The Center for EBay Education and Training: October 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Avoiding Ebay Pitfalls When Buying

Author: Jay Bauder

Avoiding eBay Buying Pitfalls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are some of the problems one may encounter while buying on eBay.

Seller does not deliver product This is the buyer's biggest fear. However, it is also one of the most common snags buyers encounter. Usually, when closing a deal, the seller will email purchase instructions to the buyer. This will most usually include instructions for payment. The seller will then promise to have the item delivered upon receipt of payment.

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

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

What should the buyer do about this?

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

Seller cannot be contacted to close deal or for questioning Most disputes come about due to miscommunication between seller and buyer. But if the seller can not be contacted, that presents a bigger problem for the buyer - especially if that person has already fulfilled payment of the item. eBay may help in this regard by furnishing you with further information on the seller.

About the author:

Jay is the web owner of http://www.the-lowest-prices.com Online Shoppping , a website that provides information and resources on online shopping malls and discounts. You can visit his website at: http://www.citydeals.net Online Deals

Making The Most Out Of Ebay Buying

Author: Jay Bauder

SHOPPING ONLINE CAN BE FUN!

Buying on eBay can be a lucrative activity. However, if not managed properly, it can do shoppers more harm than good.

Nevertheless, it's still the most convenient way of shopping online. So, to make the most out of E-bay when a shopper buys things, here's some way to do it:

1. Buyers should know how to buy safely.

Wise buyers should know how to check the seller's reputation by prying on the seller's feedback section. With more feedback, chances are the seller does not do transactions well.

2. It's a must for a buyer to know more about the seller.

It's best not to buy on impulse. Buyers should take time first on knowing the seller's identity first. That way, the buyer will be more assured that it's not just a hoax or something.

3. It's a must for every buyer to shop around.

It pays to compare prices before a buyer gets into closing the deal. Just like any market, e-bay has a wide array of similar items to choose from and each seller will definitely have different price quotations.

4. A buyer has to look for things that sell as well.

This will give him or her insight what kind of things that sell on E-bay. In that way, they will have an idea in case they want to sell something someday

5. Common sense is important.

A buyer should know how to detect fraud on an instant. It doesn't need further explanations or theory. It's instinct!

5. Buying on eBay can be a fun activity.

Shoppers don't have to get out of the browser instantly once they are through with their transaction. They can still amuse themselves by browsing on the seller's name, comments, and the other items being sold.

6. Discrepancies should be clarified first before logging out.

If a buyer has already closed the deal and is willing to purchase the item already, it's best to clarify any discrepancies at once. This is to avoid further misconception regarding the matter or the item bought.

7. It's best for buyers to choose the right mode of payment.

Activities involving money can be too risky. That's why it's important for most buyers to choose a reliable mode of payment. They should never go for wire transfers or any payment scheme outside E-bay rules and regulations. Other wise, there'll be no guarantee that the transaction is a safe one.

With these suggestions, online shopping will never be the same old risky activity again.

About the author:

Ebay Ebook Success Tips: Auction Listing Design!!!

Author: Tom Parker

This month I have encountered two small problems which have affected my eBay business. If I had spent a little more time thinking about the design of my auction listings, these problems could have easily been avoided and I would have had more time to spend on other things instead of editing tiny mistakes in nearly 100 listings. There have been many similar occasions in the past where a little more forward planning would have avoided me redesigning all my eBay auction listings. Therefore, my advice to you in this issue is to think carefully about the design of your auction listings. More time spent on your listing now can mean MUCH less time spent redesigning them in the future.

Now the two actual problems I encountered this month were the down to my PayPal address and my eBay ID. The first problem was that for some reason the Pay Now button in eBay was not working for all customers. This led to me getting many emails from buyers saying the Pay Now button is not working, or worse many people sending payments to one of my email addresses that was not registered with PayPal. The end result was me having to explain and solve the problem via multiple emails to multiple customers. So how could I have avoided this problem? Well in my actual eBay listing and Payment Policy I made no reference to my PayPal email address but included all my other email addresses. I overlooked including my PayPal email address in the listings simply because I assumed that the Pay Now button would work at all times. Obviously not. I have now amended all listings to include my PayPal email address and thankfully since then I have had no PayPal payments sent to the wrong email address.

So now all seems fine and dandy with my eBay listings when 2 days ago I received an email stating that I needed to change my User ID because the previous one made reference to this website. Now on eBay you can get away with this type of User ID for a while but sooner or later eBay will catch you out and make you change it. I knew this so really I should have chose a more sensible User ID instead of trying to get a little extra traffic to my website. So how does this affect my listings? Well in every listing I include a link to my eBay feedback and eBay About Me page which now needs to be changed. So that means more fun for me as I will have edit all my eBay listings yet again.

So you may be wandering OK but what's the point of this story. Well you (and hopefully me as well) can learn from my mistakes. These two examples illustrate how just a LITTLE forward planning would have saved a LOT of time for me and can do for you too. I will give you a few things to think about when designing your auction listings but you may think of more.

1) Ebay ID:- When choosing an eBay ID you need to think about using one that both reflects your line of business and also sticks to eBay policy. I know that it may be tempting to use **yourwebsitename** as a User ID but that is a violation of eBay policy and they will make you change it eventually. If you have to change your User ID then you have to change every Feedback and About Me link in all your listings. Choosing a User ID which is within eBay policy will save you a lot of time in the future.

2) About Me Page:- Do you have an About Me page? If not you should get one as it is one of the best promotion tools you have on eBay. If you do have one you really should link to it in your auctions as from the About Me page has much fewer restrictions than your other eBay pages (for example you can link to your own website). If you want to promote yourself on eBay the About Me page is the best way to do it and the best way to increase traffic to your About Me page is promote it fully.

3) Ebay Store:- If you have an eBay store then it is essential that you provide a link to it within your auction listings. Many customers who view your auctions will not know that you have an eBay store or if they do they may not know exactly what one is. If you want to maximise your sales potential you need to make as many customers aware of your eBay store as possible. Putting a simple sentence at the top of your auction listings such as ""Can't wait for this auction to end? Then Click Here to purchase it right now from my eBay store"" will give your eBay store maximum exposure in your eBay auctions.

4) Email Addresses:- Make sure that all relevant email addresses are included in your auction listing. Your PayPal email address must be in here to avoid similar problems to the ones I experienced. All the email addresses you wish to be contacted on should also be included as well. For example I include my PayPal email , my delivery enquiries email, and my general enquiries email. Even if you only have one email address which is the same as the one associated with your ""Contact the Seller"" you should still include an email link in your auction description simply because it makes it easier for the customer.

5) Ebay Store Custom Pages:- If you have an eBay store you are allowed to design custom pages for whatever purpose you see fit. If these custom pages are in any way relevant to the auction then you should include a link to them too.

6) Images:- Have you put in all the images you want to use to promote your auction. If not make sure they are all included. What about your eBay store? If you have one then a store logo is a great way to promote your store, make you look more professional, and hopefully increase traffic and sales.

These are just a few of the many things you should consider before listing an item on eBay. I am sure you can think of many more. These rules are especially applicable to ebook sellers on eBay because you will be constantly re-using the same auction listing to sell an ebook because you have an infinite supply. Getting the listing as close to perfect now will save you a LOT of time in the future. Good luck!!!

About the author: Tom Parker (Owner and Creator of The Ebook Cavern) http://stores.ebay.co.uk/theebookcavern http://www.theebookcavern.co.uk/ http://www.theebookcavernreviews.co.uk/

Feel free to use any of my articles on this website but if you do please include my signature (name and website) from above.

What Ebay Offers Sellers

Author: Jay Bauder

What E-Bay Gets from Sellers

E-Bay has indeed changed the way sellers handle business nowadays. In some cases, sellers in E-Bay are really dependent on the service up to the point that they are financially dependent on the system. Despite of that, E-Bay has a continuous growth rate and appears much bigger and financially capable than before. What do they really get from sellers?

According to E-Bay officials, they act as the middleman for customers and sellers. Their site is a portal in which both the sellers and buyers could meet and have an interaction regarding the items that are for sale. If compared to the more realistic setting, E-Bay is the online version of a flea market and instead of the buy and sale way of transaction, the flea market holds an auction and whoever has the highest big would be able to get the item. This is exactly what happens in E-Bay. The only difference is that the whole world gets to participate in the bidding process. E-Bay usually charges a certain amount to sellers who wish to have a space in e-bay's portal. The terms of payment could vary depending on the intent of the sellers regarding how long they would be able to maintain their business. There are different paying schemes like monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Most transactions are handled online.

Through this system, E-Bay would be able to earn some money before sellers could be able to sell their products and items. Whenever a product is sold, E-Bay does not receive a percentage over any successful transactions. Aside from that, E-Bay also has certain rates for advertising charges. If sellers would like to advertise more their products through E-Bay, they need to buy a certain amount. Advertising products or goods is a good way to sell product because people would be able to see the ad and potential customers could be able to inquire about the product.

On the other hand, E-Bay offers the convenience of online shopping just right at the tips of the buyer's fingernails. This is really a treat considering the busy lifestyles that people have these days. E-Bay offers the sellers a chance to service those people that have money to purchase such items but does not have the time to go out and actually have time to buy everything that they like. The relationship between E-Bay and sellers is actually a mutual and beneficial one which is also the reason why it works.

About the author:

Monday, October 30, 2006

5 Things You Must Know Before Selling On Ebay

Author: Jay Bauder

EBAY SELLING 101: THINGS A SELLER SHOULD KNOW BEFORE SELLING ON EBAY

Nowadays, eBay is becoming a fast increasing market for online shoppers. It gives them the convenience and feasibility of shopping online.

However, it is the seller that benefits most of the time as they find selling things on eBay a lucrative way of earning additional wages. But before a seller logs in and sell his or her items on eBay, there are some things that needs to be done first, here's how:

1. Sellers must know the rules.

It is extremely important for sellers to know first the rules and regulations of eBay concerning items to be sold and the transaction method. This is one way of protecting themselves so as to avoid fraudulent activities.

2. They should know their market.

Before selling, a seller should first contemplate on what type of market is she or he aiming at. If the sellers know who their target market is, it would be easier for them to think of effective words to use on their descriptive title and the details of their items.

3. They should know the selling fees.

It's a must for them to know how much the selling fees of eBay are so that they may include this on the initial price of their item.

4. They should know the available payment scheme.

The sellers should know these first so that they can assess which type of payment mode are they comfortable with. After all, they should stress this out when posting their items on sale.

5. They should know how to make an account.

It is, indeed, important for the seller to know first the basic procedures of creating an account on eBay before selling an item. No one can go start selling an item right away without having an account on eBay.

They should know how to register first. They can do this by going to the eBay website and set up a seller's account by entering some pertinent information like a valid credit/debit card account or bank account. Though, they may opt for an alternative if they are not comfortable doing this. They may opt to become ID verified as a substitute.

For payment purposes, they should also know how to open a PayPal account.

Also, they should know first what kind of format to use, the category of the item, how to write the title and the specifications of the sale, item description, how to increase the item's visibility, and how to contact the winning bidder before starting to post an item on eBay.

If all of these things are already clear on the seller, then posting an item on eBay will never be a problem. It's that easy!

About the author:

What makes Ebay Stand Out For Buyers

Author: Jay Bauder

What makes E-Bay stand out for Buyers?

E-Bay is certainly a hit to the market especially for the buyers. The concept of online shopping or bidding for that matter do not appeal too much for buyers but the emergence of E-Bay made a difference to that. Both buyers and sellers are flocking in the site in order to conduct their business there. What is the real reason why E-Bay became a hit for buyers?

Well, one of the reasons for the success is the concept that E-Bay had. Auctioning is a good way to bargain the products but at the same time still have a profitable business. The concept also of people from all over the world makes it more fun. Most buyers are also looking for a sweet deal in the internet because they originally have the original price in their hands. A good yet quality bargain for customers is important because they are looking for their money's worth. Aside from that, E-Bay serves as an online mall or ""internet shopping haven"" for buyers that do not want to be bothered when it comes to hopping from shops to shops. E-Bay offers a variety of choices for their buyers which make it fun. The choices and alternatives that E-Bay offers attract customers who are always on the look out for something new and fresh. On the other hand, the transactions held in E-Bay are safer and secure if compared to other portals. In E-Bay, they guarantee the safety as well as the quality of products once a buyer has purchased it.

When it comes to the design and lay-out, E-Bay keeps it simple and hassle-free which really is a priority for buyers that are not particularly technology sassy. The simple design that graces the computer screen is one of the reasons why people go to E-Bay and purchase what they want online. As others would say it, simplicity is the key and it is indeed a key to the success of E-Bay. Another factor which makes E-Bay click is the communication ability of the site. Both buyers and sellers have the chance to communicate openly with each other. Both parties could exchange views and opinions which could help both parties as well as E-Bay.

E-Bay is viewed by buyers as a refreshing change against the tight grip of big companies towards buyers. In E-Bay there is freedom and choice in every transaction made.

About the author:

Ebay Selling Success

Author: Jay Bauder

Succeeding as a Seller on E-Bay

Being successful is almost everyone's dreams this day and being successful in E-Bay could be a reality once you set your heart into it. Like in any other business, patience and perseverance in the world of E-Bay are factors needed to ensure that you are going to be successful here.

Aside from those virtues, a lot of strategic planning is needed to ensure one's success in E-Bay. The first thing that you could do is to mark your territory. This means that you should be able to determine on what kind of specialization you would like. For example, your area of specialization is books therefore you should focus yourself first in establishing a name in the books category before eventually branching out your items.

This would help you in establishing a name through categories thus forming a solid foundation for your business. In terms of products, remember that a wide margin market is important therefore products should not be too expensive. Products that are easy to dispose of as well as in demand are great investments for people that are planning to be successful in the world of E-Bay.

Customer service also plays an important part in being a successful seller on E-Bay. This is because customers always know if you are the type of seller that prioritizes the needs of their customers. If the first transaction with a seller made an impact to them then the tendency of customers is to buy and purchase again. Aside from that, customers that are truly satisfied with a transaction made from a specific seller would be able to recommend the products as well as the services to other potential customers without paying anything to the customer.

This is a good way to expand your horizons as a seller which could have a great impact to customers. As a seller, you should always seek feedback regarding the transaction that they made with you as well as the state of the product. This is important because customers would feel that they are very important in your line of business. It is important to have more positive feedbacks in E-Bay because most customers would rely on a seller because of their good reputation on the web.

Last but not the least, always hold honest transactions so that people would learn to trust you and in return, you would be able to maximize the benefits of E-Bay.

About the author:

6 Tips For Better Ebay Buying

Author: Jay Bauder

Hot tips for Ebay Buyers

Ebay is the world's greatest e-commerce site. With over 147 million registered users from all over the world, it's definitely here to stay. Whether you're a newbie Ebay buyer or already an aficionado, you could always make use of the following tips on buying on Ebay.

Know exactly what you're looking for.

There's no other better way to waste your time browsing on eBay than not knowing what you're actually looking for. If you're not only looking for a single item, it will be helpful to jot down a list of your ""searchable"" items.

Browse like a pro.

In EBay, items are sorted and placed in almost 26,000 categories. If you would like to hasten the searching process, it will help if you look for the same keyword in the titles and captions of the item listings found. Just tick the small box right under the search box on the results page of your first search then hit the search button again.

Make use of your options.

To narrow down the category you're searching in, click on the option box above the results, which is found on the right part of the screen. Then, you can choose whether you would like your results to be focused on ""lowest price"", ""highest price"", ""newly listed"" or ""ending first"".

Inspect on the item.

Checking on the authenticity of an item, especially if it's an antique or a memorabilia is a must. Do your homework by researching more, confirming its condition and not just relying on its photograph. Comparing it with similar items will also improve your chances of purchasing an item that's worth your dough.

Know your seller.

Your seller might be continents away from you. It would be a wise move on your part to check on your seller's credibility. Seeing his feedback rating is one way to accomplish this. It's a number that's followed by a star. Reading the item's description carefully may also help in ensuring that you won't get ripped off. The return policies, mode of payment, and postage costs must be noted well. Also, the ""ask seller a question"" option is not placed there just for any reason. Make the most out of it.

Be the Best Bidder.

If an item you value a lot is auctioned and you want to jump in, go stick to your maximum bid. Bidding higher without really analyzing the item's worth commonly happens. Better consider that since you're the one buying, you call the shots on where your money will go. Sniping services can also help in this endeavor.

About the author:

Ebay Buying The Unimagineable

Author: Jay Bauder

SALES FROM THE CRYPT

In today's contemporary society, where everything can be done already over the Net, online shopping is one lucrative activity for the seller and convenience for the buyer.

This is where eBay comes in the limelight. Every online shoppers and online traders can benefit a lot in eBay. But because of its wide diversity, things being sold on eBay had increased to amore wider, broader, and weirder.

Yes! With the wide access and convenience eBay gives to its members, there were reports that even the weirdest things were auctioned and even sold on eBay.

Here are some of them:

1. Ghost in a Jar

There was an actual report about an item, dubbed as a ""ghost in a jar"", being sold on eBay. The seller narrated in his item description how he got the jars (there were two, actually). The seller claimed that the remaining jar contains some ""black thing"" based on what happened to the other jar after it fell to the ground and emitted some sort of black smoke.

The auctioned placed 60 bids during the listing and had reached $90 million. Though, there are no concrete reports as to whether the sale was really closed or who got the item in that amount.

2. Vampire killing kit

This refers to a kit suitable for some ""vampire hunters"". This kit includes an ebony wood stake, a crossbow with four silver-tipped arrows, a variety of surgical instruments, and a large bottle of holy water.

3. UFO Detector

This is a modified magnetometer manufactured by a Brazilian company. It was said on the auction that this item can actually detect an approaching UFO or can spot an UFO activity.

4. Russian Test space Shuttle

It's a spacecraft built by a Russian company. The actual reserve price for this item is $2 million but was auctioned and bid on eBay with only a small percentage from its actual selling price.

5. Serial Killer's Fingernails

This refers to the fingernails of a certain Roy Norris who sailed to Southern California, in 1979, for a killing binge that murdered five people. He was with a certain Lawrence Bittaker.

These fingernails are placed at the back of a Christmas card with Norris' note, signature, and black thumbprint.

These are just a few of the weirdest things that a buyer can get on eBay. In fact, there are thousand others lurking in eBay and are waiting for some eager and gullible bidders.

About the author:

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Things You Can't Sell On Ebay

Author: Jay Bauder

E-bay may seem to have everything a buyer would need or want. However, not all things are provided on E-bay for sale. There are things that are prohibited in being displayed in E-bay due to infringement of some existing laws.

This list of prohibited items should be strictly noted unless it's okay for the seller to be banned from the E-bay listing or his or her account suspended. He or she may even face some criminal charges relative to the violation of the law.

These prohibited items are as follows:

1. School-related software.

This refers to any kind of school-related software that is being sold to students or researchers at marked down amounts.

2. Law-related items like brand names misused just for personal gain; copyrighted materials, unauthorized recording or footage of a live show; beta software or software that are used to test and assess a software's over-all performance; any software or hardware used to extract different audio and video files in a CD, VCD, or DVD; or items that a seller cannot provide proof of authenticity.

3. Wildlife creatures and animals.

Any kind of animals being sold in E-bay is strictly prohibited. There are certain laws that govern the illegality of selling wildlife animals especially those that are classified as extinct or nearly extinct.

4. Tickets or contracts of concerts, shows, or any kind of performances.

Selling of these items is strictly prohibited unless the seller is permitted to do so by an approving officer. Sale of such legal agreements may result to breach or violation of the law.

5. Fake items such as counterfeited currencies. These are not only prohibited in E-bay but are highly punishable by law.

6. Any downloadable media.

These refer to any kind of software that was only made available for certain people. If the seller is not the sole owner of the rights of said downloads, E-bay will not accept such items for sale. In such cases, these items will only be allowed provided that the seller can provide proofs of copyright ownership and that this must be stated when posting the item for sale.

7. Goods that were prohibited from other countries.

8. Signatures, faces, or names of people without the owner's permission.

9. Any kind of ammunition or weapon.

10. Government licenses, identification cards, or any pertinent document related to the government.

Usually, E-bay updates or modifies this list of prohibited items. And so, it's important for every buyer and seller to get hold of an updated copy of the list of prohibited items on E-bay.

About the author:

Ebay Changing Your Mind After Purchase

Author: Jay Bauder

As the old adage goes, nobody's perfect. There are things in this life that people do on one instance only to change his or her mind after a few minutes or so.

On eBay, there are instances wherein online shoppers or bidders may find retracting a bid inevitable due to some unforeseen circumstances. Others find it tricky and sellers may find it maddening. But whatever the point is, buyers may still retract their bids even if they won the item.

As much as the seller would be professional about the matter, buyers should also, by all means, do the most civilized thing to do - inform the seller about the reason why he or she would not push through with the sale.

However, buyers may also do this legally, that is in accordance to the eBay policies. Buyers may declare a ""clear error"" especially when there were things done inadvertently. For example, the bidder mistakenly typed $100 instead of $10.

When things like these happened, the buyer has to make appropriate actions at once. All they have to do is to tick the ""Services"" link situated on top of the navigation bar. On services, the buyer should tap the ""Retract Your Bid"" link found on the ""Bidding and Buying Services"" section. The item number should be placed on the space provided in the Bid Retractions page.

Automated explanations are available and can be used by the bidder. Then, after the buyer had clicked on the ""Retract Bid"" tab, the bid amount will be deleted from the auction.

The eBay management, in reality, is reasonable on things like these. In fact, eBay may accept whatever reasons buyers have whenever they want to pull back a certain bid. But then, it may pose harm on the bidder's reputation in the future.

This can be tolerable especially if the reasons are valid, but nevertheless, it's still a big no-no when doing business on eBay. In the first place, it was clearly stated on the buyer's guide that the bid serves as a contract that binds the buyer to a commitment to make the necessary purchase of the item he or she had won.

What's more, bidders may even lose the credibility and the chance to bid at some point especially if their bidding history were made known to most sellers.

Indeed, retracting bids on eBay is not such a good practice to make, and can be a hard habit to break.

All of these things boil down on one common point. That is, the buyer should never bid on an item if he or she is not yet even sure of buying it.

About the author:

Things You Can't Buy On Ebay

Author: Jay Bauder

The eBay Blacklist

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

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

eBay's policies describe items that may not be posted for auction. They fall under three categories: Prohibited Questionable, and Potentially Infringing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday, October 28, 2006

Making Money on Ebay

Author: Hans Hasselfors

You have your business set up, your name chosen; you're signed up and registered. Now what do you need to be making money on Ebay?

When you first start out making money on Ebay you need to decide on a product that you would like to sell. It is suggested that you start by choosing one type of product. This will allow you to become an expert with them so you can advertise and sell them effectively. You will want to expand your product line as you become more effective in online marketing. You can try different selling and advertising methods until you find what works the best for your particular product or products.

You will want to limit the number of items you place on auctions. The goal for making money on Ebay is to sell your items at the highest possible price. If you are selling several of the same things at the same time, it will be much harder to get a high price for them.

Finding quality and unique items to sell for making money on Ebay can be difficult as ebay gets more popular. Some sources are Estate attorneys who get requests from families to help dispose of the deceased items. Taking an ad out in your local paper and offer to take on consignment to sell could be a very good source of items and products. You will want to charge a small upfront fee and or a percentage of the sale. By pursuing this avenue to gain products and items be sure and check your state and local laws to be sure you do not need to have a auctioneers license.

You may also find items from other Ebay sellers who have bought items in bulk or by the lot. They may have items they choose not to sell. If you make other sellers aware you may buy excess items of a certain product, you may have another source of changing items or products.

A couple of important points to remember as you're attempting to make money on Ebay. Make sure you sell only legitimate items. If you are selling illegal or counterfeit items, and the real manufacturer or another Ebay seller or buyer reported you Ebay would cancel all your auctions. Do not allow friends, relatives, or even be tempted yourself to bid against other bidders on your auctions in an attempt to drive up the price. This practice is known as shilling and is illegal. Not only will Ebays fraud department shut you down. In some states the attorney general will bring criminal charges against you with the help of Ebay.

To help you make money on Ebay you may want to promote your auctions. You can do this with a personal web page just to promote you Ebay sales. You can also run a online store with links going back to your auctions. This will give you a more professional appearance on the Internet and helps your customers a better idea of who you are. Finally a very good way to assist in your quest to make money on Ebay is build a mailing list. Send out email to your subscribers on a regular basis and promote your current auctions.

Currently there are approximately 430,000 people who are making money on Ebay. This is because it is a efficient and low cost way to reach 45 million people. You can see there are many ways to for making money on Ebay. It is not a get rich overnight excursion. Do not be fooled into buying guides that claim instant success. Many of these are just bought e-books or some are actually copy write protected articles reproduced without authors consent. Do you homework, expect to have some expenses, make a plan and follow it then you to will be making money on Ebay.

About the author: About the Author: Hans Hasselfors is the founder of http://www.SubmitYourN ewArticle.com . You may find varied Ebay articles in our article directory.

Ebay The Best Site For Sellers

Author: Jay Bauder

WHY E-BAY IS A SELLER'S BLISS

Today, more and more people are gradually opting for eBay as an alternative market site for their items. And the more people try on selling their products on eBay, the more they conclude that eBay is the best market site to sell products online.

So, for people who want to know why eBay had fast become one of the best website for selling items, here are some reasons online shoppers need to know:

1. It is not just a marketing website, it acts like a ""virtual"" garage sale as well.

Usually, a marketing website caters to people who need to sell their products. But most of these marketing websites only allows people who are really into business and that the products they offer should be of high quality.

However, eBay does it differently. It acts like a virtual garage sale, in which, a seller can still sell items that are already old. And so, ordinary people who wanted to make profit out of some old item that still has value or those who want to simply get rid of it, eBay is the only site that can provide such service.

2. E-Bay builds the seller's character.

There are features on eBay that serves as ways for sellers to build integrity at the same time establish rapport.

The ""seller's feedback"" section and the ""ask a seller question"" tab create a solid foundation based on trust among the eBay members. In this way, the buyer gets the feeling of security while doing transactions with the seller. Just the same, the seller's reputation is solidly established.

3. It offers a low investment.

For those who really want to make a business out of selling on eBay, they are guaranteed of a low investment capital. Actually, there is no capital that has to be paid. It's the selling fees that only need to be accomplished by the seller. If compared to charges of other marketing websites, eBay's selling fees are relatively lower.

4. The selling process on eBay is a lot simpler.

E-Bay does not require sellers' additional requirements like trade name, domain name, or any other pertinent documents being asked by other marketing websites. The only thing eBay requires a seller to do before posting an item is to create an account, after which, he or she can already start the posting the items to be sold.

5. It has an ""autoresponder"" system.

This means that the seller do not have to stay online most of the times just to get hold of any response from the buyers. E-Bay eliminates the hard-selling type of sale.

About the author:

How To Sue eBay and Paypal for Unfair Business Practices

Author: Dr. Michael A. S. Guth, Ph.D., J.D.

Consumers who have experienced unfair business practices from eBay and Paypal, e.g., where the companies refuse to live up to their buyer protection programs, may have recourse in a court of law. Typically unsatisfied consumers have bought a product on eBay or pay for it using Paypal only to find that the article is not as represented, is a different color or size than pictured, or arrives in a broken and unusable condition. When the consumer complains to eBay and Paypal and asks for a refund, both of these eBay-owned companies disavow any responsibility owed to the consumer.

This article will present a guide for consumers to prosecute eBay and Paypal for deceptive business practices that harmed them and what they can expect from eBay and Paypal in terms of defenses. At the outset, note that eBay and Paypal have managed to insulate themselves from damages claims through creative wording of their user agreements, which all consumers must agree to accept as a condition for using either eBay or Paypal.

Paypal, Inc., is a subsidiary of eBay, Inc., and the two companies are intertwined for purchasers of goods sold on eBay.com to complete payments to sellers using Paypal.com. The Defendants Paypal, Inc. and eBay, Inc., may be served with process (summons and a complaint) using the long arm statute of the consumer's state. The long arm statute most likely provides for service of out-of-state corporations through the state's Secretary of State. eBay's may be served with process at the following address: eBay Inc.; Attn: Corporate Counsel; 2145 Hamilton Avenue; San Jose, CA 95125.

Upon receiving the consumer's lawsuit, the defendants eBay and Paypal will advise the consumer that his or her user agreements with these two firms require the consumer to file disputes against the firms either with a court in Santa Clara County, CA, or with the National Arbitration Forum. If the consumer does not voluntarily withdraw his suit, then eBay will threaten to seek its lawyer fees to have the case dismissed. At this point, most consumers then drop their suits.

However, the arbitration clauses in the user agreements exclude claims for equitable or declaratory relief. Accordingly, if the consumer files his suit from the outset seeking equitable or declaratory relief, then the eBay user agreement defense will NOT prevent the lawsuit from going forward. With the lawsuit proceeding forward, the consumer can send eBay or Paypal interrogatories to seek discovery. Interrogatories are written questions sent to a party to a lawsuit that must be answered in writing, usually within 30 days. With interrogatories, the consumer can get access to information about the seller, as well as the frequency with which consumers have complained about items being delivered that were materially different from the item pictures on eBay.

The consumer's local state court will have personal jurisdiction over the eBay and Paypal to hear claims for equitable and declaratory relief, because these firms have established substantial contacts the consumer's state. The following non-exhaustive list of activities and contacts by the eBay and Paypal in and with the consumer's state make it fair, equitable, and convenient for eBay and Paypal to defend these causes of action in the consumer's state:

(1) The controversy arose out of the consumer's purchase of some item on eBay.com, which was shipped to him or her at the consumer's address, and which arrived damaged and unusable. The funds used to pay for this transaction were drawn from a bank in the consumer's hometown, and payment for this transaction occurred in the consumer's hometown. The contract to purchase the item and pay for shipping was most likely formed in the consumer's hometown.

(2) For more than 10 years, eBay and Paypal have systematically and continuously advertised their services to the consumer and other Internet users in the consumer's state via advertising and electronic mail. Over the years, eBay and Paypal have collected fees on scores of millions of dollars in payments and seller fees from businesses and residents in the consumer's state.

For circumstances in which a seller refuses to take back damaged merchandise and issue a refund, the consumer can seek equitable relief to bar that seller from any and all further transactions on the eBay and Paypal platforms. The consumer can seek declaratory relief that eBay and Paypal's Buyer Protection Plan submission forms are riddled with computer errors and will not allow users to properly submit claims.

The consumer should also seek declaratory relief that eBay and Paypal's fraud violated the state Consumer Protection Act, which thus gives the consumer a statutory right to prosecute eBay and Paypal independent of any breach of contract claim he or she may have related to the user agreement.

The consumer can also challenge in his local state court the validity of the arbitration clause as unconscionable. A claim that the arbitration provision is unconscionable is a matter to be decided by the courts and not the arbitrator, because it specifically challenges the validity of the agreement to arbitrate irrespective of the validity of the whole contract. If the state trial court determines that the arbitration clause is unconscionable, then the consumer will be entitled to pursue monetary damages against eBay and Paypal. However, it is unlikely that a state court will find the arbitration clauses unconscionable, due to the pro-business tilt of the U.S. court system.

For more information and free legal advice for cases against eBay and Paypal, please contact the author through web page http://michaelguth.com/prose.htm

About the author: Dr. Michael A. S. Guth, Ph.D., J.D., is an attorney at law based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His practice focuses on enabling people to represent themselves pro se without a lawyer (and thereby save on legal fees), as well as full representation for appellate practice. One area his work has particularly emphasized is child support defense and elimination of the unconstitutional debtor prisons that now saturate our court jurisdictions across

eBay Tips & Tricks

Author: Jamie Snodgrass

eBay Tips & Tricks

There is lots of money to be made on eBay, as well as lots of great deals for shoppers.

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, there are some things you should be aware of before

you venture out.

Just as the police will warn you about purse snatchers when you are shopping - they say be

aware of your surroundings, know where you are going (or at least look like it!).

Unfortunately, you need to be cautious when shopping online as well, on a number of

levels.

There are a lot of techniques, strategies, and facts that the savvy buyer or seller should

know about, so that they don't make a mistake that could have anywhere from minor to

severe consequences.

Exciting Facts About eBay * More than 2 MILLION people visit eBay every single day -- searching for products to buy! * People spend an average of 2 hours shopping on eBay. * 72% of eBay users make more than $50,000 per year! * eBay currently has over 147 MILLION members, and thousands of new members are added

every single day! * eBay processes over $1,000 in sales every second! That's $1,000 up to $86,000,000 a day

-- every single day of the year! * If you have a retail business, a good way to increase your sales is to advertise some of

your inventory on eBay. * If you know where to buy something in bulk at wholesale price, and then sell it on eBay,

you can make a profit. * People make money selling everything from unwanted items of little monetary value, to

brand new and expensive objects such as satellites, motorcycles, and cars. Needless to say, you can certainly see that on many levels you can benefit by doing

business on eBay.

About the author: This article has been brought to you by Ebay Tips and Tricks and Article Search Submit

Selling on eBay

Author: Howard Young

There are literally dozens of eBay ebooks on the market, which provide professional insight in starting an online business using eBay as your storefront. Some of the best selling eBay ebooks at Fizziebooks will help you start a profitable online business.

eBay Marketing Secrets

This ebook teaches the basics on how to make a successful living buying and selling on eBay. For about $20, this quick start guide will give you some marketing secrets not found elsewhere on the Internet.

www.d irectcess.com/ebay

Make money on Ebay

Bidsecrets.com is lifetime membership site, which provides you a set of ebooks to start and operate your online business. The membership cost is $20 and gives you unlimited access eBay resources. The list of dropshipping suppliers is well worth the membership cost.

www.bidsecrets.com

Calculate your eBay fees and increase your sales with ProfitCalc

Profit calculator is software that computes the auction costs for selling items on eBay. Remember that eBay buyers are looking for the best possible price and your profit margins are sometimes slim. This software shows you ways to cut back on your auction costs to increase your profit.

www.profitcalc.com

Automate Digital Delivery of your eBay eBooks

@utoDigital Delivery is a top-notch digital delivery system that enables you to sell electronic media on eBay. You may have purchased an ebook with republication and re-branding rights in the past. Now you can simply use this tool to deliver it quickly and automated to your customers.

www.autodigitaldelivery.com

How I Made Up To $11,212.00 A Month On eBay

Janiece Smith's amazing new ebook outlines step-by-step instructions to easily duplicate her unique eBay selling system. If you have any doubt of starting an online business, read her inspirational story and techniques on how she made over eleven thousand dollars one month on eBay.

www.expressprofitsonline.com

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay continues to be a best seller at Fizziebooks. The theme of this ebook is oriented to achieving Internet traffic using some of eBay's overlooked features. Thrilling insight will help you increase both eBay and offset sales.

www.silentsalesmachine.com

tagTRAX :

ebay selling |

make money on ebay |

selling on ebay | ebay fees | ebay buyers

You have permission to publish this article ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright, author information, and an active link to the author's Website (Resource Box) at the end.

About the author: Howard Young is a freelance writer and site administrator for Fizziebooks where you can search for online ebooks read reviews and commentary on ebooks.

Friday, October 27, 2006

5 Easy Ways To Make Money On eBay

Author: Dave Bromley

As the editor of the UK Auctionline Newsletter I receive a great number of e-mails from subscribers. Frequently the question they ask is, ""Please tell me an easy way to make money on eBay."" I suppose the answer to this question really revolves around how you define the term easy.

It is my belief that there is no easier way to make money on the Internet than by selling items through eBay. What could be simpler, a straight forward 5 step process.

1. Get something to sell. 2. Photograph it, and write a description. 3. Upload your listing to eBay. 4. Collect your money. 5. Dispatch the item.

What could be simpler than that?

But I suspect what people are really asking is how can I easily get products to sell. From my experience this is what both newcomers and some experienced eBayers find difficult. So in this article I just want to highlight 5 very simple ways that you can get products to sell without even leaving your computer. This I hope that will be easy enough for everyone.

1. What, no photograph? It is my belief that there is hardly an item listed on eBay or any of the other online auctions that does not benefit from having a photograph or image included in the listing. In fact most items that are listed without a photograph that actually sell tend to fetch 20% less than those with. In some categories the figures are even higher. For instance clothing items offered without a photograph average a 78% lower selling price than those with. So it would seem to be pretty easy to browse eBay looking for these ""photo less"" items, buying them and then relisting with a photograph. Money for old rope really.

2. Finding the poorly listed item. There are many reasons why someone's listing fails to attract any worthwhile bids. Bad title, short or poor description, wrong category, poor spelling and so on. You can find these by browsing around the auction site, but I would suggest an easier method.

Select the categories that you are interested in and look down the search feature for items finishing within the next hour. Here is where you will find the bargains that have failed to attract any bids for the reasons we have mentioned.

3. Unsocial hours In any book about eBay you will find tips on when is the best time for auctions to finish. The most suggested times for most items are Sunday afternoon and evenings and Wednesday evenings. Some experts suggest that for business related items Monday or Tuesday during office hours are best. If you accept that there are times when you will get increased bids for your items there must also be times when if your auction ends you will not do so well. I would think if you have an auction that finishes between say 5 am and 8 am on a Monday morning you will not have too many people lurking to place last minute bids to push the price up. Again buy and relist with your auction set to finish at a more sociable time and you could easily make a 20% or more profit for very little effort.

4. Buy Collections One of the easiest ways to make money on eBay is to cash in on other peoples laziness. If someone has say a collection of 10 china dogs, it is a fact that if they put all ten in one listing as a collection they will get less than if they had listed each item separately. But it is amazing how many sellers cannot be bothered to do this. I have in the past bought such a collection and actually made more from one of the items than I had paid for the whole collection.

5. Other online auctions. Over 95% of all online auction sales are on eBay. They have the largest number of registered buyers and items listed for sale. For this reason items offered for sale on eBay get the best prices. So why not search around some of the smaller online auctions, because in many cases items listed with them will not attract such a good prices as could be achieved on eBay. Then all you have to do is buy from them and relist on eBay.

So there are 5 easy ideas for you to consider. Why not give some or all of them a try.

About the author: Dave Bromley runs the http://www.ukauctionline.co.uk web site and newsletter. This information packed web site contains hundreds of articles, hints and tips for getting the most out of eBay.To register for the newsletter and 6 part mini course visit his web site now.

5 Hidden Resources For eBay Users

Author: Jason James

Many thousands of people making a living both buying & selling on eBay. Currently ranked as the 37 biggest site on the net (according to Alexa figures) eBay shows no signs of slowing down, even fortune 500 companies are opening eBay shops to sell surplus & unwanted stock. The following are five resources that I use personally & encourage you to use them to increase your eBay profits with ease.

Reports show that over 90% of searches on eBay are done using the search facility. What users do not know about eBays search factility is that by default it only searches the item titles - not the descriptions of the items. Remember this fact as it will show the significance of some of the resources listed below.

1) FatFingers

How professional a seller are you? Do you check your listings before submitting them or even does someone else proof read them for you? With millions of listings on eBays networks of sites at any one time, a small proportion of these listings contain errors - & a misspelt word is about the biggest error you can make.

Imagine your selling a Sony Television for example. What if you misspell the item as Sony Televisoin. Anyone who searches for the term ""Sony Television"" simply isn't going to be presented with your item. Only those eBayers who search manually though the category will find your items. Needless to say that if people can't find your item, they're unable to bid on them.

FatFingers is a service you can use to find all misspelt variations of a term. Why would you need such a service?

Well obviously if an item has low visibility on eBay it's also likely to have zero or few bids enabling you to snap yourself up a bargain. I've known people use this service to make a full time living, purely buying items cheaply and relisting them without errors.

Details at: http://www.fatfingers.com

2) eBay Pulse

Back to the search facility eBay pulse shows you the top 10 searched keywords in every category. It's a real gem of a service, obviously by looking at the most widely used search terms you can see what eBayers are after. And if your selling in this category, by inserting some of these keywords within your title your items will be seen by more users.

The only thing to watch out with this service is make sure the keywords are relevant to your item, IF NOT DON'T USE THEM. How many times have you saw listings such as ""SONY PANASONIC LG WIDESCREEN DIGITAL TELEVISION GUIDE"", - listings such as these are well thought out to earn high visibility from the way users search. Anyone searching for the items with any of the keywords will uncover your listings.

While it may lead to a high number of views, firstly fellow users will get annoyed if they find your item completely unrevealed to what they searched for, Secondly keyword spamming as it is known, is against eBay policy and will lead to your item being pulled. I use pulse daily with all my listings but make sure it's relevant to your item first.

Details at: http://pulse.ebay.com

3) Keyword-Pro

Keyword-Pro is a commercial subscription service which is similar to eBay pulse. However, the main difference is Keyword-Pro offers a much more in depth list of relevant keywords. It lists the top 50 keywords for every category for both eBay.co.uk & eBay.com. This is a great addition, especially if any of the terms found in eBay pulse are not relevant to your item.

Keyword-Pro is available as both a web service or as a small program that downloads the list onto your P.C. It's data is updated weekly to keep you informed of the latest search terms.

Details at: Trading-Web-Solutions.com/keywords

4) Selling Manager

When you first open a selling account on eBay, options listed under the sell tab of eBay are enough to get you by. However, you can upgrade to a more in depth service known as Selling Manager. As eBay describes the service ""eBay Selling Manager is our online sales management tool for medium to high volume sellers"". It allows you to track every eBay sale, customise your feedback comments, print shipping labels & much more. It saves me about four hours a week tracking orders and watching my sales.

Selling Manager is FREE on eBay.co.uk & has a small monthly charge of on eBay.com (after one a month trial free). Once I moved over to Selling Manager, there's simply no way I would go back.

Details at: Click on services once you've logged into your eBay account.

5) Hot Item Finder

Performing a market analysis is one of the most important ways to maximize your net revenue once you have listed enough auctions to collate plenty of raw data. ""Hot Item Finder"" software program is an unbelievable product to conduct this eBay research. You can extract and analyze licensed eBay data and statistics to virtually ensure your auction success by seeing what has sold, for how much, how many bids it got, etc. Visit the website here: http://www.hotitemfinder.com/auctionresourcenetwork

I hope you find these services useful & time saving in your goal for a successful home business on eBay. Remember, your most important resource is your time when your starting or building up an online business & if you discover any site, person or opportunity that can save you time give it the attention & serious consideration it deserves. Every top Internet marketers constantly educate themselves by purchasing & reviewing almost every new product released. The way I look at it, if an ebook costs $197 and the information within the ebook saves me this or allows me to make an additional $197 it's well worth it - once you can do it once you'll be able to repeat the exercise over and over again making repeated profits. If you discover a precious eBay related resource let me know & I'll consider revising this list for future editions.

Good luck with your eBay selling.

About the author: Jason James website 'The Auction Resource Network' reveals his inside secrets and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 a month on eBay.

Claim your FREE 'Top 10 eBay Selling Secrets' eBook: www.auctionresourcen etwork.com

Products to sell on eBay

Author: Shawn Sellen

There are millions of items up for auction on eBay at any given time. It is truly amazing that you can find almost anything. Where do all of these things come from? There are several different sources that a seller can use to obtain many items to sell on eBay. In this article I will go over different sources, and also include the pros and the cons of each one. The most important thing to consider is how much time you have to invest and your comfort level with a particular source.

Garage sales: Garage sales are a great place to find items at a good price to resell. It is almost like a treasure hunt because you never know what you will find. The down side to garage sales is that you might have to do a lot of shopping around to come across what you are looking for, or the ""mother load"" Personally I can't resist to stop at a good looking garage sale.

Thrift stores: Thrift sources are similar to garage sales. You may find a lot of good deals, but you may have trouble finding a quantity of ""gems"" to sell. I suggest using garage sales and thrift stores in conjunction.

Estate sales: These are great. You can find a lot of quality items. The trick is, is to watch the newspapers close, and make sure you bring enough money for the high end items that you can sell for even more. If you live in a small community you may have to do some driving to take advantage of estate sales.

Small business: I would suggest that you approach small business owners and offer to sell their overstock on eBay for them. If you get several of these you could do very well. About 25% of the sales is close to the amount you should charge for your service. Make sure you right up an agreement, especially pertaining on the owner not selling anything that you are listing. It is better if you have the items in your possession. The drawbacks of this is that you have to keep your number of clients up, and risk your feedback if the owner sells the item you listed for him or changes his mind.

Drop shippers: The good thing about drop shipping is that you don't have to keep an inventory. When you make a sale you just contact you drop shipper, pay them their cost and they send the product to your customer. The bad thing about drop shipping is that you are depending on another to ship to your customers on time. You are also selling something that is not in your possession. This could be risky for your feedback if the item has to be back ordered, or suddenly becomes discontinued.

Bulk/lots: If you have enough money to by a lot, or large quantity of your product, you are on your way. With this you will have to make sure you have the room to store a large quantity of goods. You also have to have confidence they will continue to sell and not die out in the middle. There are online sources you can use to find bulk items. Use a search engine using the words; wholesale, surplus, bulk, lots, you get the idea. Say you are looking for a quantity of combs, type in the search box combs AND bulk, or another keyword to go with combs. Make sure the word ""and"" is in caps.

EBay: What? Yes, you can find things to sell on eBay on eBay. Look in the lot items and if you can find a good deal on good items, you can buy them and then sell them separate. You can also keep an eye on items you know about and possibly snatch something up for a low price and resell it. This technique takes patience and time. They ""great"" deal does not come everyday.

Family/Friends/Co-workers This is where you sell items on eBay for people that you know, and they tell people that they know, and it goes on. Sometimes it can be tough selling for people you know. They might want to take advantage of you and try and get you to lower your cut of the sales.

The best source is the one you can feel good about, and is trustworthy. If a source makes you uncomfortable, try a different one. There is no reason you have to stick to one source. Branch out a little and see what you can find. You might be able to come across something that will make other sellers green with envy.

About the author: Shawn Sellen is the owner of the auction information website htpp://www.auctionreel.com

How To Get Repeat Sales On Ebay

Author: Jason James

Most people can make one sale on ebay, but very few people know how to make consistent, repeat sales--and even less know how to make those sales using mechanisms other than ebay.

The most important part of making these ""repeat sales"" is building a base of interested customers. This process starts with selling on ebay, but most people who sell on ebay don't know how to do it.

Once you complete a sale on ebay, you should always contact your customer to thank her for purchasing from you and to give her any follow up details she will need to complete the transaction. In addition to this, you should also ask your customer whether or not she is interested in receiving emails from you when your business is offering special deals, item lotteries, or product coupons.

This is where ""building a base of interested customers"" comes in. If you effectively pitch your email list idea to a customer (who has already purchased from you and therefore has a high probability of being interested), you have a decent chance of getting a positive response. If your customer says yes, add her to a database on excel, along with her name, email address, and what she purchased from you.

You will also want to save the email as a record of her response. As unsolicited bulk email is against the law, it is always crucial that you have evidence to prove that everyone you are mailing with offers has specifically asked to be added to your list.

You should continue to do this--make sales and record names and information.

Periodically, you should make special offers on your ebay store inventory. For instance, you could offer 20% off on certain items for one week. Or you could offer 25% off on all lightbulb sales in the future, provided they purchase a lamp within the next two weeks. Or perhaps you could excite your list by raffling of an expensive item from your ebay business, like a plasma TV.

Whatever offer you use to lure them in, just keep your goal in mind--and that is to drive repeat sales by directing them to your ebay inventory on a regular basis.

As I mentioned previously, unsolicited bulk email is against the law. So, along with each notification you send them, you should include a written explanation of how they can ""opt out"" of your mailing list.

One trick you can use to make this method particularly effective is selling low and then reselling high. This simply means that you sell inventory on ebay for low prices, so customers have a low resistance to purchasing it. If they see something interesting for a dollar, they might just grab it because it is inexpensive. You complete that dollar sale--and then use it to get an interested buyer who could potentially purchase something far more substantial in the future.

In addition to using different tricks to maximize your profits with this technique, there are also more effective methods you can use to collect large amounts of personal information and to conduct email correspondence campaigns. Autoresponders, websites, and name capture pages are a few of these tools. Once you become proficient in the simple tactics I explained above, you should spend some time researching the tools I just mentioned.

About the author: Jason James website 'The Auction Resource Network' reveals his inside secrets and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 a month on eBay.

Claim your FREE 'Top 10 eBay Selling Secrets' eBook: www.auctionresourcen etwork.com

Angry Seller Unfairly Denounces eBay

Author: Sydney Johnston

Recently, an angry eBay seller furiously denounced eBay for cheating him out of listing fee credits.

eBay's stated policy is: ""If your listing ends without a winning buyer or results in an Unpaid Item (UPI), you may qualify for a credit by relisting the item. If the item sells the second time, eBay will refund the Insertion Fee for the relisting.""

Unfortunately for the seller, this notice was all that he knew of eBay's re-listing policy. He should have taken the time to read more thoroughly and he would have discovered that eBay's has limitations on this policy. In fact, he had broken not just one, but two of eBay's rules.

1. eBay automatically credits the second listing fee - but only if the seller uses eBay's official Relist feature. Sellers have the choice to use the ""Unsold - Relist"" links. If they simply recopy the auction and list it again eBay will not know that it's a re-listing and won't credit the money. That is exactly what our irate seller did.

When he demanded that eBay compare his two items and see for themselves that they were the same, in spite of the fact that he didn't use their form, they rightly refused to do so. At any one moment, eBay has tens of millions of items for sale and expecting them to spend enormous amounts of time fulfilling requests for special treatment are not reasonable. eBay is a business with obligations to its stockholders and this use of employee time is not cost efficient.

2. Both his original and relisted auctions were of multiple items, known as a Dutch auction. eBay rules clearly state that refunds of relisting fees only apply to single item auctions, not multiple ones.

There are other restrictions on this policy:

3. Relisting credits are only available in these formats:

* Auctions

* Buy It Now

Store owners cannot take advantage of this feature.

4. The starting price on the second listing must not exceed the original one. That is, if your opening price on Auction #1 was $20, the price on Auction #2 cannot be $25.

5. eBay offers sellers the option of adding a ""Reserve"" to their auctions. This is a set price, declared by the seller. If the bidding doesn't reach this price, the seller has no obligation to follow through on the sale. If the reserve is $50 and the bidding only reaches $48.65, no sale occurs.

* If Auction #1 didn't have a reserve, then Auction #2 cannot have one, either.

* In the event of a reserve, the amount on Auction #2 must not exceed the reserve on Auction #1. If the reserve on Auction #1 was $75, the reserve on Auction #2 cannot be $90.

6. Your merchandise must be relisted within 90 days of the closing date of the first auction.

There is a special circumstance with relisting fees and that is the problem of the unpaid buyer. Sometimes, for reasons that are hard to fathom, there are buyers who bid - sometimes aggressively bid - on auctions, or choose the Buy It Now option, but then never pay for the merchandise they've won.

Naturally, this is a hardship on the seller since they've paid not only to list the item originally, but have paid eBay's Final Value Fees which are triggered in the event that an auction or Buy It Now is successful. Thus, they're out two fees, instead of only one!

In this case, there are several steps to go through, which involve contact between the seller and buyer, and eBay and the buyer. But ultimately, eBay cannot force anyone to pay for merchandise, so the best they can do is refund both fees to the original seller.

And what if you relist your merchandise and it doesn't sell the second time around? Unfortunately, you're out two listing fees, rather than one. That was certainly the case with the furious seller who didn't take the time to educate himself on eBay's rules. The irony is that his losses were under $1. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call to take more care in his business. After all, if we're going to successfully play the auction game, we must know the rules.

eBay seller tools are useless is you don't know what to do with them. Let Sydney Johnston teach you what to sell on eBay.

About the author: Starting an eBay business is easier with mentoring from an eBay expert. Learn from our offers an 11 Day Course that teaches how to sell on ebay: http://auction-genius-course.com/11days.shtml

Thursday, October 26, 2006

10 Safety Tips For Buying On eBay

Author: Guillermo Jalil

eBay has become a household name for shoppers. A lot the buyers on eBay are not regular internet shoppers but they still shop on eBay. Such is the power of eBay giving simplicity of shopping and top bargains. From time to time, there is some fraud on eBay about fake fashion items, event tickets that do not exist, some expensive electronic items that do not exist.

eBay does its best to intervene and resolve such disputes. As a shopper, you can follow these 10 safety tips to avoid being conned.

1. Check the seller's feedback. Positive feedback rating of over 95% is good. If there are many recent negative feedbacks, then this is not a good indication. Also, read all the negative feedbacks. Are these negative feedbacks reasonable? What type of response does the seller have for these feedbacks? Does the seller's defense sound reasonable? Sometimes new members who buy items on eBay are paranoid and they leave a negative feedback in a haste so make sure if the seller has defended himself/ herself in a reasonable manner. If there are too many complaints of the same nature, then it is probably true.

2. The sellers must have some kind of identification or recognition seal like Paypal verified, or Square trade or a Powerseller seal on the auctions. Such sellers are more reliable. This is especially a good check when you buying an expensive item.

3. Ask seller a question before bidding on the item. Responsible sellers reply promptly to questions. Also, if the seller actually has the item, he/ she maybe able to answer a valid question otherwise not.

4. If you are buying something expensive, then get the contact information of the seller at http://search .ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9 . You have to login to your eBay account and send a request. You can get the seller's address and phone number. In doing this, your address and phone number will also be emailed to the seller.

5. The items must have pictures unless it is a service that is sold on eBay. If there is no picture, then the items is probably not there. Almost all sellers will put at least one picture of the item. Let's assume that the item is there but the seller has been lazy in not putting the picture in the auction ad. Would you like to deal with someone who is so careless? It just shows that the item may not be in good condition, maybe defective or broken.

6. Check description of the item. Research other websites for the same item. Some of the shopping websites to research would be shopping.yahoo.com, overture.com and shopping.msn.com. These sites are adequate for researching items and get the description that you need. The eBay description should match item description on other sites.

7. Research prices for the item on sale. If the item on sale is Gucci handbags, then search for this model of handbag on shopping.yahoo.com. If it retails for $800 on Yahoo and seller on eBay is selling a brand new one for $90, then this item may not be authentic! Large wholesaler are able to sell items for around 50% of retail but something like an original Gucci handbag, it is unlikely that a seller would let go for $90 because these items sell like crazy. Just a note on fraud items - a lot of fraud eBay occurs on fashion items. This is very unfortunate and eBay has taken a lot of steps to eliminate fraud.

8. If the seller has not mentioned any shipping and handling terms, then ask before bidding. There are many auction ads, where the seller mentions that shipping and handling will mentioned to the winning bidder. Surprisingly, there are bids on that item! If you start bidding on the item, then it means that you agreed to the terms and condition of the sellers and there is less room for you to dispute later so ask for the clear instruction on shipping and handling.

9. Reliable sellers have clear description on their refund policy. If it is not there, then ask the seller for it. If the seller has no refund policy, then do not bid on the item. If the there is no refund policy in the auction description, then make sure you get the refund policy in an email from the seller. In this way, you have a document of the refund policy.

10. Do a search for the sellers past items on eBay. Check to see if the seller has sold similar items in the past. To search on the past auctions, go to the Advanced Search page. Here click on the items by seller link and type in the sellers ID and check the box for Include Completed listing. It is always good to check this especially if you are considering buying something expensive.

About the author: The author Guillermo Jalil owns several businesses including eBay business and other internet businesses. For more Ebay shopping tips on how to find great bargains visit http://www.startbuyingonebay.com. For tips on how to make on the internet from multiple sources of income visit http://www.internetandmoney.com.

Do You Have An Ebay Store?

Author: V. Raposo

In this article we look at the benefits of having an eBay Store. Selling on eBay does not require you to have an eBay Store, but it sure does make things a lot easier.

There are 3 store subscriptions you can sign up for with eBay Basic (15.95/month), Featured (49.95/month), & Anchor (499.95/month).

Now most people starting out will of course go for the Basic store and not the Anchor. You would need to make huge profits to go for the Anchor store. We'll talk more about the Basic, and Featured Stores here.

If you have a Basic Store you may want to consider upgrading to a Featured Store. Things have been changing with eBay stores and some of things I'm most thrilled with is the $30/month allotment of eBay Keywords.

Free Keywords

Yes, that's $30/month each and every month worth of free eBay Keywords. With eBay Keywords you will drive more traffic to your listings by putting your ad at the top of the page for the keywords you choose. This also separates your store from other listings. This can significantly increase your store sales.

With a Featured Store you get double the web pages! Which only increases your presence on eBay. You can also reduce the size of the eBay header on your pages giving you a page that's more focused on your business. This helps build your own brand on eBay, and you can match it to your website.

Advanced Reports

With a Featured Store you get advanced monthly reports and traffic stats you can access anytime. I just love looking through my reports to see all the in-depth info that the reports give me. The Path Analysis allows you to see how visitors move around in your store. This is so important as you develop your business.

Owning an eBay store will not only bring you more sales, but it'll cost you less by using it in the long run. These are just some of the many advantages of owning an eBay store. Once you own one, you'll wonder why you didn't go for it sooner.

About the author: Vera Raposo has been making a living with online auctions since 1997. With thousands of completed auctions under her belt, Vera is now sharing some of her best auction strategies in a free 90-minute interview at http://www.auctionstrategists.com/special

Want To Be An eBay Millionaire? Have You Got What It Takes?

Author: Darren Yates

Taking the leap to full-time as an eBay seller is living the dream: earning a real income, working at home, being your own boss etc. It's the promise of a million scams, but it's finally come true, at least for some.

What they don't always tell you in the success stories is that becoming a full-time eBay seller is not for everyone. You really should try it part-time before you consider taking it up full-time, and even then, caution is recommended. Before you go and burn your suit, here's a list of questions you should ask yourself.

How Much Am I Earning From eBay Now?

Calculate how many hours a week you spend working on eBay related things (be honest here), then divide this by the average profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours, would you earn as much as you earn now?

Do I Have a Good Job?

Consider what you might lose if you quit your job to focus on eBay. If you're in a well paid job with good promotion prospects then it's well worth reconsidering: you might get a few years down the line and wish you'd stayed in your traditional job, as you'd probably be the CEO by now.

Can I Really Make Much More Money?

Unless you're selling a large quantity of small goods, most of what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end and you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. Whether you would make more money on eBay really depends on what kinds of items you're selling - for low value items, going full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, the chances are you'll hit the limits of how much money you have to invest in inventory long before you hit the limits on your time.

Can I Handle Working At Home?

Apart from anything else, you might find that your dream of working at home is more of a nightmare in reality. Your family can start to depend on you to get things done during the day. If you have a wife and children then they can resent the fact that you're in the house but refuse to have anything to do with them for large parts of the day. Giving in to them and stopping work for a while will cause your profits to slide.

Would I Survive if it All Went Wrong?

Could you get by if you had a month or two where you sold nothing? Or would you be desperately looking around for a job and cursing the day you ever discovered eBay? That's the real test.

If you are not phased by these questions, then I guess you could be cut out for the eBay lifestyle - and even if you were phased, you'd be surprised just how far you can get part-time.

About the author: Darren Yates has discovered that Brandon Dupsky makes $22,000 a DAY! on eBay selling everyday stuff. Do you think you could too? -

http://www.how-to-make-money-online.inf/eBay-millionaire/

Using the Ebay search tool to see if a product will make money on Ebay

Author: Jason James

That is the question that thousands are asking me every week. My email is also flooded with questions like: How do I start an Ebay store to make money on Ebay? What should I start selling on Ebay? Is there an affiliate program that will help me make money on Ebay? The list goes on and on.

The one question that we are going to cover today and one that you should pay attention to is ""I have a product but what is the best way to evaluate the product and find out how I should price it so that I can make money on Ebay?""

I have two words for you: Search Engine. No I'm not talking about Google, Yahoo, or any other of the major search engines. I'm talking about a search feature that is literally under your nose at this very moment. I'm talking about the Ebay Search Tool!

Did you realize that the Ebay search tools is the fastest and most accurate way to finding out if people are buying products like yours on Ebay? You will also be pleased to know that you can discover what sells best so that you can make money on Ebay and how to accurately price your products so they sell like hot cakes!

Using the Ebay search tool to make money on Ebay

Be sure to search the 'completed auctions' to find out how similar products like yours have been selling. The results that you will find here will also help you determine which categories to list your item in. Anone can make money on Ebay but you want you do not want to be just 'anybody'

Each item sold on Ebay has a particular type of buyer that shops for that item. If you were looking to buy paperback books on Ebay then you obviously would not be searching under the category of televisions, right? This line of thinking will help you better profile buyers and after you have analyzed their shopping patters by studying the completed auctions section of the Ebay search tool then you will better be able to become a 'power seller' to make money on Ebay.

Hot Tip: Use this completed feature to find out what 'time of day' that the high bidders snagged the sale and won. Are you getting the idea yet? Good, let's continue...

Most of the time new sellers like to jump in and make money on Ebay by selling a very common product. That is ok but you still need to do your homework. What kind of homework? Well for example you definitely want to check and find out how many other Ebay sellers are pushing the same product. In conjunction with this information write down what time their auctions close. If you you are the second or third auction to close with the exact same price then your profits will shrink to nothing, trust me.

Hot Tip: Space out your auctions that are similar to others to avoid being left in the cold.

Although it is not necessary now, it is advisable for you to learn the the Ebay search engine 'syntax' (shorthand) so that you will be able to location your items with precise accuracy. Of course you can make money on Ebay by by just finding your way around using the small search box that shows on each page, but eventually you will need to learn more. And, if you are really new to using the Ebay search features then by all means simply go to the search page.

5 parting tips

Last but certainly not least, I am going to leave you with a brief list of tips below which will help you get as much as you can from the Ebay Search Engine in order to help you make money on Ebay.

1. To better define your search be sure to check off the boxes next to 'search titles and descriptions' options

2. Do not worry about using caps when using the Ebay search engine. It is not case sensitive.

3. Using conjunctions and articles are not advisable when typing in your listing. The Ebay search tool may consider these conjunctions/articles (a,or,an,the,etc.) as part of your search and pull irrelevant listings.

4. When searching for a popular item then it is advisable to search by the full 'description' and not by auction titles and descriptions alone.

5. If you are interested in finding the history of pricing for an item then make sure that you check off the box to search the completed listings in addition to the current ones.

About the author: Jason James website 'The Auction Resource Network' reveals his inside secrets and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 a month on eBay.

Claim your FREE 'Top 10 eBay Selling Secrets' eBook: www.auctionresourcen etwork.com

The Center for EBay Education and Training

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Avoiding Ebay Pitfalls When Buying

Making The Most Out Of Ebay Buying

Ebay Ebook Success Tips: Auction Listing Design!!!

What Ebay Offers Sellers

Monday, October 30, 2006

5 Things You Must Know Before Selling On Ebay

What makes Ebay Stand Out For Buyers

Ebay Selling Success

6 Tips For Better Ebay Buying

Ebay Buying The Unimagineable

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Things You Can't Sell On Ebay

Ebay Changing Your Mind After Purchase

Things You Can't Buy On Ebay

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Making Money on Ebay

Ebay The Best Site For Sellers

How To Sue eBay and Paypal for Unfair Business Practices

eBay Tips & Tricks

Selling on eBay

Friday, October 27, 2006

5 Easy Ways To Make Money On eBay

5 Hidden Resources For eBay Users

Products to sell on eBay

How To Get Repeat Sales On Ebay

Angry Seller Unfairly Denounces eBay

Thursday, October 26, 2006

10 Safety Tips For Buying On eBay

Do You Have An Ebay Store?

Want To Be An eBay Millionaire? Have You Got What It Takes?

Using the Ebay search tool to see if a product will make money on Ebay

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