EBay is an important part of our marketing mix, and we have been quite
pleased with the results we have gotten there. We have recently made a
financial commitment to increase our mouthpiece production substantially,
and wish to do a better job of reaching eBay buyers. We sold hundreds of
mouthpieces on eBay last year, got great feedback, and made a lot of new
friends for our company. We would like to penetrate this market further. It
seems to us that the majority of mouthpiece sellers on eBay provide very
little information to bidders, and we would be willing to provide anything
reasonable that a buyer wants or needs to know. We know that there are some
customers who only buy products on eBay (my wife is a good example!) and we
need to understand their needs better. Since I suspect more than a few
members of this group peruse eBay's mouthpiece selection from time to time,
I come to you with my hat in my hand seeking advice.

 

My question to the group is: How can we better present our products, and
what information do buyers want and need?

 

In the past, we have presented photos showing the chamber and exterior,
along with some rather simple videos. The "peanut gallery" of critics has
criticized our videos for poor lighting and sound quality, and I guess my
response to that is that we are doing more than virtually anyone else and
that the numbers just don't justify the expense of high quality video
production. We'll try to do better with our limited resources. I'm not
totally convinced that an internet "sound sample" has any relevance to the
average buyer and would like opinions on this point. Almost nobody selling
mouthpieces on eBay provides video, so I would think that what we offer is
far better than offering nothing at all. Since we only sell brand new
mouthpieces, "condition" photographs are not necessary in our opinion.

 

Should we specify the facing lengths according to standard gauge readings?
We do offer most models in three different tip openings expressed in
thousandths of an inch, and this seems clear enough to most buyers. Is any
other technical information needed or necessary?

 

We're considering a "quick and dirty" video which demonstrates the facing
process we use for final finishing at our offices in New Orleans. Would this
be of interest to buyers?

 

We will be offering our mouthpieces as "store stock" at a fixed price rather
than a traditional auction. We do charge more for the same product on eBay
than we do at our retail site www.nationofmusic.com due to the substantially
higher selling costs associated with eBay. Our return policy is identical on
both sites. We don't send out product "on approval" or "for trial", and have
not found it necessary to do so. That's somewhere we choose not to go.

 

We plan to revise all our eBay listings over the next couple of weeks, and
any comments from experienced buyers and sellers would be very much
appreciated!

 

 

sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc

STEVE GOODSON

SAXOPHONE DESIGNER TO THE STARS         

 

our products are ALL rated 

 

cid:339191121@25022009-09F4

 

Steve is a member of

hd_logo NAMMbelieve2nasaconf_GIF

 

 

PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITES
 <http://www.nationofmusic.com/> http://www.nationofmusic.com/ (retail sales
and discussion forum)
 <http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/SaxophoneRepair/>
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/SaxophoneRepair/  (discussion group)
 <http://www.saxgourmet.com/> http://www.saxgourmet.com/  (saxophone history
and information)
 <http://saxophonethoughts.blogspot.com/>
http://saxophonethoughts.blogspot.com/  (my personal saxophone blog)

 

READ MY ARTICLES ON SAXOPHONE DESIGN IN EACH ISSUE OF THE SAXOPHONE JOURNAL
The Music Business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic
hallway where thieves

BASIC SHOP RATE................$100/HR

IF YOU WATCH.....................$125/HR

IF YOU ASK QUESTIONS......$150/HR

IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO A CONCERT 

LONGER THAN FIVE MINUTES WHEN

YOU PICK UP YOUR HORN....$250/HR

 

The Music Business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic
hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's
also a negative side." Hunter S. Thompson

 

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