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I wanted to share with you some of my impressions of eBay Live, and along with them, some tips for networking at conventions like these.
The show was as lively, fun and crowded, as you would expect. CEO Meg Whitman was there in all her denim-shirted, khaki'd glory, and eBay's founding father Pierre Omidyar even came out to reminisce about how he started the site. He actually wrote the code for the site's first incarnation all in one Labor Day weekend. One of his first auctions was for a broken laser pointer that sold for $14.
I got caught up in the eBay collectible pin mania, and it led to one of my encounters with a very nice guy and great Internet retailer, Jim Warden of Jimwarden Web Sales http://www.jimwarden.com. Jim was going around with a custom-made polo shirt with his eBay User ID, jimwarden, and slogan, "The Friendliest Store on eBay," on it.
eBay Live Networking Lesson #1: Have your User ID and/or store tagline on your clothing.
I complimented Jim on his catchy, succinct slogan, and then proceeded to beg him to trade his "Do It eBay" pin for one of my PayPal pig pins. (The PayPal pig pins were highly coveted, but the Do It eBay pins were only being given out at the keynotes, so if you missed the speeches or the pin handout people, you were out of luck).
Jim was loath to relinquish said pin, but after my repeated cajoling, and finally the offer of the PayPal pig, he gave in. So I want to thank Jim again for that. (Did I mention his web site is at www.jimwarden.com?)
PowerSellers from Platinum to Titanium
I went to several of the conference's seminars, my favorite one being a PowerSeller panel discussion featuring two "titanium" powersellers: David of Gotham City Online http://www.gothamcityonline.com and Craig Zimmer of MobilePC.
eBay Live Networking Lesson #2: Participate in panel discussions and other industry events to gain visibility for your business.
David and Craig served up a host of tips, and the seminar featured screen shots of their sites, both of which are professionally designed and well laid-out. Among the tips they gave were: do research/"completed item" searches to find out what things are selling for; take advantage of tools like Andale's that allow you research product sales prices; and measure your success by crunching the numbers (and don't forget costs such as eBay's fees).
Gotham City Online offers quality, chic clothing and accessories, and as I sell and buy those myself on eBay, I must say I was drawn to their presentation. A few other things that they do right you can see on their site:
1) They have spotlighted "steals and deals" neatly presented on their home page
2) They visibly trumpet an innovative exchange/return policy: "Buy it There, Return it Here: Only at Gotham City Online!"
That's right,...they are actually accepting new clothing that you didn't even BUY at GCO with a retail price of $25 or more, in exchange for store credit at GCO. For details, see http://www.gothamcityonline.com/Company/index.cfm?area=ezreturn.
3) They have a wonderful logo and memorable slogan: "Where Fashion Never Sleeps."
As for MobilePC, they've wisely chosen a very hot product category: computers. One interesting tip that Craig provided: they stagger their auctions every 15 minutes, to give people who may have just lost out on an auction a close second chance to buy.
eBay Live Networking Lesson #3: Don't Forget to Have Fun
Making business contacts is all well and good, but if you can't have a little fun at these events, I don't think you're maximizing your travel dollars. Who didn't smile when "Weird Al" Yankovic strode out, clad all in white, and launched into his Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way" parody, "eBay" (Tell me why/I need another pet rock; Tell me why/I got that Alf alarm clock; Tell me why/I bid on Shatner's old toupee; They had it on eBay).
That image of Weird Al, and the other good times had at eBay Live, should stay with me a long time. Next year's eBay Live, you may have heard, will be in New Orleans. So I hope to see you next year in the Big Easy!
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