Getting an ROI through your PPC campaigns

Someone once said, "There is a buyer for every product".  I generally agree with that.  If you look hard enough, you'll find someone to buy what you are selling.  Your trash might be there treasure.

I remember an ad I saw for a garden tool that said, "Used shovels".  Used shovels?  I found it pretty funny that someone is selling an item that generally costs $10-15 as a "used" item.  Were they going to sell it for $5?  Plus $6 shipping and you might as well drive down to the Home Depot and buy a new shovel.

If there is a buy for everything, is PPC the right method for selling everything?  I would argue that it is not.  Even though PPC is great for many types of advertising, and many products, some things are better left to the swap meet.

How can you classify which items should be left out of the PPC market?  Is it any item that costs the same online as offline?

My criteria for what shouldn't be sold online goes like this:

1. It should be cheaper online, including shipping and handling.
2. Item should be easy to find, i.e. more than one seller.
3. The item should be able to be returned like it would be offline.

If the item fits those three criterion, the sell that product online!  Oh, and use PPC to promote it!