Me and my wife have a goal for 2009 and im not sure how well it will go but I know the profits will soar as soon as I Dump the sample program in march. We are going full scale on all 3 of our ebay accounts and we will post some on amazon too.
Trying to build a steady base of pallet buyers on our site using the profit pack and sample was costly and did not generate revenue for the site. But the experience did get us a steady stream of pallet buyers, not massive but steady and more then enough to pay the warehouse expenses. And we got a couple truckload sales too.
So letting go of the sample program will be a blessing. As we are loosing some money on them. Not massive yet it is a small monthly loss once you figure in the product amounts we send vs shipping them and the amount generated. I can personally make more money on the samples then most of my buyers can because I have way more experience in selling this kind of merchandise.
Another salehoo member noted that dropping the sample program would also weed out the people not willing to put work into liquidations and expecting the small orders to generate massive point to click riches. Generally the more serious buyers are the pallet buyers, and they are the most inclined to make money from liquidations. So I tend to agree with his assumption.
Our goal for ebay is to get over $150K in sales and for the site $200-250K in sales.
Im actually going to try and work with a Manufacturer in brazil. since the economy is down and work a deal with them for a steady stream of one of my niche product lines, and also sell my liquidated products from Macys and Bloomingdales on my other accounts.
So yes I do have high hopes for 2009 but only time will tell. I do hope the economy gets better as I have noticed a considerable 20% slowdown in sales since november when the recession problems deepened.