to show the retail price or not?

How many times has this happened to you?
You’re in the store and you see an item that is marked down well below the retail price and you buy it. You may not have needed that shirt but the price was just too good to pass up.
If it works in the stores, it should work on auction and seller sites, right? When you post an item to sell should you include the manufacture’s retail price along with your price?
It’s the question of the ages. Ok, well not really. But it is an interesting question none-the-less.
BUYERS
Most buyers are already on the net looking for a deal and assume that they will get an item that is below the retail price for the mere fact that they are on the net. But it’s always good to remind them that you are giving them the best deal out there. Sometimes it pays to be the lowest seller on the net.
However, if you can’t drop your prices too low, you can supplement slightly higher prices with great customer service. Be informative and friendly and always be quick to reply to questions potential buyers may have on an item. In the time it takes you to reply, they could have already found a better price from another seller who offers equal customer service.
CATCH 22
It isn’t any fun if there isn’t a Catch 22 now is it?
Buyers could be turned off if your price is too far below the retail price. They may think that it’s damaged, defective, or just a piece of junk that isn’t even worth your price. So don’t go too low. Keep it reasonable while giving the buyer, and yourself, a fair shake. Remember, you’re not a charity so don’t put out a price that will adversely affect your revenue.
Some sellers like to show the retail price but cross it out then list their price below it. When you put your price up, put your name on it and the percentage buyers have saved. Putting you’re name on the price reminds people who you are and when you ship your item, add the savings formula on the receipt. Putting it one the receipt will remind the buyer where they got that great new item. It should look something like this:

Retail Price: $99.99
Greg’s House of Radios: $74.99
Savings: 25%

Taking Better Photos Use the Nikon d80

Have you ever thought that you might be the next great photographer? But it seems so hard to get everything you need to get started right. I mean how are you supposed to know which lens' to buy or what cables or straps you might want?

Well there is a seller on netSpray that is making it easy for you. For $850 you get a Nikon d80 (which is usually a $400 dollar camera by itself) with 2 lenses, rechargeable Li-ion battery, battery charger, multiple cables, straps, covers, and Nikon Picture Project software. If you get a nice kit like this you will get more for your money instead of buying all those pieces separate.



But is this the right camera to buy? Well in its class it is often rated as good as or better than many of its competitors products like Canon. There are numerous reviews out there and many are very useful. Here is one that I used. While this review put this camera second it was only because the camera the reviewer chose was priced much lower than the d80 but he hadn't used the other camera full time yet.

This camera has been on the market a while but it is still a highly rated model and company.

What's With All The Fees?

One of the biggest problems with selling stuff online is the fees that continue to show up and grow. It was originally a much cheaper process than it is currently. But now you have insertion fees, final value fees, and numerous other fees.

There seem to be fees for everything anymore. On some sites you have to pay extra fees for multiple categories, adding a subtitle, additional pictures (you get 1), custom layouts, and higher fees for different items, separate selling styles, and selling tips. Then you can add other things that cost even more. It is getting ridiculous. All these fees are just making the process that much more complicated and costing people more and more money.

Why has this happened?

Well I am not going to turn this into a rant about greed and corporate integrity (or lack thereof) but let’s just say that people are still paying the fees so why stop charging them.

But what if all you want is a simple listing for your product that doesn't take much (or any) of your money to post and sell? Are there any options out there for that?

Not really. Most of the sites that are popular right now charge fees.

But there is hope on the horizon. There are sites out there (some are just getting started) that don’t charge certain fees or on some you can get away without paying any fees. One of those sites is netSpray.com.

NetSpray.com is an innovative new marketplace that allows you to post items for sale on their website for free. That’s right; there are no insertion fees and no final value fees. It is entirely free. There are options that you can add that would cost money but you don’t have to do them.

What netSpray is going to offer are different levels of sellers and selling options. Those will come with monthly fees instead of fees on every sale. But they will give you added bonuses like more pictures or more details on your ads. All of the things that you receive by upping your membership are meant to help you customize your ads and to sell more products.

Fees are a pain in the neck. Whether they are on your paycheck, cell phone bill, or on your online selling sites they are just not much fun. Why would you want to pay multiple fees when you can do the same thing for free? Would you choose to pay all those fees and taxes on your cell phone bill if a company offered you a chance to not do it at all? I doubt you would.

So come on over to netSpray.com and list your items for sale there.

Have You Tried Pay Per Post?

Pay per post is one way, of many, that bloggers turn their hobby blogs into money producing blogs. It is pretty much exactly what it sounds like it is. Companies who are trying to promote their products post opportunities on websites for bloggers to apply for. If your blog meets the criteria that the company has set forth you will be given the opportunity to write a post on a certain subject for a fee. Many bloggers do this over and over again and make some extra money.

What kinds of companies do this?

All kinds. Kmart and Panasonic recently launched campaigns utilizing this technique. But many of the companies that do this are smaller internet based companies that are looking to get a little notoriety with certain groups of people. Some of the posts out there are from other blogs that want some exposure. Some are for different selling websites like netSpray. Others are companies asking for product reviews for customers to find online. There are numerous opportunities on the web as long as your blog meets the requirements of a company.

How much can you make?

Most pay per post opportunities will pay you around $4-$5 but there are some that will give you upwards of $15 and surely more. It just depends on the site you are looking at and the deals they have. Some companies offer a base fee and then a certain amount for every page view that you get of that post. For instance a company could give you a $5 base fee and then .02 cents for every hit on that page. If you get 1,500 hits you would end up with $35. If you were willing to write about anything all the time you could surely make a decent part time income doing just that.

Is it good for your blog?

This is a debate that rages across many fields and blogs. I personally read a sports blog that at times will post about some product that has nothing to do with sports. It honestly makes me never want to read it again. So I would say that you have to be careful not to alienate your readers. Remember that your readers are the only reason you are eligible for some of the opportunities. If you lose your readers cause they don’t like you peddling products and services that don’t pertain to your blog you probably won’t get too many more chances to make any money.

Become a Better Photographer With the Nikon d80

Have you ever thought that you might be the next great photographer? But it seems so hard to get everything you need to get started right. I mean how are you supposed to know which lens' to buy or what cables or straps you might want?

Well there is a seller on netSpray that is making it easy for you. For $850 you get a Nikon d80 (which is usually a $400 dollar camera by itself) with 2 lenses, rechargeable Li-ion battery, battery charger, multiple cables, straps, covers, and Nikon Picture Project software. If you get a nice kit like this you will get more for your money instead of buying all those pieces separate.



But is this the right camera to buy? Well in its class it is often rated as good as or better than many of its competitors products like Canon. There are numerous reviews out there and many are very useful. Here is one that I used. While this review put this camera second it was only because the camera the reviewer chose was priced much lower than the d80 but he hadn't used the other camera full time yet.

This camera has been on the market a while but it is still a highly rated model and company.

Oakley Sunglasses on netSpray

For only $100 you can get yourself a pair of Oakley sunglasses with mp3 capabilities. All you have to do is hook up the built in mp3 player to a computer and upload your favorite mp3's. Then you can be outside playing basketball in the sun with good music and protection from the sun. The glasses were mainly developed for athletes to have music easily accessible when they are outside training.

Think about it. Have you ever been out running or biking and wanted to listen to music but didn't want to deal with hassle of grabbing your mp3 player and finding someplace to put it? Well with these glasses you wouldn't have to. You just have to remember to upload your music and then you would have up to 6 hours of playback.

Just click on the link below and buy the glasses and in a few days you can be training without the hassle of finding some place to keep your mp3 player.

netSpray.com">

The Long Tail Approach

Some of you might have heard the term "long tail" used around the blogosphere and wondered what the length of an animals tail had to do with the internet. Well okay maybe you didn’t wonder that but you might have. Sorry that was a poor attempt at humor.

But seriously, do you know what “long tail” means?

To put it as simply as possible it is a method or way to maximize a search which in turn maximizes a products popularity and worth. The theory goes that if your search has more terms then it will bring up more results and it will also bring up more specific results. And in turn if your blog or post has multiple keywords than it is more likely to come up higher on searches.

The system was really perfected by online retailers such as Amazon who used it to get people more aware of items available. There are so many types of books by so many authors that many people don’t even know stuff is out there. So by using the long tail approach Amazon was able to get some of their low selling inventory sold.

Since then it has become an important tool of online merchants (such as netSpray users) who want to get their products sold. Bloggers also use the approach to get a higher ranking and listing on search engines which in turn brings more traffic to their sites.

So you see the length of an animals tail really doesn't matter at all. It is just a tool (or strategy) to make your post or site more popular on the search engines such as Google.