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Everybody has an attic full of junk that some bozo will pay good money for, right? And eBay will let those bozos find that junk and give you that money, right? As my teenage daughters would say, "Yeah, Right!". There are people making a lot of money on eBay, but they are treating it as a full-time business, not a get-rich-quick scheme. There are people making a great deal of money for little effort on eBay, but those are the people behind eBay and subsidiary PayPal. Fair play to them, they got in first with the idea, and invested time and effort in making the business plan work. Just like a bricks and mortar business... now they're reaping the benefit of their earlier vision. So what can the new E_entrepeneur gain from involvement in this fee-hungry monster? (sorry, but one gets bitter at times). Well, look at the type of products we're talking about all over this site - ebooks, software, digital delivery, anything that, in a purely physical sense, doesn't actually exist. That is to say, products we can deliver by email. And there is your key to eBay use - can you tell?
That's right - look at the digital products for sale on eBay (search for "ebook" or "information") and you'll see that the price barely covers the listing, final value, and PayPal fees. the seller must be losing a fortune, right? Of course not, he (or she) is gaining access to the buyer's email address if they pay by PayPal. And that is worth a lot more. Why? Quite simply, if someone has bought a 99p e-book, they are already a buyer not a browser, and may well pick up a £9.99 package as well. And, depending on their initial purchase, you can target them more precisely.
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The above headline is an example of what you'll see day after day on eBay, and there are some bargains to be had, if you don't forget that the real price is setting up your email client to reject all further communications from the seller as spam, clearing out your junk folder daily, and wondering what list you've found yourself on as a further recipient of offers for penis extensions, live XXX chat and viagra. To be perfectly honest, I also follow up my eBay sales with targeted emails, but on a one-time basis. only. Many customers may be interested in a newsletter, but if they aren't I feel it unethical to bombard anyone with unwanted emails. I like to think that I can take a hint!
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