Online selling

            There is no doubt that the Internet is a wonderful tool for those who are wanting to sell. Almost anything can and will be sold online given the right medium. The site has to be visited by a great number of people and be easily accessible. This is why the online auctions are so popular.

            However not all online auctions are created equal, some seem to have everything you would want in an online auction but still nothing seems to sell there. Others have different formats which bidders just don�t seem to like. Still others just aren�t worth wasting your time on. It isn�t hard to tell which ones are popular and which aren�t, however some auctions also have the policy that you do not get charged anything unless your item sells which may get sellers to come but doesn�t necessarily get buyers.

            I myself have tried 4 different auction sites. I started with an auction site called Sell At Once. It was one that did not charge me a listing fee, they only charge after you sell. They did not have many people on it but it was my first auction and I didn�t know what to look for as far as auction sites went. Well, there weren�t any sales there and they eventually changed their name to sellatoncer and seemed to relist my things even after I had deleted them. I am still trying to get things unlisted. I never sold a thing.

I next went to Ioffer which is not really an auction site but one that allows people to �make you an offer�. They seemed to have lots of sellers, the site looked professional, was easy to use and I bought several things myself, but no matter how many things I listed (over 70!) not a thing sold. This however is also a free until you sell something so I am not out anything by listing here.

            I tried Bidville around the same time as Ioffer. They are also list things for free. I had my first sales on this site. I sold two things. This is a free until sold site as well.

            And of course the last one I tried was Ebay. They do charge listing and sold fees but I have had much better luck with Ebay. The best thing to do when listing on Ebay is to look through the auctions and see what is selling and for how much. You don�t want to be charged for listing something that isn�t going to sell.  Some things don�t sell for nearly as much as you might think and some sell for more. You also want to check out what other people are asking for shipping because if you list your shipping for a lot more than they do, people may notice and not buy. I would also like to suggest that if you have multiple items of the same thing that you not list more than one at a time. The idea is to get more-higher bids on your item and if the bidders know they can just bid on the next one you listed two days later there is no reason for them to bid higher.

There are things to know about listing prices, reserves, fees etc., all of that is on the site and you need to find out how it works before listing. You will also need PayPal. Sign up and get confirmed because it is worth it because it is the easiest way to get paid securely. They take you through the process and all the information you will need is on the PayPal site. I have sold many things now since starting on the site just a few weeks ago. After so little luck on the other sites it is wonderful to sell on Ebay. It does take a bit of work and time but is definitely worth it!

However auctions are not the only way you can sell online. Of course you can set up your own website but I have had a good deal of luck just letting people on my MSN groups sites know what I have for sale. I have sold a lot of craft items this way. MSN groups are not supposed to be used for just selling but a number of the groups do this anyway. However I have just posted a picture of what I have for sale and people have contacted me for price through email.

So my suggestions for selling online are Ebay and groups or forums. You may not be able to make a living at it unless you really want to put a lot of time and work into it but you should be able to make some extra money this way.

Rebecca Whitford