| Welcome to vBulletin FAQ |
vBulletin FAQ Navigation
Getting Started
Customizing your vBulletin
Search Engines & SEO
Making Money with a Forum
Promoting your Community
|
| Get your own vBulletin Today |
|
| Webmaster Help |
|
|
|
The eBay Millionaire: Titanium PowerSeller Secrets for Building a Big Online Business
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with E
|
The eBay Millionaire: Titanium PowerSeller Secrets for Building a Big Online Business |
Author: Amy Joyner
Published: 2005-04-08 |
List price: $22.95
Our price: $15.61
|
Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: October 11th, 2008 05:47:45 PM
|
|
|
Customer comments on this selection.
 Much better than I expected
I picked this book out of a stack of "how to get RICHRICHRICH on eBay!!!" titles -- you know, the usual dreck -- because I thought it might be amusing to read over lunch.
Well, imagine my surprise. Eighteen in-depth interviews with some of the all-time bigest eBay sellers (circa 2004, anyway), conducted in a professional manner, by an author who actually knows something about... selling on eBay.
And Joyner's understanding of the subject does show through. She digs & pokes & comes up with scads of nuggets of very useful information & advice for anyone who's serious about eBay selling, online auctions in general, & for that matter online selling overall.
I cannot agree with some other Amazon reviews. For instance, nobody in their right mind is going to freely give away the contact information for a reliable drop-shipper!! To do so would simply mean giving up market share to a horde of beginners who'd cut into the business & likely muck up the perceived reliability of that niche. And (to address another) anyone who expects one book to hand them a turnkey road to wealth really needs to look into buying a franchise or some other Real World turnkey system to understand how much such a thing would cost.
It's not for the raw beginner, really, or for someone who just wants to put up a handful of items to clear the attic. But, if you're serious about starting (or expanding) your eBay presence, I'd have to put this on the Top Ten of titles I'd recommend.
It's not perfect. There are plenty of editing niggles scattered throughout that might require you to reread a sentence. And I found at least two bits of advice that might get a newbie in trouble: Joyner suggests putting outside links into listings (last I noted, this was firmly discouraged by eBay) & putting keywords into your titles of similar brand names to draw in buyers (again, discouraged not only by eBay, but I think ICANN gets cranky about this practice on your own websites).
Finally, while it's a GREAT one-time read, I'm not certain that you'll need to go through it more than once or twice, so unless you plan to resell it or otherwise pass it along, the $22.95 retail might be too steep for practicality. (If it ever comes out in paperback, I could change my mind.) If you're expecting $23 worth of advice, you'll probably be disappointed.
But if you tread carefully, the good advice to be had far outweighs the bumps.
 Profiles of ebay success -- The business plans others have used to make money.
This is a concisely written book of case studies of bigtime sellers on ebay and how they do it.
Any secrets you can steal? Not really, but lots of insight into how others did it.
This is not a how-to-sell step-by-step manual of the basics of selling on ebay.
Instead it is a compilation of stories of and interviews with the people who have started successful and profitable, they say, businesses on the auction site. It includes nice boxes of helpful pointers on most every page.
I found this book entertaining and helpful.
Am a now rich because I read it? No, but maybe someday.
A realistic look at eBay success
Readers should apply critical thinking to book titles and contents. Lots of books that aim to be informative or instructional are going to have "secrets" in the title. This is how a publisher entices consumers. They are trying to sell books. It doesn't mean you are actually getting the benefit of "secrets." If thousands or even millions of copies are printed, how "secret" is the information?
The book is a collection of 18 profiles of Titanium Power Sellers. The profiles are followed by Q and A "Titanium Talk." There are "power pointers" scattered through the text. Power Pointers emphasize key concepts, such as "Before setting your starting bids, consult eBay's listing fees. Sometimes you can save a significant amount by starting an auction for just a penny less."
The book is packed with useful information. For example, one of the "Titanium Talk" segments recounts how a rogue buyer tried to bring down a seller's business. The book ends with 50 Strategies that distill the widsom found in the text.
The book delivers an essential message: You have to be a savvy business person. You need to have your act together. All of the PowerSellers profiled were already established in the business world before getting involved with eBay. They have MBAs and other impressive credentials. There are no stories about people who started by picking up bargains at garage sales. It is a realistic look at what it takes to make a good living on eBay.
If, like me, you are a person who has never been in business, if you have no idea what you might sell, and you have no product sources, what chance do you really think you have? This book will give you a lot to consider.
 Was an ok book.
I read this book and hoped to find several new ideas but I was very disappointed. I could not find a lot of new information in the book. Certainly the price tag is too high too.
Great addition, but take it with a grain of salt.
This is a great resource if you already sell on eBay, and are looking for a quick read. This book will NOT be helpful if you are just starting out on eBay, looking for product sources, or need a how-to manual of any sort. The author spoke with several Titanium Powersellers (the highest grossing sellers on eBay) about how they got started and what their business is like currently.
Personally, I thought the book was helpful for my own use. There were quite a few good ideas that helped us streamline our own business. We took an extra-hard look at sellers whose product line matched ours (small, light-weight commodity items) and tried to see if any of their ideas would benefit our business. There weren't any huge changes to our business, but the book helps us tweak our practice with small changes either taken directly from the stories, or inspired by the stores.
Here's the catch:
eBay is stagnating. Since the book was released, many of the Titanium Powersellers in the book have either closed down, moved off of eBay, or cut back drastically on their eBay listings. The successful sellers don't stay on just eBay, but diversify as much as possible, and the book doesn't mention cross-selling at all.
There isn't a whole lot of information in the book, but I do think it's worth the $15. But the true secret to becoming a top online seller? Start preparing to move away from eBay.
|
Similar Listings
|
|
Our vBulletin book picks:
|
|
Find more vBulletin related products of interest.
|
