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How to Sell Music, Collectibles, and Instruments on eBay... And Make a Fortune
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with H
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How to Sell Music, Collectibles, and Instruments on eBay... And Make a Fortune |
Author: Dennis Prince
Published: 2004-11-12 |
List price: $14.95
Our price: $4.78
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As of: September 06th, 2008 02:55:04 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Basics on Collecting Music items with eBay
How to Sell Music, Collectibles and Instruments on eBay
and Make a Fortune
A book review by Frank Dobrowolski
May 12, 2005
by Dennis L. Prince and William M. Meyer
Published by McGraw-Hill/Osborne
ISBN 0-07-144570-6 2005 268 pages
List price: $14.95 On Amazon: $10.17 +S/H
This book is a quick, short introduction to using eBay for buying and selling music and related collectibles and instruments, [one of the "How to Sell ..... and Make a Fortune" series]. It appears to be aimed at those who would rather learn by doing and need only a brief tutorial on the process. This objective is met quite admirably. Those who find they desire more detailed discussions or want information on the ancillary sectors of eBay can find other books that meet these needs.
As to the "Make a Fortune" part of the title, the recommendation essentially is the familiar mantra of retail operations - Buy low, Sell High, Generate High Sales Volumes, Know the Product and Understand the Customer. The difference here is that eBay is the base of operations rather than a store and operating on eBay opens the operation to a potential audience of million. While few make a fortune in retail at this level, the book does offer much information and lists a wealth of reference sources.
The potential market is very large. According to this book 54% of U.S. households have at least one musical instrument player. And, retail music is a stable product category with staying power and sales potential.
* Over 745 million audio CDs were sold in 2003 for $11 billion
* Over 35 million concert tickets were sold in 2002 grossing $2.2 billion
* Music products [instruments, performance gear, etc.] sales in 2002 exceeded $6.9 billion
* Vintage music products and memorabilia generates tens of billions of dollars every year
Those selling in this field can be either: experts in a narrow, low volume market with high profit margins; or broadly interested in a wide, high volume market with low profit margins. Whichever part of this field one chooses to follow there are many sources of information provided in this book.
Memorabilia refers to items like t-shirts, ticket stubs, programs, etc. Once these items were considered to be disposable. However, their presence on eBay has created an expanded, eager collector base. So more items are being valued and the values are increasing.
According to this book there usually are over 650,000 music-related items listed in eBay's categories and over 500 sub-categories for Music, Musical instruments [grossing $500 million a year] and Music Memorabilia [ with 75,000 Rock-n-Roll listings every day] categories. This book claims to be the only one focused on these three areas. Some data the book presents on eBay's sales in the music categories:
* Music - 500 categories
* 700,000 listings each day
* 150,000 records listed
* Musical instruments - $500 million/ year
o 50,000 guitars listed - $1.1 B in 2002
* Musical Products - $350 million/year
* Rock-n-roll memorabilia - 70,000 listings
Chapter 2 is entitled "The History of Selling Music". This information helps one start to develop a background in the field to better understand the items being sold and to prepare for updates and changes. The chapter points to two areas of concern: Fraud and Competition.
The book states that fraud and misrepresentation are widespread, especially with Memorabilia. It is estimated that 99% of the Beatles signature items and 75% of Rock-n-Roll autographs are fake. The book recommends that such items have rock-solid appraisals from recognized specialist appraisers and a written, lifetime guarantee of authenticity.
Competition relates to the various levels of marketing, particularly of musical instruments and related equipment, The mass marketers [Wal-Mart] lower prices and make business difficult for music stores. The Internet also competes with the music stores. Fraud is rife and prices are lowered mercilessly [in the eyes of store-based merchants] In fact some instrument manufacturers forbid the sale of their instruments on the Internet and impose pricing protection for the stores.
The book discusses each sector in the music categories, addressing source information, market, current pricing and the more popular items. Pages 45 to 63 lists many information sources, sub-dvided as by instrument or type of memorabilia.
Chapter 5 discusses the necessary Business Plan focusing on marketing and sales strategies and on the financial aspects.
Chapter 6 covers building and maintaining an inventory. Chapter 7 discusses acquiring and holding on to customers and keeping them happy to generate return business. The book addresses the tasks to use eBay for selling - Listing, Payment, Shipping, etc. Chapters 10 to 12 cover the elements of becoming a music specialist in one of the categories and sub-categories. It outlines the knowledge needed and the means to keep the customers happy, and advised of one's available inventory.
The book is well-written, easy to read and has enough illustrations to convey the needed message. I would recommend this book for beginners or novices in using eBay for buying and selling music-related items on eBay.
 Real-world money-making advice
This in-depth book covers the topic of selling music products on eBay, using a lot of practical examples plus a dash of humor. It's a great resource for anyone who wants to start selling CDs or instruments on eBay, giving real specifics on how to position your music merchandise effectively. It's a solid guide that's bound to generate real sales. Also, it includes excellent first-hand testimony from some of eBay's best music sellers. Highly recommended.
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