In previous posts I’ve shared with you the shocking news on ebay’s new digital download policy that goes into effect tomorrow, March 31st. As you know, they are restricting digital downloads to the classified listings. From the very beginning, I’ve told you that I’m going to share with you some practical action plans and step by step guides on how to beat the eBay slap. In this series of posts, we’re going to look at the three main alternative options you have as a digital products seller.
I’ve been participating in the forums and taking notes as I go. What follows is a summary some of the best alternative approaches to digital downloads that I’ve found or contributed. This will save you a lot of time you’d spend searching through the forums and blogs yourself.
1. Create your own shopping cart site or sell on sites other than eBay
I know it’s obvious, but if you’re serious about selling products online you need to have your own website if you don’t already.
Although none of them have the volume of traffic that eBay enjoys, there are many sites where you can sell your digital products. I’ve included a section on auction sites as well as product catalog sites like Amazon and Google Product Search.
2. List your stuff in the classified ads
Due to its high volume of traffic, eBay is still a fantastic lead generation tool. The classified ads appear right along side regular listings so this can still be a viable option if you do it right. In the second post I’ll share with you the advantages and disadvantages as well as some specific strategies.
3. Make your products physical by putting them on CD
I’ve come up with a pretty cool twist on this option, that can drive traffic to your mailing list or website without breaking eBay’s policy guidelines. However, if you want to build your feedback score, and you’re concerned about the time it takes to burn, pack, and ship CD’s, you’ll want to outsource this to a service like Disk.com or Kunaki.com.
Check out the first article in this series: Beat the eBay slap - Sell on other sites