Getting Started & Making Money on eBay!

Getting Started & Making Money on eBay!

by: Lynn Terry

Click Here to hear this topic LIVE on the Entrepreneur Magazine Home Biz Show, with Guest Lynn Terry of Web Service Network: http://media1.select.net/wsradioarchive/sho_hbbiz5021903.wma (opens in Windows Media Player)

eBay receives over 1.5 billion page views per month! Over 9,000 new users register with eBay every day! This makes eBay one of the greatest moneymaking opportunities on the internet! Below youกll find Selling Tips & resources that will help you cash in on the eBay market!

Sure, I want to make money on eBay… but what would I sell??

You can sell virtually anything on eBay! From household items you would normally sell in a yard sale for pennies on the dollar, to informational products (advertising space, ebooks, books, publications, reports, etc) that don’t even require shipping!

Do some research! Choose an item (clothing, a book, electronics something specific), and see how well it has done on eBay in the past by searching similar completed auctions.

The same item may bring much higher bids in one auction than it does another… Pay close attention to the differences in their ads: Starting/Ending Time, Title or Headline, Description & Photos.

Some items, such as computers & electronics, tend to bring the highest bid when they end on Saturday night. Keep in mind the time zone differences, and try not to set auctions to end during church time or business hours on either the east coast or the west coast. Internet advertising, and informational products (which target the office worker or home business owner) might do best on a weekday in the afternoon hours. Get the idea?

Next you will want to line up the products you have chosen to sell…

Make that item SELL!

You must add good, clear pictures of your product to your auction listing! Using either a digital camera or scanner, make sure you take clear pictures that show detail.

Gain attention to your auction by making the most of the 45Character Title! For example, lets say you were selling a piece of unused software:

QUICKBOOKS PRO 2002 5 USER NEW/SEALED

Accounting Software Program for sale

Obviously, the first title would get more clicks!

Next is your description… Include everything about your product size, dimensions, brand name, etc… any pertinent details. Add extra pictures without extra cost by using a free image hosting service and simple html tags.

If you don’t know HTML, you can use a program to create it for you… You can learn some basic commands at www.HTMLGoodies.com .

Tip: If you create your description in Frontpage, Dreamweaver, or any other web design program, you can simply copy the code and then paste it into the description field on the eBay form.

Your About Me Page

Once you sign up for your free eBay account, and get ready to sell, be sure to set up your About Me page! This is the one place that you can tell all of your potential bidders about yourself, your website, and your product line. What you aren’t allowed to include in your auction description… you CAN include here! A colorful กmeก image shows up beside your eBay user name on all pages & transactions, allowing viewers to click for more information.

See these examples:

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/hostmary/

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/lynn%40webservicenetwork.com/

Followup & Backend Sales

Be sure that you use a signature file in all email communication with bidders & auction winners. Include information about your website, your contact information, and include a PS if you would like to bring their attention to something else they may be interested in.

Follow up with your auction winners via email and make sure that they received the item and are happy with it. Encourage them to leave you feedback, and do the same for them. This promotes confidence in future potential bidders that you are a legitimate seller.

Questions? Join us at the Vision Possible Forum!

Join Lynn Terry, owner of Web Service Network, in the eBay & Other Online Auctions Forum: What to sell, how to sell, tips and tricks to increase bids. eBay as a fulltime biz? at www.MaryGoulet.net/forum

About The Author

Lynn Terry, owner of Web Service Network, brings you the full report online at http://www.WebServiceNetwork.com/ebay.htm . Like Lynnกs Tips? Get them by email every week! Self Starters Weekly Tips will put you ahead of the game in Online Business: http://www.WebServiceNetwork.com/sswt_archives.htm

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 23, 2003

by Lynn Terry

Remove These Objections and Watch Your eBay Auctio

Remove These Objections and Watch Your eBay Auctions Fly

by: Brian McGregor

กObjectionก is a term taken directly from sales and marketing training, and it is important you understand the significance of objections to your sales process.

Objections are those points, sometimes small issues, which make a bidder or a buyer think again about going for your offering.

In your auction description you need to remove as many of these objections as you can.

These are the kind of objections which your prospective buyers will have.

Objection 1

Is the seller trustworthy?

The buyer usually doesn’t know you. If they’re serious bidders they will check you out. How will they do this?

a) A good Feedback Rating will be one way they assess you. Be determined in getting your feedback up, and making it all positive.

b) They might also click through to your About Me page. This page gives you the opportunity to convey your personality and your honesty.

One of eBayกs standard About Me page formats lets you display your recent feedbacks always useful and also your other auctions, again useful. This is in addition to anything about yourself which helps to show what a sincere and genuine person you are.

And finally, if you have a web site from which you sell products or services, you are allowed to place a direct link to it from the About Me page. This is in marked contrast to your auction description page, where eBay does not allow direct links to web pages. So, create an About Me page and incorporate the points mentioned.

c) A prospective bidder may wish to ask you a question. As you will know, there is a standard eBay facility whereby a bidder can ask a seller a question. You should really welcome questions. Why do I say this?

Well, if a bidder asks you a question, first of all you know they are interested in your offering. They wouldn’t have wasted their time on typing out their question to you if they weren’t. So, by asking you a question they are qualifying themselves in as a real prospect. And you now have the chance to directly influence them in your reply to their question. Depending on the nature of their enquiry, you have the opportunity to convey your integrity, honesty, credibility, fair mindedness, helpfulness, expertise, knowledge, other appropriate products etc.

So, if questions are such good things, why not make it easy for the bidder to ask one? Always have some text in your auction description offering to answer any questions, with a link to your email address. If you have a little knowledge of HTML coding you will know how easy this is to do. It is far better than simply relying on buyers finding the standard กAsk the seller a questionก link provided by eBay.

d) You might consider a moneyback guarantee, if itกs appropriate and you can กaffordก it.

Why would you or should you do this?

Well, when you think about it, in online auctions, the buyer is normally asked to take all the risk. They usually pay the seller up front before the item is delivered to them. The risk is all theirs that the seller doesn’t perform.

To some buyers, particularly on higher value items, this risk is so high that it can cause them to have second thoughts about bidding. You know you are trustworthy, but they don’t. By offering a moneyback guarantee you are offering what is known as กrisk reversalก. You are taking the risk off your buyer. In effect you shoulder the risk.

I know this works, because I use it myself. In thousands of auctions Iกve run, I can count on one hand the number of people who have invoked my money back guarantee.

If you can practice กrisk reversalก, it will help your auction success rate, and it is vital on Dutch auctions.

Objection 2

How do I pay?

Always maximise the number of payment options you will accept.

You should provide different types of payment options for your buyers:

PayPal

Nochex

FastPay

Cheque

Postal Order

Bankerกs Draft

Bank Transfer

Cash

You can accept credit/debit cards on your auctions if you open accounts with relevant payment processors. These enable buyers to pay you with a credit/debit card even though you aren’t a business, and you don’t have what is known as a Merchant Account.

As you probably know, PayPal is owned by eBay. Therefore eBay make it really easy for you to take PayPal payments from your buyers. But don’t forget other payment processors, like Nochex and FastPay. It might just be that your interested buyer only has a Nochex account, or a Fast Pay account.

Opening accounts is free. Paying anyone via PayPal, Nochex or FastPay is also free which is why so many auction bidders and buyers use them. There are charges for you as a seller, however, and these are incurred when you receive money and/or when you transfer money from/to your PayPal, Nochex or FastPay accounts from/to your own bank account. Check out the respective fees via their web sites.

In my experience, the rates of charges are reasonable for giving you the significant advantage of being able to accept credit/debit card payments on your auctions.

If you are selling low value items, say less than £3, it may be prudent to add a small sum or percentage to the final sale value to cover this.

Speaking personally, I never ask the buyer to incur additional charges for using PayPal, Nochex or FastPay. (You will now realise why itกs called removing an objection!) I take the view that buyers who wish to pay by credit/debit card should not be discouraged in any way and a surcharge of this nature might just prevent them from bidding or buying.

If you don’t have PayPal account and youกd like to create one, click here.

If you don’t have Nochex account and youกd like to create one, click here.

If you don’t have a FastPay account and youกd like to create one, click here.

As I mentioned, they’re free to set up.

Objection 3

Is delivery expensive?

Always fully describe your delivery details within your auction description. Be up front about delivery costs.

If bidders or buyers aren’t given this detail within the auction description, they may become suspicious that the seller is hiding something, and therefore decide not to bid. There have been occasions where sellers have sold items at what appear to be cheap prices, but have inflated delivery costs to compensate, or even over compensate. Never do this!

There is no reason why you cannot say up front how much P&P will be. You can find out the real delivery costs of the company you plan to use. You can get these details from their website.

Once you have the postal costs you can add the appropriate handling and packaging costs, and there you have the figure to let your buyers know in advance that you’re not hiding anything.

You have just removed another doubt in your prospective buyerกs mind.

Objection 4

What happens if the item arrives damaged?

In your auction description you should cover your policy in relation to damages and insurance.

If you’re selling higher value items you may wish to consider using a delivery service which includes insurance. Remember, even though the buyer has paid for it, the item is your property until it is accepted by the buyer. So if it is damaged in transit, this is your responsibility. You will have to arrange a replacement or a refund, and claim your costs back via your insurance.

Don’t forget, if you do need to have enhanced insurance cover, it is perfectly reasonable to include this is in your delivery costs as shown in your auction description.

Objection 5

How professional is someone who has multiple spelling errors?

It is very unreasonable for any bidder to overlook your auction just because you have spelling errors. Isn’t it?

However, they may believe someone who won’t take the trouble to get their spelling correct might be equally unprofessional elsewhere.

You and I might consider that stance to be unreasonable. With spell checkers available, however, thereกs no reason to have any spelling errors creeping through on your auction page.

So, spell check your auction description page please.

Objection 6

What do I do now?

You should always กask for the orderก. In other words, suggest to your prospective buyer that they make a bid today for this valuable, rare, stunning, limited edition item!

And remind them that when they win the item they will be enriched by the strongest benefit you have already identified to them in your auction description.

Objections Summary

If you spend time removing these objections, you will be repaid handsomely. I can guarantee you will receive more genuine bids for each of your auctions than if you had left these points hanging for the bidder to ponder and make assumptions.

About The Author

Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay. For a free copy of ‘The eBay Traffic Funnel’ which shows you how to use the power of eBay to make more money with your website, visit http://www.moreauctionsales.com/websites

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 19, 2005

by Brian McGregor

A Simple Ebay Money Making Trick Revealed!

A Simple Ebay Money Making Trick Revealed!

by: Dayne Herren

Let me guess, you hear of all these people making thousands if not millions on eBay and you are just completely baffled as to how they do it. Well, most of these people either sell high ticket items or sell hundreds and hundreds of specific กhotก items.

As you may know, finding items to sell on eBay can be tough and most of all, it takes time. You have to search through junk at garage sales and even thrift stores.

But what Iกm about to reveal to you will be an easy way for you to make some extra cash on eBay. It may even be enough to pay your mortgage or car payment. And best of all, it is very simple. You don’t even have to search your local garage sale or flea market for that hidden treasure to sell on eBay.

So here is what you do. First of all, you have to find a market on eBay that is buying. Take a look at expired auctions or current hot auctions. Once you find a hot subject, write up a 35 page report that gives solid content on that subject. If it solves a type of problem or explains กhow toก do something, even better. Sell your report on eBay for something around $2.99 to $5.99. Be sure to make your listing keyword rich so it gets viewed but the right audience.

Now, here is the part that may earn you even MORE money AFTER the sale of your report. If you haven’t heard of กaffiliate marketingก, then you are missing out! In a nutshell, affiliate marketing means that you sell someone elses product, and you get a percentage of the sale. There are multiple places you can sign up to start promoting other peoples products. A couple big ones that come to mind are cj.com, Linkshare.com, Clickbank.com and even Amazon.com. When you sign up, you find a product you want to promote, and then you you can pick either text links or banner ads to promote the product. When someone buy from that link or ad, you get paid. Plain and simple.

If you really want to make SERIOUS money on affiliate products, I would highly recommend you pick up your own copy of Rosalind Gardnerกs Super Affiliate Handbook. She makes over $400,000 a year just by selling other peoples products! She will show you exactly what to do to make great money. Go to http://dayne.us/affiliatehandbook.html and grab your copy.

The key to making more money off your report is to make sure you put in affiliate links within your report. I wouldn’t use more than two. I would advise using text links, that way you can blend them within the report text. Once you create your text links, they will be long, so go to www.tinyurl.com. This is a great site that can shorten the link for you.

Once you have your affiliate links shortened, blend them in within your report and hype them up a bit to promote the sale. But don’t overdue it. If you push it too much, people will realize that you are just trying to make a sale.

Lastly, when your report is complete with content and links, make sure you put in PDF format. If you don’t want to write the report yourself, just go to Elance.com and find someone who will write it for you. For a small report, it should only cost you around $20$40. Remeber, you can sell this report over and over again on eBay and you have exclusive rights to it!

Thatกs it! Now, you have the opportunity to make $5.99 from one sale on eBay and maybe even MORE with your affiliate links…and you didn’t even have to go hunting for items to sell! Just think if you get 10 reports selling on eBay. The profit potential can be huge!

About The Author

Learn how you can make THOUSANDS of dollars a month by selling other peoples products at http://dayne.us/affiliatehandbook.html.

Dayne Herren is a freelance artist, writer, and online marketer.

This article was posted on April 20

by Dayne Herren

Making Money On eBay Can Be So Simple, Just Let So

Making Money On eBay Can Be So Simple, Just Let Somebody Else Do All The Hard Work For You

by: Ian David Major

OK, so youกve been bitten by the eBay bug!

Youกve ransacked the attic, the basement and every other room in your home to find things to sell on eBay.

When friends and neighbors ask you where everything has gone, you tell them that you’re going for the กMinimalist Lookก.

Youกve attended every Yard Sale in the area and some a lot further away.

Now your garage is so full of junk your thinking of having a yard sale of your own, but whats the point, youกd only buy it all yourself to sell on eBay.

You love eBay and you’re determined to make a good living from it.

So things will have to change.

Youกve sold all of your unwanted belongings.

Visiting Yard Sales is taking up all of your spare time and your income from eBay does not match the effort you’re putting in.

What you really need is someone who will:

Give you access to a product that has a good profit margin.

Stock that product for you.

Mail the product to your customer when you make a sale.

Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it?

Yet this exactly what you get when you use a wholesaler who also dropships.

Dropshipping

So what exactly is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a way of selling and distributing products whereby the supplier of the product (the dropshipper)sends the goods directly to the end user (your customer) on the retailers behalf (thats you).

OK. So instead of constantly trying to find items from yard sales etc you simply study a list of Dropshippers and decide what product or products you would like to sell on eBay.

Quite often the Dropshipper will supply you with all the sales material you need to create your eBay Gallery Picture and eBay Sales Page.

The dropshipper stocks the product so you don’t have to.

You put your chosen product up for sale on eBay, somebody buys it and eBay provides you with the buyers name and address. Now you simply contact your dropshipper and give them the name and address of your customer and the details of the product they have bought and the dropshipper will deliver it to them.

At this point you pay the dropshipper for the product.

The great thing here is that you got payed by your customer before you had to pay the dropshipper.

So your customer pays you the retail price for your product, you pay the dropshipper the wholesale price and you keep the difference as your profit in addition to saving time and effort.

Dropship Directories

Go to your favourite search engine and type in Dropship Directories and you will find that there are dozens and dozens of them to choose from.

A word of warning here. Most of these directories are a waste of time, a waste of money or both.

Quite often what you will receive, should you buy one these directories, is a list of กMiddlemenก not true wholesalers.

I don’t need to emphasise that you will make more money if you by direct from the wholesaler.

My first recommendation is to thoroughly check out any Dropshipping source that you might be interested in.

For example.

Can you find the product cheaper via another Dropshipper?

Are their postage and packing charges reasonable?

Do they carry ample stock of your particular choice of product/s?

(Thereกs nothing worse than selling an item only to find that your Dropshipper is out of stock and you are unable to provide your customer with the product they have paid for).

My second recommendation would be to check out the Dropshipping Companies at:

http://www.worldwidebrands.com

To sum up.

Don’t Stock It.

Don’t Mail It.

Don’t Pay For It, Untill You Have Been Paid.

Leave it to the Dropshippers to do that for you!

So the next time you’re looking for something to sell on eBay, give some thought to using Dropshipping as a way of making you’re eBay experience a whole lot easier and a whole lot more profitable.

About The Author

For 12 Killer Dropshipping SECRETS for eBay Sellers visit: http://www.ebayarticles.com/12KillerDropshippingSecrets.html

Ian D Major is the creator of www.eBayArticles.com, the one stop resource for information, reports and articles about all things eBay.

To subscribe for free to eBayArticles and get Articles, Reports and Bonuses delivered to your inbox weekly, just send a blank email to: [email protected]

CopyRight 2005 Ian D.Major

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 05

by Ian David Major

An Introduction To eBay Consignment

An Introduction To eBay Consignment

by: Terry Gibbs

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

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

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

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

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

Free eBay Sellerกs Guide

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

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

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

Things You Need To Succeed With Consignment Sales:

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

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

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

Learn more about ebay consignment at: http://www.iwantcollectibles.com/consign5.html

About The Author

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

This article was posted on March 22

by Terry Gibbs

Starting a Home Business on a Budget

Starting a Home Business on a Budget

by: Suzanne Morrison

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business? Have you wondered what it would be like to get up every morning and be in control of your financial destiny without having to depend on a job? Perhaps you enjoy your job and you simply want to start a parttime business from home to supplement your income but the problem is you have very little extra money to invest in a new venture.

If this is your dream then now is the time. Never before in history has there been a better time to start a home business and this is especially true for those on a limited budget. Why is this so? The answer is simple. The World Wide Web. The Internet has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to start home businesses working from home with very little start up cash. It is now possible for individuals working from home in their pajamas to start businesses and compete in the global marketplace on the same playing field as large corporations. Anyone with a service or something to sell can build a website and using the available and often free tools on the Internet be in business almost instantly.

Setting up an Internet home business usually has much lower start up costs than the traditional brick and mortar alternative. With a traditional business there are significant overhead expenses which are usually due even before you can start making money. These expenses include: rent for office or store space, inventory to stock your store if you are planning to sell retail products, advertising, liability insurance, and the list goes on. In fact it can costs thousands

Starting an internet business has much lower start up costs because your store is in cyberspace and your office is in your home. You can find numerous low costs options for building websites online as well as suppliers who will ship your products to your customers as they are purchased instead of storing huge amounts of products which is expensive and takes up storage space

One of the best ways to get started on a low budget is by selling products on eBay. Millions of people are shopping on eBay every single day looking for just about every kind of product you can imagine. One of the reasons eBay is such a great place to start a home business on a budget is because the traffic is already there. Ebay has already done the advertising and all you need to do is show up and post your products. If you were to build your own website you would need to market your site and buyers would need to find it before they could buy from you. Secondly, eBay has taken the expense and difficulty out of building an Internet store. For a low monthly fee you can build an Internet store on eBay complete with your own logo and a shopping cart system. This is actually very similar to setting up shop in a mall in the brick and mortar world.

Another low cost way to make money on the Internet is through affiliate programs. Affiliate programs allow you to make money by placing links on your site to other websites and each time someone clicks through to the website you are an affiliate for you make money. If you have a website this is one of the easiest ways to add revenue to your current income. Many Internet retailers have affiliate programs.

There are many other opportunities on the Internet for starting your own home business. It is recommended that you take some time to research the various options but be careful of scams. If you do an Internet search on topics such as ขhome businessข or ขwork at homeข you are likely to find a lot of good information but you will also find many scams that promise riches only to take your money and leave you with nothing to show for it. The best tip for avoiding scams on the Internet is the old saying, ขIf it sounds too good to be true – it probably is.ข

Whatever type of business you decide to start on the Internet it is important that you treat your business like a business. Above all, find something that interests you and that you will be passionate about and you can be successful beyond your wildest dreams.

About The Author

Suzanne Morrison is the owner and webmaster of http://www.homebizdirect.com. She makes her money online using the Plugin Profit Site. You can get your own Plugin Profit Site set up and ready to make money for you within 24 hours here http://www.homebizdirect.com/pluginprofitsite.html.

This article was posted on January 23

by Suzanne Morrison

Make Online Auctions a Home Business

Make Online Auctions a Home Business

by: John Lynch

Everyone is aware of online auctions nowadays. We all know someone who has bought or sold something on an Ebay online auction site. But how many people know that this hobby can be turned into a profitable business?

The fact is online auctions are a new kind of home based business created by the Internet with no capital investment and no risk.

An online auctions business has the following advantages:

No startup costs.

No financial risk.

Work whenever you choose.

Targeted customers brought to you by auction sites such as Ebay.

No technical skills required.

Startup in 5 minutes.

How do I start an online auctions business?

First, if you are not familiar with the process of buying and selling, you need to understand how auctions operate. By far the biggest online auction site is Ebay (http://www.ebay.com), boasting millions of users worldwide.

However, this is the tip of the iceberg. Other popular auction sites include:

Yahoo Auctions http://www.auctions.yahoo.com

uBid http://www.ubid.com

OnSale http://www.onsale.com

QXL http://www.qxl.com

Start off by buying an item yourself to get the feel of how it is done. This will give you an overall insight into the process of registering with the auction site, bidding, paying for your goods and the delivery arrangements.

Don’t Feel Forced to Buy

As a buyer you should not feel pressured into buying something that you know is overpriced because you think it is the last item. There are many online auctions and there is a good chance that you will come across the same item at another site.

Leave Your Bid Late

Experienced online buyers will leave their bids until the last few minutes before an auction closes to prevent the price being driven up too high.

Use Automated Bids

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time waiting for an auction to close, you can use an automated bidding service such as eSnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). You can open a free account and type in the auction number and the amount you want to bid. ESnipe can then place a lastminute bid for you just before the close of the auction. If you win the bid, you pay eSnipe a small fee and if you lose you pay nothing.

Search for Misspelt Items

Savvy buyers know that many items listed for sale at Ebay are misspelt. You can use this to your advantage by searching for wrongly spelt items. You will have far less competition as most people search for correctly spelt items.

Once you have bought something and paid for it, you will know how the auction process works from the buyerกs point of view. This is vital as it will give added insight into how you can provide good customer service when you set up your own business.

So now that you have bought and paid for an item on an online auction, you are ready to sell something yourself as a first step to setting up an online business.

At this point, most people look around their own homes to rid themselves of some unwanted items for which they have no use. This is a good way to get started. When you list your item on auction sites, make sure you provide a photograph. This will grab the attention of the buyers.

Description of Goods

A good description of your กfor saleก items is essential. Give all relevant details including technical specifications and dimensions where necessary.

Guaranteed Refund

Give a guaranteed refund to potential buyers to reassure them of your integrity. Most buyers and sellers on the Internet are honest but there are a few rogues, and buyers like to be reassured.

Positive Feedback

Getting positive feedback from your previous customers is the best way to prove you are trustworthy. Always request feedback politely after a successful sale.

Reserve Price

Set a reserve price to ensure that your goods do not sell for less than you want. Make it reasonable. If you set it too high, you will not receive any bids.

Payment Options

The more payment options you offer your buyers, the more likely you will be to make a sale. Ebay auctions offer the online payment transfer system Pay Pal (www.paypal.com) which is free to set up. Credit cards also offer security and are popular.

If you intend to set up an online auctions business, it is best to specialise in a niche which is a little out of the ordinary. Thereby facing less competition and guaranteeing your profitability.

Setting up an online auctions business can become a reality for anyone who is prepared to do the necessary research and put in the effort. The enormous interest in auction sites created by the success of Ebay has provided huge numbers of targeted visitors ready to part with their cash for a great variety of goods.

(C) John Lynch 2003

About The Author

(C) John Lynch 2003

Visit http://www.merchantaccountservice.com/auction_ebay.html for a Free auctions course on how to start a successful online auctions business from home.

This article was posted on October 24, 2003

by John Lynch

Why Ebay Is The Best Place To Make Your First $100

Why Ebay Is The Best Place To Make Your First $1000 Online

by: Tukshad Engineer

I’d like to begin with a question – and I’ll bet the answer is going to surprise you (it sure did surprise me!).
Q. What percentage of the worlds population do you think is online?
A. Under 1%!
Just think about that for a second – 99% of the world haven’t even gotten online yet. And yet the internet is already making some people – not large companies, but individuals like you and me – a FORTUNE. Don’t for a minute think that this happens easily – it takes time to find your own little niche online, to develop and perfect it – but it’s something you can do on a total shoestring budget, and over time anyone that really wants to can carve out a nice little earning online. And looking at the bigger picture, as more and more of the worlds population comes online, imagine how successful your business will become as your potential customers grow by leaps and bounds, every single year.
Earning online is really quite beautiful when you think about it – here’s a chance for ANYONE with a PC and internet connection to plug in and start making money…enough to pay your bills, sure – but in some cases much more. And lets not forget the comfort factor – your own hours, not having a boss to answer to, not having to travel and more time with loved ones…. the list is endless.
Ok so what does this mean for you? For those of you still trying to take that first step, today’s newsletter is all about trying to get you to think about ways of starting online. And if you cant find something then I’m going to suggest to you a proven way of making a money online, quickly.
The one question I get asked a lot is ‘What’s the best way to start an online business?’ Now while I do have my own website which now brings in most of my online income, I still believe by far the quickest and easiest way to earn money online is by selling on ebay. That’s how I first started, and I still do post at auctions to squeeze money whenever I feel like it. The reason I moved into selling on websites is because I’m lazy and don’t like making trips to the post office J . But if you’re starting out online, ebay is by far the BEST and QUICKEST way of making money NOW.
Think of these facts – ebays gets a whopping 9000 new customers signing up every day and gets 1.5 billion page views every month. And for a few pennies, you can promote your product to literally an endless source of customers – see that’s the great thing about ebay…they GIVE you the traffic that would be very difficult and expensive to get by yourself. All you do is plug in your advert click on send and a week or so later collect money from your customers.
Of course there is a right way and a wrong way of selling on ebay too – You need to know what to sell. You need to create powerful interesting adverts. You need to devise a strategy – and above all you need to find really good wholesalers for selling your products. But let me tell you, one of the sweetest feelings I’ve ever experienced was winning my first ebay auction – I may have made a lot of mistakes to get there, but once I perfected my techniques and found the best wholesalers I started to win auction after auction.
To check out quality wholesalers that can make you a tidy profit on ebay check out the below:
USA:
http://www.globalebooks.com/US_WHOLESALE_PAGES.htm
UK:
http://www.globalebooks.com/UKWHOLESALEPAGES.htm
http://www.globalebooks.com/UKGovAuctions.htm (government auctions)
OK so there you have it – a surefire way of starting out online with minimal risk and funds. If you’ve never explored the wonders of ebay, please PLEASE do so – go and find 5 items you don’t need and sell them on ebay what the hell, come round to my house and take stuff if you want! ….It could be the start of a wonderful and profitable adventure!
Till next time,
Tukshad Engineer.

About The Author

Free information on wholesalers, government auctions & saving/making money online plus the biggest internet loophole that can make you $100 a day with the click of a mouse: http://www.myonlinepowerpack.com/subscribersite.htm. Get $1,800 of free eBooks/bonuses/software/exclusive material on saving & making money online by joining my free newsletter mailto:[email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 13, 2004

by Tukshad Engineer

Using Paypal for eBay Purchases

Using Paypal for eBay Purchases

by: Terry Gibbs

Paypal is the preferred payment choice for many buyers because Paypal allows buyers to pay instantly for eBay purchases. In this article, we will review using Paypal on eBay from the buyerกs point of view.

Since eBay purchased Paypal, it has become even easier for buyers and sellers to complete auction sales. Buyers like Paypal because they can quickly and easily pay online. In fact, some bidders will only bid on items they can pay for with Paypal.

One thing that confuses buyers is some sellers accept Paypal payments through credit cards, while others only accept transfers. You see, with Paypal a buyer can fund the transaction in three ways. This can confuse buyers, and cause problems.

Hereกs the three ways to fund a Paypal transaction:

1. Transfer from a bank account tied to the userกs Paypal account.

2. Transfer from a Paypal balance.

3. Payment from a Credit Card.

The first two options cost Paypal nothing in processing fees. Credit cards cost about 2 percent to process, and Paypal passes this cost on to merchants. Some eBay sellers do not want to pay this fee for service, so they only accept payments by transfer. This confuses buyers who win auctions and assume a credit card transaction is fine.

Paypal wants users to transfer funds, and not use their credit cards. Not only is this cheaper for Paypal, but there is no risk of a chargeback.

A chargeback is when a buyer reverses the charge on a credit card by contacting his bank. Most, maybe all, banks will reverse a credit card charge with little or no investigation if the card holder contests the charge. The money is taken right out of the merchantกs bank account Paypal in this case.

Paypal makes it difficult to use a credit card to send money through Paypal. This is done making the credit card payment option difficult to find, and warning users about the กriskก because you cannot buy Paypalกs insurance.

With a credit card purchase, you do not need Paypalกs insurance. Your bank will reverse the charge free if the seller scams you.

One other way Paypal makes it hard for users to instantly send money with a credit card is by limiting the total amount you can charge.

The first time I tried to use Paypal to pay for an eBay auction, I was unable to use my credit card because the amount was above the limit. That was a $700 item. I think the single item limit is $500, but could not find confirmation of this. The lifetime limit, or total amount you can send all eBay sellers with a credit card is $2,000.

If you wish to pay for an item with a credit card through Paypal you should confirm the seller takes card transactions. This can be done reviewing the auction and looking for the credit card logos adjacent to the Paypal logo in the payment methods screen.

Whenever you pay for an eBay auction through Paypal, you should check the sellerกs Paypal status. Do not send large amounts to unverified users, and watch that the userกs address matches the auction details.

Paypal is an easy way to pay for your eBay purchases.

About The Author

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

This article was posted on March 22

by Terry Gibbs

Forgive All Ebay Sins!

Forgive All Ebay Sins!

by: Robert C. Potter

Over the years, I have been amazed at the ขblindingข greed and reckless approach to commerce that some business owners have employed. Lying to customers, selling inferior merchandise, and not offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers in their wake. Without fail, all of this ขill willข led most businesses to bankruptcy, and in some cases, Federal Prison.
I realize that not everyone engages in ขbusiness criminalityข that rises to the level of fraud and incarceration. Most people try to be good stewards, and approach their enterprise in an honest and forthright manner. For those of you who own thriving business concerns, you already know that in most cases the customer is always right. You make sure that you communicate effectively, refund monies if the buyer is truly unhappy, and try to meet the needs of the people who buy your goods or services.
However, there are more than a handful of Ebay sellers that are of the mind that customer service and effective communication is not something that they need not participate in. Take the case of a woman named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) who recently posted her disappointment on the Ryze Business Network:
Quote:

Barbara Cerda wrote:
Greetings Everyone,
ขWhen will sellers on Ebay understand that customer service is key? And when will Ebay sellers learn using customer friendly approaches can only make their business grow?ข Again today Iกve bought from a less than friendly seller.
Thought I was placing a bid and instead bought the item at the buy now price. Of course the seller refused to allow the retraction, nor was I allowed to place a bid. I always pay for my winning bids immediately upon email confirmation.
And did so in this case. But it would have been customer friendlier for this seller to accept my retraction to be replaced with a bid. He would have gotten repeat business from me and my friends. His กBuy Nowก price is 30% over the retail price for this item. Lesson learned by me again that there are way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a buck and the hell with fair practice.
Lesson learned yet again.ก
BobAnn

End quote…
The operative phrase here is ขrepeat business from me and my friendsข. There is no better endorsement of your product or service than word of mouth advertising. Lack of flexibility on the part of the seller, not only cost them one customer, but also destroyed the possibility for future business. Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster!
As an auction seller, (Ebay auction ID: LevelBest77) I would have accommodated her request right away. And while I have never had anyone use ขBuy It Nowข by accident, I have had several people over the years ask me to retract bids. The number of people who have made that request can be counted on one hand! Some, did not even understand the process, (bid retracting) and I was more than willing to guide them through it.
People make honest mistakes, and you should never ขabuseข a buyer for doing so. If you plan to get into Ebay auction selling for the long haul, always practice good will toward your customers. Unless someone is totally unreasonable, and you have done everything in your power to accommodate their request, never deny people the ability to change their mind, return an item, or retract a bid! Developing good will also requires that you anticipate customer needs…..
For instance, I had a few overseas customers bid on a wireless router. This particular item needed to be powered with a Universal Adapter, since voltage requirements in France and Australia are obviously different from those here in the United States.
I made this abundantly clear to both bidders before they sent me any payment. The purchase of such an adapter, not to mention the shipping price, would have doubled the US retail cost. I told them that they could probably get the product cheaper at their local electronics stores. Without hesitation, I let them out of their obligation to pay for the item. I then contacted the next highest bidder and offered that person the chance to make the purchase.
Both bidders thanked me for my honesty. They had forgotten about the electrical differences. I could have ignored that little detail, and sold them the item anyway. I just had to put myself in their situation. Think of how frustrated they would have been if I did not reveal that information. Buyer’s remorse would have set in quickly, once they realized that they could have purchased the same item for a lot less in their native countries.
While the benefits of these actions may not have an immediate effect, you can be sure that should I ever have another ขitem of interest!ข these two gentlemen would not hesitate to purchase from me. They can count on me to accommodate their needs, instead of catering to my wants. Creating this type of good will instills trust, and the knowledge that you have the customers best interest in mind.
ขMe thinketh thou doth protest too much!
Do you accentuate the positive? Or, do you run on negativity? Negative Ebay feedback is a tool that everyone should use with restraint, or not at all. As a rule, I never leave negative feedback. Unless someone has blatantly lied about your product, or attacked you personally without merit, then I would not leave any feedback in the ขminusข side of the isle!
ขFlameข wars are not pretty. I have seen a lot of unnecessary back and forth ขbanterข that could have been avoided, if they (the seller) just resisted the urge to make their ขtwo centsข known. Sometimes it gives customers the impression that you are more concerned about arguing, then conducting your business.
I have also witnessed seller feedback that has included some pretty foul language. Engaging in this type of verbal sparring is not much of a confidence builder either. It is more telling of what you are, then about revealing the sins of your customers. Don’t go out of your way to register a negative response if you can help it. Heed the sage advice that our Mother’s use to tell us: ขIf you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!ข
ขWhat we have here is a failure to communicate!ข
Communication with your customers should not amount to the sound one hand clapping! Bottom line, if someone emails you with a questionanswer it! Here is an example of the type of feedback I obtained by doing just that……
ขHe was very Helpful and cooperative in answering questions.ข Followup: Will DEFINITELY use his services anytime he has items of interest! Great Seller!
The gentlemen who left this positive review, wanted to know about some of the particulars of a ขMickey Mouseข clock I had up for auction. His wife is a collector of all things Disney, and thought it would be a nice surprise for her birthday. The clock, to say the least, was in sad shape. It was incapable of keeping time, and the only part of it in working order was the second hand. I thought for sure that he would be disappointed with the item despite full disclosure of all of it’s imperfections.
To my surprise, not only did I receive positive feedback, but he also told me that his wife absolutely loved it! In this instance, one man’s junk, truly, is another man’s treasure! I never thought this item was worthy of any praise! The time it took to answer his questions—all of five minutes!
I know that some of you will say that I am not being realistic. You just can’t answer emails all day; ขI have a business to run!,ข you might proclaim. If you plan on making a living on Ebay, then you better think about hiring someone to help you answer your daily inquires if it is just too overwhelming. If you specialize in a particular product, set up a Frequently Asked Questions page to any AutoResponder.
If you use Ebay on an infrequent basis, and have less than thirty listings a month, then you really don’t have any excuse not to provide great customer service and email communication. You shouldn’t be inundated with questions regarding that many items, unless the product you are selling is technical in nature.
If you ignore your customers, they will go away. Good customer service should be woven into the fabric of every good business. I cannot overemphasis the importance of this issue. I continue to be perplexed by the fact that it is last on the list of business priorities for some Ebay sellers!
Will good customer service and communication alone make you rich on Ebay? That would be a resounding กnoข. You will have to understand your market, and provide products that the Ebay community will bid on consistently. There will be ขbidders & buyersข out there that will make mistakes and commit some auction sins! Forgive all Ebay sins and you will be rewarded with happy, repeat customers!

About The Author

Robert C. Potter is the author of ขThe Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale.ขOver 300 Wholesale & Surplus Supply Sources, For Ebay Auction Sellers, ECommerce Websites, Flea Market Vendors, and Retail Store Owners! You can find his ebook here: http://www.productsforresale.com This article can be reprinted by contacting the author..

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 18, 2004

by Robert C. Potter

How To Help Your Kids Learn Important Life Skills

How To Help Your Kids Learn Important Life Skills Through Your Home Business

by: Henri Schauffler

Would you like to find a willing, enthusiastic source of free or very inexpensive labor for your Internet Home Business? Would you like to find a fantastic way to help your children learn things like self discipline, goal setting, integrity, financial management and communication skills? Then read on, dear reader!

What Iกm getting at is, of course, the idea of involving your kids in your Internet home business, or helping them start one of their own. Instead of having them be a source of distraction and/or trouble as you labor to build your business, try a new approach consider your children your potential allies and even potential employees.

Also, consider the many character building benefits of involving kids in your home business. Steve Mariotti, Founder and President of The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE http://www.nfte.com) started a ground breaking program over two decades ago that set up disadvantaged New York City youth in modest businesses of their own, such as Manhattan hot dog carts. Here is their mission tatement:

กNFTEกs mission is to teach entrepreneurship to lowincome young people, ages 11 through 18, so they can become economically productive members of society by improving their academic, business, technology and life skills.ก To say the least, this program has been *extremely* successful.

Wouldn’t you like your children to learn some of these life skills and help you out as well? The question, of course, is,กPractically speaking, what can my kids do in my Internet home business?ก Iกm glad you asked! Letกs look at preteens and then teens.

PreTeens

Your 1113 year olds are just beginning to get old enough to begin learning about business. Talk to them oneonone about their interests. See if you can find a connection with what you are doing in your business. Here are some examples of what I mean:

If your child plays or is interested in sports, encourage him or her to begin going to sites on the Web that talk about sports or sell sports gear. Start to ask them questions about the sites กDo you like this part; do you see how they are trying to get you to buy something here; do you see this banner ad there?ก Youกll begin to get them engaged, and soon, you can start to show them how you are doing the same things in your familyกs business.

Another way to involve your kids is to get them actually doing some work for you even pay them a little bit! Most kids these days are itching for a chance to earn extra money. If we pay them to do the lawn and help with chores, why not hire them for helping in our home business? As they work, of course, theyกll begin to be involved in the business! I did this with my then 13 year old a few years back, and guess what? He now has a thriving EBay business of his own! More on EBay in a moment.

The main point with preteens is to engage them in some way with your Internet business and/or other Internet businesses. For some children, this is just the spark they need. Don’t forget they’re always going to learn important life skills as they work in a business environment.

Teens

If you don’t get your preteens too excited, don’t worry just be patient for a couple of years. When they become 14 and older, youกll have a whole new set of opportunities…

By now, their computer and Internet skills should be fairly well developed most kids learn with their friends and at school these days. And, their desire to make money has intensified as well! Use this desire to get them involved with Internet business.

Here are two ways:

As with preteens, you can hire them to do some of your administrative chores so you can concentrate on the single most important part of your business: *marketing*! You can get your teens doing data input, getting stats from adtrackers, doing research, and even search engine submission and other tedious marketing tasks. Believe me; theyกll be well worth the money.

And even more important for teens, they’re going to be developing those ever important life skills!

The *best* way to get teens involved with Internet home business is to do what Steve Mariotti does get them set up in their own business! My son Ted has a thriving EBay business. He buys damaged DVD players very inexpensively on EBay, fixes them, and sells them for a sizeable profit, again on EBay. EBay is a *fantastic* place for kids to learn business and make money. Hereกs a link to a useful free ebook on how to do business on EBay for you and your teen to look over. Hereกs the link: http://www.familybizbuilder.com/ebooks/ebaybook.exe

Another good idea for teens: you might help your teen sign up for and begin to market an affiliate program. These are strong, established businesses that sign you up for free, give you your own premade websites and even free learning programs. Here are several sites with good resources and freebies you or your teen should check out:

Family Biz Builder.Com (yep, thatกs my site!) http://www.familybizbuilder.com

Push Button Publishing http://www.pushbuttonpublishing.com/affiliates/t.php?rid=9945

Plug In Profits http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main580

Hereกs a company that will give you a great free กbundleก of books and CDกs, just for dropping by. Itกll be very educational for your teen (maybe even you!) Hereกs the link: http://www.quickinfo247.com/8300900/SIM

Weกve covered a lot of ground here. The next thing to do is act! If you act on even *one* of the suggestions herein, I guarante things will start happening with you and your child. Talk with them about their interests, get them working in your business, download the ebook, visit some websites. Take action now and the rest will begin to unfold.

Hereกs to you, your kids and your Internet family business!

About The Author

Henri Schauffler publishes Family Home Business Tips, a fresh and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like YOU! If you’re looking for familyfriendly *best rated* home business opportunities, the latest free and lowcost tools and helpful support from an honest friend in the business, come by and grab a FREE subscription today at: http://www.familybizbuilder.com

This article was posted on September 29, 2003

by Henri Schauffler

7 Steps to Easier eBay Shipping

7 Steps to Easier eBay Shipping

by: John Lenaghan

If you’re like me, you probably hate packing and shipping the things you sell on eBay.

Don’t get me wrong, I love selling on eBay. I just don’t like the shipping part. I find it monotonous to hunt for boxes, wrap the items, drive back and forth from the post office, and all the other steps involved in shipping.

Then thereกs the waiting for the buyer to receive the item. Has it arrived yet? Did it get damaged in shipping?

It took me a lot of trial and error to figure them out, but the following 7 steps will help make your job easier when it comes to shipping, as well as get rid of the stress of waiting for the item to be delivered to the buyer.

1. Professional Wrapping

When you wrap your item(s), wrap it professionally in nice, clean tissue paper. If breakable, be sure the item is wrapped with bubble wrap as well. Include a business card with your website information, name, address, or a printed statement showing the item(s) name, item(s) number, price paid, and a small handwritten note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

2. Insurance

Insurance is usually a good idea but in general, it should be an optional feature, with the decision left to the buyer. Remember two important things about insurance. First, insurance is VERY inexpensive. Therefore, in your description, you should state how much insurance would cost and recommend it. Second, you should also state in the description that if insurance is not purchased, you are not responsible for lost or damaged items.

3. Weighing

In order to provide accurate details and help in determining shipping costs, you need to know exact weights. The best option, which will save you many unnecessary trips to the post office, is to purchase a inexpensive quality scale for weighing your packages.

4. Postage

Instead of always running out of stamps or having to run to the post office to ship a smaller item, fill out the information located at stamps.com where you can print stamps directly from your home computer.

5. Post Office Freebies

If you use the Priority Mail option through your post office, they will provide all your supplies for free. This includes boxes, labels, and tape. Best of all, they deliver all these supplies directly to your door. Get them at your local post office or go to USPS.com request mailing supplies.

6. ShipTo Locations

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

7. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

Do yourself a favor and put these tips into action youกll save yourself both time and hassles. Use the time you save to get more listings up, and watch your eBay income grow.

About The Author

John Lenaghan offers success tips for eBay and other online auctions at the Online Auction Advisor website. Visit http://www.onlineauctionadvisor.com for more ways to improve your buying and selling on eBay.

This article was posted on September 08

by John Lenaghan