Auction Power Guide

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 doing a school report in oppose and in favor of ebay fees.

I would like to know specifics of what may happen if eBay didn’t ask their sellers for fees or for as much as they currently ask for.

Examples:
Employees can’t be paid
Maintenance can’t be paid
Full service can’t be provided…

Ebay didn’t charge fees originally. They were completely free. The more they increase their fees, the more they lose power sellers. In 2008, with the new CEO "genius" in charge, they made some changes, one of the major changes was they lied to their sellers and made it seem like they were charging less fees (by making the listing price cheaper), but they increased the final value fee, so people were paying an arm and a leg in fees once the item sold. There was also some feedback changes (sellers could no longer leave negative feedback for buyers who dont pay, and feedback hurts a sellers rankings in search), and other changes (they put digital download sellers out of business overnight, gave them a few days warning and suddenly came out and said digital download items weren’t allowed anymore). All of these changes, especially the fees, caused the powersellers to leave and go to other sites, especially craigslist. The surge in sellers going to craigslist caused ebay to decline in visitors. Less sellers means less items (the power sellers and digital download sellers accounted for thousands and thousands of listings), and this means less visitors because those items get listed in Google, and many visitors find ebay by googling items first instead of going directly to ebay. This was ebay’s downfall. In winter 2008, for the first time ever, Craigslist matched ebay in monthly visitors (I checked on Alexa.com). Ebay continued to tell their investors that they were losing visitors because of the recession, which wasn’t true because Craigslist continued to increase around the same time. Ebay keeps increasing their fees to make up for the loss in visitors and actual sales, so its only a matter of time when this catches up to them, they cant keep it up forever.

I live in San Jose, where ebay is located, and they layed off more than 2,000 people in the past 2 years. They have more fees now than they ever did, but have much less employees than they did when they were free. Fees have nothing to do with service, employees, or maintenance….fee’s are only related to profits. The site could still run without fees, and they could generate income from selling advertising space on the site like Myspace does. They do sell advertising space, but its not enough and they will continue to try to squeeze more fees out of their sellers until their sellers are finally gone. Do a "completed listings only" search in advanced search. 80% of the items on there don’t sell. It was the opposite 5 years ago, and it’s not the economy, it’s less visitors. My websites still get sales and my sites are worldwide just like ebay is.

Amazon has lower fees, and doesn’t charge a listing fee, and continues to outdo ebay in generated income.

If you do, PLEASE give us some tips 🙂 After years of trying different things and asking on Ebay I’m still having no luck. The "suppliers" always seem to be either too high priced or they are selling broken junk. The clothing side is such a headache with all the fake stuff, trendy items changing every week, etc. I’m just looking for something reliable. I don’t need to make a lot of money say a few hundred per month. TIA for any tips!

PS. My "main" business right now is computer service and consulting. Again, I couldn’t figure a way to sell that on Ebay. I do new custom computers and those naturally go for ridiculously low prices on Ebay. I couldn’t even figure a way to cover my costs doing that.
Can you guys talking about the flea markets give some specifics? Believe it or not, I’ve tried that. Don’t get me wrong, you *might* be able to clear 5 or 10 dollars per item but SORRY in this day and age that’s not cutting it! Going to a flea market, spending all that time, buying all that stuff, paying all those Ebay fees to make a few bucks. Not worth it. In fact, usually you’ll be in the hole if that’s all you make.

Go to Flea Markets and tag sales in your area. It will take a while getting to know which items will go for high prices on Ebay but i did this one summer, I made a decent amount of money. Just make sure you arent buying junk, anything that is REALLY pretty can usually sell if you buy it for a couple dollars. Brand names do help a lot.

I am looking to see if some one can tell me how much money the average person who owns a eBay store makes.

Looking for statistics, or your own experience.

That is a very hard question to answer since it varies greatly on what a person sells, the number of items, etc. Also, most people will not tell you how much profit they make, so statistics are hard to come by.

If you are just wanting to know a store’s gross sales for a month, you can easily find that information for a specific store. Just grab their eBay User ID (not store name) and go to http://www.sellerdome.com. From there, do a search on their eBay ID. You will see a box in the middle of the screen that shows their monthly sales information.

My personal experience (without giving specifics) is that I make enough profit to provide for a family of 6.

Jason
http://www.auctionarena.com

Prior to the auction, you need to secure a copy or catalogue of the property lots that will be auctioned at any particular auction house. It may be worthwhile to obtain several catalogues from local auction houses so that you can compare property specifics.          For more details go to: www.auction-extreme-package.com If there are any properties that you are interested in, it is important to remember that an offer can be made before the auction. The seller will consider the offer and get back to you if he wants to proceed on that basis. In the event of your offer being accepted, the property will be removed from the auction process and you will be obliged to complete on the purchase.

Once you have the auction catalogues to hand, you should scan them for properties that suit your preference both in terms of price range and the nature of the property. Organize and arrange the properties according to the preferred style and structure of the property. Investigate or scrutinize the description of the property. Check any legal paperwork the auction house may hold for any property you are interested in. If unsure, it may be advisable to seek the guidance of lawyers or experts.

Double check any terms and conditions of the contract governing the schedule of payment. It is extremely important to make sure that you have available funds to purchase any one property in accordance with the terms and conditions of that lot. If you feel that there maybe a need for a mortgage, you will need to arrange this before attending the auction. Otherwise, you will risk losing any deposit you put forward for a property that you are subsequently not able to raise finance for.

On the day of the auction, you need to acquaint yourself with the mechanics of that auction. Usually, there is a need for prior registration if you wish to participate in the bidding. For help visit: www.auction-o-matics.com Be sure to take in any identification documents with you. You will not be allowed to bid without proof of ID. You will also need to take in a cheque book or bankers draft for any deposits that may be required.

Never arrive late. This is very important because you will need time to familiarize with the auction room and the mannerisms of the auctioneer. On arrival, always check the list of properties for any changes or alterations. It is not uncommon for properties to be removed from auction proceedings prior to the auction.

If you are to bid, make your bid clear so as to prevent confusion on the part of the auctioneer. Whenever bidding at auction always have your maximum possible bid in mind and don’t ever deter from this amount. Your maximum bid will take into account any works that you feel need doing to the property and also any profit levels you need to clear. If a property fails to sell at auction due to the reservation price not being met, you should consider making a bid directly after the bidding has stopped.

kamal kumar
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/some-useful-tips-of-auction-property-691493.html