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

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:

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


    Serge

    August 30, 2010 | Permalink

    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.

    August 30, 2010 | Permalink

    685 Trading, Shopping, Merchant Data API Docs Now Available

    Please remember to use a test environment when updating applications to use a new schema version.

    To find out when a version of the API will be available, see the table at the top of the Release Notes for that API.

    You can find the latest API documentation at the eBay Developer Documentation Center.

    Trading

    Trading Release Notes

    Release Highlights

    See the Trading API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.

    Shopping

    Shopping Release Notes

    See the Shopping API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.

    Merchant Data

    Merchant Data Release Notes

    See the Large Merchant Services API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.

    Bradburn Young
    API Tech Docs

    August 27, 2010 in Developer Community, Developer Website, Documentation | Permalink

    PayPal X Innovate 2010 Developer Conference

    Bnr_inn_dev_con_125wx125h 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!

    August 26, 2010 | Permalink

    Announcing the newest member of the eBay Developers Program

    Sergeheadshot
    We are very excited to announce and welcome the newest member of the eBay Developers Program, Sergio “Serge” Gonzales. Serge is joining the team as the Head of the eBay Developers Program. Serge succeeds Kumar Kandaswamy, who headed up the Developers Program for many years.

    Serge is no newbie to the eBay world having been with the company since 2003. Most recently, Serge returns to the U.S. after a 3-year assignment at Marktplaats, an eBay-owned Classifieds site in the Netherlands. While there, he managed different cross-functional parts of the organization and his roles have included: Head of CS Business Applications, Head of Application Delivery, Head of QA, Head of Mobile and Innovation Strategy, and acting co-CTO.

    When asked about his goals for the program, Serge says: “As a Buyer, Seller, and sometime Developer myself I want to make sure our customers get the greatest value possible from the eBay platform. I am looking forward to partnering with our Developer Community to help make the eBay platform the most profitable opportunity for developing applications. We have a responsibility to our existing partners to help them grow their businesses, and I look forward to getting new Developers excited about building their applications with eBay services. We have a lot of work ahead of us but I couldn’t ask for a more passionate and talented team to help make this happen.”

    August 9, 2010 in Developer Community, Product News | Permalink

    681 Trading, Shopping API Docs Now Available

    Please remember to use a test environment whenever updating applications to use a new schema version.

    To find out when a version of the API will be available, see the table at the top of the Release Notes for that API.

    You can find the latest API documentation at the eBay Developer Documentation Center.

    Trading

    Trading Release Notes

    Release Highlights

    See the Trading API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.

    Shopping

    Shopping Release Notes

    See the Shopping API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.

    Bert McMeen
    API Documentation

    August 5, 2010 in Documentation | Permalink