eBay Explained : How To Buy And Sell On eBay

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February 26, 2006

eBay Coupons

There’s a novel idea afoot nowadays: Using electronic discount coupons to pay for items people are interested in purchasing.

This only goes to show that most good marketing ideas can be adopted for the internet. Instead of cutting coupons out from newspapers or carton boxes, eBay gives out electronic copies of coupons to purchase merchandise. The coupons are fast and easy to use.

Coupons are routinely sent by eBay to members who then use them to pay for items through PayPal. The coupons signify specific discounts that can be applied to the purchase of items.

Using Coupons

To use an eBay Coupon one must buy an item where the seller accepts PayPal as a payment method. Upon payment of the item using PayPal, an opportunity will be given to the buyer to enter a coupon redemption code and receive the discount.

Sharing Coupons

Some coupons from eBay can be shared with other people while some can only be used by the owner. If the coupon indicates that only a specific email address may use the coupon, it may not be shared.

Coupons and Your eBay and PayPal Accounts

To use the coupons the owner must have a PayPay and an eBay account. If the owner does not have these accounts, he or she must sign up for them to avail of the discounts. PayPal lets you pay securely over the Internet using a credit card, checking account, or a PayPal account balance.

Important Restrictions

Upon winning an eBay auction, the bidder is required to purchase the item even if the coupons they are holding turn out to be invalid for the auction.

Also, coupons can only be used one-at-a-time. This means that Gift Certificates, single coupons, or eBay Anything Points are valid for only one auction and only one type can be used each time.

One more restriction is that the coupons cannot be used for Half.com purchases.

Items must also meet all coupon requirements and must be paid for in ten days from the closing of the auction on eBay.

Coupons have expiry dates. Coupon holders should take note of the expiry dates noted on the coupons.

Sellers may also configure their listings to accept coupons. To accomplish this, the seller must accept PayPal as a payment mode. If a coupon is used in the purchase of one of the seller’s items, the value of the coupon is forwarded to the seller as it's equivalent in regular currency.

Posted by auction at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2006

How to Value Your Collectable Items

The first thing you will need to do is check out the condition of your item, be it a train, doll, Disney collectable, or some other collectable item. Is it scratched, torn, clean, dirty, new, in a box, without a box? You get the idea...

Use a good light source and check the item out very carefully, noting the name, identification marks, and any copyright marks. Also, check for any imperfections, tears, scratches, color imperfections, mars, stains, etc.

Many dolls are collected with the box intact. An intact box can raise the value of an item a great deal. Some are worthless if the box is damaged badly or missing.

NOTE: Some dolls are meant to be played with and taken out of the box to dress. Examples are the Tonner Doll Company dolls: Tyler Wentworth, Sydney Chase, Gene, etc.

Remove the doll from the box for inspection. Look for forums, discussion boards, or news groups where similar collectors gather online. You can also check on eBay (or other online auctions) to see what similar items are selling for and what their condition was at the time of sale. Compare the prices with, and without a box to see the difference.

To find your item on eBay:

1. Find the category on eBay where your item would most likely be listed. (Dolls, bears, trains, Disney collectable would be likely categories.

2. If using Dolls, use the [check only in Dolls box] in the search.

3. Use your keyword to search, such as "Barbie doll". This will bring up the current auctions window.

4. Now, check the completed auctions box, to check out the prices and descriptions on the sold items.

5. When you click on the individual auctions, you can see the price the item sold for, the condition of the item and whether it had a box. Look for terms such as NRFB (Never Removed From Box) or MIB (Mint In Box).

Note that the price on eBay is not the best price for your item. Usually, the price could be more if sold locally because the online auction buyer cannot actually handle the item and examine it in person.

Other places to find information about your item (doll) would be websites selling your item (doll), antique or boutique shops, toy or hobby shops, and resell shops. Also, check out the resource books at the public library.

Popular collectibles might have a price book that is printed for collectors. You can also use a collection of hobby magazines to price items or to locate the year the item was made.

If you have done all of the above and still cannot find the information that you need about your item, check out some local hobby clubs in your area. Most hobby enthusiasts will be willing to help you find the information you need and are eager to talk about their hobby. You might even find an expert on your items, or a buyer!!

Posted by auction at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2006

The Very Basics of Ebay - Getting Started

So you want to sell stuff on eBay, but you have two minor problems: you don't know how and you don't have stuff. Not a problem. Keep reading for some tips to get you pointed in the right direction.

Before you begin you’ll need some basic equipment: Computer, Internet access, digital camera, and some space to put your stuff. That’s really all you’ll need to get started. You’ll also need shipping and packing supplies but that is addressed later.

Next you’ll need to learn how to list auctions. Go to the eBay sellers overview: http://pages.ebay.com/education/sellingtips/index.html. This will be your lifeline. There is a plethora of information there on everything you always wanted to know and more. Don’t be overwhelmed; just take it one step at a time. You’ll see there is information on listings, on bidding, on photos, on feedback – it’s all there.

Next you’ll need to figure out what to sell. Before you zero in on a particular niche you need some experience and some feedback. Buyers are generally leery of buying from someone who is brand new and has a feedback rating of less than 10 evaluations. While you are getting your feet wet, look around your own house first. You’d be amazed at what people buy. You could list outgrown clothing, magazines, candle holders, CD, books, flannel sheets, recipes, the ugly old lamp that was Aunt Mildred’s, all those goofy Christmas gifts sitting in your basement, that old baby gate with a stain on it. Get the idea? You never know what someone will want.

Although you need experience, you don’t want to list something that isn’t likely to sell. Do your research first before you invest the time in putting together a listing. An easy method to use is do a “search” on eBay, then look up COMPLETED ITEMS, then sort by HIGHEST price. Then you’ll see if your Tommy Bahama shirt is really worth anything. Or you’ll see that your old baseball cards had 23 listings and not one of them sold.

Pricing is another challenge. Again, you’ll need to do your research. See what they’re going for. Don’t have overly high expectations. You know how you feel when you go to a garage sale and you see a pair of jeans for $15 or books for $4 each. Many people come to eBay to look for a bargain. Consider how much you have into the item. If you have an item from around the house, you may consider that something is better than nothing, so you may be inclined to start the bidding quite low. If you bought it with the specific intention to resell, you will, at the very minimum, want to break even, so take the price you paid for it and consider other costs, i.e. listing fees, final value fees (all explained in your lifeline – eBay seller overview above). People are much more apt to bid if the bidding starts LOW. Sometimes though, you will have collectibles that are worth a chunk of money. Don’t give away that vintage postcard that is worth $56! Do your homework.

The next big question is how do you get paid? You determine what you would accept. Online payments such as PayPal (paypal.com) are very convenient. You can also decide that you’ll accept money orders or personal checks. The more options you leave your buyers, the more likelihood you’ll get more bids.

You also need to decide how you want to ship your items to the winners. Many sellers use USPS, others prefer UPS. If you use USPS and ship via Priority Mail, you can get your envelopes and boxes free from USPS. If you ship First Class or Parcel Post or UPS, you’ll have to shop around for deals on boxes or envelopes and bubble wrap or packing peanuts.

Overwhelmed yet? Yes there is a lot to learn, but it’s not nuclear science. Just take it one step at a time. It’s a learning process. Some yahoo groups (or MSN or AOL, or whatever your preference) are great sources for support and camaraderie with others who are doing the same.

So in summary, if you want to just “start pushing buttons” and learn on your own, YOU CAN DO IT. If you do better chatting with others, those resources are available too. Use what is available.

Posted by auction at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2006

Keeping records of your Ebay business: Part 3

Welcome to Ebay seller business bookkeeping 101. In case you are just now catching up to speed with this article series about keeping good financial records of your ebay company, you may want to check back with part part I and II of this article.

Up to this point we have educated you on a few basic important tips when it comes to keeping good records of your ebay selling business and a detailed journal of your expenses and receipts. You were also given the basics on learning what a balance sheet and an income statement is in relation to your ebay selling business, as well as understanding gross profit and your gross profit margin.

Most importantly, you were also introduced to the cold hard truth about the power of the IRS and what would be expected of you should an audit of your ebay selling business come your way. Your transactions, purchase records, and receipts should ideally be all laid out and ready to be prepared on a day's notice. Forming these kinds of good habits with your paperwork is one of the greatest 'non-financial' investments that you will ever make.

By now you are probably asking yourself, "Is there a simple way for me to keep track of everything pertaining to my ebay selling business?" The answer is yes, there is. In fact you are encouraged to read the following information and advice about how to create a system for keeping track of your sales and expenses.

You need a bookkeeping system!

Before you read on it is important to understand that there is no single system that is better than another when keeping records of your ebay selling business. Amazingly, some people can do well enough with just a pencil and a set of legal pads. But for the majority of us we need a little more help then just pen and a blank sheet of paper.

If you are like me, then you need all the help you can get to better organize your ebay seller business. And although I will give you some basic advice on some helpful tools, you will ultimately have to form the paperwork habits then best suites your needs. You may use whatever methods that best keeps you on top of your numbers and properly report the transactions of your ebay seller business.

As a general rule of thumb, you will need the following parts of a bookkeeping system:

1. You will need to keep track of your ebay seller business's list of accounts or categories that you will record in a general ledger. This is called a Chart of Accounts. Some examples of "accounts" would be your rent, utility bills, insurance, advertising costs, Internet and home office costs, etc.

2. Your ebay seller business bookkeeping system should have a detailed record of your business's income and expenses, your assets and liabilities, and of course the owner's equity. You can easily keep track of these items with a General Ledger.

3. Any office store will be able to provide you with an Accounts Receivable Statement. This record-keeping tool will help you keep track of any amount of payments that are owed to your ebay seller business for amounts uncollected.

4. No ebay seller business, or any other business for that matter, can be properly tracked without an Inventory Listing. An inventory listing is just a matter of easily keeping track of the items that you have for sale to your ebay customers.

Any of the above types or record keeping tools can just be created with a blank sheet of paper and pencil but it is wise to just invest in the office supplies that are already made for such records. In general, all you want to do is create a system that is easy to use and will make both your life and your ebay seller business as simple as possible. The easiest way to keep track of your sales is to list your totals for each day. Then you will be able to total sales for each month and set goals of your ebay seller business grand total for the year.

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Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step system shows even users with little or no business experience how they too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
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Posted by auction at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2006

Keeping records of your Ebay business: Part 2

In part one of this ebay article series we introduced you to the importance of keeping a proper paperwork trail of everything pertaining to your ebay home business profits. We discussed how keeping detailed records of every area of your ebay home business was not only beneficial for tax purposes but at the same time it is the only way to seriously track and tweak your ebay home business for long term success.

Also in part one, we then closed the end of the ebay home business article by explaining the definitions of gross profit and gross profit margin. These two categories of incoming profits are important to help you understand what you are earning and which direction you want those earnings to go in.

Before you get bored again, let me remind you that I know you would rather be talking about selling and spending all of the millions you will make with your ebay home business! But trust me, these dry topics on paperwork, records, and taxes are exactly what you need to become an expert at in order to create long term stability with your ebay home business.

Ok, back to business. In today's article we are going to help you understand your tax responsibilities. If you were like me at the beginning of my ebay home business, then you probably can find any reason possible NOT to go through the trouble of keeping formal bookkeeping records of your ebay business. Unfortunately for us small business people, the IRS tax law overrules whatever reason we have to justify not keeping the books up do date for our ebay home business. The law states that you must keep very detailed records of your ebay income, your ebay expenses, your assets, and even your liabilities.

By keeping these ebay home business records accurately recorded, you will be enabled to properly report on your tax return every bit of income that comes in from that ebay home business. You will also then be able to claim any and all write-offs that are connected to your business.

What are "Write-offs"? They are deductions that you can subtract when having the tax paperwork completed for your ebay home business. Let me give you an example:

Let's say that you sell Antique products as your main source of income for your ebay home business. Each day you get in your car and drive around town and visit flee markets, swap meets, and yard sales to find hot deals on Antiques. You will then turn around and resell these same Antiques on Ebay for big time profits. Your tax responsibility here is to keep track of the exact mileage you used up in your vehicle. This information can be used as a tax write-off. And of course don't forget to save your gas receipts for extra tax benefits!

Next I'm going to bring up an ugly word that give many ebay home business owners the chills. The "audit". If you are unfamiliar with the term audit or have never experienced getting audited then allow me to explain it to you.

As much as you may not like their reach of power, the IRS has the legal right to view all of your ebay home business records if they should ask. This is not an assumption, it is the truth. Should this happen, then you will be what is called "audited". And if you are one of those unlucky ones that are audited then you had better be prepared with detailed, complete, and truthful business records. You do not want to have missed important tax claims or filed inaccurate reports in the past because if an audit should happen then those negative actions could jeopardize your ebay home business.

Last but not least, we are going to leave you with understanding what financial type records that you will need to show to a bank if you are applying for a loan to help expand and grow your ebay home business. The first one is called a balance sheet. The second is called an income statement.

Income Statement: An income statement consists of a list of your assets, liabilities and what you have invested into your business. And by the way, any amount of funding that you "invested" into your ebay home business is called equity.

Income Statement: This statement is simply a list showing all of the income and all of the expenses of your ebay home business within a specified period of time. This "specified period of time" is usually quarterly or yearly, depending on how often you attend to your taxes.

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Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step system shows even users with little or no business experience how they too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
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Posted by auction at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2006

Keeping records of your Ebay business: Part 1

Are you ready to take your Ebay business to that next level as a rich ebay seller? Would you like to quit your day job to become an ebay seller full time? Can you imagine the freedom you will have from working as an ebay seller from anywhere you please? Want to know the secret?

Good... Now that I have your attention I want to be honest with you. Today's article does not really have any well kept "secrets" or magic wands with bells and whistles that will make you a rich ebay seller overnight. Instead, we are going to discuss the importance of keeping a proper paperwork train moving along so that your ebay business can stay strong and thrive based around good record-keeping.

I realize that this topic is a dry one but trust me, keeping good records of your ebay seller business can make or break you in the long run. As boring as it is, the advice you are about to be given is rock solid for anyone like you who wants to become wealthy as an ebay seller. It only takes one time to get audited by the IRS before everything can come crashing down on you and your business as an ebay seller. In addition to the tax law, without proper paperwork tracking, your business has no direction and will ultimately fail.

3 Reasons why it is essential to keep good records:

1. Without keeping records of everything pertaining to being an ebay seller and the sales you have made then how else will you be able to gouge your progress? A detailed paperwork trail will show you how well or how poorly your business is doing. If becoming an ebay seller full time is your goal, then keeping good records is key.

2. Second, the tax law requires you to keep records of your business. Unfortunately the law is the law and there is no choice in the matter, even if you are just a small-time ebay seller trying to make it big.

3. You may need a business loan or other type of loan from a financial institution someday. Many power ebay sellers jump-started their ebay business by obtaining a loan from the bank and you can too, provided you have kept good records as an ebay seller. Most loan applications require a ton of paperwork and all of the details and history of your business.

Tracking your Ebay business is not just for the IRS:

If I were to ask you today how your business is doing as an ebay seller, what would your answer be and what would determine that opinion? It's not enough just to say that you are doing good in your business. Instead, your answer should be calculated from your paperwork records, by tracking specific items.

In other words, keeping detailed records of your ebay seller business is not only for the purpose of the IRS but also to help you create a profitable business plan based on actual facts. For example, do you know which ads are pulling in the most sales? Do you have the history of testing and tracking on the ads that are not pulling in sales? Are your profit margins high enough to cover your business expenses? What percentage is profit?

It would obviously be impossible to accurately answer these questions unless you were the kind of ebay seller that kept good business records. And if you have not started documenting and saving copies of everything pertaining to your ebay business, then it is never too late to start! With a little commitment and self discipline, you can get into the habit of keeping the books up to date immediately.

Taking that first step:

Getting started with keeping the books up to date with your ebay seller business is kind of like doing that big chore that you have been putting off for a long time. You know you can do it, you know it needs to be done, but getting started just seems like a mountain to climb.

Well let's break that mountain into a molehill today and get started with explaining to you about profits margins and gross profit margins.

1. What is Gross Profit? Gross profit is your starting point in order to determine profitability from being an ebay seller. You simply subtract the total cost of your inventory that you have sold from the total revenue that you earned for the sales.

2. What is a Gross Profit Margin? A gross profit margin is a determination of how profitable you are as an ebay seller. You will know this information by dividing your gross profit by your total revenues. The higher the percentage is, the better off you are as a profitable ebay seller.

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Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step system shows even users with little or no business experience how they too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
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Posted by auction at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2006

Keeping records of your Ebay business: Part 4

The base for any business to survive over the long term, especially an ebay powerseller business, is to keep accurate detailed records of everything pertaining to your ebay records. In our recent articles of parts one through three, we touched up on the basics of your financial records and how to start a paper-trail system of your ebay powerseller business that is both accurate for your personal books and for the IRS at tax time.

In today's article you will learn the importance of tracking your ebay business inventory and how to sell from that inventory, whether as FIFO or LIFO. Running an ebay powerseller business means that you are reaching a great point of success with your business and in order to stay successful you will need to account for your inventory meticulously.

You will need to know exactly what is on hand to sell to your ebay customers and also when you will need to replenish that inventory to replace the sold items. Unless your ebay powerseller business revolves around providing digital products (any product that is delivered via email or downloaded like an E-book), then stocking your items and tracking them is of utmost importance.

How to figure out your ebay powerseller business inventory

Technically speaking, "inventory" refers to any merchandise that you hold in your home office or your business office that are for sale to your customers. Not only does this include items that you have on hand to sell to your customers but it also includes any supplies that will become part of the item. For example, if you are selling electronic equipment then any spare parts like speakers, knobs, wires, etc. are part of your inventory list.

How to report your inventory at the end of the year for taxes

When it comes time for you to report your income for the tax man, you do not report your ebay powerseller items separately. Instead, everything within your ebay stock should be lumped together under the umbrella of "inventory".

In order to know what income to report, you should have recorded what your ebay inventory was at the beginning of the work year. This is called "opening inventory". Next, you will need to have accurate records of what items that you bought during the year and added to your ebay powerseller inventory. And of course, your "closing inventory" is what is left at the end of the year.

Now that you have all three of the above categories accurately recorded then you will be able to arrive at one key number. This is called "your cost of goods sold". And this number enables you to figure what you made on your sales for the year when submitting this information in for tax purposes.

Understanding LIFO and FIFO

What do these two terms have to do with keeping records and tracking inventory? Let's start with FIFO. This means "first in - first out". In other words, let's say that that you resell books as an ebay powerseller. In January, you purchased a set of wholesale books that cost you $3.00 each. Then in May you purchased another set of books to resell that cost you $5.00 each. If you sold all of the books from the first set before selling the second set, then those were "first in and first out" (FIFO).

Next we have the term LIFO and this stands for "last in - first out". With LIFO, you would sell all of your ebay powerseller book items from the last stock purchase you made, before you resell the first batch.

Which is best for your ebay powerseller business? That is up to you. The one you select will invariably affect your cost of goods sold, which, in turn, will affect your profit for the year. The method you choose will depend on the trend in prices. Simply choose a method that you can live with for years to come and one that fits within the IRS regulations.

When prices are rising, then using LIFO will result in a larger cost of goods sold so that closing inventory will be higher and your reportable profits will be lower. But when prices fall, the opposite result occurs - you'll wind up paying more taxes with LIFO than if you'd used FIFO.

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Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step system shows even users with little or no business experience how they too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
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Posted by auction at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)