We're hiring. The sales job is new. Hope it fits you or someone you know! :)

But with that high interest in our work comes economic concerns. And in this climate, it's understandable. We want to try to make it easier for people to afford the best company out there (that's us!), so here are our three new payment plans.

Each new client can choose whichever he or she likes for the services in your initial contract. As per our pricing page, the minimum for which you can hire us is for our "template and consulting" package at $2000. Many clients tend to add more services to their initial contract so that our work can have an even bigger effect up front.

• Full payment up front. Pay your entire As Was contract in one payment when you sign the contract, and get a 5% discount. For example, if your contract is for template, 1-level matrix, and simple Store, you'll be able to make one payment of $2,992.50 instead of paying $3,150.00 (the total of these three services).
  
  
• Two payments. Upon signing your As Was contract, 50% of your contract total will be due. Six weeks later or when the tasks in your contract are finished, whichever comes first, the remainder will be due. For example, if your contract is for template, 1-level matrix, and simple Store, you'll be able to make two payments of $1,575.00.
  
  
• Three monthly payments. A third option is to pay your As Was contract over three monthly payments. We will add roughly 5% to your total as a finance charge. Your first payment is due upon contract signing, the second payment is due a month later, and the third payment is due a month after that. For example, if your contract is for template, 1-level matrix, and simple Store, you'll be able to make three monthly payments of $1,110.00.

Tucson, AZ -- In a marketplace where most sellers think that all you need for success are good products, good pricing, and good seller reputation (feedback and DSRs), would listing design really make any difference? Judy Oglesby of eBay seller “BluePennyLady” hired As Was, eBay’s first Certified Service Provider, in the summer of 2008 for their template and consulting package. As Judy is a liquidator and selling a wide variety of items, the plan was to do A/B testing, comparing the style and layout of Judy’s existing listings to the custom and unique design created from scratch by As Was.

View BluePennyLady’s original listing style and layout here: http://www.aswas.com/template-bpl-before.jpg. Her new As Was template is here: http://www.aswas.com/template-bpl.jpg.

Judy’s sales have skyrocketed. Items that were listed over and over but never sold now sell quickly. Shoppers who had been confused about her policies and now very clear. Judy said, “I know my seller friends are impressed with the template, are asking me questions concerning how my sales have climbed. I have seen almost a 30% increase in sell through rate in the last two weeks. I think it is simply the template design.”

Judy’s reports on her A/B testing were as follows:

• After 10 days of running both old-style listing and As Was design listings, watchers on the As Was design listings were at least twice in number of those same items listed with Judy’s old template. Bidders who placed bids on numerous listings chose to bid on the As Was design listings before placing bids on items listed using Judy’s old template.
• Between August 27, 2008 and September 2, 2008, the As Was design was being used in 13% of auctions but represented 50% of the successfully ended auctions.
• In mid-September 2008, Judy announced at the RocketPlace conference that the As Was design was being used in 30% of her listings but represented 90% of her sales.
• By late September 2008, the As Was design was being used in 50% of Judy’s eBay items but represented 90% of her sales.
• As Was design Fixed Price items sold more quickly, some in less than 24 hours as opposed to the normal 36 to 48 hours.
• The quantity sold from As Was design Fixed Price items also increased.
• Judy’s Store traffic has increased, having changed nothing other than the template. She even removed the eBay Store categories from being displayed in individual listings weeks before using the new As Was template. Judy is finding that her buyers are entering her eBay Store from the template instead clicking on the Store link elsewhere on the individual item page.

Judy also had examples of how inventory that had not moved in a while suddenly started to sell with the As Was template.

• “I listed some dry storage camping bags that have been listed since May 24, but had not sold a single one in my old design. I listed them in the As Was design at 5:30 pm CST and sold some by 6:37 pm CST.”
• She moved product that had not sold after multiple listings in the old design to the As Was design template making no other changes as far as image layout, title, format, or time of day. Roughly 25% of those auctions sold by simply moving the product to the As Was design.
• “I have had these Donner toothbrush/cup holders listed four different times without selling a single one. I moved them to the As Was design on September 10^th, and they are now selling.”
• “I have Amerock cabinet pulls listed ten times, 30 days at a time, and not sold one. I listed them with the As Was template, and they are selling.”
• Judy explains, “Quite a few of the listings I changed over to the As Was design, which had not sold in a coons age, sold over the weekend as fixed price or Store listings. Staff noticed items that had not shipped out in a very long time, probably months. The stuff had been listed, but didn't sell. If it were only one or two lots, I would tend to believe it was simply timing. But that is not the case.”

As Was uses design to try to communicate important points that shoppers were missing, leading them to feel confusion, frustration, and disappointment. When buyers have questions, they often end up buying from other sellers; even if you answer their question quickly, the shopper may have hit the back button and bought from someone else. Therefore, it’s important that an eBay listing give a shopper complete trust, and leave them with no questions.

Quite a few buyers have been emailing Judy on how eye-appealing her design’s new look is.

• “I can easily remember you combine shipping because the Mule says it.”
• “The goose stating "Ask me a question" makes me want to email. It is much more relaxing and friendly than a statement saying “have any questions, click here.” “
• Judy is getting comments about the top of the template being interesting, and making shoppers want to scroll down to see what this seller has to offer.
• Judy is getting comments about how the template depicting Judy’s life on her ranch makes people feel that it’s wonderful it is to have the "dream life" everyone else would like to have. The design makes people feel comfortable, and they love the feel of it. Buyers are sending Judy pictures of their own farms and ranches.
• One repeat buyer Judy had not seen in a long time recently purchased product yesterday, and told Judy he just had to buy something and let her know how much he enjoyed the new look.

Learn more about As Was at http://www.aswas.com.

About As Was

As Was is a full-service consulting firm specializing in branding, design, sales and marketing strategies, operations management, and training for eBay and online sellers. As Was has been making the world’s marketplace your marketplace since it was founded in April 1995, and has been an eBay Certified Service Provider since August 2004. For more information, please visit www.aswas.com or call 520.204.1935.

The average As Was client grows their eBay sales 15% within weeks of finishing a project with As Was, and then continues to grow. The average client also sees fewer pre-sales emails, more eBay Store traffic, and higher DSRs. As Was is able to achieve these results, time after time, because As Was does more than design; As Was staff is made up of eBay experts in the USA to work one-on-one with each client to improve businesses and resolve areas where shoppers feel frustration, confusion, and disappointment.

"We took several months to finally decide on a company to help us with our template design and eBay strategy. After hiring As Was, we knew we made the right decision. It took about 3 weeks for the template to be completed, and the result was impressive. We instantly noticed a higher percentage of sales on auctions that had the template than my older auctions that had not yet been converted. This was no accident. The price I paid was small compared to the long term benefits I will receive." - eBay user ID suburbanwheelcover, June 2008, days after starting to use his As Was template.

As Was works with new eBay entrepreneurs as well as veteran PowerSellers, and starts with branding and identity; does the eBay seller have a name that people will remember? When a buyer remembers your name, they are more likely to look for you again, and to tell friends.

Next, As Was creates a design template for all of the seller’s eBay listings. Designs are always completely custom and unique, designed with the seller’s company image and personality in mind. As Was designs based on how eBay shoppers tend to think and behave, and never starts with a cookie cutter layout. The only thing As Was uses over and over is creativity.

As Was staff also rewrite, edit, and reorganize the seller’s policies. Better-written policies and a unique design keep shoppers interested, and make them more likely to read and understand the nature of the transaction. Shoppers who understand policies are more likely to bid or buy without bogging the seller down with questions, and are likely to give better feedback and DSRs since their experience matched their expectations.

Each As Was client gets a strategy report from our in-house Business Strategist. Sellers will get a fresh understanding of how to use item titles, listing timing, listing formats, listing features, and more to best capitalize on the demand for their items on eBay.

From there, As Was can design eBay Stores, About Me pages, off-eBay eCommerce websites, business cards, postcards, and other print materials, and blogs. The  “Msss Kel’s Place” designed by As Was won eBay’s “Best In Stores: Standard Store” award for 2008. As Was acts as a full-service business and marketing consulting firm to eBay sellers, and is happy to provide anything sellers need to help them grow.

As Was listing templates are compatible with Vendio (including Vendio Desktop and Andale), Inkfrog, Auctiva, AuctionWizard 2000, Blackthorne Basic and Blackthorne Pro, Laris, Kyozou, Infopia, ChannelAdvisor’s Marketplace Advisor Premium as well as Marketplace Advisor, previously known as Marketworks, and any software that allows for completely custom HTML templates.

As Was also makes a lot of their advice and approach available to the public through their RocketPlace conference. As Was clients and non-clients are welcome to join us at The Rio in Las Vegas, September 10-12, 2008, for the best and newest techniques, strategies, and tools for growing eBay businesses.

Learn more about As Was at http://www.aswas.com.

Beginner Track: Either Wednesday or Thursday is $130 each. Just use discount code wedonly or thuonly when registering to let us know which day you're coming, and get your day pass rate.

Advanced Track: Either Wednesday alone or Thursday alone is $129 per day. Friday alone is $99 for the day. Just use discount code wedonly, thuonly, or frionly when registering to let us know which day you're coming, and get your day pass rate.

You read that right! How did she get it?

She didn't mention the conference. You can't or they give you the "Conference Attendee" rate of $129/night. Boo.

She had a Total Rewards card, which covers The Rio as well as all of the sister hotels: Harrah's, Caesar's, Horseshoe, Bally's, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Paris, and Showboat.

So if you have one of those cards (even if you can't find it) and have ever played in those casinos, call The Rio and ask for the rate for Total Rewards players.

And come to RocketPlace!

Our RocketPlace conference is coming in just two weeks (Sept 10-12, 2008) at The Rio in Las Vegas, which makes us the safest bet in Vegas. How much would your sales have to improve for that to have been worth it? A Spring Rocketplace attendee saved $500 month from what he learned from just ONE of our speakers. RocketPlace quickly pays for itself.

Save $35 off registration with discount code ASWASBLOG!

Our event is aimed at giving PowerSellers the newest and best techniques, strategies, and tools to compete, grow, and work with eBay's changes. Newer eBay sellers will learn the roadmap to success. Everybody gets to write off a trip to Vegas!

Highlights of RocketPlace: Fall 2008 include:

• Separate Beginner and Advanced/PowerSeller educational track. Our average PowerSeller attendee is gold, nearly Platinum. Yes, even bigger PowerSellers can learn something new! :)
• Star speakers including Todd Lutwak, Senior Director of Seller Development at eBay; Marsha Collier, author of eBay For Dummies; Jane Judd, Senior Manager of Customer Loyalty at Zappos.com; and Jay Berkowitz of Ten Golden Rules.
• Meet ProPay, the PayPal alternative that combines the best of a merchant account with the best of online payments.
• Affordable! The Rio has dropped hotel rates for our upcoming RocketPlace conference to $90/night plus tax, and JetBlue gave us a discount code that'll get you 5% off your JetBlue airfares.
• nTAG wireless interactive "badges" for easier and more fun networking.
• Speakers are scam-free experts! No hard sells or pushing you into a "system."

Whether you're a seller, consigner, educator, past client, current client, or future client, we know that RocketPlace is a fun event where every seller will learn and grow. Come learn what you need to know to boost and improve your sales, work more efficiently, and navigate eBay's ever-flowing changes. RocketPlace is right around the corner! Learn more at http://www.rocketplace.com.

Enough said. Please vote if you like us. :)

Thanks!

• Fly from any city to Las Vegas (LAS).
• Depart on 8, 9, or 10 Sept, and return on 12, 13, or 14 Sept. Sorry, any other dates won't work with our discount code!
• Book at JetBlue's special conventions page.
• Use discount code rocketplace2 to get your 5% off discount.

Learn more about RocketPlace or register now!

Did you already book on JetBlue and your flights match these parameters? Call them to get your discount. 1-888-JETBLUE (538-2583), option 4

RocketPlace Announces September 2008 Speakers

RocketPlace, the premier conference for new eBay sellers and PowerSellers, is proud to announce our speakers for our September 2008 event at The Rio All-Suites Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The full schedule of sessions can be found at http://www.rocketplace.com/agenda.shtml.

Confirmed speakers include:

* Todd Lutwak, Senior Director of Seller Development at eBay, who will be giving the Advanced track keynote as well as a session for the Beginner track.

* Marsha Collier, best-selling author of eBay For Dummies and many other For Dummies books, will be giving the Beginner track Keynote.

* Jane Judd, Senior Manager of the Customer Service Loyalty Team at Zappos.com will deliver the closing keynote for the Advanced Track.

* Jay Berkowitz, CEO of Ten Golden Rules, is a seasoned marketing professional with over twenty years of business experience. He has managed marketing departments for Fortune 500 brands: McDonald's and Coca-Cola, and has developed traditional and direct marketing programs for AT&T, Sprint and eDiets.com. Jay was the highest-rated speaker at our Spring 2008 RocketPlace conference, and we welcome him back!

* John Lawson of 3^rd Power Outlet, David Yaskulka from Blueberry Consulting, Tim Woda from buySAFE, Cindy Litchfield from Cloud Dome, Bodin Suttles from Endicia, Amy Kendall from HammerTap, Jason Guzman from JunctionQuest, Michael Lambert from Merchant Advantage, Brian Gibbs from Refund Retriever, Edward Sayers of RPM Business Group, Phyllis Wischer of SageFire, Adam Morris from Sell Center, Michael Levit from Vendio, Lisa Suttora from WhatDoISell.com, and a variety of the experts at As Was including CEO Debbie Levitt.

RocketPlace has one track for beginners looking for the road map for eBay business success. A second track is for PowerSellers looking for tips on how to grow with all of eBay's recent changes as well as how to use the latest techniques, strategies, and tools to improve their eBay businesses. More information is available on http://www.rocketplace.com

About As Was

As Was is a full-service consulting firm specializing in branding, design, sales and marketing strategies, operations management, and training for eBay and online sellers. As Was has been making the world’s marketplace your marketplace since it was founded in April 1995, and has been an eBay Certified Service Provider since August 2004. For more information, please visit www.aswas.com or call 520.204.1935.