
Operational Improvements for your eBay business 1801 Maple Ave. Evanston, IL 60202 312.635.0269www.channelvelocity.com
eBay Businesses • Things we learn along the way. • At first, eBay was really easy • We grew really fast • Then competitors found us or we found them • Margins decreased • We couldn’t scale • We started wondering how we were supposed to make money at this • The good news is that you can overcome these issues! ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
Operational Efficiency • Operational Efficiency – The key to building a lasting business on eBay • Scaling your business on eBay is challenging • You can push your prices to some degree, the market determines price for the most part • This requires that you be more efficient than your competitors • If you have the lowest cost to handle a product, all things being equal, you’ll outlast your competitor ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
What are the components of an eBay operation? ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
Success Story ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
Where can I make improvements • First Start with Process • Before you begin to think about improving you capabilities, think about improving your understanding of your operational process • Look at areas that cause the most pain • Does listing take too long? • Is shipping too difficult and time consuming? • Are you matching payments all the time? ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
Efficient operations spend far less money • Payroll can be your biggest expense outside of products • Every minute extra per product costs your company valuable margin • Employee mistakes don’t just cost time, they create returns which cost far more time and trouble • Find the bottlenecks and identify the cause • Determine if there is a simple way to work around it • Determine the cost of the problem • Attach a value to solving it ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
Implementing operational Improvements • Solutions • Document your process • Find the bottlenecks • Implement a repeatable process • Train employees (documentation and knowledge transfer) • Misconceptions • Software is a silver bullet • Getting bigger will increase profits since size means scalability ChannelVelocity, Inc. Proprietary & Confidential, © 2005
1801 Maple Ave. Evanston, IL 60202 312.635.0269www.channelvelocity.com