Success in the digital marketplace - Brought to you by NatWest

Thursday, 27 February 2020

Platforms like Etsy, Notonthehighstreet and eBay can be a vital resource and vibrant source of income for a small business, so what does a start-up need to know to succeed online?

According to research by the Royal Mail, 58% of e-tailing SMEs in the UK now use online marketplaces like eBay, AbeBooks and Etsy. We meet three small business owners who have found success in different online marketplaces, to learn the strategies and tactics helping them thrive.

Top service, clever keywords and a quirk of autocorrect

Tommy Howard launched his eBay shop Dog In A Box last year, at the age of 14. Working after school and in the holidays, Howard has built up a £15,000-a-year business, earning coverage from some of the UK’s top newspapers.

“I started off buying Nerf guns on Gumtree.com and selling them on eBay at a profit,” says Howard.

“I would see the item on Gumtree, then check on eBay for the general trend in how much it was selling for. If it had a margin, I’d buy it, aiming for a 30% profit.”

Gaining certification as an outstanding eBayer has been crucial to Dog In A Box’s sustained success in the digital marketplace.

“Getting the FAST & FREE logo from eBay shows that you’re more like a business than an ordinary user,” says Howard. “If your products are regularly delivered in two to three days, it will come up on all your listings.”

Keeping up standards while orders have increased has earned Dog In A Box further eBay accolades, including PowerSeller, Top-rated Seller and Premium Service awards, all of which signal trustworthiness to prospective customers.

Another part of the equation has been attracting new customers to view Dog In A Box’s listings. “The keywords people put into that search engine are everything on eBay,” says Howard.

“If you include all the details in the title, you get the best sales. Say you’re selling a paddling pool, you’d want to get words like ‘kids’, ‘play’, and the pool’s dimensions in place.

“It works similarly to retail, where a customer walks into a physical shop. If they see your listing looks good, they see all the features they want and they like the photos, they buy it.”

According to Howard, a tendency among fellow eBayers to misspell product titles can sometimes create chances to buy stock at low prices.

“When people were selling Nerf guns, a lot were being autocorrected by their phone to ‘Nerd guns’, so they weren’t being found and were selling at low auction prices,” he says.

Howard has used this quirk to his advantage, by typing Nerd gun into eBay’s search function to find stock selling well within his profit margins.

Perfect presentation from listing to delivery is key to Etsy success

Stacie Joslin launched her Etsy shop Minerals Rock Studio in June 2017, specialising in sterling silver and gemstone jewellery. Joslin was used to buying handmade gifts from the platform, so becoming an Etsy seller seemed a natural step.

“I wasn’t in a position to go and sell my jewellery at markets as I work as a full-time graphic and web designer,” says Joslin. “Etsy provided the exposure I needed in a convenient way.”

Jewellery is one of Etsy’s most popular product categories, with over 100,000 products currently on sale to UK users. According to Joslin, search optimisation has been key to gaining visibility in this crowded marketplace. “I really look at my SEO, making sure product copy is written well and as descriptively as possible, with correct tags and the best photos I can take,” she says.

The good news for Etsy sellers is that effective photos can be achieved without a big equipment budget. “I just use my iPhone as it’s quick and convenient,” says Joslin. “I try to show all angles of the item, including photos of it in the box and being worn, in a nice clean setup without any fuss.”

Getting good reviews from customers is another important consideration for Minerals Rock Studio. “It’s really important to get good feedback, because the first thing people look at is whether other people have been happy with their purchases,” she says.

“I tend to go back a few weeks after someone buys something and message them saying ‘if you’re happy, please leave a review’.”

Joslin takes great care over packaging her products, which helps ensure happy customers and favourable reviews. “I wrap items in hessian and put them in recycled boxes, with a neat-looking stamp of my logo,” she says.

“It costs a bit more to do it that way, but it’s definitely worth it.”

While we serve our own customers, AbeBooks serves people who don’t know we exist

Robert Harkins is co-founder of Anderida Books, an online bookseller specialising in signed first editions. Besides selling through its own website, the business uses the online marketplace AbeBooks.

“Compared with eBay there’s more of a professional culture and community, so it’s a better environment to sell in,” says Harkins.

“AbeBooks users expect a certain quality and are willing to pay a little more. Packaging and materials can be upgraded, and customers are happy to pay for the privilege.

“People using eBay, on the other hand, are mainly looking for bargains.”

According to Harkins, selling online has helped Anderida Books reach the audience for its collectible books, which is “spread quite thin” across the country.

“In most towns or cities, you’d have only a small amount of people who are in the market for certain collectible books. Unless you’re very central in a place like London or Edinburgh, you tend to find the best way is the internet,” he says.

Harkins sets up his AbeBooks marketplace listings with appropriate tags, then allows them to attract search traffic organically.

“With AbeBooks, you’re not trying to find a new audience and educate people; you’re providing for someone doing a keyword search who knows the attributes they’re looking for, such as ‘signed’ or ‘first edition’,” he says.

“We let Abe serve the people who don’t know we exist, while we focus on our own website and newsletter.”