Business Plan Auction Systems Inc 2008 - 2010
History
Auction Systems Inc was incorporated from necessity, after founding company Opal plus started to sell Opals on the internet, thru EBay and few internet sales shops.
Opal plus started own auction site .opalauctions.com in 2003 and has grown to sell over 60,000 items on the web
Target
Main target was for repeat customers, so best to do with wholesalers and shop keepers worldwide.
Business strategy was that shows in USA or Europe are now to expensive to go for sales, average show is $15-20, 000 costs
Our strategy was that internet growth of opal sales will result in lower sales at these gem opal shows like Tucson gem show etc
This ha s already started as buyers who would buy say small parcel $200 can now by pass middle man and buy direct for source .
Buyers like to deal direct from source and are repeat buyers so ideal for internet sales.
Age group
We have 2 main age groups
50 -55 year old who are repeat customers and re sell our opals
This group consists of many RESELLERS
30-35 year old are good one off buyers who enjoy our opals but are generally not resellers
Verified Sellers
One of our greatest strengths is our VERIFIED SELLERS PROGRAM
On other auction sites anyone can sell but to be Verified seller on our network you
Have a passion and knowledge for opals / gemstones:
- Offer wholesale prices not retail
- Be nominated by an existing seller on Gem Rock Auctions
- Business and personal references to prove your established business and adhere to high business standards
- Exchange wins if buyer requests
This system has given buyers confidence on our site.
In august 2007 we started gemrockauctions.com also aimed at repeat customers in 50-55 year group and will specialize in all gems par opals
From gemstones.minerlas, jewellery and still target 3—35 year olds.
Auctionsystemsinc has a concentrated following on 2 distinct age groups and will specialise in this field
Projects for 2008 - 2010
projects for -2008 include shareurlife aimed at family trees social networking and specialized clubs like pet clubs etc
coins –auctioned.com is another plan to market to same age groups as opals n gem sites ,that is to target coin buyers dealing with specialise verified sellers
Income from advertising
Coins-auctioned .com will be same program as gemrockauctions and will specialize in coins and same target age groups
Geographic’s …70% usa 25% Europe 5% Australian n Asia
BUILDING YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS
Advertisers will tell you that 50% of money spent on advertising on television and newspapers is wasted. But they cant tell you which 50% is wasted.
The internet is different, if you offer service or sell product on the web. The same rule applies that 50% is wasted on internet advertising, but its how you advertise and spend your money that is more important.
Two methods of advertising is available for internet marketing
- Short term marketing campaign
- Long term marketing campaign.
Short Term Marketing Campaign
Short term marketing is a good strategy when you are just starting off new business venture, you need immediate customers. This strategy is good but unfortunately most business keep using this strategy to expand their business.
Using eBay and shopping mall sites is good to get started and google ad words are popular in helping to get your business off ground. But number one problem with this strategy is that when you stop paying for these services you have zero customer base.
So in my opinion you have wasted your money if your business doesn’t stand on its own credentials in 6-12 months.
Your business is only strong with repeat customers. Its no good building up bargain hunter customers, you need quality customer base.
Long Term Marketing Campaign
This strategy is so exciting and offers long term rewards to those who have business plan.
By all means Short term is good to try your business idea out and do customer reasearch. 6-12 months is long enough for this. For long term business you need good quality customer base and repeat customers will make or break your web business.
If your budget is limited use blogs or forums or community notice boards to sell your self first than sell your service or product. It is important to make your message clear, that you are a professional and have passion for your business.
Do people want to buy camera from nurseryman, or get medical advice from Gardner? Be honest in blogs, clear and precise is best.
OPTIMIZE your web site
So many experts out there can help you with this. I have found that many professionals will promise that your web site will be on top search engines in few months.
Well, what they mean is they will improve your site by few percentage, not double your business.
Ask for web sites that they have worked on and contact the owners before you commit.
Be wary if no references or if they give example of their work and show number one ranking of useless information like number one ranking for rare flower in Nepal etc.
Optimizing takes time and effort so I like a year plan spend time money for one year and budget next year.
Remember don’t use the same business name on Ebay or Shopping mall sites as their search optimization will make their site list before you.
Limit google ad words but use their analytics as its good to trace where your customers come from and clicks. Consider different programs like CPM but limit content advertising and just stick to google itself.
LINKS
Contact good strong web sites in your field and build quality links, no need build up hundreds of low ranking links
WEB SITES
If you have your web site, you can consider making another web site to concentrate in a particular field. Some sites have done well using this method, others have built up a range of web sites and make income from google ad words clicks.
As an example your business is rainbow. You have strong web site for rainbow and you can make several more web sites with colour of the rainbow. Say one yellow, red, blue and green.
Each site targets that field more precise but you also get overflow customers not looking for rainbow but interested in say a particular colour.
So if they visit your colour web site and are not interested in that colour or your rainbow site they will click on google ad word add and will visit that site, and you will make income from this and also promote your website.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Even $1.00 customer needs special attention. That customer could spend thousands dollars over year if handled correctly. Always be fair and honest and straight to the point with any complaint. Be firm and precise, be professional!
AUCTION SITES
Yes I am very biased, I can’t compare a web site to auction site.
Auction sites will create thousand times more business and fun compared to normal web site. The No Reserve auctions are so much fun and good therapy for bidders and auction sites are constantly updated and fresh so buyers always come back for more. And than you have solid business with repeat customers.
Consider making your web site an auction site if you have long term goals and have particular item or product that you are strong with and enjoy the business.
START YOUR OWN AUCTION SITE!
Our company, Opal Plus, has developed a leading edge auction systems with an impressive track record. We have sold over US$3 Million dollars worth of stock using internet auctions since 2003.
We began selling items using eBay™. I have never been a large fan of eBay™, it is aimed at mum and dad business and really isn't aimed at true business people. Mums selling one item get charged as much as a business man selling thousands of items. That was my opinion before eBay's latest CRAZY price hike increase on 1st August 2006.
But more importantly you do not own your customer base on eBay,They own it! Accounting systems for book value place ZERO value on your EBay customers Where as a customer base built up auction site with repeat business is worth up to $100 per customer. Why didnt I know this when we sold 28,000 items on eBay?
So 4 years ago we started looking into starting our own auction site and now 4 years later we have a proven track record. We can now make a quality auction system for your own business from US $27,000.00, but you have to budget from $100,000 to $200,000 to fully optimize and administer your site over the first few years. Most auctions fail as its long hard road to gain customer loyalty and brand name,and this takes time and money and effort and lot hard work. if your budget is smaller you are best to start normal web site first and gain customer loyality before starting auction site.You will need medium to long term business goal. No quick dollars but huge long term potential for passive income once established. Yes we can make an auction site for half this price, but its not worth considering. Depending on you time frame for business you will need approx $20,000 for marketing per annum to start.
There is no point in starting business if under capitalised. Not only do we set your auction up to target your market, but we also know what NOT to do. In the past we have made lots of mistakes and experimented on ways to improve the system, some have worked and some haven't. We've not only wasted money but more importantly huge waste of time.
We wasted so much time and money with IT Professionals. We have a strong business background and aim for results.
Contact me with a brief business plan of where you are now, and what you have achieved. Clearly state your goals on how strong business you wish to own.
My family company has been established since 1976 registered ABN number 74 847 821 817 and my accountant has handled our account for 15 years.
Our company has top references.
If we can make an opal auction site successful, what can we do with your product? You can be based anywhere in the world.
Please contact me for more information.
Regards,
Wayne Sedawie
Opal Auctions went live/public on 1st October 2004. It is wholly owned, controlled and operated by Opal Plus Pty Ltd. Opal Plus is owned by Wayne and Estella Sedawie and has been established since 1992.
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They began opal mining when Wayne's brother, Paul, 15 years ago headed for the New South Wales gold mines, but due to all the roads in the desert becoming flooded, got stuck in Lightning Ridge, the home of black opal. He quickly fell in love with opals, which unsurprisingly spread to both Wayne and Estella. The whole family are now bona fide opal lovers, so much so that their nephew now mines opal. Thus you can obtain black opals direct from the source! The Sedawie's also have old friends mining boulder opal from Koroit to Quilpe. As a family, Wayne organises mining syndicates and controls the rough, Estela is in charge of their jewellery factory and the boys help out with all the computer work.
Thousands gemstones we will have special listing for people to sell items they found themselves. Titled TREASURES.
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Gemrockauctions.com will also try and have user friendly auction system with forums and bloggs and of course the popular fun No Reserve gemstone auctions.
This is for fossickers or treasure hunters. if you find it yourself you can list to sell FOR FREE, Conditions Max 10 items and you have to be individual who found these treasures or gemstones yourself.
Welcome to Opal Plus. We have sold over 48,000 opals over the internet. This means you can buy from us with confidence!
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We are a proud member of various Opal Associations, including Opal Association Incorporated, American Opal Society and Australian Opal and Gem Industry Association Ltd, and have been in the opal industry for more than 12 years. We supply are large range of opals and opal related items, such as the infamous Lightning Ridge Black Opal, as well as boulder, coober pedy and crystal opal varieties.
Coins Auctioned makes up our trilogy of auction sites which includes to Opal Auctions and Gem Stone Auctions.
Visit Coins Auctioned to find a great selection of coins along with our secure and reliable service.