eBay Digital Product Tips

If you've been selling digital products such as software or ebooks in eBay, you've probably gotten shocked by the early 2008 news...

Yes, eBay announced that digital downloads are no longer allowed in standard auction listings. No more ebooks, and no more software.

Perhaps they're concerned about buyer protection (which is non-existent in the case of digital items). Or they have been dismayed by the ebook quality (or lack of it). And lastly, digital products are difficult to monitor and check for potential intellectual property violations.

The bottomline, however, is that people who used to make money on eBay are now in a bind. Their income vanished overnight.

Fortunately, there are several solutions...

1. Post in the eBay classifieds. Sell your digital items through the eBay classified ads system. Your ads will run for 30 days, and it only costs $10 to list your items. And the great thing about this is, you don't need to pay any final value fees. As an added bonus, you can include links that lead to your web site or opt-in pages.

2. Ship Physical CDs. Some people have converted their intangible digital products in a physical good, by simply burning the files onto a CD and shipping those. Be sure, though, to include a nominal shipping charge lest the eBay staff delete your listing.

3. Printing Your Digital Products. Don't want to ship the electronic file? Fine, courier the printed version then.

4. Use a Print On Demand or Self-Publishing Service. There are third-party service providers who will take your PDF file, print those (on demand), and then ship them to your customer. And as an added bonus, you can also sell your book on Craigslist.

So if you used sell digital products in eBay, fear not. While changes are common in business, there are thankfully many alternatives at your disposal. Good luck and get on with your ebiz with these eBay digital product tips! :-)

[ First posted on 04/17/2008 by Manuel Viloria ]