eBay Explained : How To Buy And Sell On eBay: eBay Store Archives

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 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)

December 29, 2005

Estimating an Item’s Value for Sale on eBay

Proper pricing of items to be listed for sale on eBay is one of the most important aspects of generating interest in one’s on-line auction listing.

If the price is too high, interest will be low, and the possibility of a sale decreases.

If the price is too low, the seller generates enormous traffic, yet the final bid might be too low to satisfy the seller’s need for a profit.

The following steps will aid in the process of pricing an item for sale on eBay.

Step 1: Determine How Much the Original Item was Worth

First of all, one must find out how much the item cost when it was new. This helps the seller set realistic goals as to how much they can expect to profit when the item is sold.

The seller must remember that the going price for the item in today’s market will be different from its original price. And depending on the demand for that item, he may get a price that is better, or worse than the original price.

The seller must also acceptance the fact that the buying power of today’s dollar is different from that of ten years ago.

Step 2: Do a Little Research

Sellers should research the current price of similar items. This gives the seller a good standard as to how much they should price their item. Searching eBay for successful auctions of similar items is one of the best ways to do this.

Step 2: How Much Has the Item Depreciated?

The seller must check the item for damages and other irregularities from a mint condition item of the same kind. They must then deduct a reasonable amount from the asking price based on their evaluation. Wear and tear on an item will definitely bring down the price of an item considerably. It is wise to make sure that items are repaired, or spruced-up before being auctioned.

Step 3: Start a Little Lower than Usual When Setting the Selling Price

It is wise to start an auction a step or two (or even three) lower than a sellers intended price. This generates interest in the item. It may be hard to believe, but auctions that start lower than the intended price actually have a better chance of overshooting the intended price.

Professional opinions are always available if the seller of an item is in doubt of the value of his or her item. Third party appraisal companies help in this regard. A list of such companies is available at the Authentication & Grading link under Protection and Authentication on eBay.

Bill Enross can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours! Learn more...

Posted by auction at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2005

Spotting Fakes and Frauds on eBay

Fake items abound on eBay, and it takes much effort not to be duped by scammers who peddle these wares. There have been many painful stories relating how a seemingly legitimate item turned out to be either fake or defective.

It is possible, however, to avoid these scams if one is careful and vigilant. Buyers should be wary of any purchase over eBay, and should take steps to ensure the authenticity of the item and to make sure the item is in reasonable condition.

Be Vigilant

Buyers should take the initiative by doing plenty of background research. They must learn as much as possible about the products before bidding on them. If the seller provides pictures of an item, they should not be taken at face value. Comparison of these pictures with the real item helps in this regard.

Many sellers will use pictures from manufacturers that do not represent the item they are actually selling; buyers should ask the seller for actual pictures of the item. If the seller balks, buyers should refrain from bidding. Collector’s items, autographed memorabilia, and historical artifacts are common items that are misrepresented on eBay.

Authenticate

Familiarize yourself with the various bodies that certify respective items. For example, reputable merchants of autographed sports memorabilia should include a COA (certificate of authenticity) from a trusted third party. Counterfeit or misrepresented items should be reported to eBay. When buying on eBay Motors, one may have an inspection service double-check if the seller is accurately representing his automobile.

Look at the Feedback

One should analyze the feedback rating of a seller. Analyzing feedback is another helpful exercise to prevent scams. Sellers who have an established history of credible sales are usually helpful and professional to deal with. Negative feedback should be a red flag as to whether one should pursue a trade with the person. The same thing applies for those who do not have feedback ratings at all.

Buyers must be careful however, since it is possible that a scammer has hijacked an account that has positive feedback.

Buyers should make sure they have read the entire product description on its eBay listing. Things to look out for are disclaimers, damages, current item condition, years of use, and others. If this information is not specified, it would do well for the buyer to contact the seller regarding such.

The Price Theory

If the price for an item is too good to be true, it probably is. Auctions that carry outrageously low prices should be taken skeptically.

Bill Enross can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours! Learn more...

Posted by auction at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

Selling Children's Items on Ebay

Selling for a profit on eBay is easy when you have kids. People are earning hundreds of dollars a month by selling kid related items. Here are some general ideas to help you get started.

Kids Items You Can Sell

Clothes, toys and videos are good money makers on eBay.

Go to eBay and look up a "lot" of size six girl's cloths. You will find they are expensive! The average price for a lot of 20 good conditioned clothes is about $35.00.

When your kids grow out of their seasonal clothes do not throw them out. Bundle them into different lots by category. For example bundle girls dresses separate from girls play clothes, but only do that if you have at least six of each different type.

Lots of any item sell better than single items unless the item is unique or high priced. For example, a hand embroidered dress that you paid a lot for would sell better by itself instead of bundled with other basic dresses.

The next item to lookup on eBay is toys. Most toys in good condition will sell for a lot of money. One idea that works well is to buy hot items in October at Wal-Mart or Toys-R-Us and sell them on eBay. Busy people are willing to pay extra for the convenience of getting the items delivered to their home. For example, last year a Mega Power Ranger came out in stores around October and sold at Wal-Mart for about $45.00. The same item sold on eBay for up to $65.00 plus shipping. The Yellow Power Ranger is yet another example where the store price was about $6.00, while the same item was selling on eBay for about $20.00.

Have your children ever received duplicate birthday or Christmas presents? You can sell those on eBay also. Look at the eBay listings for items of interest to see if selling on eBay is worth more than returning the item to the store.

Kid's videos and DVDs are also good money-makers. Bundle about three of these together, and you can usually make about $7.00-$12.00 per bundle. Bundle more and the money goes up. Disney movies in hard cases can go for a higher amount. This also works for other types of movies as well.

Save those McDonalds toys. Some Kids Meals toys sell high. Take the new Star Wars toys from Burger King...very collectible. You will find them selling on eBay from $1.00 to $5.00, not including shipping.

Ebay has a whole section devoted to dolls and bears. If your daughter doesn't want her collectible dolls anymore sell them on eBay.

Kids Crafts You Can Sell

Around the holidays, especially, have your children place their hand in paint and make a print on some quality paper. Add a holiday related poem and you have a great craft to sell on eBay.

Have your kids make gift jars with ready made mixes. For example, hot chocolate mixes in a jar with a plastic spoon tied to it with a ribbon. Dip the end of the spoon with white chocolate.

Baby Items You Can Sell

Used baby items are very profitable. Baby items cost a lot of money, especially in their first year. Any "gently" used items are generally good sellers on eBay.

If you have baby coupons that you will never use, sell them on eBay! Left over diapers and formula sell well also. A lot of 35 used cloth diapers usually sells for around $38.00 plus shipping. Four Fuzzi Bunz diapers (cloth diapers with hemp inserts) can sell for as much as $40.00.

There you have it. Plenty of ideas for selling those leftover kids items on eBay...and you can even make a nice profit while you are at it!

Bill Enross can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours! Learn more...

Posted by auction at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

The eBay Blacklist

The eBay business can be most likened to an online flea market. But, as with most flea markets, there is always the possibility that questionable hawkers lurk around the corners. Therefore, there must be rules in place to insure that the auctions and transactions formed through eBay are safe and legal. Only then can a market – online or not – flourish.

Certain types of items are prohibited or regulated on eBay. eBay reserves the right to terminate auctions that violate its specifications for allowed items on listings. In the case of a violation, eBay emails the bidder and the seller to notify them of the violation and to explain the need to terminate the auction.

There are many eBay guidelines in-place that describe items that may not be posted for auction. They fall under three main categories: Prohibited, Questionable and Potentially Infringing.

Prohibited

This describes items that are not permitted on eBay. This list includes alcohol, tobacco, drugs, animals, human parts or remains, government properties, lottery tickets, and others. eBay contains a complete list of such in their policy statement.

Questionable

Items listed as questionable can be posted provided they follow certain conditions. For example, some adult material may be listed for auctioning only if they are posted in the Mature Audiences section of eBay. Event tickets may be sold provided that the auction closes before the actual event itself. The list also includes batteries, artifacts, food, used items, event tickets, weapons and knives, police related equipment, Freon, hazardous chemicals, offensive material, mature audiences material, international selling, and international buying among others.

Potentially Infringing

Items listed under this heading may be legal. However, they almost always violate copyright, trademark, and other rights. Some examples of Potentially Infringing items are: academic software, beta software, bootleg recordings, contracts and tickets, downloadable media, movie prints, OEM software, Replica and counterfeit items, and unauthorized copies.

The eBay list of problem items is updated periodically and is incorporated into the User Agreement of eBay. These guidelines do not represent legal advice. It would do well to check with law enforcement agencies, a lawyer, or other legal outlets to verify the legality of a questionable item to be posted.

This policy applies even if you offer to give your item away for free. As long as it is posted on eBay, it is subject to the above policy.

As a final note, it is stressed that a eBay buyer is subject to liability if he or she purchases an illegal item. It is still the responsibility of the buyers and sellers to monitor the legality of their transactions since eBay is merely a facilitator in the market process.

Bill Enross can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours! Learn more...

Posted by auction at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2005

Avoiding eBay Buying Pitfalls

As with any market, trading on eBay is not without its hassles and snags.

First of all, it should be duly noted that eBay is an online market/transaction facilitator. It merely becomes a means for the buyer and the seller to meet.

Because of its online nature, eBay’s auction listing provides the buyers with a wide selection of goods. The buyers are also enabled to review the seller through the seller’s feedback rating. This helps the buyer decide whether or not to pursue the trade.

The sellers on the other hand, benefit from a wider audience due to the popularity of the Internet and eBay. eBay enables them to post easily, quickly, and extensively.

When eBay connects buyer and seller, the transactions truly begin…as well as the headaches.

Even with the automated nature of most of today’s transactions, eBay is still built on the basic foundation of trading: trust.

A good deal of trust is involved in eBay trading. The buyer has to trust that the seller is listing a legitimate item, and that he or she will deliver that item when paid. The seller, on the other hand, has to trust the buyer to pay fully and without any hidden catches.

Here are a few of the problems one may encounter when using eBay.

- Seller does not deliver product

This is a buyer’s biggest fear. However, it is also one of the most common snags buyers encounter. Usually, when closing a deal, the seller will email purchase instructions to the buyer. This will usually include instructions for payment. The seller will then promise to have the item delivered upon receipt of payment.

If the buyer, after fulfilling his or her part, does not receive the item within the agreed upon date, he or she should immediately try contacting the seller. If this proves to be fruitless, he or she should file a complaint with eBay for assistance regarding the transaction.

- Seller delivers a different/defective product

Sometimes the trading is smooth. Everything goes according to schedule. However, upon receipt of the item, the buyer finds out that the item is significantly different from its description on eBay.

What should the buyer do about this?

Good communication between the buyer and seller usually brings about a speedy and satisfying end to any trading dispute. This should always be the first step when handling a dispute.

- Seller cannot be contacted for questions when closing deal

Most disputes come about due to miscommunication between seller and buyer. But if the seller can not be contacted, that presents a bigger problem for the buyer – especially if that person has already fulfilled payment of the item. Contacting eBay may help to resolve this problem and they are sometimes willing to supply further information about the seller.

Bill Enross can help YOU start your own profitable business
on the Internet within the next 24 hours! Learn more...

Posted by auction at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2005

Top Ebay Business Secrets Revealed

Ten million-let me say that number again-over ten million people visited the Ebay website last month. With everything from online auctions to drop shipping opportunities, the Ebay business website has something for everyone. If you are thinking about joining in on the hysteria and trying to make your fortune with an Ebay business of your own, here are some of the best things you can do to maximize your chances for success.

Do Your Homework

To begin with, you want to know as much as possible about the items you plan on offering on the Ebay auctions. This not only helps you create more interesting descriptions, but it also helps when trying to answer the barrage of questions that inevitably fly at you from potential buyers. The more knowledgeable you appear, the more likely you are to make a sale!

You also need to know if there is actually a market out there for what you are planning to sell. While you might occasionally hear about some off-the-wall item commanding big money at auction, these are the exceptions and not something to base your Ebay business upon. Run a search on the item and see how many items for that keyword come up to get an idea about your potential market. Chances of success are poor if no one else is selling a similar item.

Keywords and Descriptions Will Make or Break You

People find their way to Ebay auctions by using keywords to find the items they want. Your listing will use keywords to draw people in to bid on your item. If you try employing a keyword that no one uses, then who will come to bid on your item?

There are websites out there that will allow you to type in a keyword and see how many people used that keyword in the past month. These sites are free and a great way to test the keyword you intend to use. Just go to any search engine and type in "free keyword selector tool" and a number of sites will come up offering help finding the perfect keyword to attract people to bid on your item.

Once you have the people coming in to look at your item you are going to need a great description in order to get them to actually bid. If you are not the best writer but are serious about succeeding with your Ebay business, you may want to consider hiring a freelance writer to compose stunning descriptions that will awe people into bidding on your item. But, by doing your homework, it is usually possible to write a great description simply by being knowledgeable about the item and simply conveying some of that knowledge in your description.

Post Items During "Hot Periods"

Anyone serious about succeeding with their Ebay business needs to know when to post items and when to hold onto them. Online auctions offering leather jackets in July may solicit a few bids but they will obviously be lower than they would be had the item been posted in late fall or early winter. If you have an odd item and are not sure what the best time would be to post it on Ebay auctions, try searching for the item on the Internet. Find out what the current buzz is or whether there is any for your item. Also, try finding other sellers on the Ebay business site offering the same item. If you find a lot of people selling the same item now, then clearly it is a good time to post. Timing can really make a difference in the final price you receive for your item.

Now there are of course other things you need to do if you want your Ebay business to succeed such as: post the item in the right category, make buying easy by offering a number of payment options, and keeping your shipping costs to a minimum. All of these are essentials to a successful Ebay business but are not likely to have the same effect upon your chances of success like the other ideas mentioned earlier.

There is no doubt that Ebay auctions are a great way to make some serious money. By doing your homework, using the right keywords and descriptions, and by posting during the hot periods for your items, you significantly increase the odds of your Ebay business succeeding and making all of your financial dreams a reality. So what are you waiting for?

Start doing your homework now!

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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.

Posted by auction at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2005

10 Sure-fire Ways to Kill Your eBay Business

It’s surprisingly easy to kill your eBay business, if you’re not careful – sure, you can start over from scratch without it costing you anything, but do you really want to? Still, if you want your business to end up dead in the water, here are some simple ways to do it.

1. Lie about an item: Say it works fine when it sometimes doesn’t work. Say it’s in perfect condition when it has a scratch. Your customers will hate you!

2. Post whenever you feel like it: Make sure to leave your customers hanging around, wondering when their item is going to turn up. This makes sure they buy from someone else next time.

3. Let items end anytime: Few people will be around to care about your auction if it ends in the middle of the night. Why go to the trouble of working out whether auctions will end at a good time?

4. Don’t bother with email: Customers are just timewasters anyway. eBay businesses are supposed to run themselves! Never give informed responses to questions about your item.

4. Sell rubbish: Really, it’s just eBay. You can just sell any old tat from the market for a 200% profit. Let quality be someone else’s concern – I mean, really, what do they expect for that price?

5. Refuse to give discounts: You know what your items cost, you know what your profit margin is going to be, and you’re not going to negotiate. Remember that giving customers special deals might make them feel good and come back to you again.

6. Make your listings ugly: As many colours, flashing lights and animations as possible will really give those customers a headache. Write as much in CAPITALS!!!! as you can. Preferably big, red capitals. Be sure to use the fonts Impact and Comic Sans. For an extra special touch, see if you can figure out a way to add some music.

7. Don’t take photos: It’s such trouble, after all. If buyers are picky enough to actually want to see items before they bid on them, then screw ‘em, that’s what I say.

8. Write short descriptions: Be as brief as possible, and use lots of mysterious abbreviations. This obviously makes you look very cool. You can even just write the title again in the description box. Think of the effort you’ll save!

9. Use reserve auctions: Now, this is a fairly controversial final choice, but it really is one of the best ways to scare away your customers. They’ll see ‘reserve not yet met’, and click that ‘back’ button before you know it. Luckily, they can always bid in a normal auction for the item somewhere else.

10. Now that you know the ten ways to kill your eBay business, how about we explore what to do if you want to do the opposite, and make a success of it? The next email will give you ten steps to successful selling on eBay.

Posted by auction at 07:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2005

Want It Now

As eBay sellers, we are always looking for new and unique ways to use eBay to create a positive cash flow. Recently, eBay announced a new service that may be able to help us on this quest––it is called "Want It Now."

What is "Want It Now"?

"Want It Now" is reminiscent of the newspaper classified ad "wanted" section. Potential buyers post items they are seeking so that you, the potential seller, can let them know that you have what they want. The potential buyer that posts the wanted item or items is truly a "potential" buyer with no contract or agreement.

Even so, eBay buyers who post a "Want It Now" ad are showing their willingness to buy a specific item if it meets their requirements. Buyers must maintain a Feedback rating of at least five, or have a credit card on file. What does this mean to you? If you have an item that they want, you are definitely dealing with someone that is more than just a casual "window" shopper.

When I checked "Want It Now" on January 20, there were 148,686 items listed in 32 different categories. It is logical to assume that the numbers will grow as more people learn about this service. The top 10 categories were as follows:

- eBay Motors
- Clothing, Shoes, & Accessories
- Everything Else
- Collectibles
- Home & Garden
- Books
- Toys & Hobbies
- Music
- Sporting Goods
- Sports Mem, Cards, & Fan Shop

The other 22 categories include the following:

- DVDs & Movies
- Computers & Networking
- Consumer Electronics
- Health & Beauty
- Pottery & Glass
- Crafts
- Jewelry & Watches
- Business & Industrial
- Dolls & Bears
- Musical Instruments
- Video Games
- Antiques
- Cameras & Photo
- Entertainment Memorabilia
- Art
- Tickets
- Cell Phones
- Coins
- Real Estate
- Stamps
- Travel
- Gift Certificates
==============

==============

Using "Want It Now"

Before we get into some specific ideas on how to use "Want It Now" to make money, let's take a quick look at this new section and see how it works.

First, go to http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/ . Upon arriving, you will see a page that looks like this:

Then you can choose a category that is of interest to you. For example, if you have an eBay store that sells cameras and photo equipment, then you might want to browse that category. Simply look in the blue Sellers box and click on Cameras and Photo; then click Browse Want It Now.

Doing so will bring you to a page that looks like this:

Now let's assume that you have the Arc Soft Camera Suite, Version 2.0. Simply click on the link:

From here, you would click on the "respond" button:

If your items is already listed on eBay, then you would type in your item number. If you have the item but have not yet have it listed on eBay, then you would do so now and then type in your item number. As soon as you enter the item number, an email is sent to the potential buyer that you have the item they are seeking. It is that simple!

Increasing Sales with "Want It Now" Listings

So, how can you use this new section of eBay to increase your profits? There are many ways! You simply have to use a little imagination and some entrepreneurial skills! Let me give you a few ideas to help get the ball rolling!

1. Connect with Potential Buyers: The first way to increase profits is the most obvious and the way that eBay originally envisioned its use. You have items to sell and eBay buyers have needs that are not being met by the eBay listings. If your items match those needs, then you have a sale! You can browse the Want It Now listings to find potential buyers for items that you have on hand. Want It Now serves as a tool to help buyers and sellers connect!

Check the "Want It Now" listing in your category on a daily basis
Post your items to any "Want It Now" potential buyer of your product
Increase sales by finding your potential buyers instead of them having to find you!

2. Find New Market Niches: You may also do some research on related products and find that there is a market for an item that you previously thought was not really sellable. For instance, if you currently sell musical instruments, you may want to consider selling sheet music as well. When I checked this category today, there were 127 "Want It Now" entries for Sheet Music and Songbooks. As a seller, you can browse through the requests to get new ideas for items that are in demand!

Look for high mark up items––because this research takes a bit longer, you want to be sure to get enough money to pay for the extra time.

Look for repeat sale items––once the buyer finds that you have what they need, you may be able to keep the customer for future sales.
Look for items that you already have access to but have not been listing––finding a new market is always useful!

3. Be the Go-Between: Do a bit of research to connect potential buyers and sellers together. For instance, there is someone currently on "Want It Now" that is requesting Riverdance tickets at NY Radio City Music Hall.

As you can see, one person has responded with tickets. However, the "Want It Now" buyer has not responded to this post. If you research on eBay, you will find that there are many other people with Riverdance tickets for sale. Try emailing them to let them know that you know of someone looking for Riverdance tickets. Then ask them for a commission if you point them to the person and it results in a direct sale. If they say yes, it should only take an email or two to work out the details. Then you just have to send the seller the link to the person wanting the tickets so they can post what they have for sale.

For example this person has river dance tickets:

The seller, Minionofnothing, has not posted that he has tickets available to the "Want It Now" post for Riverdance tickets at NY Radio City Music hall. Also, In this case, the person that posted it on "Want It Now" might not know about these tickets. You could email Minionofnothing and try to work out a deal.

Another thing would be do to a quick Google search for Riverdance tickets. Then write an email to the vendor of those tickets to see if you can get a finder's fee. Once again, work out the details, and send the vendor the link to post the tickets. For instance, a quick search of Google found http://www.tickco.com/Concerts/Radio_city_hall_tickets.htm has available Riverdance tickets.

For either of these "Be the Go Between" methods, you should be able to make a deal in about 15 minutes, thus creating four potential sales per hour.

4. Create an eBay Store with an Affiliate: I came up with this idea when I was looking at the travel section of "Want It Now." There are plenty of people looking for lodging, airline tickets, tours, etc. You can capture these leads by creating an eBay store dealing with travel. On your eBay store site, you can have an affiliate partner that takes care of the sales. For instance, EconomyTravel.com has an affiliate program that pays 2% of all sales for an average commission of $29.16. ABSTravel.com is another possible affiliate that pays $5.00 for every round trip airline ticket, 5% on every car rental, 5% on every international hotel, and 4% on every domestic hotel. By hooking up the "Want It Now" posts to your website, you have the potential to earn a commission!

For example, someone on "Want It Now" wants cheap European tickets:

Respond with something from your eBay travel store, and then you will be able to communicate with them via email and send them to your store. If they purchase any tickets through your affiliate, you have earned a commission!

These are just a few ways to make money using the "Want It Now' section of eBay. Start using this wonderful new tool to increase your sales and your profits today!

To Your eBay Success,
Janiece Smith

From $0 to $11, 212.00 a month in just 67 days!
Creator of the Auction Market Watch software package
Author of the best-selling How an Overworked, Traveling,
Soggy-Sandwich-Eating, Dental Hygienist Made $11,212.00 a Month––100% Online

ExpressProfitsOnline

Janiece Smith is the author of Internet’s top-selling eBook teaching everyday people how to make their own small fortune selling on eBay®.

Discover The Secrets Janiece Smith Used To Earn Up To $11,212 Per Month Selling On eBay. Her New eBook "How An Overworked, Traveling, Soggy Sandwich Eating Dental Hygienist Made up to $11,212.00 a Month––100% Online" allows you to easily and quickly apply the author’s secrets of finding and selling products on eBay® to create huge amounts of instant profits!

Posted by auction at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2005

Find products Below Wholesale

Most people think a wholesaler is “the” place to get all of the good deals and the cheapest products. This is not always true. Many times, products are not even sold through a wholesaler.

Some manufacturers sell their overstock, closeout, and liquidation items through wholesalers. Some wholesalers sell their items through outlets; others sell them on their own. Some wholesalers have exclusive divisions that deal only with a handful of people who prove themselves as reliable sources who can move inventory fast.

You should always try to first get your products from the top source. Don’t waste your time dealing with others who have marked up the product many times before it ever gets to you. Many companies have a set way to move their unsold inventory, so, sometimes, going to the top might not work as smoothly as you want.

Don’t get discouraged if these companies already have clients they sell it to. You can still get the product; it will just be a littler further down the line.

Here are five ways to help you find products for which you are looking:

1. Ask the manufacturers who you should speak with to purchase unsold inventory. They will normally guide you in the right direction. Be aware that sometimes finding the right contact can take a little arm twisting.

2. Find out what manufacturers currently do with their unsold inventory. Who do they sell it to if they don’t sell it themselves? If they won’t disclose this information or act like they don’t want to deal with you, find a different approach.

3. Find out whether they sell to the general public and what is required of you and your company to be able to buy their products. Some companies will sell only to established businesses with a credit rating. If that’s the case, don’t worry. It’s not terribly difficult to obtain a rating. If, however, you’re not currently set up as a business, you should complete the legal process and get credit by securing a charge card from a store, such as Office Depot. You can also get a business card from a number of credit card companies. American Express is fairly easy to deal with.

4. Next, find out which products they sell to the public. Most companies have some products they will not release as unsold inventory. They would rather try to resale it on their own.

5. Make sure you have all of your ducks in a row. Most, if not all, of the manufacturers I deal with don’t want to play games. They want to move their products and they want to move them fast. If you expect that they will drop ship to your customers and allow you to buy as you sell, don’t even bother calling. Everybody wants that, so why would they need you? They could move it that way through 4,000 drop shippers online. Just make sure you know what you want, be confident when you make that call, and have a goal that you want to accomplish. If you call and sound like you don’t know what you are doing, they will quickly shut you out.

To Your eBay Success,
Janiece Smith

ExpressProfitsOnline

Janiece Smith is the author of Internet’s top-selling eBook teaching everyday people how to make their own small fortune selling on eBay®.

Posted by auction at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2005

Are Your eBay Sales Down?

You may be getting lower prices than you deserve in your eBay auctions.

Maybe you know your numbers are down and are blaming it on the summer season? That makes a little sense, but may not be the real reason.

This is just a short note about the most commonly made mistake on eBay.

Actually, it's not a mistake. It's a choice.

Let me tell you the story from the beginning. . .

A few weeks ago, I got a telephone call from a friend who sells on eBay. He said his eBay images aren't working correctly. He wanted help, and I'm a helpful guy so I took a few minutes to listen to his problem.

He told me some of his auctions just show broken images, while others show one image but only show small versions of the others.

I asked him how he put the images into his auctions, and he replied a little bit hesitantly that he uses eBay photo hosting.

He said he knows I told him to host his own pictures, but the eBay system is not really that expensive and it's simple. He doesn't have to learn how to do anything - he just clicks buttons and eBay takes care of everything.

I told him to contact eBay and ask them for help because I have no control over their programs. If the eBay system isn't working correctly, I cannot fix it.

I don't think he was pleased with my answer, but I can't help those who aren't willing to help themselves.

Then last week I got two similar emails from people telling me they were having problems with their eBay images. Both were also using eBay photo hosting.

They got the same helpful reply from me. (In case you missed it, I am being sarcastic.)

Tonight, I spent a few minutes surfing the train and toy auctions on eBay. About 30% of the auctions I looked at had image problems. I got so frustrated, I decided to rent a movie instead. Blockbuster was closed so I decided to share this tale with you.

You see, I will not bid on an auction unless I can see exactly what I am bidding on. I am not buying socks, underwear, and batteries on eBay - I am buying items for my collection. The last piece I bought was a buy-it-now item I paid $650 for. Without pictures I would have left without bidding.

I am not going to spend my money unless I feel safe. Having a big clear picture gives me confidence that the seller actually has what he claims to have and allows me to see the condition.

I am not alone. In fact, unless you are selling socks, underwear, batteries, or other new items on eBay, I am sure your pictures are the second most important part of your auction.

If any of these people started hosting their own pictures, they would not only save m0ney, but they would surely get higher bids.

This is INSANITY.

A desire to take the easy route and not spend a few minutes learning how to use a few simple programs is resulting in lower prices.

Now, I don't want to call these three people lazy. In fact, I know the one who called me on the phone well enough to say he certainly is not lazy.

Maybe it's fear of complexity. It seems like a challenge, so they take the easy route.

I know eBay makes it seem harder than it is - in fact the whole system defaults to eBay photohosting, but they want to sell photohosting.

Actually, hosting your own images is not a challenge. It's a simple procedure anyone can learn in less than 30 minutes. In fact there are even free programs you can use to host your own images, and most Internet service providers give you space as a part of your service.

These three individuals have made a choice. Instead of spending 30 minutes learning how to host their own images, they are willing to put up with bad pictures.

They know they can host their own images easier than using eBay's system, and don't mind getting lower bids.

Then again, maybe they are just lazy. I know two of the them have my Auction Revolution package. The Auction Revolution contains complete step-by-step instructions for using free programs to edit and then transfer images to the web. It shouldn't seem difficult or confusing to them. They have a blueprint.

Now lets talk about you. . .

If you already have the Auction Revolution and are already hosting your own images, you can sleep well tonight knowing the eBay image server outages are not costing you money. In fact maybe you are getting higher bids because people are buying from you instead of the sellers without images?

Go ahead, pat yourself on the back for taking charge of your success and spending a small amount of time to retain control of your results.

If you don't have a copy of the Auction Revolution, this is just one of the 253 reasons you should get a copy.

Consider this a wake up call.

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles

Posted by auction at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2005

Why Most eBay Sellers Fail

There is a basic pattern most eBay sellers go through. New sellers usually start by selling unwanted items from around their homes. This is a great way to convert unwanted items into cash while learning some eBay skills.

By the time the house is cleaned out, the new seller has some basic eBay skills, and knows eBay is an easy fun way to run a profitable home based business.

The next step is products. Specifically finding items to resell at a prof1t. At this point there are two ways to go. Find new items through a drop shipping service or liquidation center, or focus on used items.

Sadly, the majority of people who choose either path soon fail.

The drop shippers tend to fail because they focus on hypercompetitive hot items and get washed away by the competition. Another reason many new eBay sellers fail to successfully run sales for new items is a lack of passion.

Lack of passion is also a factor with people who sell used items - antiques, collectibles and even used but newer things like my sister's used children's clothing sales, but the big reason for failure is insufficient supply.

Passion is the reason why collectors tend to do better on eBay. I love having the trains around me. I am like a toy train missionary teaching others how much fun toy trains can be and helping them find enjoyment.

I just said one of the main reasons people fail to successfully navigate the transition from selling unwanted items to building a successful eBay business is lack of products. I am going to focus on used stuff here because that is my specialty and probably why you are reading this anyway.

After selling all the unwanted household items, the next step is garage sales and thrift stores. Some people who live in really good garage sale areas never get past this step.

They are happy with the catch-as-catch-can nature of their businesses and really enjoy the randomness of the hunt. The good finds keep them hunting during the dry spells. Shutting down for a few months during the poor weather is a break taken in stride.

Others are quickly disillusioned by the garage sale circuit. Maybe they are late sleepers and miss the profitable deals? Maybe they live in a poor area for yard sales? Maybe they never found the truly fantastic deal of their dreams and grew tired of the hunt?

For whatever reason this group of disappointed want-to-be-free eBay sellers soon joins the list of "I tried it and it didn't work."

Unfortunately both of these groups miss out on the true freedom a home based eBay business provides.

Now lets think about the people who make it through the garage sale circuit.

Consider me. I started going to garage sales in the 1970s looking for trains and toys for my collection. I was too young to drive so I had to rely on my dad, and he had other priorities.

Even worse neither of us are morning people. My frustrations with constantly hearing "We sold the train a few hours ago," caused me to look for other ways to find toy trains.

At twelve years old I made the step others usually fail to make, and I started learning how to make people offer me their trains.

This is the step everyone who wants to be a really successful seller of used items must make. I am not saying you need to stop going to garage sales, but you need to learn additional ways to find items.

You need to move past luck and chance. You need to take control.

Here's how you do it. . .

Keep going to garage sales. They are fun, and great place to practice your negotiating skills. Plus you never know what you'll find.

Start specializing if you aren't already. I don't mean you should walk past a gold bar with a five dollar tag on it, but rather concentrate on a specific type of item. It can be an antique or collectible or something newer. One of my students buys and sells used car stereos. My sister sells kid's clothes. The item doesn't matter. It's the specialized knowledge that gives you the edge.

Specializing also opens doors for you. When I go to a yard sale I always ask for trains and toys. Lots of people who never thought to put out these items will sell them if asked. Think about it. Asking, "What do you have I can sell on eBay and make a quick hundred on?" isn't going to work.
Get some books on salesmanship and hone your negotiating skills.
Start broadening your methods of finding items to sell. You don't want to start out by buying a full page ad in the newspaper, but there are hundreds of other inexpensive ways to find items for resale.
Learn how to network. This is all about relationships. Get to know the owners of the local pawn shops, thrift stores, antiques stores or whatever is relevant to your specialty.
I have a special offer so you can get start moving past garage sales and adding new methods of finding used items you can sell on eBay.

And it will cost you less than a tank of gas.

I've been teaching people a systematic approach to finding antiques and collectibles for years.

In order to help you move past garage sales, I have compiled twelve of the most powerful yet cheap to implement collectible buying strategies from my larger more comprehensive package onto a special report just for you.

Posted by auction at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2005

Get Paid By eBay!

Did you know...

EBay.com pays its top 100 affiliates an average of $25,OOO per month each!?

WOW!

That means there are 100 people doing nothing but sending some traffic to eBay and cashing in every time some of that traffic signs up for an eBay account or even places a bid on an auction. Hundreds of thousand of other affiliates are making a very nice side income from one the hottest trends in the world - eBay.com.

Sound interesting? How can you easily tap into this even WITHOUT running auctions?

Using cj.com you can easily join the eBay affiliate program for free and begin advertising for eBay - and get paid for it. Most people know this already.

But, did you know that you can use your cj.com affiliate links to send traffic to ANY page on eBay? This includes your own auction listings OR the eBay auctions of others. Since eBay pays you every time you send them a new customer you can start making some pretty easy cash just by using paid advertising (Adsense, Overture etc.) to send traffic through your affiliate links to ANY page on eBay.

After you get your traffic to eBay leave the selling to eBay. It's a simple system, but there is a learning curve as well as a few insider tips that will get you rolling quickly.

eBayAffiliateSecrets

Posted by auction at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2005

An Introduction To eBay Consignment

By Terry Gibbs

After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought. They knew I could get more money for them on eBay than they could get selling the items themselves. An added incentive to them was I did all the work. All they had to do is say "I don't want this anymore, sell it for me;" and within a few weeks I converted their castoffs into cash.

I was already selling on eBay, and I had developed a system for listing and dealing with sales that allowed me to list lots of items in a short time. The chance to make a few dollars without any investment was too much to pass up. I made some good money doing this and because I didn't have to tie up my money buying inventory I was able to use it to grow my train business.

Consignment Selling Is The Perfect Way To Start Your Own eBay Business.

There are no set up fees or investments. You won't need to risk your own money buying items to resell. You don't need a detailed knowledge of antiques and collectibles. You only need to know how to find the right category, write an adequate description and take some high quality photos.

Selling on consignment allows you to learn about antiques and collectibles without risking your own money. By selling other people's items you learn the value of items in the most practical way. By handling them and selling them. No matter how many price guides you read, and antique shows you attend, you will never get the feel for items until you sell them.

When you sell on consignment, you provide a service that makes your clients additional money. When most people sell something, they sell to a dealer who needs to mark up the item to make a profit. This is not what happens on eBay.

On eBay the END USER is the buyer and will always pay more than a dealer would. Even after paying a consignment fee, the seller makes more money.

This is the true benefit of eBay consignment selling. Finding the END USER. Before eBay this was a difficult and daunting process. With eBay, a simple listing placed in the correct category, with a good description and some high quality photos, is enough to get a few END USERS to fight over the item.

Things You Need To Succeed With Consignment Sales:

You need to take possession of the items. When you sell items on consignment you risk your eBay name and reputation. You take these risks when you sell your own items, but you are in complete control of your actions. In order to lower your risks you need to get complete control of the items you are going to be selling. This prevents sellers from changing their minds, and allows you to ship the items as soon as you receive payment.

You should always have a written contract. One of my friends was sued by a consignor who felt the commission was too high. The consignor agreed to pay 20 percent of the selling price, then when the item sold for $8500, got upset about paying $1700 to someone for doing 30 minutes of work. While my friend won in court, it would never have gotten to court if he had a written contract.

You'll also need to perfect ways to get items. At first your friends and co-workers will provide you with a good stream of salable items. After a while this stream will dwindle and you will need to go out and find consignors. This is not as difficult as it may seem. Remember, by consigning with you, the seller gets more money than they would otherwise.

Posted by auction at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2005

eBay Price Points

by Janiece Smith

I’m asked a lot of questions about eBay, but one that I am asked more often than others has me thinking:

Once I am in contact with a supplier, how do I determine whether the product pricing is good enough to make a profitable return?”

Although this is an easily misunderstood factor, it is very easy to explain and understand. It breaks down to knowing the price points for each particular product.

It is crucial for any eBay seller to research price points before making a final decision on which products to sell. Price points are an important part of your research because the price for which items sell and the price for which you’re able to obtain them will directly affect the products you decide to sell.

Price points are divided into three categories:

- The price for which you can obtain the product
- The price for which the item is typically listed on eBay
- The price for which the item is typically sold on eBay

Price Point One: Your Cost

The first price point obviously is not very difficult to figure out, because more than likely your supplier is going to tell you how much the product will cost you. However, this number is needed during your research because you use this number as your constant––meaning that this number will not change.

Price Point Two: Average List Price

The price for which the item is typically listed on eBay is important because this gives you an idea of what others selling the same product most likely are spending on it. This is particularly important to you because you need to purchase your products at a price that allows you to be competitive with other eBay businesses.

If you research this price point and find that the majority of sellers are listing the product far below you, you can assume you will not be able to compete with this seller. However, if you find the average list price of the item is within the range for which you can obtain the product, then this just might be a good deal for you to move forward on.

Please remember, there are sellers out there who have a different philosophy about list price. For example, some sellers list an item at $0.01 and “hope” it gets bid to a profitable amount or they put a reserve price on it. My opinion and experience is that this is not so wise. My advice about Price Point Two is to research those other sellers who are listing their items at prices that, if sold, will obviously realize a profit.

Note: Be sure to refer to my last article A Scientific Method To Ensure Your Products Will Sell On eBay about comparing apples to apples. You do not want to focus on the garage sale sellers but rather on the business sellers. Someone who is trying to sell the Armani suit he no longer wears isn’t going to list this used suit for the same price someone like you or I will who is obtaining the suit for resale purposes only.

Price Point Three: Average Sell Price

The price for which the items typically are selling after all bids are in is not as important as the other two points because we’ve already done our research, which was based on making a profit with the list price.

However, this price point can be very helpful for you in determining the following important factors:

How much leeway you have in working with your list price, your overall monthly profit and what you can expect, and how much listing volume you will need to meet your monthly profit goal.
Note: As I mentioned in my previous article, be sure to always compare and research your price points within the active auctions and completed auctions. By researching eBay’s past and present auctions, you’re able to obtain information on your product of interest and minimize your chances of making a money-losing decision.

To Your eBay Success,
Janiece Smith
ExpressProfitsOnline

Posted by auction at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2005

Taking PayPal on eBay

By Terry Gibbs

Accepting PayPal as a payment method might increase your selling prices and your profits. This depends on what you are selling. I sell collectibles to collectors. My clients are like junkies. They will buy regardless of the payment options, so not offering PayPal won't make much difference in the final selling prices.

If you sell items with high competition, accepting Paypal will make your auctions more attractive. This also holds true for impulse buys. Plus, you can get paid instantly through PayPal.

Here's a few suggestions for increasing your eBay profits by accepting PayPal:

Select accept PayPal in the auction listing process to get the PayPal logo into your auction. You can put in the auction description that you accept PayPal, but unless you use the PayPal logo some buyers will miss this Payment choice. Many buyers look specifically for the logo and expect to find it in certain areas of the auction listing.

If you only accept bank account transfers, and do not accept credit card payments through paypal be sure to mention this in your auction description and the payment types area. Even after you mention this, you will get credit card payments from some PayPal users. This causes confusion with buyers.

One problem that may come up is your shipping schedule. I ship once a week. Some eBay buyers feel that I should drop everything and go to the post office as soon as they send me money through Paypal. This used to cause problems.

Now when a buyer sends me money, I quickly email him and tell him when to expect his item. Because I ship on Thursday or Friday, I can tell them their item will be delivered by the next Tuesday, if not earlier. Instead of telling the buyer I will ship the item on Friday, I tell them to expect it on Monday. This changes the buyer's focus from when I will ship to when they will get the item.

One last thing before I finish up. I recommend eBay sellers use guarantees. If you take a credit card through PayPal, and later refund the buyer's money, you will be out the PayPal fees if the refund is done more than 30 days after the initial transaction. You need to require your buyer to return the item quickly.

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution" and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles

Posted by auction at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2005

Nine Simple eBay Selling Hints

By Terry Gibbs

Some of these eBay hints will save you money, others will result in higher prices. Either way, these will help you run more profitable eBay auctions.

Write a simple description and do not clutter your auction with unneeded items like animated Gifs, and colored backgrounds. Remember, you are selling not entertaining.

Charge a flat rate for shipping, and mention the shipping costs prominently within your auction description.

Write a title that accurately describes your item. Use manufacturers name and model number within the title if applicable.

Write a detailed description that allows prospective bidders to make a decision about purchasing the item. A basic tip is the description can never be too long as long as it is describing the item.

Include large clear photographs. Invest in some lights and a quality camera. Your investment will pay for itself in higher eBay selling prices within only a few auctions.

Host your own pictures. By hosting your own pictures, you will save money, and, more importantly, be able to use as many pictures as you need to adequately show eBay bidders your item. This is the simplest thing to do, and yet 70 percent of eBay sellers ignore this simple tip.

Optimize your images for the web. Many sellers use the highest resolution settings on their cameras and generate huge files that download very slowly. Computer monitors only show 72DPI, any extra detail is just a waste of the bidder's time.

List your item in the most appropriate category. Many buyer's only search eBay by looking at listings within categories. If you are not in the right eBay category you will not be seen by lots of potential bidders and you item may end up selling for less than it's worth.

Systemize your eBay selling. Using a system to sell on eBay will lower the amount of time spent selling each item, and insure you don't forget any important activities.

The Auction Revolution explains all of these hints in greater detail.
Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: IWantCollectibles LLC

Posted by auction at 07:24 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2005

Protecting Your eBay Business

I frequently get emails from readers saying their eBay accounts have been suspended for no apparent reason. Usually I think to myself the complainers are being less than honest, and probably violated some eBay rules. Earlier this week, Terry Gibbs sent out a newsletter explaining these are really "server errors" by eBay.

Terry is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. He is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Terry has taught tens of thousands of people how to use eBay, and his Auction Revolution package is not only one of the best eBay manuals around, but teaches readers how to remove the dependence on eBay and create a robust online business.

Anyway you put it, Terry knows his stuff.

His article explains how the problem occurs and how to lessen the damage in case this happens to you. I got permission from Terry to send you the article.

Protecting Your eBay Business

This is a quick note to help you protect yourself from a problem in eBay's system.

There is a post on the IWantCollectibles board about an eBay suspension. The problem turned out to be a "system error."

I thought this was an odd event, but over the past few weeks I have gotten emails from other readers saying their eBay accounts had been suspended for no apparent reason.

A note here. I am talking about REAL suspensions. Not the fraudulent emails we are all familiar with. These emails are DIFFERENT from the common spoof emails. They do not contain links in them, or ask for any input or response.

Spoof emails are attempts by scammers to steal your eBay account. They are designed to get you to click on a link and give a third party pretending to be eBay your account information. Real eBay suspension emails do not have links to any site within them.

To protect yourself, if you get an email that claims your account has been suspended, send it to spoof@ebay.com. eBay will respond almost immediately with information about spotting spoof emails, and then follow up with a confirmation if the email is a fake.

Check your account status by going to eBay and doing a search for your user name as a bidder or seller under advanced search. Do not use links within the email, instead go directly to eBay.com

I have had reports of spoof emails without links. These always have attachments. The attachment is a virus that changes your computer's internal settings so you end up on a fake eBay site when you go to eBay.

You can tell if you are not on eBay by looking at the address bar. The address is always something.eBay.com. There should be nothing between the eBay and the com except a period. Fake eBay websites will have addresses like ebay.something.com

Anyway, back to the erroneous eBay suspensions.

All of them report difficulty dealing with eBay and then after two to four weeks of emails back and forth getting a message like this:

"It appears that your account was suspended due to a system error that has been corrected. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that this unfortunate incident will not be repeated ....."

However this is being repeated. Not the same accounts, but to accounts at random.

In fact, this morning I got an email from eBay telling me one of my accounts has been suspended.

Here's the email:

Dear (EBAY USER NAME)

We regret to inform you that your eBay account has been suspended due to concerns we have for the safety and integrity of the eBay community.

Per the User Agreement, Section 9, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. We may also take these actions if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us.

Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way. This includes the registering of a new account.

Please note that any seller fees due to eBay will immediately become due and payable. eBay will charge any amounts you have not previously disputed to the billing method currently on file.

Regards,

Safeharbor Department
eBay, Inc.

At this point you are probably wondering why I am telling you this.

This is a warning.

This could happen to you.

Think about it. The first person to bring this to my attention lost six weeks worth of sales. Some of the others managed to get the problem resolved in as little as two weeks. Some are still having problems after three or four weeks.

Can you afford to lose your income for two weeks or a month?

I doubt it.

I lucked out because this is not my selling account. In fact, the suspended account hasn't been used for bidding or selling in over a year. I can keep selling on my other accounts.

Do you have backup eBay accounts?

If you don't, you need to create additional accounts now. You have to have the second eBay account set up before you are suspended. I use different accounts for buying and selling. If I had "system error" problems with a selling account, I could easily switch my sales to a buying account.

I might lose some sales if eBay cancelled auctions as a result of the suspension, but I could quickly relist the items under a different account.

Because I already have the accounts set up and use them for buying they have feedback. They are ready to go. All I need to do to start selling on them is upgrade the buying account into a selling account by entering a credit card number.

If you still only have one eBay account, you need to create another account now. And start using it.

You need to create a second account, and then bid or even better buy something with it.

This is important because eBay will purge your account if you set it up, and do not use it within a month or so. They do not say this anywhere in their rules, but a few of the accounts I have set up, and then not used have been dropped.

You should do this now so you can minimize the damage if eBay pulls a "system error" problem on you.

Because eBay makes it difficult to create a second account, there is a page of instructions on IWantCollectibles telling you how to create an eBay account when you already have one.

After you have set up a second eBay account, you should start learning other ways to protect your business. In The Auction Revolution, you'll learn how to create multiple streams of income. The auction revolution is a blue print for leveraging your eBay business into a robust online business. The first half of the manual teaches you everything about eBay. The second half shows you how to remove your dependence on eBay. You can read more about the Auction Revolution here.

Terry

PS. A great way to find out what you can learn from Terry is to take the eBay sellers quiz. This short quiz will help you earn more money in your eBay auctions. Check your eBay knowledge now.

Posted by auction at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)

An eBay Store In Your Future?

New Study Reveals 724,000 Americans Rely on eBay Sales for Income

Entrepreneurs in record numbers are setting up shop on eBay, according to a new survey conducted for eBay by ACNielsen International Research, a leading research firm. More than 724,000 Americans report that eBay is their primary or secondary source of income. In addition to these professional eBay sellers, another 1.5 million individuals say they supplement their income by selling on eBay, according to the July 2005 survey.

In the first six months of 2005, eBay members in the U.S. sold merchandise worth approximately $10.6 billion.

In order to support this growing economic force, eBay and the United States Postal Service have teamed to create an innovative educational opportunity that brings online selling expertise and experience to neighborhoods across the country: the eBay Day Small Business Tour. eBay sellers overwhelmingly use the Postal Service for their shipping needs.

Based on the results of the new ACNielsen International Research survey, the number of eBay entrepreneurs in the U.S. has increased 68 percent since the last time a comparable study was conducted in 2003. That study indicated that 430,000 Americans at the time were making some or all of their income selling on eBay.

"eBay's impact on job creation in the U.S. has been tremendous, and the health of our nation's economy depends on employment," said James K. Glassman, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, who has analyzed the survey results. "A considerable amount of jobs have been created and enabled through eBay in the last few years, making it an important employment creation engine that many never considered just five years ago. The potential for entrepreneurs to realize success through eBay is significant."

eBay Day Small Business Tour with U.S. Postal Service
The eBay Day Small Business Tour provides free, fun and informative events, hands-on training, resources and education for entrepreneurs at U.S. Post Offices in eight cities during the next eight weeks.

"In just 10 years, eBay has become the destination for Americans pursuing their visions of entrepreneurship," said Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America. "We're proud to play a central role in small business development in the U.S. and around the world. Teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service, we're now bringing the eBay opportunity to people right where they live. It's exciting to think that many of them will go on to build thriving businesses, create jobs and fuel their local economies – while achieving the satisfaction of turning their vision into reality."

Attendees will receive one-to-one advice from eBay education specialists on how to build their business, and attend presentations to learn about selling on eBay and shipping products to customers using the U.S. Postal Service. The dean of eBay education and author of The Official eBay Bible, Jim Griffith, will be available in select markets to share tips and tricks.

In addition, there will be experts on hand from Entrepreneur Magazine, giving aspiring small business owners advice and insights to help them turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. "We are committed to continuing a long history of helping small business owners succeed by making it easier for them to take advantage of the Postal Service's mailing options to maximize their business opportunities," said John E. Potter, United States Postmaster General and CEO. "Hundreds of thousands of people have come to eBay to make a living and to start their own businesses. We are delighted to help them grow by offering a variety of shipping and business solutions."

Additional survey findings include:

- 58 percent of Americans say they've dreamed of starting a business and becoming their own boss.
- The most common reason for wanting to start a business is to increase one's personal income (66 percent of respondents), followed by increased independence (63 percent).
- The primary barriers to starting a business are insufficient financial resources (cited by 49 percent of respondents), and satisfaction with their current situation (29 percent).

The eBay Day Small Business Tour will visit major U.S. cities this summer, including:

- Bethesda, MD (July 20-21)/Baltimore, MD (July 22)
- Minneapolis, MN (July 27-29)
- Milwaukee, WI (August 3-5)
- Kansas City, MO (August 10-12)
- Phoenix, AZ (August 17-19)
- Denver, CO (August 24-26)
- Atlanta, GA (August 31 - September 2)
- Miami, FL (September 14-16)

The events will take place at local post offices in each city. In each market, the traveling eBay "Sell-It-Ship-It" bus workshop, and the "Home Office Lab," a mobile home office set-up, will be stationed outside of the post offices to provide presentations, information, and guidance. And a customer service booth will offer in-person answers to general questions about selling on eBay and shipping with the USPS. Entrepreneurs and small business owners will learn how to package a product, insure it, label it and ship it using a number of products from the Postal Service that include scheduling a carrier pickup at no extra charge.

For more information about the USPS and eBay small business tour, visit www.ebay.com/ebayday.

Posted by auction at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

February 2008
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eBay Explained : How To Buy And Sell On eBay

February 26, 2006

eBay Coupons

February 20, 2006

How to Value Your Collectable Items

February 13, 2006

The Very Basics of Ebay - Getting Started

February 08, 2006

Keeping records of your Ebay business: Part 2

December 29, 2005

Estimating an Item’s Value for Sale on eBay

December 26, 2005

Spotting Fakes and Frauds on eBay

December 23, 2005

Selling Children's Items on Ebay

December 13, 2005

The eBay Blacklist

December 01, 2005

Avoiding eBay Buying Pitfalls

October 27, 2005

Top Ebay Business Secrets Revealed

October 17, 2005

10 Sure-fire Ways to Kill Your eBay Business

September 19, 2005

Want It Now

September 14, 2005

Find products Below Wholesale

September 08, 2005

Are Your eBay Sales Down?

September 01, 2005

Why Most eBay Sellers Fail

August 30, 2005

Get Paid By eBay!

August 29, 2005

An Introduction To eBay Consignment

August 28, 2005

eBay Price Points

August 27, 2005

Taking PayPal on eBay

August 26, 2005

Nine Simple eBay Selling Hints

August 25, 2005

Protecting Your eBay Business

An eBay Store In Your Future?

Find It On eBay

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