How to Make eBay Pay You $25,000.00 per month

There are many ways to take your business to the next level. There are a lot of strategies you could employ to bring in an extra $25,000.00 dollars each month. Unfortunately, few of those strategies are free, and even fewer promise to work for you as hard as the eBay Affiliate Program. The eBay Affiliate Program will be your business ally, equipping you with easy cash flow and more business tools than you can imagine.

The Program works with all kinds of businesses. No matter how long you have been in business, what kind of business you are in, what level of expertise you have, the eBay Affiliate Program can work for everyone.

The Program is by far, the most innovative and successful program on the Web. Members of the Program benefit from the ever growing eBay website, and earn money quickly just for referrals (as much as $45 per referral). Some of the most successful eBay Affiliate Program members have earned over $100,000.00 per month, and over a million a year. The only stipulation for joining is that you have a website.

The Program is designed to make it's affiliates successful, and they provide what you need to maximize your earning potential. You do not have to pay to become a member of the program ? they pay you! Simply follow the five step enrollment process, and you will have access to the best business practices, a set of guidelines that the eBay Affiliate Program has put together to help you maximize your earning potential.

You will also have, within your reach and at your disposal, a variety of tools to make your site more effective and to reach your full eBay earning potential. With the Editor kit, you can dynamically display eBay listings. With the Flexible Destination Tool, you can instantly create traceable affiliate links to any eBay URL. You will also have access to the Product kit, Keyword Linking Tool, API Affiliate Tier, Dynamic Landing Pages, buttons, banners, logos, and more. These tools are free for you, and will optimize your web site to become a money-making machine.

The eBay Affiliate Program provides every member with a newsletter full of information and tips. The Program takes their obligation to their affiliates seriously, and they continue to provide you with new and updated tools to support your earning potential.

Using the natural search, paid search, content site, and newsletter models, many websites are running their businesses while also tapping into the eBay Affiliate Program Resources. With the eBay Affiliate Program, you still have time and resources to run your business, but you benefit from the reputation and success of the market phenomenon that is eBay.

If this sounds enticing, check out the eBay Affiliate Program. You may be meeting your next $25,000.00 per month business partner.

Anthony Samuel is a successful entrepreneur with over 15 years home based business experience in, Internet Information Marketing, Real Estate, & Stocks. Visit his website http://www.sanjen.com for the internet's top money making opportunities.

How To Find A Whole Lotta Product

Whether you are a beginning auction seller or advanced, you
are always faced with the age old auction question:

"What Do I Sell Now?"

I want to cover an area on eBay that most sellers tend to overlook
or they don't even know exists. These categories can provide you
with a great source of products to sell, they are called the
Wholesale Lots categories.

Most major category groups contain a section labled Wholesale
Lots, this is usually listed at the bottom of the group list.

If you go to eBay's main category listing page and drill down
into a major category you will be able to see if that category
has a Wholesale Lots sub-category. It is usually the last
sub-category listed.

eBay Category Listing Page:
http://listings.ebay.com/pool1/listings/list/overview.html

Take Jewelry & Watches for example, their Wholesale Lots group
is category 40131.

What does this have to do with product sources?

A lot of the sellers in these categories are people that have
collections or large lots that they are to lazy to break up, or
they want to just get rid of the whole lot at once, however,
if you look at the pieces in the lot and calculate out what
they could be valued at individually you can see the true worth
compared to what they are being offered for.

So next time you are searching through a specific category, see
if there is a related Wholesale Lots section and spend the time
looking, you never know, you just might find a truck load of
goods that will keep you in merchandise for a long time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Bartlett is the author of How To Find The Perfect Money
Making Auction Product. He developed the Perfect Product eBook
to help both beginning and advanced auction sellers answer
the age old question "What Do I Sell Now"?

How To Find The Perfect Money-Making Auction Product is located
at: http://www.auctionhotlist.com/perfectproduct.htm

How To Cut Your eBay Fees By More Than 90%

Now, are you ready for the REAL TRUTH about selling on eBay?

It's simple; don't list too many items for sale using their auction format. Instead, set up one of their stores. The cost starts at just $9.99 per month.

Why is this a good idea?

Let's do the math:

If you list an item for sale using the auction format, the cost is anywhere from $.35 on up to several dollars PER AUCTION. What's worse is that the auctions are only good for 3, 5, 7, or 10 days.

BETTER WAY: Sell the item in your eBay store. The listing price is just 2 or 3 cents per item...and get this...They're good for a FULL 30 days! For example, I recently sold a $500 item that I listed in my eBay store. The listing cost me a whopping 3 cents! The same item, if I'd sold it using the auction format, would have cost me several dollars!

Using eBay's Auction format to list 500 items at a minimum of $.35 each = $175.00 (and these are only good for 7 days each so you'd have to list them 4 times each per month) $175 x 4 = $700.00

List the same 500 items in your eBay store @ just $.03 each = $15 + the $9.99 monthly store fee = $24.99 and they are listed for a full 30 days each!

You save $675.01 per month! HOLY SMOKES!

I'm sure you can clearly see the benefit here. Of course you will want to sell a few CHEAP items using the auction format to try to generate interest & drive customers to your eBay store where they will buy MORE from you. Make sure every auction listing contains a link to your eBay store & TELL THE CUSTOMER TO VISIT YOUR STORE. Sell 10 or so of your 3 or 4 or 5 dollar items as auctions...just enough to get some traffic to your store.

Now, what is it that the REALLY successful PowerSellers do?

They maximize the "back-end" sale.

What this means to you is that once a customer has bought from you, the hard part is over. Now having done business with you, they TRUST you to deliver the goods. You MUST & I REPEAT, MUST try to get that customer to buy again & again.

Never, ever, send a package to a customer without including a sales flyer, catalog or some other special offer in the package to try to entice them to make another purchase. Email them a special offer every week or so.

You NEED repeat customers. Going after the lone, one-time sale is a losing battle. You will not be successful unless you get them to buy again & again & do this with every person you deal with.

Send a thank-you note via postal mail or eMail to every customer & use that opportunity to SELL THEM SOMETHING ELSE.

Another tip:

Sell CONSUMABLE items. You know, stuff that people need to order fairly often. Like socks, t-shirts, work gloves, food items, towels & linens, printer ink cartridges, sell shipping materials to other eBay sellers. You will get REPEAT orders from these customers for months and even years to come.

Mike Nalbone is editor and publisher of The Thynker Home Business Tips newsletter which reveals proven tips, tools and opportunities for growing a successful homebased online business. Sign up free at http://www.Thynke.com

How to Buy Used Baby Clothes Online

There are multitudes of ways to purchase used clothing for your baby. In this article I will cover only the online options available in the hopes that it will help you to maximize your spending money with the least amount of hassle, stress or risk. I hope to cover some of the key issues of buying used clothes online such as private sales versus online stores, the use of PayPal and other forms of payment, purchasing through ebay and non-ebay auctions or non-auctions alike, online classifieds and more all in the hopes that you will benefit from some of the things I've learned and avoid the mistakes that I as well as others have made.

First of all let's talk a bit about where to find used baby clothes online from private sellers. There are some areas on the web which allow you to post used clothing ads such as ebay and classified sites. Some classified or "for sale" sites are even specialized in either family or baby related items. Ebay, for those of us who are familiar but not necessarily all knowing about it, is a giant online auction with items being posted constantly in all possible fields and topics. Those selling can choose to list their items in an auction format in which the sky's the limit. Bids can start as low as one penny or they can choose to invite people to purchase the items out right by using a buy now feature in which they set a price for their items. As a general rule the buyer pays all shipping costs on top of the selling price and most payments are made through PayPal, which I will cover later.

Baby clothing on ebay tends to be mostly new with or without tags attached and is either sold in batches of items known as "lots" (grouped by gender and size) or individually as outfits. Since I am focusing on used baby items let's discuss those. Batches of baby clothing on ebay tend to get bid very high as there is a seemingly large number of people wanting to buy in this way and very few meeting the demand. I have found that items and batches of clothing of any note on ebay tend to sky rocket in price above what is reasonable for used clothing -- particularly if they toss in a few name brands such as Gap, Osh Kosh, Gymboree etc... and more often than not a bidding war ensues and you are inevitably outbid or worse you get caught up and spend more than you'd originally expected for items you haven't even seen and have no quality guarantee!

Auction and classified or selling sites other than ebay can be very chancy -- since ebay is established it has the ability to set down rules which keep most dishonest people out while the smaller sights haven't the same pull with those posting. Quite often these sites (this doesn't really apply to local purchasing) are riddled with people who are no longer allowed to post on ebay for one reason or another. I have had experiences myself in which items promised ended up being fewer than what I'd paid for and set a price based entirely on quantity! I can't tell you how upset that made me, and what was worse -- I was informed that three of the items had small stains when in truth about 50 fell into the stained category. So what had originally been a good deal turned out to be very disappointing!

There are of course no guarantees with a private seller, no return policy or customer service after the sale is closed and once the sale is complete you must find a new seller down the road when you need clothing again and you run the risks of stumbling across a swindle or a sour deal every time.

One rule to follow in all private sales is to use a traceable method of payment like PayPal. PayPal is a third party which will ensure payment and receipt of product from both parties. Do not use Western Union in any online transactions, or any other non traceable forms of payment! There is no guarantee you'll ever get the items you paid for when you use this method as it is meant to be untraceable!

So now let's discuss the second option of buying used baby clothes online -- the non private sellers or online used baby clothing stores. There are over 50 stores currently running online who specialize in selling used baby clothing. As with all things online there are stores which are shabbily run due to poor web design skills and such to no fault on the part of the store, they just don't have the skills to make the process simple and enjoyable for you. They have great items and competitive prices and if you don't mind a little extra effort when placing an order they do have more security than the average private seller -- especially since you know where they are going to be when you need them. There are a handful of sites which are a little better for service - for example you do not need to email them detailed descriptions of the items you'd like, mail them a money order or some such and then wait for them to receive it before they even send you the items these sites often have PayPal as an option and some even have shopping carts if a little confusing to use. There are an even smaller number of high service sights who offer credit card payment options, low shipping costs and things similar to those offered by online stores in general. Quite a few of all three levels of sites have quality guarantees for a week or so after you've received your order -- one even offers a full year quality guarantee! This ensures that the items you buy from them have been inspected thoroughly by people who have a more universal understanding of the words "in great condition" and it is in their best interest to satisfy as they ideally would like you to come back and tell others! Shopping with these stores can be fun and you can save tons while getting the quality you are looking for!

Should you choose the more dangerous route of shopping through private sellers with ebay and non ebay sites please take care and remember to never use a non traceable form of payment, don't be afraid to ask numerous questions -- if something seems off in their responses trust your gut -- there will always be another seller. Should you choose to explore the option of purchasing through an online used baby clothing store I wish you all the fun of shopping for baby clothes at bargain prices (doesn't that mean you can buy even more?!) with none of the hassle or risks associated with private sellers and the added benefit of quality guarantees! Happy Shopping! I will cover more on this issue in later posts.

Sharlene Rollins owns and operates a unique second hand online store www.gentlylovedclothing.com. Her email address is shar@gentlylovedclothing.com.

Getting Started & Making Money on eBay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Make that item SELL!

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

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

QUICKBOOKS PRO 2002 - 5 USER - NEW/SEALED

Accounting Software Program for sale

Obviously, the first title would get more clicks!

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

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

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

Your About Me Page

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

See these examples:

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

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

Follow-up & Back-end Sales

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

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

Questions? Join us at the Vision Possible Forum!

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

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

Forgive All Ebay Sins

Over the years, I have been amazed at the ?blinding? greed and reckless approach to commerce that some business owners have employed. Lying to customers, selling inferior merchandise, and not offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers in their wake. Without fail, all of this ?ill will? led most businesses to bankruptcy, and in some cases, Federal Prison.

I realize that not everyone engages in ?business criminality? that rises to the level of fraud and incarceration. Most people try to be good stewards, and approach their enterprise in an honest and forthright manner. For those of you who own thriving business concerns, you already know that in most cases the customer is always right. You make sure that you communicate effectively, refund monies if the buyer is truly unhappy, and try to meet the needs of the people who buy your goods or services.

However, there are more than a handful of Ebay sellers that are of the mind that customer service and effective communication is not something that they need not participate in. Take the case of a woman named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) who recently posted her disappointment on the Ryze Business Network:

Quote:

Barbara Cerda wrote:

Greetings Everyone,

?When will sellers on Ebay understand that customer service is key? And when will Ebay sellers learn using customer friendly approaches can only make their business grow?? Again today I've bought from a less than friendly seller.

Thought I was placing a bid and instead bought the item at the buy now price. Of course the seller refused to allow the retraction, nor was I allowed to place a bid. I always pay for my winning bids immediately upon email confirmation.

And did so in this case. But it would have been customer friendlier for this seller to accept my retraction to be replaced with a bid. He would have gotten repeat business from me and my friends. His "Buy Now" price is 30% over the retail price for this item. Lesson learned by me again - that there are way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a buck and the hell with fair practice.

Lesson learned yet again."

BobAnn

End quote?

The operative phrase here is ?repeat business from me and my friends?. There is no better endorsement of your product or service than word of mouth advertising. Lack of flexibility on the part of the seller, not only cost them one customer, but also destroyed the possibility for future business. Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster!

As an auction seller, (Ebay auction ID: LevelBest77) I would have accommodated her request right away. And while I have never had anyone use ?Buy It Now? by accident, I have had several people over the years ask me to retract bids. The number of people who have made that request can be counted on one hand! Some, did not even understand the process, (bid retracting) and I was more than willing to guide them through it.

People make honest mistakes, and you should never ?abuse? a buyer for doing so. If you plan to get into Ebay auction selling for the long haul, always practice good will toward your customers. Unless someone is totally unreasonable, and you have done everything in your power to accommodate their request, never deny people the ability to change their mind, return an item, or retract a bid! Developing good will also requires that you anticipate customer needs?..

For instance, I had a few overseas customers bid on a wireless router. This particular item needed to be powered with a Universal Adapter, since voltage requirements in France and Australia are obviously different from those here in the United States.

I made this abundantly clear to both bidders before they sent me any payment. The purchase of such an adapter, not to mention the shipping price, would have doubled the US retail cost. I told them that they could probably get the product cheaper at their local electronics stores. Without hesitation, I let them out of their obligation to pay for the item. I then contacted the next highest bidder and offered that person the chance to make the purchase.

Both bidders thanked me for my honesty. They had forgotten about the electrical differences. I could have ignored that little detail, and sold them the item anyway. I just had to put myself in their situation. Think of how frustrated they would have been if I did not reveal that information. Buyer?s remorse would have set in quickly, once they realized that they could have purchased the same item for a lot less in their native countries.

While the benefits of these actions may not have an immediate effect, you can be sure that should I ever have another ?item of interest!? these two gentlemen would not hesitate to purchase from me. They can count on me to accommodate their needs, instead of catering to my wants. Creating this type of good will instills trust, and the knowledge that you have the customers best interest in mind.

?Me thinketh thou doth protest too much!

Do you accentuate the positive? Or, do you run on negativity? Negative Ebay feedback is a tool that everyone should use with restraint, or not at all. As a rule, I never leave negative feedback. Unless someone has blatantly lied about your product, or attacked you personally without merit, then I would not leave any feedback in the ?minus? side of the isle!

?Flame? wars are not pretty. I have seen a lot of unnecessary back and forth ?banter? that could have been avoided, if they (the seller) just resisted the urge to make their ?two cents? known. Sometimes it gives customers the impression that you are more concerned about arguing, then conducting your business.

I have also witnessed seller feedback that has included some pretty foul language. Engaging in this type of verbal sparring is not much of a confidence builder either. It is more telling of what you are, then about revealing the sins of your customers. Don?t go out of your way to register a negative response if you can help it. Heed the sage advice that our Mother?s use to tell us: ?If you can?t say anything nice, don?t say anything at all!?

?What we have here is a failure to communicate!?

Communication with your customers should not amount to the sound one hand clapping! Bottom line, if someone e-mails you with a question--answer it! Here is an example of the type of feedback I obtained by doing just that??

?He was very Helpful and cooperative in answering questions.? Follow-up: Will DEFINITELY use his services anytime he has items of interest! Great Seller!

The gentlemen who left this positive review, wanted to know about some of the particulars of a ?Mickey Mouse? clock I had up for auction. His wife is a collector of all things Disney, and thought it would be a nice surprise for her birthday. The clock, to say the least, was in sad shape. It was incapable of keeping time, and the only part of it in working order was the second hand. I thought for sure that he would be disappointed with the item despite full disclosure of all of it?s imperfections.

To my surprise, not only did I receive positive feedback, but he also told me that his wife absolutely loved it! In this instance, one man?s junk, truly, is another man?s treasure! I never thought this item was worthy of any praise! The time it took to answer his questions?all of five minutes!

I know that some of you will say that I am not being realistic. You just can?t answer e-mails all day; ?I have a business to run!,? you might proclaim. If you plan on making a living on Ebay, then you better think about hiring someone to help you answer your daily inquires if it is just too overwhelming. If you specialize in a particular product, set up a Frequently Asked Questions page to any Auto-Responder.

If you use Ebay on an infrequent basis, and have less than thirty listings a month, then you really don't have any excuse not to provide great customer service and e-mail communication. You shouldn?t be inundated with questions regarding that many items, unless the product you are selling is technical in nature.

If you ignore your customers, they will go away. Good customer service should be woven into the fabric of every good business. I cannot overemphasis the importance of this issue. I continue to be perplexed by the fact that it is last on the list of business priorities for some Ebay sellers!

Will good customer service and communication alone make you rich on Ebay? That would be a resounding "no?. You will have to understand your market, and provide products that the Ebay community will bid on consistently. There will be ?bidders & buyers? out there that will make mistakes and commit some auction sins! Forgive all Ebay sins and you will be rewarded with happy, repeat customers!

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

Finding eBook Writing Topics On eBay

I was speaking to a good friend of mine who operates many businesses online and he just happened to mention that he gets many of his ideas from eBay.

Even more intriguing, he told me that he could tell how much of a given product was selling on eBay.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've been trying to figure out how to tap into eBay sales information for months now - but there just doesn't seem to be any way....

Until, this know-it-all let me know the simple, yet highly effective method he uses...

**************************************************
SIDEBAR:

Learn how Terrance turns 57-minutes each week into
huge monthly income from eBay -- as much as
$8,175.55 Per Month!

http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/part/terrance
***************************************************

First, it is worth noting that you can get a summary of the hottest categories selling on eBay. While this is somewhat useful in locating trends and broad areas of interest, there is a more useful way to use the auction center to test your own ideas.

Start by searching eBay for your keyword term + ebook.

For example, if you are trying to test "dog training", then you would enter "dog training ebook" in your
search.

In most cases you will find at least one example, and in many cases you will find lots of different ebooks listed.

The next step is to select a few examples that match closely to your idea or topic area. Bring the auction up, and now for the trick...

eBay provides great detail into auctions by member, including a complete detailed list of auctions and outcome by member.

So, what you want to do is simply scan the members holding active auctions - selecting the option "search all auctions by this member" and viola, you will get a picture of activity from this member.

Using this information you can judge if there are two sales of their product each day or 20. The idea is not to get an actual, accurate count, but rather a sense of how many copies are moving through their auction.

You may be shocked by some of the results you see. Any existing ebook, report, course, training, audio or video that has activity daily - especially with multiple copies sold daily, will help to validate your market and topic area.

Resources mentioned in this article are:
eBay Hottest Posts: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html

Terrnace Smith's "Sell Books and Videos" site: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/part/terrance


Jeff Smith is dedicated to helping you turn your knowledge
into highly desirable, hot selling information-based
products (eBooks, booklets, seminars, courses, etc...)
Through his highly acclaimed site:
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com you will find exactly
what it takes to create and market high-profit infoproducts.

Effective Online Car Sales on Ebay Motors

Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today?s market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces. The largest online marketplace is Ebay. Ebay has evolved into an online solution for everything from whole towns to your favorite paperback book. Big or small it doesn?t matter, Ebay has everything for the savvy consumer.

Vehicles are plentiful on Ebay. Ebay sells a vehicle every minute for the savvy seller willing to invest his time and money in listing his vehicle online. Just how effective is selling on Ebay? Actually, less than 10% of the vehicles listed on Ebay actually sell. A selected few dealers sell at 80 to 100% of their online car sales.

Who are the auto dealers that are selling effectively on Ebay? Is there a secret to their success? Consider that a vehicle, digital camera and some basic design skills are all you need to sell on Ebay. Which vehicle and how much will it sell for? How to type up the description so that the internet savvy consumer will want to purchase your vehicle?

All of these questions are asked each and every day by savvy individuals and auto dealers all across the United States. A company has come along that can help with your selling situation and take the work out of listing for a car dealer on Ebay Motors. That is right! No work for you! They take the pictures and handle your vehicle sale from start to finish, while handling emails in a professional manner to produce a proven sales results.

A Consulting company called www.AutomobileClearingHouse.com has proven that they can sell cars on Ebay with a sell through factor much higher than the average auto dealer on Ebay. Take the work out of selling your vehicle on the world?s largest marketplace. Check out their website and see how easy selling a car online can be.

?Committed to selling online, put our extensive experience to work for you.? At www.AutomobileClearingHouse.com, their moto says it all!

Cherie Szilvagyi
www.AutomobileClearingHouse.com © AutomobilleClearingHouse 2004
cherie@automobileclearinghouse.com

eBay Tips

This might not seem important, but in terms of selling on eBay it?s important to understand what you are doing and what you bidders are talking about.
Seller?s Tips

?Be a Professional: Present yourself as a friendly professional. Make sure your descriptions and policies are clear. Make sure your auction is inviting and friendly. Strive for efficiency in very aspect of what you do. If you?re lacking in a system of organisation your whole business is going to be threatened.

?Keep it Concise: Avoid lengthy descriptions or worded sales pitches. Although these approaches might work elsewhere, they have no place in online auctions.

?Include a Photo: Photos add to authenticity. Try to include one if you can. Remember to keep it focused and relatively compact.

?Answer Questions: Include an email address and answer questions promptly and thoroughly. People will buy from sources that they can trust.

?Finish It Up: Don't drop your buyers at the moment of purchase. Be prepared for follow up emails and inquiries. You may have the sale now, but you might not in the future.

?Don't Be a Stranger: Don't keep yourself too anonymous. Anonymity creates suspicion and suspicion is the auctioneer's worst enemy.

?Ship it Right: Don't rip people off in the shipping. Try to bundle items together and package them properly.

?Your auction headline and item description: Your headline is your advertising and your item description is your salesperson. On the web, how you?re potential buyer perceives you and your product is everything.

?Use Power Words: Be sure to use the power words in your auction title (headline) Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc. Just be sure not to exaggerate. Don?t call something ?rare? if it is not. Remember 65% of eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function.

?Search Lising on eBay to see what is selling: Go to http://pages.ebay.com/buy/index.html to see what is being listed and sold on eBay. The number is parentheses after the category title is the number of auctions for a given item.

?Set up a PayPal Shop: PayPal offers a service to all of their users called PayPal Shops. A PayPal shop is nothing more than a link to your eBay

?Set up a web site and use eBay to drive business to it: Every eBay seller should have a web site. Remember sales you make from your web site do not incur eBay fees. eBay has cracked down on sellers using auctions to drive hits to their web sites, but there are still some loopholes and techniques you can use without running afoul of eBay. These details are explained in this book

?Learn to sell information products on eBay: People will pay good money for information they can use. If you can write reasonably well, and you have a topic you have some expertise in, you can probably write a reference guide or ?how-to? manual and sell it on eBay.

?Create an Opt-in newsletter: Create an on-line newsletter for your customers. Instead of sending the newsletter out, just send out the table of contents with a link to a page on your web site where the newsletter is posted. This drives traffic to your web site, which is the whole point. Your newsletter should also include a link to your active auctions.

The most effective method to drive traffic to your auction, and ultimately to your own website.
eBay Keywords? is a powerful online marketing tool that brings buyers right to your listings through targeted ads linked to "keyword" search terms

https://ebay.admarketplace.net/ebay/servlet/ebay
How eBay Keywords work?

If you have some internet background then you would have heard the term pay-per-click (PPC).

Here is a short lesson on PPC.

PPC is basically paying for traffic legally. You bid for the highest position on a keyword or phrase on search engine(s).

eBay Keywords are based on the same principle, in that you bid to be on the number one spot for your keywords.

You bid the maximum cost-per-click (CPC) that you are willing to pay when a user clicks on your banner ad.

I will not go into depth regarding this option but will say that driving people to your auction is a good thing. I would highly recommend doing so.

Auction Lingo

?"As Is": Also known as "as is, where is" and "in its present condition." Typically, this is a sign that no return privileges will be granted.

?Bid Cancellation: The cancellation of a bid by a seller. During online auctions, sellers can cancel a bid if they feel uncomfortable about completing a transaction with a particular bidder.

?Bid History:: A historical list of all the bids made on a particular auction during or after the auction.

?Bid Increment: The standardized amount an item increases in price after each new bid. The auction service sets the increment, which rises according to the present high bid value of an item.

?Bid Retraction: The legitimate cancellation of a bid on an item by a bidder during an online auction.

?Bid Rigging: Fraudulent bidding by an associate of the seller in order to inflate the price of an item. Also known as shilling and collusion.

?Bid Shielding: Posting extremely high bids to protect the lower bid of an earlier bidder, usually in cahoots with the bidder who placed the shielding bid.

?Bid Siphoning: The practice of contacting bidders and offering to sell them the same item they are currently bidding on, thus drawing bidders away from the legitimate seller's auction.

?Bulk Loading: Listing a group of different items in separate lots all at once using an online auction site's bulk loading tool.

?Buying Up Lots: The practice of buying all quantities of an item during a Dutch auction. This is typically done for resale purposes.

?Caveat Emptor: The Latin phrase meaning "let the buyer beware."

?Cookie: A piece of information sent from a web server to a web browser that the browser software saves and then sends back to the server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the server.

?Deadbeats: High bidders who fail to pay for the item they won.

?Dutch Auction: The seller is offering multiple, identical items for sale.

?Escrow: Money held in trust by a third party until the seller makes delivery of merchandise to the buyer.

?fdbk/fk: Feedback. One user's public comments about another user in regard to their auction dealings. Feedback comments cannot be removed or changed once submitted to an auction service.

?Featured Auctions: Auction listings placed prominently on the home page and category pages of an auction service. Sellers pay for this prime placement.

?Feedback Padding: One user posting fraudulent positive feedback about another user and his or her auctions.

?Final Value Fee: The commission charge the seller pays to the auction service after his or her item sells.

?FVF Request: Final value fee request.

?Grading: The process for determining the physical condition of an item. Different items have different grading systems.

?Initial Listing Price: The opening bid price a seller attaches to his or her auction.

?Insertion Fee: A fee paid by the seller to the auction site in order to list an item for auction, calculated as a percentage of the opening bid or reserve price.

?Lot: A single auction listing.

?Market Value: The highest price a property will bring in the open market.

?Maximum Bid: The highest price a buyer will pay for an item, submitted in confidence to an online auction service's automated bidding system to facilitate proxy bidding.

?Minimum Opening Bid: The mandatory starting bid for a given auction, set by the seller at the time of listing.

?NARU'd: A auction user term to describe users whose memberships have been discontinued. NARU is the acronym for "not a registered user."

?Neg: Short for "negative user feedback."

?Net Cops: Auction users who actively attempt to report instances of fraud, such as shilling or bid shielding, to online auction sites.

?NR: Short for "no reserve." This indicates in the item description line that the auction has no reserve price specified.

?Opening Bid: The seller's opening bid, which sets the opening price.

?Outbid: To submit a maximum bid that is higher than another buyer's maximum bid.

?Proxy Bidding: Decide the maximum you're willing to pay and enter this amount. eBay will confidentially bid up to your maximum amount. In this way, you don't have to keep an eye on your auction as it unfolds. If other bidders outbid your maximum at the end of the auction, you don't get the item. But otherwise, you're the winner--and the final price might even be less than the maximum you had been willing to spend!

?Registered User: A person who has registered as a member of an online auction service. All online auction services require registration prior to buying and selling.

?Relisting: The relisting of an item by a seller after it has not received any bids or met its reserve price. Typically, the first relisting is free.

?Reserve Price: The minimum price a seller will accept for an item to be sold at auction. This amount is never formally disclosed.

?Retaliatory: The user term for retaliatory negative feedback, posted by one user in response to another user's negative feedback.

?S&H Charges: Shipping and handling charges.

?Secondary Market: The buyer market for second-hand goods. Online auctions serve the secondary market.

?Shilling: Fraudulent bidding by the seller (using an alternate registration) or an associate of the seller in order to inflate the price of an item. Also known as bid rigging and collusion.

?Sniping: Outbidding other buyers in the closing minutes or seconds of an auction.

?Starting Price: The mandatory starting bid for a given auction, set by the seller at the time of listing.

?Terms of Service: A legally binding agreement that outlines an auction site's operating policies. All registered users must agree to a site's terms before using the service.

?User Info Request: A request for a user's background information, which provides personal information, such as a phone number.

About the Author
Gillian Tarawhiti, is Founder and CEO of Community Training Centre, an Australian-based Internet Marketing firm that works with individuals and organisations
? 2004 Permission is granted to reprint this article in print or on your web site so long as the paragraph above is included and contact information is provided to www.millionairerippleeffect.com.

eBay Thieves Make Auctions Tougher

The online auction world was shocked by the biggest eBay fraud in its seven year history. What made it even more astonishing is the fact that the crooked seller has a five history of successful sales on eBay, accompanied by thousands of glowing testimonials from satisfied buyers.

Stewart Richardson, owner of a Michigan store called Retired Figurine Exchange Inc., sold small figurines to eBay collectors, some of them costing thousands of dollars. The heart of eBay's seller-honesty system is "Feedback", which allows buyers and sellers to rate each other. Mr. Richardson earned 6,185 positive feedback points since he started selling on eBay in 1997, with an additional 58 negative and 56 neutral ratings from buyers who bought from him. These scores mean that 98% of the sales Mr. Richardson made resulted in satisfied buyers.

Richardson posted large numbers of auctions which concluded early in January, supposedly selling hundreds of figurines from an estate sale. He apparently sold items he didn't possess, listed the same item multiple times and even contacted losers in the auctions, informing them that the winners didn't pay and offering them the opportunity to buy. Then on January 17, he left for lunch and hasn't been seen since. Estimates of his stolen money range from $225,000-$400,000. Investigators later discovered that Richardson spent a total of about eight years in prison during the late 1950s and 1960s for a number of felonies, the most serious of which was assault with intent to commit murder.

Nor is he the only high-profile crook. Brian D. Wildman was convicted of wire and mail fraud for selling valuable sports card sets ? but not delivering them as promised. Other sellers were indicted for attempting to sell a fake painting for $135,805. In another case, sellers themselves turned into a vigilante group, seeking justice from a 35 year old man who sold computers and then failed to deliver. The angry buyers apparently broke the law in their attempts to retrieve their money back from the dishonest seller.

You and I are damaged by these reports. There are many people who are uneasy about internet sales in general, and these kinds of high-profile stories make it tougher for honest people. In truth, eBay claims that fraud includes only .01% of its transactions, but that isn't reassuring to a nervous buyer.

What can we do?

1. Plaster your identity everywhere. Put full contact information where all potential buyers can see it. Give as many ways to contact you as possible. Include your picture (and perhaps the dog and cat. :-) Choose anything that will let buyers see you as a real person with a stable life.

If you have testimonials and feedback from happy customers, tell the world. It's true that Richardson had these advantages, too, but he is newsworthy simply because he is an exception and not the rule. Generally, the feedback system works very well.

If you have special credentials, let buyers know. For example, perhaps you are a nurse who sells nutritional supplements or you are an antique dealer who has been in the business for 30 years and can prove it.

This kind of credibility is much more reassuring than a one page website and a free hotmail address.

2. Credit cards are the safest way to purchase anything. These days, it is possible for most entrepreneurs to accept credit cards through the auction sites or 3rd party processors, even if they don't have their own merchant account. Go even further and explain the safety of credit cards to your buyers.

In my one and only personal experience with auction fraud, there were dozens of other sellers who never received their merchandise. Those who paid by credit card, like I did, received their money back. Those who paid with cash or cashier's checks simply lost their money.

eBay has fraud protection, but it only covers $175.

3. Escrow is a great safeguard, although it is most practical for higher priced sales. It works like this:

a. The buyer sends the purchase price to the escrow company, who then verifies the funds
b. The escrow company notifies the seller who ships the merchandise to the buyer
c. When the buyer is satisfied, the money is released to the seller
d. If the buyer isn't satisfied, he can return the merchandise to the seller and receive his money back. These kinds of conditions are usually specified in advance. That is, "I changed my mind" usually isn't grounds for return of the merchandise. It normally has to be misrepresented in some way for a buyer return.

According to news stories, one of Richardson's buyers sent a registered check for $20,000. That money is lost for good. If the buyer had been careful enough to use an escrow company that loss would not have occurred. If you sell expensive items, always mention this option to buyers. Even if they choose not to use it, they will know you have nothing to hide.

Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay.com back in 1996. She is the author of Make Your Net Auction Sell!, published by Dr. Ken Evoy and sitesell. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour seminar on the internet that teaches everything necessary to build a powerful and wealthy online auction, and includes software and numerous other aids.
http://auction-genius-course.com

eBay the Easy Way

Last week, I picked up a copy of Entrepreneur?s eBay Startup Guide magazine. It?s filled with helpful articles for those interested in starting their own successful Ebay business. The guide gives great step-by-step advice for determining what to list, the right tools for the job, and the best way to sell your merchandise. eBay has created some incredible stories of entrepreneurs like Michael Lehman and Randy Smythe, who started selling DVDs exclusively on eBay. Last year, their revenue totaled $3.6 million and they expect to hit $7 million by the end of this year.

Nancy and Daren Baughman of Cary, North Carolina, decided to use eBay as a means of clearing out a few things in their attic. Those items sold at such a nice profit that they continued selling until they decided to start their own eBay business two years ago. They spend time hunting garage sales and auction houses for collectibles, art, antiques, and electronic equipment. They have also started helping others appraise and sell their items on eBay in exchange for a percentage of each deal. Their company, eBizAuctions, will exceed $100,000 in sales for this year alone. Other business owners have used eBay to help compensate for the loss of sales in their local brick and mortar stores. David Hardin, a shoe wholesaler in Mayfield, Kentucky, started listing his shoes on eBay in 2000 as a means to supplement his loss in local business. Four years later, his brick and mortar store is thriving again along with his five-eBay apparel businesses. His gross sales last year were about $750,000.

Currently, there are 430,000 full and part time entrepreneurs earning incomes on eBay. With some research and planning, anyone can create a profitable business with very little financial risk up front. I recommend picking up this eBay guide at your local bookstore. Even if you have no interest in building a full time business, it's a great way to get rid of a lot of old junk in the garage or attic.

Jonathan Taylor, specializes in helping people in every stage of their lives to find more meaning and purpose in their work. He believes that to find that purpose and meaning, a person's interests, skills, passions, and goals must integrate seamlessly with their work. To get more great advice, subscribe to Jonathan's newsletter at www.careercalling.com!

eBay Success

Everyone has heard incredible stories of people making big money on eBay selling stuff from their attic or "junk" they pick up at garage sales. While these stories make the most skeptical of us tingle at the thought of easy money, hard work and determination are the key words for selling on eBay. Sure, there is always the "fly by the seat of your pants" approach, but if you are serious about making money on eBay, my wife, Rachel, has learned what doesn't work on eBay from countless hours of trial and error. She has written the following advice for those of you who are serious about making a profit with eBay:

1. FOCUS - Choose something to sell that you already know about; preferably something that you love! When you are already familiar with an item, you don't waste time wondering whether it will sell or how much you should pay for it. My experience with garage sale shopping and hoping that I picked things that people wanted to buy was a total flop because I didn't know what I was looking for. I ended up with piles of stuff that I couldn't sell and wasted lots of time looking for garage sales. Those of you who have done this, know the total frustration of a wasted Saturday morning.

2. RESEARCH - The other option is to research on eBay what is already selling and then find a cheap source of that item. Garage sales are a good way to find stuff if you already know what you are looking for. Call ahead to garage sales that are listed in the paper and ask if they have what you are looking for. Don't waste your time and gas poking around town looking for sales that don't have what you want! Garage sales work best if you know a lot about antiques or collectibles. These items sell well on eBay, but they only work for people who know what they are looking for and how much antiques and collectibles are worth. Other things that sell well on eBay are items that have a model number or item number or an ISBN number (this is for eBay's sister site Half.com which lists books by ISBN numbers - this is great for selling old textbooks or out of print items!) People go to eBay looking for deals on electronics, brand-name clothes, video games, computers, and software. Things that can be easily identified with words sell well on eBay. Things that do NOT sell well on eBay are things that don't have a hard and fast description; items that need to be touched or smelled or rely on aesthetics to sell. Home interior items are examples of things that DON'T sell well on eBay. People who shop eBay are looking for something specific. If they don't already know about what you are selling, they aren't going to just browse eBay's categories looking for your items. Use this as a guide when choosing what to sell. The best way to find cheap sources for these items is to work out a deal with a wholesaler. This way you get the best possible pricing and you can still make a profit! Because, remember, people shopping eBay are looking for a deal!

3. CONSIDER DROP SHIPPING - This is the best possible method that I have found for making eBay a profitable enterprise. (Unless you are going the route of antiques and collectibles) Drop shipping eliminates the need for storing your items, packaging, and shipping them. This ate most of the profit that I would have made because it took so much time to do all of this. And most of us don't have an empty room we can devote just for storing stuff for eBay and even if we did, we have to come up with a system for inventory. You end up with a lot of the headaches that traditional businesses have to deal with. SO, the BEST way that I have found to make eBay profitable for the average person is this:

research what is selling on eBay
go to the library and go through a copy of the business directory and find WHOLESALERS that sell the product that eBay goers are looking for
contact the wholesaler and work out a deal with them
ask for great pricing in exchange for you selling their product
as part of the deal, arrange for them to ship directly to your customers
So, basically, you are acting as a retailer for them. They benefit, by getting sales with no overhead, and you benefit by being able to be competitive on eBay and not having the headaches of storing, packing, and shipping! It is a wonderful win-win agreement!



If you do choose the antiques and collectibles route, there are great resources out there to teach you how to do it as profitably as possible. My favorite is Starting an eBay Business for Dummies.



And, as a resource to market your eBay auctions for even better profits, I would definitely recommend Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing. It is a MUST for growing your eBay business and keeping customers coming back to your auctions again and again. The key is turning strangers into friends and friends into customers!

Jonathan R. Taylor, specializes in helping people in every stage of their lives to find more meaning and purpose in their work. He believes that to find that purpose and meaning, a person's interests, skills, passions, and goals must integrate seamlessly with their work. To get more great advice, subscribe to Jonathan's newsletter at www.careercalling.com!

Ebay Steve's Top Tips for successful selling on Ebay

Hey kids - EbaySteve here again! I just want to share with you guys'n'gals a few little tip-ettes and tricks that I personally have always found to be Steve-tasticly good for pulling in the greenbacks with the help of the mighty Ebay. Number one on EbaySteve's list - know your market!. Check Ebay for similar items BEFORE you start knocking up yours - a title search is the best way to do this - you want to find completed items sorted by price. These are the ones that actually sold - i.e. the seller got it right!

EbaySteve would never even CONSIDER an auction without checking out the competition first! Oh yeah! This gets us to ebaySteve's next super tip - decide on your price now. As you kiddies will know, you can set a 'Buy it Now' price on your auctions - this is generally what you think an item is actually worth (at least to you - ebaySteve often wastes a happy Friday afternoon searching the 'Bay for "domain" auctions - some of these wutangs think a 90-letter domain in greek is worth millions! Hah! call the dumbo police!).

Remember, ebaySteve says that your opening bid (the price you want to start the auction off at) should be MUCH lower, or everyone will think you are Pennywise the Clown. Don't ever forget, once an auction gets going, it can take on a life of its own, and setting a low start price is the easiest way to stimulate that initial excitement, especially on an item in mucho grande demand (like ebaySteve's used socks, for example!). While we are on this one, don't bother with secret 'reserve' prices. If you don't know what your item is worth, you shouldn't be selling it!

EbaySteve's next tip? How are your potential buyers gonna find your auction? They will search for it. That means you have to get your keywords into your auction title! No point having a title that bangs on about 'great opportunity, never to be repeated bargain' etc etc if yo forget to say '1967 Ford Mustang' too! EbaySteve super-tip - don't bother with punctuation, or silly characters - if you waste your title with that stuff, they'll never find you in the first place! Only mis-spell if it is likely to be searched for, because Ebay search finds exact matches. If you need more space, use a subtitle. These cost a cool 50 cents, so ebaySteve says use 'em on items below about $25.

When they find it, will it scare them away? There are, unfortunately, a number of auctions on the mighty Bay that scare ebaySteve! Choose your colors and font sizes carefully - the one thing you do NOT want is for everyone else to think you are a fruitcake. Even though ebaySteve likes fruit, and cake, he doesn't like 'em together. OK? Oh yeah! You will also need at least 1 good quality photo of your item. Try and make it a little 'different' from similar auctions - if everyone chooses the 'stock' photo, how do potential buyers differentiate between you? BUT, make sure it ain't bigger than 40 or 50k - plenty of people are still on dialup, and they won't bother with you if the page takes more than 10 seconds to load. And fer crying out loud, make SURE you allow payment via Paypal - it is Ebay's very own payment method, and by far the best. They charge only a TINY commission on your sales, and you will find buyers take you MUCH more seriously if you do. No harm in other payment options too, just start off with Paypal! (Super extra important tip - only allow Paypal payments from members with a CONFIRMED address. Helps to cut down on fraud and refund requests).

Payment tip - ebaySteve has in the past had problems with spam filters - there's nothing more annoying than to get an offer but miss it because your darn email system 'binned' the mail! Have a special email account for auctions (if you start getting too much spam, open up a new one). It's also worth mentioning in the text of your auction that potential buyers should 'whitelist' your email address. In the worst case, you can always contact other ebayers with the Contact Member form.

Auction timings - choose to start and end an auction during daylight hours (for your target audience!). These auctions statistically generate higher prices because bidding continues right up to the final bell. Use http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister to list your items quicker - it costs, but only a tad, and will help you get the whole process moving fast. That's about it fer now, Bayers! Keep it real!

Ebay Steve owns the way cool site www.ebaySteve.com the super site for free advice on making money with ebay, the world's greatest auction house.

eBay Gold

Internet auctions are relatively new having been around since the mid 1990's. There are several Internet auctions including Yahoo Auctions and UBid. But of course the undisputed king of Internet auctions is Ebay. Ebay has over 100 million registered users making it one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world.

I discovered Ebay way back in 1998. At first, I was strictly a buyer. I was amazed at the thousands of items that could be found on Ebay. Just about anything you can imagine can be found on Ebay. And there were more incredible bargains to be found than at any other ecommerce website or brick and mortar store I had ever visited. After about six months or so of buying, I began selling items on Ebay. I had an extensive collection of unbuilt as well as built plastic model cars. I began placing the models on Ebay with starting bids of $5.00 and no reserve. To my surprise, people started jumping all over these model kits. Some of them sold for as high as $70.00. It was at this time that I realized the enormous money making potential of Ebay. The key to being a successful seller on Ebay is selling items that people want. There are a number of ebooks on Internet auctions that tell of the importance of a great headline and a killer ad for your auction. While this is true, it is also important to remember that the best ad in the world will never sell an item that no one wants. The items that do well on Ebay are unique or interesting items. Antiques, pottery, collectables and high-end apparel are just a few of the items that will bring high bids on Ebay. If you can easily find the item at Wal-Mart, chances are it will not do well on Ebay.

There are a number of wholesalers around the country that you can buy merchandise from to sell on Ebay. But before you buy, do your homework. It's very tempting to buy a bunch of electronic widgets that sell for $2.00 a piece. You might think you can buy 20 of the $2.00 widgets and then sell them for $12.00 a piece on Ebay and make a killing. Unfortunately, you discover that no one is bidding on your widgets despite the fact that you have started the bidding at a mere $6.00. In fact, there are very few people that are even viewing your auctions. The end result is you are now stuck with 20 widgets that no one wants. The first mistake here was not doing a search of widgets on Ebay to find out if they're hot or not. The second mistake was trying to sell an electronic item. Yes, I know there is a huge market for electronic gadgets. That's the problem; the market is too huge. It is already saturated. How many times a day are you bombarded with offers for the latest and greatest cell phone or digital camera? If you try to sell in this market on Ebay, you're encroaching on Best Buy's turf, which means you'll be smashed like a bug. On the other hand, how many offers do you receive for NASCAR collectibles or Gucci shoes? Or how about die cast models? These are the hot items on Ebay. These are in demand items and more importantly you can sell these items without competing against Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

If you're new to Ebay, the first thing you need to do is to build positive feedback. Feedback is vital to your success on Ebay. Potential buyers will read your feedback in order to determine if you're an honest seller. If you have high numbers of negative feedback, many buyers will look elsewhere. Take a look at some of the Ebay Power Sellers feedback. Many of them have feedback in the thousands with a rating of over 99% positive. It's no secret how these Power Sellers became successful on Ebay. They take care of their customers. This means they'll have plenty of repeat business.

When you first sign up with Ebay, you'll have zero feedback. Most buyers will shy away from an Ebay newbie with zero or very low feedback. Start building your feedback rating by selling personal items from around the house that you no longer want. This is a good way to get the feel of using Ebay and to build positive feedback. You should invest in a good digital camera. Good clear pictures are an important selling feature on Ebay. Remember to describe your items accurately and honestly. Do not try to trick or deceive buyers in any way. You can't afford receiving negative feedback this early in the game.

I came across a perfect example of a deceptive seller on Ebay a while back. The seller had sold a pair of slightly used shocks for a 2003 Chevy pickup. He used Ebay's Buy-It-Now feature to sell the shocks for just one cent. Wow! What an incredible deal! But wait a minute. The unwary buyer forgot to read the entire auction. The shipping charges were a whopping 60 bucks! The result was a pissed off buyer and negative feedback for the seller. This was an obvious attempt on the part of the seller to make money on the shipping costs. He was banking on the fact that the buyer would not read the entire auction and would simply assume the shipping charges would be reasonable. Do not use deception in your auctions or try to make money on shipping costs. If you treat your customers the way you expect to be treated you will never go wrong and you'll be well on your way to building a reputation as an honest top-notch seller.

If you happen to get a few non-paying bidders, resist the temptation to leave negative feedback for these individuals. Leaving negative feedback will only result in possible retaliation by the non-paying bidder and negative feedback for you. Once again, you do not want any negative feedback this early in the game. Buying items off of Ebay is another great way to build positive feedback. When you win an auction, pay for the item promptly. The result will be positive feedback for you. Most buyers will not care whether your feedback came as a result of buying or selling as long as it's positive.

After you've built a feedback rating of least 25, you'll be ready to start purchasing wholesale merchandise to sell on Ebay. Remember what I said about doing your homework before buying merchandise. If you have your eye on a particular item you think might sell on Ebay, first do a search of that item on Ebay to find out what people are bidding if anything on the item. If it looks hot, at least 7 or 8 bids, then it's probably a good bet. If it doesn't appear to be getting many bids, you should steer clear. You can also do an advanced search for auctions that have already ended. It's a great way to find out the final bid price for a particular item. A few extra minutes of research can save you from a giant headache down the road.

Are You Tired of the scams and the get-rich-quick schemes? Greg Hayes is founding editor of http://www.mammothprofits.com/. Mammothprofits is the website devoted to helping others filter out the scams and become successful in a home based business.
ghayes@mammothprofits.com

eBAy Don't Believe All the Hype

Three billion dollars (that's billion with a "B") in revenues, 135 million users, millionaires all over the place at eBay! Yeah, eBaby!!!, to steal a line form another great author. (See "EBay: No Way' Yes Way (Ten Seller Themes) by Barbara Snyder M.A.? at http://www.sbmag.org/howtosellonebay.html)

Yeah! Wow! ? Make a million! Open a store on eBay and get rich! Man this is easy!!! ?NOT!!!

It?s way to easy to get caught up in all the hype out there about eBay and to start thinking all you have to do is set up an eBay store and you are on your way to the life style to which you would like to become accustomed. Don?t believe it.

Before you start primping for your own segment of "Life-styles of the Rich and Famous," there are a few things you should learn about eBay and small business start-ups in general.

The rate of survival of a traditional small business reads something like half of all new business start-ups fail in the first year and half of the survivors do not survive the second year, and eBay is probably no different. In fact, it?s not easy at all anymore (if it ever was) to carve out a fortune on what has been dubbed "the world?s largest garage sale".

"But Floyd, take a look at all that money", you say. Sure eBay is doing just fine, but of that three billion dollars, how much of it is actually spent on items in "your" category or product line "you" have for sale?

Everyone has to decide exactly what business he or she wants to be in. Then they have to decide if they are going to be a niche player or try to carve out significant market share. Either way you decide to go, you may find out that the pool you are swimming in is not as deep as it may first appear. Unless you are selling automobiles or real estate, not all or even a large percentage of that three billion dollars is spent in your merchandise category. Make sure you check the water before you dive in head first.

When you do decide to jump in, make sure you are ready both financially and mentally to go through a learning curve of some months. Back in the earlier days this may not have been the case, but today eBay has become extremely competitive and significantly more expensive for sellers. And don?t expect a lot of help from eBay directly. They are not the greatest company in the world at customer support. They have a lot of information available, but they also have a tendency to answer help questions with loads of boiler plate "fixes" that usually serve more to confuse then to actually help.

Speaking of fees, this is how eBay lives. They literally nickel and dime you to death (actually its more like quarter and dollar)? thirty cents for the cheapest insertion free, thirty-five cents for a gallery picture, a buck for "bolding" and on and on. And then there?s the fair value selling commission and the PayPal fees (PayPal is a must have!). All these small fees add up fast. Don?t forget, you pay the listing and insertion fees whether your item sells or not. You will quickly learn that your selling percentage becomes crucial and why it is so important you learn how to make very efficient listings at the lowest cost possible as fast as possible. If you fail to learn this, before for you know it, eBay is taking half or more of your total sales just in fees, not counting your cost of product and shipping.

eBay has been called the "world?s largest garage sale" for good reason. You know what people are looking for at garage sales, cheap prices. In the beginning, if you were the only one on eBay selling a specific product, you could demand and get higher prices. Today it?s a bit different. The competition is brutal. You are competing against people and business of all sizes, and there is always someone selling your product at very, very low prices, or worse yet, using it as a loss leader. Some of these people are huge jobbers and or the manufactures themselves, hard to compete against. Some sellers are part time or hobbyist and don?t need or care if they make much money (and they probably don?t). Unless you have a very unique product or are in a position where you can bring a new, hot product to eBay first, you must be prepared for extremely aggressive pricing competition in a market where the average buyer is looking for cheap beer prices on high quality champagne.

So, all said, you may be wondering if it?s even worth the effort. That depends on you and how well you prepare.

Before you open your eBay Store or run out and buy a bunch of product, visit Strictly Business Magazine?s "How to Sell on eBay Resource Center" at http://sbmag.org and read all the "free" articles. Then buy and read a series of books about eBay, there are a number of them listed there. Start out with a book on the basics and then the more advanced volumes.

After you have read up on the basics, set up a seller?s account. Not a Store yet, that starts the meter running after the thirty day free trial. Not a lot of money, but why pay it until you have the necessary education you are going to need to be successful.

Once you have a basic education, experiment with a few items you have lying around the house you?d like to get rid of. This will give you the chance to experience the eBay process and give you an idea of what you are in for. Pick items that sell for under $10, this will give you the cheapest listing fees to experiment with. (A $9.99 item lists for half the price of a $10 item, same thing as $24.99 vs $25). Also make sure you pick items that are easy to ship. Check with the post office for shipping fees and packaging. If you use Express Mail, most of the shipping materials are free and in some cases will more then offset the higher postage fees and will get your product to your customer faster, resulting in better a Feedback Rating, something you will soon learn is very important in eBay.

As you?re reading the books you have just bought, watch for important subjects such as Feedback Rating, shipping and handling, product selection, effective listings, taking and using photos and using hmtl in your listings. Also make note of other tips and ideas on keeping your listing professional but at the same time keeping the cost down. Other topics of importance include "keywords" and how they affect eBay search engines and auctions vs fixed price listings.

Don?t be misled into believing that the buyers are clamoring all over themselves to bid up every item you offer up for sale. Go browse the listings in the category that you will be listing in. You may be surprised to see that most items don?t have a single bid and will not sell at all and others have only a single bid. You may also want to find out what are the best days and time frames most successful auctions close.

The price you pay for a few books and the time it takes to read them and do a little research may be returned ten fold or more in just the first few months after opening your eBay store.

Floyd Snyder is the founder and former owner of Executive Advertising, Camera Ready Art and Strictly Business Magazine. Currently he is the owner of Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org, http://www.FrameHouseGallery.com, http://www.EducationResourcesNetwork.com/and http://www.TraderAide.com.

eBay Auctions - How to Create a Compelling Title

(C) 2005 Ian Stables

"The 37 Effective Ebay Ad Writing Secrets"

Secret 7
How to Easily Create a Compelling Auction Title
Very effective! Think for a moment the questions that you would like answered. I bet you're really interested anytime you see anything offering the answer. Imagine your question is 'Is there an easier way to get to work?'. You might express it as 'I wish there was an easier way to get to work'. But it means the same thing. You see a headline that says 'New Easy Way To Get To (where you work)'. Would you be curious? Of course you would.

So it makes sense to ask yourself what questions your target customer has which you can provide the answer. Then construct your headline as the answer.

Examples:

Customers question
'What can I buy for my wife's birthday present?'
Your item
A quality ladies wristwatch
Your headline
'Just What The Lady Wants - Quality Wrist Watch'

Customers question
'How can I study less and still remember?'

Your item
A new way to study faster and remember everything
Your headline
'New Way - Study Faster and Remember Everything'

Customers question
'What can I sell on Ebay?'
Your item
A guide on what to buy and where to find these items at car boot sales
Your headline
'What To Buy and Where To Find Saleable Ebay Items'

Customers question
'I'd write and sell ebooks but don't know how'
Your item
A simple way to write an ebook
Your headline
'The Easy Way To Write A Saleable Ebook'

Peoples questions often begin with How, Which, Who, Where, When, What and Why.

Ian Stables is the author of "The 37 eBay Ad Writing Secrets" - How to easily COMPEL people to buy your stuff on eBay. To see contents visit http://ebayadsecrets.tripod.com/

For sale as an ebook.

Ebay Auction Ebay Selling - Top 10 Secrets Revealed

The Ebay explosion has hit astronomical proportions. Over 11 million people did a search for Ebay last month alone on the internet. From all walks of life, everyone is drawn to Ebay.

Some people use Ebay as a hobby to make extra cash. Some people have quit their jobs and are making their living off Ebay. On a monthly basis, the phenomenon of Ebay continues to expand and grow.

Naturally, the best advice is to start selling part time on Ebay so that you can learn the tricks and secrets. It will take some time to learn the inside secrets that the top sellers know. It can be a great way to make extra cash. Ebay will take some work and is not a get rich quick scheme. However, if you take your time and do research, you could make extra income for yourself and your family. After you start to make money on a consistent basis, you might consider doing Ebay as your full time job.

For your Ebay business, all you need is internet access and a product to sell. Don?t worry! If you don?t have a product, there are plenty of companies where you can purchase items to sell. SMC (Specialty Merchandise Corp)is one company where you can purchase items at reasonable below cost prices.

SMC can be found at: http://www.smcorp.com

Many people start off selling old or odd items from their homes. Others are going to garage sales and picking up great deals and then selling these products on Ebay. You can find almost anything on Ebay. You are only restricted by your own imagination.

Here is a little tip: Other?s people junk can be your gold mine! That old Barbie doll up in the attic or in the basement could be a gold mine and bring in a huge profit. For example, it is reported that the Collectibles Category is the top selling category on Ebay. An old barbie doll, old red wagon, and old clock are only a few examples of items in the Collectibles Category.

TOP 10 SECRETS FOR SELLING ON EBAY

1. Do your research!

Make sure there is a need for the item that you are selling. Do a search for your item and see how many items are found for your keyword search. Examine each auction and see the bid amount and number of bids. Follow a number of auctions for several days and see what the final bid is. This will give you an excellent idea if there is a need for your item. It will also help you estimate the amount of profit you can make from the auction. If you don?t find your item, it might not be worth your time listing that item. Try to find an item that people truly want. After you start making money with Ebay, you can always go back and list that original product.

2. Find the right Category for your item!

If you are selling a collectible, please make sure that you list it in the collectible category. If you are listing a toy or hobby, please make sure that you list it in the Toy and Hobbies Category. This could make it easier for people to find your item. Do your homework? Search for your item and see what categories other sellers listed the same item in.

3. Keywords and descriptions are critical!

Use the appropriate keywords to describe your product. If you are selling a Barbie Doll, specify the type of doll it is: 1980 Holiday Barbie Doll. If you are selling a model train, specify the type: HO Santa Fe Caboose. Your descriptions are critical to avoid any future problems or potential returns. Honesty is the best policy. If there is a chip, crack or dent, specify this in the description. This could save you a lot of aggravation later on. If a buyer truly wants your item, a crack or chip won?t stop them from bidding on your item.

4. Always post a photo with your auction!

Auctions with photos sell much better than ones that don?t have pictures. Try to take a picture of the actual item that you are selling. Many Ebay sellers will use stock photos or photos from the internet. This is a turn off and raises a question in the buyers mind. People can tell it is not the original item and this could hurt your bids. Show the buyer that you are honest and have nothing to hide. If you put a picture of the actual item, it builds more trust between you and the buyer. In my case, I have bypassed auctions with stock photos. If you don?t have a digital camera, you can always purchase a disposable camera. When you take the camera in to be processed, tell them that you would like to have the photos placed on a CD.

5. Make the Buying process Easy! Sign up for PayPal!

You want to make your auction easy for the buyer. PayPal is becoming very popular and many buyers prefer to pay with their PayPal accounts. The easier you make your auction, the better it is. In addition, you don?t have to worry about bad checks or money orders. It is a safer payment method for both the buyer and seller.

6. List your items during "Hot Time" buying Periods!

Time your auction so that it ends during peak buying times. If you live in the Eastern Time Zone, list your auction between 9pm-11pm, Central Time Zone list between 8-10pm, Mountain Time Zone between 7-9pm, and for the Pacific Time Zone list between 6-8pm. Thus, this will give you the biggest exposure at the end of your auction. If your auction ends at 2 in the morning, there won?t be to many people placing a bid. The debate is out as to what day your auction should end on. Some sellers report that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are best. Other sellers report that Saturday and Sunday are best. Try experimenting with this to see what works best for your auctions.

7. Create an "About Me" Page on Ebay or another Free Website Page!

An "About Me" page can be critical to your success. It gives you chance to let the potential buyer know about you and your products. You can also get a free webpage from many companies in which you can promote yourself and your ebay auctions.

8. Feedback is Critical!

An ebay buyer looks at the feedback ratings. A negative feedback rating can ruin your chances of being successful. After your auction is over, please follow up with your buyer. Send them an email or call them if you have their phone number. Make sure that they are happy with their purchase. This is also important with your description. If you weren?t honest with your description, the buyer might be very disappointed and give you a negative rating. Ensure that your buyers are happy!!!

9. Excessive Postage costs can prevent bids!

Be reasonable with your shipping costs. Calculate the costs ahead of time and only charge the buyer a reasonable amount. It is not worth trying to make a couple extra dollars off the buyer because it will scare many people off. Charge the buyer the actual cost of shipping and state this in your auction so that there are no secrets. Be honest and the buyer will appreciate this.

10. Reserve Prices and Buy-it-Now can scare away potential buyers!

Buyers can be scared off by Reserve Prices and Buy-it-Now. In addition, Reserve Prices can limit your final auction price. Buy-it-Now shows that you have a certain limit to sell the product at. This is an auction! Let the buyers keep bidding at your products. If they feel they are getting a deal, they will place a bid.

You can be very successful on Ebay but you need patience and you need to do your homework.

Have fun with Ebay!

T. Patrick is an avid ebay enthusiast and has spent time researching ebay for inside tips and tricks used by the power sellers. Patrick?s website includes: Ebay Quickie Tips, Benefits of being an Ebay Seller and Secrets for Selling on Ebay. Patrick also provides additional information on becoming a top seller on ebay. Please visit the following website for valuable information: http://www.geocities.com/ebayauction411

Ebay - A Safe Place To Trade

Ebay, in all its marketing, claims to be a safe place to trade. It claims that its Fraud Protection Program aims to protect its users against fraud and quite clearly specifies that those who have suffered fraud should get 75% of their loss reimbursed under this program if the amount is less than $100 (they charge $25 for processing costs).

This claim is completely not true. I have used Ebay for years, and although I have had a few transactions that left me worse off through no fault of my own, I never filed a claim until recently when I didnt receive the goods for which I paid $85. I had done everything "by the book" and according to the rules of Ebay - contacted the seller, checked his ratings were good from previous transactions, used Paypal to pay for the goods immediately, tried to gain recompense through Paypal, SquareTrade and the Fraud Protection Program.

However, despite the fact that the same seller defrauded at least three other Ebayers that I know of in exactly the same way, I got only $25 refunded. Ebay will offer me no explanation why they have kept approximately $40+ of the money they owe me, and despite numerous emails to Bill Cobb (CEO) about this, I have made no progress.

I have received email responses claiming that, basically, its really nice of Ebay to have paid me any refund at all, as they have no control over the seller's actions. When I argued that they claim that they will refund 75% of the transaction cost, this was countered by some argument about Ebay not being the same as Amazon (not sure how this was relevant). I argued that ZStores were very similar to Ebay, but again got counter arguments from Ebay and Bill Cobb.

I also stated that actually Ebay takes a huge chunk of every transaction - as Paypal is part of the same company now, in total Ebay took approx 25% of the transaction themselves, so they could at least have reimbursed me with that amount. Their counterclaim was that Ebay and Paypal are separate companies!!

All I keep seeing on the website is "Paypal - an Ebay company" so I hardly think that argument is fair.

I know for a fact that the others who were defrauded by the same guy as me got even less back than I did.

Is it really fair for Ebay to claim to be a Safe Trading Environment when I stand to lose $45 on every $85 I spend potentially? I dont think so!

I have collected a number of stories of other people having similar experiences at Ebay. I would be grateful if any others out there who have had similar experiences could write and let me know and I will publish a detailed article/ebook on the subject.

I look forward to hearing from you! Contact me at www.exceptiona.com or email me at mishj@yahoo.com

Michelle Johnston Sollicito is an expert Ebusiness Consultant, having worked for Accenture, Yahoo! and Earthlink amongst others during her 15 years experience. She is certified in many technologies and owns a number of established websites including her main website www.exceptiona.com

Ebay and Dropshipping, A Marriage Made In Heaven

Believe it or not, eBay is the 'BEST' opportunity you can use right now to make money online in the dropshipping business from the comfort of your own home.

Thousands of people just like you use eBay auctions on a daily basis to sell and buy products on the Internet; now it's your time to START your own dropshipping home-based business and succeed in the eBay auctions 'game'!

There are no special skills required for this dropshipping business, all you need is a computer, Internet access and some basic computer / Internet knowledge.

Dropshipping is when you sell products on the Web, forward the orders to the dropship supplier and, in return, the dropshipper ships the product to your customer (buyer).

You act as the middleman between the dropshipping supplier and your buyer. You can take orders by credit card, PayPal fax or any other method you can think of. You can sell via your own Web Site, Yahoo store, or even through e-mails.

Your profit is generated on the difference between your selling price and the price the dropshipping supplier charges you.

Thanks to dropshipping you can start making money 'instantly' without any investment in inventory, warehousing, shipping, equipment, employees or office space.

Having products drop shipped by suppliers, allows you to concentrate on truly important aspects like advertising, sales and promotion.

Pay attention! There are lots of companies claiming to be 'Drop Shippers'. However, a legitimate drop shipper is a factory-authorized wholesale distributor, or sometimes the actual manufacturer of the product. A legitimate drop shipper should not charge you an 'account setup fee' or ask you to place a 'minimum quantity order'.

Make sure you find legitimate drop shippers who have the product(s) you want to sell, talk with them on the phone or by e-mail and let them know that you are truly serious about doing business with them.

Customer support counts in the dropshipping business, so don't hesitate to contact dropshipping suppliers before you proceed to work with them.

This will help you decide if you really want to do business with a particular drop shipper or not.

To succeed in the dropshipping business you'll have to LOOK for hard-to-find products that people desperately need and want to purchase.

The key is to sell products with little or no competition.

Do some research for product's you want to sell that you think will have little or no competition on eBay.

I suggest you RESEARCH for quality products & legitimate dropship suppliers, MONITOR the eBay auction listings to see if there's any competition and TEST the market (e.g. find out if people really want to spend CASH on the product you want to sell)

Remember! Dropshipping makes it EASY for you to start and run your own home-based businesses on a shoestring budget; and eBay is the 'perfect' MEDIUM to expose your product to potential buyers all over the globe!

Ron Keegan runs Megastar Distributors a red-hot Web Site jam-packed with lots of FREE Resources, Tips & Reports on DropShipping & eBay. Pick-up your *FREE* ebook at http://www.Megdis.com to learn more about making-money dropshipping!

Do You Pay Taxes On eBay Income

Small Business Q&A with Tim Knox

Q: I read your last column about paying income tax on eBay sales if you are doing it as a business, but as someone who only sells on eBay occasionally I'm still confused if the IRS rules apply to me. Can you tell me more?
-- Norman L.

A: Last week's column on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation.

Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn't make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I've always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their "little side business" but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly
refer to it as "my little hobby."

All kidding aside, the conclusion that I came to after reading each email was always the same: while you may think selling on eBay is just a fun pastime and the money you're making is not reportable as income, depending on the circumstances, the IRS would probably disagree with you.

It seems that everyone likes making money, but hates carving off a piece for good old Uncle Sam. Welcome to free enterprise, folks. If you're going to come to the dance you have to pay the fiddler.

The IRS rules are clear: you must pay taxes on all personal and business income and that includes money you make selling on Ebay.

In its most basic sense, the IRS rules can be interpreted to mean that if you buy an old vase at a garage sale for $10 and sell it on eBay (or elsewhere) for $20 you made a $10 profit and therefore must report it as income and pay Uncle Sam his fair share.

In reality, if you are a casual seller who only sells a few items on eBay every now and then it's doubtful the IRS is going to let loose an army of agents to collect taxes on the few bucks you make. However, if you consistently sell on eBay the IRS may deem your activities to be business oriented and you will be required to file a Schedule C and claim the income.

As mentioned last week, the IRS uses a number of factors to determine if an eBay hobby that generates sales revenue is actually a business.

These factors include:
- Do you carry on the hobby in a business-like manner?
- Do you spend considerable time working on the hobby?
- Do you depend on income from your hobby for your livelihood?

If the answer to any or all of these question is yes, you're running a business, not carrying on a hobby, and you are responsible for paying taxes on your income.

What's eBay's take on all this? Naturally eBay is vehemently opposed to anything that might rock the eBay boat. eBay does not does not issue 1099 tax forms to sellers, nor does it report seller's sales figures to the IRS.

Ebay considers itself merely to be a facilitator, meaning that they provide a marketplace in which buyers and sellers come together to do business.

Furthermore, under it's current system it would be impossible for eBay to issue accurate 1099s to sellers. eBay does not track if a seller actually gets paid by the buyer, so eBay has no idea how much money - if any - actually changes hands at the end of each transaction.

On the bright side, if you do sell on eBay as a business you can deduct a number of business expenses, including the cost of inventory, listing fees, shipping, envelopes, packing materials, etc.

You might also be able to deduct things like the purchase of a computer for business use, office space (even if it's a home office), office supplies, and more.

Talk to your accountant if there's any doubt as to whether you should or should not be paying taxes on your eBay earnings.

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox
tim@dropshipwholesale.net
For information on starting your own online or eBay business,
visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and
syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and
CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder
of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to
the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.

Related Links:
http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
http://www.30dayblueprint.com
http://www.timknox.com

Avoiding eBay Scams

Read through this checklist and save yourself time and aggravation. A bit of due diligence will help you avoid eBay scams.

Only buy items with photos. The photograph is a good way to insure the seller actually has the item. No photo is a good indicator of a scam.

Check the photo against catalog photos. Many scammers use photos taken from other auctions or from online catalogs. Look for the background and lighting. Professionally taken photos have better lighting, and clearer backgrounds.

Check the seller's user history. This is on the feedback page and will say something like this: "Member since: Saturday, Aug 13, 2001 Location: United States" New sellers or sellers who have been members for a long time, but not as active sellers are more likely to be committing auction scams.

Check the sellers eBay feedback. If the seller has few feedbacks or recent feedback as a buyer, but not as a seller this may be a clue. It's easy to get feedback by buying cheap items. Check the items the seller has been buying and selling. There are links on the feedback page to the auction the feedback relates to on the right side of the page.

Do an eBay search for auctions by the seller including completed auctions. Check to see if he has sold the same thing before. If he has, ask the earlier buyer if they got theirs yet. Here's a link to the search form.

Make sure the address you send payment to is the same as the seller's registered eBay address. If it's not the same address, it may be a tip off to a scam. Here's the link to get the seller's registered address.

If you are buying something expensive call the seller. You can get the telephone number with the link above. You have to bid on the item in order to get the contact information. This is a great way to avoid eBay scams. If you buy something and don't feel comfortable, call the seller.

Ask for advice from knowledgeable sources. If you are buying antiques or collectibles, you should get an idea of the value and rarity before buying. Since most collectibles you see on eBay were mass produced, you will get the chance to buy others.

Educate yourself. Learn about the items you are interested in. Go to antiques stores and shows to see what is available. When you factor in shipping costs and uncertainty about the condition many items are cheaper to buy locally. You will make new friends who share your interests, and will not fall prey to eBay scams.

Have a friend go over and look at the item. I bought some trains last year out of Northern California. (I live in Arizona.) I had one of my friends drive over and look at them. He paid the seller and then mailed me the trains. I sent my friend a check to cover the purchase price and then gave him something for his trouble. This is a bit more work, but much safer than sending large sums of money to a stranger.

Search for information online. Use Google.com to find out more about the specific item you are interested in. You might discover it cheaper at a store, or find out the item is really common and be able to find one later from a less risky source.

Ask the seller questions. This will give you some information about the character of the seller. If you are unsure about the condition, ask for additional photos. The best way to avoid an eBay scam is by getting to know the seller.

Check the payment options. If the seller only takes money orders or wire transfers it might be an eBay scam. If you can pay with a credit card, this will give you additional protection. Almost any- I wanted to all, but am sure there are exceptions- credit card transaction can be reversed by calling the issuing bank. Some sellers only take money orders to avoid bounced checks. If a seller refuses to take anything but a wire transfer run.

Check the description and the tone of the ad. Does the person sound eager to sell? Does the person sound like they know what they are selling?

If the item is valuable because of its color, ask the seller for pictures with a common household item for contrast. My dad bought a rare maroon train car that was actually light red. The seller's poor lighting caused the car to appear much darker in the photos. If my dad had asked for a picture of the car next to a can of Campbell's soup he would have seen it was the picture making the car darker because the can would be darker.

Ask the seller about his return policy. Many sellers sell as is with no returns, some sell with returns only if the item is not described correctly. Saying the item is sold with no returns in the auction does not allow the seller to misrepresent the item, but will make it harder for you to press a claim.

Ask yourself "If I saw the item at a show, would I buy it?" Many times people bid on eBay auctions for items they would otherwise ignore . Some reasons for this are greed, ignorance, and impatience. Greed because "It's a low price, and I can always resell it at a profit." Ignorance is when you buy items without knowing enough about them. Impatience causes buyers to buy when they are ignorant.

Remember the seller is selling. Descriptive words like rare, uncommon, and unique are subjective and quite over used. Some items are hard to find, but most eBay auctions are for common or relatively common items. Unique is probably the most over used word in describing collectibles. Unique means there is only one. These descriptions are sales techniques to get higher bids by making you think the item is harder to find than it is. Ignore them.

Know in advance what you are willing to lose. I'll buy any train auction for under a hundred dollars without checking the seller out because I won't lose much sleep over a hundred dollars. You need to know your attitude and personality to answer this question.

Know when to cut your losses. If you get a eBay scam over a $50 auction, it's not worth hundreds of hours of lost sleep. I know the scammers count on this attitude to allow them to continue ripping people off, but it's really not worth the time to pursue a small loss. File a complaint with eBay, leave a negative feedback, then move on.

Don't leave feedback until the item is received and you are satisfied with it. Feedback is your leverage to get a return if the item is not as described.

ALWAYS leave negative feedback when the seller is deceptive or unwilling to correct his mistakes. This is your way to warn other bidders. If you had been warned, you could have saved your money and time. The feedback system won't work unless you are willing to leave negatives for bad transactions.

Use separate eBay accounts for buying and selling. This way your selling account won't be damaged by retaliatory feedback when you leave negatives for others. You have to use accurate contact information when creating each account. EBay will remove feedback from accounts without accurate contact information.

Don't fall in love with your eBay account. I use a buying account until it gets 30-40 feedbacks and then start a new one. This way no one knows what I am buying. Also, because I know I will be using a new account in a few months, I can be honest when leaving feedback.

If you have been ripped off do not threaten the seller. Ebay calls this "user to user threats" and will suspend you immediately. Some eBay scammers exploit this. They will provoke you into threatening them, then forward the e-mail to eBay and your account will be cancelled. If you have filed a fraud compliant with eBay it will be closed because "eBay does not investigate complaints from non-members."

If you feel taken by a seller have a friend read your e-mails before you send them. Have your friend make sure they are polite and do not include accusations. Be polite and explain why you are unhappy. Name calling will not help. People make mistakes when listing items, and many sellers will make them right. When you open with an attack, you put the seller in a different frame of mind. For the same reason, don't threaten the seller with negative feedback in the first email.

Don't try to renegotiate the price after you receive your purchase. Explain clearly and politely why you are unhappy and tell the seller you would like to return it. I refund the purchase price and shipping both ways when I make a mistake. Sometimes I send the buyer the shipping money instead as a make good. I never do this when the buyer opens with a demand for a lower price.

In closing, remember, most items you see on eBay are common. You will see them again and again. Don't jump to purchase something, but rather take your time and wait for the right seller and the right item.

EBay is a great forum for buying interesting items for your collection, and you can get some great deals. In the few instances I have felt ripped off, most of the time it was my greed that caused the problems. If I would have asked the seller some questions and gotten more information before bidding, I would have saved myself some grief. While there are eBay scams, a bit of prior prevention will protect you.

Have fun buying on eBay, but remember, a bit of caution will do more to protect you than anything else.

Terry Gibbs writes about antiques, collectibles and eBay in his monthly Collector Strategies Newsletter. You can sign up for his free newsletter and get additional information about his books on collecting and eBay at his website: http://www.iwantcollectibles.com

Build eBay Profits with a Powerful Category Strategy

Sometimes it?s tough to tell where your buyers are. You?re not sure which category is the best place to list your item.

Not everyone has the benefit of an item to auction with a perfect eBay category waiting such as ?Barbie Contemporary.?

Here?s a simple research process you can use to increase your chances of success. Search for similar items and see what categories they?re in. If they?re scattered across a few different categories, look for the categories where bids are being made. Bids matter, listings don?t. Just keep in mind that the bids could be the result of other factors such as price, desirability and condition. Also, look at the performance of the seller. If she?s a power seller she probably has an understanding of which categories work best for her auctions.

But what if your item doesn?t seem to fit anywhere? What if nobody else is auctioning something similar? Get to know eBay?s ?Everything Else? category. Is there a fit for your item in ?Gifts and Occasions? or one of the three subcategories in ?Weird Stuff??

These areas get high levels of traffic. Specifically there are a lot of browsers and your item may catch some attention here.

The ?Slightly Unusual? category typically delivers more traffic than the other two. Study this area of eBay and you?ll find everything from Weather Balloons to Tarot Cards.

Run tests of different categories. Run auctions with ?Second Categories.? Use the free Andale tools to keep track of page views.

Why should you test a second category? You may discover that bidders are where you least expect them. And if this happens, don?t feel sheepish. Professional marketers armed with years of discipline and piles of research are trying to learn the exact same thing.

When Kimberly Clark first put Kleenex on the market the product wasn?t designed for people with runny noses. Kleenex was advertised as a cold cream remover. Sales were terrible until the firm discovered their product was being used as a disposable handkerchief.

Once Kleenex wound up in the right category it flourished. It?s the exact same scenario on eBay. Even with eBay search, getting your item in front of a prospective bidder is essential. Keep in mind that search will cover up a lot of listing shortcomings. But if you rely solely on search for your prospective bidders, you?re losing a sea of browsers, impulse bidders who are a crucial segment of your market.

So if your auctions need a jolt, don?t assume that the problem is price. Pay attention to your category. Even a great description in the less than ideal category can?t turn browsers into bidders.

Copyright 2004 Paul Talbot All Rights Reserved

Paul Talbot is the author of ?Confessions of an eBay Power Seller.? Learn more about successful selling on eBay at http://www.onlineauctioninformation.com

AUCTION TIP Make the Most of Your eBay About Me Page

One of the most important, and least-utilized, features on eBay is the "About Me" page. With your About Me page, you can promote yourself as a seller, promote all of your auctions, and show off your eBay Feedback ratings. This provides credibility for your auction business, and also gives you an opportunity to express your unique personality.

To create your About Me page, log into eBay and go to the "my eBay" tab at the top of the page. Once there, select the "about me" tab. This will bring you to the About Me creation page. Simply click on the "create and edit your page" button to get started.

eBay offers three different pre-packaged layouts for you to choose. Once you've selected your template, you will be presented with a form. All three templates will ask you to complete the same information.

Before you start to fill in the form, you should think about what you want to accomplish with your eBay business. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to pretend I am in the antique tin toy business. With this example, I'm letting my personality shine through to help build a following with tin toy collectors.

Page Title: Chuck's Antique Tin Toys

Welcome Heading: The Finest Tin Toys on eBay!

Welcome Text: Hi, my name is Chuck Smith, and I LOVE TIN TOYS! I've been collecting antique tin toys for over 10 years, and discovered eBay was a great place to find more toys for my collection about three years ago. The problem was I was buying so many, I was running out of money. But my loss is your gain. I decided to use eBay to finance my hobby and I'm offering antique tin toys (at least the ones I don't HAVE to have for my collection) on eBay.

Another Paragraph Heading: In my auctions, you will be given detailed descriptions of every item I sell. You'll see the exact condition, including complete descriptions of any flaws. I will also give you as much information about the toy, including manufacturer, history, and provenance as I can provide. I want you to feel comfortable when buying from me. On this page, you can see my Feedback and also the other Items I have for sale. I hope you'll enjoy my auctions, and I look forward to doing business with you in the near future! Good luck!

Picture: You can add a picture of yourself holding a toy.
To get a picture on eBay, you will need to either have a Web site where you can post files already, or you can use one of the many picture hosting services available on the Internet.

Feedback: As you buy and sell items on eBay, you will want to have your Feedback listed on your About Me page. Here you'll select the number of Feedback listings to show on your page (I use the last 10), and eBay fills in your feedback automatically. Feedback is eBay's way of letting other users know how you conduct yourself on their site.
If you're an excellent buyer and seller, people will send you positive Feedback that is positive. Do something wrong and you'll get negative Feedback. Make sure you run your business in an above-board manner!

Items For Sale: This is similar to Feedback in that you select the number of Items For Sale to show, and eBay fills this information in automatically. This is a great way to show potential bidders all of the items you have up for auction.

Favorite Links: Here, you can link to your own Web site (I highly recommend you get your own Web site), or provide some of your favorite links. Perhaps there's a Web site out there that offers information and estimated values for antique tin toys. Go ahead and link to it -- your potential customers will appreciate the resource.

Favorite Items: If you have some favorite items you've purchased or seen on your eBay travels, then go ahead and list them. I prefer not to send people to other eBay sellers, so be careful.

That's it. Just hit the submit button and eBay automatically generates your About Me page. You now have a wonderful new marketing tool that will help promote your auctions and let potential bidders know what kind of seller you are.

PLEASE NOTE: You can also edit the page in HTML, but you want to be sure you know what you're doing before trying this. Click here if you'd like to check out my About Me page (http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/auctioncashflow/

Chuck Smith is the creator of the Auction Rookie web site.
This site is dedicated to helping people start and run a successful online auction business. Visit his site to get a free report on "How to Get Started Selling on eBay."
http://www.auctionrookie.com or mailto:csmith@auctionrookie.com

Auction Power Releases New eBay Members Only or Subscription website www.AP8.com

eBay Auction Membership site. Including How to, checklists, videos all geared toward successful online auction selling

(PRWEB) April 28, 2004 -- Auction Power Has just released their Subscription website or Members-Only website. The website is a detailed collection of information about eBay and online auctions and is avaliable only to people who subscribe. Most of the subscription websites post new articles several times a week have an active discussion group and are run by, hosted by and/or moderated by a dedicated expert on the subject.

As the name implies, these sites are only open to members.

Members log in 24 hours a day with their username and password where they can read articles, join discussion posts, ask questions and put their feedback and questions in the discussion board.

Why subscribers are ready to pay.

The Internet has enabled people with similar interests to find each other and form online eBay, computers, or model railroading, the Internet enables you to connect to others who share your areas of interest.

Subscription websites cover every subject you can imagine:
Hobbies (Golf, fishing and everything else.)
Health and Fitness
Diets (South Beach, A different site for every diet you can imagine.)
Business (There is a different site for every kind of business you can think of.)
Investing
Cars (eBay motor or eBay motors.com.)
Boats (A different site for each model.)
Trains
Travel
How to (Sell on eBay.)
Adventure
Computer games
Computer programs
Dating
Children
Finance
Sports

Subscription websites are priced from free to over $4,000 a year -- most falling in the $4 to $89 price range. Subscribing options range for one month, three months or one year.

Here are some of the compelling reasons for the growth in the subscription website portion of the Internet:
?Concise to the point information on the topic of interest
?No sifting through advertising
?Active Discussion Groups.
?Update to date news and trends

Here is a sample of what a subscription website looks like:
http://www.AP8.com(How to sell successfully on eBay and online auctions.)
http://www.SWEPA.com(How to start and run your own Subscription Website.)
http://www.SmallBusinessWebsite.com(Showing small businesses how to really make use of their websites.)
http://www.auctionmoneymakers.com(eBay Training)
http://www.auctioninternet.com(eBay Tips)
http://www.auctionnewsflash.com(eBay and online auction information)

Information on the Internet is free, but the quality non-Spam data now requires you to pay a small fee.

A lot of people realize this and are glad to pay for information that is NOT available to the general public. That's why subscription websites are growing in popularity.