASE don’t write me and tell me you have been banned from Ebay.  If they warn you – Just stop!

 

I hate to go on and on about this, but I just need to be clear.

 

Now, as an alternate to ebay, you could try a Yahoo! Auction.  We've found that they are far less strict when it comes to placing Hyperlinks to other locations in the auction ad.  Especially if the hyperlink leads them to another Yahoo! E-Commerce Machine...

 

Ahhh, the power of a Brand Name....

 

 Possible Ebay to Yahoo! Store Resource...

 

Now, there is an entire E-Book Written all about this Subject.  It's Published by a guy named Jim Cockrum.  It's called "The Silent Sales Machine Hiding On ebay".

 

Audrey and I were doing exactly what Jim was proposing in his book... But being the Curiosity Mongers that we are, we thought maybe we should try it...

 

So, based on some positive feedback from the Great and Friendly Chris Malta of the Drop Ship Source Directory,  we bought it. 

 

It was 25 bucks, and the version that we got (which I am told has been updated) was about 50 pages...

 

And sure enough, Jim gives an excellent explanation about how you can use Ebay to drive traffic to just about any web site.  

 

And in a Yahoo! Store Owners case, if you can drive traffic to your web site AND sell the item you have at auction for a tiny profit...hehehe...You get the picture.

 

If you want a look at what Jim offers, click on the link below...

 

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay

 

Audrey actually took the entire process a step further.  She signed up with the Auction Service called Andale

 

Besides offering perspective E-Bayers FAR more options for presenting their auctions, they also allow you to "Hide" the hyperlink to your non-Ebay web site in their interface.  Essentially, once we started using Andale, Ebay has not, to this date, had anything to say about our "A Squared Armory" link.

 

So, I just wanted you to have another possible tool for driving traffic to your web site.  Again, this is sort of an advanced technique, and if you're going to use it, you probably want to set-up an  Ebay Account other than the one you may use on a daily basis... Just in case...

 

Shop You Soon,