Greetings / Editor's Note
To beginners, online retail success
means selling products
for a little less than the other guy or gal, but that is usually the
formula
for failure, not success. In order to compete, you first have to
identify a
product niche—a line of products that you are more qualified
and passionate
about selling than anyone else. Then, you can compete by being the
person
people go to whenever they need the types of products you sell.
In
this issue of the eNewsletter,
we draw your focus on this all-important topic as we clear up the
confusion
about MAPs (Minimum Advertised Price) and describe what a product niche
is and
why you need to identify one of your own. MAP?!
Product niche?! We know, all this
can
be confusing, but by the time you finish reading this issue of the eNewsletter, you'll have a clear
understanding of exactly what we're talking about.
This
issue of the eNewsletter
also gives you cause to celebrate, as we announce the winners of June's
Product
Sample Spectacular and the upcoming contest for August; the latest
major
improvements to doba.com; the most recent awards that have been
bestowed upon
us; four new webinars in August; 12 new suppliers; and August's Member
Q&A.
In
other words, in this issue, we
have done everything in
our power to get you thinking about something other than offering
bargain
basement prices, so you can focus on more productive areas, such as
marketing
and customer service, and blow the doors off the competition.
-
Doba’s Community
& Education Staff
Table of Contents
And the
winner is… June’s Product Sample Spectacular
winners announced:
Grand prize winner:
One
of the great things about
being a Doba member is that you now have the opportunity to win cash
and prizes
just for placing orders. Here’s how it works: Every few
months, we offer you—the
small online retailer—the chance to win when ordering from
any of our new
suppliers. As we did this past March, in June we worked with our new
suppliers to
offer more product samples to Doba members who placed first-time orders.
As
you may have read in last
month’s eNewsletter, the
June Product
Sample Spectacular stirred so much interest that two new suppliers
asked to get
in on the action by adding their product samples to the winners' pool,
and we
extended the deadline until July 15. Now that the deadline to enter has
come
and gone, we’re pleased to announce June’s winners.
John
Simpkin from Northern California
was our Grand Prize winner. Just for placing an order with one of new
suppliers,
John won $500.00, which has since been deposited in his Doba PrePay
account.
Congratulations
to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who
participated!
But wait,
there’s more: August's Product
Sample Spectacular is
about to get
underway!
During
the month of August,
when you place an order with any of our newest suppliers, you could win
cash
and product samples just like our March and June winners. The more
orders you
place and the more suppliers you order from the better chance you have
of
winning. To see which of our new suppliers are participating in
August’s
giveaway, or to learn how you too can win some spectacular product
samples and
cash, visit the August
Product Sample Spectacular page today.
Partner Highlight:
3XP
WebSolutions
3XP Web Solutions gives you everything you need to start an online
business in
one complete and easy system, including a web store and a merchant
account so
you can accept credit cards. Best of all it is seamlessly integrated
with the
Doba product catalog! Also included are traffic analysis tools, search
engine
submission, domain name registration, multi-tiered affiliate program,
and more.
Click here
to view 3XP's special
offer for Doba members!
Featured
Article: Clearing up the confusion on MAP
pricing
By Jake Sabey, Education Specialist - Doba
Are
you confused by “MAP” pricing? If so, this article
is for you!
MAP, what is it?
MAP is an acronym for Minimum Advertised Price (also known as "minimum
resale prices" or confused as "manufacturers advertised price").
MAP is a price set by manufacturers as the lowest price you can
advertise for a
particular product. As mentioned in the article, “Recent
Supreme Court and NY State rulings may affect online retailers,”
Manufacturers
set MAP prices for several reasons:
- To protect
distribution channels.
- To prevent
retailers from hurting others with predatory pricing
strategies.
- To keep the value
of the product from becoming diluted.
- To level the
playing field level for all retailers.
Now that you know what MAP is,
another question that may be
asked is, “What price do I pay as a Doba member?”
The simple answer to that
question is that you pay the wholesale price. As a retailer, you are
required
to follow the MAP on the product you are selling. The minimum
advertised price
is determined by the manufacturer, not by Doba.
How does the MAP affect me?
A MAP can affect you both as
a retailer and as
a buyer. As a retailer and Doba member, you are required to
abide by the MAP,
meaning that you should not advertise or a product below the MAP. (Click
here to review Doba's
Terms of Use) As a buyer, you may find that you will pay more
for some
products—if retailers abide by the MAP as they should.
This will keep
the value of most products truely in line with what they are worth.
Getting a
great deal doesn't always mean getting the lowest price. A great deal
is
getting the most for what you pay.
The
problem with a
MAP from a retailer's perspective is that you can usually find an
online
retailer offering the same product for less than the MAP. This begs the
question, "How can I possibly compete if I play by the rules and nobody
else does?" In the following section, we answer this very pertinent
question.
How
do I deal with MAP restrictions?
Being a successful retailer is all
about beating out the
competition, and for many less successful retailers, that means selling
products for less than the other guy or gal. But competing on price
alone is
one of the biggest mistakes that retailers make. It drives down prices
for
everyone, including you, leaving you with profit margins that make
running a
retail business not worth the time and effort.
So how do you
compete? Read "Giving
Away the Store, Part II: Competing on something other than
price,"
for some ideas. Chapter
10 of the Doba User Manual, "Pricing
Products to Sell" also suggests some great options for
dealing with
MAPs:
- Offer
free shipping. By removing the shipping
charge, you can meet the MAP and, in many cases, offer a competitive
overall price. This strategy works most effectively with items that
have higher shipping charges.
- Include
"free" accessories or gifts. Add value to your listing by
offering to include free accessories and/or gifts.
- Offer bundles. Bundling the product with
accessories, supplies, or related items can add a perception of value
that makes your bundle more appealing than what your competitors are
offering. Bundles do not necessarily have to be great values, they only
need to create the perception of value.
- Advertise
that you’ll accept reasonable offers. eBay has a feature called
"Best Offer" that allows bidders to send you an offer to buy. The
seller can then accept, counter, or outright refuse the offer. Because
you’re advertising the product at MAP, you’ve
fulfilled your obligation to the manufacturer, while advertising that
you'll accept reasonable offers tells buyers that you’re
willing to work with them on the price.
The
three tactics above can work
for you both on and off eBay. Just because an item has a MAP that seems
too
high doesn't mean you can't sell it successfully. It just means that
you need
to get a little more creative with your marketing. Remember that
determining
your pricing strategy has a direct effect on your bottom line and as
such
deserves more than just a passing thought. The wrong pricing strategy
can lead
to ruin, but the right one can lead you to glorious success.
Can
I simply ignore the
MAP?
When you
visit any comparison
shopping site, you can quickly see that
not all retailers honor the MAP. Some simply choose to ignore it. We
strongly
advise you against taking this approach.
As mentioned at the beginning
of this article, the U.S. Supreme Court recently
ruled to enforce minimum resale prices; taking necessary action towards
those
caught selling products below the given MAP. Possible actions could
include losing
the supplier or wholesale supplier from which you acquired the product
and being
banned from sellingin a given market.
The
purpose of this article is not to
scare you, but inform you the importance and seriousness of the subject
as well
as clear up any confusion related to MAPs. With a better understanding
of what a
MAP is, how it affects you and how to deal with MAPs, you will be
better be
prepared to abide by the law while retaining your competitive edge.
Partner Highlight
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impressions matter. Logoworks’ experienced designers know
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Doba News:
Announcing major improvements to
doba.com!
We are pleased to
announce major improvements when you log in to doba.com. The
changes:
- Simplify the
site’s navigation
- Make it easier for
you to find the products you’re looking for
- Provide
personalized education to help you—the online
retailer—get up to speed in a hurry and continue to improve
and grow your business
- Improve the
overall usability of Doba
Catalog Filters
One of
the biggest improvements we’ve
made to is the addition of catalog filters that allow you to
refine a set
of products you’re looking at by specifying certain
attributes. You can use the
filters while browsing product categories or viewing search results.
For
example, on the old site, a search for “digital
camera” would yield a huge
number of results, but with the new filtering system you can quickly
specify
that you want to see only Canon-brand cameras from Supplier Alpha,
within the
$200-$499 price range.
For more
information on these and
other changes to the site, please click here.
Partner Highlight:
One of the fastest ways to build your eBay business is by
opening an eBay
Store. eBay Stores
have a flat $0.05 to $0.10 listing fee, and you can get
started today!
Doba
receives regional and national recognition!
We understand
that Doba's success hinges on your success. Who we
are as a company is the result of who our members are and how
successful you
are.We thank you, as partners in our success forDoba’s recent
recognition by Always
On
and the Utah
Valley Entrepreneurial Forum as a
stand out company in a number of different areas:
AO 100 Top Private Company
Always
On
Recognized
for Leadership in Emerging
Technology and Global Business Potential. Doba was mentioned as being
considered one of the hottest private companies, with young innovators
paving
the way in emerging markets. Click here
for more information.
Top 25 Under Five Award
Utah
Valley
Entrepreneurial Forum
Doba is
ranked #8 based on profit,
growth, equity funding, job creation and job quality.
Education
News — August Webinars
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM
EST
Ask
the Experts: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about eBay and More!
Join eBay University Instructor, Steve Lindhorst, and Doba's Director
of
Community & Education, Mikal Belicove, for this interactive and
hands-on
Q&A about selling on eBay and other eCommerce sites. This
webinar (which
was last presented live in December of 2006) gives you--the small
online
retailer/eBay seller--the exclusive opportunity to ask and receive
answers to
your most basic or perplexing eBay questions.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Time: 10:00 AM PST /
1:00 PM EST
Harnessing
the Power of "Cause Marketing"
Have you ever run a charity auction? Did you know it's easy to donate
some or
all of an auction's proceeds to your favorite charity or cause, and
that more
people will buy from you because of your interest in helping others?
eBay has
developed a wonderful program to help sellers like you do just that.
It's
called GivingWorks, and in this webinar we'll discuss the benefits both
to the
non-profit organizations and to you as a seller.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Time: 10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM EST
Setting
Realistic Expectations for your Online Business
Would you like to retire within a year? Would you like to support
yourself
solely on your online sales? We would love to see you achieve this
goal, too.
The fact, however is that few online retailers are able to do it, and
those who
do find that it takes a tremendous amount of time, effort, and
expertise. When
people have unrealistic expectations, they fail to meet goals, get
discouraged,
and give up.While selling success is possible, it's harder than most
people
think. In this webinar, eBay University
Instructor
Steve Lindhorst and Doba's Director of Community & Education,
Mikal
Belicove, discuss what it really takes to make an
income that supports
a household. No
sugar coating or
grandiose talk here; this is reality.
Thursday, August 23, 2007 Time: 10:00 AM PST /
1:00 PM EST
Using
Online Comparison Shopping Channels to Grown Your Business
When you finalize what you want to sell and have launched your own
webstore,
how do you get shoppers to visit your site and then buy from you?
That's where
online comparison shopping sites come in. One in three shoppers visits a
comparison shopping site at least once a
month, making comparison shopping engines
one of the most
important resources you have for driving traffic to your store and
listings. In
"Using Online Comparison Shopping Channels to Grow Your Business," we
provide you with an overview of online comparison shopping sites, cover
the
economics and costs involved when using them, and walk you through
specific
steps for getting started.
Member
Q&A: What is a product niche and why is
it so important?
Without giving much thought to a company name, product line or niche,
new
online sellers sign up for services like Doba, work with a third-party
vendor
to build a webstore, and only then get around to asking, "Hey, what
should
I sell?" You may have even done this yourself. You head over to eBay,
see
what’s selling, and then decide to sell the same products for
slightly less
than the competition. You end up being disappointed, mainly because the
item you
chose to sell did not sell, or because your profit margins are too low
to make
any money.
One of the keys to
online retail success
is the ability to focus on a particular product niche and establish
yourself as
the person or the company from which buyers should purchase a
particular
selection of related products. Tiger Woods, for example, would be
better off
selling golfing gear than home décor… something
that Martha Stewart is more
qualified to sell.
If you’re
having a difficult time choosing a niche, follow in
the footsteps of successful
online retailers—sell what you know. If you have trouble
identifying areas of
expertise, answer these five questions:
- What do you know a
lot about?
- What are you most
passionate about?
- What are your
hobbies and pastimes? Are you a weekend mechanic? A seamstress? A
sports fanatic? A movie buff?
- How do you spend
your free time?
- What kind of
professional training and experience do you have?
Find
something that makes your eyes light up, and you’ve
probably hit on the right line of products.
For more information, please see "Choosing
your market niche."
Supplier
News: New suppliers added to the
Product Catalog
Starting
an online business is relatively easy. Making it a success takes hard
work and
the right mix of products. To help you achieve your business-related
goals, we
recently added 12 new wholesale suppliers and manufacturers to the Doba
Catalog (bringing
the total number of Doba suppliers to 177),
including:
- Supplier
Boxer distributes a full line of pet
clothing, treats, and chemical-free foods. From doggie sweaters,
ponchos and T-shirts, to Dog and Cat Sitter DVDs and holistic gourmet
treats, Boxer has exactly what your pet loving customers are in search
of.
- Supplier
Brando is a media distribution company
that specializes in TV on DVD box sets. While Brando carries a limited
number of SKU's—about 200 at any given time—their
on-hand inventory usually exceeds 40,000 units, all of which are ready
to ship directly to your customers on a moment's notice.
- Supplier
Buffalo is a leading manufacturer of
high-impact men’s apparel, gifts, and accessories and home
furnishings. Buffalo’s expertise covers a number of product
categories including towels, bar stools, watches, clocks, sporting
goods, novelty gifts, loungewear, wall decor, pillows, window
treatments, and throws.
- Supplier
Cmajor has been manufacturing and
distributing musical instruments and accessories for over 80 years.
Rock your customers' acoustic needs by selling this family-run
company's line of guitars, amplifiers, and related merchandise.
- Supplier
Court manufactures and distributes The
Original Ballbag ®. Born out of necessity, The Original Ballbag
allows your customers to tote a basketball, football, soccer ball,
water polo ball, and even a rugby ball hands-free. Licensed by the
National Basketball Association, Supplier Court's
distinctively designed and stylized line of backpacks and bags are sure
to be a hit with your sports-minded shoppers.
- Supplier
Hazelnut started as a sourcing company
for exporters looking for products in bulk quantities. Now, Hazelnut
distributes exclusively to home improvement aficionados, focusing
primarily on cabinet hardware and accessories. Hazelnut has
well-established accounts with many of the country's top cabinet
hardware manufacturers, which helps Hazelnut maintain a
”Platinum” status in the Cabinet Hardware and
Accessory space.
- Supplier
Magenta manufactures the Firestone /
DiamondStone brand of knife sharpeners and axes, and the Tuftop brand
of heat-resistant tempered glass cutting boards. Magenta’s
knife sharpeners make it easy to sharpen kitchen knives, utility knives
and sporting tools, while their glass cutting boards are virtually
indestructible and absolutely beautiful. Whether your customers need an
axe or knife for work, camping or sport, or a cutting board to
compliment their kitchen, Magenta offers products that are manufactured
with the highest standard of excellence in mind.
- Supplier
Nylon manufactures the highly
acclaimed Hitchcraft Monster
RopeTie—a device to tie and tension any rope in a snap.
Developed and
manufactured in the U.S.,
the Hitchcraft Monster RopeTie can be used with one or more ropes in a
variety
of applications. On a sailboat, for instance, it can be used to tie
down a bag,
canopy, or dinghy. Your customers can also use the RopeTie on their
trucks or
cars, in conjunction with outdoors activities, in a garage, or with any
other
rope-related application they can think of. With the RopeTie's 3-to-1
mechanical advantage, anyone can snug a rope down in just a few seconds.
- Supplier
Royal is an importer and wholesaler of an
extensive range of decorative home accessories (such as candles and
vases) and outdoor furniture. Royal’s collections combine
contemporary and global craftsmen influences for a distinctive style
that is sure to be a hit with your buyers. All of Royal’s
products are stocked in the U.S., and nearly all are available for
immediate shipment from St. Louis, MO.
-
Supplier
Tombstone is a premier distributor of hardcore
metal music CDs and vinyl albums. Tombstone operates on a very simple
philosophy: Provide bands and independent labels with the opportunity
to have their albums professionally distributed throughout the U.S. If
your customers have a taste for the heavy stuff—Death Metal,
Black Metal, Heavy Metal, Stoner, Doom, and Thrash—then
Tombstone will quickly become your supplier of choice.
- Supplier
Tombstone
is a premier distributor of hardcore metal music CDs and vinyl albums.
Tombstone operates on a very simple philosophy: Provide bands and
independent labels with the opportunity to have their albums
professionally distributed throughout the U.S. If your customers have a
taste for the heavy stuff—Death Metal, Black Metal, Heavy
Metal,
Stoner, Doom, and Thrash—then Tombstone will quickly become
your
supplier of choice.
- Supplier
Water
manufactures and distributes Pure Water 2GO water filters, portable
water units, portable water filters, and water bottle filters. Pure
Water 2GO provides top quality water filtration in a portable unit.
Portable, clean, pure, filtered water is of utmost importance to
Supplier Water, so they make every effort to ensure that your customers
are always drinking the best water wherever they are.
- Supplier
Zirconium is a multinational manufacturer
of a unique line of jewelry. With operations in the U.S. and several Latin
American countries, Zirconium is guided by four simple principles: Superior quality, variety,
design, and service. Zirconium's jewelry is manufactured with tightly
controlled gold or rhodium plating thickness, which is the key to the
durability of their endless line of products.
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