Building a Brand on eBay
Building a Brand on eBay
I should start by defining what I mean by brand building on eBay. I want to talk about building a new brand, or your own brand on eBay or using eBay. I would also start by saying that building some type of branding is very important as it does add value to your online business.
There are a number of eBayers and online retailers who would ask the following questions, maybe with different types of businesses.
Can it be done? Why would you do it? Is there value in it?
Can it be done? The simple answer is yes. How well you do it is up to you. The great thing about eBay is its reach. eBay sites like ebay USA, Germany, UK and Australia have truly massive audiences. This means you can get your product in front of a lot of people and potential sell to a huge number of customers. The economics of this are a slightly different matter, but in everything you sell online, to make a truly valuable business, you need to build some branding.
What is a brand?
A ‘brand’ by could be “A trademark or distinctive name identifying a product or a manufacturer”. What this means to you might be different to what it means to me. My branding on this site may be my own name for example. If I write well, and cover interesting topics that assist people then my name will grow in value. People will attach some emotion and value to my own name as a result.
For my eBay businesses I make up brand names to identify my products, to mark then as something unique and to ultimately provide value above and beyond the product itself. A brand needs to be common across your communications. You have to pitch the brand to your customer. Your brand message might be ‘premium quality’, it might be ‘the friendliest service’ or anything else.
Why brand your product?
Why not? Imagine two similar businesses. They both sell on eBay. They both sell similar products, lets say tennis racquets. Both of these companies buy their stock from manufacturers in China.
Business A operates as follows : Contact factory, find out what stock they can purchase. Order a bunch of product for a price they know they can profit from. They don’t care about brand, colour, or style too much. They care about margin. Buy them for $10, sell for $20. They import thousands of racquets and sell them. The names of the racquets vary, asdo the colours and styles. The invoices sent to customers are basic, and lean. The name of the eBay store doesn’t have a real meaning. This business imports and turns over lots of tennis racquets at markups of 100% and makes a good profit for the owner.
Business B operates as follows : Come up with a brand strategy. A name to market all the tennis racquets under. It might be the name of their selling account, and their online store down the track. They design a logo, or outsource a design. They contact a factory, and find out what stock they can purchase and manufacture with their name on it. This is easy for the manufacturer to do for the buyer. Order a bunch of product for a price they know they can profit from. They buy their racquets for $11, not $10 as they have colour card added a logo printed on it, as well as a logo print on the bag and a swingtag. Sell for $20 - $40. Invoices have the logo on them, and a thankyou from the business. This business imports and turns over lots of tennis racquets at markups of 100% and makes a good profit for the owner. Customers remember the brand, and will buy again. If they like the product, they attach good emotion to the brand and the experience they had with the brand.
Which business would you rather start? Which business will most likely ultimately make more money for the owner, if they bought and sold the same amount of goods with the same margin?
I would start business B, and I have done already.
Is there value in it?
Why did we do it? To differentiate, provide a consistent brand message to our customers, and build loyalty and value. Without value, we were just importing anything and selling anything. With a brand we were targeting a specific customer, providing them with value, and marketing to them in a cohesive manner. We are buildinga relationship and adding value to our brand name.
Maybe in 5 years time business A and business B have made the same amount of profit from trade but both business owners are looking to sell. Will there be more buyers for a business that has an established brand name? and Image in the market? A customer base loyal to the brand name?
So if you have the ability, take the time to make a brand and start building some value in it!
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