E-Commerce

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Review: Selling Online 2.0 Reviewed by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson - Web Marketing Today - May 12, 2009

The subtitle to Selling Online 2.0 says it all: "Migrating from eBay to Amazon, craigslist, and Your Own E-Commerce Website."

The author begins by recounting gripes that eBay sellers have been voicing for the last couple of years about eBay policy changes that raise seller prices, shove sellers towards fixed price sales, reduce payment options, and favor large sellers over small. You can sense the author's outrage -- but his anger doesn't overshadow his wise business advice.

If you've been selling on eBay, argues Miller, now's the time to consider moving some or all of your products to additional sales platforms on which you can be more competitive and profitable. Of course, a seller's decisions will depend upon the particular type of products being sold. The author recommends:

• eBay. Except for used items, move to fixed pricing, that is, if you decide to maintain a presence on eBay.
• Amazon Marketplace. Lower costs for sellers make this an attractive platform for some kinds of products.
• Craigslist is a good venue for larger, more expensive used products, but doesn't provide seller protections or consider business sales needs.
• Standalone e-commerce websites will save many eBay sellers money. The author displays a chart that shows typical savings based on the monthly sales total.

The author does an excellent job of comparing and contrasting the requirements and challenges of the various sales channels, as well as the differing marketing needs of each channel. He includes a great deal of detail about each channel, especially for those who plan to continue to sell some products on eBay or Half.com.

While the does a good job of outlining the challenges of multichannel sales, I was surprised that he didn't discuss order management systems that can help simplify this process, such as Stone Edge Order Manager.

Merchants who sell primarily on the open Internet already, will find in this book a helpful discussion of the pros and cons of selling via different channels. However, the book is aimed squarely at eBay sellers who are experiencing increasing discomfort. Strongly recommended.

At this writing the book was available through Amazon for US $16.49, Canada CDN$16.37, UK Pounds 11.19, Germany Euros 18,99, France Euros 16,52, and Japan Yen 2,055.