New Year, More Sales

2008 was a wonderful year. But now it's time to say goodbye and look forward to an even better new year in 2009.

Mentioned in an earlier post, iOffer had a record holiday, thanks to the many buyers and sellers who were able to find and use the site. However, there are many more people out there who have never heard about it.

In this new year, why don't we all try to spread the word about iOffer, and let everyone know how wonderful it is. Without the help of everyone involved like you and me, it wouldn't have gone too far. Let's continue this upswing trend and make 2009 an even better year for all of the small buyers and sellers out there.

Okay kids, be safe out there!

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve, everybody!! Hope you all got your shopping done the past couple weeks, or days, from iOffer. If not, there's always some end-of-Christmas sales and people selling whatever they got over the holidays!

Start preparing for the big day tomorrow, it's going to be wonderful!!

eBay Alternatives: iOffer Reports Sales Are Up

Here's an article from AuctionBytes:

iOffer.com reported record dollar sales, units sold, new items listed, and new memberships over the past six weeks from November 1, 2008 to December 15, 2008. The "trading community" marketplace encourages negotiation between buyers and sellers and reported key metrics for the holiday shopping season (November 1 to December 15). Data from 2007 is listed first, followed by the same period in 2008.

• Dollar Sales: $5.5 million vs. $15.1 million (175% growth)
• Unit Sales: 121,323 vs. 275,813 (127% growth)
• New Item Listings: 470,846 vs. 1,213,476 (158% growth)
• Traffic: 3 million visits vs. 9 million visits (198% growth)
• Page Views: 31 million vs. 80 million (158% growth)
• New Member Registration: 44,192 vs. 126,175 (186% growth)

Source: iOffer.com

Congratulations, iOffer!

New iOffer Home Page

Starting today, when you visit www.ioffer.com, you will see a brand new design. Here's a breakdown of each individual section:

Smack in the middle of the page is a welcoming message about iOffer and what it is. The search box lets you search the entire site immediately. Click on "learn more" to see the various features that you can use on iOffer.

To the left of that is a little box that encourages new visitors to sell on iOffer. It is truly fast and easy to start selling on iOffer. Like the box says, there's no listing fees, you get a free iOffer store, and you can transfer your items and ratings over to iOffer from other sites. Just click on the big, yellow button to see for yourself.

Right below that is a "Current Activity on iOffer" box. This area shows you how active the site really is. Buyers and sellers are always online, and questions and offers are continuously being made. Click on each individual link to see what was said if you're interested.

Then there's the huge category visual. In addition to the normal category column on the left hand side of the page, this visual is more appealing and attractive (at least to me). These are the more popular categories on iOffer, so click on a few and browse around and see what's cooking. Wouldn't you want to click on one of those pretty pictures instead of a word? I know I would.

Right underneath that are the "Featured Items". Sellers who paid for this enhanced feature will see their items here, with a much bigger picture than before. You're sure to get more lookers this way. Pictures are always good, so I would suggest all sellers to keep putting nice pictures for their items. Pictures are FREE anyways, so why not. These 8 pictures will rotate, but if you want to see more Featured Items, just click on the "View All Featured" link.

Finally, you can see what buyers are saying about their sellers and the items they bought. Read it and you'll be sure to feel welcome. This shows how wonderful the site is, with buyers and sellers happily transacting with each other. Happy Buyers = Happy Sellers = Happy Business = Happy $$$. Now, if only I can get more sales.

So, what do you think about the new look?

iOffer Holiday Logo

Earlier this week, I received a holiday promotional email from iOffer, and they included this wonderful holiday logo! It's nice to see that iOffer is getting into the holiday spirit as well! Just wanted to share that with everyone. Happy iOffering!!

- iOffer Dude

Announcement: iOffer Currency Conversion

From the iOffer Announcements page:

International buyers can now conveniently browse the site and view item listings in their local currency. We will try our best to predict your location, but if your currency is set incorrectly, click on the country name on the top right side of the page to update your country setting.

Prices are adjusted and estimated based on daily exchange rates. However, all negotiations and transactions are still completed in U.S. Dollars.

To learn more about Currency Conversion, click here.
To read the Currency Conversion FAQ’s, click here.

- iOffer Dude

iOffer Seller Promotional Tools

After the little buying series last week, I'm going to talk about selling.

The season to buy is now, so I'm sure there are many iOffer sellers out there who want to make their stores stand out a little more. One thing about iOffer is that sellers need to do some self-promotion to get their name out there. Here's some seller promotional tools from the iOffer website that will surely help!

Google Base
Many members in the community clubs agree that Google Base gives them a bulk of their store visits. Google Base puts your items in the Google shopping search results. Only items with fixed prices may be uploaded.

Store Widget
Customize a widget for your store to feature it anywhere on the web. Simply copy and paste the HTML code provided onto your personal websites and blogs. Go crazy and post it all over the web!

Community Clubs
Get your name out there by interacting with other iOffer members. Once they get to know you, they'll visit your store, and your reputation will start to build up.

Host an Event
Host and attend events to interact with iOffer members to promote your store items.

Invite Your Friends
Send an invitation email to your friends and old customers to let them know about your new iOffer profile and store. You never know how many returning customers you'll be able to keep!

Profile Banners
Add a banner that links to your iOffer profile. Simply copy and paste the HTML code provided onto your personal websites, blogs, and emails. Like the widget, go crazy and put a banner anywhere you can think of!

Additional Tools
Another link they have with a couple of tips and hints.

- iOffer Dude

Cyber Monday

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast! It's time to get back to work, and get back to buying and selling on iOffer!


As you all may know, today is Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday. This weekend also officially kicks off the 2008 holiday shopping extravaganza!! What better place to go than iOffer!! So hope you all enjoy your day, and

HAPPY SHOPPING!

- iOffer Dude