Ebay Steve's Top Tips for successful selling on Ebay

Hey kids - EbaySteve here again! I just want to share with you guys'n'gals a few little tip-ettes and tricks that I personally have always found to be Steve-tasticly good for pulling in the greenbacks with the help of the mighty Ebay. Number one on EbaySteve's list - know your market!. Check Ebay for similar items BEFORE you start knocking up yours - a title search is the best way to do this - you want to find completed items sorted by price. These are the ones that actually sold - i.e. the seller got it right!

EbaySteve would never even CONSIDER an auction without checking out the competition first! Oh yeah! This gets us to ebaySteve's next super tip - decide on your price now. As you kiddies will know, you can set a 'Buy it Now' price on your auctions - this is generally what you think an item is actually worth (at least to you - ebaySteve often wastes a happy Friday afternoon searching the 'Bay for "domain" auctions - some of these wutangs think a 90-letter domain in greek is worth millions! Hah! call the dumbo police!).

Remember, ebaySteve says that your opening bid (the price you want to start the auction off at) should be MUCH lower, or everyone will think you are Pennywise the Clown. Don't ever forget, once an auction gets going, it can take on a life of its own, and setting a low start price is the easiest way to stimulate that initial excitement, especially on an item in mucho grande demand (like ebaySteve's used socks, for example!). While we are on this one, don't bother with secret 'reserve' prices. If you don't know what your item is worth, you shouldn't be selling it!

EbaySteve's next tip? How are your potential buyers gonna find your auction? They will search for it. That means you have to get your keywords into your auction title! No point having a title that bangs on about 'great opportunity, never to be repeated bargain' etc etc if yo forget to say '1967 Ford Mustang' too! EbaySteve super-tip - don't bother with punctuation, or silly characters - if you waste your title with that stuff, they'll never find you in the first place! Only mis-spell if it is likely to be searched for, because Ebay search finds exact matches. If you need more space, use a subtitle. These cost a cool 50 cents, so ebaySteve says use 'em on items below about $25.

When they find it, will it scare them away? There are, unfortunately, a number of auctions on the mighty Bay that scare ebaySteve! Choose your colors and font sizes carefully - the one thing you do NOT want is for everyone else to think you are a fruitcake. Even though ebaySteve likes fruit, and cake, he doesn't like 'em together. OK? Oh yeah! You will also need at least 1 good quality photo of your item. Try and make it a little 'different' from similar auctions - if everyone chooses the 'stock' photo, how do potential buyers differentiate between you? BUT, make sure it ain't bigger than 40 or 50k - plenty of people are still on dialup, and they won't bother with you if the page takes more than 10 seconds to load. And fer crying out loud, make SURE you allow payment via Paypal - it is Ebay's very own payment method, and by far the best. They charge only a TINY commission on your sales, and you will find buyers take you MUCH more seriously if you do. No harm in other payment options too, just start off with Paypal! (Super extra important tip - only allow Paypal payments from members with a CONFIRMED address. Helps to cut down on fraud and refund requests).

Payment tip - ebaySteve has in the past had problems with spam filters - there's nothing more annoying than to get an offer but miss it because your darn email system 'binned' the mail! Have a special email account for auctions (if you start getting too much spam, open up a new one). It's also worth mentioning in the text of your auction that potential buyers should 'whitelist' your email address. In the worst case, you can always contact other ebayers with the Contact Member form.

Auction timings - choose to start and end an auction during daylight hours (for your target audience!). These auctions statistically generate higher prices because bidding continues right up to the final bell. Use http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister to list your items quicker - it costs, but only a tad, and will help you get the whole process moving fast. That's about it fer now, Bayers! Keep it real!

About The Author

Ebay Steve owns the way cool site www.ebaySteve.com the super site for free advice on making money with ebay, the world's greatest auction house.

This article was posted on February 16, 2005

 Red flags when purchasing Designers Handbags from online auctions
Please Note: It is not our job to stop you or anyone that buys or sells fake LV. We just try to educate the consumer.

First of all remember that a handbag reflects your personality! That’s why you need an authentic handbag that you will have forever and be proud of.

First thing you have to see when you are about to bid on a designer’s handbag is: Does the auction states and guarantees that the handbag is authentic or full money bag? If not, you should ask. Make sure you can get a full money back guarantee if the handbag is found to be fake. Authentic handbag sellers don’t mind guaranteeing full money back if the handbag is found to be fake. They know their merchandise and they would not jeopardize their reputation to make $50 extra on a fake.
Be extremely cautious if th. . . .
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 The Web's Best Online Auction Sites
The best online auction links for buyers and sellers are - not surprisingly - eBay, eBay and eBay. eBay began the entire wacky world of online auctions back on the Labor Day weekend of 1995. By any definition, this is one of the most successful sites in the world, and certainly offers the greatest number and variety of goodies for buyers. Generally, sellers make more money on eBay than elsewhere.

Sometimes, though, we might wonder about the future of eBay, because the sheer volume of goods for sale might bring this giant to a halt. Today, for example, there are 425,641 sports card auctions. Many of these are dutch auctions - meaning the sellers are offering multiple items. So the actual number of cards for sale is even higher than the gigantic list of auctions. If you are a seller . . . .
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 Domain Names Not Strong Auction Items
Selling a domain name at an online auction can be lucrative - but many sellers completely misjudge the market and truly live in Fantasy Land. For instance, take a look at this auction of 14 domain names (StemCellLines.net, StemCellLines.org, StemCellColonies.com, StemCellColonies.net, StemCellColonies.org, StemCellMart.com, StemCellMart.net, StemCellMart.org, StemCellResearching.com, StemCellResearching.org, StemCellResearching.net, StemCellStore.com, StemCellStore.net, StemCellStore.org). The auction supposedly includes "website research info" - but the listing doesn't even mention what this is, so we can' evaluate the offering. But a price of $25 million. There were no takers at all for this silly offer.

Here are other inflated domain name auctions:

* Names: Devilthinking.c. . . .
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If you're a bargain shopper looking to get the most bang for
your buck, you'll find no shortage of deals on the Internet.

And that's particularly true in the fast-changing world of
laptop computers, where you'll find three bargain sources
right at your fingertips:

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1. Clearance Sales
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Just like many brick-and-mortar retail stores, many computer
manufacturer websites have clearance sections. On these web
pages, you can find great deals on last year's leftovers.

These are all new products (unless otherwise stated) and
carry their original warranties. The only difference is that
the price has been reduced.

Of course the manufacturers aren't the only ones with
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Majo. . . .
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 How To Use Online Auctions As Traffic Generators
Copyright 2005 Paul Jesse

There are thousands of online auctions on the internet. People love them because they can usually find great bargains. If you have an online business, you can use them to increase traffic to your web site.

You could create an electronic book or report that relates to your online business, then auction it off at an online auction. You could increase traffic to your web site by placing an ad for your web site in the electronic publication. Some online auctions will even allow you to link directly to your web site.

Electronic publications won't cost you anything to ship. You could send them via e-mail or allow people to download the electronic publication from your web site. You can also auction them off for a lower price. When they visit your we. . . .
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