Auction Power Guide

Selling on eBay is perhaps one of the easiest ways to start an online business, but most people do not know what they can sell or where to find supplies. The next problem many people have is getting their items properly packaged and shipped. Here is a common example …

For an example we’ll use Ben and Jason. They each like to sell on eBay for some extra money. First we’ll begin with Ben. Since he gets most of his items by going to garage sales, he gets up early Saturday morning, grabs a cup of coffee and rushes out to his truck and drives from one garage sale to the next, just like he has been doing for the last 2 Saturdays. But this time Ben was successful and found an old knife dated in 1868 – and he only paid $12!

Ben was excited as he drove home thinking about the huge profit he would make selling it on eBay. As soon as he got home he began taking pictures with his digital camera until he finally got a perfect quality photo. Ben then uploaded the photo to his computer. He then had to write his sales advertisement. It was late when Ben finally got his knife on eBay and ready to sell. A week later his knife sold for $83. Wow, was Ben Happy! Now, he had to carefully package the knife with the customers correct shipping address and take it to the post office, meanwhile, getting stuck in the rush hour traffic. Ben is frustrated but after a long wait he gets his item off with a nice $71. profit! But doesn’t that sound like a lot of work and hassle?

Now, let’s see how Jason is doing. Jason sleeps as long as he wants, which is usually around 11:30 on Saturdays. He gets up and prepares a nice pot of coffee and taking it, goes into the livig room to watch some cartoons with the kids. When the show is over he gets on the internet with another cup of hot coffee and logs onto his eBay Wholesale Suppliers – Drop ship Account and finds some products that are hot on the market. He decides on laptop with a great discounted price of $549 which was his wholesale price. But wait … Jason does not even have to pay for this until it is sold! Now, all Jason has to do is to download the custom photos that are offered by his wholesale supplier. He then copies and pastes the custom sales advertisement, also supplied by the company. Jason is now ready to launch his eBay auction.

Asset #1: A Dutch Auction

Oh, there is a special. His wholesale supplier has several of these laptops available. So Jason decides to list 5 on the dutch auction. Ebay’s Dutch Auction allows you to sell as many of 1 item as you like, so Jason hits the Dutch auction button and his sale is launched for 5 laptops. That’s it, now Jason goes and relaxes with his (still hot) cup of coffee! At the end of a 7 day waiting period, at which time the auction has ended, Jason has sold all 5 laptops for $825 each. That is a whopping $276. profit for each laptop. This is all Jason has to do: After his 5 customers have sent their payments to his paypal account, he sends the addresses of the 5 customers with payment of $549 x 5 = $2745. Jason pays his wholesale supplier with just the click of a button through his paypal account. Jason has now completed his job which took him about 30 minutes of his time and leaving him with a pure $1380 profit! Jasons Wholesale Supplier will ship the laptops to the customers. Jason works smart while Ben works hard. It is clear that using wholesale suppliers who will also dropship would be one secret to success as an ebay seller.

Asset #2: Be Professional

Having a professional site for your ebay auctions is much the same as a business card. Your ebay auction site will show your visitors everything you have to offer and they can see that you have high quality merchandise. It will be worth your time to learn how to be a professional ebay seller, because if your listing looks appealing and professional it will entice your visitors to stay on your site longer which will result in more bids and a higher price which = more profits.

Asset #3: Follow Up for More Money

I’m sure you have heard that before, but it is a very crucial part of your success as an ebay seller! After a week or two, send your customers a follow up email, asking if they are happy with their purchase and inviting them to view an added item on your auction, making sure the item is somehow related to their recent purchase. Better yet is to send them a free digital product relating to their purchase as a “thank you”. This will make them want to buy from you again instead of buying from someone new.

Asset #4: World Wide Selling

Many ebay sellers neglect the aspect of selling worldwide. First, check with your wholesale suppliers and see what countries they ship to and find out the cost of shipping overseas. If everything looks good, you should list your auction international. This will ultimately result in many more sales because buyers are looking for “worldwide shipping”.

Asset #5: Stand Out From The Crowd

You should look at other auctions similar to what you have and make your listing “unique”. Dare to be different! The first thing is that you want to have a picture in the photo gallery. It doesn’t cost much more and is definitely worth the bit extra. Searchers almost always ignore listings without a photo, so this is VERY important! Next is the importance of your title. The title is all that ebay “spiders” when someone searches for a “specific” product. The idea is to make sure you use your main keywords in your title. Just take care though, because “key word stuffing” is something that ebay does not like! Do some creative thinking and prepare 2 or 3 different titles and test them to see which ones work the best.

Emily Nolt
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/ebay-selling-5-assets-for-success-701699.html