Selling with the Exterior of Your Package

Think about when you get a package at your doorstep. There is often a little bit of excitement. In a lot of cases you are expecting it and are thankful that it has arrived and wasn't lost by the carrier. You start thinking about whatever it is that is inside and just want to open it up.

That said it is easy for a small business to ignore the marketing opportunities that the exterior of your packages can have. In particular if you are just starting out or simply selling occasionally on eBay you are more likely to ignore this. One of the more obvious ideas is to use custom boxes. If you buy something from any major brand it will likely come to your door step in a box that has the seller's name, logo, and perhaps tagline. It may also be more cost effective for you to stick labels on to your packages that have your logo and business name on it. I have only seen this a few times but another idea is to use customized tape that features your company name and logo on it to seal your packages. If you are an eBay seller you can consider creating a logo or design that makes your seller ID noticeable. Obviously, you will have to weigh the costs of getting custom boxes, labels, tape, etc. but give it some thought.

Advertise your brand any way you can. Maybe only a couple of shipping workers will actually notice your custom packaging but that is better than nothing. Even after your customer gets your package you know there is always the possibility that box will be used for moving, storage, etc. Plenty of opportunities to remind people that your business is around to serve them.

Undoubtedly, packaging the actual products inside of your boxes is important but don't ignore what the exterior of you boxes can tell others.

Do you have any other ideas or thoughts on using your shipping boxes to market your brand? Comment on our blog and let's help everyone out!

Using Photos for eBay and Your Own Online Business

It really is surprising how some people neglect photos of their products when selling on eBay or through their own online store. I don't necessarily mean that sellers don't include any photos but rather the quality of their photos seems to actually hurt their chances of sales. Think about how you shop online. The words in a description are important and necessary but the photos almost always capture your attention first. Photos are simply another form of advertising your product.

In my experience there are 2 things that are most often ignored: The variety of photos and the lighting used in photos. On variety you should when ever possible and reasonable take photos of your item from multiple angles. Obviously, there are some occasions when 1 or 2 photos will do but think of all the sides and close details you would love to see if you were a buyer. For example, our website (www.sourcical.com) lists various shipping labels as an item. For these only one photo is good enough. As an idea though we could add images of a roll of the labels from a couple of angles. When it comes to lighting I mean watch for glare and also positioning of lighting. Try to move the object around and move your lighting source around if possible to try and show the detail in your item.

More photos can also save you trouble down the road. More photos mean fewer questions from buyers and more photos can also protect yourself if a buyer disputes something. If a blemish or some type of damage is seen in a photo and a buyer claims you were trying to hide it, the buyer obviously didn't view the photos well. As a side note, make sure that you are honest and note any damage or wear in the description and direct viewers to look at the photos for a look at what you mean.

Also keep in mind the type of digital camera you are using. You don't need a fancy SLR or professional equipment but you do need to take the time to do it right. Remember if you are going to crop photos for detail you may need to pay attention to the megapixels of the camera. In my experience 7 or so megapixels is good enough but if you are going to do more cropping then you may consider higher megapixels to keep the detail. A little extra time now can mean big sales dollars later.

Any other basic photo types for an web business out there? What are your thoughts on sellers and their use of photos? Comment and help us all out.

Building an eBay account

News: http://www.sourcical.com/ is now also selling on eBay!

The people behind Sourcical have the experience of selling for over a decade on eBay both personally and professionally. We know that sellers who are new to eBay often find it difficult to gain the trust of buyers because you start at 0 for feedback. Feedback score plays a huge role in gaining trust and turning viewers into buyers. We are going through these growing pains ourselves as the Sourcical account eBay ID is brand new. To help get your feet off the ground in terms of feedback try using your account to make purchases initially. This will help build your feedback score so when you do try to sell items yourself viewers will see a higher feedback score. As a buyer leave positive feedback for the seller when you have received your item and it meets your approval. In most situations sellers will leave positive feedback for you as a "thank you." Remember a seller can not leave you negative feedback on eBay.


If you have tips for new eBayers to increase their feedback score feel free to comment. What do you think? What methods did you use (or are you using) to increase your eBay feedback number?



Please visit us on eBay at //shop.ebay.com/sourcical/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686. We are just starting out with some of our expandable braided sleeving and Tyvek wristbands but many more of our shipping supplies and other items will show up. We thank you for looking!

New Website Advertising

Right now, finding ways to successfully advertise our new online business (www.sourcical.com) is the most pressing task. Run a contest? Social media? Adjust our AdWords campaign? Trade shows? How important do you think any of those are? In looking back I think we should have tried to build some online buzz leading up to the site launch but it is up and running now.

What are some of the means of advertising that have proven successful for your new online business? Of course, I would love any input from you out there but I think we can all gain from on thoughts posted here.

Businesses all have to start somewhere

For this blog... this is the beginning. Many businesses have come and gone. Some make it, some do not. We ask that you help us out. Check out http://www.sourcical.com/, and make a purchase. Shipping labels, tape, wire sleeving, Tyvek wristbands, and much more to come.

This blog is (in part) shamelessly created to promote and discuss our website, Sourcical.com. More important than that we hope to have interesting posts and discussions and we welcome any and all contributions to this blog from you. A blog is only as good as its readers think it is.

Blogging is new for us and we hope that you can help make it enjoyable for us too.

What has your been experience in starting an online business? What was the hardest part for you and how have you dealt with those issues?

Online businesses, we are all in this together (unless you are the competition - just joking... we wish all businesses success and we know there is room for multiple businesses in any category).

Let's share our stories and help each other out...