eBay Kills eBook Sales, Millions Die…
by rayjohnson | March 25, 2008 | under Internet Marketing, Selling Ebooks on Ebay, eBay (General) | Comments (66)
Yep, unless you have had your head under a rock today – the rumours surging through the ebook business are true as you’ll all probably know. eBay has done the unthinkable and banned the sale of digital eBooks… which I must admit has hit my business quite hard. Millions of sellers WILL die.
The policy change by eBay came out of the blue as eBay gave no prior official warning, and gave all sellers INCLUDING the legitimate ones like myself, just 1 week’s notice to “shut up shop”, but all REALLY IS NOT lost!
eBay is STILL a traffic monster and the ONLY area of your existing ebook business that will be affected would be the delivery method of the eBooks. I have been speaking with John Thornhill via email today to try and bounce-ideas and if any more prevail – you’ll be the first to know.
I am trying to stay positive, as we all need to move forward together, and with me as your guide I ask you to let me tweak my business to accomodate the changes and I shall share ALL with you.
Don’t despair though – as I am already putting together the brand NEW version of “Build Your eBay Empire” to cover the recent changes and make the transition as fast and painless as possible for you. No stone will be left unturned, as I go back to the “stone-age” to show you how you can profit bigger than ever before, by selling eBooks the simple way.
You’ll hear about it soon… prior to D-Day on eBay on the 31st March.
So right now… I AM HOLDING MYSELF 100% ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU ALL READING THIS BLOG RIGHT NOW! I AM GOING TO WORK AS HARD AS I CAN TO GET THE NEW VERSION OUT!
Am I the only one to take massive action for my subscribers? YES I think I am right now… so please try to understand that I am doing this for YOUR benefit. If you are a member of my list, you’ll ALL get a FREE copy on me, and a FREE BRANDABLE COPY of the “Leaked Chapter” to give away on your website(s).
I am revamping ALL my affiliate programmes, Clickbank, my websites, my optin pages… and you’ll see the all new look real soon so please bear with me.
In my life, I have had a LOT more to deal with than a decision like this – so tag along and share some of my positivity, you’ll be glad you did 
As always, please leave your comments below regarding the policy change by eBay. As always, your time is appreciated.
Tags: eBay (General), ebay ban ebook sales, ebay bans ebooks, ebay ebook ban, Internet Marketing, Selling Ebooks on Ebay
66 Responses to “eBay Kills eBook Sales, Millions Die…”
I haven’t really done much in the way of digital items on ebay myself, I have dabbled a few times, but I have mainly concentrated on physical items.
Is it a shock ?…….. Not really, it was always on the cards, not because there is anything wrong with Digital items on Ebay, but simply due to the amount of problems some sellers have created for the rest of Ebay sellers, and Ebay themselves.
What I mean, is some sellers cannot see the wood for the trees and simply go all out to make a sale at any cost by undercutting/discounting other peoples products, to such a degree that they ultimately become worthless, and there are some really great products that have gone down in value due to this.
I know there is a lot of value in selling a digital product on Ebay, cheaply, for the backend sales you can create etc.
I personally think this move will only improve the realtionship with Ebay and the sellers, which will then give the paying customer greater value for their money………. And as John Thornhill stated, this is not something to be upset or angry about, as selling physical items will definately bring you in more profits than you will first realise . . . . . If anything, as a physical item seller myself, I’m going to be a little disapointed that now I will now be having more competition…… Ah well !
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Sorry to hear about this Ray. Although I am sure you will be fine. Your past ideas have been out of this world, I am sure you already have a solution sorted
Warm Regards,
Tom.
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Bloody hell. This is just great isn’t it… The first darn opportunity I get to market on eBay and they accounce they’re shutting shop the very next day. Not to mention the side-effects it’ll have on the thousands of people who make their livings off eBay, quite a bit change compared to my groans of discontent.
:S
Let’s hope there’s a happy ending to all of this!
- David
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Dont Worry Ray,
Ebay (and paypal) are a law unto themselves, they in there own interpretation are ‘the gods’., but little do they really know…
The small man will win the war,because he has more to loose than to gain, stick with Ray I am sure he will come up trumps, even if we have to help in our small way by just giving him encouraghement… these things are sent to try us and by god ebay and paypal certainly do that..
Look on the positive side, we cannot do without ebay so we have to work our way around this problem as usual..
You can earn more money with this outcome if you JUST THINK POSITIVELY..
Good luck Ray, i am sure you will come up trumps,
(You’d Better ) HeHe
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I echo what David has said above – I’ve done a lot of work over the last few weeks with Ray’s mentoring to set up an ebook business on ebay. This is a real kick in the teeth – I’ve tried several things online and all have failed, but I was really positive about ebooks on Ebay. Now it’s failed before it’s started. Several weeks work and money spent on web sites and graphics down the drain.
Damnit and damnit again.
However….
Full credit to Ray for getting something up here about this so quickly – mate thanks for caring. I have no doubt that Ray will put an answer together so let’s be patient and stay positive until then.
All the best
Robert
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Lee
Hi and thanks for your post, BUT didn’t John ALWAYS state that the ONLY way to deliver eBooks was through automation?
I’d be intruiged to know.
Thanks for your time today.
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Hi Tommo
You’d better believe it. My chief content guy Scott Siegel in the USA is on the case RIGHT NOW, and is preparing the new guide for sale on the 31st – FINGERS CROSSED.
Regards
Ray
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Hi David
Still PLENTY of time to learn the new rules of eBay utilising the CLASSIFIEDS section and the benefits of “snail mail” because there are positives and negatives in everything in life.
Wait for my new guide!
Regards and thanks mate
Ray
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Roy
What a great post, you have empitamised what I am all about. Not the biggest guy out there, BUT challenged and determined.
I am NOT letting this situation beat ME, YOU or my list.
Remember – ebay is just one way of getting traffic to your website/product/service, and as soon as a viable outcome is sourced, we’ll move on as though nothing happened.
Thanks for posting mate.
Talk soon
Ray
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Rob
You have my word I will deliver, and this decision from eBay is costing ME an arm and a leg (even though my own set are not much good already LOL
)
BUT – it is ALL in the name of YOU guys. I DO appreciate that without such a great subscriber list I wouldn’t be 1/2 of what I have become.
Stay tuned and keep the faith Rob.
Thanks again,
Ray
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Looks like we will have to stick the ebooks on CDs and sell them for more. Tough life ain’t it?
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Hi Muscle
There is more than one way around this problem caused by eBay – it’s just a case of finding (by testing) which one works the best and is most profitable.
I’ll keep you all informed in good time!
Ray
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Hi Ray.
Again you show your entusiasm and that you really care about your subscribers! The news from ebay is really hurting your business, but before we can say “cake” you are working on a solution.
Keep it up buddy!
Joern
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Thanks Joern,
Yes matte – it’s hurting – I’d be lying if it wasn’t but luckily I act fast to make it as painless as possible for my subscribers like you say.
Bottom line is Joern, there are really a LOT more positives than negatives now – even though I have to revamp my entire business to prove it!
Put it this way, bigger profits, AND list growth are the essence of the next product I put out – so EVERYONE’S gonna win!
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If your interested in discovering how you can produce Multimedia Information Products that make you money……… For FREE…. From someone who has done just that for over 26 years, you need to get this FREE VIDEO COURSE today.
E-books are dead . . .
A bold Statement I know, but true…………… Well as far as Ebay are concerned.
Now it’s a shame that eBay has come to this decision, but like many people have already stated. Look for the positives and not dwell too much on the negatives, as this will surely drag you down into a deep feeling of despair and confusion.
Move on, and look for other more lucrative ways that you can make money online. There are a number of discussions on hundreds if not thousands of blogs and websites looking for ways around this current situation. Some I feel will look towards trying to manipulate and deceive eBay and continue to try and sell their e-book and digital products on their site.
Over the last few days, I have listened to audio discussions as well as reading debates on this subject, by very successful e-book marketers and the one thing that is common amongst all of them is they are running scared. Very very scared of the possibilities of losing their current income and the success they have built up over the years.
Now many of these successful e-book marketers have come to a number of conclusions, and one avenue is to convert their current business activities of digital e-books/software into a physical item, and as a successful producer of physical multimedia information products (I had to laugh when I heard an audio discussion describing Multimedia Information Products as something NEW !, or atleast the term Multimedia Information Products )
I have recently set up a live online TV station, and I invited many of the Ebay Ebook top Sellers to contribute to the show. But have now recently realised, that a more indepth discussion or help package would be better.
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Zipidee just announced their support for ebooks:http://www.zipidee.com. Try their site if you can’t (or don’t want to) sell on ebay anymore.
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http://www.ray-johnson.co.uk/index.php?tag=ebay-ebook-ban
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Hi I saw your blog and want to say I have set up my auction to take ebooks and downloads so your readers may be interested, no im not a spammer just posting as anyone who wishes to sell ebooks for free just register and you are away, as long as you hold the rights to sell your ebook then all will be well.
Regards
http://www.carryonbidding.co.uk
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Many people don’t know that My Automated Auction Machine will provide eBay sellers with the digital delivery automation that eBay banned last year. This is definitely something you want to check out
Make Money on eBay – Bring Digital Delivery back with Ma’am
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The easiest way to make money online (or offline) is to do what you enjoy and the money will follow. I think the easiest thing to do is sell products that you buy at wholesale, mark up, and resell for profit. This can be done on Ebay because of Ebay’ s reputation but that’ s not the only site. You can consider Ebay auction or buy it now or store formats or a combination. Ebay also owns a site called ProStores… check their website for a trial offer,. But again there are other online selling sites
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I think it is quite easy to make some money with good ebooks. But the problem is, that there are not a lot of unique ebooks that are worth buying. So just make your own ebook with a topic you know a lot about.
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Ebays level playing fiels seems to be developing a bit of a slope in favour of larger players in recent times. Gone is the community spirit that once was the heart of ebay. There were thousands if not millions making steady incomes from digital downloads. It gave the small trader a platform to compete with the larger stores. What I see now from ebay is that they have gone very much for the big players. Not so long ago the front page was dominated by ads for eBay shops, now it’s huge ads for the large nationals. Also the Local Services category has been deleted, another blow to local community. In the end I suppose ebay has to grow more comercial as it gets larger. We have to look at these changes and work out the best way of applying ourselves in this changing market. BUT Don’t give up, simply modify your strategies.
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