A Terapeak interview with Trevor Ginn of Hello Baby (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/hellobabydirect)

How long have you been selling on eBay?

I’ve been selling on eBay as Hellobabydirect for about 18 months.  Before that I was working for Auctioning4u who were the UK’s largest eBay trading assistants.  All in all I’ve been selling on eBay as a business for about 4 years.

What got you started there?

At Auctioning4u I provided consulting services to businesses to help them use eBay as a sales channel.  With online sales experiencing strong growth most of my clients were doing pretty well, much better than me it seemed.  I was itching to give it a go as I was sure I could build a successful online retailing business.  I choose baby products as my research showed that the industry had healthy margins and was not as competitive as areas like electronics.  I also wanted to be in an industry which I knew something about (my first daughter had just been born), was largely non seasonable and mostly recession proof.

What sort of things do you like to sell?

We sell a wide range of baby and nursery items. Items range from small toys nursery and baby safety items like safety catches to larger, more expensive items like prams and cots.  We sell a lot of our items internationally, especially to Europe as the strong Euro makes our products good value for our friends in the Eurozone.  We sell on eBay, Amazon and our own website www.hellobabydirect.co.uk

How do you use Terapeak to help build your business?

We use Terapeak to research products and also to investigate the tactics and best selling product of our competitors.  eBay data, provided by Terapeak, is the only source I know of actual sales data about online sales.  Other, very expensive, reports from companies like Mintel make broad statements about market sectors, but this is not much use when a merchant is looking to make purchasing decision at the brand or product level.

When we are analyzing new products we will use a product search on that particular brand to establish what items are selling well and then drill down to individual products to establish average selling prices.  We then put the sales data into a spreadsheet which allows us to calculate the profit we can make from selling the item by taking into account cost like sales tax, PayPal and eBay fees.  This process saves us from buying product for which the market is very competitive and there are poor margins.

We also make extensive use of the seller report.  This allows us to see the products which our competitors are selling successfully and how their business is performing.

Terapeak Tips from Matt – What else Hello Baby can do to build their business using research?

Trevor mentioned that a good portion of his business is targeted at international marketplaces.  A lack of availability for products in certain regions can create excellent opportunities to sell your goods for a higher price.  Terapeak’s International Report compares statistics for 6 eBay marketplaces around the world including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.  The International report provides charts detailing buyer and seller location and helps identify which eBay site represents the highest potential margin.    I would recommend Trevor try using the International report for some of his products and see if he can expand his offerings into more eBay sites around the world.

If you’d like to be featured in a “How do they do it?” please contact us at pr@terapeak.com.

Today, we’re happy to announce that the site is already up and running!

The Japan team has done a great job getting the site together, and we encourage you to go check it out. There’s even a pretty cool welcome video halfway down, featuring AERS/Terapeak’s very own CEO, Fred Speckeen.

Congratulations, Terapeak Japan! Welcome aboard!

A little background first: the group of sellers was selected randomly, and features sellers specializing in collectibles, home safety products, antiques and more. Eight performance indicators were tracked for three months for each seller. Statistics related to each indicator were compared on a pre- and post-Terapeak basis, and were then used to determine a percentage of growth or decline.

Some sellers showed improvement in nearly every business facet, while the improvement of others focused on specific statistics. And when averaged across the entire group, every indicator showed at least some improvement.

Here’s a breakdown of the group averages and best results:

As you can see, those are some pretty impressive numbers!

One of the most entertaining parts of the study was researching each seller’s highest priced times. Among the most curious results: a vintage men’s watch worth over $2000, model train accessories, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, X-Men comics, jewelry, radio equipment, and collectible coins.

All of the participating sellers were a pleasure to interact with, and all were generous with praise for Terapeak’s research tools. Here are a few anecdotes they shared:

[Terapeak] has enabled us to identify a range of products that our competitors are selling that we previously weren’t! And, just as importantly, has helped us to decide which products our competitors have not been able to sell, and [which] we shouldn’t be stocking either! – economiccomics

That’s where Terapeak comes in handy for me. I call my husband (who is more than happy to stay at home while I foray to yard sales and auction previews), tell him to get on Terapeak and check out items while I’m still at a sale. In many cases, that’s been very helpful in determining what or what not to buy. – 6regentspark

I must say that [Terapeak] has changed how I do business and it has also allowed me to look into other markets that I might not have perhaps looked at before. - global-gadgets

We love the Terapeak service. – shiponsiteyng

I cannot say enough [about Terapeak]. Our customers now know that when we say we “Terapeak-ed it” that it’s good info. It makes our life so much easier when we can show people the true ebay value of their items. – quick2sellpgh

Cheers!

We hope you check it out!

Perhaps most intriguing to eBay sellers is the litany of products available exclusively to SDCC attendees — many of which, according to Terapeak’s research tools, have seen high eBay demand since the event ended last week.

In the past seven days, more than 2,500 items using “SDCC 2009″ as keywords (not counting tickets and passes) have sold on eBay.com, accounting for over $130,000 in total sales. Some of the most popular products include Green Lantern: Blackest Night figure sets, He-man reissues, Twilight figures, Kidrobot vinyl toys, and Star Wars collectibles. And despite the high prices (many are already selling for over $200), the sell-through rate on these listings is an impressive 76%.

As always, Comic-Con will be back next summer, so if you’re an eBay seller focused on collectibles, perhaps it’s worth making the trip to sunny San Diego! (Really, is it ever not?)

We’re happy that the Wall Street Journal has once again used Terapeak’s eBay data to illustrate a story!

For the full report on luxury goods selling on eBay and beyond, click here!

Every year during the eBay Developer’s Conference (San Jose, June 16-18, if you’re interested in coming along) eBay awards the Star Developer award in a few categories:

• DSR Rockstar (improving customer service & buyer experience)
• Most Innovative
• Early Adopter
• Service to the Developer Community
• NEW: Rapid Evolution (boosting seller efficiency in a dynamic marketplace)

eBay relies on external nominations to select the award winners, so if you’re using an application for eBay that is based off of the eBay API platform and you love it, send in a nomination (shameless plug: Terapeak is eligible for nomination).

All you have to do is send a nomination to developer-relations@ebay.com before May 15, 2009. Include in your email your name and contact info, the nominees name and contact, the category of award (from the list of 5 above) and a brief explanation as to why you think the application is award-worthy! Toss “eBay DevCon Star Dev Award” in the subject line so your note gets to the right people.

If, by any chance, you’d want to nominate Terapeak, we’d be stoked, and promise not to cry, babble, forget the words, or recite a boring acceptance speech for hours upon hours.

For more information on the Developer Program at eBay, visit http://developer.ebay.com/

I’d like to thank the nomination committee… my family…

So do we!

If you’re hooked on Twitter, please add Terapeak to your feed to keep track of the latest activity in the Terapeak offices. We’ll try to add the latest news there, as it happens!

From all of us here at Terapeak, we hope you’ve had a happy holidays and productive selling season, as well as time to relax and recharge with loved ones. We’re back after a brief rest ourselves, and we’re feeling rejuvenated about what the new year holds.

Since it is a new year, naturally that means resolutions. And whether you’ve made any conscious ones or not, in a fluid, expansive market like eBay (and others across the web), there is always room to grow, focus, and become a better seller — and really, that’s a resolution you’re making every time you log on to Terapeak!

So, as the holidays fade and the season turns, now is a great time to tweak your business in ways you’ve always wanted. Is there a new market you’ve been wanting to break into? Is there a selling tactic you want to learn more about? What can you do to take your business to that next level? These are all questions we hope we can work with you to answer in 2009!

Happy new year!