ebay

How You Can Turn Boy Scout Uniforms Into a Six-Figure Business

Via eBay Developer

I am reminded every day that there are huge, untapped business opportunities for Developers, Buyers, and Sellers on the eBay platform. While at the iOS Dev Camp hosted by our family at PayPal X, I had the pleasure of chatting with Alex who mentioned a great deal he found on eBay for Boy Scout uniforms for his boys. With such an incredible deal, I decided to look at some numbers:

• $ 100-$ 140 – Cost of required Boy Scout uniform at traditional retail outlets
• $ 56-$ 114 – Cost of required Boy Scout uniform on eBay
• 44%-60% – Savings

Add in the patches, camping gear, craft supplies, sporting equipment, and those savings quickly add up.

Imagine that an enterprising Seller visits his local Boy Scout troop asking parents if they’d like to consign their previously-loved uniforms for sale on eBay. Then imagine that a clever Developer builds an inventory management app to help that Seller. Or a Developer who helps Buyers shop for those items (think uniform or camping bundles). Now imagine a budget-conscious parent shopping for a Boy Scout shirt saving 85% on the cost (as low as $ 6 on eBay vs $ 40 retail). That’s a virtuous cycle where everyone makes or saves money.

The average troop size will be about 20 kids (source: scouting.org). You won’t make $ 100K from just 20 kids. But to the Boy Scouts you add: a few more troops, the Girl Scouts, school uniforms, theatre/prop apparel, formal wear, and costume rentals. All of a sudden the market gets bigger. Here’s how the Seller gets to six figures:

• $ 100000 – Target revenue
• $ 4 – Your average take per uniform
• 3 minutes – Average processing time to process, pack, and ship an order with inventory on hand (using a Seller app, of course!)

• $ 100000 / $ 4 = 25,000 units
• 25,000 / 52 weeks = 481 units per week
• 481 * 3 minutes = 1443 minutes labor per week
• 1443 / 60 minutes = 24 hours labor per week

Working half-time for $ 100,000 a year doesn’t sound too bad, right? Here’s how the Developer gets to six figures:

• 25,000 units * $ 0.25 per unit = $ 6250 (based on monetization from: Developer’s own pricing model, Open eBay subscriptions, and/or eBay Partner Network Quality Click Pricing)

Not bad. But extend that app to ROTC uniforms. Athletic uniforms. Halloween costumes. Get multiple Sellers to subscribe. Drive Buyers with a mobile app. That’s how you get to $ 100K.

Just so you know that there is more than enough business out there to make these numbers credible, I tried to find industry information freely available on the web. Some numbers to consider:

• $ 324M – Cub, Boy, and Venture Scouts Uniforms; estimated based on 2.7M scouts at an average uniform cost of $ 140 (source: scouting.org)
• $ 198M – Girl Scouts Uniforms; estimated based on 3.3M scouts at an average uniform cost of $ 60 (source: girlscouts.org)
• $ 1.30B – School Uniform market (source: CNBC)
• $ 759M – Formal Wear and Costume Market (source: IBISWorld)

Based on a casual comment by a delighted parent, I discovered an opportunity that might never have crossed my mind. For the best monetization opportunity on the web, eBay still can’t be beat. If you want to know more:

• About becoming an eBay Developer: http://developer.ebay.com
• About Open eBay Apps: http://apps.ebay.com (or the Applications tab on My eBay)
• About the eBay Partner Network: http://ebaypartnernetwork.com

Have an idea for another eBay business or app? Post a comment below.

Serge

Developer

PayPal X Innovate 2010 Developer Conference

The only developer conference dedicated to payments, the PayPal X Innovate 2010 Developer Conference is where the sharpest minds in the developer community gather to define the future of money—literally changing the way people pay and get paid.

Now in its second year, the PayPal X Innovate 2010 Developer Conference invites developers to explore new ways to integrate payments into web pages and experiences, applications, and even products using PayPal’s open, global payments platform and APIs.

PayPal X Innovate 2010 gives developers the opportunity to code and collaborate in real time with PayPal engineers. Additionally, developers get the chance to attend more than 50 hands-on technical sessions; see live application demonstrations and explore more than 60 sponsored exhibits; hear about new PayPal products and services; and network with 2,000 developers from all over the world.

PayPal X Innovate 2010 is where ideas and money meet. Don’t miss it!

Developer

Why We Partnered with PayPal X for the Developer Challenge

Hi — Sri Shivananda here, eBay’s senior director of platform product management. We here at eBay wanted to share our excitement about being a part of PayPal X’s second Developer Challenge.

Deciding to partner with PayPal and sponsor the eBay X Award wasn’t hard. Not only does it offer an opportunity to provide eBay developers with a chance to gain recognition and a fabulous prize, but we are also introducing PayPal developers to the eBay platform and inspiring them to build apps that use our APIs in new and creative ways. And, given the success of the first PayPal X Developer Challenge, we definitely didn’t want to miss out on helping spark more innovative ideas for this second one.

We will be awarding $ 10,000 to the developer who submits the best application that leverages our eBay Developer APIs. In addition to the judging guidelines for the Dev Challenge, our review team will also be taking into consideration the app’s ability to improve satisfaction within the eBay buyer and seller communities.

Like PayPal, we look to provide our developer network with as much support as possible to foster the development of disruptive apps and services that will shake up the way we look at online and mobile shopping and payments.

We look forward to your great entries and announcing our winner at Innovate 2010 in October! Check out x.com for more information on the eBay X Award and the Developer Challenge.

Developer

eBay Sued for $3.8 Billion in Patent Lawsuit

“A company called XPRT Ventures says transaction system PayPal knowingly incorporated XPRT’s e-commerce technology, for which it had filed for U.S. patents, into its own patent applications back in 2003–and has served parent company eBay with a $3.8 billion lawsuit.

According to the suit, which was filed Tuesday in a Delaware federal district court, technology that was built into PayPal’s patent had previously been shared with PayPal confidentially by representatives from XPRT and is contained in a total of six XPRT patents. eBay, the complaint alleges, incorporated those…”

via CNET News.