Hi, it's Neil Waterhouse.
I get a lot of questions regarding
How people should name their eBay stores?
And is the name they choose very important?
Well, the short answer is Yes,
It is extremely important
All things being equal,
an eBay store which gives a feeling of quality
will get more conversions or sales
versus an eBay store which gives a feeling
of cheap and nasty.
The good news is
it doesn't take a ton of time
or money
to give the feeling of quality.
Years ago,
we surveyed thousands of our customers
and asked them to rank in order of importance
what was the most important aspect
they look forward when purchasing in eBay?
The results of the survey was
the very first most important point
buyers wanted was to make sure
they were not buying rubbish.
Translated - they want the feeling
they're getting a quality product.
I also urge you to look inside yourself
whenever you're purchasing something on eBay
Ask yourself . . .
What are you looking for with an eBay seller?
Listen to what your inner voice is saying
as you scroll through the eBay listing.
Does the eBay seller give off the feeling of trust
and quality?
Or does it give a feeling of cheap and nasty?
What feeling do you get from their eBay name?
The name of an eBay business is one aspect
we can easily improve as I'll show you.
Buyers want to feel they're getting quality
before they commit to hitting the Buy button.
The feeling of quality
is simply a mental trigger.
Many buyers can immediately
pitch and hold the quality of an item
an eBay seller is selling
based on just their name.
This picth and holding is based
on the life experience of each person.
The name of a business,
whether it be a bricks and mortar business
or an eBay business gives buyers a feeling.
Let me show you.
Ask yourself.
If you're looking to purchase a,
say, a pair of shoes.
What feeling would you get if
you purchase from, say, David Johnson Australia
or US Norstrom or off the UK Harrods?
Most people get the feeling
they'd be buying quality, good products
from these stores.
However, the next feeling they maybe getting
is they could be expensive.
Now, ask yourself, what feeling
would you get buying from somewhere
like a reject shop, Joe's discount store,
a bargain store, or a $2 store?
Most people, automatically, rightly or wrongly,
perceive the items on these stores
of low quality.
Our job as professional eBay sellers
is to give the buyers the feeling
they getting buying from a quality seller.
If you split test 2 stores
which have identical products,
an eBay store which gives a feeling of quality
will get more conversions or sales
versus an eBay store which gives the
feeling of cheap and nasty.
eBay allows sellers to change their eBay names
once every 30 days
and it's free to do so.
Changing eBay ID or store name
does not shut down any
existing listings.
The best way to choose a name
for your eBay business is
to first brainsource some bricks and mortar stores,
the names of those stores
which gives you the feeling of quality -
David Jones, Harrods, etc.
Next come up with similar sounding names
that you like and then most importantly
bounce these new names off your friends and family
and ask them which of the new names
you've chosen gives them the most
feeling of quality.
Next, login to eBay and try and change
your eBay name.
If your new name is available,
eBay will let it go through.
If not, try the next one.
Next above changing your name is
get a professional looking logo made
for your new name.
This is not an expensive task,
place like Fiverr will create
a new logo for you for $5.
It is super important though
to make sure the logo, they make it high quality
and if it's not, send it back and
get them to redo it.
Share the new logo to your friends and family
and ask them what feeling do they get.
Again, does it give the feeling of
being professional, give trust, give quality?
Or does it give the feeling of cheap and nasty?
I prefer to get 3 logos made at a time
so we can select the best one.
It really is worth investing our
time and money to do this
as your eBay name and matching logos
are yours forever.
Here's another bricks and mortar example
of how important visual perception is.
Let's say, it's Saturday night
and you've been to see any movie
and then you're craving some Chinese food.
Across the road, there are 2 Chinese restaurants
side by side, however, they're both radically different.
One looks cheap and one looks really expensive.
The one on the left is a very basic
Chinese take-away store,
the outside is very bland,
white, black writing
saying discount, Chinese food.
Out the front, on the foot path
there are couple plastic covered tables,
with coded colored umbrellas.
Inside is also very bland,
white walls, a couple of plastic chairs,
plastic tables and some cheap looking
posters on the wall.
The menu - it's handwritten
on a chalkboard behind the person
serving at the front
is also watching a small tv,
which is like head on the counter.
You're not sure of the nationality
of the person behind the counter is,
but you know they're not Chinese
which you find surprising.
As you purchase in take-away food stores,
you guess from past experiences that
the main course in a
cheap take-away like this is
gonna cost you somewhere
in the vicinity of $10 - $15.
Next you check out the flashy looking restaurant next door
The first thing you notice
coming off the foot path is
some welcoming red carpet
with brass balustrades.
As you approach the front door,
there what looks to be
handcrafted 4-foot high wooden elephant
on each side of the door.
On that main door is a red carpet
leading all the way to the handcrafted
wooden reception desk.
At the reception desk is an immaculately
dressed Chinese waitress which welcomes you.
There's a quiet Chinese music playing,
lots of Chinese arts, jade, dragons,
beautiful handcrafted tin book, chairs
All basically an amazing ambiance.
Before checking the menu, you ask yourself,
you go internally and you ask yourself,
based on your previous experience in life,
how much would a main course cost
in a flashy looking restaurant like this one?
Your brain comes back with an answer
between $20 - $30 for a main course.
What you don't know is that
the 2 Chinese restaurants are interconnected
and both share the same kitchen.
The food from both stores is 100% identical.
So what has change?
How can one restaurant charge more than the other
when the food is identical in every way?
It's all about perception.
This happens in all businesses
from petrol stations to clothing shops,
and also in online businesses like eBay.
With eBay, 2 sellers can sell the same item
however, buyers would often prefer to choose
from one store than another one.
The great part about online businesses like eBay
is you don't have to spend a fortune
unlike bricks and mortar stores
to make your business look professional.
That's all for this week.
If you're watching this video anywhere else
besides my blog, please come over to
www.NeilWaterhouse.com
for more eBay hints, tips, tricks and goodies.
Please give me a thumbs up
and click on the Share buttons.
Everybody loves to have a Share.
Please leave a comment below.
Let me know what you're up to.
Love to hear from you.
Until next week, list more sell more,
this is Neil Waterhouse.