| Is eBay for you?
We have all seen them, from the outrageous to the normal items that sold for an outrageous sum, but how good is eBay really? EBay is indeed a real opportunity to make money. Some people actually can make a living doing so. So how would one get started learning the ropes? The best way i know of it get started really is research. Look at what you intend to sell, match it up with other like items. Learn as much about your chosen category as you can. Always remember, just because one seller got $100s for Aunt Josie's spoon doesn't mean yours will do as well. One source for good eBay information is the message boards devoted to online auctions. In order to get the info you want, you will have to wade through some personal data, these message boards are like any other message boards, they are communities. Each has its own distinct feel. I will include links to the 2 message boards I go to for, please note these do NOT indicate how i feel or think. I like, you will wade through much of the personal stuff and look for the information. I will also include more auction site links than eBay. A word on money and protecting it. I do not recommend giving eBay or ANY online company access to the accounts that house your living expenses. EBay in my opinion asks for way too much information. They ask for your checking account info, and a credit card (a debit card will work). Paypal asks for the same, and they are owned by eBay. I am sure you have all heard horror stories of someone's account being frozen by paypal. Yes, it can happen, or could. Paypal has been sued and I am not current on the outcome. The best way to protect yourself is, open an account just for your auctions and paypal to use. Remove the money from it when your auctions close, just leave in enough to keep it open with no bank fees (the bank at Wal-Mart has a $20 minimum account I believe) and leave in enough for eBay to take their fees out. Also, NEVER EVER click on a link from any auction or payment company that says they need to verify your account. These places will never ask for this information and any time these emails show up, they are scams, set up to take over your accounts. Simply forward them to spoof@ who ever them claim to be from. Now on fees, eBay will send you a monthly invoice and give you a choice, you can either let it go and they will take it out of the account (the easiest way really) or you can send them a check or money order. They will give you a dead line of when they expect to be paid. If I remember right, if your check or money order is not to them by the deadline they will deduct it from your account. Make sure your minimum bid price (the lowest price you are willing to let your item go for) includes enough to cover your time and effort and the fees. I have noticed for smaller items, an opening price of .99c is a good thing for 2 reasons. 1) It seems more people look at the .99c items than ones beginning at $1 and 2) That penny difference saves you on fees! I believe it cuts 15c off your bill. (I have not sold for many months but this was the case last time I did). So, you have researched your item, you have your accounts ready, what's next? Pictures, take them, and remember the better the pictures the better chance you will get a bigger bid. You will need a place to host them. EBay will host... 3 I think for free and the others cost .15 each. In the links I set up at the end of this article I will include a free picture host that i use on one of my web sites. They are free and very easy to use and of course I am available to help if I can via email or my web sites. Now that you have your pictures hosted, you need to write your description. Be creative, but stay honest. Remember, the best ads are imaginative. Describe a normal and an unusual use for your item. Also remember, many eBay buyers will not read a long drawn out ad. Before placing your ad, you must decide on your terms. How long are you willing to wait for payment? Will you include a handling fee? Look over several sellers auctions, read their terms, would you buy from them? If not do not imitate them in your ads. I avoid threatening terms (payment must be received in 3 days or else) or long winded ones, that outline every detail. I am pretty busy and as far as my bids go, I bid, I pay and I expect to receive my item in a timely manner. I also avoid sellers that charge more than a $2 handling fee. I hate finding what I want for a price I am willing to pay, and then seeing they want $10.95 on top of my bid and shipping. To me this is blatant fee avoidance and is technically against eBay rules. So far I have not seen eBay move to stop it though. When selling, I set up the auction, if won I expect to be paid and I ship my items in a timely manner. Now yes there are some folks who will try to jerk you around. The hard part is deciding who is doing that and who really does have an emergency. I remember a couple years ago, 2003 I think. I had bid on and won several pieces I need to complete the set of dishes we got from Mj's grandmother. Since it was a large purchase we made an arrangement with the seller to pay it in a week or so (some of the pieces we ordered from her after the auction) well, we made the arrangement on Friday. Saturday I had a tragedy. I lost sight in my left eye. That night found me in the emergency room awaiting the ophthalmologist to see why my eyesight was gone. I ended up needing $14,000 in surgery, the following week. The co-pay for this procedure cost us one months pay, and all our bills had to be rearranged. This seller decided I was not serious or truthful and negged me. I do believe she had every right to be disappointed and I do not fault her, it was a large sale and no doubt she had dealt with others who defaulted for convenience. My replies to her negatives reflected that. I did not retaliate and give her negatives back, I think I gave her positives. So when faced with a defaulted sale you must decide to either trust them or not. Now when writing your feedback, if you do have to give a negative, keep it calm. Remember your comments reflect you as a seller, and I know most buyers do check a seller's feedback, both given and received. I won't buy from some one who leaves nasty negatives, but if someone must be given one, and the seller was calm and factual, they will get my business. Now some folks will not leave negatives at all, they may just not give any feedback. That is not good either, that just makes the system fail, because that buyer or seller can move on and mess with someone else. EBay has made setting up your auctions fairly easy, it is a step by step process, and the prompts walk you through it. So your auction is launched! You are on your way to becoming an eBay pro. Now a word or three on other auction sites. EBay is of course the best known. However, I do not like them much. First off, getting someone from eBay on the phone if you have trouble is... well from what I hear it is impossible. I fortunately never needed to talk to them but I know others who have had to and they never did find a human. Their email system is not much better with most responses being canned. A smaller site, just as easy to use, and with lower fees and better customer service is sell your item. When you sell here you can contact an actual person, and get a live answer. I respect and enjoy this site, though so far I am only a buyer here not a seller, so much I have put a link to them on my web site. They do not ask for all the personal info that eBay does and they offer better service. The only draw back is, they do not have the traffic or volume of eBay, so sales are lower. Overstock.com has also set up an auctions site. Yahoo also has a fairly busy auction site. I have used yahoo's to buy but not sell, and was pleased with the service. I am registered at overstock but haven't used them for anything. Her is a list of sites I use regularly that are auction related. I am either registered at them or lurk at least weekly right now, I may begin doing auctions again in the spring, so I am just gathering info at this point. http://www.auctionethics.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi AE is a message board of online auction sellers. It is a wonderful resource if you can ignore some of the more personal stuff. I count many of these folks as friends, even though I do not hold the same beliefs as many of them do. They are a helpful group, and even began a resource to help the disabled turn eBay into an income. A very caring group, and passionate on many levels. If you want to keep up with the online auction news, auction bytes is the best resource. If change is in the air they know it first and report it, without regard for the big dogs. They are open and as far as I have seen report honestly. A great read for all sellers or buyers, newbie or old pro. OTWA was the first online auction community I stumbles into, when I first thought of selling (trying to upload a HUGE bunch of milk glass!) many years ago. They are made up of many of the folks who also frequent AE. As with AE the info is there, you just may have t dig a bit for it. Photo bucket is a free picture host. It gives you easy access to host your pictures and an easy step by step process to up load them from your pc. http://auctions.overstock.com/ Though I have not used the, this site seems to have a good beginning in the online auction scene. Though a smaller (traffic wise) site than eBay, this is where my next auction will go. The personal service cannot be beat and I have never had a problem with anything I have bought here. This site has been around a long time. I have bought off here but never sold. I had positive experiences in my purchases. Now you have sold your item, what about shipping it? For me I used mostly priority mail. Make this clear in your auctions, whether to not you are willing to give the buyer a choice. EBay can include a postage calculator in your auction and I think the service is free. Now for postage I used stamps.com. They are easy to use and can be used on the same account you set up for eBay and paypal. Payment services, we have all heard of paypal, but there are others out there. The only one I have used other than paypal was bid pay by western union. Remember this one is owned by eBay. It will allow you to take echecks, credit cards and such. This one is owned by western union and as far as I know offers the same ease of use as paypal. I hope I have helped anyone wanting to begin online auctions. If you have any questions feel free to email me ([email protected]) and I will try to help find answers. I am far from being an expert, but I can research! Have a fantastic week ya'll. |