The Center for EBay Education and Training: August 2006

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Attract eBay Buyers Like CRAZY !

Author: Thomas Haselhorst

As an ebay(TM) seller it happens very often (too often) that listings close without any bids. Did this happen to you ? Many sellers are frustrated and quit their eBay(TM) business. Have you realised that these fees from unsold items can sum up quickly. We asked ourself: ""What are the reasons for so many items not being sold on eBay(TM)?""

We did some research on compared many listings on eBay and to see which sites get the most hits. Of course the item itself plays an important role. But we have also found that many ebay(TM) sellers try to sell their items with very unprofessional auction listings. There is just some plain black text with white background. Arrrgh!!! We have seen it many times. The answer is simple. Many listings are closing without any bids because they have a lousy design.

But auction sites with a professional design are more likely to receive bids. A recent online study has shown that attractive and professional designed internet sites convert better than badly designed sites. It's basically the same thing with eBay listings. If it is not in harmony with your eye, people click to another item. Remember, that they are on overage seeing your site for 10-20 seconds. If they like it, they may read it. If not, they'll leave.

But many eBay(TM) sellers don't know any thing about designing professional listings. Until now, these sellers had only the choice of hiring expensive third party auction services or to buy costly auction listing software. http://www.auction- design-for-free.com has changed that. Every serious eBay(TM) seller can create their own professional auction sites without any knowledge of HTML and without spending any extra money for expensive auction services or software. We from auction-design-for-free think that every auction seller should have the right to launch professional designed auction sites without spending any additional money. The listing fees for auctions on eBay are high enough. There is no need for additional costs which would decrease your profit. http://www.auction- design-for-free.com has set a new benchmark. This new released revolutionary step-by-step guide helps ebay sellers to get started and to get more bids on their items. This step-by-step guide has been written from ebay(TM) seller for ebay(TM) sellers in a non-technical easy to understand language.

Sit back and enjoy to be guided through every single step - supported by online video tutorials. With this new auction design secrets you can create your own professional looking listing with a breeze. If you are really serious about your eBay(TM) business and want to increase your profit you simply need this Step-by-Step guide. You will amazed how easy it is to make a nice looking auction sites on your own - For Free - without spending any additional cents and attract eBay buyers like CRAZY !!

About the author: Thomas - Webmaster of http://www.auction-design-for-free.com From eBay sellers - for eBay sellers!

Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?

Author: Tim Knox

Much of my email from readers this month concerned the recent announcement from eBay that it will increase many seller fees on February 18, 2005. Since many business people use eBay's online store system as their primary ecommerce point of sale, it's no surprise that most of the emails I received were of the angry variety.

One email in particular caught my attention because it urged me to visit a website to sign an online petition protesting the fee hike. The email directed me to http://www.petitiononline.com and upon further investigation I found that 22,548 digital signatures had already been collected (as of this writing).

Thank goodness not all of them had my email address.

This will be the fifth rate hike in as many years for the auction giant and should really come as no surprise. Price hikes are a normal course of business. It was the size of the hike that has many sellers upset.

The rate hike involved the following fees:

* A basic eBay Store will now cost sellers $15.95 a month, a 60% increase from the current $9.95 a month. * Closing commissions on most items sold through eBay Stores will increase by 50 percent. * Gallery photo fees will increase from 25 to 35 cents. * The Buy It Now fee will jump from a flat fee of 5 cents to 10 cents for items priced over $10 and 25 cents for items over $50. * Final value fees will rise from 5.25% to 8%.

Many of the emails I received pointed out that small sellers are making very little profit as it is so the increase in fees will only serve to drive these sellers completely out of the eBay business. Some sellers accuse eBay of purposefully trying to run them off, but I doubt that's the case. eBay has no reason to drive away the small sellers, but that realization never occurs to those who feel they are being priced out of the market.

Not everyone is too concerned over the fee increase. Jim Cockrum, eBay Powerseller, publisher of ""Creative eBay Selling News,"" the world's largest newsletter on creative eBay selling, and author of one of the best selling eBay books of all time ""The Silent Sales Machines Hiding On eBay"" has other opinions.

""I don't see the eBay fee increase as a bad thing,"" Cockrum said in a phone interview. ""I actually see it as just the opposite - it's a good thing because eBay is eliminating my competition for me. Who leaves eBay when eBay increases seller fees? It's not the customers (or shoppers). They don't go anywhere since they aren't affected. Only a handful of the weaker sellers leave eBay when fees go up.""

Cockrum recommends that sellers use eBay in non-traditional ways to build their online businesses so that future fee hikes will not have an affect on their e-business.

""Selling on eBay continues to be one of the more popular ways to make money online, though very few people are getting rich with an eBay business alone,"" Cockrum said. ""Many Powersellers don't make enough profit to cover their costs. The key to really making money with eBay is not in selling items at auction, but to use eBay to drive customers to your other online ventures. If you do that, the rate hikes do not affect your bottomline nearly as much.""

Not everyone shares Cockrum's enthusiasm. Many small sellers think the government or a regulatory board of some kind should get involved to help keep eBay fees in line. This probably won't come to pass anytime soon, but who knows. I can remember when a little company called Microsoft had free rein before they killed off all comers and came to monopolize their market. eBay seems to be headed in the same direction.

The threat of regulation may be the reason eBay is now attempting to smooth the ruffled feathers of the miffed masses. eBay announced this week that they would give a one-time $15.95 credit to eBay store owners and reduce minimum listing fees for inexpensive items from 30 cents to 25 cents, effective immediately.

Too little, too late? Could be. Many sellers believe that eBay may be writing its own obituary with such stringent price increases and such little thought for the smaller merchant. The online petition predicted the long term effects of the fee increase to be:

* Smaller sellers will stop selling on eBay and try to sell somewhere else online. They will never have the chance to expand themselves on eBay. * Larger sellers may consider starting their own online store or sell elsewhere. * Prices of auctions will increase. Buyers will turn back to retail stores. The idea of eBay is that you can find things cheaper there, even when adding shipping and handling together. * Discourage new sellers, decreasing competition (which is what the eBay market thrives on for pricing).

Only time will tell if the predictions come true, but for the short term many smaller sellers are closing down their eBay stores and moving up the street to Yahoo.com.

Here's to your success!

About the author: Tim is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim Knox is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online

organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay

entrepreneurs. Related Links: http://www.prosperityandprofits.com

http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

How to Start an eBay Business

Author: John Evans

With the phenomenal success of online auction website eBay, there is no surprise when it is revealed a record number of individuals are flooding the popular website with upstart businesses. The ease of use and huge client base allows anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur to start their own eBay business. Anyone who has ever wanted to become an entrepreneur and work for themselves has an excellent opportunity to do so on the World Wide Web. Instead of having phenomenally high start-up costs, you can develop a highly functional business for an extremely minimal cost. If you are wondering how to start an eBay business, look no further than the online auctions website to help you with detailed step-by-step instructions for starting your own ebay auction business.

Regardless what you choose to sell on eBay, there is a buyer out there! It may be strange someone would want your 1970s harvest gold canister set, but fear notthere is an individual somewhere in the world who has been earnestly seeking your retro chic item for the perfect addition to their kitchen. If you have a particular passion or hobby, think of translating it into a business. Maybe you hand-knit cool caps or create jamming jewelry. Unique and one of a kind creations are quite popular with eBay buyers who are seeking that perfect item for themselves or a loved one. Undoubtedly the most popular genre of items on eBay is antiques. If your passion is collecting items from days gone by, consider turning it into a viable income by developing an eBay business. Instead of renting a space in an antique mall or renting a tradition brick and mortar storefront, you can save money by settling your business on eBay. Additionally, you can work around your responsibilities and life in general to create a specialized schedule that fits into your lifestyle using your home as a base. You will save a great deal of money by working from home as opposed to a traditional job when you factor in the commuting costs, including gas and car maintenance, costs for your business wardrobe, and other daily items, including childcare and food expenses.

When choosing what items to put up for auction on eBay, keep in mind all items must be shipped to the buyer. For this reason, you should elect to put easily-shipped items up for sale. Additionally, you will need to make sure you have the proper shipping materials available to ensure the items arrive in the same condition they left in. The United States Postal Service will ship Priority Mail boxes directly to individuals who order off their website. The Priority Mail system enables sellers to mail auction items in a special box that is included into the price of the shipping. The newest addition to this class of boxes include a flat rate box, which allows the contents to be shipped at one low fee regardless of weight. All items must fit easily into the box for this rate to apply. Whatever your choice for shipping agency, ensuring your items can be mailed cheaply and easily, will result in more of your items successfully selling at auction.

Finally, when you start your eBay business, take great care in deciding what type of items you wish to sell. Creating a special niche just for your items will encourage buyers to become repeat customers. Providing your website with a professional image that best displays your goods is essential to the lifespan of your eBay business. It has been proven people are most likely to purchase items from individuals with professional-looking websites, as they best promote competency and reliability. In this theme, your user rating will play a great part in the success of your eBay business. For each successful auction transaction, the buyer will provide feedback noting your services. Businesses with high amounts of positive feedback will gain the highest number of customers.

About the author: John Evans runs http://www.SuccessAlert.net , and has written the book Success Alert - Conversations with Successful Internet Entrepreneurs which has been widely acclaimed in a variety of online and print media. If you're interested in building a home internet business this book is an absolute must-read!

Make Money Online: Learn to Sell on eBay

Author: John Evans

The online auction site eBay is an excellent tool for making money online. Think of eBay as an online yard sale and shopping mall. Whether you want to start a business selling merchandise or sell the stuff that is cluttering your attic, eBay is the place. It is not difficult to learn to sell on ebay, in fact, the website has made the process downright simple. You will need access to a digital camera in order to upload images of your stuff onto your auctions website. Items with images sell quicker and for a higher price than those without. Furthermore, you will find some auctions will be more successful than others. Many sellers choose to set their auctions to end on a weekend instead of a week day. These sellers have determined their auctions tend to elicit more bids during that time since more potential buyers are online. Also, consider the target audience for each of your auctions. You may want to set auctions of items with a younger audience to end later in the evening than others.

The most important aspect of selling things on eBay is the actual product. Keep in mind, whatever you sell must be shipped to the buyer, so choose items that can cheaply and easily be mailed. Even though the buyer covers all shipping costs, many eBay users will be hesitant to bid on goods with hefty shipping fees. It is a good idea to become well acquainted with the United States Postal Service or any other shipping agency so you know all of your shipping options upfront. Ensuring you send your buyers a correct shipping cost will ensure you do not end up paying for this cost, which cuts into your profit. In addition to the general size and weight of your items, choose products that have been selling well on other sellers auctions. Keep a careful eye on all eBay auctions to see what things have been selling well with buyers. Just as with merchandise sold in traditional brick and mortar stores, popular buyer trends affect the online auction market. Whether you are selling things found around your home, handmade items, or retail goods, going along with public trends will benefit your auctions. If you have further questions about how do you sell stuff on ebay, there are a number of resources available to sort out the process and help you determine what items to sell.

Different items sell better during different times of the year. Holiday-themed things, including decorations or collectibles, tend to sell better before the specific holiday instead of at random times of the year. Additionally, certain items sell better at specific times of the year. For example, toys and gift items tend to sell better before Christmas and Easter, whereas wedding and bridal merchandise will sell better during the early spring for the May and June wedding season. Knowing when to begin and end your auctions will ensure your item sells for the highest bid possible.

Anyone can sell on eBay but knowing what you are doing will ensure your things will elicit the greatest profit possible. Learning how, when, and when to sell on eBay is an art, but luckily it is one you can easily master. The key to eBay success is carefully choosing your goods, knowing how long to run the auction, and deciding the right time to begin your auction. Once you become an eBay pro, you will be hooked! Selling on eBay is a quick and easy way to make money on the World Wide Web. Soon you will be hunting for all types of stuff to sell, as you will have caught the eBay bug.

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

Author: Isaiah Hull

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

The Internet is the fastest-changing marketplace on earth. Million-dollar ideas from one year ago might not generate a single penny today. And the best search engine optimization strategies from months ago may be completely invalid now.

But this doesnt affect the best Internet entrepreneurs. It only hurts the one-hit wonders. In fact, it is what separates the top sellers from the struggling sellers.

Most of the struggling sellers rely entirely on the information they get from ebooks.

The best entrepreneurs know that you must be able to conduct your own analysis if you want to stay on the top. Books and courses can help you get there, but ultimately, you must learn how to conduct your own research.

Now, you can spend hundreds of hours and dollars researching this for yourself. Or you can purchase a service that does this for you.

Or, if youre looking to start your business on a shoe-string budget like most sellers, you can simply use the top-sellers examples.

In todays lesson, I am going to show you one way you can do this: reverse engineering.

Start by going to Ebay.com and searching for something you personally sell in your store. For example, if you sell stereos, search for stereo.

Take your list of results and use it to find successful sellers. Look for powersellers, sellers with stores, sellers with large inventories, and sellers with a lot of positive feedback.

Look at these sellers and try to determine the exact methods they use to make sales: Do they use templates? --If so, how are they constructed? Do they use a lot of pictures? Do they use ad copy?

What words did they use in the title? Is there a subtitle? Is it featured? Is it bold? What date and time did they list it? Is it part of a dutch auction?

Does the seller own an Ebay store?--If so, how is that store arranged?

Does the seller get the majority of her auction traffic from Ebay or does she advertise somewhere else?

How many items are in the seller's inventory? What price ranges do her auctions span? How do her prices compare to yours?

Does she purchase her inventory from another Ebay seller?--If so, can you also use that seller to stock your inventory?

There are dozens of questions you can ask and corresponding answers for all of them. You must determine what you need to ask--and then use the reverse engineering method to answer it.

About the author:

http://www.wor kathomerightnow.net/ebay.html - Written by Isaiah Hull, author of ""How to Profit on Ebay In Seven Days Without Spending A Single Penny."" For a limited time only you can get a pre-publication copy of his book for ONE-FOURTH the post-publication price!

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

How To Sell On Ebay & Keep Your Shirt

Author: Isaiah Hull

How To Sell On Ebay & Keep Your Shirt

Have you ever been delighted after a huge sale on Ebay. . .only to find out that your massive profit margin was whittled away by fee after fee after fee after fee?

Ebay charged you to list your item; they charged you to add pictures; they charged you to add upgrades; they charged you to use a template; they charged you to put your auction up at a certain time; and then, on top of everything else. . .they charged you AGAIN for closing the sale.

At this point, you would have been happy to walk away from your huge sale with the shirt on your back. But no. Paypal arrived on the scene to process your transaction for a small fee - your shirt.

. . .and there you sat at your computer, frustrated and shirtless. You were probably ready to just throw your hands up in dispair and quit selling on Ebay.

But you didnt. You stuck with it. Maybe you havent had any success on Ebay since then, but what matters is that you stuck with it. And that is easily the most important part about selling on Ebay: sticking with it until you get that breakthrough.

And for that, I am going to reward you by showing you some simple tricks I have used to prevent the fee-mongers from extracting all of my profits. Hopefully this will help you to do the same and find your breakthrough.

The first method is using free hosting services for all of your auction pictures. If you sell a lot of small items on Ebay, this will save you a considerable amount of money in fees. If you only sell large items, this will allow you to cut back on unncessary fees on each auction.

I personally suggest using Geocities.com for this. All you have to do is upload the pictures you want in your auctions and then then reference them in the actual auctions.

The second fee-saving method I suggest is creating or purchasing a template for your auctions. I personally suggest learning HTML, which doesnt take very long, and using it to create your own template.

In the long run, this will save you a lot of time and frustration, as you will be able to create the exact look and feel you want for your auctions.

However, if you dont have the time to learn HTML, you can either purchase a template online for a dollar or less or you could have one professionally- created to fit your specifications at elance.com.

Not only will this save you additional auction fees on Ebay, but it will boost your credibility as a seller, potentially raising the amount of bids you receive--and subsequently increasing your profit-margin

The third and last method I will go over involves improving the mechanics of your auction, so you can pull just as many customers as a featured listing would, but without using one.

This is actually quite simple. All you have to do is carefully construct your title to accomplish the following two goals: 1) include as many targeted, high-traffic keywords as possible; and 2) form a coherent and compelling message that will entice these new streams of traffic to click through to your auction.

If you can achieve a better balance than what you have right now, you will notice an enormous boost in traffic. In fact, it can easily be the difference between 25 auction visitors and 250!

Some people make a full-time income buying from the auctions that get 25 visitors and then reselling with this tactic, which gets them 250.

By now, you know what you need to do to cut a serious chunk out of your Ebay sellers fees. Put this to work in your auctions - and you could be seeing that breakthrough I talked about in a matter of weeks.

About the author:

Before You Sell On Ebay, Take The Most Important Step

Author: Isaiah Hull

Before You Sell On Ebay, Take The Most Important Step

If you want to earn a full-time income selling on Ebay, you must take the first and most important step in all successful business ventures: you must accept that it is possible.

This probably sounds really trite--and maybe it is, but that doesnt mean its any less true.

Talk to anyone who now earns a full-time income selling on Ebay and they will undoubtedly tell you two things: the first is that anyone can do it; and that is true. Over 430,000 people currently sell on Ebay to earn a part or full-time income. And the second is that the hardest part is getting started. This is also true.

As with any type of business, whether it be on the Internet or in the brick-and-mortar world, the mindsent that the entrepreneur brings into the venture is absolutely crucial to its success.

If you, the entrepreneur, give up in the face of challenges, assuming you arent skilled enough to persevere, you will never know what benefits overcoming those challenges could have yielded. Instead, you will slowly chip away at your options until you are powerless and without confidence.

As a network marketer and the owner of three Internet businesses, I have seen dozens of people struggle and give up because they doubt they can actually achieve what other people have. Many of them give up on the very presupice of a breakthrough because they lack the confidence to work through problems and overcome challenges.

I personally have struggled with this more than once selling on Ebay. I have been so frustrated at times by bad luck and seemingly insurmountable challenges that I was ready to give up. . .only to have a major breakthrough several minutes later.

So, unless you arent curious enough to wonder where you could have been if you had just persevered that extra few hours--or extra few minutes--I suggest that you factormotivation and attitude into your Ebay selling.

Whatever it takes, make sure you accept that you can reach your goal before you start selling on Ebay. If you dont, you will find yourself putting all new ideas on the backburner or writing them off as impossible.

About the author:

Choosing The Right eBay Auction Category

Author: Robbin K. Tungett

eBay is divided up into hundreds of categories and sub-categories and once you've decided on an item to list, you must decide what category you will list it in.

For example, let's assume you have a Tonka truck that you had as a child. Do you place it under toys, collectibles, or automotive? And, once you've decided on one of those three, you still need to decide what sub-category you will list it under.

Choosing the category and sub-category you list your item in is not a trivial decision. It can mean the difference between making a sale and no sale at all. It can mean the difference between multiple bidders and only one bidder.

Here are some tips to help you select the best category and sub-category for your item:

1. Begin by checking all the categories that your item might fit into. This may take some time, but it's time well spent. And, as you become more experienced you won't need to spend as much time on this in the future. Look at each category and ask yourself:

-> Are there other similar items for sale here? -> If there are, do they have bids? -> How do final prices in this category compare to those in other categories?

2. Look at completed auctions. Search completed auctions for Tonka trucks. In what category and sub-category have they sold well?

3. Don't make the mistake of thinking you should list your item in a category where there isn't much competition. The reason there aren't many similar items listed in that category is probably that there aren't many buyers there either.

4. Along the same lines, don't automatically list an item in a category just because it has lots of listings. You don't want to place your item in a dead category. Lots of listings are fine as long as most of them are resulting in sales.

5. Look at active auctions in the categories you're considering. Depending upon what the item you are selling is, if there are already a large number listed, at times it may be to your advantage to wait a week to list yours. One of the nice thing about eBay is that auctions don't last all that long.

6. Undecided between two categories? When you write your auction you have the option of listing your item in two different categories or sub-categories. There are times when this may be to your advantage.

7. If you have several of the same items, then try them one at a time in different categories so that you can test how they do in each one. This way you can inexpensively test which category works best for your.

About the author: Robbin K. Tungett is online marketing and eBay veteran of 8 years. She is most widely known for her eBay expertise and her website http://www.AuctionRiches.com. Please visit her blog at http://www.AuctionHerald.com.

The advantages of easily selling information products on eBay

Author: Marius van Dyk

Everyday more and more people are making a living out of selling information products on eBay. They set up an automated information products business, because it does not require much time nor money and it can bring great returns.

What is an information product? As its name indicates, is a product full of information, which is normally sold as an ebook. This information can be about anything (although you obviously want to sell an ebook in which people will be interested), from how to sell your used car to magic tricks; the scope is inmense.

Browse on eBay by searching for ""ebook"" and ticking ""search in both item title and description"". You will see what is being sold at the moment: ebooks about UFO phenomena, how to get traffic to your website, how to read music, body-building, even the Bible.

You can choose to do a bit of research on a topic that people would be interested in and put together an ebook, or you can sell public domain information, like the Grimm brothers fairy tales, Kafka's works, or Poe's poems.

Why information products? What is the added value on selling information products? It has many advantages both for you and for your customers. It avoids the three ""S"": stocking, selling, and shipping. You do not need to spend anything on production nor in shipping costs. Pretty much all you need is a computer and conexion to the Internet. You do not need to do much selling, other than writing your listing: you put it on eBay and the customers buy it without you having to say anything. It is advisable to keep account of the information products you sell.

Why automated? Setting up an autoresponder system allows you to have the sale completed without you having to ""be"" there. Once the payment received confirmation email comes into your email address, with the autoresponder system the customer immediatley gets their email with the downloadable ebook.

This is obviously very convenient for the customer and for you. They obtain instant gratification, it works like in a shop: they pay, and they get what they want immediately. You can be spending your time in any other thing in that time, as you know that they will get their product thanks to the autoresponder. In the listing, tell the customers to send you an email if they have problems downloading the ebook. The only thing that you need to do after the sale is check your email for possible enquiries. Not much of your time.

Creating (or finding) and selling information products is a very good investment. And I say investment because you spend your time and effort once putting down all that information you have researched, or the public domain content you have found. Then you do not need to do any other thing than listing the item over and over again, being that part of your catalogue of items to sell.

The little amount of time and money required is making many eBayers set up eBay shops and gain an income out if. It can be developed part-time, at your convenience, it does not depend on timetables and you are the boss. Why not start selling information products on eBay today?

About the author: Marius van Dyk is an eBay Silver Powerseller and editor of AuctionBuyingTips.com. His latest ebook ""Auction Information Empires"" shows you step by step how to create your own information products business on eBay. To find out more, go to http://www.auction-buying-tips.com/ebay-secret.html.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

10 Benefits Of Opening An eBay Store

Author: Robbin K. Tungett

Whether you are just getting started or are an experienced eBay Power Seller, having an eBay Store is a wonderful way to reach potential customers you may not get through eBay auctions.

Here are some benefits having an eBay Store can provide your business:

1. More Profits - According to eBay, sellers with eBay Stores see an average of 25% increase in their total sales within three months of opening store. You will also save on listing fees since store fees are significantly lower than auction fees on eBay. EBay also offers storeowners promotional offers and free subscriptions to some of its services.

2. Regular Customers - People who buy from your eBay Store are more likely to turn into regular customers if you provide excellent customer service after the sale.

3. Professionalism and Credibility - A professional looking eBay Store makes you look more professional as an on-line seller. An image of professionalism adds to your credibility in customer's minds. As an added benefit, an eBay Store gives you access to eBay's Business Resource Center, where you can download templates for professional looking business cards and much more.

4. Save Time - eBay Store special features, such as longer listing periods and automatic re-listing, will save you time.

5. You Have Your Own Website - When you open an eBay Store you have a unique URL you can promote both on and off eBay. Your eBay Store will be picked up by search engines just like other websites are.

6. You Can Personalize Your eBay Store - With eBay store customization features you can control the look and feel of your store. You can create up to 20 categories to fit your individual inventory. Buyers will see what you want them to see, how you want them to see it.

7. Your eBay Store Has It's Own Search Engine - Include your own Search box in your store and buyers will be able to find exactly what they are looking for when they are in the buying mood.

8. Special Promotional Tools - With an eBay Store you can cross promote other items you choose to buyers and you can choose what items to cross promote. You also get access to eBay Stores Email Marketing Tool - a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Additionally, if your store qualifies, you receive free monthly eBay Keyword listings.

9. Free Monthly Reporting - All storeowners receive free monthly sales reports that recap your sales activity by category. You get information such as monthly gross sales, conversion rates, number of buyers, etc. Plus, if you have a Featured or Anchor Store, you receive overall eBay marketplace data to benchmark your sales against other eBay sellers. With Accounting Assistant, you can export date from your eBay and PayPal accounts directly into QuickBooks.

10. The First 30 Days Are Free - eBay offers a free 30-day trial.

15 Tips To Make Your eBay Business More Successful

Author: Robbin K. Tungett

1.Set your business up to accept as many forms of payment as you can. PayPal, personal checks, cashiers checks, both domestic and International money orders, International bank transfers, etc. Every additional payment option you add will increase your customer base.

2.Don't exclude buyers from foreign countries or with free email accounts like Hotmail or AOL. Ultimately, you are only hurting yourself. In some categories the best buyers are located in a different country than you are.

3.Keep your ads simple. If you confuse buyers, they will either by-pass your offerings, or leave you negative feedback because they read something into your ad that you never meant to be there.

4.Don't attempt to increase your profits by a few dollars by charging excessive postage. Buyers are not stupid. They realize what you are trying to do and most will avoid your auctions like the plague.

5.Give your customers all the facts to bid intelligently. Don't tell them you will figure out what the postage will be after the auction ends. Tell them in your ad what class postage you use and what the actual amount will be.

6.Don't discriminate against buyers who don't have a perfect feedback record. As long as you have good business procedures in place (such as waiting an appropriate period of time for checks to clear), there is no need to look downward at buyers whose reputation might have been damaged just because they got a bad deal. It happens to everyone and someday it will happen to you.

7.Don't discriminate against buyers who have little or no feedback. Remember, you were in the same position at one time. Once you have been in business for a while you'll learn that a buyer with little or no feedback is no more likely to screw you than one with a shooting star.

8.Don't make customers jump through hoops in order to buy from you. Just because you had a bad experience with one buyer, that doesn't mean you should threaten everyone else in advance. Doing so won't hurt your customers, but it will hurt your business.

9.If you are selling collectibles, antiques, or anything else that warrants it, show lots and lots of good sized, clear and crisp pictures. If you don't want to pay an online auction site for use of their web space then use the free web space provided by your Internet service provider. Buyers make critical buying decisions based upon what they see and pictures are the cheapest way possible to insure that you will have a happy buyer. The more pictures you include, the more your business will thrive.

10.Offer a money back guarantee. Be prepared to take an occasional loss on some items. You will encounter far more serious buyers who won't bid unless you have a guarantee than you will people who are intentionally trying to take advantage of you.

11.Be prepared to take a loss to make a buyer happy. If a buyer didn't receive his purchase, even if he chose not to purchase insurance, be prepared to return his money. You will get more repeat and honest buyers than you will cheaters.

12.Leave feedback in the correct sequence. When the buyer pays you and his payment is good, leave them positive feedback immediately. Don't become one of the angry sellers who practice feedback blackmail.

13.If you must leave negative feedback for a buyer, make it brief and to the point. Future buyers will read your comments regarding the sale and they perceive you as honest and mature. If you engage in name-calling, swearing, or derogatory remarks, you will be seen as immature and this will scare off potential bidders.

14.Always be friendly and answer any questions from potential bidders quickly. Remember, you were new once also.

15.Have an About Me page and include a picture of yourself. People will find it easier to trust you if they can see you and know a little bit about you.

Ebay, How I nearly got tricked out of £170

Author: Stephen Hill

I am not sure how many people have had bad experiences on Ebay, I hope not too many. I was having a great time on there until some man tried to defraud me out of £170.

I had been buying and selling on Ebay for a number of months without any problems at all. If I ever bought anything that cost over £100, I would offer to meet the seller somewhere, normally just off the motorway and this was working very well. I managed to pick up some real bargains and also managed to offload some of my unwanted items which I either had no interest in anymore or that I had no longer a need for.

Good things apparantly have to come to an end and unfortunately it did with Ebay.

I was looking to purchase a mobile phone and saw an advert for a buy it now phone with the asking price low but not extremely low.

There was a mobile number to phone if I had any questions. I therefore rang him, his name was Tony and asked him the general type questions. He sounded and seemed really nice, however stated that he was unable to meet me as he was unable to drive as he had not past his test.

His house was a long way from where I lived and reluctantly I agreed to pay via a bank transfer. He assured me he would post the phone, that very day via Royal Mail Special Delivery to arrive by 11am the next morning. He seemed very genuine, they always do your thinking and that was that.

Next morning have a guess what arrived, yes nothing at all, nor the next day, nor the next.

I tried e-mailing him, texting and ringing his mobile phone, guess what, there was no reply.

I realised what a fool I had been, however decided to go to the police. They were very helpful and half an hour later I had a crime number however was warned that it was very unlikely I would ever see a phone or recieve a refund of my money which was £170.

Outside the police station I sent Tony a text with the police crime number. To my shock he phoned me straight away swearing at me but eventually agreed to refund me the money, if I stopped the police action against him.

I was very lucky, I am sure many other people as the police stated, never get their money back.

Stephen Hill

----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------

About the author: Stephen Hill runs a speech centre in Birmingham, England. He has a number of of websites at:

stuttering treatment

stammering information

stuttering cure

You Get To Ask The Questions For Upcoming eBay Teleseminar

Author: Tim Knox

Remember way back in November of last year when I invited you to go to my website and submit your most burning question about starting, running, and prospering from your own eBay or online business?

Within 5 days readers of this newsletter had submitted over 500 QUESTIONS...

I took many of those questions and did a 90 minute teleseminar that over 100 people attended by phone.

To be honest, I was amazed at the response and the variety of questions that came pouring in, including:

** What is the best product to sell on ebay or online? ** Where can I find products to sell? ** How do I build an eBay store or a website? ** How do I start or join an affiliate business? ** How can I market my website to get more traffic? ** And on and on and on...

Since many of you might have missed submitting your question the first time or may have new questions you'd like to ask now, I'd like to invite you to submit your questions to me at the new website I have set up specifically for this purpose.

My plan is to take the questions and create an agenda for my next eBay Super Sellers Teleseminar.

Natually you will be invited to attend the Teleseminar once I have the date finalized.

I will only have 150 spots available for the next teleseminar, so don't wait!

Go ask your question now.

http://www.prosperityandprofits.com/asktim.php

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox

About the author: Tim Knox is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online

organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay

entrepreneurs. Related Links: http://www.prosperityandprofits.com

http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Getting Your Price On eBay While Keeping Your Fees Down

Author: Robbin K. Tungett

When you have the right item - something that has wide appeal and is in high demand - you can usually safely save on your eBay listing fees by simply using a low starting bid and letting multiple bidders run the price up. As long as there are five or six bidders, or more, you will more than likely get a final price that you are happy with.

Unfortunately, while this is the ideal scenario, for a large number of items in many categories, this just isn't always the case. Many items on eBay have less than intense demand or they appeal to a very narrow niche. When this is the case, different listing techniques are needed.

In the past, many sellers used a reserve to protect items. But, over the years reserve fees have significantly increased and using a reserve has lost it's appeal to many sellers. This means you must find different techniques to get the same results without paying exorbitant fees. Here are three different approaches you can take to accomplish this.

Use a high opening bid

This may seem like an obvious technique to replace a reserve bid, but actually it's not that appealing. If you have an item you feel you need to get $50 for, you can protect it with a $49.99 opening bid, but eBay is still going to charge you $1.20 for that protection.

High opening bids also have a way of discouraging bidding. The result will often be either the auction ends without any bids, or a bidder will snipe the auction in the last seconds and buy your item for it's starting bid. Neither of these is a desirable outcome.

Listing in two categories with a low opening bid

True, listing in two categories will double your listing fees. But, if you keep your opening bid at $9.99 or lower your listing fees will still be only $.70.

This technique can be especially successful when you have an item that a buyer isn't consciously looking for, but would be interested in buying. Let's say you've acquired a nice illustrated catalog of William Hoosier kitchen cabinets form 1917. The obvious place to list it is in Books>Catalogs where it will attract quite a bit of attention. But, by also listing it in Antiques>Furniture>Cabinets>Armoires, Cupboards>Post 1900 you are able to put it in front of many bidders who would have an interest in it, but wouldn't be actively looking for it.

This can be a very effective technique because it greatly increases the chances that your catalog will be found by more potential buyers. However, your catalog still won't be protected, and there are some items that don't have cross-category appeal.

Using a low opening bid with the option of a price revision

This technique keeps your listing fees low and also offers some price protection for your item. Here's how it works.

Start your auction at a low opening bid and be sure to monitor it daily. If it starts getting bids from several buyers you don't need to do anything. However, if several days go by and it just sits there without a bid, you simply revise the opening bid to an amount more in line with what you need for the item.

This effectively returns you to the first tactic we discussed, but you will have avoided giving the item away; while at the same time given it a chance to attract attention.

Monday, August 28, 2006

How Professional Ebay Auction Templates Can Boost Your Ebay Sales

Author: Thomas Haselhorst

Do you like to sell on eBay? Its easy and fun, isnt it? In fact, its one of the easiest online business you can start almost overnight, without any major investments. Thats the best thing about it. But do you also know that only the minority of the people selling on eBay are really successful and that most of them quit after a little while or run it only as a hobby. Yes, thats true. Hard facts, but the truth. So, what are the secrets of those successful eBay sellers? Well, the most important thing to become successful is a unique product. Thats the first thing. In case you dont have a unique product, you can sell products which are in high demand, eg. children clothing, designer clothing, digital cameras, etc. But you have to keep in mind that your item has to compete with 100 similar products maybe even to a better price. So if you are selling products which are highly competitive, then your sales letter has to be DIFFERENT. No, not only different, it has to be UNIQUE. And not only unique!! Your listing has to be PROFESSIONAL.

Let me tell you about our experiment. We have tried various listings for the same item. And what do you think which listing got the most bids? Right, listings with a professional UNIQUE design end up with 30-40% more bids. Can you imagine that? It was exactly the same item. Just the design of the sales letter can make a massive difference in the end price you may get. Its just amazing. We have saying in German: Das Auge isst mit. The translation is something like: If it looks nice it has to taste better. Well, as we know this is not always true though, but thats the psychology of our human brain. If the overall impression of the food is good, an impulse is sent to the brain: This has to taste good I want to try that. Its the same thing with buying in a shop or on eBay. If the auction website of the item you are looking at looks nice, the product has to be good and its more likely that you click on the Bid now button. We have seen that many times and especially with our little experiment.

So, if you use professional looking eBay auction templates for your listings, you will be surprised how this may boost your eBay business. Try to modify your templates and see which perform better. You will notice that a tiny change can make a huge difference. Keep track which templates has generated what prices and compare after a month. Youll see that some templates do really well and some dont. Be creative and modify your templates. But be careful! Dont overdo it though with bright colours an a dozen animated gifs. No, thats not what the buyer wants to see. They want to have a clear and honest description and a good picture. If the overall design is professional, believe me its more likely that they place a bid. And at the end of the day thats all it counts, doesnt it?

About the author: Thomas Haselhorst is webmaster of http://www.auction-de sign-for-free.com and http://www.monster-ebook-s ale.com

An eBay Computer Purchase

Author: GEORGE W. CANNATA

An eBay purchase that turned sour.

A story of fraud, deceit, and broken promises.

Let me preface my statements by saying that I think eBay is great.

Im a handicapped senior citizen and its been a boon to me to be able to shop the Internet and particularly eBay.

In nearly six years Ive had two problems both to do with non-delivery. One incident was insignificant as it involved a $5.00 purchase and was quickly remedied.

It only deserves mention because it was my first purchase, and because I complained about non-delivery the vindictive seller gave me a negative feed back, which remains on my record to this day.

Some months ago I purchased a computer through eBay. It was a very good price, but not so low as to arouse suspicion.

I paid through Paypal using a credit card.

I had checked the seller's feedback record, which was perfect. Next day I received an acknowledgment and a promise to ship in a day or so.

I waited for a week or so, then followed up the shipment. The seller, Ann apologized and said that she was a government attorney, on call and had been called out of town unexpectedly. She said she was on the road and on her return home would advise me the status of the order.

About a week later I received an email with an email with a UPS tracking number and an expected delivery date. The date was somewhat extended, but I accepted it, as it was coming across country.

When the PC didn't arrive as expected I sent Ann another email. Her response was another apology and she said that her father had died and she was in another state for the funeral and would look into the matter upon her return, also that due to the inconvenience she was going to refund half my money.

More time elapsed and after several email inquiries I received an email from Ann's husband stating that on her way home from the funeral she had been in a car crash and was hospitalized. He said he was not involved in the transaction, but on her instructions was looking into the matter, and would see that I received not only my computer but also a full refund.

Naturally many weeks had elapsed by this time. I was beginning to become suspicious and checked their feedback record when suddenly there appeared six or seven bad reviews. On a subsequent check they made their feedback private so it couldn't be accessed.

By then it was too late, the next thing I knew their email was suspended. When I contacted eBay they gave me Ann's phone number. When I called the phone number their service had been disconnected.

I was unable to get an address from either eBay or Paypal. I reported this case of fraud, deceit and broken promises to eBay and Paypal. Both had time limits, which had expired, so they were unable to help me, so I turned the matter over to my credit card company.

Fortunately, I had used a protected credit card, and I was within the prescribed time limit.

I don't know what transpired but I subsequently received a notice from Paypal that they had credited my account. Eventually I received a full refund.

Lessons Learned:

* Always uses a consumer-protected credit card. Do not ever use your checking or savings account even though Paypal encourages you to do so.

* Make sure you have a consumer-protected card, some do not have this feature, and be aware of the time limits, and other restrictions.

* Do not accept stalling tactics even if they seem legitimate. Paypay has a 30-day limit. EBay's is 60 days, or 90 days in some cases. Put in a claim immediately, you can always retract it.

* Be careful when checking feed back, make sure youre getting reports from buyers not sellers. eBay has made it easier to do this now.

These people had deliberately purchased a lot of small items to build up a positive feed back record.

I have seen a tutorial that advocates doing it for new sellers who have no feed back record .

* Follow tour instincts, I had ignored a lot of danger signals. ---DON'T DO THAT---use your common sense---If you suspect foul play, Take immediate action.

Remember that scam artists are very good psychologists. They know how to appeal to your sensibilities.

Beware---They're Pros they make their living that way. Fraud and deceit are their tools of trade.

About the author: By: George W. Cannata Owner and publisher of the web site:http://www.caveatemptorus.com You have permission to publish this aticle in its entirety without changes and it must contain all links and credits to the author.

How to Sell Your Crafts on eBay

Author: James Dillehay

Artists, craftspeople and photographers are successfully selling their wares everyday on the online auction site, eBay. According to a recent analysis of eBay sales, a crafts-related item is sold every nine seconds, a scrapbook item is sold every minute, and 40 cross-stitch items sell in an hour on eBay. Sales of craft items on eBay have grown almost 60 percent in the past year, according to TheBidFloor.com. But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn't work. Here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, ""Sell Your Crafts on eBay"" (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online: 1. A word's spelling impacts an item's profitability. For example, the word 'handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included 'hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item. 2. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for ""completed items."" Here, you'll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks to chart buying patterns. 3. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says ""highest price."" This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can't make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace. 4. Determine how much money you'll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won't make a profit. 5. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay's special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions. For more tips on how to sell your craft items on eBay, consult a resource book like ""Sell Your Crafts on eBay,"" by James Dillehay. It offers-more than 200 easy-to-learn tactics and tips that help sell art, craft and theme-related items for a profit on eBay and on other online auction Web sites.

About the author: James Dillehay is a 20 year crafts veteran and nationally recognized expert on craft business. Author of eight books, his articles have helped readers of Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Almanac, Working Mothers, The Crafts Report, Sunshine Artist, and many other magazines. For more information, see http://www.craftmarketer.com.

Why eBay is an UNLIMITED CASH COW

Author: Tom Gruber

The Unlimited Cash Cow Guru speaks

If youve been surfing the web for the ultimate moneymaking business opportunity, your problem is probably not, Darn, Ive searched thousands of websites and havent found even one business opportunity. No, my guess is, you have found hundreds, perhaps thousands, and maybe even millions of internet ads promising you incredible fortunes, all telling you that their opportunity is the best. You are probably overwhelmed with an unlimited information overload.

Been there, done that.

My purpose now is not to knock any of my competitors. Im sure many of them are honest people with fine products and wonderful opportunities. I also suspect, based on past experience, that the reverse is true of at least some of the get-rich-quick schemes that flood the marketplace.

It is beyond the scope of this article to evaluate the pros and cons of all these millions of business opportunities. And it would be rather arrogant of me to say that Ive got the best business opportunity to ever come down the pike. As a prudent business-savvy entrepreneur searching for the best and easiest way to make a profitable income, its good to be skeptical and go into any business venture with your eyes wide open.

As I searched and searched for the best and easiest way to earn an honest income, I learned a lot from the school of hard knocks. Ive made tons of mistakes; some were rather costly. But perhaps I can offer a few helpful tips that will keep you from repeating my misfortunes. I have come to the conclusion, through trial and error, that one of the best, if not the best, business opportunities right now today is: making money on eBay. Its easy, theres little risk or investment, and it can be highly-profitable for those who know what they are doing. Thats why I have entitled this article, Why eBay is an UNLIMITED CASH COW.

So let me share briefly why I believe this to be true.

First according to PC Magazine, eBay [is the] #1 rated work at home business opportunity! Thats a pretty ringing endorsement from such a prestigious magazine, especially considering that they could have said this about thousands of other business opportunities and they didnt.

Second, during treacherous times when many hopeful online companies have struggled and fallen by the wayside, eBay has weathered many economic storms. It now thrives and has become an unshakable Rock-of-Gibraltar in the e-commerce marketplace. Im ashamed to admit it, but I have been involved in several moneymaking ventures that simply went out of business before I could turn a profit. It is highly unlikely that this will ever happen with eBay.

Its estimated that over 50 million people use eBay. Many have become and are becoming wealthy using eBay as their tool. Thats because eBay truly is the Worlds Biggest Garage sale. One mans junk truly is another mans treasure.

But its even more than just a garage sale because unlike garage sales, eBay allows potential buyers to bid on your products, thereby bringing you the best profits.

Nevertheless, there is more to making money on eBay than just buying low and selling high, although that is certainly a big part of it. In spite of the fact that many people are getting wealthy buying and selling on eBay, most people flounder because they make a lot of common mistakes. But there is good news! You can avoid those common pitfalls by simply learning what those mistakes are and avoiding them. To make money like the pros, known in eBay lingo as Power Sellers, one needs to learn and apply the powerful moneymaking strategies used by the pros. Things such as:

·How to choose the best time of the week to generate the strongest sales. ·How to pick the most profitable products to sell. ·How to create enticing ad copy that will attract the most bidders and therefore bring you the biggest profits. ·How to deal with irate customers. ·How to increase profits with better photos. ·And so much more!

These are just a few of the many things that every money-savvy eBay entrepreneur needs to learn. I encourage you to turn eBay into your own UNLIMITED CASH COW. But do yourself a favor; get as much comprehensive information as possible up front. If you decide to turn eBay into your next big moneymaking business venture, please do so with your eyes wide open.

Best wishes,

THE UNLIMITED CASH COW GURU.

About the author: Tom, better known as The Unlimited Cash Cow Guru, is an entrepreneur, lecturer, free-lance author, and owner of several e-commerce business ventures, including THE UNLIMITED CASH COW COURSE.

Mistakes To Avoid In Your Ebay Auctions

Author: Evelyn Lim

Online auctions continue to grow in popularity as an easy and efficient way to make money on everything from unwanted household items to rare and expensive collectables and even to bulky items like cars.

Log on to eBay and you will see countless auctions on any item you can imagine. As eBay auctions grow in popularity, it becomes harder to make money with your auction because it often gets buried or overlooked with all the competing auctions in the same category. Therefore, to make money on your auction, it is important to set your auction apart and avoid common eBay auction mistakes. Here are 3 important areas that you must take note of:

1. Wrong product category or product category not specific enough. Not doing enough research. As it is relatively simple and inexpensive to auction an item, many sellers simply do not put in enough effort researching the market. The result is that the auctions are put up in the wrong category. This would be tantamount to pitching your deal to the wrong market.

However, if you are marketing your product in traditional channels and paying money for your promotions, you are likely to do a lot more research and legwork. If you want to earn a serious income, then you should not treat your eBay auctions any differently.

To research, find the best eBay category to put your product auction in. If you are selling coins, eBay shoppers do not have the time to search all 38,000 plus auctions put up under the category of coins. You need to define your product category as specific as possible. You will then target the true eBay shoppers that are likely to be interested in your auction.

2. A blurred or ugly looking image. Be sure your eBay auction has a clear professional looking image. Pay heed to the saying A picture speaks a thousand words. Also, dont forget to ensure that your image file size is not too large. If the image takes minutes to download, the typical eBay shopper is bound to skip your auction.

3. Incomplete and unclear product description. Be sure to give a detailed and precise description for your eBay auction item. For instance, you can give exact dimensions of the product or give specific details about the condition of the second hand item. An incomplete or unclear description is not likely to attract bidders for your item.

All in all, the best exercise I can suggest is to visit your Ebay auction and honestly ask yourself if you would be even tempted to put in a bid for this product.

If the answer is no or even probably not, then change it. If you are passionate about your auction and take the time to make it professional, your auction is likely to stand out. Make the effort to do it right and you are likely to have successful auctions.

About the author: Evelyn Lim is an online publisher of a FREE newsletter aimed at helping aspiring home based business owners. She also hopes to educate her readers on skills to acquire multiple sources of online income. To subscribe to her newsletter, please visit http://www.e-BizMap.com or her blog at http://www.EvelynLim.com .

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Taming the eBay Search Engine

Author: Robbin K. Tungett

If you know what youre doing, you can quickly find what youre looking for on eBay and the more you know about how buyers find you, the easier youll find it to be found. Here are a few golden searching rules.

Be specific: If youre searching for the first edition of the original Harry Potter book, youll get further searching for harry potter rowling philosophers stone first edition than you will searching for harry potter. Youll get fewer results, but the ones you do get will be far more relevant.

Spell incorrectly: Its a sad fact that many of the sellers on eBay just cant spell. Whatever youre looking for, try thinking of a few common misspellings you might find a few items here that have slipped through the cracks.

Get a thesaurus: You should try to search for all the different words that someone might use to describe an item, for example searching for both TV and television, or for phone, mobile and cellphone. Where you can, though, leave off the type of item altogether and search by things like brand and model.

Use the categories: Whenever you search, youll notice a list of categories at the side of your search results. If you just searched for the name of a CD, you should click the CDs category to look at results in that category only. Why bother looking through a load of results that you dont care about?

Dont be afraid to browse: Once youve found the category that items you like seem to be in, why not click Browse and take a look through the whole category? You might be surprised by what you find.

Few people realize just how powerful eBays search engine is a few symbols here and there and itll work wonders for you.

Wildcard searches: You can put an asterisk (*) into a search phrase when you want to say anything can go here. For example, if you wanted to search for a 1950s car, you could search for car 195*. 195* will show results from any year in the 1950s.

In this order: If you put words in quotes ("""") then the only results shown will be ones that have all of the words between the quote marks. For example, searching for Lord of the Rings wont give you any results that say, for example Lord Robert Rings.

Exclude words: Put a minus, and then put any words in brackets that you dont want to appear in your search results. For example: Pulp Fiction (poster, photo) will find items related to Pulp Fiction but not posters or photos.

Either/or: If you want to search for lots of words at once, just put them in brackets: the TV example from earlier could become (TV, television), which would find items with either word.

I hope this little primer helps you with your eBay searches. Whether you're searching for an item you want to purchase or you're researching products and competitors, these little tips should help. Dont get too tied up learning the ways of the search engine, though: a surprising number of eBay users dont search at all, preferring to look through eBays category system and save their favourites in their browser.

The Powerful eBay Bidding Strategy That Claims A 99% Success Rate.

Author: Ian D. Major

Don't you just love it?

You've found that special item on eBay that you've just got to have!

No If's Ands or Buts, you've got to win that item.

You've checked and double checked the ""End Of Auction"" time and date and you're at your computer, signed in and raring to go at least 30 minutes before the auction ends.

You're happy to beat the latest bid and with nervous fingers you tap in the amount you're willing to pay.

Then you read those dreaded words-

!You Have Been Outbid!

Now you remember, there are sneaky eBayers out there who use deviously cunning tricks, like placing high hidden bids and proxy bidding.

You heard somewhere that you should wait untill the closing minute of the auction before placing your bid.

Great, theres still 20 minutes to go, time to grab another cup of coffee.

Back at your computer you count down the final minutes, how can 5 minutes seem to last so long?

You constantly hit the refresh button so that you can check how long there's left to go.

At last the final minute of the auction arrives.

You tap in the next highest bid and hit ""Place Bid"". You're waiting for that page. The one that says'

!Congratulations! You Won The item!

But your heart sinks when yet again you see those dreaded words-

!You Have Been Outbid!

This cant be right! They cant do this to you! It's just not fair!

But wait, theres still 15 seconds left to go.

You frantically type in a higher bid and you're greeted with-

!Listing ended!

No. No, It cant have ended.

But it has.

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

I think every eBayer has experienced this at some time or other.

I know I have!

There has to be a simpler way. And there is.

Enter the Sniper.

SniperWare, as it has become known, is a program that will place a last second bid on your behalf.

Many of these types of Auto-Bid Programs claim a 95% to 99% success rate at placing the winning bid.

No more sitting staring at your computer counting down the minutes to try and place that winning bid because with Sniperware you simply enter the details of the auction you want to bid on, the maximum bid you are prepared to make and that's it.

You don't even have to be at your computer. You don't even have to be at home come to that.

SniperWare generally comes in two flavours.

1. Web Based With a Web based program you will usually pay a small fee per use (although you are not usually charged anything if you fail to win the auction). Most of the on-line programs will allow you to make the first few Snipes at no charge.

2. Downloaded Sniper Software. In this instance the Sniper Software Program is downloaded onto your own computer. The upfront cost is more but there are no ongoing fees and many of these programs can be downloaded on a trial basis for free.

There are many Sniper programs to choose from. Just go to your favourite Search Engine and type in ""Sniper Programs"".

My personal choice, having tried several, is PowerSnipe and I have won some great auction using this particular program.

You can try PowerSnipe for free for 30 days and more information on PowerSnipe can be found at the end of this article.

So if you don't want to see those dreaded words-

!You Have Been Outbid!

Get Sniping.

About the author: To get your free trial of PowerSnipe visit:-

http://www.powersnipe.com/?af=majorian

To subscribe for free to eBay-Articles and get Articles, Reports and Bonuses delivered to your inbox weekly, just send a blank email to:-

ebay-articles1@majorian.par32.com

Four Reasons Why You Should NEVER Use Animations In Your eBay Auctions

Author: Sydney Johnston

Inexperienced auction sellers, or those lacking in confidence, often want to make their auction listings more dramatic and exciting. They dread the possibility that buyers will be bored by their auction and turn away with indifference.

Therefore, they reason, they will spice up their auctions with some ""animations"" - graphics that blink, change colors, spin, travel around the web page.

Or the seller may be a tech person who loves toys and is proud of his ability to create unusual effects.

Regardless of their reasons, animated elements on an auction page are almost never a good idea for the following four reasons:

1. Rather than attracting attention to the merchandise in your auction, your potential customer may watch a spinning ball or follow Santa and his reindeer through the sky. We want the customer's total attention on that all-important question: ""Do I want to buy this widget or not?"" Distractions are not good for your wallet.

2. Animations can make the load time of your auction listing much longer. I have been using DSL four years and have forgotten (happily!) how horrible it is to use dialup. However, for many places on this planet, high-speed connections simply are not available. For these folks, loading your page might take forever, and you can be sure they won't wait. Experts tell us that the average user spends only 7 seconds at a webpage before departing for greener pastures. If your sales page is still loading, no sale for you.

3. It takes time for you to figure out how and whether to use animations. This is time that would be better spent on writing more exciting and dynamic copy - copy that will turn a prospective customer into a real buyer. A smart business person will treat time as her most precious commodity and spend it on what is most likely to bring a sale.

4. Many of these animations are just downright annoying. I personally do not enjoy looking at screens that are twirling, whirling and blinking. Two particularly irritating animations are an inescapable message that follows up and down the left side of the page, regardless of where I'm looking, and ""trails"" that follow my mouse.

A huge majority of people feel the same, apparently. Sellers need to make it as easy as possible for people to buy, rather than throwing obstacles in the way.

Are there any occasions when animated pictures are of any value in an auction listing? Possibly. For example, if you are selling to graphic designers then animated elements might be appropriate. As always, testing, testing, testing is the only way to truly know.

But for the rest of us folks - forget the glitter and focus on your merchandise. That's what makes us buy.

About the author: Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby. http://www.auction-genius-course.com

6 Reasons why an eBay Business is the Easiest and Safest Home Business to Start

Author: e-bizbay.com

Calling internet auctions an Entrepreneur's Dream isn't poetic license or part of the get-rich-quick rhetoric.

Net auctions are the simplest, easiest way on this planet for the little guy to make money.

1. NOT the typical business startup

First, the would-be entrepreneur decides on a product or service. He begs, borrows or steals the money to bring his dream into reality.

Then, he faces ""The Great Uncertainty"" - Where are my customers going to come from? With an Internet auction, your customers are already there and they will come to you! Someone else has very obligingly created an entire marketing structure for us. We need to do nothing to find, literally, MILLIONS of customers.

We don't have to go looking for musicians to buy our guitars, doll collectors for our Barbie's or collectors to buy our cars. They will come to us!

2. Start up costs? None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Can you name any other business that has no start up costs? Entrepreneur magazine claims that the average franchise costs $70,000! Whoa! And when you buy your franchise, what do you get with it? Oh, employees, rent, government regulations, incredible paperwork, the constant threat of lawsuits, grinding responsibility and twelve hour days.

Auction sellers have no overhead, no utilities, no employees, no employee taxes and no rent.

3. Risk? What risk?

There is NO financial risk for start-up! It is cheap, cheap, cheap to start an auction business! You never have to worry about employees, rent, costly technology or any of the other expenses that suck up the money of an netrepreneur. Somebody else has already created the system and taken all the risk.

Having an eBay consignment business, you list other people's things. Therefore, you have no merchandise costs.

Or if you decide to list cars on eBay motors for car dealers and private parties, you simply are listing vehicles they already own. Still, no upfront costs that must come out of your pocket!

Compare the cost of traditional business expenses with that of your new eBay business and there is no comparison.

The two tools that you absolutely must have to sell on eBay are a computer and access to the Internet. A digital camera helps too.

Everyone has stuff to sell, your clients will be very easy to find and unlimited.

4. It is simple to learn! You can start your new business one day and the next, your first item can be already listed.

5. The amount of time you spend is entirely up to YOU.

You can spend an 3 hours a week... or ten hours a day... on your auction business. Your level of involvement is your decision.

Increase your level of involvement whenever you want to. Your choice. No desperation. No risk.

6. There is the FUN FACTOR (the best part)!

An eBay consignment business or eBay motors dealer assistant business lets you follow your passion, meet new people and be entertained -- all while you are ""working.""

About the author: Start your own ebay business today by visiting our website at http://www.e-bizbay.com

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Earn Money on eBay Even Without Stuff to Sell

Author: James Dillehay

Although most people know eBay as the online marketplace for buying and selling all kinds of goods, eBay also provides a backdoor income opportunity for website owners ready to monetize their site traffic.

Even if you don't have an item or sources of products of your own to sell on eBay, you can earn money through eBay's affiliate program by serving pages with auction listings specifically organized around any eBay category, according to James Dillehay, author of Sell Your Crafts on eBay.

An affiliate is an independent contractor who agrees to send traffic to a merchant who sells a product or service and pays the affiliate a commission of each sale.

eBay developed a sophisticated affiliate tool called the eBay Editor Kit that allows you to build highly targeted interactive graphic banners which list specific types or categories of items for sale.

Which Categories to Target

Let's say you have a family oriented web site with an article page(s) on wedding-related topics. As an eBay affiliate, you can insert code they provide through an easy- to-use toolkit online that allows you to serve up current auctions on wedding dresses, wedding favors, wedding supplies, or any other category you choose.

Another example would be a site providing visitors with facts of interest on actor, John Wayne. At the bottom of a page about John Wayne's movies, the site owner/eBay affiliate can place code which serves up all current eBay listings for John Wayne movie DVDs or video tapes.

If this sounds too complex, relax. You don't have to be a programmer or a geek to get this to work. The eBay Editor Kit is an interactive form available to affiliates which allows for quickly entering in your affiliate ID code, product category(s) you want to serve listings for, and a few other details. Using the affiliate interface, I've created code to generate targeted eBay listings and placed it on my web pages, all in less than two minutes.

How Much Does It Pay

The program pays affiliates between 40% and 70% of eBay's revenue (not item sale price) on all winning bids or Buy-It- Nows within 7 days of an affiliate action and up to $20 for each new active registered user who arrives from your affiliate links. These rates may change at any time but were current as of this writing.

Why Would Anyone Click

The more targeted your site traffic, the more likely people will click-through to specific auctions. Studies show ads related to your page content get higher response rates.

Since using the eBay Editor Kit and placing graphics displaying targeted auctions, my recorded click-through rate has averaged between 50% and 70%. This compares to a typical click-through rate on my other affiliate links of between 2% to 15%.

The Ultimate Market Research Tool

The beauty and ease of the above system is you can serve your customers great deals on items they are specifically searching for and earn money in the process. But that could just be the beginning of profits for you.

With the sophisticated tracking statistics available to you as an affiliate, you can track which types of eBay listings get higher click-throughs, higher closing bids, and learn about items that sell best throughout the year.

You can then pick and choose best-selling items for your site's traffic, find inventory at wholesale or closeout sources, and then list your own eBay auctions which you already have evidence of sales history. You'll earn lots more than you would have just as an affiliate.

You should note that it is against eBay's affiliate policies for you to use eBay Editor Kit to link to your own eBay auctions.

To become an affiliate for eBay, your web site must be approved. Your site must get steady traffic, look good and all the links should function. Typically, eBay is interested in well designed, high traffic sites to partner with. To apply, go to www.cj.com, Commission Junction and search for eBay.

About the author: James Dillehay is author of eight books including Sell Your Crafts on eBay, Over 200 Tactics, Tips and Tricks to Profit with Your Arts and Crafts Items from eBay's Millions of Buyers. His books have been recommended in The Chicago Tribune, Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Almanac, Working Mothers, The Crafts Report, Sunshine Artist, and many other magazines and on HGTV. For more information, see http://www.craftmarketer.com.

Artist Marketing - Selling Your Art on Ebay

Author: Kelli Swan

Artist Marketing - Selling Your Art on Ebay

As an artist, you've probably already realized that the ""creative"" end of your profession is handled. It's the ""marketing"" of your work that is the challenge! In a previous article, I covered some of the key points of traditional Artist Marketing through participating in Art Shows and Festivals. This article will cover one online approach to marketing your work -- Selling on Ebay.

As a venue for selling Art, ebay is a much debated issue. Some artists say that ebay devalues an artist's work and that one should never sell their work on ebay. This is certainly a valid opinion -- a large percentage of ebay buyers are looking for bargains. That being said, here is another way to look at it: selling work on ebay to obtain exposure and advertising of one's work, along with making sales. Let's face it, there is no way to get around the fact that MILLIONS of people visit ebay everyday with the express intent of SHOPPING. It is unlikely that any other online site for marketing artwork will generate that volume of traffic.

A few years ago, before many artists entered the ebay marketplace, competition was light and making money on ebay a bit easier. Presently, ebay has grown to the point where jumping in and making a living selling your art exclusively on ebay would be challenging at best. If you can approach ebay as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, as opposed to ""putting all of your eggs in one basket,"" the ebay experience can be quite valuable.

As far as selling prices go, yes, often times ebay prices are below other markets. If this bothers you, stop now -- ebay may be a waste of your time. However, if you don't mind having some pieces sell for less than average, the ebay experience can simply mean well spent Advertising Dollars in addition to income. And what about those customers who paid full price for your work? Business is business. Your response, should they ask, can be that you dedicate a limited number of pieces to auction for advertising purposes. (Countless artists have donated their work to fundraisers, with zero input on the final selling price.) If you are going to ""protect"" the value of your work, you have to market it...

The actual ""how to"" of listing items on ebay is quite simple, though time consuming. There is no need for a ""how to lesson"" here, as every aspect of the ebay selling process is explained through onsite links to additional information. Any questions you have about fees, guidleines, etc. can be found right on ebay with a little patience.

The ""philosophy"" of the approach is up to you. I will suggest some guidelines for making ebay part of your over all marketing plan:

If you already have your own website, or plan to start one, great. Ebay can be used as a method for getting people to your main site. While you can't advertise your website on an auction page, you can mention your site in the ""About Me"" section of your Seller Preferences. Also, you can mention your site in correspondence email to anyone who contacts you through ebay or wins one of your listed items. Ebay is quite particular about Sellers advertising other websites (ebay would of course prefer that all business transact through them!) so make sure to exercise care and only respond to those who contact you first. (See the ebay User Agreement for details.)

If you don't maintain your own website, or even if you do, you may want to consider opening an ebay store. It's relatively inexpensive, with basic stores starting at $15.95/month, you can list as many items as you like in the store. Listing fees for store items are far less than listing fees for auction items. Of course, there is a catch -- only auction items show up at the top of a search when folks go looking for items to buy. So, your store items will seldom be found by the average shopper. However, you can advertise your store on your ebay auction pages. So one approach is to continually keep several items up for auction, and loudly declare that you have many more available in your ebay store (active links to your store help!) Also, you will find that after items have been in your store for a period of time, they may be indexed on Google and Froogle! Given the intense competition for site ranking on Google, an ebay store is a great way to get your work out there to be seen.

It probably goes without saying that you will need to post a picture of your artwork, and that image quality is very important. Try to avoid sitting your painting or sculpture on the sofa and just snapping a picture. Well displayed and well lit images will help a great deal. Also, you will need to consider how you plan to ship the item before listing it. Ebay will require you to enter shipping options and pricing that you plan to offer to the winning bidder. You will also need to decide if you are willing to ship internationally or to US-only destinations.

A final note on listing your items, whether at auction or in an ebay store: remember to chose quality KEYWORDS! This is most important in the Title line of your item. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes. Few people are probably looking for ""Look at this very pretty view of flowers in a vase."" A much better title, littered with popular search words, might be: ""Floral Painting, Still Life, Art Print, Limited Edition."" Ebay provides a list of popular ""Keywords"" to assist in your homework.

One great way to prepare yourself for entering the ebay market is to BUY something on ebay! In this case, try buying a piece of art. This will give you experience from the Shoppers perspective on searching, bidding and winning an item. You can use your likes and dislikes of your experience to create a plan all your own!

About the author: Artist and Graphic Designer Kelli Swan specializes in Pencil Drawings and Graphic Design Services. Her artwork is available through http://www.PencilPlace.com. Kelli's Graphic Design Services are listed at http://www.CygnetGraphics.com and her new site with Animal Lover Gifts, including Horse Lover and Dog Lover Gifts, is http://AnimalLoverGiftPlace.com.

7 Ways To Promote Your eBay Store

Author: Roger Mayne

The recent fee increases for eBay Stores have resulted in a large number of eBay Storeowners closing their stores because they didn't feel they could absorb the increases and remain profitable.

The majority of eBay Storeowners, however, simply absorbed the increases and continued to run their stores in a highly profitable manner. The primary reason they were able to do this was because they didn't just throw up an eBay Store, put a few items in it, and let it sit there. They had been promoting their stores all along. Promoting your eBay Store is vital to ensure it maintains continued profitability.

Here are some ways you can go about promoting your eBay Store for continued maximum profits:

1. Link To Your eBay Store In All Your Auctions - Every auction you list should include a link to your eBay Store. While eBay automatically includes a link to your store in all your auctions, you should take a different approach. Make sure your store has similar items in it, and then link to that specific item with links such as ""Can't wait for this auction to end? Click here to Buy It Now!""

2. Link To Your eBay Store In All Your Invoices And Other Correspondence - Everything you send to your customers, or potential customers, should include a link to your store. You can do this in two ways:

- Include a link to your eBay store in your email signature block. For this to be most effective, don't just link to your store. Make them want to click on the link by linking to a specific item or items related to the content of the email.

- Include mentions of your eBay store within your email itself. When a customer writes you with a question about a specific item, don't just answer their question. If you have a similar item or items in your store tell them about it and include a direct link to it within the body of your email. Just be careful not to make the email look like an advertisement. Use a soft-sell approach and mention the item in a way that doesn't interfere with the flow of your response.

3. Submit Targeted Keyword To Pay-Per-Click Search Engines - Submit your site to pay-per-click search engines such as Overture.com. Select keywords that will attract narrowly targeted buyers. When doing this, your goal shouldn't be to attract as many clicks as possible, but rather, to attract as many tightly targeted clicks as possible. Write your pay-per-click description in such a manner that it draws people who want to buy your item to your store. You do not want to attract ""browsers"" as they will just eat up your PPC budget very quickly.

4. Use Your Store's Monthly Sales Report As A Promotional Tool - Study the information included in your monthly sales report for your store to determine what promotional methods are working and what ones aren't. Increase your efforts in the areas that are working best for you and either drop or revise those that aren't doing so well.

5. Let Your Store Promote Itself - eBay has a store search page that works very similar to a regular search engine that some eBay buyers will use. Others will use actual search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Because of this, it's important that you let your store promote itself by targeted keywords in the appropriate places:

- Your eBay Store name should describe what you are selling

- You are allowed to have up to 20 customized categories within your store. Use the keywords that your potential buyers will search for as your category names.

- Use keywords in your eBay store description that accurately describe what you are selling. Just be sure to insert them into your description in a way that's user-friendly and doesn't appear as blatant advertising.

6. Use eBay's Cross Promotion Features - eBay provides storeowners with cross-promotion features but most sellers don't use them wisely. Make sure you are showing the right product to the right buyer at the right time. Ensure you are cross-promoting the proper items not only in your listings, but also in your Bid Confirmation and your Purchase Confirmation pages.

7. Make Use Of The Email Marketing Tool eBay Provides - eBay's Email Marketing feature allows you to build an opt-in customer list very cheaply. Encourage buyers to opt-in to your mailings by promoting your newsletters in your store and in all post transaction communications with buyers. Just ensure that you use the tool wisely and don't send messages to your subscribers so frequently that they view your newsletters as Spam. Optimally, you shouldn't send more than two or three newsletters a month.

About the author: Learn how to turn your hobby into a full time income with the power of eBay! eBay power sellers spill their guts for the first time ever in this easy to read ebook! http://www.ebayhotitems.com

The Center for EBay Education and Training

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Attract eBay Buyers Like CRAZY !

Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?

How to Start an eBay Business

Make Money Online: Learn to Sell on eBay

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

How To Sell On Ebay & Keep Your Shirt

Before You Sell On Ebay, Take The Most Important Step

Choosing The Right eBay Auction Category

The advantages of easily selling information products on eBay

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

10 Benefits Of Opening An eBay Store

15 Tips To Make Your eBay Business More Successful

Ebay, How I nearly got tricked out of £170

You Get To Ask The Questions For Upcoming eBay Teleseminar

Getting Your Price On eBay While Keeping Your Fees Down

Monday, August 28, 2006

How Professional Ebay Auction Templates Can Boost Your Ebay Sales

An eBay Computer Purchase

How to Sell Your Crafts on eBay

Why eBay is an UNLIMITED CASH COW

Mistakes To Avoid In Your Ebay Auctions

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Taming the eBay Search Engine

The Powerful eBay Bidding Strategy That Claims A 99% Success Rate.

Four Reasons Why You Should NEVER Use Animations In Your eBay Auctions

6 Reasons why an eBay Business is the Easiest and Safest Home Business to Start

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Earn Money on eBay Even Without Stuff to Sell

Artist Marketing - Selling Your Art on Ebay

7 Ways To Promote Your eBay Store

Previous Posts

Archives