Ebay has chosen to BAN digital products from sale

Ebay has chosen to BAN digital products from being sold in "Auction" format on eBay.
(Announced on eBay.com March 24, 2008)

This new policy is to be in full effect by
March 31, 2008.

Yes, it's true. The following is a quote from Ebay.com;

Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived). To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format. Using the Classified Ads format, sellers receive a 30-day ad at a fixed price. This solution enables sellers to continue to market their digital goods on eBay; however, because Classified Ad listings are a lead generation
tool and do not result in transactions that go through eBay, Feedback cannot be exchanged between buyer and seller.

Sellers who wish to continue to offer digital goods can do so by selecting the "Everything Else Information Products" category in the "Sell Your Item" form and choosing the "Classified Ads" format (not auction-style or fixed price).

eBay blogs & comments

Hi everyone

Just a quick note to let you know about a new site that I found that deals with everything eBay related. Just click on the link and it should take you straight there, if that doesn't work just copy and then paste it into your browser. There is a lot of info and comments and there is no charge.

http://arashmoto.com/ebaycomplaints/index.php

Regards
Steve H

UK Auctionline Contact details

Hi everyone
I hope you like the new look to the site. Apologies if you have been trying to contact UK Auctionline but it appears there are some gremlins in the system and the link to my email is down on the contacts page. Please bear with me whilst I have it identified and fixed. In the mean time please feel free to contact me on this address:

sjhmarinerfan@googlemail.com

Kind Regards

Steve H

PAYPAL SCAM / FRAUD WARNING- by: dave-shop

The news item enclosed is from a very disgruntled ebayer and in no way reflects the views of myself, or UK Auctionline. I felt it was worth publishing just in case anyone else is experiencing the same sort of problem.

Regards
Steve H

These 'people' purchased items from me and a few days later once they received the item, lodged a false claim via Paypal to extort a refund from them. Paypal being there usual helpful selves immediately 'stole' the funds from my account so they can give them back to the scammer's.

Neither of these maggots has grounds for a Paypal complaint and this has now been passed to the police as a fraud case and the FSA / financial ombudsman both informed.

I am awaiting the outcome of Paypal's final investigation but suspect it will be the same as usual - give the buyer a refund and leave the seller out of pocket for the best part of £300.

*** UPDATE - PAYPAL SIDED WITH THE SCAMMER'S AND LET THEM KEEP THE MONEY BUT I DID GET THE ITEM RETURNED ***

This was all because the Muppet's ordered the wrong item, this was entirely the buyers mistake but paypal do not care, they just give the fools their money back and ask them to send the goods back (the goods can be returned in any condition as paypal blatantly do not care and will automatically refund the scammer.

Not a good policy for Paypal to have and I know this happens to a lot of people.*** Sellers - beware !!

I just want to alert people that Paypal do nothing for sellers other than take money from them. Both of these buyers are making false claims for refunds which as we all know is fraud but the Paypal system is there for buyers - notsellers.

This is not the first time I have been ripped of by Paypal - they sent me funds from a buyer only to take them back from me 2 days later because the buyer claimed to his bank that he did not make the purchase and despite someone at his address signing for the item, Paypal did absolutely nothing except 'steal' the funds back from my account and give them back to the buyer.

Both cases are almost identical - the seller sends item out in good faith, item is in good condition and is as described / photographed in the listing but the buyers IQ is unfortunately lower than their age so they file a dodgy paypal complaint and get refunded!!

Well done Paypal - at least you are helping the criminals.

SELLERS BEWARE - DO NOT TRUST THESE BUYERS OR PAYPAL

DO NOT LET PAYPAL GET AWAY WITH IT - THEY DO EXACTALLY WHAT THEY WANT AND HAVE NO PROBLEM RIPPING OFF SELLERS AND BUYERS ALIKE.

A DODGY SELLER CAN SET UP A PAYPAL ACCOUNT, SELL GOODS, COLLECT THE MONEY THEN EMPTY THE PAYPAL ACCOUNT AND VANISH. PAYPAL WILL GIVE THE USUAL REPLY - THAT THEY WILL ATTEMPT TO RECOVER THE FUNDS BUT IF THEY ARE NOT THERE TO BE RECOVERED.....

BUYERS CAN CON SELLERS OUT OF MANY ££££s USING PAYPAL - JUST TELL THEM YOU DID NOT GET THE ITEM OR THAT IT WAS NOT AS DESCRIBED AND PAYPAL BASICALLY STEAL THE MONEY FROM THE SELLERS ACCOUNT WITHOUT THIER KNOWLEDGE.

THE SELLER HAS NO WAY TO GUARD AGAINST IT EVEN IF THEY WITHDRAW FUNDS AS SOON AS THEY GO INTO THE PAYPAL ACCOUNT AS PAYPAL WILL 'HOLD' ANY PENDING WITHDRAWALS AND WILL HOLD ANY NEW FUNDS RECIEVED TO MAKE UP THE NEGATIVE AMOUNT.

PAYPAL CHARGE WAY OVER THE TOP FOR THE SERVICE THEY PROVIDE AND CARE ABOUT NOTHING EXCEPT TAKING YOUR MONEY.

IF A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL HAD DONE WHAT PAYPAL DOES ON A DAILY BASIS THEY WOULD BE SERVING SERIOUS JAIL TIME. PAYPAL PROCEEDURES ARE SERIOUSLY DODGY AND FAVOUR ONLY PAYPAL.

PAYPAL ARE HOWEVER REGULATED BY THE 'FSA' AND I URGE EVERONE WHO HAS BEEN RIPPED OFF BY PAYPAL TO COMPLAIN TO THE FSA - THE FSA WEBSITE HAS PLENTY OF CONTACT DETAILS - EMAIL ADDRESS, POSTAL ADDRESS AND FAX NUMBERS. IF THE FSA GET ENOUGH COMPLAINTS THEN THEY SHOULD LOOK INTO WHAT PAYPAL ARE UP TO IN CLOSER DETAIL.

BE SURE TO KEEP COMPLAINTS FACTUAL AND INCLUDE THIS - Pay Pal FSA Register Number: 226056. The FSA will not look into individual complaints but if they get enough people complain about Paypal then they will look into their business practices. Individual complaints should be directed to the financial ombudsman as they will deal with individual issues when Paypal steal your money !

LETS STOP PAYPAL SPOILING eBay.

eBay WILL NOT ALLOW WESTERN UNION BECAUSE IT IS SCAMMER's HEAVEN BUT PAYPAL IS THE ONE DOING THE SCAMMING NOW AND THEY GET AWAY WITH IT.

he issued a paypal complaint over a very minor issue so I offered a refund, simply to get my item back and be done with it.

Should be a simple case of get item back and issue a refund but no...scamming a-hole decided to give Paypal a tracking number for an envelope containing 1 bit of paper !!! Guess what paypal do..... !! They should be aware that a large car part could not have been returned via Royal mail - it's too large but no...they simply take the scammers word for it.

Do not trust Paypal - they will give your money to thieving gits !

eBay Rolls Out New Checkout with Multi-Seller Payment

eBay is rolling out a new version of eBay Checkout that lets buyers pay for multiple items from multiple sellers. The new Checkout has been in testing for several weeks and eBay will expand the rollout over the next several weeks. Once buyers see the new Checkout, it will become their default except in cases where sellers use a third-party listing provider.

New features of eBay Checkout include a progress meter that lets buyers see where they are in the process; simplified editing of information; and improved coupon, gift certificate and gift card redemption.

eBay said the new checkout also offers improved merchandising of seller inventory post-payment so sellers have an even better opportunity to sell more items during the Checkout process. The new eBay Checkout has been customized to meet the specific needs of many of eBay's international markets, but it will not be made available in China, Germany or India.

A discussion board thread started in January in which buyers and sellers discuss the new Checkout show that some features are not automatically popular with users.

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 14, 2008

Add Unlimited Pictures To Your Ebay Auctions For Free

Whilst ebay fees are beginning to get ridiculously high. I try and save every penny I can when I list an item on ebay. Did you know you can list as many pictures on each listing for free? That's right, plus you can list as many pictures as you want for each listing. Why pay extra fees to list some pictures on your listings? You don't have to if you do the following.

First, you have to have a place to host the pictures. "Hosting pictures" is just a term used to say, you have a picture saved online somewhere. You can host pictures just about anywhere for free nowadays. If you have an internet service provider(ISP), they probably gave you some free space to host pictures or files. I would recommend hosting pictures with your ISP, as it is usually more convenient. It's fine if you didn't want to host pictures on your ISP. You could sign up for a free service like geocities.com or photobucket.com. They are just a few places that will let you host pictures for free.

Okay, now you have a place to host your pictures. List all the pictures you need to list on your auctions at the place you are using to host pictures. Now all you need to do is post the HTML code for a picture into your ebay auction description. The HTML code for a picture is Just copy and past that code into your ebay description where ever you want the picture to appear. Replace the web domain with the web domain your picture is hosted on.

You can do little things like center the picture on the auction page. For instance if you want to center the picture you would put this code.

If you use this trick to post pictures into your ebay auctions, you will have more control over your pictures. Your pictures will be right there in the customers face. They won't even have to click on to the picture to see it like the ones ebay make you pay for. You can have the control of putting the picture anywhere in your auction page, not just on the bottom of the page. You see, ebay is making you pay extra for pictures that you don't even have control over.

Why pay for extra pictures when you can do it for free with full control over them? HTML can do a lot for your ebay auctions. Ebay fees are so expensive now, you can't survive unless you use every trick possible to save when listing your auctions. I never got why ebay hasn't changed their picture system. They give you little exposure and you have to pay for them. But, I am very happy ebay hasn't changed the way their picture system is on their auction listings. Or we wouldn't be able to have free pictures anymore.

People that are new to ebay are not expected to know this information. Ebay probably counts on new people not knowing this trick. So they pay for ebay to host pictures and don't think about it. Ebay has to be making money on hosting pictures, or they would have changed this policy. The truth is, we pay enough already for auction fees. Most of the veteran ebay sellers know this trick and use it everyday.

by Lisa Page

Five "First Items" to Get You Started Selling

Easy transactions are essential to break the ice and learn the ropes
Many eBay members who have never sold a thing on eBay have more than a passing interest in selling but don't quite know how to get started. Sometimes the most difficult part of selling is simply knowing what to sell especially if you don't own your own business or have other obvious caches of products in your life just waiting to be shifted to buyers.

The most typical bit of advice given to members in this situation is "just look around you you'll find things to sell," but it isn't always easy to think in sellers' terms when you're not used to selling via online auctions, especially if you don't have "eBay business" aspirations.

If this sounds like you, here are five simple ideas for types of things to sell in your first eBay auction.

1. Clothing and accessories.
If you have clothing or accessories that you don't wear anymore but that "still have a lot of life in them," these can be an ideal first eBay sale item. Vintage clothing and more substantial pieces (leather coats, designer jackets, vintage jeans, evening shoes, hats) tend to do well on eBay, while more everyday items are a tougher market. Be sure to point out in your description any defects, wear areas, or idiosyncrasies about the garment in question when you list it. A clear photo (or preferably several from varying angles) is/are also essential for this type of sale.

2. Household furnishings, decor, or antiques.
This is the perfect chance to get rid of the hideous trout lamp that Uncle Ed sent your husband for Christmas or the talking alarm clock that doesn't ever quite manage to wake you up. Antiques and unusual items rule this group, so don't ever fall into the trap of thinking that something is too retro, too kitschy, or too ugly for eBay. The more bizarre, unique, or "interesting" the item, the better it can potentially do. On the other hand, don't bother trying to sell anything that can still be had at the local department store in large quantities and at low prices.

3. No-longer-used consumer electronics.
The old MP3 player that you never use because you bought a nice new iPod falls into this category, as do the handheld TV that you never carry and the cell phone that you've had hanging around since you switched carriers. If the item works, includes all necessary accessories (recharger's, cables, and the like) and is in reasonably good condition, it's a candidate for eBay selling. Just be sure not to get your hopes too high about price: consumer electronics lose a large percentage of their value as you use them. Figure on getting about 20 percent of your original investment. It might not sound like a lot, but if it's just sitting in a closet anyway, now is the time to post it at auction and free up some storage space.

4. Your own hobby or craft items.
If you have a crafty hobby of almost any kind—whether it's making oven mitts, knit caps, hand-crafted tennis rackets, or ships-in-bottles, eBay can be a great place to turn a nice profit. Hand-made goods that show skill and workmanship often draw top dollar and a loyal collectibles crowd on eBay. Be sure to include plenty of photos in your listing, along with details about the methods that you use and your personal approach to creating these items—these types of buyers want to buy your story as much as they want to buy your goods, so don't disappoint them.

5. Locally made goods. Every area of the world is home to at least a few unique products or resources, whether they're edibles, renewable flora and fauna, local indigenous crafts, or something else. Salt candies from the mountain west, hot sauces from the south, maple syrup in bulk from the northeast, native crafts from the reservation—or if you're outside the U.S.A. just about anything you're willing to ship to North America—are all fair game. Use your imagination and remember that there are people all around the world who might be interested in buying something that people in your neck of the woods take for granted.

It's a pretty simple list, but it's also a pretty simple prospect: for your first sale on eBay, find something that has value, isn't so common that people would rather just buy it at the local store, is functional and in good condition, is easy to ship, and isn't worth so much either monetarily or sentimentally that it's an overwhelming task for your first sale.

Remember that photos always help, detailed descriptions are absolutely essential, shipment, carefully packed, follows soon after the auction ends, and of course remember also that buyers are people, too people that may want to buy whatever you have around to sell.

Most of all, don't wait any longer just do it. Identify an item that could stand to go and list it. If the auction closes with bidder(s), you've made your first eBay sale. If it doesn't draw any bids, not to worry nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's not a popularity contest. Find something else and try again.

Once you start listing, it's only a matter of time until your first sale (which almost always occurs on a seller's first try). Once your first sale is complete, your second one won't be far behind.

Author
Aron Hsiao,

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, eBay is encouraging its members to take part in the Big Green Spring Clean.

We estimate that there could be up to £4400 worth of items in the average household that could be sold.

You could recycle these for cash by selling them on eBay. The Big Green Spring Clean provides you with hints and tips on how to organise your own spring clean.

Over the next five weeks, we’ll introduce four themes, along with features about local Irish sellers and a weekly competition to win a bicycle or special edition eBay shopping bag. Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

Whether it's the flower sellers on Grafton Street waving bunches of daffodils at you, the lighter evenings or the lambs in the fields, one thing's for sure - spring is here again.

Traditionally it's the time of year when you start thinking about De-cluttering the house, giving it (and you) a new lease of life as you win back the space you need.

Because sometimes it's easier to think about spring cleaning that actually do it, we've designed The Big Green Spring Clean - a four week programme to help you clear out your clutter while giving something back to the environment.

It's very simple. All you need to do is register with eBay, and each week of the programme we'll add a new theme to this website and send you a newsletter giving you tips on how to De-clutter, recycle or sell unwanted items and live a greener life.

You can share your stories with us, post messages and tips to the community board, and read about other eBayers who've tried De-cluttering for themselves by selling on eBay. You could even win a bicycle...

So, if you're not already a member of the eBay community, sign up now and join us on the Big Green Spring Clean!

Over 500,000 people in Ireland are members already so you'll be in good company! It only takes a couple of minutes to sign up.

Should You Enrol In The Auction Genius Course?

Are you considering the Auction Genius Course? Those who are looking at making money online need to look deeply into the venture before taking any kind of plunge and want to do their due diligence before investing into something that can help them earn money online.

The more knowledgeable you are at the start, the better your chances for success with e-commerce of any sort. Ebay seems to be the "go to" source for anyone wanting to earn a living part-time from home. Does this mean it's a saturated market? Not at all! We all know how many scams exist out there but there can be great opportunities for knowledge with a small investment as well.

Many people dive headfirst into ebay as their first work at home venture but the reality is that due to lack of knowledge and research, most of those people just abandon their accounts or use them merely to buy products from other people rather than use those accounts to create their own home based business. Some people sell something a time or two and then don't continue to bother.

Do you really need it? There are many resources out there, freely available with just a click of your mouse. My tip is to check them out before parting with your hard earned cash.

Steve H

Why can certain people make a full time living from e-bay?

Like just about anything, knowledge is power. So is perseverance! Knowing ebay powerselling secrets could propel you towards the ability to make a full time income by having an e-bay store and that knowledge could give you the tools to know when persevering in a particular area of auction selling is wise.

While ebay does offer some advice for the newbie and there are many online forums that are dedicated to helping people earn money off ebay out there, there seem to be a lot more people trying to sell you on learning their way to maximize your ebay earning potential.

Making money from ebay involves more than selling your old stuff in the garage. There's a world of potential opportunity on the world's most profitable online flea market. By listing on e-bay you have access to hundreds of thousands of people who have their credit card in hand because they're ready to buy the first thing that tickles their fancy. The right goods, marketing, the right set up and the right product positioning will help you win over buyers.

How do you learn the ropes? Beyond trial and error and frustration, you can buy consulting services, purchase e-books on the subject or enrol in courses such as the Auction Genius course to learn all the ins and outs of making more than spare change from e-bay. The Auction Genius course promises videos, online support, secrets and all sorts of great tools to help you make the most of your online auction business.

Should you invest in an online course?

It's easy to read a long sales page and dream of pound signs in the air. The pros make it look so good, don't they? One of the great things about the Auction Genius course is that you can partake in the beginning of the course and if you feel it's not right for you, opt out and have a refund. That's certainly not something that happens every day and might give you the desire to give it a try with the mentality that you have very little to lose but your time. When looking at investing in anything online, reading reviews from other buyers first is a wise decision. When you look at a program it's a good idea to look at multiple factors including: ease of use, user ratings, value for money and level of support.

Regardless of whether you invest in an auction course or spend a lot of time browsing review and information sites, knowledge is definitely your key to becoming a successful online entrepreneur.

About the Author: Mathew Bredel
If you want to learn more about ebay business or find out more about the Auction Genius Course, visit TheWebReviewer.

New listing policy for major charity events and free ticketed events ***

This has got to be a step forward for the credibility of EBay

Steve H

We’ve recently been working with a number of charities in the UK to look at how they can benefit from the resale of event tickets on eBay.co.uk through our eBay for Charity programme.

As a result, we’ll soon be applying the following special conditions on the sale of tickets for any concerts or events where 50% or more of the proceeds from the original ticket sales are going to charity:
At least 20% of the final sale price for those events covered by the policy must be donated to the charity involved (or in some cases, to other relevant charities) through our eBay for Charity programme
Sellers of these tickets will need to be registered with eBay for Charity
One-day and three-day listings will not be allowed

We’ll also be banning the sale or resale of tickets for events for which all the tickets are free, such as awareness-raising events and free concerts.

We’ll be applying the new conditions some time in the next few weeks. We’ll be asking event organisers and charities to apply for their events to be covered by our new policy and will keep you updated on which events the policy will apply to.

Thanks for your support. We look forward to raising more money for good causes with you.

Regards,

The eBay Team

eBay Buyer Checklist

Before ever bidding on an item, use the following checklist to make sure you've done your homework and get a good a deal as possible. After you use this checklist a few times it will become second nature.

Searching
When searching for your item, make sure you've done the following:

* Know exactly what you're looking for (SKU, manufacturer, etc.)
* Search Retail or Price Compare engines for going price
* Checked for misspelled words in the title
* Take note of any buy-it-now and reserve prices
* Determine your maximum price for the item

Item Evaluation
You've found several possible items, for each item make sure you've done the following:

* Confirm it's the exact item you want
* Read the description for any possible issues - heavily used, broken or missing parts, etc.
* Review the seller's feedback - is it consistent with the item
* Review shipping costs - confirm with seller if details are not included
* Confirm shipping location - will they ship it to your country?
* Review item location - is it in a different country?
* Ask seller any questions about the item (and received response)
* Are the pictures of the actual item, or are they "stock photos"?
* Does the seller have other items you can combine to save on shipping?
* Is it a "Dutch Auction", and if so, how many do you want?
* Is the return policy acceptable?
* Is it an authentic item, or is it a forgery/duplicate/photocopy/etc.?
* Is it Buy-it-Now, reserve price, make offer, or other type of auction?

Bidding

* Sign In on eBay
* Wait until the last possible time to bid - "sniping" is usually very effective at saving money
* Know your maximum and bid that - eBay's proxy bidding will handle the rest
* Confirm you bid was placed

After the Auction

* If you didn't win, re-evaluate the price you bid and the winning bidder
* Verify the bidding results on the item page to make sure you were the winner
* Don't use third-party "partner" checkout services. Most are safe, but eBay's checkout works very well.
* Type the URL in the address bar - don't use links inside email's.
* Before typing in your password _ANYWHERE_, verify the URL/Address in the browser window.
* Verify the final price and shipping/handling amount
* Don't fall for any scams - (extra large money orders, etc. They can be forged easily)
* After receiving the item, verify it's the correct item and as described. If not, use eBay's recommend resolution steps to resolve any problems with the seller.

This list was compiled and published by BidNip.com

eBay Expands SMI to All Auctions

Buyer Beware!!

Steve H

eBay announced it is expanding its Safeguarding Member IDs (SMI) program to all auction-style listings on eBay.com and Motors. eBay rolled out SMI last year for auctions that received bids of $200 or greater. The initiative was to combat fraudsters who were using fake "Second Chance Offers" to defraud bidders.

SMI works by masking bidder IDs so scammers can't tell who is bidding on a listing. eBay said in its announcement:

For over a year, these masked User IDs have proven to be very successful on these higher-end listings. In fact, we saw the volume of fake Second Chance Offers for $200 or more drop significantly. We've also worked to educate members about the importance of unique email addresses, and we have aggressively targeted members who have risky User ID/email combinations to encourage them to change. Please note - If your User ID matches your email address, please protect yourself by changing your User ID so your user ID doesn't match your email address.

SMI is controversial among buyers who wish to see who they are bidding against and also try and spot evidence of shill bidding.

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 04, 2008

eBay Calls Claims of Manipulation 'Outrageous'

Some unhappy eBay sellers have been looking for evidence of foul play from the auction site, believing eBay tried to mask the effect of a recent boycott. When Shopping.com listings appeared on eBay.com last week, sellers pointed to it as an example of eBay attempting to boost listing numbers.

After the company announced a slew of changes on January 29, some sellers participated in a 1-week boycott of eBay starting February 18th. Sellers, analysts and reporters began analyzing listing counts to try and measure the effect of the boycott.

AuctionBytes reported on Saturday the existence of a thread on eBay's discussion board from a user who noticed a large number of Shopping.com listings had appeared on eBay.com (http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/3/1204379814.html). eBay spokesperson Usher Lieberman initially told AuctionBytes they appeared due to a test, but on Monday, said he was incorrect and that the listings were the result of a glitch.

On Tuesday, Lieberman explained the nature of the glitch. Programmers rolled out code on Friday evening that was meant to credit certain listings that were eligible for free Gallery. The credit was due to them because eBay had promised sellers Gallery would be free for listings started at a certain time of day, and the code had been rolled out 3 hours past the deadline.

Lieberman said the programmers inadvertently caused the Shopping.com listings to appear on eBay.com when it created and launched the script to credit the sellers' accounts for Gallery fees.

Lieberman said fewer than 35,000 listings were affected by the glitch.

However, he had no explanation for the fact that when AuctionBytes looked at one Shopping.com selling account on Saturday morning, it indicated the seller had over 80,000 listings on eBay.com. One seller claimed on Saturday that he had captured screenshots that showed there were many more Shopping.com listings on eBay.

Lieberman said eBay has always been conservative without a hint of financial scandal in its life. eBay reports the number of registered users and number of listings to the SEC on a quarterly basis. Of the accusations of listing count manipulation, Lieberman said, "To think that we'd do that now is outrageous."

PCMagazine picked up on the story and reported on seller accusations that eBay was "padding listing numbers." (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2273210,00.asp). Interestingly, the story addresses the complaint from sellers that discussion threads discussing the issue had been removed. "eBay denied that any forum deletions were intentional. If any posts were taken down "it was accidental," the spokesman said. "We're not afraid of hearing from our community and allowing them to post and discuss things and be angry on our boards," PCMagazine wrote.

AuctionBytes previously reported that several discussion threads had been removed, including one linked to in the original blog post published on Saturday.

Most sellers are likely taking little notice of the dust-up. Those who are suspicious may be unlikely to be satisfied with eBay's response.

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 05, 2008

Finally found a real way to earn extra income

This might sound too good to be true, especially because it's FREE and easy, but I encourage you to give it a chance. It's very real and it's based on a sound business model.

There's a site called BigCrumbs.com that let's us save cash when shopping at places we already shop (such as eBay, and more).

Also, whenever anybody we refer shops, we get paid too--FOREVER.

Even better: Whenever anyone referred by our referrals shops, we can also get paid (and so on). We can actually get paid on referrals up to 5 generations away.

This is not a pyramid. It's just a referral program that lets us take advantage of viral marketing for a change. Remember, it's free and based on a real service that helps us save when shopping.

There's also no mystery to how it works. BigCrumbs.com is paid a marketing commission by partnered retailers and they use that to pay cash back and referral commissions to us. Everyone wins.

Bottom line: I tell you about this site, you shop just like you usually do, but now you save cash. I also get a little cash for telling you about BigCrumbs.com.

Then, you tell more people and YOU get paid when they shop (and so do I) and so on. So, we can actually earn cash each time thousands of people shop.

The site has been around for over two years and is giving people a real chance to benefit from the economy. We probably won't make millions, but extra savings and income never hurts.

Please just copy and paste the link below into your browser, if you're interested in learning more.

http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/frontpage.jsp?r=SteveH

eBay Sellers Network on Facebook for Fun and Profit

Is this the future? It's happening now and I believe it is here to stay.

Steve H

People are popping up all over on Facebook like so many prairie dogs in a Kansas field. The social networking site has been growing at lightning pace. It now has more than 64 million active users and has had an average of 250,000 new registrations per day since January 2007, according to its statistics page.

It didn't take long for eBay and online sellers to spot the opportunities on Facebook, especially on a site that has "networking" in part of its name. Although the site has only just started exploring out-and-out advertising, there are many ways for Facebook users to get the word out about their wares. (And it's easy to have fun while you're there, especially for a site rife with fluffy little apps like "Happy Hour," where you can send a virtual drink to your friends, and a quiz naming car logos of the world).

News Feeds
A "News Feed" shows up in the middle of your Facebook home page, informing you what is going on with your Facebook friends. For example, the feed may notify you when a friend joins or leaves a Facebook group, adds or removes an application (see below), or comments on a photo.

You can also use the "Status Update" feature, which allows you to write a short note about what you're doing or thinking that moment. This is also a good way to alert your Facebook friends if you've made a new blog post. You can also add a Feed or Blog application to your page to keep folks piped into your blogging activities.

Applications/Widgets
Facebook offers a number of widgets, aka "apps," which allow you to embed a little mini-program within your profile on the site, publish news stories that go out to your friends, etc.

For example, the "eBay Marketplace" app lets you broadcast to your Facebook friends when you sell an item on eBay, and they can click a link to see what else you are selling.

The "eBay to Go" widget lets you choose from several versions - a "single item," "multiple items," "search," "seller," and "store."

And Apps go beyond eBay as well. There are other ecommerce apps to choose from, such as these (you must be signed in to Facebook for the links to work):

My Etsy: http://apps.facebook.com/myetsyapp

Garage Sale: http://apps.facebook.com/garage_sale

Facebook Classifieds: http://apps.facebook.com/garage_sale

Groups
Aside from marketing to your friends with the widgets, you can join a "group" of like-minded people on Facebook. There are a number of eBay-related groups: including "addicted to eBay," with 2634 members at this writing; "half.com by eBay," with 2,059 members; "$$eBay addicts$$," 567 members; "Facebook eBay," 212 members; and so on.

One way people market using these groups is to post notes, including their eBay Store links, to its "Wall," or discussion board.

In the "Facebook eBay" group, people are using the wall to post about their blogs and websites as well as their eBay stores. "I've just got my first sale on my new website...yipeeeeeee!" posts "Kate" from the UK. Others are grumbling about the new fees and feedback policies.

Posting a Video
Perhaps more effective than posting a simple note or link to a group is posting a video. Fewer people are doing it, and a video has more staying power. But make yours informational and not just an out-and-out commercial.

Juergen Horn, co-founder of www.LastMinute-Auction.com, posted such a video to the "Addicted to eBay" group, titled "Find Bargains on eBay." It's a clip of a tv story the BBC did about finding bargains on the lastminute-auction.com site, which lets users browse up to 30,000 eBay auctions at one dollar and with only one hour left. Horn says he posted that video to various eBay-related groups to promote the site.

But it's not just eBay groups you should be thinking about. eBay powerseller and author of "The Stay-at-Home Mom's Guide to Successful eBay Selling" Suzanne Wells, who writes a blog at PowerSellerKing.com, advises that you "join groups that relate to your product line on eBay."

Wells' main product line is golf apparel. "I seek out groups that discuss golf techniques, golf clubs and equipment, golf vacations, golf news, golf history, golf tournaments, famous golfers, etc.," she says. "If you have a presence with your target market, you'll have a better chance of making more sales."

eBay seller Jon Barber uses this approach as well. "I market my brickabrack through letting friends know at forums I use; the items I list are therefore aimed at a specific group of people and more likely to sell. I tend to list an eclectic mix of items - people often put me down as a favourite seller, and I often sell to the same people," he says.

Wells says you may even want to start a group that pertains to your product. "For example, if you sell movies on DVD, you could start a movie discussion group. If you sell designer clothing, start a fashion group and discuss fashion trends, celebrity fashion, fashion dos and don'ts, etc." But she cautions that "blasting on the scene and announcing "buy my products" will not work: You must be delicate and subtle when approaching potential customers and create a trusting relationship first. Gain their interest, offer helpful information, be professional, and the sales will come."

Facebook Ads and Pages
You can also run pay-per-click ads via facebook's Social Ads program, or set up a free business page with Facebook Pages. Horn says the best results he's gotten have been "using facebook's ad marketplace, where you can bid on keywords traded at a specific facebook user group." But you certainly don't need to spend money to attract attention. "As for free traffic from facebook," says Horn, "my guess is that around 50 or 70 every day will find their way from facebook to our site."

About the author:

Julia Wilkinson is the author of "The eBay Price Guide" (No Starch Press, 2006) and "eBay Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks" (Wiley, 2004-6); Her latest ebook, "Over 500 Books that Sell for $50-$5000 on eBay," is available at http://www.yardsalers.net/500Books.asp.

eBay UK Holds Free Listing Promotion

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 04, 2008

eBay UK is holding a free listing promotion on March 8 - 9. Sellers must list using the Auction-style format, in eligible categories, with a starting price of 99p or under. Only items listed in British Pounds Sterling on eBay.co.uk using the Auction-style format are included. All other fees apply, see website for details and restrictions.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200802291007232.html

The Best Things To Sell On eBay - Great Hidden Gems That You Can Cash In On Today!

Some of the best things to sell on eBay are on eBay itself. The top sellers on eBay capitalize on certain strategies that most don't know about.

First off, look to purchase auction items with no photographs on eBay. It is amazing how many auctions still take place without photographs. A lot of buyers are turned off by them, but here's how you can profit.

Examine the listings and see if the seller offers an iron clad money-back guarantee and if his/her feedback is high (at least 15) with 99-100% positive comments. If so, you can snatch these items up at deep discounts and resell right away (with your own photographs, this time!). These items are one of the best things to sell on eBay.

Next, look at auction items that have misspelled titles or descriptions. You will often find that these auctions do not get a lot of bids since they won't show up in the bidder's original search terms. Plus, these sellers are sellers who just want to sell their item without a lot of effort. Many of these auctions end with no bidder. Follow up with them and offer them a low price.

Finally, look at bidding on items that are ending during the week at early morning hours, between 4 to 7 am, Eastern Standard Time. These auctions are closing when there are the fewest amount of buyers. You can make a lot of money from these auction.

Of course, if you would like to save a lot of time researching these hidden gems, then I would suggest going with a reputable wholesaler who can not only set up you up with great products, but they will often offer them at prices lower than anywhere else. They are without a doubt, the source to go to for the best things to sell on eBay.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Hassom