Auction Power Guide

How do I make a profit selling on ebay? I have plenty of stuff to sell. And please don’t tell me to read those books.

To do this, you should take good, clear pictures, and learn to write nice descriptions with all the important details.

If i see two people on ebay selling the same thing, i will almost always bid higher for the item that has the best, clearest pictures and a good description that’s not full of crap or disinformation or lies or fluff.

You probably should NOT sell your best items until you get practice on selling, and get some feedback built up.

Many years ago, i tried to sell an engagement ring and i only had 2 feedbacks. People would email me and demand that i use Escrow, and some even told me that they would bid if i had higher feedback score, etc. I ended up selling it for a lot less than I should have, because i was inexperienced.

SO, sell a few books and trinkets first to get the hang of eBAy. In the mean time,learn what the value of your better items is.

The best tool is to use eBay itself. Look under the completed listings section (Advanced Search) and see what similar items actually sold for.

Don’t outright copy people’s listings, because that’s illegal. But it’s perfectly ok to learn from them.

Now, if you want to truly make profits – that is.. buy things cheap and sell them for more than you paid for them.. the key is your BUYING skills. Buying and sourcing really has nothing to do with eBay. Ebay just gives you the platform from which to sell your stuff. The buying part is up to you. After you sell all your stuff from your home, the next step is to learn how to source products. And make sure you only sell things you’re knowledgeable about.
Sourcing ideas are garage sales, auctions, even retail stores if the item is marked down significantly. Selling things to foreigners is a good way to increase profits. There is more risk in shipping stuff to ENgland or Sweden or Germany, but these Europeans like American stuff and sometimes pay a lot for it. But sell things Domestically first, to get the hang of it. Then move worldwide.

Also, sometimes you can use eBay to buy stuff to resell on eBay. But usually you can’t do this profitably until you have lots of experience, and you are buying from someone who is not experienced.

Finally, you should learn what eBay’s fees are. They definitely eat into your profits, and are approximately 9 to 15% all together, including PayPal fees.
So, if you sell something for 50 dollars, eBay and PayPal will probably take up to 7 dollars right off the top 🙁
So, if you paid 43 dollars for that item and sold it for 50, you didn’t make ANY profit. Ebay took it all 🙁

Finally (again) – eventually you will need to get your business and tax paperwork filed. If you sell one or two things a year, no one will care. But if you sell hundreds of items a year, you will be owing taxes. And of course that eats into profits too, for Uncle Sam and your State.

i have an account already on ebay and have been buying stuff for 3 months on there i think. i want to start selling on there and i would sign up for paypal using my debit card. after i sign up for paypal what do i do to start selling on ebay?

btw, how much does ebay take away from you when you sell something? or when do they take away money and how much?

Read the "how to start selling" tutorial on Ebay would be my advice. There is a lot you need to learn and easy mistakes to avoid making. The sellers fees are listed clearly there, it depends on your starting price, whether you use Buy It Now or auction format etc. You may have to pay an insertion fee? Definitely a Final Value Fee (depends on the final selling price) and a fee to Paypal for accepting a payment. Bear these things in mind when selling :-

See how much similar items are selling for by "watching" one in My Ebay and check after the auction ends. It might not be worth your while bothering for low value items once the fees are paid.

Take a really good clear photograph to upload, don’t copy off the internet.

Weigh the item in its packaging before you work out the P&P, packaging can weigh heavy.

Heavy items do not sell well, people won’t pay a fortune for P&P so think before you sell esp. books which can be quite heavy.

Describe any defects/faults in full it saves having to issue a refund later on to an unhappy buyer.

Always get proof of posting stamped at the post office (this is free, not the same as registered post) because buyers can sometimes turn round and say an item never arrived. If you can scan/email proof of posting to them and have a clear refund policy stated on the auction this takes the wind out of their sales.

Always send expensive items by registered post only, choose that option from the list and sort out how much this is before you list the item.

Good communication is the key on Ebay, communicate with your buyers, answer questions promptly and keep them informed when you post the item.

No false advertisements, please, just tips from real people on how to sell your stuff. I know the basics and have been doing it for a while, but I was wondering if anyone has any "tricks of the trade" so to speak.

Give really good descriptions, measurements, and details on your product.

Always have a photo on the listing page.

Don’t have a false low price then a huge handling fee on the shipping. Do actual shipping costs, and ship fast, within a day of the auction ending.

Always leave feedback and ask for it too.

If you ever have a problem customer, do your best to solve it and make them happy. The feedback in the long run will make a difference in your sales credibility.

Combine shipping. When you are doing your listings, do a bunch that would appeal to the same customer at once, and mention in your description that you have other similar items, and you can combine shipping, and give a really good deal. I offer small or lightweight items for just $1.00 more per auction when combined with the large or heavy ones, and ship them in the same box.

Get free packaging materials. The post office has free priority mail packaging, and your local recycling center would be thrilled to give you shredded paper, styrofoam pellets, cardboard boxes and anything else they have that you could use.

Research a little before pricing your items, and see what they are selling for. List yours slightly below the average, and you will probably get more action on it and end up with a better price overall than if you price it too high to begin with.

Use brand names, model numbers or other hot keywords in your title. For example, we just sold a bunch of Corvette parts and accesories, and one of the descriptive phrases was C3, which referred to the era of the body style or something. They all sold. For antiques, use both descriptive phrases on the general look and style, as well as specifics that are imprinted on the item. For example, Haviland Limoges Pink Roses White China Teapot with gold. That says what it is for the collectors, as well as coming up for someone in general looking for pink rose china or haviland teapot or Limoges gold.

If you are buying stuff to sell on Ebay, always look for brand names, and try to keep your merchandise in a certain catagory. To see what is really selling now, Ebay has a "hot selling item" list that is updated monthly. Some things are obvious in seasons, you will get a better price on a winter coat in January than you will in July. Christmas items should be listed so the ending gives plenty of time for shipping in time for the holiday.

Good luck, and happy selling. ITs fun!

I am going to put up some old clothes on Ebay soon and was wondering what should I call my listing.
The clothes are mostly a mixed lot of teen clothes and a handbag.
Some of the brands are Von Dutch. Valley Girl, Supre, Jeans West, and so on.

I was just wondering what title would attract you to these items?

I would try to put some of the more prominent brand names in the title:

Von Dutch. Valley Girl, Supre, Jeans West Clothes

You are limited, of course, in the length of a title but don’t worry. Prospective buyers can search all listings by title as well as the text in the descriptions in one search. So it really makes little difference.

I don’t know if you are more interested in making a decent profit (read return) on these clothes or a busy person who wants to be ‘done with it’ in one sale with little or no concern for profit/return. The point is that grouped items in one listing will NOT get you as much $ as if they were listed separately.

More expensive (higher priced), similar items are best sold individually to maximize profits. There are ebay ‘vultures’ who just love to swoop down on similarly grouped items in one listing. When they win these auctions, they turn around and sell the items individually and, in most cases, get one and a half to 2 times and sometimes three times what they paid for them on an average item basis. I know this works. When I had more time (read unemployed), I was one of these ‘vultures.’ This is one of those situations where the parts are worth more than the whole.

I am not planning to open an eBay store. Just wondering if there are tricks to selling on eBay that I don’t know about. Like how to increase traffic to my items, how to advertise, and how to increase bidding. Most useful tips get 10 points.
I have sold a couple of items on eBay but usually not a lot of people bid or put on watch list. I eneded up with just 2 bids and sell for very low price. I wonder how I can get more people to see my ads in the first place.

One great way to attract buyers is to have a low starting bid. I typically start the item at the price I paid for it (I usually rummage through thrift stores and dollar stores for my items – ones that I know could sell for more). For instance, if I find an NFL jersey for $5… I list it for $6, which covers my ebay fees & paypal fees, plus my purchase price. $6 is INCREDIBLY low for a football jersey!

However… you also have to find items that people WANT. Sports items are great… IF the team is doing well or has a strong "die hard" fan base. Children’s clothing also does well (name brands, especially in bigger "lots"), newly released CD’s & movies, some pet items (dog jackets, for example), etc. If you see something you think might sell (that is guaranteed to BE there later)… go look it up on ebay and see if others are getting bids on similar items. I used to just think up as many things to search for as I could and see what did best.

Another big thing is to offer low (or free) shipping. You can either work the shipping into your starting bid price (although that costs more in fees), or just charge people the actual cost to ship. You’ll want to use a shipping calculator through ebay though as most people want to know in advance how much shipping will be, since there’s tons on ebay who will charge $30 to ship a pair of pants or something!

Anyway… other than that… I guess try to have a variety… and if you find something that sells well… buy a BUNCH of it to sell! 🙂 I found Barbie dog jackets on clearance for a dollar one time… bought 35 of them and made several hundred dollars on them! Ya just gotta have an eye for what sells… oh… and make your title catchy and make sure it states what’s being sold.

They don’t ever accept a best offer. I have submitted many offers recently(last couple days) to about 4 to 5 different people all having the same product. I offer 6 to 8 dollars less than the buy it now price and they all decline my offer and offer me a counter offer of like 40 to 50 cent less than their Buy It Now price.
Anyone else think thats just rediculous? Whats your opinion?

All depends on what exactly the item is and how much they are asking $6.00 to $8.00 off can be alot. Also, if the seller has previously sold similar items for around the same price, they simply won’t take below $1.00 or $2.00 off as they know that when the right buyer comes along they can get closer to the price they are asking. Best offer feature is better used when purchasing multiple quantities or lots, as the seller is then more willing to lower the asking price if they are getting a large sale from a buyer. Pretty much all depends on the seller and item/items involved.

I desperately need to make some money to pay bills, but can’t find a job that will accomidate my physical health problems. I have an appointment with disability job referral services, but they warned me it’ll take a while to go through the processes and find a job. I need to find some creative way of pulling in money.

Out of desperation, I’ve decided to try buying garage sale and swap meet items and selling them on Ebay. It probably won’t be enough to live off of, but it’s better than nothing, and worth spending $10-20 at the swap meet to try it out.

I’m good at finding treasures at places like that, so which items are doing especially well on Ebay? Any tips on how to sell with more success would also be appreciated.

P.S. Since this place is a cesspool of spam, here’s a warning. Anyone that posts a response with a link to a "great work at home oppurtunity" will be reported immediately.

None of the previous answerers have really addressed your question. So I’ll try, though I don’t have a complete answer either.

How about doing a bit of simple research. Before you spend any money buying things, go out to some garage sales one day and make a few notes on what you might buy, with prices. They go back home and go into Ebay and find similar items for sale. You’ll know right away whether you’d have made a profit. It would only take a couple hours to do that bit of research and would give you more confidence in your plan.

My brother is always on the lookout for free books. Sometimes he gets them when libraries discard old books. Also, Craigslist.com has a ‘free stuff’ section where he finds them. There are lots of sources. He tells me that if it’s hardback he’ll pay for it, but not more than $1.

Then he resells these books on Amazon and Half.com (part of Ebay). He has made around $3000 per year for the last several years, in spare time.

Sorry I can’t help more. Good luck to you.

I see many powersellers on eBay and I am wondering how they can get so many sales online. I want to know how these people get so much stock do they have contact with manufacturers? If I want to start selling say, electronics, where can I get things in bulk to sell on eBay?

Here are a few steps you should take before you consider starting an Ebay business:

1. Research Ebay for products that are selling well. Doing this research upfront will provide you with the essential knowledge of how start a Ebay business.
2. Scour your belongings for things that you don’t need or use. Everything is a potential product that you could be selling to make money from Ebay. Although you may want to ultimately sell your own products, selling some of your belongings that you no longer want is a good way to get started on Ebay. It will give you the experience to allow you to move on to bigger and better things.
3. See how much every item you decide on selling is listed for. This will give you an idea of how much you should sell your item for. Decide on the lowest price you will allow for your item. Even if other people are paying a certain amount for others similar items, don’t list your item for the same price. Some people may be willing to pay this much, but they don’t necessarily want to start bidding at that price.
4. Join Ebay Now For Free if you don’t have an account yet.
5. Setup an account with Paypal. A Paypal account is free to open and allows you to send and receive money to other Paypal account holders and accept credit card payments.
6. Learn about the costs of selling on Ebay. You will have to spend a small amount of money before you start making money from Ebay. There is a listing fee, a final value fee, and if you use Paypal for your venture you will pay a fee there too. Learn what those fees are before you list your item so you will know your costs and your profit.
7. Read Ebay’s Terms of Agreement, so understand exactly what you can or cannot do or sell.
8. Consider using a Drop Shipping company.

When i first started selling at auction on my eBay store, i made god sales. Now i have not had sales for a while. I did not change much to affect the market and the goods are still the same. I sell alot of imports from Africa and am thinking of adding other marchendise but am not sure yet. I have the inventory but thought of sterting a difrrent store but am alowed only one on eBay, should i try yahoo auctions?. Am desperate and looking for anyone with a solutin or tips or any way to help, i will post a few links here to help get to my page. Please help. Size enlargement.

Competition may be why your sales have dropped. Also the time of year?

Check the key words you are using. If there is a way to check the most popular selling items on ebay – check that out to see if any terms of those are similar to items you sell.

Also – look for similar items to yours and see how much they are selling for.

Good luck!

When you first look into the numerous eBay business opportunities websites, you may feel that it’s too big, complicated and confusing. You might even believe that only Internet professionals or Internet veterans can figure out its complexities and find an eBay business opportunity. Fortunately, this assumption isn’t true.

If you take advantage of an eBay business opportunity, you may come to realize that even Internet novices can easily learn and succeed. In fact, most eBay business opportunities are conceived out of resourcefulness and not out of Internet intricacy. People with just about any Internet skill level can earn substantial profits just by taking the time to find the right eBay business opportunity.

EBay is constantly expanding and improving. Continuous changes are implemented. For every improvement on an existing eBay business opportunity or newly introduced scheme, the basics are always outlined. You are sure to find that it’s fairly effortless and relatively simple. Even more, you don’t have to take tremendous risks when you try out an eBay business opportunity, whether as seller or buyer.

It is understandable why people around the world look into eBay business opportunities. There are chances of succeeding and earning impressive profits on eBay with less risk and cost involved.

Regularly, there is an ingenious eBay business opportunity that’s waiting to be discovered. One method can even translate to a large sum of money in a matter of three days.

This eBay business opportunity springs up when you buy an item on eBay that had resale rights. Then, negotiate an agreement with an eBay power seller.

Here’s the scenario: there is a popular product up for sale at $10 and then, suddenly reduced to $5. While this sudden reduction could be reason for caution, if this offer is given to you by someone you’ve already bought similar items from before, you can be confident that the offer can be trusted.

This half-price offer may be available for only 48 hours, though. This limited time is because the person offering the half-priced item has an agreement with the seller. The condition for the sale is to offer half price for a period of 2 days only.

So, the outcome is that the half price offer is an opportunity too lucrative to ignore. In the scenario, 3 out of 10 people offered this eBay business opportunity decide to buy. This percentage of involvement is consistent, every time such eBay business opportunity is offered!

For example, let’s assume that 200 people are offered this eBay business opportunity. Add it up: multiply a third of 200 by $5, then expect to find that amount in your bank account in a matter of 3 days!

That’s not even all of it. Imagine the item has a higher price. Even if it is slashed by half, it would still get you generous profits once you see the lump sum on the bank.

Are you excited yet? This eBay business opportunity, like most others, works fairly simply. You could apply this idea to products that are especially on demand and highly desirable. Also, find out if someone else offers the same item for a lower price.

The next step is to send an email to an eBay power seller or someone you know with a credible eBay shop. Be sure to stipulate that if they will offer your item to their past buyers at half price, you’ll go for 50-50 profit sharing. But be certain they are selling similar products you are offering. Doing so will help them take an interest and find that the eBay business opportunity you’re offering them is hard to pass up.

Settle issues with payments by creating a free web site and following its instructions. You can also set up a PayPal link in it. Once someone agrees to add your item to their listed items, send them a link to your temporary website. The power sellers will then send emails that include your temporary half-price offer and your website link to all of their past buyers. In order to inspire some urgency to buy, the email focuses on the fact that the eBay business opportunity being offered to them is limited and gives the offer’s expiration date.

Consequently, after the 2-day period, you close down the temporary website, evaluate your sales and show it to the power seller you worked with. As promised, pay the 50% of the earnings to the power seller’s Paypal account. The other half of the earnings is yours to keep.

There you have it, another eBay business opportunity that’s sure to provide positive results and a tidy profit. The key to your success is to take advantage of the opportunity and never be intimidated.

Lisa Moore
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/unbeatable-ebay-business-opportunities-100043.html