Small business owners in rural areas often struggle with selling a large volume of their products to their limited customer base. Without a lot of tourist activity, few shop owners can sell enough items to make ends meet. One great solution for some of these business owners is to offer online sales. This way, businesses can take advantage of a much larger potential customer base.
Of course, building an online store, complete with a massive inventory of products, can be time consuming and costly to maintain. Businesses that sell one of a kind items or have a wide range of ever changing items to sell may find the thought of putting together and maintaining a complete, up to date online catalog completely overwhelming. For these business owners, it may make more sense to put a few nice items up for bid on eBay instead.
Antique Shops Use eBay to Sell Unique Items
Antique shops depend on foot traffic to be able to sell unique items. If window shoppers and antiquers aren’t coming in, they won’t know about the great new finds available in the shops. Quite a few antique shops, such as The Pink Lady and The Antique Shop of Highland Park have turned to online auction sites as a way to sell rare items or items that go over better in another part of the country to customers who don’t have the opportunity to visit their brick and mortar stores.
Real Estate Sales Companies Offer Land for Bid on eBay to Build a Reputation
Quite a few companies that sell real estate offer land for bid on eBay. Many of these companies use the site as a way to move foreclosure properties they bought as a part of a package deal or as a way to sell parcels they subdivided. Using eBay allows them to reach a large number of interested parties for a reasonable advertising fee and is a great way for them to build a reputation as reliable and honest land sales companies.
Seed Companies Reduce Overhead Costs With eBay Auctions and Buy It Now Listings
Many homegrown seed companies aren’t just small businesses. They are very seasonal. To make a profit, many of these businesses need to have very few overhead costs. A glossy catalog and big advertising campaign would eat up any profit and rapidly move the company out of the black and into the red. Turning an eBay store into a catalog and using eBay as a way to promote the business allows savvy seed sellers to keep costs low enough to make a profit, even if they are only selling seed packets for a dollar or two a piece from January to April of each year.
Many businesses, from craft shops to custom dog clothing businesses, can benefit from a decision to offer items for bid on eBay. These businesses can use this auction site to take advantage of a bigger customer base, can grow their reputation and can keep overhead costs down.