Start Small If You Are New to Ebay

By Lisa Page

I recently had someone tell me they were brand new to ebay. They wanted to know if they could make three thousand dollars a month right away. Three thousand dollars a month is a lot of money to start making right away. I told them maybe in 3 to 6 months time when they get the hang of things. I gave them the tip of starting slow and making three thousand dollars a month will just happen as you stick with it.

The more you do something the easier it becomes. You can't expect yourself to list one hundred auctions a week right off the bat, if you don't understand ebay yet. You could lose hundreds or thousands of dollars in auction fees. You have to do extensive research to know what sells. Then you have to find some good products to market. You're better off learning the ropes slowly on ebay these days.

I always say; start off by selling an item each night. Something around your house that you don't need anymore. Believe it or not; ebay is a great place to sell used items. Especially if you can't acquire that item in a store anymore. Instead of throwing away something you thought was junk, ebay would be a great place to get rid of it. You will learn a lot as you make each transaction on ebay. As easy as ebay sounds to use, there is a lot to learn.

Take a look in your attic, basement, or garage. I am sure you have something to sell on ebay. At the same time, you will be learning at your own pace. That's what it is all about when you first start on ebay. Don't worry about what other people are doing on ebay. Do things at your own rhythm until you get the hang of it. And most importantly; stick with it or you will forget what you learned.

Buy a few things on ebay. Get to know the other side and how things work in opposite shoes. Then you can see how other sellers do things and pick up some pointers from them. I know sellers on ebay that have never bought an item there yet. All they do is sell. You guessed it, those are the ones that still don't have a clue. Ebay is a great place to buy something and catch a great bargain. Just check out the sellers feedback and make sure they have a good reputation.

If you're new to ebay, don't worry about buying anything wholesale right now. Don't worry about having items drop shipped yet either. As I said, just make some transactions on ebay with items around the house you don't want anymore. Buy some items. Make at least 10-20 transactions on ebay before you try going all out. You need to learn by hands on experience, before you jump in with both feet. Ebay isn't the same place it used to be. You have to know all kinds of tips and tricks to avoid high auction fees now.

What if you spend four weeks on ebay and you end up owing over five hundred dollars in action fees with no profit? It happens to new ebayers that take things too fast all the time. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone tell me they owe more than they made on ebay this month. It's sad that people think they can jump right in and start making money.

Ebay used to be that easy. Back when I started selling on ebay in 1998, it was very easy to make a living there. There wasn't much competition as a seller. You could list a bunch of items and they would all sell with little, to no competition. It was you and maybe another seller or two that were selling the same item in that category. Three other sellers was a lot of competition back then, lol. Now there are millions of ebay users that sell the same item. So ebay is not all it's cracked up to be anymore.

Ebay has television commercials and the reputation to back it up. But with higher ebay fees and lower prices by scammers, ebay could be going downhill. Ebay has been an auction marketplace monopoly for about ten years now. Users have always looked for other auction marketplaces to move to- Amazon- Yahoo Auctions(doesn't exist anymore). But there is no other place like ebay that will bring you traffic and sales without marketing something.

You can make a lot of money on ebay. And ebay is very easy to use. But it takes years to master and make a living on ebay. Ebay has changed a number of rules, countless times as the years have gone by. I remember when you could list any item for under a dollar. I don't think you could even spend two dollars to list an auction in 1998. Ebay has become too commercial to make a living on, unless you know the ropes.

There are other places on the internet that are trying to become auction marketplaces like ebay. We, the users have to make that change if we want ebay to change their ways. Ebay knows they can raise fees and get away with it. They know they can get away with things some place like Amazon couldn't get away with. Is traffic and instant marketing that important to us? And let this auction marketplace giant called ebay walk all over us.

I love ebay, don't get me wrong. But in the past two years I have seen ebay make some really bad decisions. Usually the type of decisions being made like this lead to the company not being around very long. Someday, as silly as it sounds; ebay won't be the same auction marketplace giant it has become. Someone bigger and better always comes along. You'll see, history always repeats itself

Learn how to start your own home business by following this amazing step-by-step guide. Want to be an Ebay Powerseller? This guide will help you. Check out my Daily Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Page

Pay Your Ebay Seller Fees

By Lisa Page

Ebay will suspend you for not paying your seller fees. Make sure you pay them.
Ebay charges you once a month for the full amount you owe them for your auction fees. If you think you deserve a refund there are ways to go about it. But, by not paying your auction fees, you are asking for trouble. If you do not pay your auction fees, they will suspend your account until you pay them.

When you agree to be a seller on ebay; you also agree that ebay can take the money for sellers fees out of your bank account or credit card. If a period of time goes by without your fees being paid. Ebay will send it to a collection agency. This will show up on your credit report. And you get a bad mark on your credit for an unnecessary action. You agreed to ebay's terms, pay up.

If you don't pay your seller fees, your powerseller status will be affected. You may not be able to become a powerseller again when you pay your outstanding balance. On top of that, your regular customers will see that you have been suspended and may never come back. As soon as someone sees "not a registered user", they usually think that seller is gone forever. We all know that if you see "not a registered member" next to someones name, it means they have been suspended.

The buyer doesn't know it might only a temporary suspension. But they might get a bad vibe and never come back to your store or auctions again. Make sure you always have enough in your bank account or credit card to cover your monthly ebay bill. They send you an email every month with the amount being charged. You can also check this amount in "myebay".

By not paying your auction fees, you can create so many chain reaction things that may hurt your business. I know it can be hard, but, do everything you can to follow ebay's rules and terms. Be professional and double check everything you do. But, above all; PAY THOSE EBAY AUCTION FEES.

Learn how to start your own home business by following this amazing step-by-step guide. Want to be an Ebay Powerseller? This guide will help you. Check out my Daily Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Page

Discover How to Mix EBay, Google and Videos To Maximize Traffic!

By Ricky Figueroa

There have been some exciting new developments for eBay sellers in recent months.
Let's go over a few of them:

-eBay and Google are partnered and many eBay listings (especially "featured listings") are showing up ranked top 10 in Google for the keywords used in the title. This is producing a lot of traffic for those of us tapping into it!

-eBay classified ads are apparently allowed to have links to external websites in them (a big change for eBay) because 90% of them do and eBay doesn't seem to mind. I've yet to hear of a case where an ad was shut down because of an external link in it. eBay still has no official listed policy on this issue though. Please continue to send success stories to us (be confidential about the specifics if you'd like, but we won't tell others if you trust us with the details). We are still learning what works and sharing it with you as we learn.

-eBay is now promoting the use of video in auctions. This has been allowed for awhile, but the true potential isn't immediately evident until you add Google into the mix. Did you know that one of the best ways to get ranked quickly on Google is by using online video? I learned quite a bit about using video to rank high on Google at a conference I attended last weekend. I'll be sharing more about this in my site (see link at the bottom)

The conclusion I continue to draw from all of this is that eBay combined with the power of Google traffic is quite possibly the greatest untapped opportunity online. I'm astounded that only a few people are using eBay classified ads. ANYONE can drive a TON of targeted traffic (even simply to an affiliate link) once they know the system.

~Ricky Figueroa~
www.CreativeAuctionTips.com - Click Here to Get Your FREE REPORT.

I'm Ricky Figueroa! I'm the founder of http://www.creativeauctiontips.com where you can find receive a FREE REPORT that will help you discover the 5 internet marketing strategies that could take your business above & beyond any competition! I live in the beautiful Puerto Rico & I am a true believer in the power of the internet. It definitely takes determination,perseverance,& guts to see an internet project through from the start but I've done it,& YOU can too! The work it takes to run a successful internet business never really ends, but if you love what you do & become what you love, you have the opportunity to have what you love! If done right, you won't want it to end. It is possible for you to have a 100% online business; I can & will help you to learn how. Visit my website (find link above) to find that essential ingredient to happiness=financial freedom. You can also visit my blog to get the most up-to-date information & see what other people are saying http://blog.creativeauctiontips.com . I wouldn't provide you with info that I haven't looked into or tried myself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ricky_Figueroa

The Other Side of eBay

By Ruth Lanham

I have been an eBay Seller since 1998 and a PowerSeller for most of that time. When I first started I could literally sell anything even without a photo. My sell through rate was 100%. But things have changed in the last few years. It is now reported by eBay itself that the sell through rate averages 40% or less. As the low sell-through rate persists, sellers are beginning to feel the pinch of all the listing and other fees associated with selling on eBay.

Selling on eBay is not as easy as it used to be and I believe one of the main reasons is due to fraud. Fraud on eBay can take on many forms including misrepresented items by sellers, non-paying bidders, and spoof eBay or Pay-Pal e-mails. While reportedly small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, fraud is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member and it is becoming more prevalent. eBay sellers pay a high price in the general loss of trust in the site as it becomes increasingly perceived as riddled with con-artists, driving away buyers.

Sellers and buyers can be tricked into revealing their passwords to scammers by clicking on a link in an official looking e-mail message that appears to come from eBay or PayPal, a practice known as "phishing". While phishing attacks now target clients of every major bank and financial institution as well as all large Internet companies, eBay and PayPal users remain constantly barraged by fraudulent e-mails. Most of us have not fallen for such phishing scam but many eBay sellers do fall for them and now there are large numbers of eBay logins and passwords in the hands of hackers who sell this information to eBay Scammers.

Fraud on eBay can be committed by both buyers and sellers. eBay has an unbelievable customer base (one source reports 212 million+ users). Not all of those users have good intentions. For instance, a fraudulent seller, once he starts receiving poor feedback will simply obtain a new account and start over. Problems are far more frequent than you'll ever see recorded in feedback. The PowerSeller logo has become an embarrassment to many because so many of them engage in fraudulent practices.

While unsuspecting bidders are the main prey of the crooks, sellers are also bilked when their accounts are hijacked and when scammers hack into and clean out PayPal and linked bank accounts. Buyers also play the game by utilizing stolen credit cards or blackmail the seller via negative feedback in order to get refunds, etc.

Buyers can avoid becoming a fraud victim on eBay by making themselves as aware as possible and by being cautious. Avoid any volume seller with less than 99% good feedback. Don't buy from sellers who seem to violate eBay policies or trade in unusual ways—for example, by offering to sell you the item off eBay, by charging an insanely high shipping amount in order to avoid paying seller fees, or by falling for a sales pitch that seems just too good to be true..it probably is. The Latin proverb, "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware), is always good advice for buyers and and in the case of eBay, let the seller also beware.

Ruth LanhamEntrepreneur, Webmaster, Author, T-Shirt Designer
Ruth Lanham is a T-shirt designer who authors four websites and writes on various topics relating to t-shirt design, the internet and Christianity.

For more information or to contact Ruth please visit one of her sites below.
http://www.topteedesigns.com
http://www.lighthousechristiantshirts.com
http://www.totebag-designs.com

Refining Your Skills in Productive eBay and Auctions

By Sean R Mize

Tired of posting classified ads to a website that does not produce results? Are you a storeowner who has lots of excess inventory? Why not engage in productive EBay and auctions deals.
Setting up your online store in EBay and showcasing your products on its auction block can mean multiple streams of income for you. EBay is a robust online marketplace where you can buy and sell unlimited kinds of products and services. If you want to try your luck at EBay, following a few guidelines will definitely make your online marketing experience very productive and lucrative.

With thousands of online sellers at EBay, almost all types of products and merchandise are now available for consumers. With this kind of competition, it is very important to make your product unique. Explore different types of presentations in selling your products. If you can find a particular market with less competition, then concentrate on those. Make your prices competitive. Research the pricing strategies of other sellers and compare different prices of similar products. You can also offer sale prices, bargains, and give-away items.

This serves as incentive to your customers for their continued patronage. It is also a good marketing gimmick. Create a customer-friendly online store. Allow your customers to send feedback and inquiries and convert your online guestbook to a virtual suggestion box. Be truthful to your customers. Describe your products as it is and do not embellish it with exaggerated claims. Smart customers know what is true and what are pure advertising tricks. And finally, make clear and specific instructions on your payment and delivery scheme. You must device a simple method for this.

Making money and enjoying financial stability by engaging in productive EBay and auctions marketing is possible. You just have to be conscientious in your marketing techniques and strive for excellence and honesty in your business deals. This will ensure customer satisfaction and naturally, repeat purchases.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

What To Do If Your Business Is Not Working Try Doing What Ebay Did

By Rick London

I imagine almost everyone here who owns or has owned an Internet business wonders if it is working. Of course it is common sense to look at it and if sales are slow or nonexistent then it is easy to say no it is not. But is this a proper barometer? It might be the farthest thing from one.

I remember the days when Ebay first started and almost 100% of the transactions there were Pez dispensers; that is collectors selling to each other. Forget Ebay Motors, Ebay Express, jewelry, books, Half.com, Skype.com, etc. etc that now all belongs to Ebay. Pez was their specialty At first, it was like a ghost town there. I can remember when they had less than a thousand members. But was it “working”? Indeed it was. That is, the foundation was being built.
So Ebay “hung out it's cyber-shingle” and was known as “THE place to buy Pez collectibles”.

Was that their “end game” or their “lack of vision as to what they could accomplish?” Obviously not. But they knew the importance of building a foundation. It really didn't matter (yet) if they were making a million dollars or (in their case billions now), it was their instinctive business knowledge to become “the experts” or “the place to buy” for a specific type item, niche item if you will and go from there.

Too many Internet entrepreneurs look at explosive websites such as Ebay, Google, Amazon, et al, and say “Gee, I can do that and tonight I'm going to sit down and do that and show the world”. Oh if only that is how it worked. If it did, everyone would be doing it and making a fortune on the net. If you listen to “the Internet gurus” (I happen to believe there is no such thing), they will tell you they are making a fortune and you can too if you just a. download their e-book or b. buy their software, or c. affiliate with them, etc. Again, if only that were so.

So how does one go from kitchen table to monster corporation? Take your first step and don't try to conquer the world at one time. If you think because it is the Internet and you can now start-up businesses cheaply, don't buy into the “group think” that you can circumvent hard work simply by using the net. Yes, a lot of it, that in “the days of old” is already done for you, that is, if you learn Internet marketing and what works for you. You don't have to call or drive down to the nearest television station, make an ad, or wait for a newspaper ad salesperson to drop by your office that you had to drive to early that morning. Times have changed. The way we do business has changed.

Please do not fall into the trap of “top ten sellers”. Many wholesale drop-ship firms list how “hot” a particular item or brand is. Yes, you might make it by becoming a reseller or rep, but you have to realize that the “hot” items are the ones that the travelers on the “road more taken” travel. If Gucci men's shirts are on the “hot list”, look for something else; not a poor seller, but maybe one in the middle; one with which you feel comfortable.

Learn about pay per click advertising. Heard Google was “the most used”? It is. That is why I use MS Adcenter owned by Microsoft. I've used Google and Yahoo and got lost in the shuffle. I often found my ad way down at the bottom of the tenth to twentieth page. But that is not to say not to try Google or Yahoo, certainly they are effective for many; it is just that my businesses seem to do better on the lesser used pay per click engines; not the obscure ones that nobody uses or has low quality ROI hits.

Adcenter does just fine for my clientèle A good idea is to test each of them for a few months and keep track of which ones are bringing home the bacon.

Another key is to learn article marketing. Article marketing is not just writing an article, but writing one in which you provide some “extra-value”. My views tend to be contrarian to a lot of traditional wisdom (though I like to think not radically so, my stores do very well, but we are not in the Fortune 500...yet. If I am even close to an “Internet guru” at least I'm an honest one.

Write about what you know. It need not be a “hype” article, in fact, the less hype it is, the more people appreciate it. Please refrain from repetitiveness, that is, lifting bits and pieces from other “gurus” articles to sound like a guru. It is an insult to the Internet community's intelligence. I do not say that judgmentally, I did it myself (when I was learning, to sound “smarter); but there is an old saying “The Internet always finds you out”. And that is very true.

So now you are building a foundation, article marketing (making certain to add a link to your store or website at the base of every article), exploring pay per click. How about blogging and social networking? Podcasting? Do they work? You better believe it. But they don't (necessarily) work the same day or even year.

I started building my foundation in 1997. It was merely a hobby, cartooning. I didn't even know I could sell things on the Internet. I was just having some fun. Little did I know, I was building “that foundation” that you keep seeing.

Now I have stores that sell thousands of items with my cartoon images; they came to me, I didn't go looking for the manufacturers. I really didn't even know anyone was noticing. It slowly evolved into a business. Keep in mind this was pre-Google, pre ppc search engines, pre blogging, pre everything that we now take for granted on the net.

Have you tried search directories? You would be astonished the amount of quality traffic come from them. Be sure to place your blog in the more popular blog search directories. There are many. Some are free some cost a bit. Do a Google search for “blog directories” and find your product niche and list there.

Blog as often as you can. I try to every day. Many gurus says two or three times per week is fine. It really depends on if you have something “newsworthy” to say. Or want to show the public some special you are running. Always think from a journalists point of view when writing.
Is this something that is useful to the public, or am I just stroking my ego? You will soon see the difference in the amount of sales and visitors it brings to your site. Always remember that the base of your blog should have your store's URL.

Learn to ping. Its very easy now with automatic pinging services such as Pingoat and Pingomatic and Kping, etc. Don't abuse it or they will not let you ping. Ping your blogs only. That is what they are for, to alert other blogs of a story they might want to see and include. It works well. You can do a “Google vanity search” of your blog every few days after pinging and see that others have picked it up.

Join groups at flickr, myspace and others. Make friends. Don't go in full-force and start selling. Make friends and build a community. Let them ask you about your business. Just keep feeding useful information that is helpful, or make friends, or share about other common interests and sooner or later someone is going to ask you about your website or business. It always happens; and when it happens that way you've created a loyal customer.

There are so many other methods to think about in the building of a business. I've seen so many web businesses with potential close their doors right before “they made it”. I cannot be sure of the problems, but 9 out of 10 times it is giving up on continuity (the blogging, the article marketing) etc.

Every word your write can turn the tide and make business come your way if you write it with sincerity and goodwill; that is, not simply to make a sale, sure, that is very nice, but if it doesn't, and more times it does not than does, you have still given some valuable information that will help another person in their business and you never know, (and this has happened to me many times); the reader may not need my products but knows someone else who collects licensed art products, mousepads, tee shirts, or whatever it is they like in my store, and sends them my way. I can't begin to tell you how many times that has happened.

Keep in mind, I started simply putting up my cartoons on a free web host in 1997. I had no idea what would become of it. I did not open my first store until September of 2006. I realized just what a “foundation” was (remember we mentioned foundations?) when I discovered we'd had millions of visitors to my cartoon site; and now many were being converted into buyers at my cartoon store buying everything from coasters to wall clocks to sweatshirts It happens every day now because I simply “water the garden” a little. You will find the same thing. You will get back what you put into it.

Give it time, be patient, and watch. Good luck. Hope to see you along the way to the top!
Rick London is a writer, cartoonist, and e-entrepreneur. He owns one of the most visited cartoon sites on the Internet, Londons Times Cartoons http://www.londonstimes.us and two cartoon product stores; a premium line of tees and collectibles at http://www.londonstimestees.com and a megastore at http://www.londonstimessuperstore.com

Sell Domains On Ebay - A Few Tips To Consider When You Sell Domains In Auction Format

By Zach Bastick

Choosing the right place to sell domains is a difficult choice. There are literally dozens of sites out there that will help you sell domains. Some take brokerage fees for each domain sale you make through them, and some don’t. Some offer customer support, technical guidelines, and transaction security, while others don’t. When you sell domains, you have make a clear decision as to where you will allocate your time. This article will indicate one of the best places to sell domains: EBay.

Everyone has heard of Ebay, but is it really a good place to sell domains?

EBay is one of the more popular options out there to sell domain names. Traditionally, people used eBay more as a garage sale site rather than a broker to sell domains. While eBay does take a fee when you sell domains, they also expand your market to millions of other webmasters looking for a domain. Although free listings do exist, they won’t get your domain sale much exposure. Ebay offers additional listing options which you have to pay for. These additional options can double or even triple to amount of exposure you get when you sell domains through an eBay listing.

One of the key selling points on eBay is how the auction is marketed. Before you decide on your starting price, have the domain name appraised. Whenever you sell domains, you should get them appraised from an unbiased third party that knows how to sell domains.

EBay domain sellers tend to set up a landing page on their domain. This definitely increases the perceived value of a domain, especially if you are selling domains in the thousand dollar range.

Aim for something that looks nice to the user. They will most likely check out the site before placing a bid, and if they get a page that really says ‘wow’, they are more likely to bid extra.

When you sell domains through eBay, you need to dress your domain: get a tailored look for both the domain’s landing page and the auction.

Here’s a final tip: when you sell domains, consider a private auction format. Some people don't like their identities to be revealed. Furthermore, if you know you are holding onto a piece of gold, start the auction at $1. You should know that when people sell domains on eBay, attention is everything. The more bids it draws, the more attention it will receive from other buyers.

Auctions with dozens of bids are usually the first to be looked at. Grab the eBayer’s attention as fast as possible. Make sure to include the domain name in the auction title. If it's a good domain, this will also grab the user’s attention. If you can hook the user early, you will in turn get more bids on your auction. Sell domains correctly, and you are sure to profit.

For strategies to sell domains, read the Domain Ebook.

Check out The Domain Ebook: it contains all the exclusive information that you need to find the highest paying domain names that you can get your hands on! Go there NOW!