Welcome to the fifth issue of UK Auction Line News.

Watch Out for spoof e-Mails!

Last week Ebay UK issued a warning for registered users to be on the lookout for spoof e-mails. These e-mails which claim to come from eBay and request that you supply personal information. Typical information that these e-mails ask for are Ebay passwords, national insurance or credit card numbers.

EBay assured UK Auction line that they never ask for private information such as credit card details, account password, bank details or PIN in an e-mail.

This morning we received what I considered an “iffy” e-mail into the office. It came from aw-confirm@ebay.com and requested I verify my eBay account name and password. It looked perfectly genuine and even now I am not sure whether it generated from eBay but the company say they never ask for a password by e-mail so that alone makes me suspicious.

I contacted eBay and sent them a copy of the doubtful e-mail and the header details so that they can track exactly where the e-mail has come from. As we go to press I am still waiting for eBay to confirm if this was a spoof e-mail or not but I strongly suspect it is.

If you have any doubts whether an e-mail is from eBay, use your e-mail forward facility to spoof@ebay.co.uk immediately with a full header information if possible. Do not respond to the e-mail until you have checked its authenticity.

Dave Bromley

Contents:
1. Specialist and Collectors Books, an Easy Market.
2. Get Yourself a Website
3. Enclose a Card

Specialist and Collectors Books, an Easy Market.
by Dave Bromley

Since I have been selling on eBay I have made an interesting discovery, it can be very profitable to buy things that nobody else wants. Let me explain, there are plenty of places to buy items to sell on eBay, car boot sales, local auctions, second hand shops and classified advertisements to name just a few.

When you consider that there are over 34 million active users of eBay and that the average local auction or sale is unlikely to attract no more than a thousand visitors this must provide opportunity. For instance I have bought car and motorcycle manuals for long out of production vehicles for as little as 50p each.

Why do they sell so cheaply? Presumably because there are not many people attending the auction or sale who are interested in restoring old vehicles the price stays low. And yet on eBay there must be hundreds or even thousands of people who might be interested in such manuals. I have also bought aviation, railway and a whole host of collectors manuals all of which I have been able to sell for 1000% or more profits.

Let me give you an example, last Sunday I went to a car boot sale and bought two volumes of a book called “The History of The Royal Navy in Malta”. Now I know nothing about the Royal Navy or for that matter Malta but I am certain that there are people out in Ebay land who are. I paid £2.50 for the two books and from past experience would expect to sell them for at least £15 plus postage.

I am finding that specialist books are proving to be a profitable area because they have several advantages. Thanks to Jiffy bags they are easy to pack, they appear to be in plentiful supply and it is not a market that has been over exploited yet.

As a starter I would recommend that you go and have a browse through the books section and see what items are attracting bids and the prices they are selling for. At the moment, mid August, the specialist book market will be a bit slow but from September as the nights begin to pull in you can expect quite a surge of interest.

Another aspect of selling specialist books is that I often get successful bidders contacting me to say that if I get any similar items connected with their specialization they would like to hear about it. This means that often when I buy a book I have a potential buyer in mind and can then make the sale for the cost of a phone call or a stamp.

For a few hours spent browsing in second hand or charity shops, car boot sales and auctions each week it should be possible to generate a regular income for quite a small outlay.

Get Yourself a Web Site

If you want to maximise your sales on eBay I strongly recommend that you consider setting up your own web site. It does not have to be anything fancy, just a simple straightforward site that can bring you in additional income.

Both in the newsletter and "UK Auction Line" I have encouraged you to take the time to set up an "About Me" page. Again it does not have to be anything complicated, it can be little more than a straightforward advert for yourself or you can take the opportunity to tell people a little about your self. One thing I do think is important is to include a picture of yourself, there is no doubt that if people have some idea of what you look like they will be more likely to do business with you.

There are some rules about what you can and cannot have on your "About Me" page but you are allowed to include a link to your web site. This web site can be a simple list of items that you sell on your auction but with set prices. There are people who prefer to buy this way than from auctions. The only rule here is that if you are selling the same items that you have in your auction they must either be at the same or a higher price than on eBay.

Of course if you are selling to a niche market you can put a whole range of products on your web site. For instance if you specialise in selling records while you might put some of them for sale on eBay the rest could be listed on your web site. As well as having a link on your "About Me" page you could also enclose a slip with your sold items telling your successful bidders that there are similar items to the one they have just bought on your web site and this can lead to a lot of follow up sales.

Of course perhaps you do not have any extra products to put on a web site. Well in that case you could build your self a web site with a mixture of content and affiliate sites. An affiliate program is were you include a small banner or advert for a company and when some clicks the link and makes a sale you receive a commission. Many major UK companies such as Dixons, Argos and Dell Computers have their own affiliate schemes and they cost nothing to join. For more details about affiliate programmes visit www.tradedoubler.co.uk or www.commissionjunction.co.uk.

From my experience you will not make a fortune from affiliate programs but they cost nothing and every now and again I get a cheque through the post for fifty or sixty pounds which always comes in useful.

If you would like to visit my "About Me" page you will find it by doing an advance search on ID "bizopbureau" and then clicking on the ME link.

Enclose a Card

Customer service is one of the keys to success in online auction selling. One small touch that I like to add is to include my business card in with the products that I send out. This multi coloured card contains my name, a short message, web and e-mail addresses and my physical office address. What makes it even more impressive is that I got 250 cards for free. When I say free I did have to pay £5.95 postage as they come from the USA but that is still a remarkable bargain.

The good news is that you can have 250 cards of you own design for free by clicking here.

Advertisement

Money Master Magazine Money Master is a subscription only Business Opportunity magazine, that is published monthly. Editor "Shirley Garlick" is a committed eBayer and in consequence there are often interesting and informative articles about eBay in the magazine. If you would like a sample copy, send four x 1st class stamps to: Ezeeweb Solutions Ltd Office Suite 5 Poplar Road Business Centre Cleethorpes DN35 8BL

The UK Auction Line News is published by Ezeeweb Solutions Limited. Every two weeks.

You can send your feedback to feedback@ukauctionline.co.uk. Post licensing queries to license@ezeeweb.co.uk.


Subscription information

You are receiving this ezine because you are a registered subscriber with UKAuctionline.co.uk. To unsubscribe send an email with the subject of Unsubscribe to UKAuctionline.