Hello <$firstname$> and welcome to this the last edition of the UK Auction Line Newsletter before Christmas. At this time of the year I expect that many of you are really busy as this can be a peak time for many eBay sellers.

eBay have also pulled out the all the stops to help you maximise your sales over this period and I have made this the subject of our lead article for this months letter. Make sure that you do not miss out on this profitable period.

Talking of profits I have included a link to an article that recently appeared in the Scotsman Newspaper. “The Taxman’s watchful eye on eBay” by Ronnie Ludwig. It is worth reading to discover what the current position is when you sell either your own personal property or goods bought for resale.

The two UK online auctions that vie for second place behind eBay are QXL and CQout. Both have struggled to make any impact against eBay’s dominance in the market. I think this is a great pity because real competition can only benefit us the customers. There have been rumours around the industry that eBay might buy out QXL, but last month it was announced that QXL had been the subject of a management buyout. The management team lead by QXL chief executive Mark Zaleski have paid £12 million for the company.

Whilst I cannot see rivalling eBay UK in the foreseeable future I am sure the new owners will be making a determined effort to outstrip its other rival CQout so it might be a good time to register with QXL and perhaps list a few items in the coming months. For QXL visit here.

I spend quite a bit of my time surfing the web for news about online auctions and in the last few weeks I have heard about a couple of scams that seem to be emanating from either an individual or group based in Singapore. It appears that they target high priced Buy It Now items They then send a cashier’s check for more than the amount requesting that the additional payment be returned when the goods are dispatched.
Although your bank may clear the cheque when it reaches the issuing bank some weeks later it will be discovered to be counterfeit. Guess who has to make the repayment to your bank? That’s right, you.

I was first alerted to this scam by a piece in Auction Bytes the excellent newsletter written by Ina Steiner and her husband David. I have mentioned this newsletter before and I consider it to be the most informative International newsletter on the subject of online auctions. If you are serious about your eBay business I recommend that you register for a free subscription to this newsletter. Visit the web site at www.auctionbytes.com

Dave Bromley

By Dave Bromley

There have been two schools of thought about selling over the Christmas period.
The first is that people have so much on theirs minds at this time of the year that
The last thing they are going to do is sit in front of a computer. It is the shops that cash in not on line marketers.

However, more and more people are buying online and this trend has continued at a real pace over the last 3 years. I have read a forecast that Internet sales will more than double over last years and they were significantly better than the year before. Also do not forget the effect that eBay’s , “Buy it, Sell it, Love it” TV and radio campaign is having in attracting hundreds of thousands of new buyers to the online auction. So the market is ripe and what I want to deal with in this article is how to best to capitalise on the holiday period.

At this time of the year you might consider changing your normal listing policy. It is quite right to say that at this time of the year the one thing none of us have enough of is time. Many people will not be prepared to wait for 7 or 10 days to see if their bid is successful. This is the one time of the year when 1 day auctions and the Buy it Now feature really come into their own.

This can be particularly useful if you sell multiple items as with the 1 day sale you can list the items 70 times in one week or using the Buy It Now feature list multiple items in the one listing.

eBay also recommend that you make use of the Gallery feature which can improve the likelihood of a sale by as much as 20%. I have seen some figures recently, which would indicate whatever time of the year if you sell an item for £2 or more it pays to use the Gallery feature. So if you are looking for an effective way to increase your final sale price by over 10% I would always make use of a Gallery picture.

The main problem with selling online at this time of the year is ensuring that the items arrive with your customers in time for Christmas. For a customer there is nothing more disappointing than ordering a gift for Christmas and then not have it arrive in time.

The last posting dates for the UK this year are:
	Standard Parcels 15th December Second Class mail 18th December First Class mail 21st December
Between the 21st November and 21st December Parcel Force Worldwide are offering a special rate of £9.99 with no VAT for any parcel up to 30kg from one UK mainland address to another. For full details of this offer www.parcelforce.com

To reinforce your message if you enter the code “XDL!” in your item description you will be added to the “Items that offer Christmas delivery” search list. You can also add a Christmas delivery banner in your listing:

<img scr="http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/uk/sell/hvs/468x60_christmas_delivery.gif" width=468 height=60>

Even the celebrities are getting into the eBay act these days. (Those that are not stuck in the jungle.) Jamie Oliver the celebrity chef has sold one of his beloved scooters on eBay to raise money for charity. At one point he received a hoax bid of £1 million but eventually sold it for £25,000.

Other celebrity items to go under the eBay hammer include one of Lady Thatcher’s handbags, Britney Spears chewing gum and Robbie Williams bed. Both David Beckhams Range Rover and Noel Gallagher’s Roll Royce have also been sold have been sold on eBay and both fetched over £20,000. I thought it was interesting that you could get Noel Gallghers Roller for £3,000 less than Jamie Oliver’s scooter. I know which I would have preferred.

Emma Greenwood, (Emma who? you may ask) was apparently in the Big Brother programme and she has auctioned her “BB” suitcase for £1950. If you wanted something to put in the suitcase you could have bought Ronan Keating’s trousers for £5000. And who was the lucky eBayer who sold Cherie Blair a pair of shoes on eBay for £10?

Many of us will be having quite a long holiday over the Christmas period and once the big day is over we have two big problems. How to get through all that cold turkey and what to do with your time. That period between Christmas and New Year is the ideal time to build up your eBay knowledge. Settle down with a good book and plan your eBay campaign for 2005.

I am going to take the opportunity to recommend 3 books to you. The first I have mentioned before and is totally free. This is Sydney Johnson and Ken Evoy’s book
Make Your Network Auction Sell. This was the book that got me started onto the road of eBay Selling and although possibly a little out of date in some areas now still contains some very good help and advice. At the price it cannot be bettered.

The second book that I enjoyed and found helpful was the latest version of Jim Coockrum’s “The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay”. If you are serious about wanting to build up a really good regular income on Ebay without working every hour of the day then I would read this book. It is so full of common sense. I printed this book off and keep a copy by my desk. By the way I use a software program called “Fineprint” that allows me to print out pages side by side in A5 which means that I can print out a 100 page book on 50 sheets of paper. This saves a lot of time and ink.
Get details of Jim Cockrum’s The Silent Sales Machine and for Fineprint go to their web site at www.fineprint.com.

The final book in this section is "Ηow Ι Μake Up to $11 212 a Μonth on eΒay" by Janiece Smith. This is the story of how a dental hygienist gave up work and built up a fantastically successful eBay business. In this book she shows you exactly how she did it. She has a nice easy to understand style and her modesty is quite touching. “If I can do it so can anyone”. Not quite true, she is some clever lady, but if you follow her lessons there is no reason why you should not have success. Well worth a read.

Finally because it is Christmas I am going to make an end of year offer. Early next year I am launching a new product and at the same time I will be taking my very successful “UK Auction Line “ audio video program off the market. It currently sells for £49.97 and consists of an Audio CD and a Video that take you step by step through establishing your eBay part or full time business.
I still have a few copies of this program left and as a special Christmas offer thee remaining ones available for just £29.97 a massive £20 saving, but in addition to the Big discount I am going to throw in a Bonus Gift of a copy of my “How to Sell on Ebay” CD which not only contains my e-Book but also Power Seller Jim Wilson’s eBook “eBay Secrets” a copy of “eBay Secret Marketing” “eBay Feedback” “Auction Sources” and a full copy of the “Auction O Matic software program. Between now and Christmas Eve you can buy the complete package for just £29.97
But remember if you want it in time for Christmas and before stocks run out you should order it now. You can order it using the following link xmas-offer or you can telephone your order through to our order line at 0845 644 1480.

Choosing the right digital camera for general use can be more challenging than actually taking a good picture. Like all things technical, digital cameras come in a vast array of styles, sizes and abilities.

However, you don't have to research in great depth to make the right choice -- you need only know what you want your camera to do for you. You'll need to consider your own skills, your budget and how you will use your photographs.

Regarding your skill level, first consider your willingness to learn the technicalities of photography. Do you simply want to point and shoot? If so, there are plenty of automatic cameras made to do just that.

Or, do you want to be creative -- experimenting with self-timers, flash, shutter speed, lighting, and photo enhancement features? To fulfil these creative desires, you'll need a camera with a full range of manual controls.

Of course, with the hundreds of digital cameras that are on the shelves, you don't have to make a commitment -- many cameras have both automatic and manual settings. It all depends on what you want to spend.

Speaking of budget, you should know what you want to spend before you shop online or in a store. Then, only look at the cameras that match the amount that you came up with -- it will keep you from suffering buyer's remorse later.

In addition to your skill and your budget, consider how you will use the camera. Are you planning to email more pictures than you plan to print? Are you uploading them for online auctions or to share with your best friend who lives miles away? If so, carefully consider whether the pictures need to last for the next 100 years, or just until your online auction expires or your friend gets a chance to take a look at them.

If you are looking for professionally finished prints, brilliant colour and a sharp image, you will need a camera with high image quality. The quality of an image is directly related to how many pixels it can capture horizontally and vertically. To print quality standard sized photos that will last, you'll need a minimum of a 1-2 mega pixel digital camera. Larger photos will require 3 mega pixels to get the same quality. With at least 4 mega pixels, 11 x 14 enlargements will look sharp.

Zoom lenses can also play a key role in the appearance of your photos. Many cameras will have zooms, but the size and type of zoom are important to consider. The larger the zoom (a 3x would be average and 10x large), the closer you will be able to get to subjects like sporting events and wildlife. But for good quality photos, be sure the camera has a true optical zoom rather than a digital zoom, which merely enlarges the centre of the basic image.

Also, be aware that not all cameras with the same mega pixels are created equal. Some have better optics and better zoom lenses. Some have more features such as the ability to make short videos. Some have better LCD screens for reviewing photos. Some have batteries that are proprietary and expensive to replace. Some are more prone to needing repairs.

So before heading to the store or to your favourite online site, check out the reviews for the models that interest you. Simply state your need at a search engine -- something like 4 mega pixel digital camera review.

There is no need to spend hours researching every term and every available feature. Simply familiarize yourself with basic terminology, know your needs and know which models have the best ratings in your price range. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be more satisfied with your investment.

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Todd Nelson is webmaster at Triple Exposure Photography.
Visit http://www.tephotography.com for the large photography resources or to register for the free Photo Age newsletter.

The Thomas Crown Affair, ebay and Me

"Taxman's watchful eye on eBay trade"
by Ronnie Ludwig, The Scotsman, 11/27/04

We have covered quite a bit in this issue and I hope that you have found it useful. We should all be pretty busy for the next few weeks and then there will be an opportunity to rest an put your feet up. But do not forget that after Christmas if people get bored with the long holiday many of them will pass the time surfing on eBay so be prepared for another surge after the holiday.

Anyway it just leaves me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Dave Bromley