Sell on ebay

Protect yourself when using PayPal

2009-09-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

Since PayPal is the preferred method of payment for all ebay sellers, more people are using it than ever. For those ebay sellers accepting PayPal payments, they often have them linked to personal checking or savings accounts at their bank. How can they protect the other funds in their personal accounts from possible loss in the event PayPal has a breach of security?

The simplest way to help keep your other funds safe from an event like this is to setup a savings account at your bank to use exclusively for your PayPal connection.

Say you currently have a personal checking and savings account at your bank, you would not want to link one of these directly to PayPal, especially if you keep any type of balance in these accounts. You should open a new savings account. This new account would be linked to your PayPal account and you would carry the minimum balance required to avoid any fees at your bank.

This new account serves as a buffer between your savings and your PayPal transactions.

Once you accumulate funds in your PayPal account, you can use the free service to transfer your funds from your PayPal balance to your new savings account. Once this is complete (usually three business days), you can login to your bank account and transfer those funds to your personal checking or savings account.

What’s in a listing description?

2009-08-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Two of the most important areas of your ebay listing are the title and the description.

When a shopper starts at the ebay homepage and enters their search criteria in the bar near the top of the page, that search will look at the titles of all auctions in ebay and display the results on the following page.

If a shopper is in a specific category, area or on a page displaying previously search results, there will be a check box under the search box titles ‘Include title and description’. This search will display relevant matches in both the title and description of all ebay listings meeting any other criteria specified by the shopper.

Your title should contain as many important key words as possible. These include brand names, model numbers, condition, or any other descriptive words that you feel are important to bring attention to your listing. It is not necessary for the title to follow proper grammar or sentence structure, only to help buyers find your particular item and improve where it falls on the subsequent search page. You are allowed 55 characters in the title field, it is recommended to use every one to your advantage.

The item description is where you have almost free reign in describing your item to the best of your ability. This area needs to be as factual and relevant as possible, ebay has strict guidelines against false representation or keyword spamming (using terms or words such as brand names other than the item(s) you have listed for the sole purpose of showing up in other search criteria).
Your description must contain the basics like what exactly you have available, the brand, size, style, model, quantity. Other key items are size, location, condition (if damaged in any way, be as clear as you can as well as include good pictures so they buyer knows what they are bidding on). Is there an interesting story behind the item or the reason you are selling it? Include that. Nothing like having an interesting story and an ebayer forwards a link to the listing to their friends and so on.

Don’t forget to list any shipping options and selling conditions (as is, return policy, etc).

Doing this serves two purposes, it improves the chances that in interested buyer will find your listing as well as answers as many questions as possible so you receive fewer email questions to reply to.

Ebay listing upgrades: What should you use?

2009-08-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

When creating your ebay listing, there are many listing upgrades to choose from, some are free and some have fees associated. How do you know what you should use and what you should save your money on?
There are a few items that should be included with every item you list on ebay:

A well written title - Remember the title does not need to be a complete sentence. This is for keywords that people searching are likely to use when looking for YOUR item. Be sure to include brand names, specific item or model numbers and sizes when ever applicable.
Pictures (no charge for the first image) - No ebay listing should be without images. Good, accurate images that reflect the exact condition of the item being sold. Remember the first image you upload is free, that is the image that will be used next to the item in the search results. You should upload any other images you have using a free hosting service like photobucket.com or your own web server if you have that option available to you.
International Shipping - If at all possible, do not limit yourself to shipping to buyers in the USA. You would be surprised how many international buyers will pay more for items because they are not available everywhere. Be sure to estimate the cost to ship your item to other countries properly to you are able to list proper shipping charges in your listing.
Return policy - You should consider offering a return policy for any items you sell. People may be more apt to bid on your item if they know they are not going to be stuck with something that may have been misrepresented.

The following are items we do not recommend using in your listing:

Subtitle ($.50) - This area is only read when users search by title AND description.
Sub category - Listing in two categories doubles the Insertion Fee as well as the fees for most listing upgrades (Bold, Gallery, etc.).
Listing designer ($.10) – This is a custom template that will give your listing a more professional look. For most items this is not a requirement but should be considered for some listings that you feel are worthy. Examples might be highly sought after items or collectibles or if you are selling items on ebay as a business or some other professional service.
Each additional picture ($.15 each picture) – As stated above, you can use any of the free picture hosting services out there or upload them to your own web server. This allows you to link to the images directly in your description using basic html code. Ex: < src="http://yourserver.com/images/teddybear1.jpg">
Gift Icon ($.25) – One of those features that may make your item stand out of you are only one of many sellers with the very same item on ebay. Not usually required or effective in our experience.
The following items are not recommended unless you are selling a high dollar item and expect bidding to reach into the thousands of dollars. Examples would be expensive vehicles, buildings, homes, land etc.

Border ($2.00)
Highlight ($5.00)
Featured Plus! ($14.95)
Featured First ($24.95)
Home Page Featured ($59.95)

Saving money on your shipping supplies

2009-08-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

So you have gone through a few closets, cleaned out the attic or garage and have a pile of items to list on ebay. The next step is to be sure you have boxes or other packaging supplies to get them ready for shipping. Unless you already operate a brick and mortar store and already provide mail order services, chances are you will need to find some empty boxes, packaging tape, address labels and other materials. These can be expensive, but what if you can have items like these delivered to your door at no cost to you?

The US Post Office makes this easy, if you plan to ship your items via USPS Priority Mail or Express mail, almost everything you need is available from them for FREE. Boxes, packaging tape, address labels, envelopes of all sizes, all delivered to you within a few days.

Visit shop.usps.com and click the Priority Mail image. You will need to register (this is also free), browse the online store and order the items you are looking for. Enter your address and they should arrive within a few days at no cost to you.

Other ideas for package protection are white tissue paper from your local card shop or the dollar store. Use this white oversized tissue paper to wrap items or fill empty space in the box to further protect items during shipping.

You can also save the Styrofoam packaging peanut material from items you buy through the mail, store them in a garbage bag until you need them to pack items you have sold.

Why you should use Paypal if you sell on ebay

2009-08-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

PayPal is a Web-based application for the secure transfer of funds between member accounts. It doesn't cost the user anything to join PayPal or to send money through the service, but there is a minimal fee structure in place for those members who wish to receive money.

As of late 2008, electronic payments are the only recommended method of payment for goods sold using ebay. This includes accepting credit cards using a bank merchant account, ProPay or Paypal. While ebay believes this will greatly reduce the number of items not received by buyers and reduce the amount of negative feedback left by buyers.

Accepting Paypal payments often increases the amount of bids your item received resulting in increased revenue for you as a seller. It also means quicker payments, usually the same day or within a few days of the auction ending on ebay.

While some say Paypal fees are high, once you take a look at other packages available to sellers who wish to receive credit card payments, you will see the overall cost of setup and transactions are lower than any other option available. Considering that and the integration with your ebay listings and you see it is the best choice available hands down.

So you dont think you have anything to sell on ebay?

2009-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am surprised how many people I talk to about ebay tell me they don’t have anything to sell there. There is little doubt most of not all of them have a room, closet, basement or garage to clean out.

I began selling new car brochures I collected for years when I was younger. I had them in boxes in the closet until a co-worker told me about ebay in 1999. Over the next year or so, I sold the entire lot of them to people all over the world, prices ranged from $5.00 to over $50.00 each. These were items I had considered throwing away.

Just a few things to look for in your homes;

Collectible figurines by Hummel, Disney, Wee Forest Folk, etc.
Name brand children’s and teen clothing by Nike, Holister Co. & Aeropostle
Gently used children’s sporting equipment
Name brand and designer clothing for adults like Levis, Kenneth Cole & Ed Hardy

The list is endless. Next time you are cleaning your that closet or basement, take a close look at what you would considering throwing away or donating and post it on ebay, you may be surprised at what others are willing to pay for your items.

Google Store?

2009-08-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Google has been looking for something to give its online payment system, Google Checkout, some legs, and this could definitely do it.

The Google Gadget is a very simple piece of code that allows you to put a basic store description just about anywhere.

The placing of the Gadget on your site works as a 3 step process.

It works in conjunction with Google Docs to create a spreadsheet to which you can add everything you need to sell your item, including pictures.

Many sellers' patience is wearing thin with the bombardment of new selling platforms and their never-ending changes, so I think they'll love the fact that the Gadget is ready to use right out of the box.

When you add to this the power of Google Base, the tool that sends store listings to the Google search, the possibilities are explosive, and you gotta love the fact that there are no listing, or final value fees.

The gadget is in Google "Labs" right now, so this means that there is no support for it. But stay tuned, I have a hunch this one is going to be a popular product and I can see Google developing it further.

If it does take off, it could be a twofer for Google by way of competition for PayPal and an alternative to eBay's fixed price format.

Source: examiner.com

Sell custom party invitations on eBay

2009-07-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Don't think you have anything to sell on ebay? Think again. The article below touches on just one of hundreds of ideas out there to get you started making a few extra dollars on ebay.

Halloween is a very popular holiday. And people are searching for Halloween themed items on eBay year round. If you make Halloween party invitations and sell them in a fixed listing format on eBay you should make them available no later than the end of summer. You need to have them up and running early so people will find your cards and keep you in mind for when they plan their parties. So even if you don't actually sell them year round you need to be visable year round to keep them on eBay so you will be found!

See the entire article here

We are back!

2009-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

We are now an official ebay Trading Assistant! I am attending the ebay university classes online and will go for the certification very soon. In the mean time, we are moving forward with our ebay consulting services. If you are in the Metro Detroit, Michigan area and would like to sell your items on ebay but need some help, let me know. We will come to you and for a nominal hourly rate, we will walk you through every thing from setting up an ebay/paypal account to invoicing and shipping your items to your buyers. We do not charge any commissions on the back end, we do not want to make money from YOUR items, we want to show you the way to supplement your own income.

View our Trading Assistant profile HERE where you will find out contact information. Let us know how we can help you.

MySpace CEO Makes Eyes At eBay

2007-06-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Source: Webpronews.com - Doug Caverly

There’s no word from eBay’s side of things, but the cofounder and CEO of MySpace says his site could - at some point - be interested in partnering with the auction giant. Such a deal would be huge for both companies, and might also be damaging to Google.

Yet the deal is not at all a sure thing, even if one upgrade to MySpace is. “We will at some point offer user generated e-commerce transactions,” promised head honcho Chris DeWolfe. “So if you’re on your site and you have a line of T-shirts you have designed and you want to sell them to your friends, we want to be able to provide you with the tools you need to do that.”

As reported by the Telegraph’s Josephine Moulds, DeWolfe then continued, “So we could partner certainly with someone like eBay to do that. We haven’t decided yet but it would be probably a good bet that someone like eBay could be a good partner.” And in terms of a timeframe, this is all “probably six to nine months down the line.”

MySpace isn’t as “hip” as it once was - sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are coming into their prime, and MySpace has gotten a certain “To Catch A Predator” stigma that other social networks have (thus far) dodged. Yet the site still draws in scores of millions of users per month, and could be a very attractive partner for eBay.

“[A] MySpace partnership would represent a huge shot in the arm for eBay’s pending battle with Google,” writes Steve O’Hear for The Social Web. “Forcing MySpace’s gigantic userbase to use eBay-owned PayPal as their means of exchanging money, rather the new kid on the block in Google Checkout, would further extend eBay’s dominance of e-commerce. Right now, eBay users are forced to use PayPal rather than Checkout, and partnering with MySpace extends that monopolistic strategy.”

“This will be one to watch” is a bit of a routine ending for an article. But this potential deal between MySpace and eBay really does deserve our attention, and there may not be any fresh news about it for quite some time, so . . . this will be one to watch.

Tags: MySpace, eBay, User Generated E-Commerce Transactions

About the Author

Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.

Adam Ginsberg - How to Buy, Sell and profit on eBay

2007-03-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

I recently read a great book by Adam Ginsberg - How to Buy, Sell, and Profit on eBay: Kick-Start Your Home-Based Business in Just Thirty Days

For anyone looking to sell items on ebay as a hobby or to start a home based business, this is a must read. There are plenty of basic ebay tips and strategies that anyone selling items can benefit from. This is a great resource and I highly recommend it

Free shipping supplies?

2006-12-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, you can get shipping supplies for free! Everything from boxes & large envelopes to mailing labels and tape. It is all availalbe from you local US Post Office.
You can visit your local office, or even shop online and have them dropped off right at your door, shipping is also FREE, how can you beat that?

They offer a variety of sizes for both envelopes and boxes, some are even available pre-paid to save you any hassle standing in line or having to buy postage.

If you don't see any boxes large enough to suite your needs, be creative. Can you combine two or more Priority boxes to custom fit the item you plan to ship?

If you do your shipping using USPS Priority Mail, all of these supplies are available at shop.usps.com
You will need to register (this is also free), browse the online store and order the items you are looking for. Enter your address and they should arrive within a few days at no cost to you.

Postal Service class educates eBay sellers

2006-12-10T07:14:00.000-08:00

Source: Mlive.com - Seth Gordon - Sunday, December 10, 2006

Bob Clayton took six pages of notes because he wants to get started. Ellen Gillun and Heath Smith picked up a few tips that will enhance the work they've already done.

All three, and a couple dozen more, will be more savvy post office customers and eBay auctioneers thanks to the couple of hours they spent Wednesday with Dan Lesperance and Darrow Scruggs, members of the U.S. Postal Service's Business Development Team.

At least 250 million people are registered users of the online auction site eBay, Lesperance said. And many more are about to be.

"We consider eBay people small businesses,'' said Lesperance, who has been an eBay seller for six years. "Every person that we teach to sell on eBay becomes a postal customer that ships through us, so it only makes good sense for us to teach these classes.''

Lesperance and Scruggs presented two free eBay seminars Wednesday at the Augusta Township hall, hosted by Whittaker Postmaster Linda Gurka. They outlined the eBay process and shared tips on how to best take advantage of the Postal Service when shipping items sold online.

Clayton, an Ann Arbor resident, said he hasn't tried selling on the Web site yet, and found the seminar more informative than he expected.

"I have a roommate who has done this type of thing, but I've never watched him, or done anything (myself),'' Clayton said. "This is much more thorough and complete than he could have ever told me.''

In most cases, Lesperance and Scruggs run the seminar while connected to eBay and the U.S. Postal Service Web site, but because there was no Internet connection available in the township meeting room they were using, they presented a slide show to walk people through each step.

Gillun and Smith, both from Whittaker, have been selling items on eBay for about a year, but both picked up a few new ideas.

"We had to figure everything out on our own,'' Smith said. "We're neighbors and we were constantly going back and forth with questions.''

Smith was having problems scheduling his auctions to end at the most advantageous times - weekend evenings - but Lesperance quickly identified the problem: eBay operates on Pacific Standard Time, not Eastern Standard Time.

"I saw three of us (sellers) with the same item, and theirs went for three times the price of ours because their auctions ended at 7 or 8 in the evening, and mine finished at 2 o'clock in the afternoon,'' Smith said.

Willis resident Kathy Grougan and her daughter, Kathy Tepper, plan to sell clothing, glassware and other items they no longer need after the holidays. Grougan, who is not familiar with computers, appreciated how easy it was to follow along with the seminar.

"I'm not good at doing yard sales, so I thought this would be a great way to get rid of these things,'' Grougan said. "I have all of these Taco Bell dogs and I know people like those.''

The Postal Service's Business Development Team is a pilot program developed to assist small businesses with growth, shipping and advertising. Aside from their regular duties and appointments, Lesperance and Scruggs give presentations all over southeast Michigan.

Because of his regular schedule, Lesperance said he has cut back the number of events he leads to about three a month, but the demand is much higher. He ran two seminars on every business day for the entire month of August and said he could present one a day for the entire year and not exhaust the demand.

"As we were doing them, people would ask where we were doing them next,'' Lesperance said. "We had to pass out schedules because people would come to this class, then the next day they would go to that class with two friends. A week later we would see them at another class with two other friends. It just grew and grew.''

Lesperance said several sessions are scheduled in Livonia in January, but most post offices have sign-up lists, and once the interest is high enough, they schedule an event.

Gurka, who had a sign-up sheet at her Whittaker post office for people who were interested in the seminar, said she spots new eBay sellers all the time, tipped off by questions about how much it will cost to send packages of various weights.

"I was glad that even what I consider my seasoned people, who have been doing it for a while, took home tips that they didn't know before,'' Gurka said of the seminars. "I'm pretty happy, and from the response, people want to do this again. So maybe in January or February we can do another one.''

For further information, contact the Business Development Team at 734-728-4910 or e-mail bdtdetroit@usps.gov

Easy online shipping using the Post Office

2006-12-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

The United States Post office and eBay have made online shipping as easy as selling!

Let your computer and printer become your own Post Office™

The U.S. Postal Service and eBay have teamed to make shipping from eBay easier than ever. You can print and pay for Express Mail® and Priority Mail® labels with postage using your PayPal® account or credit card. It's a fast and easy way to prepare your packages.

Why leave your home or office?

With the U.S. Postal Service pickup options, we'll come and get your eBay packages from you. Use our Free next day Carrier Pickup™ or use our time-specific Pickup On Demand service for a fee. Simply request your package pickup online and we'll do the rest!

For more information about these services, visit the USPS website at: www.usps.com

Googles online payments takes on PayPal

2006-12-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

It looks like Paypal has some serious competion in the online payment arena, in comes Google.

Souce: USA Today - Jefferson Graham

Google is offering merchants free use of its online payment service as it squares off against eBay's market-leading PayPal.

The Internet search giant introduced Google Checkout in June, with sweeteners such as free ad credits for merchants. In November, it began offering rebates to consumers, $10 off $30 purchases. PayPal quickly matched the offer.

On Wednesday, Google ratchets up the pressure by dropping merchant fees through 2007.

"I'm thrilled," says Lanny Morton, whose Sportscloseouts.com uses both Google Checkout and PayPal. "The online business is really competitive, and every little percentage helps."

Merchants pay a variety of fees to use the services. PayPal charges 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction on sales up to $3,000 a month. Google's fee is 2 percent of the sale plus 20 cents, less if the merchant is a Google advertiser.

"Google has the potential to own this market," says Fred Lerner, president of photo print and accessory site Ritz Interactive, which uses Checkout. "PayPal is essentially laying down and letting Google buy market share."

Google's consumer rebate can be used many times. The PayPal rebate expired in November, but the company is offering a one-time-use discount to selected customers via e-mail. Some stores may offer extra incentives through either service.

EBay had no comment on Google's plans.

Benjamin Ling, the Google executive who runs Checkout, says it was not designed as Google's answer to PayPal but as a way to cut down on the steps (registering, typing in credit card and shipping information) needed for consumers to complete a purchase.

Once consumers sign up for Google Checkout, they can make purchases with one or two clicks.

The company decided to drop its merchant fees for now as a way to induce more businesses to try Checkout. "Once people use our service, they love it," Ling says.

Ling says "thousands" of merchants use Checkout, including Toys 'R' Us, Buy.com and Ritz.

Google won't say how many consumers have signed up for Checkout accounts.

PayPal says it has 123 million consumer account holders. It doesn't disclose merchant account figures.

"In a retail sense, using Checkout as a loss leader to get market share works for Google, because they will make it up with more advertising, which is highly profitable," says Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst at equity firm Global Crown Capital.

EBay, however, has reason to be concerned, he says. "Twenty-five percent of eBay's profits come from PayPal, so any pricing pressure isn't a positive."

eBay discontinues Pre-approved Bidder/Buyer List feature

2006-12-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Souce: Auctionbytes.com - Ina Steiner

An eBay spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that the company will be eliminating the Pre-Approved Bidder feature for sellers. Catherine England said the change would take place after the holiday shopping season, but could reveal no details about the change at this time. eBay is currently alerting sellers of the impending change through messaging on the site, such as the notice on this page (http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html), but has not posted it to the main announcement board.

The optional Pre-Approved Bidder feature is used by some sellers to eliminate nuisance bidding and to control who may bid on their items. Users not on a seller's pre-approved list are asked to contact the seller by email before they can place a bid on the item. But apparently scammers may have been using the feature to collect email addresses of potential bidders.

A seller who contacted eBay about the change posted the response she received from customer support that cites Trust & Safety concerns. "Pre-Approved Bidder is being discontinued because it enables sellers to collect, and potentially misuse, the email addresses of prospective bidders. Inappropriate use of bidder information is, of course, a violation of the eBay Privacy Policy. Occasionally, sellers who have been approved by eBay may receive limited access to this feature."

But another seller questioned why eBay wouldn't keep the feature, but prevent sellers from seeing the potential bidder's email address.

eBay's attempts to thwart scammers through policy changes are often met with mixed reviews as well as skepticism - and frustration - from users.

A reader who contacted AuctionBytes about the impending change to the Pre-Approved Bidder feature said, "There goes one of the most powerful tool sellers have to keep Nigerian Scammers away from their higher priced BINS. No mention of it in eBay's announcements. Just this notice on the Pre-Approve page. Guess who won't be listing any more higher priced BINS now? Anybody who's been scammed by Nigerian Scammers using BIN - a group that includes myself."

eBay Motors recently instituted a new bidding policy called Safeguarding Member IDs, also in an effort to thwart scammers. That policy reduces the transparency of bidding activity for shoppers on eBay Motors for items that reach $200 in an effort to fight scammers who employ spoof phishing techniques. eBay also rolled out Safeguarding Member IDs on the UK site.

The elimination of Pre-Approved Bidder lists helps protect bidders, but prevents sellers from trying to protect themselves from scam bidders. Similarly, while the Safeguarding Member IDs is designed to cut down on phishing emails targeted at bidders, it also hinders bidders' efforts to detect shill bidding from sellers.

eBay sellers are also frustrated over a new initiative by eBay to counter the sale of counterfeits on the site. eBay began conducting manual reviews of sellers listing items prone to counterfeiting - leaving some sellers unable to list during critical holiday-shopping days.

Ebay 2nd Chance Scam emails

2006-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

This appears to be one of the many email spoofing scams out there today. Unlike most that can be spotted immediately, this one looks legitimate since it appears to be in reply to an item you have previously placed a bid on.

Source: wcpo.com 12/6/2006 - John Matarese

A warning today for anyone who shops on eBay...Or is considering buying something on the popular auction site.

A new scam is snaring even experienced eBay users!

And if you don't know about it, its very easy to fall for.

--------------

"I fell for it, and I can't believe I did... because I'm pretty savvy on the computer."

Ramona Combs is a veteran eBayer. She's now the latest victim of an an online scam targeting its members as victims.

It all started when she bid in this Sony laptop computer... And lost.

"I was outbid, but I received a second chance offer that looked legit to me."

Shortly after missing out on the laptop, Ramona received this email, purportedly from eBay.

It said the winning bidder dropped out.

"It has the eBay logo on this, and it had the link to the item.

Ramona was so excited, she failed to notice a few obvious misspellings...Like "good luch," instead of luck.

"He asked for my name, phone number, and eBay user number...to send an invoice."

So she gave all her personal information.....But the invoice never arrived.

The person who emailed her? Gone without a trace.

--So don't let this happen to you!

--eBay says real 2nd chance offers don't come as unsolicited email: You have to log into your account to find them.

--If you do receive an offer, email the original seller to make sure the offer is real.

Consider any email from eBay to be a possible scam...Just like emails from Pay Pal or your bank.

Scamsters will copy logos and email addresses so that you think its the real thing.

More Holiday shopping on eBay

2006-12-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Source: Rocky Mountain News - December 4, 2006

You won't find Marsha Collier fighting for a mall parking space on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The author of Santa Shops on eBay and eBay for Dummies practices what she preaches and does all of her holiday shopping at the world's biggest auction site.

See Marsha's books on Amazon:

Collier, who lives in Los Angeles, recently chatted with Rocky Mountain News reporter Joyzelle Davis about the best strategies for holiday shopping on eBay, even for first-timers. Collier, who started shopping on eBay 10 years ago when it was Auction Web, also teaches eBay University courses offered through the company.

Why do you focus on eBay and not other online retailers?

I love all online shopping. But to be honest, when it comes to finding the unique, the different, the wonderful, I have found more unique gifts - the kind of gifts where you say, "how cool," through eBay.

Such as?

If you had planned ahead, there are sellers who will put pictures of children on a purse. That's the perfect gift for grandparents. You'd have to shop hard around your neighborhood to find that.

Try running the person's last name through the search engine. You might find some antique advertising. I once found for friends some antique beer glasses with their last name from a small brewery that's since gone out of business. They didn't even know it existed and wouldn't have without eBay.

What about shoppers who are worried about fraud?

You can't walk into a new store in your neighborhood and see comments from the last hundred or thousand people who were there. On eBay, only one feedback is allowed per shopper so they're legitimate numbers.

What about shipping?

It's the seller's duty to ship the item, but make sure that the seller charges extra for insurance. Getting an item that isn't what it was described is one thing, but if you saw a picture in the listing that was in one piece and it arrives in six that's another. FedEx and UPS include up to $100 in insurance, but they tend to be more expensive than the Postal Service.

What if you don't know what to get someone? Don't you miss browsing for a good idea with eBay?

Wandering around and browsing is what gets me in trouble. Make a list ahead of time on who you want to give presents to and what amount you want to spend. Any kind of shopping takes a bit of pre-planning so you don't shoot your budget in the foot.

I have a friend who loves her little dog, so I bought a pink fake fur stole and hat that cost $9. And for the man that smokes cigars, it's apparently the ultimate to light a cigar from a cedar stick. I bought 25 sticks from a seller in Estonia, and the whole thing cost $5 including shipping. In other words, don't limit your imagination.

What's something about shopping on eBay most people don't know?

Sharper image has an outlet on eBay. Oreck - the maker of vacuum cleaners - has an outlet, as does Hewlett Packard. They may be unsold merchandise or returns that have been checked over by their tech people.

You know that high-end FrancisFrancis Espresso machine? You can get the really fancy X5 machine from their eBay outlet store for half-price.

Listing Policy Clarifications: PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii Pre-Sales, and 'Canned Hunts'

2006-10-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ebay has just announced the following update to their listing policy.

Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii Pre-Sales

These highly-anticipated video game consoles will be in extremely short supply during their initial launch. During the launch of the similarly-released Microsoft Xbox 360, we saw a high number of well-intentioned sellers unable to meet their pre-sale obligations to buyers due to restricted supply, as well as an increase in fraudulent listings for these items. To prevent similar problems with these latest releases, the following restrictions have been placed on pre-sales for the PS3 and the Wii:

Only one of each console can be listed per eBay account prior to the launch of the console (PS3 is expected to be available on 11/17/06, Wii on 11/19/06)
The seller must only accept payment through PayPal, and have at least 50 feedback with a 98% or greater positive rating so that they qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection
The pre-sale item must be listed in the 3, 5, 7 or 10-day formats, and cannot use Buy It Now
The listing must include a photo of your pre-order receipt in the description.

"Canned Hunts" Restriction

After working with the Humane Society of the United States, we have decided that listings for canned hunts that guarantee the killing of an animal violate our Animal & Wildlife Products policy and will not be allowed.

Click here for the official announcement

Strange how EBay's Pre-Sale Listing policy seems contradictory to their policy that a seller must have the item in their possession at the time they start the listing. There are exceptions for people who use a dropshipper of course.

Selling when the market is hot

2006-10-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Frequently items on ebay hit a spike in bid prices. This is common when selling sports/collectible related merchandise for teams that are playing in the playoffs/post season and championship games.

Take a look at Detroit Tigers and St Louis Cardinals merchandise on ebay right now, it is going crazy. World Series apparel and other collectibles are selling higher on ebay than they are directly from MLB.com right now. People get caught up in the bidding frenzy and do not bother to consider how much the item costs new from the original supplier of even their local sporting goods store.

Other waves of bidding occur when events or people are hot items in the tabloids or other news outlets. Waiting to sell that autographed picture of a famous actor you got on vacation a few years ago? Wait until there are a few news stories making the headlines about them and post it on ebay.

For instance, if you have a that new hat you bought during the 1999 NHL Stanley Cup series to sell, do not sell it during the summer when the league is in their off-season, demand for that item will be at its lowest. Wait until the posts season begins and post it for sale with as much detail as possible and watch the bidding!

Take this into consideration when you have an item to sell.

DVD -- Buying & Selling on ebay

2006-10-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

Adam Ginsberg shows you how to make six figures from home in the powerful DVD that is both inspirational and educational.
With over 150 million customers and practically $0 start-up costs, eBay lets every little guy go head to head with global corporations. These days, whether you want to make a few extra bucks or start your own home-based business, all you need is a computer to turn that junk cluttering up the basement into cold, hard cash.

To see reviews of this DVD and ordering information at Amazon.com - Buying & Selling on eBay

Do your Christmas shopping on ebay

2006-10-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Each year, more and more people are doing their shopping online. If you do your homework and have the patience, you can do most if not all of it on ebay!

Some tips for striking deals while shopping on ebay:

1) Know how much items are at local retail stores or at your favorite online shopping websites. It is easy to get caught up on a nicely formatted ebay listing or in a bidding war with another bidder. Know exactly how much you will spend, including shipping charges.

2) Understand any and all additional charges. Be sure you know exactly how much shipping will be and look for any other charges some sellers add like handling fees and sales tax. I always email the seller BEFORE bidding and ask how much it will be to ship an item if it is not listed in the auction description.

3) Use different combinations of keywords in your search. It is a good idea to narrow your search criteria, but be careful not to go too narrow as you may miss some potential deals. Ebay has a nice page on keyword searching, I suggest reviewing it to get some tips. Ebay University

4) Include common mis-spellings in your keyword search. This is a method I use frequently, this is one of the easiest ways to strike a nice deal. Considering most ebay buyers just search for what they are looking for by using the properly spelled terms, many item with mis-spellings go overlooked and don't have the amount of bidders as it normally would.

5) Pay attention to the seller feedback. I know it isn't the best possible system out there today, but it is one of best ways to help determine if the seller is trustworthy.

6) Use Paypal. Payapal is free for buyers and there are alot of buyers that only accept Paypal as payment. It is the fastest most secure way to pay for items and can result in very quick turnaround on your transactions.

Using these tips as well as the learning tools on Ebay, you can do all of your Christmas shopping on the number one auction site available!

How I use paypal

2006-09-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Paypal is the greatest thing for online sales. It allows the average person to accept payments for a nominal fee and sell anything worldwide.

Since I started accepting payments using Paypal, I have always had a cautious eye. To help prevent any shady dealings between my Paypal account and my personal savings account, I opened a new savings account at my local bank. This new bank account is a simple savings account. This is the only account on file with Paypal, it is the account I use to transfer money to and from my Paypal account.

Lets say I withdrawal funds from my Paypal account into this savings account, after the transaction completes (usually three business days), I login to my bank and simply transfer the funds from my Paypal-specific savings account to my regular savings account.

This way in the event there is a person at Paypal that tries to clean house, they will only get the minimal amount I have lingering in this 'buffer' account.

I must add, I have NEVER had any issues using Paypal, nor to I ever expect to. There is no harm in being a little careful.

7 Steps to easier shipping on ebay

2006-09-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

Shipping can be one of the easiest portions of the transaction if you are prepared. I prefer to ship everything through the US Post Office via Priority Mail. Main reason, the boxes, tape & maililng labels are all free from the Post Office.

For packing materials, you can use newspaper or save the packaging materials from items you buy online or from the office.

Source: market-day.net - John Lenaghan

It took me a lot of trial and error to figure them out, but the following 7 steps will help make your job easier when it comes to shipping, as well as get rid of the stress of waiting for the item to be delivered to the buyer.

1. Professional Wrapping

When you wrap your item(s), wrap it professionally in nice, clean tissue paper. If breakable, be sure the item is wrapped with bubble wrap as well. Include a business card with your website information, name, address, or a printed statement showing the item(s) name, item(s) number, price paid, and a small hand-written note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

2. Insurance

Insurance is usually a good idea but in general, it should be an optional feature, with the decision left to the buyer. Remember two important things about insurance. First, insurance is VERY inexpensive. Therefore, in your description, you should state how much insurance would cost and recommend it. Second, you should also state in the description that if insurance is not purchased, you are not responsible for lost or damaged items.

3. Weighing

In order to provide accurate details and help in determining shipping costs, you need to know exact weights. The best option, which will save you many unnecessary trips to the post office, is to purchase a inexpensive quality scale for weighing your packages.

-- I priced postage scales and actually found the best value in the 10 pound max scale at your local US Post Office.

4. Postage

Instead of always running out of stamps or having to run to the post office to ship a smaller item, fill out the information located at stamps.com where you can print stamps directly from your home computer.

Another option is using Paypal to buy postage and print the shipping label all at once.

5. Post Office Freebies

If you use the Priority Mail option through your post office, they will provide all your supplies for free. This includes boxes, labels, and tape. Best of all, they deliver all these supplies directly to your door. Get them at your local post office or go to USPS.com request mailing supplies.

6. Ship-To Locations

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

7. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

Do yourself a favor and put these tips into action - you'll save yourself both time and hassles. Use the time you save to get more listings up, and watch your eBay income grow.

10 Tips for Selling Products on eBay

2006-09-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

September 11, 2006

This information was taken from an article in Top Tech News.

1. Set the starting price low (except for items you expect little interest in)

Low starting prices stimulate auction traffic and get early bidders psychologically invested in the auction, leading to more completed sales and higher final prices.

2. Use reserve prices with caution, especially for low-priced items

When using a low minimum bid, nervous sellers sometimes set secret reserve prices to make sure their item doesn't sell for less than the item's true value.

3. Use photos in your listings.

Listings with photos receive much more traffic than listings without photos.

4. Don't flood the market

If you're selling multiples of an item, space them out, rather then selling them all at once, says Ku -- that's simple supply and demand at work.

5. Spell-check

Misspellings decrease the amount of traffic an auction receives. Note for buyers, including misspellings in your search criteria can expose some auctions that are not seen by most shoppers. This can net some nice deals to the savvy buyer.

6. Hype it up

Ku and Murnighan suggest that inserting blatant puffery like "This shirt is hot!! A must-have for the summer!!" into low-starting-price auctions could stimulate interest better than more straightforward listings, and possibly even raise final sale prices.

7. Hold longer auctions

Researchers from the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan found that longer auctions tend to fetch higher prices.

8. Don't end auctions during "eBay happy hour"

Though it might seem counterintuitive, a University of Pennsylvania researcher found that auctions ending during peak hours on eBay are actually 9.6% less likely to result in a sale.

9. Charge for shipping -- but not too much

Bidders don't pay much attention to shipping costs when placing bids, say professors at UC Berkeley and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

10. Avoid negative feedback

A Bentley College researcher found that sellers who have even a few positive reports are more likely than sellers who have no history to receive bids and to have their auctions result in a sale.

Click HERE to see the entire article

What is Paypal?

2006-09-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

According to the paypal website, PayPal, owned by eBay, is a global online payment system. PayPal is a convenient, easy-to-use, and secure way for individuals and businesses to send and receive money online for goods, services, charitable donations, and so forth. It's also a full-service operation that provides front-end and back-end solutions to increase growth and revenue for merchants.

Paypal offers a very convenient way for sellers to accept instant payments in all forms, cash, check and even credit cards, for a nominal fee. This allows sellers to received immediate payment for their items which helps to ensure a quick and secure transaction.

Paypal offers a few types of account options which are perfect for any type on online business, from the ebay seller that posts items for sale once in a while to full shopping cart systems for your online business. Here is an example of an online retailer that uses the Paypal shopping cart system - Truck Techniques LLC

ebay resources

2006-09-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Whether you are new to ebay or a veteran seller, there are a few resources on ebays website that can be assistance. Ebay calls it their Community Resouces

Here you can find the answers to any question related to buying and selling on ebay. From fees to strategys, fellow ebay members as well as ebay staff members logon to help one another.

I urge first time sellers to visit the discussion boards and search for answers and post questions you may have.

What is ebay?

2006-09-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Ebay is the self proclaimed 'World's Online Marketplace'. It was founded on September 4th, 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, a computer programmer. Rumors state it was originally created to help Pierre's fiancee trade her PEZ candy dispensers with others around the world. This was found to be fabricated in 2002 in The Perfect Store: Inside eBay a book written by Adam Cohen and confimed by ebay.

You can read a very detailed listing of ebays history on Wikipedia.org