Thinking outside the box when deciding what to sell on eBay doesn’t have to involve an entirely different product than others are selling. It can be something as simple as doing what many others are doing but doing it with a different focus or a different approach. Sometimes that’s all it takes to allow you to stand out from the crowd and become the darling of an already established niche.
A good example of standing out from the crowd in an established niche by simply taking a different approach to what others are already doing can be found at the eBay store called Period Paper.
Period Paper primarily sells old photographs, vintage posters, and vintage magazine advertisements. That, in and of itself, is not unusual. Hundreds of other eBay sellers offer the same kind of things. What sets Period Paper apart is that they are able to sell these items for five, ten, or more times what other sellers realize for them, simply by taking a different approach than everyone else does.
Using vintage magazine advertisements let’s look at how Period Paper has done this.
Presentation - They have spent the money to have a special store header and template and an auction template created. Nothing run-of-the-mill here. When a potential buyer arrives at their store it screams “CLASS” at them.
Grading & Certification - They lay out in detail the grading standards they use which are the same as those approved by The National Archive Of Illustration and Advertising Art (NAIAA). NAIAA Certificates of Authenticity are also available for each item they sell. The use of NAIAA grading standards and Certificates of Authenticity creates a higher perceived value in the eyes of many buyers.
In truth, a little research shows that Period Paper and the NAIAA are actually one and the same people. That means they are authenticating their own items but, since I know of no instances of mass reproduction of magazine advertisements and the grading system used my most paper dealers is pretty much the same, this may seem a little shady to some, I see no problem with that. Most seller’s provide a guarantee, Period Paper just puts it in writing on a fancy certificate.
Premium Shipping - Period Paper packs all orders with extreme care and goes to great length to describe their packing & shipping policy. Since they pack each item with more care than most other paper sellers, a detailed description of what they do, along with the use of archival packing, once again, adds perceived value to the items they sell in the buyers eyes.
Professional Image - When you combine all this along with their Affiliations and Frequently Asked Questions pages everything in their store is dedicated to increasing the perceived value of the vintage magazine advertisements they sell.
Did thinking outside the box when deciding what to sell on eBay work for Period Paper?
Apparently it did, because they are selling magazine advertisements regularly sell for $3 to $8 on eBay for prices from $25 to $50 and up. And, they appear to be selling quite a few of them to satisfied customers.
They have a 100% positive feedback and have received 329 positives in the last 30 days. If the percentage of their customers who leave feedback near the norm for eBay that means they’ve sold more than 500 items during this time.
As Period Paper shows, sometimes thinking outside the box when deciding what to sell on eBay can be as simple as selling what others are selling, but doing so in a different way.
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