The Five Things You Must Do Before You Can Start Selling On Ebay

Writen by Ian Major

Many people make a full-time living on eBay. This is not only possible but it is also quite easy once you know what you are doing. Some people just make a little extra money through eBay auctions simply because it is fun – it becomes a hobby.

Whether you just want to sell some old items lying about your house, or you want to build a business by becoming a PowerSeller, there are five things you absolutely must do before you can start selling on eBay.

1. You must Register. Begin by registering as a member of eBay.

This registration is free, and it will allow you to participate in auctions – as a buyer. As soon as you have completed your registration as a buyer, you can register as a seller simply by logging into your eBay account and clicking on the 'Sell' tab at the top of the page. The information that you will enter is very basic information, but as a buyer, you will need to enter a credit card number, or sign up for a paypal account.

2. Sign up with paypal.

Paypal has become one of the most popular payment gateways on the Internet. This website allows people to transfer money from their bank accounts or credit cards, and to transfer money from one Paypal account to another. Signing up is quite easy, but you will need to verify your account with a checking account, and you can optionally add a credit card to the account. Paypal is very secure. As long as you don't give your password out to anyone, you shouldn't have any problems.

Paypal is not required to sign up with eBay, but it is highly recommended. This will allow you to give your buyers more payment options. Signing up with Paypal is free.

3. Find items to sell. You may already have items that you want to sell.

For instance, if you have recently cleaned out your attic or your garage, you probably have tons of stuff that you want to get rid of. Some items won't sell well on eBay, while others will sell like hot cakes! So a little research to see what sells well before you set up any auctions.

You can also find items to auction by going to yard sales around your area.

Many eBay PowerSellers sell brand new items through drop shipping companies as well. It is all just a matter of determining how you want to profit from eBay, and what items are hot sellers.

4. Set up your auction. Once you are signed up, and you are ready to set up your auction, eBay has a form for you to fill out.

Here, you will determine how you are going to sell the product. You can choose to sell a group of items, or just one item. You will have a list of categories to choose from, and these categories determine where your item is listed on eBay. Choosing the proper category for your item is essential – this is how people will find your auction.

You must choose a title for your auction. You want to use your title to catch the buyer's eye. Coming up with a great title isn't always easy, and it does require some thought. Look at some past successful auctions to get some ideas. Make sure that you follow eBay's guidelines for titles!

Make sure that you use the form to add as much information about your item as possible.

The more information you can include, the more successful your auction will be.

Look at the history of past auctions for items similar to yours. This information will help you determine your title, your description, and even your reserve price. The reserve price is the absolute minimum bid amount that you are willing to accept.

You will be allowed to include pictures of your items, and it is very important that you do so.

Make sure that the pictures are clear, and take several different shots from different angles. Pictures will help make your bid more successful. Many bidders won't even look at auctions that do not include pictures.

You will also need to determine how long your auction will run. Don't make the auction too short – give bidders time to find your item and place their bids – but at the same time, don't make it too long. Force bidders to act by getting their bids in before the auction closes!

eBay has many upgrade options that will make your auction more noticeable.

Depending on the reserve price of your item, it may be well worth it to take advantage of these upgrades to get your auction noticed more easily.

5. Communicate with your bidders.

Make sure that you monitor your auction, and keep the lines of communication with your bidders open. Bidders will have questions about the item you are selling. Make sure that you respond to the questions and comments in a timely manner.

Think of yourself as a shop keeper, and reply to the bidders just as you would to a customer who was standing in your shop!

CopyRight Ian D. Major 2005

Ian D. Major makes it easy to understand and use eBay, quickly and easily. Learn all you need to know by visiting eBay Articles an entirely FREE source of information about eBay.

Online Auctions Can Be Fun And Lucrative

Writen by Richard Verker

When the Internet became popular in the mid-1990s, one of the first things users realized was its business potential. If you can do business in a store or through a catalog, why not through a Web site? And soon online auctions were born.

Online auctions work essentially the same way as regular auctions . A seller places an item up for bids, and interested parties take turns naming the price they'd pay for it, until finally the highest bidder wins and must purchase the item for the last price he named. On the Internet, a time limit is usually imposed; for example, the highest bid received after three days is the winner.

EBay, founded in 1995, soon became the world's largest site for auctions. Most other sites for auctions on the Internet that operate under the same kind of system as eBay have found themselves unable to compete with eBay's size. As a result, eBay is still the leader in that marketplace. However, sites that operate differently -- using reverse auctions, for example -- offer a vastly different service from eBay and thus are able to stake a claim for themselves in cyberspace.

All online auctions allow the buyers the convenience of bidding from the comfort of home. Bidding, buying and selling can be fun and exciting, too. The thrill of placing a bid on an item and learning you've won the auction can't be beat -- especially if you wind up paying less for the item than you'd planned on!

No matter what you're looking for -- ordinary merchandise or obscure one-of-a- kind items -- there are bound to be Internet auctions selling it. With a little bit of savvy and common sense, you can find what you want and pay a fair price for it, all without ever leaving your home.

Richard Verker has been writing business articles for 15 years. After studies in general economy and e-commerce, his work on online auctions make his articles top-rated by magazines and thousands of readers.

Online Auction Fraud

Writen by Steven Woodward

eBay sales may have grown 51% last year over the previous year, but general online complaints jumped by 66.6% over the previous year to some 207,000+ complaints in 2004. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), stated in its yearly report that 71.2% of all complaints received pertained to auctions.

Online fraud is a growing problem on the internet and the auction segment is far from immune. The IC3 reports that most complaints consist of late or no shipment of products, items that don't match advertised condition and bogus payment or escrow services.

If you decide to offer "all items to be shipped within 24 hours", make sure you keep your word, and go to great lengths to honestly represent and describe the item in your auctions. Your bidders will appreciate your honesty and it will eventually show up in your feedback.

As consumer fears increase, there are a number of common sense ways to help protect you from fraud, as well as enhance your reputation as a trustworthy seller and set you apart from the crowd.

Watch Out for Bad Checks, Money Orders and Cashiers Checks Years ago I had a buyer who complained rather loudly when I didn't ship an item as soon as I received the check in the mail. In hind site it was a good decision to hold the shipment since the check ended up being fraudulent. Bad checks, money orders, and cashiers checks are rampant in ecommerce today. The simplest way to offset the danger of bad paper is not to ship the auction item until the check, money order or cashier check clears your bank for payment.

Overpayments

Never accept any overpayments for any item. One of the more popular scams today is for a buyer to send a cashiers check for an amount that is higher than the agreed upon final price. They then claim it was in error and ask the seller to kindly return the overage when the item is shipped. Off goes the item, the overage amount in good money, and the defrauded seller finds out too late the cashiers check was fake.

Use an Escrow Service for High Priced Items

The primary purpose of escrow services is to protect buyers and sellers from fraud. Basically what they do is to accept the money from the buyer and hold it until the buyer receives and approves the merchandise. Please note that fake escrow services are increasing on the internet. If a buyer contacts you after a sale and recommends an escrow service you are not familiar with BEWARE. At present eBay only recommends one escrow company: www.escrow.com. For information go to http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/payment-escrow.html

Records, Records, Records

Keeps a copy of every transaction detail from the original auction listing to the last email. You will need that kind of proof to validate your claims if you should find you need to file a complaint.

Protect Yourself by Being Educated

At the very least you need to be knowledgeable about your legal obligations as a seller and familiar with the fraud protections and policies for the auction sites and payment processing services you use. eBay and Paypal have extensive sections on their websites dedicated to fraud policies and protections. You should take the time to read through these or similar information pages for the sites and services you use on a regular basis and be very familiar with the material.

A few of the key recommendations from Paypal's Protection for Sellers section include:

Ship only to the address listed on the Transaction Details page

Use a shipping service with tracking

Check out the buyer's reputation

Accept payment from only one Paypal account per buyer

Limit credit card payments

Enhancing Your Safe Seller Image

Here are a few tips that will help improve your image as a safe seller for your bidders.

Identify Yourself - Make use of the about me pages to let your customers know who you are, how long you've been in business and how much their business means to you. Be honest.

Feedback Ratings - Auction buyers want to see 100% positive feedback.

Methods of Payment - Make it easy for your customers to buy but consider convenience, cost and security in choosing any payment method you offer.

Full Disclosure - Your auction listings should clearly state the condition of the item you're auctioning, your shipping/insurance and return policies.

Bonding programs - A number of bonding programs are available on the internet. One of the more popular is BuySafe (www.buysafe.com). In a bonding program the seller agrees to certain obligations such as shipping on time, representing the item correctly, and standing behind the transaction. In return the seller can display a seal on their auctions showing bidders they are honest sellers and providing transaction insurance in some cases up to $25,000.

Other programs you should be familiar with include:

IDVerify
SquareTrade
Trust-e

If You Become a Victim of Online Fraud

You need to know exactly what should be done in the event you are victimized. Make your plan now, before it happens. The most recommended steps to take if you are victimized are listed below but please keep in mind these are general recommendations and you should have you own plan based on your needs.

File a complaint with your auction site
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
File a complaint with the IC3
File a complaint with the National Fraud Information Center
Contact your local and state law enforcement agencies
Contact the local and state law enforcement agencies in the perpetrator's home area
File a complaint with the shipping company you used
It the perpetrator is a business and a member of the Better Business Bureau you should also file a complaint there.

Further reading

Paypal Seller Protection Policy (go to your Paypal account)

FTC recommendations http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm

To read the entire 2004 IC3 Internet Fraud Report http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2004_IC3Report.pdf

More Important Fraud Links

Find Your Local Police http://www.usacops.com
FBI Internet Fraud Unit http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.com
FTC Internet Fraud Unit https://m.ftc.gov
USPS Mail Fraud http://www.usps.com/postalinstpectors/fraud/

© Copyright 2005 Steven Woodward - All Rights Reserved

Steven Woodward is the owner, editor and publisher of the Auction Sellers Network (ASN); a web site for individuals and companies who are serious about utilizing the online auction marketplace for their business. In addition to topical articles, ASN provides an extensive resource center, news feeds, member forums and classified ads. For more information or to become a member please visit http://www.AuctionSellersNetwork.com

No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About the Author tag is left intact and included. We do request that we be informed where it is posted and reciprocal links will be considered.

Question How Can I Tell If A Book Is A Valuable Outofprint Collectible

Writen by Steve Weber

QUESTION: How can I tell if a book is out of print? If Amazon isn't selling new copies, can I sell it for more than the original retail? With some of my books, I don't know the original price.

ANSWER: Technically, a book is "out of print" when its publisher declares it "out of print," and stops supplying it to wholesalers and bookstores. This can happen a few years after publication if sales have dropped off substantially. If sales remain healthy for a nonfiction book, the publisher may declare it "out of print" and print a second edition. This cuts the value of used copies, except of course in cases where the first edition is collectible.

If Amazon isn't selling new copies, that's a good indication a title is out of print. I suppose you could find a few examples of in-print books that aren't sold by Amazon, but these would likely be titles with virtually no demand -- and probably dead weight for your inventory.

For our purposes, any scarce book is a potential winner, and whether it's technically "out of print" is beside the point.

Setting your price is an art, not a science. The correct price is whatever the buyer is willing to pay, so long as you both believe the deal is fair. Pricing your copy above retail is your only smart option when the title is in demand and copies are scarce.

In the early days of Amazon Marketplace, only "collectible" books could be priced above the original list price, but this has changed. In my inventory today, I have several titles I've managed to find (in quantity) where the Marketplace price is significantly above retail. I'm not referring here to collectible books, but current books that are simply hard to find. This happens with certain titles when, for whatever reason, Amazon doesn't keep it in stock. Instead Amazon may special-order a copy when a customer buys, indicating: "Usually ships in 4 to 6 weeks."

Here's one example: "The Art of Peruvian Cuisine." For a specialized, high-end cookbook, it sells exceptionally well, with an Amazon Sales Rank under 20,000. The retail price is $49.95, and Amazon sells it for $31.47 -– if you're willing to wait several weeks. I sell my copies at $89.98 like clockwork, because buyers understand I'll ship it within two days. I was lucky enough to find a large, odd quantity of this book for about $10 apiece. This book provides a nice lift to my bottom line, and I've never had anyone complain about paying more than retail –- they wanted a hard-to-find book quickly, and I provided the service.

With older books, I've sold tons with a similar markup. Obviously, it has to be a scarce book and there has to be some demand for it. But if you're the only seller with a copy, you only need one customer to sell out. Let's say, for example, six copies are listed on ABE.com, priced from $50 to $75. In this case, my rule of thumb is to price the book at $100 to $150 on Amazon.

These days it's easier than ever to get a feel for a book's value with a quick Internet search, but don't go faster than you're comfortable with.

See a real-time list of the most highly sought after used and collectible books.

Read more free articles on selling used books profitably online: http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/selling.htm

Steve Weber is author of "The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site" (ISBN 0977240606). Got a question for Steve? Send to: steve_weber@yahoo.com

How To Become A Seller On Ebay

Writen by Donny Lowy

EBay is that magical word that sends people laughing to their bank. EBay has provided employment to millions of people directly or indirectly. EBay has taught a new way of conducting business on the net to an extent that many firms were compelled to look at this business model. Although this business model is not new, eBay used it to advantage of all the people involved in the process.

When you register on eBay, you can immediately start your buying activity. This doesn't apply for sellers. Sellers have to go through few more steps to become a registered seller on eBay, the largest online place on earth. Seller account on eBay is needed due to transaction fees charged by eBay to sellers (buyers are not charged anything or stated other way round, the fees is included in the final price). The simple seller's account set up wizard guides you through to set up the account. You will be asked to furnish your credit card details (number, expiry date, etc) and your checking account number. You will have to fill in your checking account details like bank name and account number. You will be asked to place your priorities for the fees deduction source. You may select either of the two – your credit card or your checking account.

Once you have furnished these details, your information will be submitted to the central processing system. You may have to wait for one to two days to commence your selling operations through eBay. You will receive a confirmation mail from eBay to this count.

Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.

How To Create Rename Or Delete Picture Manager Folders On Ebay

Writen by Donny Lowy

With the help of "My eBay Manage Folders" page you can create, rename, or delete your Picture Manager folders. For this go to My eBay, click on "manage folders" link from the drop down menu of "select folders". Now you can rename, add or delete folders.

When you want to create new folder to Picture Manager first click on the "add folders" link a new page will be displayed. Here enter the folder name you want to create in the text box and then again click on the "add folder" link seen on this page. You can add as many folders as you wish. You will find the name of new folders on Manage Folders page. Each of the folders you add should have a different name otherwise you get an error message for duplicate name.

When you want to rename a folder click the check box near that folder and click on the "rename" button. A new page will be displayed. Here you type a new folder name in the text box and click on the "save changes" button. You will see the newly named folder has appeared on the Manage Folders page.

If you want to delete any or more of the folders click on the check box(s) near the folder name and click on the delete button. A message will appear asking you to confirm whether you really want to delete the folder(s) and the pictures they contain? There would be a reminder that "once you delete the said pictures they will get deleted from all your items and the places where you had used them". If you click the "OK" button in this message box, it will permanently delete the folder(s) and all the pictures in the folder(s). And if you click the "cancel" button it will close the message box without deleting the folder(s) or pictures.

Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.

Wholesale And Dropshipping Your Guide To Success

Writen by Tina Banks

If your interested in setting up your own retail business, be it online or offline, you will need to find a good wholesaler or dropshipper. Finding the right wholesaler will make all the difference to your business as being able to have a constant source of good quality stock at low prices could be the difference between success and failure. Have you ever looked at wholesale lists and found that the price is no different to what you would pay in a normal shop? Do you wonder how people on eBay make money when they sell products so cheaply? Well read on and I will tell you the best way to go about sourcing stock from a wholesaler.

The best place to start is to go directly to the manufacturer of the product that you want to sell. When you first start out in business it is unlikely that you will be able to buy direct from the manufacturer, but the important thing is that they will be able to advise you who are their official distributors, wholesalers and dropshippers. By doing this you can go direct to the official distributor rather than buy from a middle man who claims to be a wholesaler but is only purchasing from the distributor.

When dealing with wholesalers and dropshippers you will get the best results if you visit their premises in person. Do not expect to be able to view a catalogue online and order without any human contact. Most genuine wholesale businesses do not even have a website. It is important to build up a good relationship with your wholesaler. This will ensure that you get the best deals. If you can't meat them in person then at least correspond over the phone rather than email.

If your looking for discount products that are maybe 'end of line' or out of season then their are a few tactics you can try. Approach the head office of a big department store and find out what they do with these kind of products. Many will sell to specific wholesalers but if you can be persistent and find a contact at the store it is possible to start purchasing from them. Also visiting liquidation auctions can be a usefull way of making contacts. Buying some stock like this from a company whose products you want to stock will allow you to gain a contact with that company. In the future they will be likely to contact you to buy the stock before it goes to auction.

With these handy hints you will be well on your way to finding the right wholesaler or dropshipper and thus making your new business a success.

Tina Banks writes for http://www.wholesaleadvice.com

Learn How To Be A Successful Ebay Seller

Writen by Lewis Leake

Anyone can sell anything on eBay. Open an account, list your product, and wait for the bids to start coming in. While it is true that anyone can sell, to be successful, you need to know the inside secrets.

One woman made over $250,000 last year on items sold on eBay. She is just one out of thousands and thousands of people that make a ton of money just selling merchandise.

Are you ready to learn how to be an eBay seller? You will find it to be easy, fun, and exciting. Here are some of the things that you need to know to get started.

Just eBay

Although there are several other quality auction websites, eBay is by far the most popular and most successful. Although you could start using all the other sites, by spreading yourself out too thin you take the risk of getting things mixed up. In reality, it is better to use eBay and focus your attention and efforts on this one site. You will not be disappointed.

Look Around

Navigate through each section to familiarize yourself with all the different pages. You will find a site map and help tab, which are very useful tools. It will take a little time to get used to the site but start by looking. As you start selling, navigating will become much easier.

Terms & Conditions

You will run into all types of buyers that try to move past the terms and conditions provided by eBay. Know the Terms & Conditions inside and out and if you have problems, contact eBay immediately. A few examples of the insider secrets are listed below:

* Bid Shielding – Two buyers work together. One person bids high to protect a low bid place by the other person. Right before the auction closes, the high bidder cancels, meaning the low bidder gets your items for a huge bargain.

* Bid Shilling – This is where the seller actually uses a separate ID set up to inflate the number and price of the bid.

* Deadbeat Bidder – The deadbeat bidder bids on your auction and then simply fails to pay.

* Sniping – A "sniper" is a bidder that waits until there are only minutes or seconds left on an item and then quickly bids just a little higher to get the items. Although not against the T&C's, it is considered unprofessional and limits competing bidders from driving a high price.

Excluded Items

Although eBay accepts just about every type of item, there are a few exclusions such as explosions, corrosive material, etc. Before you go through the entire process of listing your items, make sure you are not listing something forbidden by checking out the do's and don'ts listed on eBay.

Competitor Analysis

Just like any other business, you need to know what your competitors are doing. This will help you make the best possible decision when it comes to your own auction. Before listing your items, do a search for the same type items to see what their descriptions looks like. Find different aspects from different sellers and use them to form one comprehensive site for yourself.

Community Boards

Pay attention to the community boards provided by eBay. They offer valuable information and helpful tips that can ultimately save you time and effort.

Category Guide

Use eBay's Category Guide, which is a helpful tool to ensure you place your auction items in the appropriate category.

When to List

The time of day you list your auction is important. The start time will be the same as the end time, which is why it is so important. If you want your auction to end at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, you need to have the auction start at 10:00 p.m. For this reason, be sure to set the start time accordingly.

Do your Homework

In addition to researching what other people are selling similar items for, you need to conduct your own research outside of eBay as well to determine the going rate for your items. As an example, if you are selling artwork, jewelry, or collectibles, you need to state in your description the going price. Although you may or may not get that price from the buyer, it shows buyers that you have done your homework and will stand a little more firm in your price. It also tells buyers that they are getting quality for a good price.

When it comes to selling on eBay, the door of opportunity stands wide open. Opportunity is what you decide to make of it. As mentioned in the beginning, people literally buy and sell just about everything on eBay. For this reason, do not think that items you have would not be of interest to anyone because more than likely, they will be.

Lewis Leake helps people make money from home. His website at GrowNetProfits.com contains tools, resources, articles, newsletters, product reviews and traffic builders to help you make money from your home based business. Click here to get additional Online Auction articles.

Drop Shipping Increases Profits

Writen by J. Stephen Pope

You would like to increase your income by selling other peoples` products but you just don`t have the money to stock inventory.

On the other hand, perhaps you have lots of your own product and would like to increase your sales, but you don`t have a lot of money for advertising.

The solution to both problems may lie in drop shipping.

1. Sell Products You Don`t Own

You would like to sell a variety of products but you don`t have very much money. Don`t worry! Your customers will supply you with the necessary capital. You don`t have to stock inventory. You can drop ship orders.

For example, you receive a credit card order for a product retailing for one hundred dollars plus five dollars shipping. You now turn around and fax (or e-mail or phone) your order to your dropship supplier. You pay the fifty dollar wholesale product cost plus five dollars shipping using your own credit card.

Your dropship supplier now ships the order to your customer. With no investment in inventory, your gross profit equals fifty dollars.

2. Sell Products You Do Own

Would you like more sales of your own products? Consider drop shipping your products for other dealers.

As an example, you may have a product that sells for one hundred dollars plus shipping. Every time you sell that product yourself, you will have a sale of one hundred dollars. However, how many one hundred dollar sales can you make personally?

Now consider the situation where you offer your dealers a wholesale price of fifty dollars. You could have hundreds or thousands of persons selling for you.

It is true that each product sale now only brings you only fifty dollars in sales. However, these are sales that you wouldn`t otherwise have. What would it cost you to obtain these sales through traditional advertising channels? Would your advertising even bring you the desired results?

Keep in mind that with this drop shipping arrangement, you pay only for results. When a dealer retails your product for one hundred dollars, he is really receiving a fifty dollar profit for selling your product; you could view it as a sales commission. You receive only fifty dollars per product sale but sell way more than without drop shipping. You ship directly to the customer for your dealer.

So, whether you sell other peoples` products or your own, drop shipping can increase your sales, preserve capital, and maximize business profits.

RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.

For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/

For additional information about drop shipping, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html

Ebay Powerseller Profit Tips To Help You Make More Money On Ebay2 Of A Four Part Feature

Writen by Avril Harper

Sometimes just a few small tasks make all the difference between making a few dollars profit on eBay and generating a small fortune each month. These ideas will help you make more from your listings.

* Big benefits of using 'Buy It NOW'! The vast majority of PowerSellers sell items on the BUY IT NOW principle, thereby generating constant sales for easily available items, and meaning the same listing can be used time after time, allowing potentially thousands of similar items to be delivered worldwide, often via dropshipping companies. Oftentimes the PowerSeller never even sees items he or she is selling. He or she simply lists items, takes payment, then sends order details and an agreed amount of money to another company – the dropshipping company - which then sends items direct to customers. So all you do is find 100 or 1000 high selling items, list them, sell the items, take payments, fulfill orders, then press a few buttons next week to relist those items again in just a few minutes. Look at the great majority of PowerSellers and you'll see some with many, many thousands of items listed, of which just a handful of listings are auction format. (Did you really think people selling 5,000 plus items create all those listings weekly from scratch?). See the next tip.

* When size does matter and small is usually best. Aim to regularly list similar (tested profitability) best selling items as opposed to continuously listing one-off items (unless you have experience of those one-off items). The benefits of this repeat product business model are many and varied and include: less time spent listing items for sale; all things being equal, regular reliable profits can be expected from relisting the same products for sale every day, week or month; planning is easier for the business man or woman who knows almost exactly what will sell next week and the week after that, as well as roughly how many sales will ensue and what profits are likely; the seller can book holidays and take days off by anticipating sales, fulfillment and delivery demands; he can confidently answer most queries by simply emailing back standard replies from wherever he or she is on holiday; the business can be highly automated, primarily through the push button process and by organising automated responses to buyers and sellers; even stock levels and reordering can be made faster and more efficient by use of standard templates or signature files which save time and energy otherwise spent placing orders by post, fax, email, telephone.

* The magic of PayPal: I strongly recommend you use PayPal for receiving payments and for paying eBay fees. Buyers generally prefer PayPal and will actively avoid non-PayPal sellers. People can pay immediately they receive an invoice or immediately an auction ends, meaning less likelihood of the buyer forgetting to pay later.

* Sell snow to the Eskimos! Some items naturally attract more people in their country of origin, especially collectibles such as books about New York City or 'Arizona' printed souvenir china (they'll attract more interest on eBay.com), and others from Melbourne, Australia (best on eBay.com.au), and Berlin, Germany (ebay.de). In reality, really enthusiastic bidders check the entire eBay marketplace through the 'Search' facility on every eBay page, but you can never be sure, so consider your market for every new listing ('new' meaning untested items).

* Spread your listings to maximise your audience: You can list each item under two categories to ensure a wider target audience. Imagine you own a car that once featured in a well-known television programme, like 'All Creatures Great and Small' or 'Coronation Street'. Do you list it under 'Cars' or 'Television Memorabilia'? The seasoned eBayer might use both categories in one listing. But if it doesn't sell, you've just lost money, more than if you'd chosen just one category. Two categories can work wonders, generating lots of bids and high realisations, but is normally best used with experience. So work at getting the first category right before expanding.

* Advice on using photographs. Most times a gallery picture is essential, especially among high competition items such as clothing, toys, cars. Not always so for one-off and most collectors' items without a picture where enthusiastic collectors will still click through. I venture to suggest that, on occasion, a listing without a picture can generate more visits, purely out of curiosity, especially with a cryptic heading, such as 'Biggest, Fattest HoneyPot on eBay', or where pictures are largely superfluous, as for instance for books, CDs, ebooks where title itself does the selling.

* Keep careful records of successful bidders who have paid and others who haven't. eBay provides a reminder button for your slow-paying bidders. But proceed with caution. Remember why erasers are placed on the end of pencils - because people make mistakes - and the mistake might be yours. Check, check, check everything carefully before sending reminders and always before writing derogatory letters to bidders or reporting them to eBay. See the next tip.

* Use Feedback carefully. It goes without saying, don't give negative feedback to others without making thorough checks first. The other person could have suffered a bereavement, be ill, or in the middle of a two or three day power cut and that's the reason they haven't paid you! Be fair, be nice, do unto others …………………………!

* Hot Foot It for Instant Best-Sellers. Look for hot eBay categories, where most items attract bids, preferably multiple bids. Finding these categories, and their best-selling products, is largely down to research and hard work. When you find your niche, dominate it, have more listings than others in the niche, look for products they don't have, be first with new products. Examples from my own research: keyrings, charms, metal detectors, dog jewellery.

* Counting on Success. Spend time researching other people's listings, especially for products you'd like to sell. The best indicator of a popular product is the number of people actually entering the listing to obtain more information. Visitor numbers can easily be checked from counters displayed at the foot of most listings. But not all eBayers use counters. Note too that low visitor numbers may still indicate a popular product, as for instance products for tiny niche markets with fewer potential buyers but greater intention to buy.

* Look for Ideas in the Strangest of Places. We needed pictures of our new dog design cufflinks and wanted something special, with a luxury feel. We scan most of our products by placing them directly onto the scanner bed but find the scanner lid makes an unattractive backing for most items. We needed something different, colourful, a background to emphasise the quality of these lovely gold plated items. We tried velvet pads from jewellery boxes, plain paper, hankies, nothing worked. Then we tried Marks & Spencers' silk lilac undies, they worked a treat. The lilac looked wonderful against the gold and the silk wrapped delicately around the cufflinks without creasing. Better still, using that background for all of our jewellery lets regular customers spot ours among thousands of competing listings.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and editor of eBay Confidential and webmaster of http://www.publishingcircles.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and ebooks at http://www.toppco.com

How To Sell Internationally On Ebay Without Risk

Writen by Gary Hendrickson

Many people just getting started on eBay have reservations when it comes to selling to International buyers. Possibly they've heard a few second-hand horror stories, or they feel it's simply not worth the extra hassle.

eBay provides you with the opportunity to sell to buyers all over the world. This opens a huge new market to the seller. It also allows you to receive more interest in your items and higher closing prices.

In many categories, some of the most active buyers live outside the United States. As an example, at the time I'm writing this, if you were selling collectible Pyrex glass, many of your serious bidders would be from Japan.

I have been selling internationally on eBay for five years and have been selling to International buyers right from the start. It's not difficult, doesn't take much more time and, if you follow a few simple do's and don'ts you shouldn't run into any problems

There are only two methods of payment, which will ensure absolute zero risk regarding sending product overseas:

1. The first is wire transfer directly to your bank.

You can contact your local bank and they will walk you through a wire transfer transaction. It is very similar to the process of having a payroll check deposited in your account. As soon as a payment is deposited electronically into your account it can never be touched by any source other than by you, the account owner. Once the bank notifies you that payment is wired or transferred into your account, you can ship the product.

2. The second is http://www.auctionpayments.com/, which is a division of Western Union. This was originally called BidPay.com and the name has been changed to Western Union (R) Auction Payments.

Payment for this method is completely processed via email. You will then receive a physical check from Western Union. This usually takes three to four days after your email confirmation. Very Important! Do not ship the product when you receive the email confirmation. Wait until you physically receive the check from Western Union.

There are three other methods of payment that you will need to decide if you will, or will not, accept. These do pose a small amount of risk:

1. Paypal payments. You will find that many International buyers have PayPal accounts and will ask to pay through PayPal. While PayPal does provide a seller protection program, it requires that you have proof of delivery. The United States Post Office (my recommend shipping venue for reasons talked about below) doesn't offer this for International Mail.

I've been accepting PayPal from International buyers all along. However, nearly all my International sales are in the antique and collectible categories. Historically, collectors have never been as much of a non-payment risk as people buying consumer products. If I was selling in the electronic or computer categories, for example, I might seriously reconsider my payment policies.

2. International Money Orders. Many sellers accept International money orders in US Dollars. There is a common misconception that these are as good as cash. That's not the case. There are instances of stolen and forged money orders right here in the States. This problem, while minute, exists for International money orders also.

3. Cashier's Checks. Just like money orders, there is a common misconception that they are as good as cash. There have been cases where blank stolen cashier's checks, or even bank checks have been forged.

Additional considerations when shipping products to International buyers.

Shipping products Internationally does involve a little more work, but it's nowhere near as involved as many make it seem.

Unlike products shipped within your own country, the major difference is the need to include a customs form. These forms are free and supplied by the carrier you chose, whether it is the US Postal Service, Fed Ex, UPS, Etc. You will need to state the weight, the item and it's value, the destination, etc.

When shipping Internationally, use only the United States Postal Service. Most, if not all countries charge duty on items coming into their country. These are based upon the value of the item and, for expensive items, can get pretty healthy. With some other carriers, you may find that you end up paying this duty tax and not the buyer. With the USPS, all import duties are collected from the buyer and not you.

Shipping internationally can be profitable and fun. You may even find that you end up becoming good friends with some of your overseas buyers. Just be careful about how you take payment, be aware of the shipping procedures, and send via USPS.

Gary Hendrickson has been making his living selling on eBay for more than six years. He's the author of two eBay related ebooks, has a blog for eBay sellers, and is the owner of ColdItems.Com.

ColdItems.Com The Auction Rebel Blog

Avoiding Ebay Fees Stealing Photos Shill Bidding Amp Keyword Spamming

Writen by Adam Ginsberg

eBay, the world's auction site, has changed over the years. Now, more than ever, it is an extremely competitive marketplace. There is still ample opportunity to make money on eBay. However, for a seller to make money on eBay today he or she must be more savvy than than a seller from 3 years ago.

There are many ways you can become a top seller on eBay. The purpose of this eBay article is to teach you one of the lesser known strategies. This eBay article focuses on how you can compete, and win, in the eBay marketplace by learning, understanding and applying some of eBay's policies – and using them to your advantage. Your goal, if you are going make money on eBay, is to be a top performer in your product niche, and this eBay article will show you how you can achieve that.

First, you must be aware of eBay's policies. Second, you need to insure that you do not violate these policies. And third, you must monitor your competition to insure that they too are not violating eBay's policies.

Have you ever heard the expression "knowledge is power"? eBay has established itself a level playing field. Everyone plays, supposedly, by the same rules. Of course, this supposes that everyone playing the game actually knows the rules. Like in most marketplaces, there are penalties - some sever - if such rules are broken. You must use this to your advantage.

1. Fee avoidance

eBay generates a significant portion of their profits from "final value fees". As a result, many of eBay's policies revolved around this specific violation. "Fee avoidance", or the act of "circumventing eBay fees" can occur in many ways. Here is just a partial list of practices that might be considered a violation of this policy:

You can not: end an auction early in order to sell a bidder the item directly and cut eBay out of the deal

You can not: end a reserve-price auction early because it doesn't look like bidding will reach the reserve

You can not: end a no-price auction early because it doesn't look like bidding will reach the minimum you hope to get for the item

You can not: encourage bidders to contact you directly to purchase the item off eBay

You can not: require the buyer who wins the auction to buy something else. For example, a certificate for cheap airfare that requires the buyer to pay for three nights in a specific hotel.

You can not: give the buyer a choice at the end of the auction. For example, if you have a blue tie and a red tie for sale, they should be listed as two separate auctions – not one auction with a "choice" at the end of the transaction

You can not: include a static or clickable link to a non-eBay website

In most situations, it's the bidder who reports to eBay that fee avoidance is occurring or has occurred. However, as a savvy seller it is your obligation to report to eBay these violations made by your competitors. Many times a new seller to eBay doesn't know they are breaking policies - and certainly doesn't know what to do once they receive a warning from eBay. From time to time you'll see people cease to be a competitor because they often quit selling on eBay out of frustration. Sellers who have a fee-avoidance complaint against them can expect a warning, temporary suspension or permanent suspension.

2. Stealing Photos

One of my students recently spent thousands of dollars on professional photos for their products, only to find their photos "stolen" and placed on that competitors eBay listings.

It's not easy to take great photos – and it's tempting for people who see a perfect photo to "right click", save the photo to their desktop and upload the photo as their own. This occurs a lot – and is mostly done by new sellers on eBay who don't understand that your photos are not part of the public domain for their own use.

Copyright laws apply to the Internet just as they apply to other media. Should you find your photos on the listings of a competitor, simply report this to eBay and that competitors listings should be removed. When you're reviewing your competitors listings for violations, don't just look at the titles, but review the entire listings and read the descriptions, looks at the photos, etc.

3. Shill Bidding

Shill bidding happens when a seller (or accomplice) bids on his or her own auctions – with the intent of driving up the price. For example, a seller might have two eBay ID's and use one of them to bid. They might also convince a friend, family member or co-worker to bid on an item with no intention of buying it. Shill bidding can be tempting when lots of people are watching an item but no one's bidding – just one false bid to get things rolling – or when bidding is slow and it looks like an item will sell for a lot less than the seller thinks it's worth.

Shill bidding is a little more difficult to detect in a competitors listings – but is still something you should look for. Review your competitors "closed" auctions. Review the last 30 days of completed listings and look at the buyers/bidders. More specifically, look to see what the feedback score is for these buyers/bidders.

Do you notice a pattern? Can you see a trend? Does the same user ID purchase multiple items from the seller (for an item that would have no need for multiple purchases)? When did these users registers? If shill bidding is happening, many of the "bidder" accounts will have recent eBay registration dates.

Shill bidding happens with new sellers who think "what's the harm in increasing the price just a little - no one will know." Shill bidding also happens with experience, high level sellers. Recently two top jewelry sellers were warned and had their accounts suspended by eBay for shill bidding...they were bidding on each others' auctions.

Shill bidding is illegal, and is another policy violation that eBay takes very seriously. eBay has very sophisticated tools and technology to track shill bidding. If you believe there is shill bidding activity going on within a sellers account, report it to eBay and they will begin an investagation.

4. Keyword Spamming

As you become aware of what keyword spam is, you'll begin to notice how frequently this policy violation actually happens. While some advanced eBay sellers who are making money on eBay will actually keyword spam intentionally, many new sellers are unintentionally violating this eBay policy.

By definition, keyword spamming is "the act of trying to attract buyers to your auction by putting popular but inappropriate keywords in the title". In situations like this, sellers often use keyword spamming to make their items appear in a wider range of search results, even though what they're offering isn't exactly what the buyer is looking for. A title like: Brand new mens watch CITIZEN SEIKO ROLEX CARTIER is an example. One watch can't be from all those manufacturers, but the seller wants his title to show up in the search results of people searching for watch – and also for anyone searching for any of those manufacturers by name.

eBay makes the point that keyword spamming is unfair to buyers – that a seller is wasting a buyer's time with a title that promises something that the seller doesn't, in fact, have to offer. There are several kinds of keyword spamming - all of which violate eBay's policies.

You can not:: compare. Your title must describe what you're selling and not compare it to something that you are not selling. For example, let's say your have a listing that says: Womens purse, like prada for less. This would be considered a violation of the keyword spamming policy. The auction is not for a prada purse but the seller is trying to attract bidders looking for that specific designer handbag. Comparisons don't have to use the word "like"; either. Titles like: even cuter than a beanie baby or workout clothes, not nike addidas puma also violate the policy.

You can not: include a list of related words. This restriction applies to both titles and descriptions. In a title you're limited to 55 characters, so you can't really make long lists. However, it's against eBay policy to fill up your item description with long lists of words that are there for no other reason than to attract the attention of shoppers who are searching by both title and description. For example, if you're selling cosmetics, don't include a list of words like this in the description: lipstick lipgloss lip gloss glamour beauty lip liner and so on. Your auction might turn up in more searchers, but it'll just upset buyers who are looking for something other than what you're selling.

You can not: use misleading titles. This policy covers some of the previous violations but also anything else that could potentially confuse buyers or lead them astray. For example, you might be offering free shipping to buyers who use the Buy it Now option. If that's the case, make sure you state this in the title.

Here's the point with keyword spamming. Since we know it's going on already in your category product niche, look for it. Research it. Find it. It's already there. Now that you are aware that this exists, report these sellers and their listing violations to eBay. The result will be in the warnings and cancellations of your competitors listings.

The goal of eBay is for all sellers to play by the same rules on the same field. It's your responsibility to insure that your competitors do not have an unfair advantage. Remember, "all is fair in love and war".

If you look closely, you can and will find active auctions that violate one if not all of the policies mentioned above. Can you get away with it? Maybe for an auction or too, but sooner or later, you'll get caught. Play with integrity to win. And, make sure that your competitors play by the same rules and with the same integrity. You never want to jeopardize your eBay account by violating the marketplace policies - just be sure that your competitors are not violating them as well. Do the right thing - report these violations to eBay.

Adam Ginsberg – Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
Adam Ginsberg is internationally known as a small business and online expert and highly sought after speaker and trainer. Adam has published the #1 best sellers "How to Buy, Sell & Profit on eBay" as well as "The Automatic Money Machine on eBay".
For more information or to contact Adam please go to:
Adam Ginsberg

Is An Online Auction Right For My Purchase

Writen by Christopher Luck

Is an online auction the right place for you to purchase things at a price you can afford? There was a time when flea markets and garage sales were the destination of choice for those seeking a deal on certain items they wanted. Though both of those market places still exist, there is a better way of doing things: the online auction. Made popular by ebay, online auctions are now all over the Internet and a great way to find a good deal on any number of items you may need without driving all over town or strolling from tent to tent over 20 acres of flea market.

There are a couple of ways to make sure you make the most of your online auction experience. Certain strategies will be helpful in getting you the price you want on the item you are seeking. Keep these in mind and the next time you log on to the online auction of your choice you will be armed and ready.

Most all online auctions work off of a timer on the auction. An item is put up for sale and site members bid on it. The bidding continues until the clock runs out on the auction, then the seller and buyer get together to decide how the item and money will change hands. First, though, you will need to search the site for the item you are seeking. Once you have found it, there is a little something else you should look for: a buyers auction time ending error. Sometimes you will find a seller who accidentally has their auction ending at a weird time, like 2:00 AM. Rarely will anyone be up bidding on that old pair of skis in the middle of the night. So, if that is what you really want, you can log on about 15 minutes prior to the end of the auction and bid at the last second over the last high bid and have little fear of another poacher being out there going over you as well. So, keep an eye on those end times.

Another thing to look for on online auctions sites is "buy now" features. Many times retailers will sell their overstocked merchandise at an online auction for a discounted price. Rather than going through the bidding of an auction, they offer their items at a "buy now" price. You can simply click on a logo or link and buy the item at a predetermined price without the hassle of the online auction process. These are great to watch for at online auction sites because you will also end up with new merchandise rather than the used or lightly worn merchandise you get with a person to person auction buy.

Online auctions are a great tool for getting the things you are looking for a good price. Long gone are the days of garage sale surfing for the perfect used item or browsing the booths of your local flea market. Now, you simply log on to your favorite online auction site and search for what you need. It is easy and certainly less time consuming.

If you would like to find more of my personal articles on auctions please check out my technology website!

How To Generate Extra Cash In An Instant

Writen by Caterina Christakos

With so many out of work, laid off or staying in dead end jobs to make the ends meet, we need creative ways of generating extra income. Here are a few simple, innovative ideas to get the cash you need quickly.

1) Your personal gold mine, can be staring you right in the face. Many of us save momentos for years for nostalgia or for that one time that we might need them. That time never seems to come though. Why not allow someone else to enjoy them as much as you have. These nick nacks may seem inconsequential or even like junk to you and may seem like buried treasure to some one else.

Go through your closets. Clear off your bookshelves. Unload those dresser drawers and create streams of income. Turn that old typewriter into a writer's dream and earn extra pocket money. Take that nineteen fifties dress out of the closet and make a retro chick happy, while filling your bank account.

With the invention of online auctions, like ebay and ubid, you can turn trash to cash. Or you can go to flea markets and offer your treasure up to vendors for half the profits. Books can be redeemed for a partial profit through sites like half.com or even amazon.com.

Once you have emptied your own closets, you can scour the malls for sales and resell those items online. Or better yet find a deal on one online auction and resell it on another. The only lmitation lies within your own imagination.

2) Have a brilliant idea or hobby? Turn it into an ebook. Write it using word or wordperfect and convert it into a pdf file using adobe 5.0. Then sell it on digibuy.com for 80% of the profits over and over again!

3) Recently sell your home through owner financing? If you are holding a note, there are companies that will purchase it from you for upfront cash. You may have to take a bit of a discount and you will have a large portion of your cash today instead of thirty years from now.

4) Won a lawsuit and recieving payments? You can do the same thing. Companies will actually pay you a large portion of what you won for the right to your payments. It's like taking the lump sum in a lottery winning!

5) Don't have a business of your own and need extra cash? There are plenty of affiliate programs out there that would be delighted to give you a percentage of their profits, for the privalege of having you market their products. Choose programs that you have personally used, so you can attest to the quality. Also choose programs that are at least two tiered. This means that you get paid wether you make a sale or someone you referred to the program makes a sale. Just one good referal can bring you a steady stream of montly income.

About The Author

Caterina Christakos is a published author and independent investor. For more information on how to turn notes, annuities and settlements into fast cash go to: http://www.webpagedesignerforrealestate.com/cash_for_notes.html; stockoptions101@yahoo.com

The Secret Of The Ebay Money Machine And How To Get Your Share

Writen by Ian Major

If you have all the money you need, then this information wont be of much use to you!

If however, like most of us, there are times when you could do with a little more, read on.

At times we all come across circumstances where we could do with some extra income, be it that extra special present we need to buy, that unexpected bill that needs paying or just to make ends meet.

The standard answer to the above would be to get a part-time job, but if you're already working full time or you need to stay at home to look after the kids or perhaps an elderly relative, working extra hours can be easier said than done.

There has to be an easier way.

And there is.

It's time to put your Computer and Internet connection to work.

There are many ways that you can earn an income via your computer; however, in this report we will be specifically talking about earning an income via eBay.

Not a few pennies here or there but a meaningful part-time income.

At the last count eBay had more than 100 million members worldwide and were carrying out tens of millions of simultaneous auctions each day.

Mind-boggling isn't it? Yet approximately only 1% of those 100 million plus members are selling on eBay.

The rest are buying.

So how would you like to be selling in a marketplace of almost 100 million buyers?

But "what would I sell"? I hear you ask.

The majority of sellers on eBay fall into what I call the hobby category.

They buy a few bits and pieces at their local yard sale and sell it on eBay.

In other words they treat it as a hobby.

The problem with this approach is that they constantly have to replenish their stock, plus they have the hassle of packing and mailing their items.

There's nothing wrong with this but it's unlikely to earn them a good, steady, part-time income.

You have to sell products that will give you good a profit and or will attract a lot of bids and that you:

· Don't have to stock

· Don't have to pack

· Don't have to post

This may sound like a tall order, yet it's very easy to do.

Digital products such as Ebooks, Reports, Articles (like this one) and Software can be downloaded over the Internet; therefore they need no conventional storage space, no packing, and no trips to the Post Office.

If you don't know anything about digital products it's very easy to find out about them, but if you would rather sell a conventional product then get someone else to hold the stock and do the packing and postage for you!

Lets suppose you wanted to sell Computers and Computer Accessories via eBay.

You would find a wholesaler who stocked these kind of products, buy at a discount and sell them on eBay at a profit.

Would you still have to stock the Computers and Accessories?

Possibly, but not if you find a wholesaler who also dropships.

Dropshippers are usually wholesalers that will deliver their products to your customer, so in this example you contact your wholesaler/dropshipper to find out what rage of computers and accessories they hold, advertise your choice of product via eBay and when it sells ask them to post it to the winning bidder/buyer.

You don't even have to pay for the product until you have sold it!

Great. No start up capital.

This is exactly what I do and it works extremely well.

Of course, Computers are just one example of what you might sell on eBay.

There are Wholesaler/Dropshippers stocking just about anything you can think of.

So can you really make a good living from eBay?

You bet your Little Cotton Socks you can.

There are people making a fortune on eBay.

Maybe by selling Little Cotton Socks :-)

I generate a very good full-time income, working about 10 to 12 hours per week on eBay, selling among other things New and Used Computers and yes you've guessed it, I don't stock, pack or deliver them and I don't pay for them until I have been paid.

It's not difficult to set yourself up as a seller on eBay, there's heaps of help on eBay itself.

Just click on help in the top right hand corner of any eBay page to get all the assistance you need.

Ian D Major is the creator of http://www.eBay-Articles.com, the one stop resource for information, reports and articles about all things eBay.

To subscribe for fr*ee to eBay-Articles and get Articles, Reports and Bonuses delivered to your inbox weekly, visit:-

http://www.ebay-articles.com

Bidding Techniques For Better Profit

Writen by James Ojo

To profit in any business (either online or offline), there are some tools, techniques and strategies which you must have at your beck and call. Failure to get these, you will only be reading the testimonials of others while you will think that online magic does not work for you.

1. Study to know the market properly. Know the dos and the don'ts of the market. EBay is a global platform and has its policies link in all its pages. Go through patiently and understand every aspect of it. You may be far from profitable bidding if you are not bidding according to the rules.

2. When there is a product you want to bid for, get the details of the product. The brand name, the model, year of manufacture, the manufacturer, the current market price for new one, the level of depreciation on the product, what the market price for the product based on the number of years of usage. When you know all these, you will be armed with enough information to bid profitably. It is absurd to bid for a second hand product and buy same at a price higher than what the new one goes for in the market.

3. If the details on the items are not sufficient or not clear enough, get in touch with the merchant (seller). You may be shooting yourself in the leg if you are bidden on a product you are mistaken for another. Knowing the market value of the product may be impossible if the identity is wrongly perceived.

4. Study to know the duration of the auction. Knowing the beginning and the ending periods for the auction is essential to help you take correct decision.

5. Visit other online auctions to know whether you can get the same product at a cheaper rate. In addition, the merchant may auction the product in other platforms. Because of the unpopular nature of those other platforms, you may get it at a cheaper price. However, you must balance this with the security such markets provide.

6. I told you to know the duration of the bid because at the last minute you may place a last minute bid to beat earlier bidders who may not check at such a time.

7. Despite the fact that it is necessary to place a last minute bid, it is still imperative that you place an early bid so that your interest in the bid will be known to all and sundry. As you are getting out bidden, don't forget to place higher bid until your maximum is reached.

8. Another important detail not mentioned above is the warranty or money back guarantee provided by the merchant. You may not bid for a product which does not have this since you may not inspect the physical product before the transaction is sealed. If you then discover that the product is of a lower quality as portrayed in the auction, you may have no alternative to return same to the merchant.

9. Does the merchant accept credit card or check? Do you need the product urgently; you must look for a merchant who accepts credit card to meet your urgent demand. However, if you are not in haste, you may patronise a merchant who accepts only check or money order since it will take longer time for these to clear and you product is being shipped.

10. Closely related to above is the location of the merchant. If the merchant is located far from your locality, it may take longer time for the product to reach you.

11. It will be advisable to patronise an established merchant with a clean historical records. If the records are there check properly to know whether the merchant have been criticised of poor performance in the past.

12. You must know the type of bid on which the product is placed. Lack of this knowledge will make you to lose out.

About the Author
James Ojo is a prolific author and a seasoned writer of many online articles. He is the President of Hot Home Business Online. Visit his websites for more of his articles:
http://www.hothomebizonline.com
http://business.hothomebizonline.com
E-mail: admin@hothomebizonline.com

How To Make Money From Internet Auctions

Writen by J. Stephen Pope

If your business is not using eBay and other Internet auctions, you could be missing out. Here are just a few ways of generating additional income, profits and cashflow from online auctions.

1. Convert Excess Assets to Cash

Sell personal or business items that you no longer use. For example, are there slow moving inventory items in your store? A major camera store chain sells their slow movers, quite successfully, through eBay.

2. Buy and Sell Anything

Sometimes people put things out in the garbage because they don`t need them anymore and don`t know anyone who could use them. You can successfully sell some of these items by Internet auction.

As well, if you pick up bargains from garage sales, flea markets, importers, wholesalers, closeout dealers or other sources, these items can also be sold through online auctions.

3. Drop Shipping

There are suppliers who will ship one item at a time for you. You don`t have to stock any inventory. You simply pay your dropship supplier out of the money you receive from your auction sale. They will ship the product directly to your customer.

For further information about drop shipping, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html

4. Self-Publishing

Do you have expertise in a specialized area of interest to people? Then, you could publish your own information product.

A very popular format for self-publishing information products is the electronic book (or e-book). E-book compilers, some of which are free, are readily available on the Internet. When people buy your e-book, they can download it from your website or receive it by e-mail.

You could sell such self-published information products on eBay and other Internet auction sites. Incidentally, online auctions are an inexpensive method of testing the market for your information (or other) products.

For further information about self-publishing, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/selfpub.html

5. Reprint and Resale Rights

You may not want to produce your own information products presently. Or, perhaps, you may already have an information product, but would like to supplement your income with additional, related product offerings. This is where reprint and resale rights come in.

You can buy the rights to reprint or resell excellent information products created by other people. Some of these rights are inexpensive.

In addition to selling these products from your own website, you can use Internet auctions to create extra sales. Another advantage of online auctions is that they can create additional traffic for your website.

For further information about reprint and resale rights, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/instantpub.html

6. Sell Your Services

Do you design logos or websites? Do you sell consulting or other services? These, also, can be successfully sold through eBay and other auction sites.

7. Run an eBay Consignment Shop

There are still people who don`t have a computer or who don`t use eBay. You could sell on a consignment basis for them, taking a commission on the successful sale. You would need to charge for advertising expenses incurred, such as eBay listing and selling fees.

8. Promote Affiliate Programs through Auctions

Some affiliate programs have brandable e-books that contain your affiliate link. When people order from the e-book that they bought from your online auction, you get credit for the sale. As well, some of those purchasers may sign up as affiliates, earning you additional commissions.

Some of these e-books have valuable information that is worth the nominal value you would sell it for on eBay. In other cases, such an e-book is readily available for free. In this latter case, you might consider selling another related product and offer the e-book as a free bonus.

For further information about affiliate programs, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/affiliate.html

9. Supply Fellow Online Auctioneers

During the gold rush days, it is said that those who sold picks and shovels were more likely to make money than those panning for gold. Similarly, since there is such a big market for online auctions, you can make money supplying eBayers with information and auction tools to help them start and grow their own online auction business.

10. Internet Auction Consulting

As you gain experience and expertise in online auctions, you might consider charging for your knowledge.

Consulting services, seminars, information products and other ways of packaging your knowledge can earn you additional income streams.

For more information about consulting, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/consulting.html

These are just a few of the ways you can profit from Internet auctions.

For more information about Internet auctions, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/auctions.html

RESOURCE BOX:

J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.

For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/

Successful Ebay Selling Evolution Of An Ebay Mutant

Writen by Donovan Baldwin

Many successful eBay sellers have two things in common:

• The way they got started on their individual paths to success, and
• The number of additional sales they COULD have made if they had just learned a little more about one other subject...internet marketing.

eBAY SELLERS ARE MADE, NOT BORN

Almost everybody selling things for a living, or at least for a recognizable income, on eBay started the same way...by intentional accident. Usually, they have become intrigued by the phenomenon, looked around their house and found a few things to test the waters with, and after that, they were hooked! That's the birth. After that comes evolution.

Once they run out of things to sell, but have been struck by the business opportunity lurking on eBay, they have to find other sources of eBay merchandise. This problem is solved in various ingenious ways. Some link up with a wholesale drop ship operation, some find merchandise elsewhere, such as at auctions and estate sales, while some create their own products.

Having gotten a product source, they still had to learn...learn...learn. In general, becoming a success at selling on eBay is comprised of varying amounts of research, study, trial-and-error, failure, success...and luck.

WHAT eBAY SELLERS DON'T KNOW

Many eBay sellers arrive at this particular internet business niche independently of a previous internet marketing experience. As a result, while successful in their own area of expertise, eBay, they often miss cues and opportunities that an experienced internet marketer would pick up on or take advantage of. They lack knowledge of ways that they could expand the auction success by applying some standard internet marketing techniques.

BEYOND EVOLUTION

eBay has now been such a successful internet phenomenon for long enough that the evolutionary path of eBay selling has produced experts. In true entrepreneurial spirit, some of these experts are now sharing their hard-won knowledge by publishing courses on the subject. As in many things, there are good courses, there are not-so-good courses, and there are plain awful ones. Their prices range anywhere from a few dollars to a great many dollars, and the process is still new and fluid enough that few, if any, can truly claim to be major players.

ONE BENEFIT MOST eBAY SELLING COURSES OFFER

Many people do not take the plunge simply because of an uncertainty and fear of failure due to ignorance. If they have visited the eBay site, they have often be over-whelmed by all the links, warnings, and terms specific to eBay. It seems as if they have wandered into a meeting of a secret organization and lack the password and handshake, and they feel that anything they do will be greeted with derision, if not complete animosity.

One thing that almost any course about selling on eBay can do is familiarize you to some extent with the experience. That will erase some of the fear and uncertainty. A GOOD course on selling on eBay can cut your evolutionary time considerably because the author will have already been there and can guide you past some of the pitfalls and help you mutate more quickly than you could grow through simple evolution. The lag time between first eBay auction and the point where you consider yourself to at least be skilled at the process, if not yet wealthy from it, can be cut considerably.

Although not immediately necessary to learning the eBay process, learning something about internet marketing as well can help you expand your opportunity beyond just the auctions. Fortunately, there are eBay selling courses that cover at least some of the internet marketing aspects as well.

HOW TO GET STARTED

The easiest way to get started selling on eBay, with or without a course, is to do what so many others have done. Look around the house and find a couple of things you think SOMEONE will possibly want to buy. Remember, the purpose here is to learn the process, not to get rich. In fact, even if the item doesn't sell, you will have benefited from the experience. Be aware, however, that you will have fees to pay even if your item does not sell. This is not a terrible thing because, unless you have bought every possible option, these costs should be minimal. Chalk it up to tuition. Anyway, if this test develops into a real internet business those expenses become tax deductions.

RECOMMENDATION?

Give eBay a shot with a couple of sales of things you already have just to see what's going on and how you feel about it. If you believe that this might be a business you want to get involved in, get yourself a course and learn a little bit more about the business before you leap in with both feet...or with your wallet in your hand. It's better to spend a few bucks up front and realize the experience is not for you, than it is to spend a lot of bucks and experience a great deal of frustration only to learn that you should have let this opportunity pass you by.

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has blogs on the subjects of weight loss and health, and internet marketing and related business topics. He has a wholesale dropship program at http://donovanbaldwin.com/ebay

Seven Steps To Ebay Selling Success

Writen by Heather Wallace

More and more people try their luck at selling on eBay everyday. With all of that growing competition it is important that you do everything possible to make sure that you stand out from the crowd. By following a few simple steps you can greatly improve the odds of your auction being noticed, that browsers will convert to bidders, and that those bidders will become repeat customers. Begin practicing the follow seven tips and watch your eBay auction sales explode.

1. Inundate your potential buyers with details. It is much better to provide a lot rather than a little information and this will also be a great opportunity for you to pepper your listing description with keywords. Do be sure, however, that your auction listing is informative and not filled with hype. Those extra exclamation points really aren't going to make the sale. Actually, they will only make you look unprofessional. Also, give your readers details as appropriate such as models number, item condition, color, size, etc.

2. The title may not seem like a vital part of the equation, but it really is of great importance. It is the first thing people see when browsing through the auctions, so it has to not only grab their attention, but also entice them to click. Do not enter you title in ALL CAPS. This will only make you look like an amateur. Include as applicable; keywords, model numbers, seating information, brand names, item size, color, etc.

3. A picture is worth a thousand bids. Okay, well maybe not a thousand, but it will certainly help your item sell. Think about it; would you buy something sight unseen? Of course not and neither will the majority of buyers on eBay. Be sure to take care when photographing your item. Lesser quality photos are just as bad as no pictures at all. Also, the more expensive the items; the more photos you should provide.

4. State all of your requirements upfront. Tell potential bidders how much you intend to charge for shipping, to which countries you are willing to ship, if you will accept returns, or anything else that you might wish to specify. You really can't make things up as you go along. You have to get all requirements out there at the beginning.

5. If a potential buyer contacts you with a question then be sure to promptly respond. If you wait you may lose a much needed bidder. Also, be sure to be polite in your response as no question is too stupid to warrant anything other than but a courteous reply. Even if that person doesn't bid on your item they will certainly remember your pleasant attitude and that could mean a future sale.

6. The majority of buyers on eBay prefer to pay for their purchase via PayPal. That is why it is vital for you to accept this method of payment. It is also beneficial to you as it eliminates the potential for bad checks or money orders.

7. After the sale most winning bidders will expect the seller to begin the completion of the transaction. Send an email, an invoice, alert the buyer when the item has shipped, and be sure to leave feedback after the transaction.

Copyright © 2005 Heather Wallace

Heather Wallace is a writer whose work has been published in national, regional, and online publications. To receive a FREE eBay Seller's Resource Guide, send a blank email to mail to: eBay-Sellers-Resource-Guide@fetchingsites.com

Buying At Auction 6 Hints To Make You A Successful Bidder

Writen by John Anderson

Buying at auction, be it for stamps or coins, antiques or even cattle, can be one of the most exciting and profitable experiences possible. It can also be expensive and utterly frustrating. The best way to come out ahead is to learn the tricks of the trade early. Here are some suggestions that should help you get on the fast track to success.

(1) Do your research. Knowledge is your most important tool, even more important than money.

(2) Learn how to be inconspicuous.

(3) Beware of zombies, shills and lunatics. The best way to avoid them is

(4) Hire an agent.

(5) Be selective. Don't be afraid to spend the extra dollar when something especially rare or in exceptional condition comes your way. You may never get another chance.

To elaborate:

(1) Every experienced buyer knows how important knowledge is. Questions of authenticity, condition, and rarity are always the key considerations. If you are fortunate enough to have both knowledge and money, you have the world by the tail. But even if you have limited funds you can still do very well if you know something the rest of the potential buyers don't.

(2) Once you have spotted something you want to buy, fade into the woodwork as much as possible. The last thing you want to do is attract attention to yourself or the lot you are interested in. After you've been around long enough, your competition will find out who you are. Until then try to keep as low a profile as possible and guard your information. Use a code system to keep track of your limits. I'm constantly amazed at how careless some bidders are with their auction catalogs and what they write in them.

(3) Zombies, shills and lunatics are every auction bidder's nightmare. If a zombie knows who you are, he/she will follow your every move. Their motto is: if that person is willing to spend a hundred dollars for a lot, I sure can afford to spend a hundred and ten. Most people know what a shill is. It is someone working for the auction house or seller who artificially pushes up prices by bidding against you. In order for an item to get a good price, two or more bidders must be interested in it. Shills are especially skilled at figuring out how high you are willing to go. Lunatics are the ones who absolutely have to have a lot and will bid whatever it takes to win it. The best way to deal with these three worthies is to hire an agent to bid for you.

(4) Agents are professionals who have developed skills at bidding at auction. One famous New York stamp auction agent was so skilled at hiding his bids that only the auctioneer and a few other people ever knew how he did it. As strange as it may sound, paying an auction agent the extra 2-5% fee may save you many hundreds of dollars or more in the long run. The zombies, shills and lunatics won't know who is bidding against them.

(5) Finally, one of the most important skills of all is the ability to recognize when to open up the purse strings. Condition and rarity are the two most important determinants of price. The exceptional item is always worth an extra bid or two. One customer who was examining my stamps at a national stamp show remarked, "I've been looking for this one for more than 40 years and you have a very nice copy. But I never pay more than half catalog for anything." I wished him well. It was a scarce stamp and I expect he'll still be looking if he lives another 40 years.

To summarize: knowledge is the primary key to success at auction bidding. Secondly, develop your skills as a bidder and buyer. Then, learn to recognize the individuals you will have to deal with on the auction floor. Cross them up and use and agent. And finally, know when to pay a premium for the exceptional item.

Best of luck!

John Anderson has been bidding at auction for more than forty years and has purchased hundreds of stamps, antiques and collectibles that way. Now semi-retired from stamps he is a full-time writer. His first novel, The Cellini Masterpiece, was published under the pseudonym of Raymond John. He is now hard at work on his second, and an auction plays an important role in the plot. If you would like to contact John or read the first chapter of The Cellini Masterpiece, please log on at: http://www.cmasterpiece.com

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

Writen by Ian Major

OK, so you've been bitten by the eBay bug!

You've 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 "Minimalist Look".

You've 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, you'd 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.

You've 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 "Middlemen" 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? (There's 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.

For 12 Killer Dropshipping SECRETS for eBay Sellers visit:-

http://www.ebay-articles.com/12-Killer-Dropshipping-Secrets.html

Ian D Major is the creator of http://www.eBay-Articles.com, the one stop resource for information, reports and articles about all things eBay.

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

ebay-articles1@majorian.par32.com

CopyRight 2005 Ian D.Major

How To Find And Buy Digital Items On Ebay

Writen by Donny Lowy

Digital items are special files or information that you can access online. For example it can be a software package that you can install on to your system after paying it at eBay. All these items are sold on eBay at a 'buy it now" price, that is, you are not required to bid on that item, you can instantly place an order.

Digital items can be found by browsing on eBay's category listing or searching by keywords. While going through the lists of items you may find a "digital item" filter on the left hand side of the page. You may not find such filters on all pages. If you click the "yes" button on this filter, you will see only digital items. The best keyword to search for digital items is to type 'digital item'. Then select the option 'search title and description'. Digital item sellers use these words in their description.

It is not difficult to view and differentiate a digital item since eBay flashes a standard message "This is a digital item" at the top of the item description. Review the listing properly to see if the item is of real interest to you and is easy to install. For this check "file type and requirements" portion to see if this item is compatible with your computer system and software. Now that you have decided finally to buy this digital item, click the link 'buy it now'. Since you can instantly place order and can download, you need to pay the seller immediately too. For this you can use "PayPal" which will help you to pay quickly and safely online using your credit card or bank account number. After receiving the payment the seller will instruct you either to visit a website and download the file, or will send the item to you on your preferred email.

Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.

The Top Sellers On Ebay Amp What We Can Learn From Them

Writen by Sydney Johnston

A fascinating eBay case study is the number one seller on eBay, a little outfit called Marie's CDs, but is better known under its old name "1 Cent CD." Jay and Marie, current ID "jayandmarie", are an institution on eBay and are a big part of what makes eBay such an amazingly popular phenomenon.

This little company is literally an eBay dream come true. They started small out of their home in California in 1999 and began growing quickly. To date they have completed over 1 million auctions on eBay and have a feedback rating of 177,018 with 99% satisfaction from their customers!

When I say grow, I mean it in a Jack and the Beanstalk kind of way. Their business started out as a little fly-by-night outfit and has now sold over 1 million dollars (yep, that's $1,000,000) annually for the past three years… Let me repeat that: over a million dollars in sales each year for three years running! Now THAT is growth!

They employ several people, have three small buildings in southern California, and ship items all over the world (mainly CDs). They got their fame from their auctions for CDs that start at only a penny…

What can we learn from this fascinating case study? What do Jay and Marie actually do?

Well, for one thing, they have huge numbers of auctions. Today, they have 83 pages of auctions listed. eBay lists 50 auctions to a page, so that is over 4,000 auctions.

Secondly, they offer great value, because their CDs begin at one cent. Yes, all of them.

None of their auctions has a reserve. Does it pay off? You betchum! Today, looking through 4 pages of eBay auctions, only 3 of them had no bids - so far.

And, naturally, their great feedback and reputation work heavily in their favor. After all, how many eBay sellers have 177,000+ feedback points with over half a million transactions completed.

This case study shows all of us how smart marketing and a great business model can pay off on eBay - and ecommerce, in general.

Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay and has been selling on eBay since the winter of 1996. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour multi media seminar on the Internet that teaches her students how to sell on ebay.