eBay is one of the worlds biggest websites with, to-date, a global turn over of £17.7 billion.
Everyone seems to have caught the entrepreneurial bug as anything can and is
sold on eBay and believe me all sorts of things go on there, You to can
start making money very quickly on the site so here are some tips that
will help you to get started...
AuctionTip #1: Buyers Demand Easy Payment Options
As sellers, we want to offer every payment option imaginable. It’s
convenient for our customer and we’ll also make much more money.
Let’s cater to their preferences. Here are 2 reasons we want to do this:
Firstly, it lowers the chance that our buyer will become a deadbeat. If
I offer payment options that they aren’t comfortable with, I may turn a
would-be buyer into a non-payer.
Secondly, you’ll be able to snag those easy sales that come outside of
the auction arena. This is so important - not every buyer will have
Paypal. What do I do when they want to pay by credit card at the drop
of a dime? What do I do if I don’t have merchant accounts? If
you’re flexible and cover all possible pay types you’ll be able to make
profits that pass others by...
Here are the payment options sellers on eBay offer:
Paypal
Personal Check or Money Order
Credit Cards by email, secure server, phone and fax
Billpoint
Electronic Checks (a new service that eBay offers)
Needless to say, four of those you’ll have no problem with - it’s
merchant accounts that may be some trouble; don’t let it- it’s easier
to get them than you think. I’ll show you how in just a moment...
AuctionTip #2: Over 75% of eBayer’s Use Paypal
Hands down, Paypal is the most popular method of payment on auction
sites. It’s also a free service and easy to use. You’ll have no
transaction fees taking away from your hard earned money - You can get
by with Paypal and Billpoint handling your credit card needs. Sign up
for Paypal today and start taking credit card orders instantly- plus
you’ll get $5 for opening and account and $5 for anyone you refer.
http://www.paypal.com
AuctionTip #3: Getting Set Up With Merchant Accounts
It’s not difficult or as expensive as you may think. It ‘s a good idea
to have them- with merchant accounts you’ll be able to process a
customers credit card either manually yourself or automatically by
secure server on your website.
You’ll be able to take advantage of sales that other sellers miss out on.
It also will give your business a much -needed boost in
credibility. People will trust you more when they know you have
your own merchant account. That will pay off.
Time will come quickly when you’ll want to have them. They are crucial
to growing your business online... with merchant accounts you’ll be
able to process order automatically at your website - this will take a
huge load off and free you for other things...
I got my merchant accounts in less than a week from Total Merchant
Services. I didn’t have great credit at the time and I was approved
instantly - they have a 98% approval rate and are recognized as a
leader in Internet merchant services; they are well worth looking into:
http://www.marketingtips.com/creditcards/index.html
AuctionTip #4: Use An Email Signature
One great free way to promote your auction business is by using a
signature. Signatures are six to eight line “footers” at the end of
your email messages and newsgroup or discussion board post. All email
programs support them. Take advantage of this cheap and effective means
of advertising your listings...
You can also use a signature to promote your auctions, website or
whatever you feel is necessary. Considering the number of messages
you’ll be sending and receiving, you won’t want to pass this up!
AuctionTip #5: ‘Can’ Your Email
You’ll receive many of the same questions by email over and over again.
Make a good canned message (or template as some call them) to use for
responses to typical questions and for questioning others. This
will save you loads of time. Have your responses prepared ahead of time
and you’ll free up large chunks of every day. Spend your time taking
care of business and not drowning in email.
AuctionTip #6: Use Email Shortcuts
Sometimes ‘canning messages’ will not cover everything - use a program
like Shortkeys to type repetitive phrases and sentences. By smartly
using email shortcuts and canned messages you’ll cut your time
responding to email down by 90%.
You’ll also avoid typos of key info like your auctions link or shipping address. You can get a free version of the program at:
http://www.shortkeys.com
AuctionTip #7: Personalize Email Responses
When I use canned responses or shortcuts, I try to make them as
personable as I can. Try plugging the persons name into the
reply. Let’s make our message sound as warm as it would if you
were talking to them face to face.
AuctionTip #8: Automate To The Max
When it comes to selling on the net, this is the Golden Fleece. With
auctions, we want to automate as many things as we can that
repeat. This will allow us to get more work done in less
time. Progress here will drastically improve your bottom line. It
takes time to learn everything you need to become more efficient, so
keep trying. Master services like Andale to give your auctions a
boost .
Use this service correctly and you’ll explode your auction sales.
With Andale you can save time on just about every aspect of the auction
process - look into it… oh yeah, you get $20 for signing up and $20 for
everyone you refer!
http://www.andale.com
AuctionTip #9: Never Delete Email
Throwing email away will come back haunt us, unless the message is
spam. Spam is going to haunt us whether you throw it away or not.
Keep your emails for reference in the future. Back it up it from time
to time and clean your email boxes out to stay organized.
AuctionTip #10: Honesty Is The Best Policy
Make one virtue for yourself on eBay- and that’s honesty. If I’m a
little late getting the package in the mail... I want to tell my
customer. You’ll always be forgiven and spared the negative
feedback if you fess up. They’ll thank you for being straight with them
- and reward you with generous feedback.
AuctionTip #11: Save Time At The Post Office
If you don’t have much time to spend at the post office, prepare in
advance. You can have all of your mailing supplies sent to you by the
USPS. Visit http://www.usps.com for more details.
AuctionTip #12: Don’t Hold Personal Checks As A Policy
Bounced checks are rare. Since your future as a seller depends on the
service you provide, being quick and trusting is always going to pay
off tenfold in the long run.
So, hold checks only when the item is highly valuable, or when the user
has a bad feedback history. Most eBayer’s are trustworthy - just check
their record if you’re uncertain. Bounced checks are hardly ever
blatant - mostly just carelessness.
Most buyers will acknowledge the mistake and make up for it.
AuctionTip #13: Price Straight Auctions Low To Build A Crowd
Do you have a good item that you KNOW will sell well? Start it off at a
penny. This will get you healthy early bidding. You want a large group
around the item; some will be competitive bidders - people who will pay
extra just for the thrill of winning.
For instance, let’s say you started an auction for a silver dollar at a
penny. At the end of the auction you may have 35 people that have bid.
Handfuls are hawking it trying to win; they’ve waited all week to duke
it out for this coin. If I started the same coin at $100 then I may
only have 3 bids at the end. My chances for irrational bidding have
just dropped through the floor.
At the end of the auction the fervour will kick in if you priced low
and have a good product. You’ll commonly get more for your item than
someone who priced theirs higher, because your auction has more bidders
watching.
AuctionTip #14: The UPS Will Stop By Too
To make life easier on yourself look into having a mail service come by
to pick up your packages. The UPS charges $6/week for daily
pickups. They will also email your customer with the delivery
date and provide you with shipping label software and printer. Doing
these kinds of things will save you time and money.
AuctionTip #15: A Picture Says It All
Photos make you and your item credible. The better you are with your
camera the more bids you’re going to get. Take several photos of
important aspects of the item, flaws and all. If your teapot has crack
in it be sure to take a picture of that as well.
Also remember; by inserting a photograph of the item you are selling
you get a ‘Pic’ graphic next to your item description. Bidders will see
the ‘Pic’ symbol and will be more inclined to visit. If they can see
the item, you’ll get more bids.
AuctionTip #16: Remember To Say Thanks
Send a thank-you note/receipt email to your customer every time they
pay. Include your eBay user name and telephone so they can contact you
if they need to. Kindly ask them to leave feedback in your email.
Include a convenient link to the feedback forum, and 9 times out of 10
they will drop a good word for you.
AuctionTip #17: Make Your Description Complete
When making your item description make it as complete as
possible. Many people find your auction through the search
engine, so use as complete and descriptive headline with good keywords
too - this will make your listing easy to find for the person looking
for your item.
Leave no stone unturned - if I neglect to mention some crucial piece of
info bidders will steer clear due to uncertainty. If I’m selling a
computer game, forgetting to mention if it’s for a PC or Mac will spawn
a lot of email. It will attract the wrong bidders and deter the right
ones. I may even have bidders who own Mac’s buying my PC game…
AuctionTip #18: Don’t Overcharge On Shipping
This is one of the more common causes of negative feedback. We only
charge what it normally costs you to pack and ship. Buyers are
sensitive in this area. If I make a habit of gouging my customers on
shipping costs, I’ll lose my credibility and any chance for repeat
business.
AuctionTip #19: Be Cautious
Be careful about leaving negative feedback for bidders that may deserve
it. Go out of your way to clear things up before you decide to do so.
It’s normal for bidders to strike back with their own negative and
unfair comments. Always try to find some other solution. Don’t leave
negative feedback unless they blatantly defraud you - if they don’t
pay, either leave neutrals or no comments.
AuctionTip #20: Make Your Customer Your Passion
Treat your customers and potential customers like royalty and they’ll
reward you. Your repeat business depends upon your customers. They are
your main concern. Your customers are more important than your product
or any short-term profit you make. Make it your passion to cater
specifically to their wants.
AuctionTip #21: Use Delivery Confirmation
Rest easy at night and get delivery confirmation when you ship your
valuable items. Some buyers will receive an item and say they didn’t
get it and demand a refund. You can cover the cost of delivery
confirmation in your shipping charge. It only costs an extra .35
cents. You can email the tracking number to the customer so they
can track the package.
AuctionTip #22: Send Customers The Auction Number
At the end of the auction include the auction number with the end of
auction notice. Place the number in the subject line so you can easily
track emails. Your customer may also be bidding on multiple
auctions. Doing this will prevent confusion for you both.
AuctionTip #23: Your Listing Schedule
Do you always start and end your auctions at the best times? Always
have auctions start and stop when traffic is the heaviest. If you make
a listing schedule and stick to it then you’ll get much better results
on your auctions.
AuctionTip #24: Double-Check Your Title
Check to see that your item title has no spelling errors. Buyers mainly
use the search engine to locate their item of interest. Search saves
them lot of time and can pick up items placed in the wrong
category. If my spelling is incorrect, the search function will
not work. Therefore, I’ll have lost all buyers using the search
function. This will kill my auction like a doornail.
The good news is, if you catch misspelling before the first bid, you can always go back and revise it.
AuctionTip #25: Use A Spell Checker
With item descriptions, emails, titles and whatever else you write use
a spell checker and grammar checker. Poor spelling and bad grammar will
turn off some people. Even if it doesn’t matter to them, it still
upsets the flow of your message and confuses the reader. We want to
make a great impression and get our message across. Let’s check the
things we write.
AuctionTip #26: Online Customer Service Rules
1) Your customers are everything. Try running your business without them.
2) Your customer is always right. Never tell them they are otherwise.
3) Go the extra mile...it is worth more than all the paid advertising you can afford.
4) Return emails promptly. If you can’t, set up an
autoresponder to tell your enquirers you’ll get back to them soon.
5) Under-promise and over-deliver in everything you do.
6) Never criticize your customers directly or indirectly!
7) Make the auction process extremely simple for the
customer. 8) Follow up the day after the sale and one week after.
Ask if there’s anything more you can do for your buyer.
AuctionTip #27: Watching Wording
Snipers don’t have the time to email you about condition or vague info.
Some buyers only look at items going off auction that day. Be careful
what words you use to describe your item.
Be honest and avoid wording that will inflate your items value. It
always backfires on those who make a habit of abusing words -
AuctionTip #28: Know Your Product
If I wrongly describe my item, some buyers will be weary of
bidding. Buyers want professional sellers. The more information
you have and use, the more credible you’ll become in the buyers eyes.
AuctionTip #29: Include Shipping Costs In Descriptions
Some sellers have a tactic where they charge unfair ship ping and
handling fees. Sometimes they omit critical info in the ad and fill in
the blanks at the auction end. EBayer’s have been protesting this from
day one and these seller don’t last long - Explain everything, costs
and all in your item description in such a way that there can be no
confusion... If you charge handling - make it known too.
AuctionTip #30: Always Insure And Pack Well
By law, I’m to blame for broken items due to my bad packing. Buyers
have no control over how I pack an item. Carriers hardly ever accept
liability for broken items. It’s my job to see to it that they get
their item in one piece and on time - Let’s make sure we do everything
to see to it that this happens.
AuctionTip #31: When The Buyer Lives Out Of The Country
Be careful when receiving foreign funds. Always insist that they pay by
credit card or send an international money order. Remember to pick up
some customs forms from the post office in advance to save yourself
some time.
AuctionTip #32: Stay In Contact With The Buyer
When auction ends, quickly email the buyers with the final price,
shipping, total cost, and your address. To reassure your customer,
email them when you receive their payment. This is important for their
peace of mind and they’ll thank you later in feedback and repeat
business.
You’ll also score well with the buyer if you send them an email when
you ship their goods. Nothing is more frustrating than not knowing.
Even go so far as to follow up a few days later to see if everything is
all right… you’ll earn very loyal customers by doing this
AuctionTip #33: Keep Your Auctions Going
EBay bidders usually wait until the last minute to bid. I wouldn’t let
anyone persuade me to end early unless they made me an insane offer. If
I do then I’ll miss having my auctions go through the “going, going,
gone” and “ending today” listings - categories that eBayer’s browse
heavily.
AuctionTip #34: Using The “Category Featured” Option
You’ll want your item listed on the first page of your selected
category’s listings. Category featured listings are 66% more likely to
sell. The cost is $14.95 - if you’re running Dutch auctions then it’s
definitely worth it - the amount of traffic you receive is much greater.
AuctionTip #35: Avoid Misunderstanding
Before email, the only time a written letter was sent or received was
when you were writing to a person you know well or a letter to
complain. Emotion and character is easily misconstrued with
email. Keeping in contact will solve most problems with the
transaction.
AuctionTip #36: Use The Bold Title Option
Make your item standout by listing it in bold. Items highlighted in
bold are 50% more likely to sell. For some items it is a cost
-effective alternative to featuring your auctions. Test what works for
your particular item.
AuctionTip #37: Conservative Pricing
When playing it safe, set the minimum price for your item just slightly
lower than what you think it might be worth. This will encourage
opening bids on the item. The first bid is always the hardest one to
get. Don’t start too low, though, because the rules state that you are
obligated to sell the item for that amount if the minimum is met.
AuctionTip #38: Free Advertising For Your Auction
You can tell other people on the Internet about your auctions. By
actively driving extra traffic to your auctions you’ll find that your
Dutch auctions will do much better. Use signatures and post to
appropriate newsgroups, message boards. Use email (not spam), search
engines or whatever works. You can promote individual auctions, your
about me page, or a website that sells your products or direct s
visitors to your auctions.
AuctionTip #39: Avoid Using Private And Reserve Auctions
Buyers are especially cautious of bidding when info is held back from
them. Most informed eBayer’s can’t stand reserve auctions unless your
item is one of kind. Bidders will always prefer straight auctions to
reserve. Private and reserve auctions will limit the number of bidders
you’ll have for your item.
Reserve prices assure you your item won’t sell for below a certain
amount. But since the reserve price is not made public, this will turn
off bidders. Suppose you set a reserve price of $50, and a bidder is
willing to spend $49, if he knew your minimum was $50, he might just
bid that extra dollar. Not having a reserve price is a selling
point. Announce it loud and clear.
AuctionTip #40: Readability Rules For Descriptions (and Email)
1) Use a short opening paragraph.
2) Short sentences make firm friends!
3) Make your paragraphs less than 5 or 6 lines.
4) Underline or boldface important words or phrases.
5) Include attention -boosters: questions, news items, promise...
6) Ask for the bid at the end of the description.
7) Use positive language.
AuctionTip #41: Talk To The High Bidder(s) By Phone
E-mail may travel at the speed of light, but that doesn’t mean the
recipient reads it right away. On some auctions it’s a good idea to
talk on the phone with the high bidder on your item.
AuctionTip #42: Know What You’re Selling
Before you put something up for auction, look to see if something
similar is already selling. Know the market value of your item. It’s
always wise to look in on the competition.
If similar items are available, your starting bid should be
competitive. If you’re not sure of the value of the item you wish
to sell, then you should do a little research.
Having two similar items up for auction at the same time will just split the buyers and bring lower bids for both items.
If your Grandmother just passed away and left you a collection of
buffalo nickels, find out what they are before selling off your
heritage on eBay. You could be sitting on a goldmine or a lump of coal,
and ignorance could mean the difference between and a fortune.
AuctionTip #43: Use Good Packing Material
Newspaper makes good packing material, especially if it’s
shredded. It’s cheap, it’s handy and it gets the job done. Save
packing material from any other shipments you receive. Bubble wrap is
lighter but costs you more than newspaper.
AuctionTip #44: Switch Your Categories
If your auction is under performing (with no bids) and you still have
time, change categories. This is helpful when testing new and different
categories - if an auction in a new category starts to fail just switch
to your bread and butter category.
AuctionTip #45: Very Simple Book Keeping Solution
Use “My eBay” to track monthly activity - on the last of every month
save you’re “My eBay” page to disk and get your sales totals. File this
for income tax records.
AuctionTip #46: Write the Best Description You Can
If you find that many similar items have sold in the past, look for
those which have sold for the most, and examine the item description
and summary, to see what they did different to garner the higher
bids. Then do the same. Try to avoid plagiarizing the exact item
description, though. And be as detailed as possible. The more
information you can provide, the more interested the buyer is likely to
be.
AuctionTip #47: Learn HTML
All auction sites allow you to use HTML in your item description. Use
it. Prettier item descriptions make the item more attractive to
perspective buyers. There is a real good interactive HTML tutorial at
http://www.webmonkey.com . Sooner or later you’re going to want to get
good at it - do it now!
AuctionTip #48: Use Counters
Services like Honesty.com offer free counters and image hosting. Keep
up with your page hits so you can make adjustments to improve
auction performance- http://www.honesty.com.
AuctionTip #49: Be Prepared to Sell for Less than Desired
Most normal items rarely sell for more than actual market value. And
just because a similar item sold for $20 doesn’t mean yours will sell
for as much. Just don’t sell for a loss. Set your minimum bid, or your
reserve price, to your actual cost.
AuctionTip #50: Use Dutch Auctions
If you have more than one of the same items for sale, then sell them in
a Dutch auction. Remember that multiple simultaneous auctions for the
same items are not permitted.
AuctionTip #51: End Your Auction at Peak Times
Many people bid on items from their computers at work, so ending an
auction at 2am isn’t wise. Bidders enter into bidding wars in the last
minutes of an auction. This won’t happen if all the warriors are asleep
when your auction closes.
AuctionTip #52: Create Your My eBay Page
Your ‘My eBay’ page is very important! Don’t overlook the significance
of it - you can use these to give buyer important information and much
more;
Have a nice ‘My eBay’ page set up with a picture of you. Include your
contact info and a well thought out sales message persuading the reader
to scroll down the page (where they will see your feedback and current
auctions). You’ll receive huge boost in credibility - something you can
never have too much of.
It’s also a good idea to use your finely tuned “My eBay” page a s the
rallying point for all your auction marketing (i.e. signatures).
P.S.- You may also want to have your signatures pointing towards your
eBay seller page; it’s really up to you.
AuctionTip #53: When to Accept Only Money Orders
Money orders are cash in hand. Checks can take up to a week to clear so
you don’t know if it’s a bad check or not. Don’t send valuable
merchandise until a week after receiving personal check. Make
this known in your item description. If you are uncomfortable with
checks and wish to only accept money orders, state this in the item
description as well. Be wary with your valuable items.
AuctionTip #54: Remember, you can make you items available to the rest
of the world to increase you potential customers, it's also a good idea
to do worldwide searches when buying as the search just looks through
UK sellers
AuctionTip #55: ALWAYS Leave Feedback
Positive feedback is always appreciated. If the transaction goes well
for both parties
AuctionTip #56: Be Courteous
You should always to polite and courteous or you’ll lose the potential
of return business and run the risk of provoking the wrath of negative
feedback. While I probably don’t have to tell you this, there are
plenty of rude buyers who will test your patience to the max - never
let them get the best of you, you don’t ever want to write an email in
anger.
AuctionTip #57: Keep Notes
With so much to do, and so many strands to keep straight in your head,
it’ s easy to get overwhelmed. The most important thing you can do to
keep your priorities in a row is to keep an idea notepad near by to
keep track of what must be done...
Also, buy a digital voice recorder to capture those fleeting creative thoughts before they fly away into oblivion.
If you’re proficient in this area then you can get a lot of constructive things done.
AuctionTip #58: Reserve Auctions Benefits
Check the help pages oneBay to learn the specifics about reserve price auctions.
There are two benefits to reserve price auctions:
1) They allow you to list a low starting bid amount to get people started on bidding for your item.
2) They let you reserve the right not to sell your
item unless someone bids at least an amount that you want for an item.
AuctionTip #59: List on Weekend Mornings
The best time to submit your ad is on Saturday or Sunday mornings
between 6:00 am and 9:00 am Pacific Standard Time. More people revieweBay on weekend mornings than at any other time.
AuctionTip #60: Get Positive Feedback
This is one of the most important things you can do. Potential
buyers will review this feedback and determine whether or not they want
to do business with you. The best way for you get positive
feedback is to simply ask for it.
AuctionTip #61: 3-Day Auctions?
All featured and featured category auctions should be listed the full ten days.
It is sometime more advantageous to use a 3 day auction if you didn’t
buy any listing enhancements. This is due to the way that people
naturally browse the eBay site.
AuctionTip #62: Use Uppercase Letters
As with item titles, you want to catch the potential bidder’s
attention. If you don’t end up using templates or HTML code to
spice up your text (which you should), then use uppercase letters to
highlight the special features of your item. This is especially
beneficial when the description text for your item is lengthy.
Even if they don’t read the entire description, their eyes will notice
anything in uppercase or even surrounded by asterisks. The bottom
line here is to get stuff to stand out and get noticed.
AuctionTip #63: When To Ask for Money Orders
A good policy is to say you will accept personal checks only from
bidders with a +10 positive feedback. Accept only money orders by mail
from buyers with questionable feedback - and state this in your policy
as well.
AuctionTip #64: Check the Buyer’s Feedback Listing
If the buyer that wins your item has a number in parentheses next to
his email address, then he has feedback. Check this for anyone
who wins the bid on your item. If the feedback is positive, you
may be willing to accept a personal check no matter how much the item
is going for. If the feedback is negative, require a money
order. If there’s no feedback, or if it’s neutral, then follow
the previous tip above.
AuctionTip #65: Check Your Email Three Times Daily
Keep alert! Potential buyers will come to you all the time with
questions - you want to be responsive. Some will want more in
AuctionTip #66: During and After the Sale
I don’t feel much explanation is necessary here. Common courtesy
will go a long way here - in prompt payment and repeat buyers.
Another simple tip is to email the buyer when you receive his payment
and tell him the item will be shipped out immediately. This keeps
the buyer informed as to the status of his purchase. Don’t
discount the power of this tip.
AuctionTip #67: Save Money on Relisting
If your item doesn’t sell the first time you list it, you may be able
to relist it at no additional charge. Once the item’s auction is
over, go to its auction page, and follow the instructions on relisting
it at no charge. When you relist, change the title or description
so create more interest… or lower the price.
AuctionTip #68: Use Asterisks in Your Item Titles
There are a lot of items up for auction on eBay, and it’s easy for your
item(s) to get lost in the thousands of others. Therefore, you
must get your item to stand out and catch the eye of someone browsing
an item listing. How? Use asterisks in the title.
Here’s an example: ***** ANCIENT_COINS! ***** See how this
catches the eye? This is so simple to do and yet so powerful.
AuctionTip #69: Use Uppercase Letters in Your Item Titles
As you may notice above, another thing done in the title was to use
capital letters. Most people enter their titles in upper and
lowercase letters. Anything you can do to get your item to stand out
will get more people to notice your item.
AuctionTip #70: Use Bold Text Option in Your Titles
Another very powerful way to get your items noticed is to select the
bold title option when setting up your item’s auction. Use of
this option must be specifically selected and eBay will charge you an
extra $2.00 for using bold, but your item will stand out. Use
this for items over $10.00 or it’s not really worth it. Now, to
really make your items stand out, use asterisks use uppercase letters,
AND a bold title.
AuctionTip #71: Use Underscore/Tilde to Get Longer Titles
By using underscore “_” or tilde “~” between words in your title,
you’ll get to enter a longer title than if you just used spaces between
your words. I don’t know why, it just works. Try it and see.
AuctionTip #72: Use Key Words in Titles
Since there are so many items oneBay, one of the most effective ways
people find things is to SEARCH using the search engine in eBay.
If you want people to find your item, then place key words, or
“obvious” words in your titles. For example, if you’re selling a
collectible model car, don’t just put the word CAR in your title, put
the make and model, too. Put in as many keywords possible in the
title, so the greatest number of searches will locate it someone could
think of who are looking for items like yours.
AuctionTip #73: Be Ahead
Ask your high bidders to email their shipping info ahead of time, that
way you can have everything packaged and ready to go. Doing this isn’t
always feasible but when it is do it - it’s a good habit to attack your
auctions this way instead of waiting to the last second.
AuctionTip #74: Digital Shoebox.
Create a purely digital filing system - save some trees and save you a
headache! Use email receipt s only to keep records income. Get a
scanner and scan important documents into the computer like business
expense receipts that come in the mail.
Throw your recent opened customer snail mails in a box, put account
statements in a folder - and throw everything else unimportant away. A
mess of paper is the last thing you want on your mind - file it and
forget it.
AuctionTip #75: Crunch Your Graphics
Buyers won’t wait forever for huge graphic files to load. There are
several really great programs for shrinking graphics. Smartsaver Pro is
my program of choice. Go to Hot files and do a search for it:
http://www.hotfiles.com
AuctionTip #76: Don’t Get Thrown Off
If you want your item to show up during primetime, remember there is
2-3 hour posting delay, so post 2 -3 hours early. For instance, if you
want your auction to end at 10PM EST, then start your auction at 7PM.
AuctionTip #77: Be Neat
When I first started selling I had a problem with getting everything in
its proper place. This came back to haunt me. Get an organized and stay
that way!
If you throw everything into a big pile, as you’ve been tempted to do,
you’ll suffer an eventual clutter avalanche. Don’t let procrastination
get the upper hand- a clean disk indicates a happy mind.
AuctionTip #78: Proofread Your Ads and Email
Always make sure to proofread your listing before you post an ad for
the first time, or have some else do so for you. You’ll be amazed at
what fresh pair of eyes will uncover...
It’s very frustrating to catch a mistake after the auction has began
and people have started bidding. Make sure you check over your ad and
email for errors.
AuctionTip #79: Find Your Niche
Selling on eBay is just like the Internet or any other real world
business. In order to be successful you need to pick a niche an d stick
with. When you’re starting out selling it’s ok to sell a little bit of
everything- but when you get serious, sit down and decide where you’re
corner of the market is.
AuctionTip #80: Offer A Free Newsletter
A great way of staying in touch with customers and potential buyers is
to offer a newsletter dealing with their interests - such as something
dealing with the niche you chose. You can use this to build trust, give
out free information, and to plug your auctions.
AuctionTip #81: Don’t Start Auctions Too High
Whatever you do, don’t start your auctions out too high as eBay is not a
good place to do this since bidders want a deal. It’s always better to
start low and set nice reserve if you absolutely must cover
yourself. Starting too high kills the spirit of the auction
process. People come to the auctions to compete for a bargain.
If I price highly I won’t get the frequent early bids and won’t get the
same following that I could when I price low. When you have many
bidders on an auction, then irrational bidding isn’t far behind. This
is something you want! Pricing highly undermines this.
You will also incur higher listing fees if you price high.
You only pay the minimum in listing fees if you start anything below $9.99- which on eBay is 25 cents.
Do good research and get a good idea of your items market value -
generally similar items tend to sell within a fixed price range; your
goal is to hit the upper limits of that range. The people that drive
prices up are either “irrational bidders” or they don’t know the market
value of a product they want, and exceed it in their bids without
really knowing that they overpaid.
AuctionTip #82: Beware Of Reserve Auctions
Reserve auctions are taboo on eBay - most bidders steer clear because
they aren’t “true” auctions and are somewhat deceptive. Use reserve
auction only when necessary, and as a means of protection only when you
are uncertain of value and demand. You c an also use them if you
absolutely refuse to take less than a certain amount for your item. Be
prepared for mediocre results if you use them. If your auction fails to
meet the amount you set eBay will tack on a $2 fee.
AuctionTip #83: Backup, Backup, Backup!
Losing your data is like losing your brain - it’s crucial that you
begin backing up your data today! Murphy’s Law is always waiting for
you to slip.
Get a good surge protector and CD burner to make cheap backups and you’ll be able avoid most disasters.
AuctionTip #84: Eudora Pro
What email program are you using? Outlook Express? If yes, you may want
to consider a more powerful program to take care of your email.
Eudora Pro will do the trick.
It retails for about $40 but you can use the shareware version for 30
days. The Eudora Lite version is less versatile but doesn’t expire. You
can get a copy from the link below.
http://www.eudora.com
AuctionTip #85: Your Database
You’re customer database is a gold mine of information - you want to
have a simple program that will record and keep track of customer info.
Info such as name, email address, auction number and so on.
While there are hundreds of ways of keeping track of all your auction
information, there is one program in particular that I use called A.I.D. -
http://www.epigroove.com
You can use a program like MS Access , Excel or some other simple type of spreadsheet program as well.
If you plan on being organized and profitable as possible, keep an excellent and complete customer database!
AuctionTip #86: The Taxman Cometh
Did you know that auction income is taxable ? It certainly is. Keep
good records and you’ll be rewarded at tax time. Don’t keep good
records and you’ll be penalized - the tax advantages to having a small
business are many-Consult a CPA or the SBA for advice on tax
liabilities and credits. Rules differ from location to location.
Your tax filing records should allow you to identify your sources of
income and keep track of business expenses. It’s that simple. As
a small business owner or sole proprietor uses what is called a cash
basis bookkeeping system.
This simply means income is recorded when it is received, and expenses
are reported when they are actually paid. Many sole proprietors and
businesses with no inventory use the cash method. From a tax
standpoint, it is advantageous for a new business to use the cash
method of accounting. That way, recording income can be put off until
the next tax year, while expenses are counted right away. Also
remember licensing issues. The laws and regulations vary from location
to location. Some states require licenses to sell some do not.
Check with the Small Business Administration for more detail!
AuctionTip #87: Using A Website With Your Auctions
One great way to boost your profits is to use a website with your
auctions. Use a little subtlety promoting your website using your
auctions. The rule is: You can’t provide a link to your website where
you are selling the product for the same price or less. Be sure you
don’t break any rules to avoid having your auction pulled. A
website can serve many purposes. Use it well and it will catapult your
auction efforts ahead of everyone else.
I once sold a particular item on eBay and had a link to my website
where the person could order directly from me by secure server. I
easily picked up an extra $150 a week by just including a link on my
auction page to my website.
Be careful here- you can too be very creative, but if you get too cute eBay will warn you and eventually pull your auction due to fee
avoidance.
AuctionTip #88: Promoting Your Auctions Outside eBay
Few people try to drive traffic to their auctions. Find a good way to
do this and you’ll get tons of free hits. Find appropriate message
boards to promote on. Use free classifieds, newsgroups and whatever
method will work for your particular type of auctions. You can us e
email just make certain its highly targeted - don’t spam.
AuctionTip #89: Study Up!
You are what you read... I spend a good bit of time reading and trying
to keep up with the newest trends in Internet marketing. There’s a lot
of good information available to you for free, but to get the really
good stuff it’s sometimes worth investing a little bit of money.
AuctionTip #90: Using Other Auction Sites
You may find that y our area of the eBay market is a bit too stuffy. If
the competition is really tough for what you’re selling check out a few
of the other auction sites such Amazon and yahoo
Try to limit yourself to these two extras - once you start selling on
some of the other auction sites you begin get smaller and smaller
returns- plus the buyers are going to be less reliable. A negative
feedback on Lycos auctions means nothing - on eBay it does... people
just don’t take smaller venues very seriously.
Note: I have never had a bounced check off of eBay - I have had three outside of eBay (2 on Cnet, one on Yahoo).
On Yahoo you can list for free - but don’t let that fool you; your ad
will never be seen. On the other hand - Yahoo allows you to bid on your
ad exposure. You may have a product that fits into a category with no
competition - you can buy a day’s worth of the sites best advertising
for a quarter. I once netted over $300 on a Yahoo Dutch auction with a
small $2 in advertising...
AuctionTip #91: Information Products Are the Way To Go
Selling information by CD is the way to go on eBay. The competition can
be fierce but your inventory costs are laughably low and your markups
are high. Simply find the hottest selling information products and
change them a little, give them a name and make them yours. Go with the
proven winners - check the featured auctions to find out what the hot
items are...
AuctionTip #92: Skyrocket Your Auction Profits by 40%
Up-sell products are items you offer the winning bidder at the end of
the auction for a few dollars more that complements the product they
bid on. All you have to do is make sure they’ll want it, show them the
benefit of having it, and simply ask them to buy.
It’s just like when you go to McDonalds and order just a burger and the
cashier asks if you’d like fries and a coke. You thought you just
wanted a burger but you end up with the fries and drink because you
really wanted that too - You won’t always be in the position to offer
up -sell product starting, but as you get more experienced you will see
some obvious opportunities; if you’re selling information it will be
easy to create good complementary products that your customer will wan
t.
Realize the importance of up -sell products.
AuctionTip #93: The Real Way to Boost Your Profits
The other way to boost your sales is by offering your customers
products called back -ends. This is where you can make major money if
you prepare.
Once you have built the trust of your customer they’re likely to buy
from you again and again - take advantage of this by offering them
things they will want and are interested in...
Think of a professional stamp seller who uses eBay to add to his
customer base . Let’s say he has a customer database of a 10,000 avid eBay stamp collectors; if this stamp seller does his homework then he
will know what types of stamps his customers are crazy about. He will
find the right source for these stamps and Voila! He will make
money-One day he sends them an email explaining to those 10,000 people
that he has 5,000 rare civil war stamps. Within a couple of days he
sells them all and nets a $50 profit per stamp. He just made
$25,000! You’ll want to approach your auctions t he same way-
that is why you’ll want to find a corner of the market to work from.
That way you’ll be in a better position to resell to your customers
over and over again... not only will you know what your buyer wants in
general, but you’ll have a huge base of people who have similar
interests. If you don’t have a niche you can’t do this.
AuctionTip #94: Marginal Net Worth?
Marginal what? This term simply refers to the long -term value of your
customer. Develop a long-term relationship with your bidders and offer
them similar products they will want (by email). Look past the initial
sale - Now you know why selecting a niche is so crucial. Pick a niche
market and you’re in a superior position to know your customer and to
anticipate what they will want.
Stamp collectors are interested in stamp stuff; Video game players are crazy about video games.
Consider the lifetime worth of your customer and leave everyone that doesn’t in the dust.
AuctionTip #95: Mister Lister, Who’s That?
eBay offers the program called Mister Lister that will save you hours
of listing time every day - it’s real helpful if you have lots of the
same items. Make one good ad for them and list it over and over for
years. It’s easy to use and it gets you one step closer to
auction automation. Normally you’ll have to post each auction
manually - this can take a very big chunk of your day if you want to
have a lot of auctions. Use programs like Turbo Lister to get around
this:
http://pages.eBay.co.uk/turbo_lister/
Andale has a similar program in beta. Most novices find Andale
intimidating and hard to use. Don’t rely on it until you fully
understand how it works.
AuctionTip #96: Other Must Have Programs
Here are the several programs I use daily that you can download for
free at http://www.hotfiles.com :
A.I.D.- Auction information database program
Eudora Lite- fully featured email client
Homesite - an excellent must have html editor
Paint Shop Pro- graphics software
CuteFTP- FTP program for uploading files to the Internet
SmartSaver Pro- Crunches pics so pages can load faster
ShortKeys Lite- Email shortcut program.
AuctionTip #97: Verza and CCNow Will Offer You A Solution
Earlier I touched on merchant accounts. If you have a website or are
selling one product at a fixed price then you need short -term solution
for taking orders via secure server. Two services I recommend for this
are CCNow and Verza:
http://www.ccnow.com
http://www.verza.com
AuctionTip #98: Don’t Go to the Post Office!
Save loads of time and take care of all your postage needs from the comfort of your own home. In order to do this:
Buy an inexpensive scale
Print postage from your PC at Royal Mail
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/onlinepostage?campaignid=smartstampbanner&catId=600023
Look up shipping rates with Royalmail http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm
Remember the DHL .com and Royal Mail Internet services - be sure to take
advantage of these things - your goal is to not spend one second of
your life in the post office. If you don’t prepare and you start an
auction business you will spend your life there when things pick up; I
know this first hand. Postal clerks dreaded me stopping by!
AuctionTip #99: Use a Good Sales Policy to Avoid Trouble
Post terms and conditions on every listing you create. Things like
shipping terms or any other rules that you’ll use. Make a separate text
file containing your sales policy that you can edit, copy and paste
into your listings quickly. Sit down and come with a good one in order
to avoid any bumps in the road - do you insure packages? Be sure to
state these types of things in your policy.
AuctionTip #100: The Importance of Good Feedback
Building up a good feedback record on eBay is your #1 priority starting
out. The credibility factor will weigh on you at the beginning but this
can be overcome...
Remember:
Treat your winning bidders like royalty
Sell them a quality product
Actively pursue positive feedback from winning bidders
On average, only 35% of bidders leave feedback if you don’t prompt them
at all. Let them know that you NEED feedback. Make it easy for them to
get to the forum and consistently follow -up... You can get that up to
about 90%.
Once you have a good record people will be much more likely to do
business with you. Make it your goal to never get a negative comment.
This is hard to d o but very impressive with the buyers. If get
‘negged’, correct the mistake and move on, it’s not the end of the
world.
Kindly reply to the response with a rational explanation for the
problem and your buyers will overlook it when they glance your profile.
AuctionTip #101: Last but not Least!
Enjoy your time selling on eBay and have fun, a happy seller is a good seller!!
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