Auction Power Guide

I will be a college student this fall in Michigan. I come from a low-income family, and its going to be tough enough trying to pay my loans back. I look to get a part-time job, and I would like to learn how to become a successful eBay seller to make a little extra money. I would like to know how to get started, how to know what to sell, and any other extra useful information.

As most everyone collects something or other, one’s man trash is another man’s treasure. It really doesn’t matter what you sell as long as it isn’t junk. CAUTION: With the most popular items sold, you will have much more competition among sellers who sell volume at reduced prices by buying volume at a wholesale discount. It’s difficult to be competitive with volume sellers of a particular item.

But to get you started…………….

You can go to ebay for a tutorial on how to be a seller:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/selling-basics.html

But to get to the nitty-gritty:

There are no secrets………..just common sense + hard work!

Be honest and accurate in your descriptions – One-sentence descriptions are for lazy sellers. One paragraph should be sufficient for most items. My general guideline is the more expensive (read higher priced) an item, the more you should ‘talk it up.’ It won’t be time wasted. Use lots of adjectives in your descriptions. Adjectives make prose and your items come alive. Without them, prose is dull and your items less appealing. Just add a little ‘sizzle’ and even have a little fun with it. In short, make your descriptions stand out above the crowd.

Be professional – use good English with no spelling errors – AVOID ALL CAPS TEXT

PICTURES:

Including one picture is a MUST, more pictures for higher priced items. Make sure your pictures are clear. There are far too many pictures on ebay that are dark. If prospective buyers can’t see your items clearly, your items, more than likely, will not fetch the closing prices they deserve. To remove darkness, use any photo editor to add some brightness and a wee bit of contrast.

Eliminate clutter. Prospective bidders don’t want to know what kind of cereal you eat or what kind of kitchen table or bedspread you have. Use a SOLID backdrop when taking your pictures as you want to focus all of the attention on your item. In short, the one and only thing you want in your picture is the item being sold. A SOLID white or light blue backdrop is best. However, there are certainly items that won’t show well on a light backdrop. In these cases, use a darker backdrop. And for gosh sake, don’t even think of using a plaid blanket as a backdrop for your pictures as I once saw on ebay. You should also crop the photos in your photo editor. Good pictures can add 5% to 10% to final closing prices.

GOOD DESCRIPTIONS + GOOD PICTURES = GOOD PRESENTATION. This is what you should strive for.

COMMUNICATION:

GOOD Communication is a must – Always notify buyers when you mail their items. It is not only a courtesy you would want and expect as a buyer but it is also both good customer service and good business practice. After all, you are the ‘President & CEO’ of your ‘company’ running your business but using ebay as your selling medium. In short, conduct your business so that it reflects well on you as a person. Treat everyone as a human being, not a living being and this includes people who have inquiries about your items, not just your buyers. Prospective buyers making these inquiries could ultimately be the winning bidders and possible repeat customers.

TIPS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:

Do not limit your auctions to one country. SELL WORLDWIDE. The reason is elementary. You now have access to the largest market ebay has to offer. Limiting your auctions to only one country also limits your potential profits. A basic business tenet is, ‘the greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits.’ But do note in your listing that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from overseas bidders/buyers. Through experience, you will learn that there are certain problem countries. Italy seems to be one of them. Mail sent to buyers in Italy very often ‘mysteriously disappears.’ If this is the case, just note in your listing you sell to all countries EXCEPT (name(s) here).

However, if you decide to limit sales to only one country, such as the USA, never say NO when you receive an email asking if you would ship to Taiwan, Germany, Australia or wherever. The reason is that you have a ‘FISH ON THE HOOK!’ This person will bid! When he or she does, this may force a previous bidder to enter another, higher bid or force later, first time bidders to come in with higher bids. So always say YES to these emails if you want to maximize your profits. But do say that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from these overseas bidders

Avoid selling ‘nickel and dime’ items. People who list and sell a steady stream of items that close for $5 or less are wasting their time. Less expensive, similar items ($5 or less) are best sold as a group to save time. If you have a large number of these cheaper, similar items, divide them up into sub lots of three, four or five.

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. However, do be cautious if you venture into this arena. You have to know your merchandise. Stay in those areas you are familiar with. You can’t jump in blindly to any and every auction that has grouped items.

Ebay sellers are increasingly complaining about the high cost of ebay and PayPal fees. I say, try establishing your own business and reach the close to 200 million people that ebay reaches and find out how much your expenses are. To these complainers, I say ‘Kwitchurbellyakin.’ There is always a cost of doing business. Many sellers have left ebay for other auction sites to save on fees. I don’t think this is prudent. They may be saving a few bucks on fees but an item that sells on another auction site with far, fewer members for $10 would likely sell for substantially more at ebay with its much greater membership. This is a classic example of “stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny” and being “penny wise and pound foolish.”

These smaller auction sites are great for buyers for the same reason they are bad for sellers:

Fewer potential bidders = Less competition = Lower closing prices.

These smaller auction sites ‘dangle their worms’ with low and no fees but they certainly won’t tell new sellers their items will sell for less than at their sites than they will sell for at ebay. There isn’t another auction site on the web that can hold a candle to ebay and the tens of millions of members it has. Many have tried and many have failed and yet, many are still trying. Ebay has a virtual lock on this business. This is where you want to sell as ebay has the largest potential market.

The ebay formula:

LARGEST auction site by far = MAXIMUM competition = HIGHER closing prices

Lastly, keep in mind that experience is the best teacher. Start off slowly listing only two or three items and see how that goes for you. Once you get your feet wet and gain confidence, start listing more items on a weekly basis. You will soon learn the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts in short order and ultimately settle on a system that works best for you. The more items you list, the more items you will sell, the more $$ you will make and the harder you will work. Nothing in life comes easy and that includes becoming a successful seller at ebay. If you are conscientious and put in a little extra effort, you will do well. If you are lazy or indifferent in selling your items, you won’t. Good luck & happy selling!

I am wanting to sell my Twilight cards on ebay. I am really overwhelmed please help. Any information is greatly apreciated.

Generally, you want to save on listing fees and let the (ebay) market to set the closing price. In most cases, this means starting the initial price at $9.99 or less. However, the only exception is for expensive items. With the current recession and sales at ebay (and most everywhere else) soft now, you don’t want to get burned. Use you discretion with expensive items.

Some tips that may be helpful to you……….

Be honest and accurate in your descriptions – One-sentence descriptions are for lazy sellers. One paragraph should be sufficient for most items. My general guideline is the more expensive (read higher priced) an item, the more you should ‘talk it up.’ It won’t be time wasted. Use lots of adjectives in your descriptions. Adjectives make prose and your items come alive. Without them, prose is dull and your items less appealing. Just add a little ‘sizzle’ and even have a little fun with it. In short, make your descriptions stand out above the crowd.

Be professional – use good English with no spelling errors

PICTURES:

ALWAYS include at least one picture, more pictures for higher priced items. Make sure your pictures are clear. There are far too many pictures on ebay that are dark. If prospective buyers can’t see your items clearly, your items, more than likely, will not fetch the closing prices they deserve. To remove darkness, use any photo editor to add some brightness and a wee bit of contrast.

Eliminate clutter. Prospective bidders don’t want to know what kind of cereal you eat or what kind of kitchen table or bedspread you have. Use a SOLID backdrop when taking your pictures as you want to focus all of the attention on your item. In short, the one and only thing you want in your picture is the item being sold. A SOLID white or light blue backdrop is best. However, there are certainly items that won’t show well on a light backdrop. In these cases, use a darker backdrop. And for gosh sake, don’t even think of using a plaid blanket as a backdrop for your pictures as I once saw on ebay. You should also crop the photos in your photo editor. Good pictures can add 5% to 10% to final closing prices.

GOOD DESCRIPTIONS + GOOD PICTURES = GOOD PRESENTATION. This is what you should strive for.

COMMUNICATION:

GOOD Communication is a must – Always notify buyers when you mail their items. It is not only a courtesy you would want and expect as a buyer but it is also both good customer service and good business practice. After all, you are the ‘President & CEO’ of your ‘company’ running your business but using ebay as your selling medium. In short, conduct your business so that it reflects well on you as a person. Treat everyone as a human being, not a living being and this includes people who have inquiries about your items, not just your buyers. Prospective buyers making these inquiries could ultimately be the winning bidders and possible repeat customers.

TIPS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:

Do not limit your auctions to one country. SELL WORLDWIDE. The reason is elementary. You now have access to the largest market ebay has to offer. Limiting your auctions to only one country also limits your potential profits. A basic business tenet is, ‘the greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits.’ But do note in your listing that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from overseas bidders/buyers. Through experience, you will learn that there are certain problem countries. Italy seems to be one of them. Mail sent to buyers in Italy very often ‘mysteriously disappears.’ If this is the case, just note in your listing you sell to all countries EXCEPT (name(s) here).

However, if you decide to limit sales to only one country, such as the USA, never say NO when you receive an email asking if you would ship to Taiwan, Germany, Australia or wherever. The reason is that you have a ‘FISH ON THE HOOK!’ This person will bid! When he or she does, this may force a previous bidder to enter another, higher bid or force later, first time bidders to come in with higher bids. So always say YES to these emails if you want to maximize your profits. But do say that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from these overseas bidders

Avoid selling ‘nickel and dime’ items. People who list and sell a steady stream of items that close for $5 or less are wasting their time. Less expensive, similar items ($5 or less) are best sold as a group to save time. If you have a large number of these cheaper, similar items, divide them up into sub lots of three, four or five.

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

I have a lot of clothes that I would like to sell on Ebay but I have never sold anything on ebay, has anyone sell use clothes on ebay? what are some tips to sell stuff on ebay? what are some recommendations to sale my stuff on ebay?

If you can put someone in the clothes and take ‘neck down’ front / back 3/4 pictures that would be best as they would have more appeal. My clothes look better on me than they do on a hanger.

You can go to ebay for a tutorial for the basics on how to be a seller:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/selling-basics.html

But to get to the nitty-gritty………………..:

There are no secrets………..just common sense + hard work!

Be honest and accurate in your descriptions – Use lots of adjectives in your descriptions. Adjectives make prose and your items come alive. Without them, prose is dull and your items less appealing. Just add a little ‘sizzle’ and even have a little fun with it. In short, make your descriptions stand out above the crowd.

Be professional – use good English with no spelling errors – AVOID ALL CAPS TEXT

PICTURES:

Including one picture is a MUST, more pictures for higher priced items. Make sure your pictures are clear. There are far too many pictures on ebay that are dark. If prospective buyers can’t see your items clearly, your items, more than likely, will not fetch the closing prices they deserve. To remove darkness, use any photo editor to add some brightness and a wee bit of contrast.

Eliminate clutter. Use a SOLID backdrop when taking your pictures as you want to focus all of the attention on your item. In short, the one and only thing you want in your picture is the item being sold. A SOLID white or light blue backdrop is best. You should also crop the photos in your photo editor. Good pictures can add 5% to 10% to final closing prices.

GOOD DESCRIPTIONS + GOOD PICTURES = GOOD PRESENTATION. This is what you should strive for.

TIPS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:

Do not limit your auctions to one country. SELL WORLDWIDE. The reason is elementary. You now have access to the largest market ebay has to offer. Limiting your auctions to only one country also limits your potential profits. A basic business tenet is, ‘the greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits.’ But do note in your listing that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from overseas bidders/buyers. Through experience, you will learn that there are certain problem countries. Italy seems to be one of them. Mail sent to buyers in Italy very often ‘mysteriously disappears.’ If this is the case, just note in your listing you sell to all countries EXCEPT (name(s) here).

However, if you decide to limit sales to only one country, such as the USA, never say NO when you receive an email asking if you would ship to Taiwan, Germany, Australia or wherever. The reason is that you have a ‘FISH ON THE HOOK!’ This person will bid! When he or she does, this may force a previous bidder to enter another, higher bid or force later, first time bidders to come in with higher bids. So always say YES to these emails if you want to maximize your profits. But do say that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from these overseas bidders

Avoid selling ‘nickel and dime’ items. People who list and sell a steady stream of items that close for $5 or less are wasting their time. Less expensive, similar items ($5 or less) are best sold as a group to save time. If you have a large number of these cheaper, similar items, divide them up into sub lots of three, four or five.

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.

If you wish to do your listings offline, download the Turbo Lister program free from eBay. You can then upload them ‘en masse’ anytime.

SHIPPING: Most sellers use Priority Mail. Get the Priority Mail rates from the USPS web site & a $15-$20 postal scale from eBay.

Lastly, keep in mind that experience is the best teacher. Start off slowly listing only two or three items and see how that goes for you. Once you get your feet wet and gain confidence, start listing more items on a weekly basis. You will soon learn the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts in short order and ultimately settle on a system that works best for you. The more items you list, the more items you will sell, the more $$ you will make and the harder you will work. Nothing in life comes easy and that includes becoming a successful seller at ebay. If you are conscientious and put in a little extra effort, you will do well. If you are lazy or indifferent in selling your items, you won’t. Good luck & happy selling!

We see it every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: “My eBay sales are so slow this summer. I’m really discouraged. What can I do?” Here are a few suggestions.

Remodel. Look at your listings and your store, if you have one, with a fresh eye. Think back to all of the advice you’ve heard but not taken and consider applying it. Try something different for a change. It couldn’t hurt and might just help. I’m talking about advice such as taking better pictures with better backgrounds or using more pictures; using excellent keywords and all 55 characters of every title; not centering the text in your descriptions; using a properly-sized font, not too big and not too little; using a font color that is easy to read; including well-written, non-threatening, professional-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings; or working on building your brand by standardizing colors and templates so people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

For more information on ebay slow sales 2010 click here

We see it every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: “My eBay sales are so slow this summer. I’m really discouraged. What can I do?” Here are a few suggestions.

Remodel. Look at your listings and your store, if you have one, with a fresh eye. Think back to all of the advice you’ve heard but not taken and consider applying it. Try something different for a change. It couldn’t hurt and might just help. I’m talking about advice such as taking better pictures with better backgrounds or using more pictures; using excellent keywords and all 55 characters of every title; not centering the text in your descriptions; using a properly-sized font, not too big and not too little; using a font color that is easy to read; including well-written, non-threatening, professional-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings; or working on building your brand by standardizing colors and templates so people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

For more information on ebay sales slow click here

We see it every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: “My eBay sales are so slow this summer. I’m really discouraged. What can I do?” Here are a few suggestions.

Remodel. Look at your listings and your store, if you have one, with a fresh eye. Think back to all of the advice you’ve heard but not taken and consider applying it. Try something different for a change. It couldn’t hurt and might just help. I’m talking about advice such as taking better pictures with better backgrounds or using more pictures; using excellent keywords and all 55 characters of every title; not centering the text in your descriptions; using a properly-sized font, not too big and not too little; using a font color that is easy to read; including well-written, non-threatening, professional-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings; or working on building your brand by standardizing colors and templates so people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

For more information on ebay sales 2010 click here

We see it just about every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: My eBay sales are so slow this summer. Im honestly discouraged. What can I do Here are a couple of suggestions.

Remodel. Appear at your listings and your shop, if you have 1, with a fresh eye. Feel back to all of the suggestions you have heard but not taken and look into applying it. Attempt a thing numerous for a modify. It couldnt hurt and could possibly just support. Im talking about suggestions such as taking improved photographs with improved backgrounds or applying way more photographs applying terrific key phrases and all 55 characters of just about every title not centering the text in your descriptions applying a appropriately-sized font, not too major and not too small applying a font color that is convenient to read such as properly-written, non-threatening, qualified-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings or operating on making your brand by standardizing colors and templates so many people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

Reassess. If your merchandise are not selling perfect now, why could possibly that be Are they just 1 item in a gazillion with absolutely nothing that makes them stand out or rise above the crowded marketplace Acquire a high-volume seller who sells comparable items. Examine those listings and attempt to identify what makes their items sell when yours do not. Search for items comparable to yours on completed listings and take a appear at the ones that sold. Whats so unique about them Could listing/closing time have something to do with it Did they have a Order It Now solution whereas your items do not What does that seller do that you do not do Does he or she present a newsletter Do you Do not ever copy a further sellers listings, but take notes about what appeals to you as a buyer and incorporate some of those tips into your own listing and promoting practices. Identify what you can do to make your shop and your items irresistible to your shoppers.

Restock. Sell a thing else. If your listings are fantastic and have to have no improvement at all but the items are nonetheless not selling, look into the truth that not almost everything listed on eBay sells. If it hasnt sold inside a reasonable period of time, look into donating it or getting a yard sale. Possibly your merchandise are out of season perfect now and should certainly be put on the shelf for awhile and re-listed later. Feel a month or two ahead to the subsequent holiday or, through the summer, to back-to-school time and acquire items that should certainly sell properly then and get those listings prepared. Or, feel in a entirely opposite season have a Christmas in July sale or list items with a gift-giving theme.

If you are not busy this summer shipping out sold items, you quite possibly have some time on your hands. Use the time wisely by studying each the market place and promoting principles. Get started with our remodel, reassess, and restock techniques, apply them, and possibly you will see your summer sales start to take off once again.

We see it just about every year about this time, on forums and on group posts: My eBay sales are so slow this summer. Im honestly discouraged. What can I do Here are a couple of suggestions.

Remodel. Appear at your listings and your shop, if you have 1, with a fresh eye. Feel back to all of the suggestions you have heard but not taken and look into applying it. Attempt a thing numerous for a modify. It couldnt hurt and could possibly just support. Im talking about suggestions such as taking improved photographs with improved backgrounds or applying way more photographs applying terrific key phrases and all 55 characters of just about every title not centering the text in your descriptions applying a appropriately-sized font, not too major and not too small applying a font color that is convenient to read such as properly-written, non-threatening, qualified-sounding shipping, payment, and return policies in your listings or operating on making your brand by standardizing colors and templates so many people will recognize your listings in a crowd.

Reassess. If your merchandise are not selling perfect now, why could possibly that be Are they just 1 item in a gazillion with absolutely nothing that makes them stand out or rise above the crowded marketplace Acquire a high-volume seller who sells comparable items. Examine those listings and attempt to identify what makes their items sell when yours do not. Search for items comparable to yours on completed listings and take a appear at the ones that sold. Whats so unique about them Could listing/closing time have something to do with it Did they have a Order It Now solution whereas your items do not What does that seller do that you do not do Does he or she present a newsletter Do you Do not ever copy a further sellers listings, but take notes about what appeals to you as a buyer and incorporate some of those tips into your own listing and promoting practices. Identify what you can do to make your shop and your items irresistible to your shoppers.

Restock. Sell a thing else. If your listings are fantastic and have to have no improvement at all but the items are nonetheless not selling, look into the truth that not almost everything listed on eBay sells. If it hasnt sold inside a reasonable period of time, look into donating it or getting a yard sale. Possibly your merchandise are out of season perfect now and should certainly be put on the shelf for awhile and re-listed later. Feel a month or two ahead to the subsequent holiday or, through the summer, to back-to-school time and acquire items that should certainly sell properly then and get those listings prepared. Or, feel in a entirely opposite season have a Christmas in July sale or list items with a gift-giving theme.

If you are not busy this summer shipping out sold items, you quite possibly have some time on your hands. Use the time wisely by studying each the market place and promoting principles. Get started with our remodel, reassess, and restock techniques, apply them, and possibly you will see your summer sales start to take off once again.