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I remember a couple of months ago a quite heated discussion in UK Auction Line about the rights and wrongs of adding surcharges for accepting Paypal payments. One contributor went as far as to say that I did not know what I was talking about when I suggested making such charges would have an adverse effect on bidders. Now it seems that eBay have also come round to my way of thinking.

With effect from the 6th June they are prohibiting the practice of making a surcharge for accepting payments by any of the Electronic payment services. This includes Paypal. NoChex, Fast Pay and Moneybookers. At the same time they are also banning the practice of charging extra for accepting cheques or money orders and have also stated that sellers may not pass on any of their eBay costs on to buyers.

I have always thought that it is up to the seller to work out all their costs in advance and ensure that they will be covered by the sale. If anyone has difficulty working out these cost I would suggest the get a copy of Profit Calc, which will do all the hard work for you. I always think that if you cannot make enough profit to at least cover your costs with a bit left over then maybe eBay is not the right market place for you.

In this issue in the audio tutorial I will be continuing “What Am I Doing Wrong”
and I look at some more reason why your sales may not be as good as you hoped for.
I am also very pleased to be able to feature an article by Jim Edwards about computer security. Ebayers like everyone else who regularly uses the Internet are always going to be vulnerable to viruses and hackers. In Jim’s article you get some good advice on how to make your computer more secure.

Dave Bromley

Contents:
1. Have you got a plan?
2. Hints on Selling to Overseas Customers
3. A Hacker Inside Your Computer?
4. Final Thoughts

It is so easy to get started selling on eBay and the other online auctions. And in some ways it is that ease that stop people making the most of the potential. What happens is that many sellers drift into the market and start by selling surplus items from their own homes and then start looking around for other products. They go to an auction or car boot sale and pick up a few bargains and list them and make a few sales. Perhaps they then buy a few items from wholesalers either on or offline. What they do not do is stand back and take a look at their business and were they are going with it.

I have been taking a look at Power Sellers recently and what I have discovered is that most of them specialise in a specific niche market. Another common factor is that they often sell the same items over and over again. Just imagine if you had say 30 repeatable products that are all targeted at a specific niche market which you know and understand, do you think you could make money. Providing the products are right of course you can. And you will do it with far less effort than if you are listing and selling 30 one off individual items.

If you want to make the transition from small time seller to Power Seller the first thing you should do is to STOP SELLING. That is right, stop for a couple of weeks and devote yourself to research. The time you spend will be richly rewarded. What you are looking for is a niche market that you can target. Ideally this should be an area that you have an interest in, you can get product to sell at a profit in quantity and are already purchasing on eBay.

Space does not allow me to go into detail for every stage of this process but it is all covered in my Audio CD “Online Auctions, Maximum Profit in Minimum Time” Online Auctions: Maximum Profit in Minimum Time. Also for your research I would suggest you download a 30 day free trial copy of Deep Analysis” and because it concentrates on the UK you might like to take a look at Brian McGregor’s Keyword Program.

Although the auction sites will not admit it, selling through auctions is one of the best and cheapest ways to build up a customer list. And selling back end products to your customer list is a little like taking candy from a baby, inn other words very easy. Now if you sell “all and everything” a list of your customers is not going to be very useful. But say for instance your niche market is British Postage stamps a list of buyers who have already purchased British Postage stamps from you would be worth its weight in gold. You would be able to make back up offers to them knowing full well they are interested in that particular type of product. And of course you could offer them not only stamps but catalogues, albums and all the other specialist items required by philatelists.

I have produced a program on CD called Power Selling on eBay which includes interviews with over 26 Power Sellers who all tell their own stories. This might give you some ideas. So take you 2 weeks out and devise a plan and strategy for building up your eBay sales. Set yourself targets and goals and then go for it.

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- by Jim Edwards

http://www.TheNetReporter.com
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
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Imagine this nightmare scenario...

You check your e-mail program and it reports your username
and password as no longer valid. You call your Internet
service provider (ISP) to discuss the problem and they tell
you they turned off your account due to "abuse". "Abuse!"
you cry to the customer service operator, "What are you
talking about?"

"Someone used your computer this past Saturday night in an
attempt to hack into a government computer system. They
made the attempt at 1:20 a.m. from your account," replies
the rep. "Look in your windows registry for a file called
QAZWSX.hsq."

You punch a few keys and sure enough the file stares right
back at you. "What is it?" you ask, scared to know the
answer.

"Someone used a Trojan Horse virus to remotely control your
computer and cloak the identity of the hacker. Here's how
to get rid of it, just..."

What you just read happened very recently to someone I know
quite well. A computer hacker found an open port on his
computer when he switched over from a dial-up Internet
connection to an "always-on" high-speed connection.

The hacker used a robot scanning the Internet for available
"ports", openings in a computer that allow data to pass
back and forth from a network connection like the Internet.
Once the hacker found an unprotected port on my friend's
computer he simply inserted a Trojan Horse virus that rides
along with Windows Notepad, a handy utility used by just
about everyone who makes web pages.

When my friend activated the notepad program he also
activated the virus. The virus in turn transmitted all of
my friend's security information to the hacker and allowed
him to gain access and control his victim's computer in the
middle of the night.

Count me as the last person to sound paranoid, but, as
always-on connections through DSL, cable, and T-1 lines
proliferate, this story will repeat itself over and over
until people learn to protect themselves.

Most people underestimate or are completely ignorant about
the importance of information they send over the Internet
when surfing websites and checking email. Even if you only
use a simple dial-up account, you can unknowingly transmit
a significant amount of sensitive information.

You can analyze the security of your web connection for
free by going to http://www.symantec.com/SecurityCheck/ .
You can also verify the presence of any known viruses or
Trojan horses on your computer. The information I saw when
analyzing my personal computer frankly shocked me. I saw
data I didn't even know existed staring me right in the
face after I performed this analysis.

To protect your computer hardware and sensitive data you
should obtain a software package called a "firewall". A
firewall, when combined with a good anti-virus program,
helps stop unauthorized access on your computer, prevents
virus infection, and "cloaks" your data ports against a
hacker scanning for openings.

Symantec.com and McAfee.com both offer excellent personal
firewall and anti-virus software from their websites or you
can buy them off the shelf at your local office supply
store. A wise investment for anyone on the net... before
it's too late!

- Jim Edwards writes a syndicated newspaper column in plain
language for non-technical people about current Internet
issues, challenges, news, HOT new tools... and much more!
"The Net Reporter" ==> http://www.thenetreporter.com

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that Teaches You Step-By-Step How to Make Real Money
Online-100% Guaranteed!" You can start with a few bucks and
a good idea to make lots of money online! I did, and I'll
teach you how no matter what product or service you sell...
Click Here => http://www.33daystoonlineprofits.com/video/
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What Am I Doing Wrong? Part 2 - Audio Tutorial

eBay Revenge of betrayed husband

Would you really like to be rich?

Offer of the Month

I have always believed that anyone who wants to start an online auction in the UK needs to specialise. This week I have received an e-mail from some one who has done just that. Graham Stephens has just launched http://www.gundeals.co.uk. an online auction site for the shooting fraternity.

As the name suggests this site which has been online now for nearly 2 months specialises in equipment for the field sports enthusiast. This is a very professional site and in time I could see this becoming a major outlet for this type of product, just as eGolfbidder has for golf clubs.

The eBay live event is only a month away. It is being held in New Orleans between 24-26th June and we can expect a flurry of news and announcements to come out of the 3 day event. I am not able to make it this year but if any of our subscribers are going I would love to have a report to publish in UK Auctionline.

In a bid to attract new sellers eBay have been running a five day Free Listing Program for first time sellers. Mt thoughts are that there will be a lot of poorly constructed listings during this period 17th –21st May so it might be worth having a browse around eBay to see what you can find.
No Cost Download Make Your Network Auction Sell When you get there,scroll to the botom of the page and click on the MYNAS link. There are several other very good books that you can also download if you wish.

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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.

You can send your feedback to feedback@ukauctionline.co.uk.
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