Auction Power Guide

At the beginning of the year I started up a small home business purchasing and re-selling consumer electronics products. Business license and registered with the state (Georgia) as DBA. I am a sole proprietor and the only one involved in the business.

January and February have been kind of rocky. I was learning the best and cheapest ways to ship, the quickest ways to test my products (stuff like memory cards coming from wholesale suppliers that could unknowingly be selling fake/misrepresented cards to companies, etc.) I sell on Ebay only, and I only accept Paypal as a payment method. So every sale, sale date, product description, Ebay fees, Paypal fee, date sold, etc. are all there. When I was a little more naive, I unknowingly flipped some products before I knew of a solid way to test them, so I got some returns and had to refund. Long story short, January and the beginning of February turned into an accounting nightmare in regards to logging everything. I utilize the "Outright" program on Ebay, which pulls all of my Paypal data. So it basically organizes everything, tells me the final profit, the total fees/business expenses for each month and year, the product description, date sold, sale price, Paypal fees, Ebay fees…all of that. The only thing it doesn’t log is the original purchase price and purchase date. I’m pretty much screwed for January and February in regards to proper documentation in regards to bookkeeping, but I do have the final profit amount for both months, all of the expenses and fees, payments received, etc. and I will just have to eat the taxes on the purchase amount vs. re-sold price. So taxing the whole instead of only the profit.

Is there a better way to keep track of this? I did make a spreadsheet in January. It has the item description, purchase date, purchase price, purchase tax paid, purchase shipping fee (I buy all of my inventory online and get it shipped to me from wholesale companies using my tax id), resale date, resale price, shipping fee, Georgia sales tax charged (if they were in my state – I only had one sale to Georgia during January and February and I have logged and paid taxes to the state on that), Ebay Listing/Insertion Fee, Ebay Final Value Fee, Ebay Final Value Fee on Shipping, Paypal Fee and then Finally Profit/Loss at the end.

Yeah, that’s a lot of fields to log for each transaction. Outright seems to do a really good job with keeping up with everything and letting me just print out all fees and sales with proper dates and descriptions. The only thing it doesn’t keep up with is the purchase price. I try to print out the invoice each time I buy something to re-sell and staple that to the printed paypal transaction paper for each transaction, when I have sold it. Is there a good way to keep this from being too tedious? We’re talking probably…$4,000 a month in sales in February. January was rather slow.

At tax time, Outright supposedly makes it easy to just see the total profit, total fees/deductions and such. But it doesn’t have an option to compare my purchase price per item to the re-sale price. So I could print that stuff out…but I’d end up paying taxes on everything for the whole year as a $0 purchase price value.

Any advice from sellers? Apart from "Get a CPA to do it all for you"…I wouldn’t make anything if I did that.

I keep all my items, prices, descriptions, final payouts, etc listed in an excel workbook. It does my calculations for me once I put the formulas in and I have a nice setup now after using it for a while. I don’t have to pay any fees to use it and I’m just very organized and attentive to it. If your business is so large that you can not handle the books on your own, I suggest hiring an employee. It shouldn’t take much training to keep good records. Just discipline.

The internet is probably the only place where bad business can stay in business. Anyone with convincing writing can sell products and services over the internet, and despite customer dissatisfaction, they can keep right on selling. EBay auction software is not any different.

Any basically skilled software writer can come up with auction gallery software that organizes your inventory. One skilled copywriter can make it sound really good and you end up with a $150 spreadsheet for the help www.auction-entrepreneur-kit.com. In most cases, auction gallery software is a case of buyer beware, as there are few qualified review websites out there to really help you determine which software will live up to its promises.

One of the first things to evaluate is the auction gallery software’s website. While it is true that good products can be offered on super flashy websites that make your eyes hurt, most of your professional auction gallery software is really going to come from professional looking websites.

When someone has a truly innovative product to offer, they don’t need a lot of flash and hype. Simply offering the product is enough. When navigating auction gallery websites, images count, as doe’s content. Read the website. EBay auction software should be able to provide you with more than basic organizational tools; it should be able to offer you a cutting edge advantage over the competition.

EBay auction software should make your life easier in all aspects of eBay selling. You can put together your own spreadsheet in twenty minutes. What services does the auction gallery website offer that you can’t do on your own, or would simply be too taxing to do on your own?

EBay auction software websites, or auction gallery websites, are all bound to make promises. After all, you are there because you want them to deliver something. Are their promises based on any actual statistics or do they just believe their eBay selling software is the best thing since last month’s bidding war?

If you can’t find evidence of actual statistics on their website, move on. EBay auction software providers that can’t put any proof behind their pudding aren’t worth the time to continue investigating.

While looking over their website, does the eBay auction software you are considering have any room to grow? Some sites will send you a CD or allow for an instant download, but do they ever have the potential to keep up with changes in the marketplace? Can their eBay selling software be upgraded as eBay improves? Any eBay auction software which threatens to remain static is not a good investment.

Let’s not forget about traffic for the help www.mining-auction-gold.com. When considering and comparing eBay selling software, let’s not forget that you can be the most organized eBay seller on the planet with some of the most incredible inventory, but without the ability to generate more traffic you will be staring at your awesome inventory and an empty bank account.

That’s no fun. There is eBay auction software out there that can help generate traffic. The auction gallery you are considering needs to be able to assist you in generating this extra traffic, as without the traffic your eBay business is nothing more than a labor of love.

Cross promotion is a key factor in creating eBay success with eBay auction software. When visiting an auction software provider, most don’t even mention cross promotion, let alone its necessary value in creating strong online auction store pages.

Most auction software provider websites are simple promotional websites developed on fads and projections. Successful eBay auction software is going to prove to you that they can help you in getting your eBay business running at top speed.

When hitting the internet in search of eBay auction software, having a basic idea of what you are looking for cuts down on valuable time and saves valuable money. There is not an auction gallery or eBay auction software provider on the planet that will do absolutely everything for you. This is, after all, your eBay business. You do have to put in some work and effort.

Of course an eBay auction software program that can give you more bangs for your effort is a valuable tool. Any auction gallery website that is promising that you aren’t required to lift a finger is really promoting a get rich quick scam, and we all know how well those turn out.

ravi singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/one-of-the-first-things-to-evaluate-is-the-auction-gallery-softwares-website-724793.html

Making money isn’t an easy thing to do these days. Many people want to turn their unused items into extra money, and eBay fills that need. Selling on Ebay does require some effort but is no means that hard. Keep reading to learn the basic steps you need to start your own eBay business.

These tips are for the beginners who would like to earn some money on eBay. The nessary components to have your own online store are really not that demanding. All you need to start is a computer, Internet access, a digital camera, and of course, products to sell.

You can sell used or like new items you find at garage sales, in your garage and so on. You can sell new items that you find at discount prices from liquidators, dollar stores, store closings and clearance sales. You may be even luckier if you can find a supplier who will make you a deal.

Skills for the Online Business World

Skills for Marketing
You can develop marketing skills as you educate yourself on how to sell various items on eBay. Reading some marketing books and articles to help yourself learn how to sell things is a good idea, but you can also learn from observing other successful entrepreneurs online. Take time to read and plan out your strategy. You will thank yourself later for taking this effort now.

Getting Organized
You need to maintain good records of your sales, and not just for tax purposes. You need to be able to keep track of which buyers have paid, which have received their items, and so on. Setting up a spreadsheet with all the pertinent information should help keep your business under control. You can also take advantage of third party payment systems online. There are options to choose from; however, they charge for about one percent of the item price as a fee. The small fee is nothing compared with your clients purchasing your items with ease.

The Basics of HTML
To ensure that your auctions eye-catching and appealing, you will want to know some basic HTML skills. There are a lot of easy and basic tutorials offered online. You can begin by searching for html tutorials, and then you can choose which one you like for your convenience.

Getting Started on eBay

Start by choosing a certain type of product to specialize in (for example, toys, clothes, etc.). That way, you can become an authority in those products and how to sell them effectively. You may decide to expand your product line at a later date.

Setting up an account is easy. Register an eBay user ID and you’re on your way. Make sure to read the eBay selling rules thoroughly and check out all the tips eBay offers along the way.

To start, put up only a few items and don’t saturate your auctions with too many of the exact same item. The primary goal is to sell your item at the highest price. If you are selling five of the same items, it may be more difficult for you to get a high price. Test out various selling methods and find out what works best for your particular items.

Ideas for Online Marketing
Promote your business with your own personal website. Your site can be a webpage just to promote your eBay business, or it can be an online store that links to your auctions. It gives you a more credible presence on the Internet and gives your clients a better sense of who you are. Create a mailing list. Mail out an informative newsletter on a regular basis to your subscribers. Don’t forget to promote your auctions in the newsletter too.

Other Auction Sites
Don’t limit your business to eBay. EBay is only one of the many auction sites available, but it is by far the largest. However, eBay’s fees can prove to be expensive after awhile. It may be more cost effective to sell your items on other auction sites, and you may face less competition, particularly if you are selling items at a fixed price. Other auction sites might be a more lucrative opportunity for you to buy items to sell for higher prices elsewhere.

All you need is some motivation and patience to watch your hard-earned money grow through on eBay business.

Keep in mind, though, you may also have fewer buyers for your products and may have a lower selling price. You will need to determine which is the most efficient way to sell your items.

Charles Taylor
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/ebay-tips-for-beginners-102845.html