Online Auctions Discover 6 Myths Surrounding Them

Writen by Pradeep Agarwal

Online Auctions are unmistakably among the hottest e-Sourcing technologies on the Internet business today. But what exactly is an online auction anyway and what are its benefits? According to The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, fourth edition (1942), an auction is a "public sale in which articles are sold to the highest bidder." And if done on Internet it is online auction.

Online auctions create a competitive advantage because they make it relatively simple for Procurement managers to negotiate on all corporate purchases and create better deals.

Let us see some common myths surrounding online auctions:

MYTH #1: Only very familiar, particular or consistent items can be auctioned:

The myth came into being because no one understood how to measure criteria other than price. Total cost auctions take price and no-price factors, such as delivery time or customer service, into account, and they allow a customer to weight each factor accordingly. This is only a myth because when someone with sourcing expertise takes a creative approach to defining or breaking down the item in question, that item or its components can generally be auctioned.

MYTH # 2: Auctions are only effective when there is a level playing field:

This is false since a level playing field simply doesn't exist. And, not all suppliers are alike. Face-to-face negotiations have long proven this fact. Procurement managers can now normalize for differences (e.g., customer service, warranty terms, delivery cost, etc.) using Web-based technology. In effect, these technologies measure total cost allow customers to compare apples-to-oranges.

MYTH #3: Only Internet-savvy suppliers can participate in an Online auction:

Today, the majority of legitimate suppliers have access to computers. The myth that only internet-savvy suppliers can participate in an online auction is wrong. In order to participate in an Internet based online auction, the suppliers merely need to be able to log on to the Internet, log in to a web site, and log their bids. It's just very simple. Suppliers don't have to know how to navigate the World Wide Web or use any sophisticated search engines to participate.

MYTH #4: Maximum benefits could be derived only if large number of suppliers participate:

For any online auction, competition is a must and you must create a competitive environment, no matter if the suppliers is 4 or 400. Internet auctions put the business "up for bid." Incumbents are wise to take notice. Once existing suppliers believe that the buyer really will change where he takes his business, a competitive environment is created. Thus concrete results for online auctions occur irrelevant to number of suppliers.

MYTH #5: Only products are auctioned?

Not true - in fact, services are also auctioned. Services such as Telemarketing services, Cellular phone services, Security services, and temporary labor services are all good examples. For example, a particular auction site held an auction for telemarketing services that resulted in an 18% cost reduction. The auction involved over 60 suppliers and more than 700 bids. The study shows that apart from products, services can also be auctioned.

MYTH # 6:Auctions are carried out only once in a year:

Event online auctions are generally used for categories of goods and services that require a long-term contract (say one year). These will achieve better results if auctioned year (or less). For example, a buyer may auction off the purchase of 10,000 PCs over a two-year period.

It is important for all to expand their concept of what can be auctioned, as long as the value of each item is 'elastic' enough to preclude fixed pricing. Once they have done that, the possibilities are almost endless.

Pradeep Aggarwal is the creator of Auction Spectrum the online auction hub. This site is dedicated to helping people to build Profit Pulling Websites and start and run a successful online auction business.

Tips For Knowing Your Ebay Buyer Before You Ship

Writen by Jeanne Sheridan

You're soaring high... The auction went well and you've sold an item on eBay! Feels great doesn't it? But now what?

Before you send anything to that buyer, you must get to know them first. This is especially crucial when you're selling a high-ticket item that you can't afford to lose. Even if the buyer has paid, the PayPal transaction could still end up being reversed, leaving you completely out of pocket.

So how do you get to know buyers to see if they can be trusted?

1. Look at their feedback for sellers.

Go to their feedback page and click Left for Others. If they post a lot of negatives about other sellers, then run away from them as fast as you can! If you still choose to deal with them, make sure not to post your feedback about them first. You should consider a negative someone has left to be just as bad as a negative left for them.

2. Look at feedback from sellers.

You might find that they have more complaints from sellers than from buyers. Or it might be the other way around. Some people really are just better at selling than buying.

3. Pay attention to bid retractions.

If your buyer has a high number of bid retractions, this as a red flag.

4. See what else they've bought.

When someone goes from buying items worth $1 to suddenly buying something worth $1,000 you might want to be a little suspicious of them.

5. See what they're bidding on now.

If they've never shown any interest in your kind of item before, and now suddenly they're bidding on lots of them, then that's cause for concern. You should also be suspicious of someone who seems to be spending a lot of money all at once. Few buyers have thousands at a time to blow on eBay.

6. Check their ID history.

People who've changed their ID are often trying to get away from someone who's trying to find them. This is another warning sign! Be especially wary of someone who has changed their ID recently.

7. Be nice to new buyers.

Genuinely new buyers will probably have a name ending in a number and a feedback score of 0. These people usually aren't fraudsters. Somewhat counter-intuitively, people trying to commit fraud will almost never do it when they have a feedback score of 0. They'll think it's too obvious. New buyers often have problems with being inexperienced on eBay, however, and you might have to guide them through things like opening a PayPal account.

8. Email them!

If you want to get to know your eBay buyer, why not have a little chat with them about the item and what they plan to do with it? Tell them how you know they're going to love it and ask if there's anything else you can do for them. Few buyers who seem chatty and nice will turn out not to be in the end.

If you keep getting buyers you don't want, you might consider using eBay's pre-approved buyer function.

Copyright 2006 - J. Sheridan

For more free information on ebay selling, drop shipping strategies, handling bid snipers, and to find out what's the hottest selling items on eBay, visit http://www.Ebay-Selling-Tip.com

Secrets To Making A Killing On Ebay

Writen by Daegan Smith

Ebay gives people a chance to buy anything they want to buy, sell anything they want to sell, and perhaps get rich trying. Everything can be done at home, with very little investment.

Are you ready to earn money through Ebay? All you need are seven simple strategies.

First: Study the market. Ebay is not only an online bidding and shopping center. Some companies actually post their wares on Ebay to see how much people are willing to pay for it.

To market test your product, post it three times with three different starting bids: one comfortably low, another at the price you expect it to fetch, and a third comfortably high. Monitor each product post and see how fast the prices rise with the bidding.

This way, you know how much people will be willing to pay to purchase your product. There is a caveat to this, however: you can incur the wrath of people on Ebay if you choose to terminate bidding of your two other products should you choose to retain and sell the one for which you got the best price.

Second, sell something old but new. Now this may sound strange, but all it means is that you have to sell something that has a use or a following, something that is unique without being obscure. Ebay is filled with hundreds of thousands of people loud and proud of their wares. You can't sell something anyone can find in the nearest grocery store, but you can't sell something no one will know about either.

For instance, you can sell Used Ball Pen Art – it's something you certainly can't pick up at the local Wal-Mart, but it isn't something everyone might be interested in either. If you are unsure, see Strategy Number One. If you believe in your product, however, move on to Strategy Number Three.

Research. Some sellers make the mistake of calling their product certain things: plaid when the pattern is checkered, large when it is actually medium, brand new when it has a tear across its front. Make sure you know everything about your product, so that if someone is finding something specific, they stumble upon your wares. Don't make the mistake of advertising something your product doesn't have. Do so, and your buyers – and everyone else on Ebay – will walk away very unhappy.

Fourth, take a great picture of your product. Showcase its best side, but show any flaws it might have without highlighting the flaws or hiding them. When you have taken the picture, crop it to include only your item, then shrink it down to 72 dpi to make it load faster. This will allow buyers to not only see your item, but see it quickly. If it loads too slow, buyers will turn away in impatience. If you have no picture, you will appear unwilling to sell and wary of showing your product.

So what have you got to hide? Take out that camera and snap those pictures!

At this point, you are ready to get your item onto Ebay, so list your product correctly. What some sellers do is to put their items in the most general category, thinking that more people will see it. This is not true for Ebay, since buyers will be searching for specific things. Put your item in the general categories, and you could miss out on those precious page views.

Sixth, work on your writing. Ebay requires you to have a written description of your product, along with an auction title. Make your written description short and true, and your auction title specific. Remember that some buyers may not have the right Internet speed – and patience – to wait for your picture to load, so you have to grab them immediately with a delicious description.

As a rule, the best descriptions are those which will answer any questions your buyers might have.

Your product is now online and ready to be sold – but how do you sell it right, and when do you stop the bidding? It's all about timing.

Know when Internet traffic is loose so that you can post your item without much difficulty on your part, and know when traffic is high so that you don't terminate bidding when people are actually trying to get through to your site but are stuck in an online traffic jam.

So, seventh, watch your market. Watch TV, so you know when popular shows are on. Chances are, people won't be at their computes during that time. Watch the Weather Channel. In harshly cold or harshly hot weather, people will be indoors surfing the net.

Marketing is all about timing, and in selling, timing is everything. Ebay is no exception, and it can be a great place to earn cash if you strategize and plan.

Daegan Smith the owner of Net MLM Articles and the leader of the fastest growing team of successful home business enterpernuers on the net. Find out how we're creating financial freedom all across the globe and how to get in on the action FREE => http://www.comlev.com

Is Ebay A Viable Place To Start Growine My Online Business And Attract New Customers

Writen by Charlotte Alice

How you market your new online business will be something on the top of your mind from day one. It's an important aspect, right? If people can't see your site, you don't make any sales, so it is not surprising that so many people look at eBay and try to work out how to leverage their vast streams of traffic.

Without doubt eBay is one of the world's most popular web sites, so just attracting a very small percentage of that traffic could make a huge difference to a fledgling new business. However, it is not just a case of using eBay to sell your products or services, it is about encouraging them to visit your off eBay web site.

This takes a lot of time, the first thing you will need to do is build up a great reputation. Understand the intricate nature of how eBay works and learn how to position your products to sell them best. Once you have mastered this, you can then begin on your strategy to take your business off of eBay.

The reason why it is important to do this is because of the fees. Put simply, eBay is an expensive place to sell your wares. If you can cut out the middle man so to speak, your margins increase. Fortunately, eBay provide you with some great sales tools, you will have access to your customer's email details, you can send them newsletters and you can pre program automated email responses. In fact all of these tools are powerful in their own right, so try to use them as often as possible as they will come in handy.

Once you're comfortable with these tools, there is no reason why you can not use them to highlight your Internet business. Perhaps you might put a link to your site in every automated email you send, remember you can configure the standard eBay emails to whatever you want (within reason), another strategy is to include some kind of direct marketing response. For example, a limited time only offer of 10% should one of your customer's buy something through your site.

The trick is to ensure that you're encouraging users to click through to your other web site as much as possible. If your ducks are in line, you'll be able to continue to grab your customer's details. Maybe offer them a free eBook in return for them signing up to your newsletter, before you know it you will have a reasonable sized mailing list. Now every time you launch a new product or service, you can converse directly with people you know are already interested in your company.

The great thing about this is that you'll soon start to be able to offer affiliate products, this is another way to make money through your site. If your mailing list is large enough, other web site business owners will approach you for inclusion in your newsletter, of course you can charge for the privilege.

In summary, eBay is a great way to start life as an online business, however it is important to have one eye on the future. Start planning your migration away as soon as possible, why should eBay take all the profit? They have enough already!

Charlotte Alice is a professional author for Guide to dropshipping and full time Content Writer

Starting An Ebay Business

Writen by Louise Riley

So you have read buying and selling guides, and you think you have what it takes to become an ebay powerseller? Well you are right. Ebay is a great way to make money and ebay make it very easy for the average person to start their own business, run it from their home and compete in the lucrative market that is the world wide web. RikensAuctions is an ebay powerseller and here are some of our tips and tricks.

You have decided that you want to start selling on ebay.com.au but you are unsure of what to sell.

To begin with have a look around your house at things that you no longer want or need and this would be a good place to start. Do you have a shed or garage full of junk or items that were a really good idea at the time, that are not longer used by you or your family? For example skis, camping equipment, car parts, clothes that you have grown out of, crockery and cutlery, old pictures and framed prints, computers, old records and CD's or anything really.

Turn junk into cash for your new business

This old 'junk' that you no longer need can be turned into cash and this cash can be used for you to start your new ebay business. All you really need to start is a reasonable digital camera, a computer hooked up to the internet. Take your old goods out and inspect them for faults and flaws, clean them up, arrange them in a good position with plenty of natural light (not direct sunlight) and take a few photos of them. It is best to take a few photos of each item, from different angles. This is best as when you download your photos into your computer, some of them may not have turned out properly.

Remember when you are taking a photo that this photo is the only way people will have to see your item. They are making a purchase based on your photograph so ensure you get a good shot. If there are any flaws or faults you should also take a photo of these too. Once you have downloaded these photos into your computer you are ready to go!

What price should I start my auction at?

There are two ways to go about starting an ebay auction: you can either start your auction at a low price, or start the bidding at the lowest price you wish to accept for your item. Starting an item at a low bid price can incur a lower ebay listing fee and promote bidding activity but you also take the risk of getting a lower price for your item should bidders looking for your particular item be scarce that week.

Starting your goods at a higher price usually means that you may not get large amounts of bidders bidding on your item. But this is not always the case. All it takes is two people and your item can skyrocket if both people really want it. I cannot advise you on whether to start your item lower or higher but I must point out at this time that we start all our items at the lowest price we are willing to take for it.

Once you have chosen a start price, you can begin getting rid of your old items and begin your new life as an ebay business.

Now that I have sold my junk, what do I sell now?

Sell items you have made or refurbished: Now that you have sold your surplus items and you are cashed up, you have to decide what type of items you wish to specialise in. To have a good product is most important. Look at your interests; what do you like to do, do you have any hobbies etc. If you like patchwork quilting, the you could sell quilts that you have made on ebay. If you enjoy painting, the you could sell your original artworks and so on. Perhaps you like stamp collecting, furniture restoration, web design, building computers, painting china or other crafts, picture framing and just about anything can be sold on ebay. The idea is to find your niche in the market and use this to propel your business to greatness.

Make a profit out of a hobby: There are lots of ways to integrate your hobby into a viable ebay business. You can sell the items you make for a profit on ebay. I suggest taking very good quality photos if you are going to sell the same item over and over. Perhaps it is worth hiring a photographer to take photos of your goods to make them more attractive to the buyer.

Make a profit out of second hand goods: A trick of the trade that some people have used to grow their business is to visit local auction houses and pick up bargains then photograph them and sell them on ebay. This can be very lucrative but also very competitive. Lots of people earn their living this way and so sometimes it can be difficult to secure the bargain at the local auction house. You have to have a really good look around and search each box of junk to ensure you do not miss anything. Sometimes it is the least likely thing that can bring you the most amount of profit.

Make a profit out of new goods: It is possible to find a field you are interested in and purchasing products that are brand new from a supplier to this industry. For instance if you are a computer buff and decide to sell computers on ebay then perhaps you could contact a computer manufacturer and purchase some computers or computer parts to sell on ebay.

So go and log into ebay to begin selling right away and you will be surprised just how much fun it can be and how many great new skills you can gain by using this massive marketplace.

See our article on Setting Up Your Own Website for tips for setting up a website to complement your ebay sales. Having a website is a great way to complement sales while giving you a space to let your customers get to know you a little better. You can have your terms and conditions, payment options and any other information relelvant to your items for sale up on the website. This is also a good place to put your contact information so that people can call you should they have any queries about your items. This article gives you some important pointers on setting up a simple site.

Article from http://www.rikensauctions.com Article on setting up a website located at: http://www.rikensauctions.com/website_setup.htm