The Spotlight's On:
kites4all
by Ryan
eBay Staff Member

kites4all (view her About Me page) first began using eBay in February of 2002. Her relationship with the site began on a day traditionally associated with the celebration of love – Valentine's Day!

eBay proved to be a “windfall"
“Initially, I was only a buyer on eBay and had fun purchasing all kinds of items – jewelry, cosmetics, electronics, and computer items,” kites4all recalls. But in September of 2003, she bought a retail store to sell wind related items like garden flags, decorative banners, lawn ornaments and the like. “A true niche market!”

She began thinking about ways to expand her business and decided to try selling on eBay. A key reason was the sheer number of buyers she could reach on the site. “eBay has a huge amount of traffic every day – more than I could ever expect to get into my brick and mortar store! I think I read somewhere that 70 million people visit eBay each day. I figured that if my little eBay store, Blowin' In the Wind, even saw just 1% of that traffic, that's 70,000 people who would see my items!”

kites4all's strategies for successful selling
One of the selling strategies that kites4all has found very successful is to use a combination of auction-style and Stores listings. “While I sell a lot of my items on auction, having the eBay store allows my customers to see the rest of my offerings in one location and to be able to browse through the items by category rather than just looking at a list of items. Many times, my customers start off at my auctions and end up purchasing additional items in my Store.” With almost 400 items listed for sale on eBay, she feels it's much easier for her customers to find what they're looking for by category in her eBay Store.

She also bases her selling strategy on the knowledge that people use eBay in different ways. Accordingly, she makes it a point of listing items every day. “Some folks may just browse listings ‘ending now' and others may search through every page of a particular category. By having listings ending every day of the week, I feel like I have a better chance of reaching all types of eBay buyers.”

She also uses different combinations of listing durations and formats to cater to a wide variety of buyer behaviors. “I use 3, 5 and 7 day listings and sometimes incorporate Buy It Now with my auction-style listings. You never know what ‘s going to grab that potential buyer.”

With a feedback score of over 1380, kites4all has an enviable sales record on eBay. She shares some of her tips for successful selling on the site:

• Write the most detailed description of your item possible – “This is the most important tip I can give,” she emphasizes. “It's a little scary for some people to make purchases online because they can't touch the item or see it in person. Your description becomes their eyes, hands, ears, etc. The more detailed you are, the more comfort you give to your potential buyers.”

• Take excellent pictures – “Again, your potential buyers can't see the item in person – they only have your pictures to go by. If the picture is blurry or too dark, potential buyers will not be comfortable purchasing the item even if the description leads them to believe it's what they need.”

• Provide excellent customer service – kites4all has seen that buying online can often be an impersonal experience because buyers and sellers never see the real, live person behind the scene. She firmly believes in adding a personal touch to the transaction. “Make every communication with your eBay buyer personal.” She elaborates:
• Answer questions in a timely fashion and thank buyers for their interest in your item.
• Send an email when you ship their item and thank them for their purchase.
• Use the customer's name in communication instead of just sending a form letter.

“In my opinion, the more you can show your customer that they're dealing with a real person, the more pleasant the buying process will be for them.”

• Make sure to offer a variety of payment options – PayPal is used most often by my customers, but I also take money orders and cashier's checks for those buyers that don't feel comfortable with online payments.

She has a final piece of advice for sellers who may be disheartened if some of these strategies don't work that well. “If at first you don't succeed – try something a little different! Try new strategies for your items – keep the ones that work well and discard the ones you haven't found useful. Continue revising your strategies until you find what works best for you! Once you find what works, make sure to review them often and be willing to revise those strategies to try additional options. Don't become stagnant or easily satisfied!“

“Feedback is like word-of-mouth advertising”
Like a true eBay fan, kites4all passionately believes in the usefulness of the feedback system. It has helped create her excellent reputation as both a buyer and a seller. “As a seller, the feedback I receive from buyers gives me more credibility for my next potential buyer to put trust in me.” She also believes that the feedback system is similar to word-of-mouth advertising in real life. “Word-of-mouth is the best advertising possible and eBay's feedback system provides that. It's one satisfied customer telling any potential buyers that all is good with the seller. You can't buy that type of promotion!”

Her habit of shipping items the same or the very next day has also earned her much kudos from satisfied buyers.

“The eBay Community feeling makes me feel welcome and valued.”
For kites4all, one of the most exciting aspects of eBay is the idea of the Community feeling that has grown up around the site. She finds opportunities for learning and expression on the many Community discussion boards on the site, especially the PowerSellers board. “There are so many knowledgeable people that are willing to help with any questions regarding eBay on the boards – it truly is a Community! The people are friendly and so willing to help with any problem big or small. Just about everyone I've met on the discussion boards – no matter how big a PowerSeller they are now – remembers what it was like when they were just starting out on eBay. You can get help with your questions, inspiration and creative ideas any day of the week by just logging in and asking for help!”

kites4all's eBay experience has definitely changed her life in a positive way. She now thinks of herself not just as an eBay seller, but as an international business woman. “My retail business has seen an increase of about 33% just from selling my same items on eBay! What other method of marketing would produce that kind of result with such low costs? Nothing that I can think of!”

“eBay means more income for me and my family, it means a larger marketplace for my goods and most importantly, a community where I feel welcome and valued.”

We would like to thank kites4all for sharing her thoughts and comments with us! If you would like to be considered for the Community Spotlight Program check out our Community Profile page and follow the instructions near the bottom of that page.