Auction Power Guide

I want to try to work part time selling on ebay. Does anyone that does this have any ideas for a beginner?

Hi – I am an established seller on eBay. eBay has been my full time job for 4 years, and I have sold over 12,000 items.

Many books on eBay selling tell you what days and times to post your listings. In my experience, anything can sell at any time. I list 10 new items every day. I have sales every day. I have store inventory sales, and I get best offers every day. Even holidays. Even in the middle of the night while I am sleeping.

If you offer international shipping, people around the world can bid on or buy your items even while you sleep. There are bidders and buyers in every time zone around the world.

I don’t know where the information about “best time to list” is coming from. I sell 75% of my items on auction within 7 days, and the remaining 25 % is sold through store inventory at a fixed price or by best offer within 30 days. I must be doing something right.

I have not been able to identify any patterns on buying habits. I just keep listing, and the items keep selling. I have sold Christmas items in July, shorts in February, bathing suits in December, and cashmere sweaters in June.

Don’t overlook holidays. Think about it – not everyone is with family and friends on holidays. Businesses are closed and there is nothing to do. Some folks are at home alone, or at work with nothing to do, goofing around on the computer. They may surf over to eBay for a look. I sell just as much on Christmas, New Year’s, and Thanksgiving as I do on any other day. Some people are just plain addicted to eBay and will compulsively shop every day if given the chance. Provide items for them to buy!

Please email me directly if you have specific questions and I can share more information with you.

Regards-

suzanne@ebaysellingcoach.com

I have been selling our squeaky 2 shoes on ebay for along time. I have hardly any bids on my stuff right now. Does anyone think there is a better day to start an auction, like a certain day to start Monday versus Saturday, or is it all the same. sometimes i do great and have tons of bids and sales, but right now, so slow. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
ok thanks, is there a best time in the day to end?

You’re working backwards. You want to concentrate on when the auction ends, not begins. This is because Ebay shows auctions that are closing the soonest before auctions ending later. So you want your auction to end when the most people are on the site. I found this was typically Saturday or Sunday.

There is a variety of ways to make a substantial income on eBay. Here are the best ways to find product to sell on eBay.

#1 Sales and Clearance

Most people start here with sales items and clearance. There are a few great ways to find product on sale that will make you a profit on eBay. First you want to make sure that the product is marked down at least 50% to allow yourself a decent profit after eBay fees. People will generally purchase an item on eBay for 30% below manufacture’s suggested retail price.

Department stores are a great place to find product to sell. Quite often department stores will have days where there is an additional 30-40% off sale items which is the best time to buy up for eBay since quite often this product is still current too.

Another way to get a great deal is to talk to a manager about getting a discount on entire clearance rack in a clothing store such as Abercrombie. Quite often they will give you an additional 50% off the sale price if you will take the entire rack off their hands.

Occasionally you can find hot sellers at discount stores like Big Lots so keep your eyes open.

#2 Product Available In Your Area, But Not Everywhere

You may have stores in your area that people do not have in other parts of the country such as outlet stores. For example, a top seller on eBay is Coach Handbags. The only place you can get Coach Handbags at a price discounted enough to make a profit on eBay is from a Coach outlet.

Specialty chain stores are also great sellers such as Pottery Barn clearance items. Many parts of the country do not have access to a Pottery Barn except through the catalogue and the miss out on in store sales.

#3 Classified Ads in Your Area

The first time we tried this we found a brand new sealed-in-box laser copier for $200 and we saw that it was going for $400 at Office Depot so we knew we could bank on this item. We hurried over and picked up the copier. The guy selling the copier could sense our excitement and made a comment that he might be underselling the machine. We sold the copier for $380 on eBay. Nice profit for an hour of work!

#4 Wholesalers

Once you start growing your business on eBay it will come to a point where purchasing from wholesalers makes the most sense because you can set up a standard operating procedure for your business that will keep it organized as you grow. Finding 10-20 top sellers on eBay through a wholesaler could easily ensure a six figure income without having to run around town and constantly create new ads. Pick a niche that you are interested in and that sells on eBay, and then look for wholesalers in that category.

You will need to be set up as a business to start purchasing from wholesalers with a valid EIN and Resellers Certificate.

#5 Buying Products Directly From the Manufacturers

China is by far the largest resource for product directly from the manufacturer. It can seem overwhelming purchasing from China for the first time. A good place to start to find product and manufacturers are the following sites:

www.Made-In-China.com

www.Alibaba.com

Just contact the company through email that you are interested in their product and they will guide you through the whole process. Usually there are large minimum order requirements, but most companies are willing to allow a few sample orders so you can test the market for the product before investing thousands of dollars. These companies will also guide you through shipping and customs. Be careful buying known brand names since many are fake. Ordering from China is best for product where people aren’t sold by the brand name but the function of the product.

Good Luck selling one eBay!

Ben Stevens

OnlineInstantProfits.com

© Online Instant Profits

Ben Stevens
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/top-5-ways-to-find-product-that-sell-on-ebay-91717.html

To make the most of the holiday selling season on eBay, you need to understand the current eBay marketplace. Market research can help you figure out everything from the best time of day to sell an item to the best auction title keywords, the best starting price, and the best listing duration, so you can pull in the highest possible profits.

EBay offers some free, as well as paid, tools to help with that research. And companies that buy eBay’s licensed data, like Terapeak, HammerTap, and mPire, offer even more advanced capabilities, detailed data, and in-depth analysis.

4 Seasonal Strategies

Uncovering the best sales approach for your auctions is key to having a profitable holiday season. According to Dave Frey, of http://Terapeak.com, market research has revealed several strategies every eBay seller should be incorporating:

•Around the holidays, every item has a specific day where sales drop off dramatically; these dates tend to remain consistent from year to year. As that date approaches, the demand decreases. Advises Frey, “It’s important to research your product’s ‘last selling day’ and time your auctions accordingly, so you don’t have leftover inventory once those sales begin to decline.”

•Holiday buyers want to know their purchases will arrive in time for Christmas-they don’t have time to wait for an auction to end to find out whether or not they got an item. That’s why during the holidays, the higher a product’s demand, the shorter your listing duration ought to be. Particularly as you approach that item’s final selling date, it’s wise to shorten your auctions’ durations. For the same reason, it’s also a good idea to use a lot of Buy It Nows, and increase the listings in your eBay store.

•This time of year, online shoppers are in a bigger hurry than ever. They’re scanning listing titles, not taking the time to read descriptions. Your listing titles need to be clear and descriptive so buyers understand, at a glance, what you’re selling. Having a clear title becomes even more important when you consider the amount of products for sale during the holiday season. Terapeak is offering a free trial of their under-development tool called titlebuilder (http://www.terapeak.com/titlebuilder), based on eBay research and designed to help you construct the most profitable titles.

•You need to have a selling strategy beyond the holidays: take advantage of the many products that sell better after Christmas. Calculator sales, which drop off after September, surge again in early January. The baby category also takes off-baby clothing sales start spiking around that time. Hockey cards, which do poorly during the holidays, sell very well from January to March. Research exposes those trends so you can see sales opportunities you might otherwise miss.

Applied Knowledge

Performing market research is your key to seeing these types of patterns and making wise sourcing and selling decisions. Says Frey, “It’s not enough to understand the research-you have to apply it. Basing your selling techniques on what your research is telling you is foundational to having a lucrative holiday season.”

By Chris Malta
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/holiday-sales-techniques-4-tips-for-a-greener-christmas-99271.html