100 Tips for Buying and Selling on eBay

Introduction

100 Tips for eBay Buyers and Sellers is a digest of some of the best tips, tricks and secrets used by veteran eBay buyers and sellers. Some of the information is from my newsletter and some is from my books, The Basic Guide to eBay, Selling Antiques and Collectibles on eBay, The eBay Power Seller's Manual, and The Wholesale Buying System.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter for auction sellers - another source for the tips in this book.

There are more tips here for sellers than for buyers. But, even if you only buy on eBay and have no interest in becoming a seller, I suggest you read all of the tips as there is plenty of information that will make you a better buyer. I guess it comes under the heading of "walking in someone else's shoes."

The more you know about the process, the more fun and rewarding eBay can be.

If you are a seller, or interested in becoming a seller, I would encourage you to explore our web site. Even if you decide not to purchase any of our educational manuals, there are tons of free resources and excellent informational pages that can add to your selling experience. I would especially encourage you to go through back issues of the newsletters.

Let's get on with it. The first tip is probably the most important, and many of the other tips relate to it. Imagine, if you went into a shopping mall and every store had a board near the entrance where customers could post notes about the products and services sold in each store. Do you think that would improve customer service? Well, that is what eBay's feedback system is all about. Achieving and keeping a good feedback rating is essential to your long-term success on eBay.

Tips for Buyers

Almost everyone starts his or her eBay experience as a buyer. Learning how to buy effectively will improve your eBay experience and prepare you for becoming a seller. I recommend you make at least ten successful transactions on eBay before trying to sell. We hope the following tips will make you a better and more successful buyer.

1. Build A Positive Feedback Rating

Give and get good feedback. This is less critical for buyers than for sellers, but having a good feedback rating makes other eBayers comfortable doing business with you. For example, I accept checks for immediate shipment if the buyer has a good feedback rating. If someone has very little feedback (less than 20) or several negative comments, then I hold the checks until they clear before sending an item.
2. How to build feedback quickly?

Here is a quick way to build good feedback: make some purchases for a few lower cost items you use everyday or that you would normally buy at a store. There are plenty of items in the Health & Beauty category that you buy every day such as shampoo and razor blades –often at prices less than you would pay at Wal-Mart.

Pay promptly using PayPal and immediately post feedback for the seller as soon as you get the item. If the seller does not post feedback, send them a short email telling them that you posted feedback for them and you would appreciate them reciprocating.
3. Be generous with your feedback

Post feedback quickly and leave specific comments. Leaving a comment that says: “great seller,” is nice –but it is more helpful to say, “Item arrived quickly in perfect condition, just as described.” Or: “Quick Professional transaction –good email and just what I ordered.” If the seller sells something specific you can mention it such as: “Beautiful Print –I will enjoy for many years.”

This type of feedback is very helpful to future buyers and it tends to get you better feedback comments in return.
4. Use PayPal

Sellers want to be paid quickly and everyone is concerned about fraud. There is no faster or safer way to complete an eBay transaction than PayPal (now owned by eBay). PayPal is now used by over 100 Million users around the world and now processes more debit and credit card payments than Citibank. Over 80% of registered eBay users accept PayPal and eBay has fully integrated PayPal into their systems. Take the time to become a verified seller and always give your verified shipping address. This gets you the fraud protection. Go to www.paypal.com .

Did you know you can also use PayPal as a savings account. According to Money Magazine, PayPal now pays the highest rate on ordinary savings accounts. When I wrote this PayPal was paying 4.3% while my bank, Wells Fargo, was only paying 2.3%

5. Avoid Fraud on Large Purchases

Given the millions of transactions that occur each month, fraud is actually rare on ebay but it does exist. The most common type of fraud on eBay is a seller that offers an expensive item for sale at an unbelievably good price. When you win the item the seller asks to be paid in cash, cashiers check or money order. You send the money and then the seller disappears.

Demanding a cashiers check or a money order only is a red flag. Never bid on a large purchase if the seller will not take Paypal or a credit card. Always check the seller's feedback and how long they have been registered on eBay.

Most fraudesters set up an eBay account, run a few quick expensive auctions, get the money and either disappear or are kicked off of eBay as soon as they are discovered. Be especially careful if the seller is located outside the U.S.
6. Pay sellers quickly

Paying quickly will help you build feedback faster and you will get your item sooner.
7. Be honest – admit your mistakes

If you forgot about the auction and are late getting a payment off, or you forgot to ship something you sold – be up front and honest. Apologize and admit your mistake. People can be very forgiving if they believe you. They can be unforgiving if they think they are being B.S.’ed.
 

8. Create an About Me page on eBay

EBay allows you to create a page to describe you and your family or even include your pets. You can put a photo on the page, talk about your hobbies, your family – basically anything you like. The About Me page is where a person can get a sense of who you are and if they would like to do business with you. If you have a web site, this is the one place on eBay where it is allowed to direct buyers to your web site.
9. Master the power of searching

According to eBay, about 65% of bidders find their item by searching. Including the exact name of the product you are selling is key to bidders finding your auction. Some sellers place a tilde (~) or a star * next to their auction title to help get attention. Place a space between a tilde (or *) and a word, or the word will not come up in a search.

For example: *Nikon* would not result in any items found, because eBay’s search engine sees the * as part of the word. According to Power Seller News, some of the most searched words on eBay are: DVD, Art, BMW, Gucci, Longaberger, Louis Vuitton, Laptop, Playstation 2 and Paintball.

Use eBay’s powerful search engine to find items and to see what items are selling and how much they are selling for.
10. Be sure to thank people

Send an email to your seller when the item arrives. Thank them and let them know you posted feedback and are happy with the transaction.
11. Search for misspelled items to find bargains

Finding misspelled items is a great sport on eBay. Remember that 65% of eBay buyers find items by searching. If someone spells an item name incorrectly it will not come up in a search. These items usually get very few bids and this is a great place to shop.

Here are a few misspelled words to try: jewelery, strawberry, Ken Griffy, Porsch, beaney, If you want to buy something specific on eBay, think of how the word could be commonly misspelled and type it into the search box. You will often be surprised how many items come up.
12. Use the .02 or .03 rule.

Most people bid in even numbers. If the bid increment is 50 cents, make your bid .52 or .53. This way you will just outbid someone by a few cents instead of a large increment. This is very important when sniping (see next item)
13. Learn to snipe

EBay’s proxy bidding system allows you to set your highest bid and then forget about it. EBay will keep bidding the minimum increment up to your maximum. This is fine if you know exactly how much you want to pay for something. If you are not sure how much you want to bid or if you know an item will be hot, then learn how to snipe at the last minute. Here is how to snipe:

Open one window with the auction description. Open a second window and place the highest amount you will pay for the item and hit “Review Bid.” Now enter your username and password –but don’t hit “Place Bid” yet. Wait until 15 or 20 seconds before the auction ends. (Refresh your first window to see the time left). At the right moment, hit “Place Bid.” With luck your bid will arrive at the perfect time to beat out your competition.

Be sure to synchronize your time with the official eBay time or you could just miss the end of an auction.

You can also purchase a sniping service. I use BidSlammer which is very inexpensive and can snipe the auctions where I am not around.

14. Use Ending Today

 When searching eBay listings and categories, it can become very tiresome because there is so much out there. If you’re just browsing for stuff to buy, then select a category, and select Ending Today. Items ending in the next 24 hours will be highlighted in red. Here's a tip to find great bargains. Look for items ending after midnight. There aren't as many people up after midnight and those auctions tend to get fewer bids. If you don't want to stay up that late, use BidSlammer to bid for you.
15. Search Completed items

 To find out what a product is worth, it doesn’t do any good to find prices for on-going auctions as this could change minute by minute. Searching Completed Items (from the eBay search box) is the best way to determine an item’s worth or value.
16. Check the seller’s feedback rating --and the comments

Because you are spending your hard-earned money, it pays to check the feedback left by others about the person from whom you’re thinking of buying. When in an item’s auction page, select “view seller’s feedback.”

This will list all comments made by others that have dealt with this person in the past. It can be very revealing. If you see a bunch of negative comments, stay away from this seller. If you see positive, then proceed. Don’t let one or two negatives dissuade you if most of the feedback is positive. Everyone makes mistakes, and things do get lost in the mail. Also there are some people out there who are very difficult to please. Be careful buying expensive items from sellers who are newly registered or have a low feedback score.
17. Be careful about leaving negative feedback

You should always try and work things out with the seller. If a seller is a total fraud, then go ahead and leave negative feedback.

EBay is a community and most people are basically good, although all of us screw up once in a while. Unfortunately there are a few “Crazies” out there. If you leave negative feedback on them, they seek revenge, start flaming email wars, send emails to your bidders and so on. Sometimes leaving negative feedback on these people can cause more trouble than it is worth.
18. Check your email at least twice daily

As a buyer, you want to ensure you win the most bids you can– within your price range, of course. Since eBay will email you whenever you’re outbid on an item for which you have an outstanding bid, you want to be sure you know as soon as possible, so you can re-bid if you want to. If you don’t check your email, and you receive an outbid notice, by the time you do check email, the auction may be over for that item. Checking your email regularly will keep you informed of the status of your bids.

Also you want to respond quickly to any emails from buyers or sellers relating to your bids or your auctions.
19. How to narrow your search?

Since using a single word for your search can return many, many ads, you may want to narrow the search even more to get down to a more specific need. For example, suppose you are looking specifically for Timex watches as opposed to just any watches. Then use the AND keyword function in your search. In the search field, you'd enter Timex watch. This would return a list of all ads with both the words Timex and watch in them and exclude all ads that do not contain both words.
20. How to narrow your search even more?

Let's say you are looking for ads that include certain phrases, or words that go together in a specific order. For instance, if you are searching for teddy bears, you can use quotation marks. The command you would use is "teddy bear". This will return a listing of all ads with the words teddy bear in them. The word bear must immediately follow the word teddy for the listing to show.
21. Finding auctions with multiple words

If you are searching for items that have one of multiple words, you can use the OR keyword in your search. For example, if you wanted to find all auctions that have in their title listing the words cat or dog, then you would enter (cat, dog) in the search field. This would return all ads that have either the word cat or the word dog in their listing.
22. Locating auctions with one word, but not another.

If you are looking for watches, but are not interested in Timex watches then you would use the AND NOT keywords. In the search field, you would enter: watch -timex. This would return all auctions whose listings included the word watch, but excluded the word Timex. (Note there is no space between the minus sign and the word timex).
23. Don’t Fall for Spoof email supposedly from eBay or PayPal

Many emails you receive in your email account from PayPal or eBay are really fakes. If eBay sends you an email to your email address –and they sometimes do, don’t open it. Whenever eBay sends you an email they also send it to you’re My Messages box in you’re My eBay Page. Just go to you’re My eBay Page where you will also see the email if it really came from eBay. You can open it there safely. If you receive an email from PayPal, don’t click on any of the links. Instead just log into your PayPal account and you will see any notices on your main account page.

All genuine emails from eBay and/or PayPal will be always be addressed to you by name. If the email says Dear Member --it is a fake!
24. Be careful using a SPAM filter

Unfortunately once you start buying and selling on eBay, your email gets out there and your volume of spam increases. Eudora has a great free email program called Eudora Lite, free at www.eudora.com, which allows you to direct all your eBay related email into a special mailbox where you can filter it. There are also new services available on the Internet to filter out spam –but they are not 100% reliable. They sometimes filter out legitimate messages and still let a lot of spam through. That can be a problem --you might not get legitimate emails from sellers, bidders or buyers. So get in the habit of checking your spam filter regulary.

25. Know what you are buying

Unless the item you are bidding on is clear and unambiguous, be a little careful. If an item description is not complete, or if you are buying a collectible or something used, take the time to email the seller and ask questions or for clarification. If the seller doesn’t answer quickly and completely, that is a warning flag and you should be careful.

Be especially care when bidding on high-priced items.

Tips For Sellers

Whether you just want to have some fun, use eBay to clear out your attic, make a few extra bucks, or even start and eBay business, you will have to master the “basics” to sell successfully on eBay. The following tips are a good start –but you will need to keep learning to master the secrets of eBay success.
26. Learn to sell on eBay

Even if you don’t need the extra money and have no interest in building an eBay business, try selling things from time-to-time. Why? It’s fun! You will get far more for stuff on eBay than you would from a yard sale.

Also, selling will make you a better buyer. You will understand things from the seller’s point of view and learn other ways to spot bargains.
 

27. Buy on Overstock.com and other auctions to sell on eBay

eBay is king of the mountain. Overstock.com, and others are good auction sites, but they are not even a close second to eBay. Because Overstock.com auctions do not get as much action, you can often buy good items on Yahoo and resell them on eBay for a profit. The same is true of Amazon, ePier, BidFields and other smaller auction sites.
28. The best types of products to sell on eBay

Everyone wants to sell the latest consumer product –but the truth is there is a lot of competition from established sellers and even big online companies that have discovered eBay. The best item to sell on eBay is something used or a very specialized (niche) product that few others are selling.

You can buy virtually anything used: clothing, books, computers, DVD’s, Stereo equipment, and so on. If you are going to sell new goods, make sure you can buy them cheaply enough to sell and make a profit. One source is the closeout and liquidation companies that sell overstocks and seasonal items returned by department stores. Here is a link to a Free Wholesale Search Engine. I also offer an inexpensive product called My Top 20 Wholesale Sources for eBay Sellers. This is a great place to find good wholesale sources that will work with eBay sellers.

Another great item is consumables. The idea here is to get repeat business via your web site from customers who buy from you on eBay. One of the best selling products from The Auction Seller’s Resource is the Wholesale Buying System (WBS). This tells you how, what and where to buy products to sell on eBay. The WBS comes with password protected access to a member’s-only web site where you can access thousands of wholesale companies directly. The web site is updated monthly to add new sources.
29. Search Listings on eBay to see what is selling

Go to: http://listings.eBay .com to see what is being listed and sold on eBay. The number in parentheses after the category title is the number of auctions for a given item. In general, the higher the number the more action and sales.
30. Master niche marketing and specialize for success

This is home plate for your success strategy. Find your own niche. Define your market. Then you can know the type of person you’re going to be selling to and the types of product you want to sell. You will also have less competition. Forget trying to sell computers, digital cameras, iPods and plasma TVs. There is no way you can compete with the big guys unless you have tons of money. And those drop ship web sites and programs that claim to have those products are mostly scams. Find a small niche --or several small niches that you can dominate.

Along with being in a superior position to take advantage of repeat business, the benefits from becoming specialized are endless. If you know more about your product area, you will be able to buy at better prices and people who sense you specialize in something will be more comfortable buying from you.

My friend James Jackson runs a site called Find Hot Niches that can help you figure this out.
31. Become an expert in your field

Become an authority on what you do in your online auction business. If you sell printer ink cartridges, you want to be thought of before anyone else.

When you become an authority in your field, a whole new universe of business and opportunity is opened up to you. I buy certain types of things on eBay from the same sellers over and over. I wouldn't dare do business with anyone else, not when they have proven themselves and their product.

You want to earn that same type of position in the minds of eBayer’s for your niche. Also continue your auction education. Read books and training manuals, visit the chat and message boards, attend an eBay University when it comes to your town, go to eBay Live, and keep learning all the time.
32. Increase sales by putting audio in your auctions

I began using audio (voice) in my auctions in May of 2004. I saw an immediate increase in sales. For example, I sell expensive fire pit barbeques ($200+). Before using audio, I was selling one or two a week. Once I put audio in my auctions I started selling almost one a day. The same thing happened with my EZ Cube Photo Studios. I was selling about two a week on eBay. When I added audio to my auctions with Seller's Voice, my sales more than doubled. Now I sell at least four and sometimes five or six units a week.

We also sell Starbucks collectibles. I ran a test of identical auctions with and without audio. Every auction with audio got more bidders and sold for a higher price --in some cases as much as 22% higher!

I use a company called Seller's Voice for my audio. It is so easy. I just dial an 800 number, record my message and then go to their web site and copy a short line of code that I paste into my auction. If you launch your auction first, you can also record the message and just type the auction number into the phone and they will paste it in for you.
33. Get a sales tax number

Contact the sales tax authority in your county or state offices to get a sales tax number. This will allow you to buy from many wholesale companies that would not deal with you otherwise.

If you are not sure who to contact in your state, just call your local chamber of commerce and they will advise you or give you the phone number or web site address to register. If you go to the FREE Articles page on our web site there is an article on state sales taxes with a link to all of the state web sites where you can apply on line.
34. Automate your auctions

Automate your auctions with an auction management service. I have tried several companies and have finally settled on Vendio. They provide auction templates where you type in your headlines and text, insert your images, set your price, terms, length of auction and upload your auctions at any time or day you specify.

These services also track your inventory and sales, send automated emails to customers, provide a PayPal or credit card gateway and automatically post feedback once payment is received. Vendio is by far, the best service I have used.

People are often hesitant to pay a monthly fee to an auction management company, but believe me --over time they really save you money and they are far better than eBay's tools such as Turbo Lister and Selling Manager.

You should also invest in software to print labels. www.edicia.com is a good resource. You can get a great deal on label printers and scales that integrate right into your computer.
35. Build credibility

Be trustworthy. Remove every doubt about your credibility. You can do this through presenting yourself positively through your feedback, being passionately devoted to your business and by being an expert. See the section above on creating an About Me page. A photo of yourself will humanize the online experience can bring amazing results. One with your dog or cat in the picture is even better.
36. Your auction headline and item description is where it all begins.

Your headline is your advertising and your item description is your salesperson. On the web, how you're potential buyer perceives you and your product is everything.

Be sure to use power words in your auction title (headline). Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc. Just be sure not to exaggerate. Don’t call something ‘rare” if it is not.

Copy writing is the art of showing you and what you sell to your buyer in the best possible light. It’s the most important thing you have going for you. A carefully crafted sales letter (item description) can increase you results exponentially without having to spend an extra penny.
37. Use keywords in your auction headline (title) and description

Remember that 65% of eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function. Be sure to use carefully chosen and accurate key words in your title and description. eBay gives you 55 characters in your headline. Be sure to use all of them. This will help you get hits.
38. Stand behind your product and service

We offer an unconditional money-back guarantee on every thing we sell. This has been our practice since our first day on eBay. Now if you are selling cars or houses, or “as-is” used goods that may not be a good idea – but the simple offer of a satisfaction guarantee will dramatically increase your sales.

Even unhappy people rarely go to the trouble of sending something back. The cost of providing the few refunds will be far out weighted by the increased volume of your sales. At the very least offer a guarantee that your items are exactly as described and you will give a full refund if they are not.
39. Set up an eBay Store

eBay Store listing fees are very low (much lower than auctions). This is a great place to park merchandise between auctions, to clear out slow moving merchandise, and a place you can promote in your emails, and with various web site promotion techniques. Place a clickable link in your auction item descriptions that invite people to view your store. I often run promotions where I tell people if they visit my store and buy two items I will give them free shipping. Also, eBay indexes your store listings to search engines such as Froogle. If someone comes to your store from off of eBay (such as from a Google search) and buys something from you, then eBay credits you 75% of the final value fee.
40. Accept personal checks up to $20 for immediate shipment from anyone with good feedback.

Remember it costs about $20 these days in bank fees if you bounce a check. Most people will not write a bad check for this reason. I have performed over 5,000 transactions on eBay over the past 5 years and I have only received one bad check – and it was eventually made good by the buyer. I usually offer immediate shipment on receipt of a personal check if the person has a good feedback rating. (At least 20 feedback postings with no negatives). Also, it used to take 5 to 7 days for a check to clear. Banks are now clearing checks in 1-2 days.
41. Set up a PayPal Shop

PayPal offers a service to all of their users called PayPal Shops. A PayPal shop is nothing more than a link to your eBay store or your web site.

PayPal offers users a search engine where they can search PayPal shops for goods offered by merchants who accept PayPal. Occasionally PayPal may feature your shop on their checkout page. If this happens your shop will get thousands of hits a day as long as it is featured.
42. Use an email signature

One great free way to promote your auction business is by using a signature. Signatures are six to eight line inserts at the end of your email messages. All email programs support them. You signature should include a description of what you sell and a hyper-link to your eBay store or your about me page.
43. Automate your shipping and save time at the post office

If you don’t have much time to spend at the post office, and I'm sure you don't, prepare in advance. You can have all of your mailing supplies sent to you by the USPS and UPS.

Visit http://www.usps.gov and http://ups.com for more details. eBay and PayPal now have an automated shipping system integrated with UPS and USPS right on their site.

If you ship via USPS Priority Mail (a favorite option for eBay sellers) you can use delivery confirmation to track your packages. It is free if you do it on line at http://www.usps.com or it costs 45 cents to do it at the post office window.
44. Building a High Feedback Rating Quickly

Here is a quick way to build good feedback: Sell something at a very low price, such as an inexpensive baseball card for under a dollar. Put up a Dutch auction for 50 of the item you are selling. Don’t worry about making money; just try to break even. Mail the cards out quickly, post great feedback for each buyer and send each buyer an email politely asking each of them to return the favor. Be sure to include the hyperlink to the feedback post in your email.
45. Where to get free shipping supplies?

If you send your items via USPS priority mail the post office will give you free envelopes, tape, and boxes. Think this through. If you pay the priority mail fee, and get free boxes, that is often close to what UPS charges when you add in the cost of a box. See below, however, for ways to get free boxes –and packing materials.

Another source for free supplies is your local gift shop or kitchen shop. These merchants receive merchandise in good boxes everyday with plenty of bubble-pak and Styrofoam peanuts that they simply throw away or pay to have recycled. Get friendly with your local gift shop and you can have access to tons of free shipping suppliers.
46. Sign Up for BuySafe and SquareTrade

If you sell expensive goods, BuySafe is a company that provides fraud insurance to your buyers. It cost a little to sign up, but BuySafe has plenty of evidence that shows that using BuySafe in your auctions will increase your bids and final values much more than the cost of their service. Sign up at www.buysafe.com.

SquareTrade is sort of the Better Business Bureau of eBay. Sign up at www.squaretrade.com. They also provide a dispute resolution service for their members and can get bad feedback removed.
47. Get your news from AuctionBytes.com

www.AuctionBytes.com is a great site with lots of free resources for auction sellers. They have an online auction calendar that lists best times to start and end an auction, a free online tutorial on how to take good photos, a daily and a weekly free newsletter and plenty of additional free resources. Best of all they have a daily news feed of news about eBay and online auctions.
48. Learn how to write great headlines and auction item descriptions

Our premier book, The Complete eBay Marketing System has two chapters on writing auction titles (headlines) and item descriptions designed to help you increase hits and bids. Poor titles and descriptions are one of the largest reasons eBay sellers get poor auction results.
49. Use Google AdWords to drive hits to your auctions, eBay Store or your web site.

Google AdWords can get expensive, but if you look for the obscure keywords no one else is bidding on your can really drive hits from out of eBay to your auctions or eBay Store. If you send someone from outside of eBay directly to your store and they buy, eBay credits you 75% of the store fee. If you join eBay’s affiliate program and this person was a first-time buyer, then eBay will pay you a commission on top of that. There is a service called Wordtracker that is free to try out and very inexpensive to subscribe to. It will help you find those obscure key words that you can buy very cheaply.
50. Learn simple HTML commands to spice up your auctions

Don’t be afraid of HTML. Anyone can do it. For example, you should start all of your eBay auction item description with the command: <font size=+1> This will make your type larger and easier to read. It helps to break your item description into smaller shorter paragraphs to increase readability. Just use this command to create a new paragraph <P>.

You can make your text bold by typing <B> at the beginning of the bold text and </B> where you want it to end.

Go to: http://www.davesite.com for a simple and free online tutorial on how to do HTML.
51. Create attractive backgrounds for your auctions

Go to: http://www.grsites.com/textures to get free background textures for your auction item descriptions. Over 6000 backgrounds are available at no cost.
52. If you are going to be in this business – you need to know the vocabulary.

Net Lingo at http://www.netlingo.com is a free site that teaches you all the terms and lingo of the world wide web and various online services.
53. Get a professional auction education

• Attend eBay Live (The next conference is in Las Vegas in June 2006).
• Watch for announcements of eBay University coming to a city near you. (Usually listed on the eBay community page.)
• Use the various eBay online tutorials
• Take the Auction Genius course at http://tinyurl.com/aej4
• Print out the eBay help files and place them in a 3-ring notebook for easy reference.
• Print this document out (99 tips) out and put it in the same notebook.
• Buy some of the great eBay training books from The Auction Seller’s Resource Bookshop

54. Incorporate to Protect yourself from liability

Not many people get sued selling stuff on eBay, but it can happen. If you incorporate, the corporation can shield you from most lawsuits. In fact once a lawyer learn that you are incorporated and you don't keep assets in the corporation, a lot of times they will not bother suing because they know your assets are protected. There are also lots of tax benefits to incorporating even if your eBay income is fairly small.

I used a company called Click & Inc.Online Business Incorporation Service. They did an excellent job --very personal service and very quick. Best of all they did it right. Some of the online incorporating services are really shoddy and they don't tailor the corporation to what you are doing. Click & Inc. contacts you and works with you to tailor just the solution you need for your situation and your specific state.
55. Learn how to buy at government auctions

Don’t pay for this information. Here is a link to our site where everything you need to bid on government auctions is free: http://www.skipmcgrath.com/auction_sr/gvnmtauctions.shtml

Government auctions can be a great place to find bargains – but proceed with caution. Make sure you thoroughly inspect anything before you buy it.

56. Package your eBay shipments professionally

No one likes to receive his or her “treasure” in a battered shoe box or an old cereal box. Take the time to pack your sales carefully. Invest in bubble pak, peanuts, tissue paper and so on. Re-read tip number 45 for how to save money on these supplies.
57. Sell Liquidation Closeouts

Clothing, accessories, electronics, household goods, toys and sporting goods are some of the hottest sellers on eBay. It can be very hard to source these products new from the distributors. But many eBay sellers make excellent profits buying these products from Liquidation and Surplus Dealers. One of the largest and easiest to deal with is Liquidation.com. They use an auction format similar to eBay. One word of caution, check the shipping before bidding.  Click here to see the wholesale auctions at Liquidation.com
58. Set your starting bid low to attract hits

Do you have a good item that you KNOW will sell well? Start it off at a very low price. This will get you healthy early bidding. You want a large group around the item; some will be competitive bidders – people who will pay extra just for the thrill of winning.

You'll usually get more for your item than someone who priced their item higher, because your auction has more bidders watching.
59. Write complete auction item descriptions

Make your item description as complete as possible. Include all relevant details: condition, size, weight, age, collectability, any short-comings or defects, etc.

What you think is not important – may be very important to someone else. Describe your item’s condition, talk about its benefits and uses and keep writing until you run out of something to say.
60. Have a written sales, payment and delivery policy to protect yourself and avoid misunderstandings

Spell out everything you do. How much do you charge for shipping? How will you ship the item? What is your policy on insurance? Do you use escrow for expensive items? When do you post feedback? Do you hold checks until they clear?

The more information you give a buyer the better the buying and selling experience will be for both parties –but don’t forget to make it sound friendly. You don’t want your auctions to sound like a bunch of rules written by a junior high school principal.
61. Don’t get greedy and overcharge for shipping

This is one of the more common causes of negative feedback. You should only charge what it normally costs you to pack and ship. Buyers are sensitive in this area. They know when you are making a profit on shipping. You can charge a small premium to cover your cost of handling and shipping materials, but it should be reasonable. Always offer to combine shipping costs if a person buys more than one item. Explain your shipping policy in the item description.

There is a game some sellers play whereby they list a $5 item for 99-cents but the shipping is $7.99 when it only cost a dollar to ship. eBay will cancel your auction if they catch you doing this as it constitutes fee avoidance.
62. Always include the auction number in your emails

Always include the auction number with the end of auction notice and any request for payment. Place the number in the subject line so you can easily track emails. People often bid on several items and can get confused.
63. Start and end your auctions at the best times

Do you always start and end your auctions at the best times? Start and end your auctions at peak traffic periods when traffic is the heaviest.

I like my auctions to end on Sundayor Monday evenings between 5 and 10 PM (Pacific Time). Saturday and Sunday mornings are also good times. Believe it or not, Mondays during the lunch hour are very good also. Remember there can sometimes be a posting delay of up to two hours on eBay during the busy times. Also --don't forget that eBay uses Pacific Time.

This is one of the best reasons to use an auction management service such as Vendio.com. You can create your auction and schedule it to launch at a specific time or day.
64. What to do when you make a mistake in an auction?

If an auction has not received any bids you can revise it. Click on the link “revise auction” right below your username. If the auction has received bids, you can first cancel the bids and then cancel the auction.

If you go to My Account on you’re My eBay Page there is a link where you can email eBay and ask them to credit the listing fee. Just explain that you cancelled the auction, fixed the mistake and relisted it. Give them the old and the new item number and they will usually –but not always credit you the fee.
65. Why does eBay end auctions?

eBay will only end your auction if you violate the listing guidelines. First of all print out the guidelines and read them carefully. They are written to give eBay wide latitude. EBay rarely discovers a listing violation. They rely mostly on the community to report violations. (Yes, there are a lot of busybodies with too much time on their hands).

The most common violations are listing in the wrong category, key word spamming, putting a link to an outside web site in your auction description and featuring items that are not qualified for featuring, i.e. information products.

One way to get your auctions examined is to make a complaint about someone else’s auction. Whenever you make a complaint, eBay also examines all the ongoing auctions of the complainer. So unless your auctions are squeaky clean, think again about reporting someone else.
66. What to do when eBay ends an auction?

If you are guilty as sin – just forget it and get on with your life. It’s not the end of the world. If you feel you are wronged, then answer the “auction ended” email with a polite request for an explanation and/or tell your side of the story.

Please understand the eBay enforcement employees receive hundreds of angry emails a day. It is very easy for them to get “pissy” (excuse my language). A polite and sincere inquiry will often uncover valuable information. Your violation may have been a minor technicality, which can be easily corrected. They will rarely tell you this if you send them an angry or rude email.
67. Set up a web site and use eBay to drive business to it.

Every eBay seller should have a web site. Remember sales you make from your web site do not incur eBay fees. EBay has cracked down on sellers using auctions to drive hits to their web sites, but there are still some loopholes and techniques you can use without running afoul of eBay. These are explained in detail in The Complete eBay Marketing System. (I can’t give all my secrets away here!)
68. Learn how to promote your web site and/or eBay store

Simply the best training course on the web is from The Internet Marketing Center published by Cory Rudl, a Canadian who has made millions with legitimate web site marketing (None of the multi-level “get rich quick” crap). Corey made a lot of money as a young guy and was an expert at teaching others how to do it too. Tragically, he crashed his Porsche into a wall at a raceway and killed himself at the age of 34. The business was taken over by his partner Derek Ghel.
.69. How to keep your customers happy and generate lots of positive feedback

Customers want three things: instant gratification, clear, fast communications and to get what they were promised.

• Use PayPal to get payment quickly and then ship quickly.
• Answer emails immediately
• Reveal any flaws or shortcomings your item has
• Never over-promise or over describe an item
• Package your items carefully and professionally
• If you can, toss in something for free (I recently bought a collectible beer mug and the seller included a few free beer coasters.)

70. Over-communicate with your buyers

When an auction ends, send your buyers an immediate email congratulating them and providing clear payment instructions. Send them another email when you ship the item (this really impresses buyers). Send them a follow-up email to see if everything went okay. This email should include the link where they can post feedback.

71. Be careful using the Reserve Price Auction (RPA)

No one likes a reserve. Most people understand the necessity for it, but there are a large percentage of users who will simply not bid on RPA. If you know something will sell, then price it slightly lower than the minimum you will take.

If you are selling a very expensive item, certainly place a reserve on it, but let the potential bidders know what the reserve is. It doesn’t have to be a secret. The point of a reserve is to protect you against something selling too cheaply. Being open about your reserve can actually help you get bids.
72. Increase bids by making your auctions readable

Use a short opening paragraph that promises something – and then deliver on the promise. Describe the product – but also write about its benefits and/or how it is used. If you have personally used the product, describe your experience.

Short sentences are more readable than long ones. If you write a long sentence, follow it with a short one. Keep your paragraphs to less than 3 or 4 lines. Boldface important words or phrases. Include attention-getters: questions, news items, a guarantee or a promise. Ask for the bid at the end of the description. Use active verbs and enthusiastic language.

73. Use Bold, and Highlight to increase visibility

These features cost a little so they are not appropriate for low cost items unless you are using a Dutch auction – but it has been proved that they increase both hits and bids.
74. Use a hit counter to track your auction

The most important thing to know about an item that did not sell is: Did it not get hits, or did it get hits and did not get bids? If you are getting hits and not bids, then you know there is demand and interest in the item, but there is something wrong with your price or your description. If you are not getting hits, then there is either no demand or interest in the item or your headline stinks.

Use services such as Honesty.com and Square Trade to help you build trust and credibility.

Go to http://www.honesty.com and http://www.squaretrade.com where you can join their service and get a seal of approval for you web site and your auctions. I won’t explain the services here, they are well described on the web sites – but most professional sellers use them.
75. Always use a regional listing

There are some people who only/prefer to buy from their local regions. When you pick a region, it doesn’t limit your auction to a region, it just tells sellers from that area that you are nearby. There is no charge to use a regional listing.
76. Build a mailing list of your customers

If you followed my advice to specialize, then you will be building a base of customers who buy your type or category of product. Once someone bids on your auction, or sends you an email with a question, then you – not eBay, own that email address and you can communicate with that person in the future.

Whenever you are launching an auction, send your existing customers an email letting them know. (Not every little auction – but for special hard to find items). Because someone actually purchased something from you, you now own that customer so it is not against eBay’s regulations to market to them directly through email or from your web site.
77. Create an Opt-in newsletter

If you are operating in some area of specialty such as art, antiques, collectibles, sports, etc., then create an online newsletter for your customers. Instead of sending the newsletter out, just send out the table of contents with a link to a page on your web site where the newsletter is posted. This drives traffic to your web site, which is the whole point. Your newsletter should also include a link to your active auctions.
78. Re-listing Strategies

Did your auction fail? No bids, no hits? You can still re-list for free. Before you hit the re-list button lets look at what happened.

Was the item over-priced? Was it in the correct category? Do you need a better headline or description? Is there any demand for the product you are selling?

You can relist one time for free if an item doesn't sell. If you keep relisting and the item doesn't sell, you are burning up eBay fees. If others are selling your same item, and you are not –go back and reexamine what you are doing.
79. Experiment for success

Don’t be afraid to try something new. Just be careful, you don’t throw a lot of money into something that isn’t yet proven. Try new products, new categories, new sources, new headlines, and so on. eBay is no where near being a mature marketplace. It is still growing and evolving. The rules change weekly. Don’t be afraid to be a pioneer –just use a little caution when it comes to spending large amounts of money.
80. Choosing a category

Ok, you have put a lot of thought into your product and completed the introspective phase of getting started. You are excited about your merchandise and ready to start selling it. The next step is to find your niche market; as applies to online auctions, this refers to the category you will list your item(s) in. Considering eBay has over 7,500 categories to choose from, this should be a relatively easy process. But there is one important strategic trick you should know.

Before listing your item in any category, follow these simple steps: First, browse through the eBay categories and write down the ones you feel are relevant to your product. You should be able to find at least 3-5 possible choices. Next, write down the number of auctions currently online in each of those categories (it will appear next to the category name). An average category has about 4,000, so if there are more than that you may conclude that the category is active, If there are less than 2000 you may consider it inactive. I consider categories with over 5,000 auctions to be popular and those with over 10,000 are most popular. Some categories have over 50,000 auctions going at any one time. Using this ranking system, rate the categories that you have chosen for your product.

I recommend listing in the most active categories only because they get the most traffic. If you put your product in an inactive section of eBay, you may get little or no bids, even if you feature it .Avoid categories with less than 1,000 auctions online unless your product is highly specialized to that category!
81. List in two categories

eBay has a new feature that allows you to list in two categories. There is a small extra fee – but any feature, highlight or bold fees are doubled. Here is an example: If you were selling a collectible, most collectible buyers also buy books and price guides to their collectibles. So list your collectible in the appropriate category and also list it in the Books>Non-fiction>collectibles and Price guides category.
82. Use good photos and images in your auctions

Digital cameras and scanners have become very cheap. My neighbor recently purchased a child’s digital camera at Toys-R-Us for under $50. It takes amazing photos and comes with basic image management software that lets you crop and rotate images, and performs some simple enhancements. If you are going to take a lot of photos, probably the best, all around auction camera is the Nikon 2100 or 3100. As Nikon has come out with newer models, these two models can be bought very inexpensively and they contain all the features an auction seller needs.

Keep your photos small – in a digital sense. Large image files take forever to load and your buyer will click off to another auction instead of getting a cup of coffee while your 300 K file downloads.
83. Take the time to take good photos

Here are some simple tips to take good digital photos:

• Clean up the area around the subject or use a backdrop
• Always use a tripod to make your photos sharp
• Avoid clutter in the photo
• Shoot outdoors on a cloudy day or in open shade. Don’t shoot in direct sunlight, as the contrast is too high
• Indirect window light is also excellent. I often shoot objects on
  a table next to a window with a white or gray sheet for a backdrop
• Get reasonably close to the object
• Show a close-up of any repairs or defects
• If relevant, show the product being used.
• If size is an issue, show some thing such as a coin or a ruler to
  to indicate dimensions.

84. Learn the right way to drop ship

Lets face it --most of these drop shipping companies are scams --or if not scams they just don't work. You spend a fortune in eBay listing fees on stuff that either won't sell at the price you need to get or is being sold by others for less.

The only way to drop ship profitably is to work with a direct source such as a manufacturer or master distributor. These drop ship companies are just middlemen who buy from distributors, mark up the product and sell it to you. The markup they are getting is the markup you need to make a profit.

Chris Malta, is the product sourcing editor for eBay Radio. He runs a program called the Drop Ship Source Directory. The key word there is source. His directory on a web site is a list of actual manufacturers that have all been contacted by his staff and they have agreed to drop ship for eBay sellers. You could probably find all of these same companies by going through the Thomas Directory --but that would take days and weeks. Chris has already done the work for you. I have used his directory to find several manufacturers that I now work profitably with.
85. Keep track of your fees

You need to be careful with your fees – it’s easy to overspend and kill your profits. Be very careful about using the special featured fees. Make sure your margin is adequate to still make a profit. ProfitCalc, is an eBay fee calculator that has really saved me a lot of money.

86. Use Dutch auctions to increase your profits

If you are a Low Volume Seller, or if you sell products with a low dollar margin, you may need to run multiple Dutch auctions to make a good living on eBay.

A Dutch Auction is used when you have several identical items for sale. You set the minimum price you are willing to sell for, and specify the quantity for sale. Many bidders will bid on more than one item. The person who bids the lowest for the last available quantity sets the price for all winning bidders.

Here is an example: Recently, I had a dozen of the AFLAC talking plush ducks. I tried selling them for $10 without success. I then ran a Dutch auction with the starting price at $4.95. I got over 30 bids, some people bidding on as many as three ducks and the price was run up to over $14.00 each
87. Learn to sell information products on eBay

People will pay good money for information they can use. If you can write reasonably well, and you have a topic you have some expertise in, you can probably write a reference guide or “how-to” manual and sell it on eBay and even on the web.

I recently saw one called How to Make $30 Hour Sharpening Knives. Another lady wrote a short e-book explaining how she sells children’s clothing on eBay.

You can create an e-book (or a printed book) on almost any topic: Pets, Finance, Bible Studies, Poetry, children’s stories, software, computer tips, making money with XYZ and so on. You can also compile information on antiques, collectibles, computer images, recipes, genealogy, etc. Search the non-fiction books category and the information products category on eBay to see what is selling then try to identify a unique niche for a new product or category.

If you are going to create an e-Book, the best program on the market is eBook Pro. eBook Pro is not only a superior (and user friendly) software for packaging information, it also gives you far more security and control than other programs or packaging options. There's no longer any reason for you to be taking dangerous risks with your business. Now your computer can deliver your products instantly and automatically (with zero cost) over the Internet. eBook Pro can even:

1. Capture your customers' credit card numbers or direct them to PayPal
2. Wire their money directly into your bank account
3. Enter their customer contact information into your own private database.

With eBook Pro, your eBooks are easy to produce, they're cost-effective, and they have the potential to generate tons of profit with relatively little effort on you part!
88. Buying at Costco, Sam’s Club and Outlet Malls to sell on eBay

I recently went to Costco to buy a calling card (640 minutes for $19.95) and a pair of Avia running shoes, also for $19.95. These shoes normally retail for around $60.

When I got home I decided to go on eBay to see what the calling cards were selling for. I found the same MCI 640 minute calling cards selling on eBay for 24.95 + $3.50 shipping. (You can ship the cards for 52 cents in an oversized envelope). That is a total profit of $8.50 per card, or $850 per week if you sell a hundred cards (less eBay and PayPal fees of course).

I next decided to check out the shoes I bought. Sure enough, there were several pairs selling at prices between $29 and $39 pair on eBay, and yes, they had bids.

Just before Christmas, my wife spotted a Fitz & Floyd Santa cookie jar selling at Costco for 39.95. She had seen the same cookie jar in a high-end mail order catalog for over $100. We bought 10 of them and sold them on eBay for $69.00 each right before Christmas.

We have a friend who does flea markets and sidewalk shows. The day before a weekend market he always drops into the local Sam’s Club and buys anything he sees that might sell at a profit and buys them. A week before Easter he scored 20 beautiful Easter Baskets full of goodies for 19.95 that he got $35 each for at a street fair.

Tools are another good bargain. Costco and Sam’s Club always have great values on sets of tools, fire extinguishers, fire detectors and other like products. Last year Costco was selling a set of Hoffritz Bar-B-Q tools for $17.95. We have sold them repeatedly on eBay in Dutch auctions where they went for over $30 a set.

Another source of goods to sell is Wal-Mart. Watch for their sales where you can often get goods at excellent prices. My wife and I are doing the Atkins Diet program. The Atkins diet bars sell in the supermarket for $2.29 each, but we watch for the sales at Wal-Mart and buy several boxes at a time for about $15 for a box of twelve ($1.25 each). I have also seen people selling these on eBay for as much as $25 box.

If you live near an outlet mall, you should also check there for sales. I was in Jones New York looking for a gift for my mother when they were having a big sale. A Chinese lady from Vancouver , Canada came in and bought over $10,000 worth of clothes. I heard the clerk ask her what she was doing. She said she sells them on eBay and sells them to her friends in Canada . She was buying high-end blue blazers for $40 that retail in Jones New York stores for over $150.
89. Where to get help with your auction questions

Forums and message posts are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get help answering almost any question that might come up about selling on eBay and other auction sites.

The best – and most used forums on eBay are of course at eBay’s Community section. You can find the discussion boards broken down by subject at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/boards/index.html and there are several category-specific chat rooms at:

http://pages.eBay.com/community/chat/index.html

Another excellent link on eBay is The Answer Center at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/answercenter/index.html

There is an excellent independent forum on Auctionbytes.com at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php

These forums are moderated by David and Ina Steiner and other experts they recruit. The posts are broken down by subject areas, including an excellent one on fraud.

http://www.AuctionClan.com is a fairly new membership site that offers forums for sellers and also does very low cost image hosting
90. Bookmark these eBay links to save time

Set up a favorites folder marked eBay and place these links in it for easy and quick reference.

• Advanced Search page http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_adv.html

• Search eBay stores http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_stores.html

• Announcements and news: http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_stores.html

• Discussion Boards http://pages.eBay.com/community/boards/index.html

• Leave Feedback

http://cgi2.eBay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?LeaveFeedbackShow

• Rules and policies http://pages.eBay.com/services/tsindex.html

• About Me Page setup
  http://members.eBay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?AboutMeLogin
   

91. What to do when someone doesn’t pay?

EBay has a very defined procedure for bidders that don’t pay. Here are the steps:

First send an email requesting payment and warning the buyer you will file a non-payment complaint to eBay if they don’t pay within a specified time. If they still don’t pay, go to your My eBay Page and find the link to the dispute resolution center.

Follow the instructions there to make a claim and file a final value fee credit (to refund your fees)

EBay will contact the buyer and give them a warning (this often gets the buyer to pay) Any bidder that receives a third warning will be indefinitely suspended from eBay.

There is also another option. In your terms of sale at the end of each auction description, place the statement:

“If you fail to pay within 10 business days, then this auction is cancelled by mutual agreement.” On the eBay Non-payment Bidder page, there is a button you can check that said this auction was cancelled by mutual agreement. If you check this button, then your fee will be immediately refunded without going through all the steps and waiting the full period. (eBay does email the NPB and ask if they agree --but they almost always do so they don't get an unpaid item strike against them).
92. Make money selling things for others.

There are several Power Sellers that specialize in consignment sales. Simply put you find people who have something to sell – but do not have the time or knowledge to sell on eBay. You sell it for them and take a commission. Typically you can earn 10-15% on expensive items and up to 35% on lower cost items.

EBay has a program called Trading Assistant where you register to help other eBayers sell their goods. You can register HERE. My best selling book, How To Start & Run an eBay Consignment Business contains all of the contracts, forms and ads you need to become a successful trading assistant.
93. Turn your inventory over often

How many times you can turn your inventory over is the key to making high profits. Too many sellers get stuck with something that won’t sell at a profit and they keep re-listing and re-listing until some day it eventually sells. In the meantime, they could have sold the dog at cost, and put the money into something that will turn over rapidly. Rapid turnover and re-investing your money back into more products is one of the long-term keys to success on eBay.
94. How to get something for free on eBay

Check out the wholesale lots section on eBay. Often the same people who are selling individual items at auction are selling the same things in wholesale lots for a lot less money each, but you may have to buy 10 items to get the wholesale price. I recently saw an auction for home theater audio systems at $250 each wholesale in lots of 5. The same seller was selling them individually at $375. You could buy a lot of 5, keep one for yourself and sell the rest at $325 and make a small profit.
95. How to buy large wholesale lots with very little money

I often see goods going for incredible low wholesale prices, but you have to buy a very large quantity to get the great price. Here is where you need friends. Get a group of people together to share the cost of a wholesale lot. Once you get the items, put them up in smaller wholesale lots in Dutch auction. Here is an example: Last year the mini RC cars were hot sellers. Today they are all over eBay at $9.95 each. Most wholesale sites will sell you the cars for $4.25 in case lots of 24. But you can go to the importer and buy them for $2.50 each if you buy 10 cases. If you go in with a few friends, you could each buy two or three cases and sell the cars retail at a good markup or at a low wholesale price and turn them over very quickly.

Buying at wholesale and finding wholesalers is very difficult. I know. I had to learn the hard way. Two years ago I wrote a 100 page (printed) book called The Wholesale Buying System that covers almost everything you need to know about how, what and where to buy wholesale to sell on eBay or your web site. The instruction manual comes with password access to a web site that lists hundreds of wholesale sources for eBay sellers and special search engines to help you locate thousands of wholesale products. We have sold over 5,000 copies of the manual to date.
96. Know – and understand, your costs

It is very easy to sell a lot of goods at auction and not have any money left at the end of the month. If you are going to be successful, it is critical that you track and have good visibility into your cost structure.

Here are some of the costs you should be tracking:

• Product cost (including inbound shipping).
• Listing and reserve fees
• Feature fees
• Final Value fee (if the item sells).
• Auction Management Service (if you use one).
• Credit card or PayPal service fees
• Internet service or DSL fees
• Shipping costs and materials

Quicken is a very good program for tracking costs and has a sub-set for running a business in the home. As you get more sophisticated, upgrade to Quick Books.
97. More on what to sell and finding a niche market on eBay

In the early days, you could sell just about anything on eBay and make money. Today, major corporations such as J. C. Penny, Bloomingdales, and Disney have moved onto eBay in a big way. It is still possible for small sellers to make big profits. The secret is to specialize, seek out the offbeat and to find used items that are in demand.

While researching another article on eBay, I came across several unusual items for sale. Upon checking, I discovered many of these sellers were power sellers and some were shooting stars (feedback over 5,000).

Here are just a few of the unique items I came across: Used radio tubes, used (vintage) hi-fi equipment and parts, juggling supplies, used music and game CD’s, old board games (Monopoly, Scrabble, etc.), clown equipment and supplies, used tools, old garden tools and decorative items, used college textbooks, small appliances (blenders, pasta machines, irons, etc.) personalized children’s books, collectible fountain pens, new & used magic tricks and magic supplies, used bubble-pak and Styrofoam peanuts – the list goes on.

The point is you don’t have to sell the latest digital camera, Gucci shoes, or expensive diamond jewelry to make money on eBay. Most of the seller’s items listed above buy their goods from garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and closeout dealers.
98. More on writing power auction titles (headlines)

This subject, and the next item, is so important, I wanted to give you some further tips and strategies to work with. The auction title is your headline. Newspapers and magazines use headlines to attract readers to the story. Advertisers use headlines to pull readers into the sales copy. Remember your headline and your auction description is your front-line salesperson.

Sixty-five percent of eBay bidders find an item by searching. Make sure the item you are selling is described in the headline using a term someone would search for. Be sure to spell the name correctly.

• Use “Power Words” in your head line (see the article below)
• Use all capital letters in your headline to make it stand out
• Use the Bold Face and Highlight option if your price-point can afford the extra fee
• Use tildes "~ " to set off your headline. (Caution: Make sure there is space between your tilde ~ and any searchable word or eBay’s search engine may not recognize it)
• Avoid goofy characters such as “L@@K,” “MUST C” and SAVE $$$$$$
• If you are not using a reserve price, say so with “No Reserve” or “NR”

Most of all, be sure your headline is credible and accurately describes what you are offering.
99. Turning Words Into Dollars: Writing Winning Auction Descriptions

You have all seen the difficult-to-read auction descriptions: Small type, run-on sentences and paragraphs, missing information and so on. If you really want the item, you are forced to email the seller to get more information – or you just give up and go on to the next item.

One day, I spent two hours scanning over 100 auctions. In my opinion, only about 12 out of the 100 were well-written, complete and compelling. I am not talking about lacking professional-level writing skills – many of the auctions I saw would not impress a 5th grade teacher.

My own writing skills are no where near the level of a professional writer or journalist, yet I am successful at getting my ideas across to a wide audience. Here are some rules I follow to write winning auction descriptions:

• Use the HTML command <font-size=+1> at the beginning of your description or If you use eBay’s HTML editor, set it to Medium font size. This will increase the standard eBay type size to make your words readable on any computer screen
   
• Clearly state what you are selling in the first paragraph. Make your paragraphs short – no more than two or three sentences. There is plenty of research that shows web page readers like to scan text. If you paragraphs are too long, it makes it harder to scan. Place an extra return between paragraphs to create some white space around them.

• Use bullets to describe features and benefits.

• Write short sentences and/or follow a long sentence with a short sentence.
   
• Write complete sentences (i.e. subject and a verb). Avoid complex punctuation and long prepositional phrases.
   
• Don’t worry about your auction description being too long. It is more important to include all the information a buyer needs than to have a short description. If your description is easy-to-read, potential bidders will keep reading until they have all the information they need.

• 100.Describe all relevant details such as age, condition, hallmarks, flaws, packaging, size, manufacturer, and so on.

• Use “power words” to create word pictures and emotional responses. A few examples are: New, Rare, Genuine, Beautiful, Original, Charming, First Class, Lovely, Save Money, Bargain, Guaranteed, and Expensive-Looking. Stress any product benefits such as health, beauty, time-saving, ease-of-use, money-saving, etc. (Caution: When using power words, don’t exaggerate. For example do not describe something as rare if it is not.)
   
• Personalize the description. Tell the reader how or where you found the item or how you use it.

• Spell out your shipping and payment terms clearly and completely.

How-to    Buy It, Sell It: eBay 101

Millions of people buy and sell on eBay. It has revolutionized the world of online shopping. On the CNBC program, "The eBay Effect," eBay's CEO Meg Whitman accurately described her company as "the first global online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers 24 by 7 and has fundamentally changed the way people think about trade."

It is possible to use eBay with a screen reader, but it can be frustrating to do so. Keep in mind that sighted people also experience frustration with the site, especially in the beginning "learning" stage.

There is a lot of information on eBay's web pages, which may be difficult to navigate at first, but with time and practice, you can do so successfully. If this is your first venture into the world of online shopping, you may want to consider starting off by using a regular retailer's web site. Either way, it is essential to become familiar with forms, combo boxes, edit boxes, check boxes, control buttons, and radio buttons. (For definitions, see "Redoing Windows: A Guide for Customizing Windows for Users with Low Vision" in the May 2005 AccessWorld.)

There is no way to learn everything about eBay in one article. But even with limited knowledge, it is easy to get started both buying and selling. You can learn the fine points as you work. Many books have been written about how to use eBay. For example, on the Amazon web site <www.amazon.com>, I found 373 results when I inserted "books" in the search combo box and "eBay" in the edit box.

How It Started

Pierre Omidyar, a software engineer, invented eBay during his spare time in San Jose, California. Legend has it that he did so because his wife collected Pez dispensers and wanted a place to buy and sell them. On "The eBay Effect" TV program, Omidyar set the record straight: "My wife did collect Pez dispensers; she was very passionate about it," he explained. "The passion people have for collectibles was really a key learning piece for me." He developed eBay because he had an interest in efficient markets, not Pez dispensers. On Labor Day 1995, eBay's web site was launched.

Getting Started

When eBay's web site <www.ebay.com> is loaded, there are over 100 links on the page. These links include Shop for Items, Sell Your Item, Track Your eBay Activities, and Pay. There are links for all the categories that are used to classify items. There is also a Sign In link.

Registration

To buy or sell anything on eBay, you must first complete the registration form. Activating the Register Now link on eBay's home page will bring you to the form. The registration form is straightforward. It uses a series of edit boxes and several combo boxes. The first two edit boxes are for your first and last names. Next come two address edit boxes. If you have a short address, just put it in the first box. Next comes a city edit box and then a state combo box. Next is a zip code edit box, followed by a combo box for a country. The top choice, which is already displayed, is the United States.

The next part of the form is for telephone numbers. To register, a primary phone number must be provided. The first edit box is for the area code, the second is for the first three digits of the telephone number, and the third is for the last four digits. There is also an edit box for an extension. A secondary telephone number can be added, and the edit boxes follow the same entry format.

eBay users must be at least 18 years old, so you need to enter your date of birth on the registration form using two combo boxes and an edit box. The first combo box is for the month, the second is for the day, and the edit box is for the year. Next come two edit boxes to enter and then reenter your e-mail address.

Finally, you are presented with eBay's rules and privacy policy. If you agree to these rules, check the I Agree box and then activate the Continue button.

Now it is time to choose a user identification (ID). Pick an ID that you will remember. Do not use your name unless it is the name of your business. Your user ID identifies you to other eBay users. eBay will display several choices for a user ID via radio buttons. You can pick one of eBay's suggestions or check the radio button that says, "Create Your Own ID." Right below this radio button is the edit box to enter an ID. Note that e-mail messages from eBay always include your user name.

Since so many people use eBay, it is possible that your first choice for a user ID will have already been taken by someone else. If it has, eBay will give you several options for creating a new one. There are three edit boxes where eBay asks you to name three of your favorite things. If you fill out these edit boxes and choose the Create New User ID button, eBay will display several choices. Select the one that you want by checking its radio button. Another option is just to enter a new user ID in the user ID edit box. You may have to try many times with this method.

The next two edit boxes are for entering and then reentering a password. The password must be at least six characters. Next comes a security measure in case you forget your password. The first part of the security measure consists of a combo box where you choose a question that eBay will ask if you forget your password. Questions include What is your mother's maiden name? What is your pet's name? and What street did you grow up on? Once you select a question, type the answer in the edit box that is below the question. Then select the Continue button.

Once your user name, password, and secret question have been accepted, a new page will come up telling you to check your e-mail. You will quickly receive an e-mail message from eBay explaining how to validate your registration. To perform this task, just select the line Complete eBay Registration in the e-mail. Once your registration is validated, you can buy and sell on eBay.

Before you shop or list an item for sale, it is a good idea to visit the Track Your eBay Activities link. If you have not already signed in, activating the link will bring up the form. Once you are signed in, you can view and manage various aspects of your eBay activities. You can track items of interest, receive and send messages to and from sellers, have eBay keep you signed in on the computer you are using, and much more. It is definitely worth the time to review this section.

Let's Go Shopping

eBay uses a simple search form, consisting of an edit box, a combo box, and a search button. When you fill out the edit box, be as specific as possible, or you may get too many hits. The combo box consists of 39 categories, including collectibles, jewelry, musical instruments, clothing, and search all. There is also an advanced search, which includes searching within a particular country or distance from home, price, and when the auction for that item closes. You can also enter the words on which you do not want to hit.

When you search for some items, such as clothing or jewelry, you can refine the search by filling out an additional form, which provides more details about what you are looking for. This will narrow the search results. For example, if you are looking for shoes, you can search by size, heel height, and color. If you put the brand of shoes in the edit box, the search results will be even more focused. Once your results are displayed, there will be a lot of additional information on the pages, so you may need to arrow around to find what you want.

When the word braille was put into the search form's edit box and "all categories" was selected in the combo box, the search yielded 165 results in a variety of categories, including books, toys, and collectibles. When the same search was performed using books as the category in the combo box, 69 books were displayed in such categories as children's books, fiction, nonfiction, and textbooks. Each subcategory had a link to it, and the number of books in that category was also shown. Activating the Children's link brought up 52 results. eBay displayed subcategory links for these results, including Bedtime, Fiction, Nursery Rhymes, and Other; 19 of the books were in this category. Once this link was activated, a further breakdown of the books was displayed using categories such as age range, condition, and format. Under "condition" were the choices new and used. Activating the Used link yielded 7 results.

Once your search is narrowed, it is possible to choose how your results are displayed. eBay uses links, check boxes, and combo boxes to accomplish this task. This is particularly useful if you have many results to go through. By default, all results are displayed, but you can choose to have only auction items displayed or only Buy It Now items shown. A Buy It Now item has a price listed, and you can immediately buy the item for that price without placing a bid and waiting to see if you have won the item. It is an easy procedure if there is something that you just have to have.

Each listing contains the following information: item title, whether the seller accepts PayPal, bids, price, shipping cost, and time left for the auction. PayPal is eBay's online payment service and is usually available to buyers. It is described later in this article. Many listings have photographs. There are times where the seller does not list the item in the correct category. For example, I found braille magazines listed in the fiction category of braille books, rather than in the nonfiction category.

Above each listing is a check box that can be used to compare several items by activating the Compare link. From the seven results that were displayed, I selected the book, Love and Kisses Darling. The listing appeared as follows: First there was a check box for comparison with other items. Next came a link that said "Item has pictures." Underneath that link was the title of the item; in this case, the title was, "Love and Kisses Darling--Board Book! BRAILLE!" On the next line, the words "PayPal buyer protection program" appeared. The line after that said $4.99, to indicate the current price, and the line below that had $3.00, which is the shipping price. The bottom line said when the auction would end. In this case it was 9 hours, 57 minutes. If there was a Buy It Now option, it would have been placed just above the shipping cost.

To find out more information about a product, select its title link. The title of the item appears, and its number is underneath. Below that is a link to watch the item in the My eBay section of the web site, which is part of the Tracking Your eBay Activities area. Putting the item in that area makes it easier to track, but it is not necessary to do so. There are several other links about the item and the item's bidding history. Then there is a button to place a bid.

Before you place a bid, it is extremely important to read the information regarding the seller, which is found in the Seller Information section of this item. Once you place a bid, you are in a legal contract with the seller, not with eBay. It is important to know about the seller and to have the ability to ask him or her any questions about the item. Just as in any business, most sellers are reliable, but there have been occasional problems. eBay has employees whose job is to monitor the web site for fraudulent listings, but they do not catch everything.

There is a lot of information in the Seller Information section. By activating the link with the seller's user name, you can view the seller's member profile. This profile contains the seller's feedback rating, which is the number of people who have done deals with the seller and gave him or her positive feedback on eBay's web site. For example, if a seller completed 200 transactions and 199 buyers left positive feedback and 1 person left negative feedback, the seller's feedback rating would be 99.5%. There are links that say, "learn what these numbers mean," which are helpful in explaining how eBay rates members and calculates their feedback scores.

Back in the Seller Information section, there is an About Me link, where a buyer can find out additional information about the seller, including when he or she started selling on eBay and other items that the seller may have available for sale. There are also links to feedback comments left by past purchasers.

Sometimes a buyer may have a question about an item. The Ask Seller a Question link is easy to use. In my case, the first item on eBay that I ever purchased was a pair of UGG slippers. The item had a picture, but that did not help me with the description. I e-mailed the seller through the Ask Seller a Question link and got a much better description. The e-mails are sent through eBay, and the seller's response appears in your e-mail's in box. You can reply to the message, and then the seller will have your e-mail address, or you can use the Respond Now button, and your response will be sent to the seller's My Messages mailbox on eBay, and your e-mail address will not be visible.

Below the information about the seller is some more information about PayPal, followed by the word description and a more detailed description of the item. The description includes details about the item, the shipping cost, and methods of payment that the seller will accept. EBay strongly recommends using PayPal, but some sellers accept checks or money orders.

If you are satisfied with the item and think that the seller has an acceptable feedback record, it is time to enter a bid. Just below the Place Bid button is the bidding history for the item. It shows how many other bids have been placed and who is the high bidder. The start date and time, plus the remaining time for the auction and where the item will be sent from, are also indicated. Activating the Place Bid button will bring up an edit box in which you can enter your bid. Next is a button that says "Continue." Below that button is a line that says "You will confirm in the next step."

A new page is displayed that has information about the item, shipping information, the payment methods that the seller will accept, and the Confirm Bid button. Under the button is a reminder from eBay that confirming the bid means that if you win the item, you are in a legally binding contract with the seller. If you are sure about the item and your bid, go ahead and activate the Confirm Bid button. eBay will automatically bid for you, up to your maximum bid. This automatic bidding is called "proxy bidding" and is a key feature of eBay. Should you win the item, you will have to pay only one increment above the second-highest bid. eBay uses a formula to calculate bid increments. The greater the cost of the item, the greater the increment.

Shortly after you place your bid, you will receive a confirmation e-mail message that also contains a link that will bring you directly to your item. If you are outbid, eBay will send you an e-mail message to inform you. The message will also contain a link so you can rebid. Many people wait until the last possible moment to bid, so eBay sends you a reminder e-mail message when the auction is almost over. If you want to view the bidding, just activate the link on the item. As the end of the auction gets near, activate the Refresh button on the screen, and an updated page with the current high bid will be displayed. If you are the high bidder, that information will be on the screen. There will also be a graphic of a green check. If you are no longer the high bidder, there will be a graphic of a red letter "X." (Window-Eyes was able to read both without any special graphics dictionary editing.) When the auction for the item ends, you will receive another e-mail message informing you whether you did or did not win the item. If you check the item's page after the auction ends, it will state that you have won or have not won. If you won, there will be a button that says, Pay Now. If you wait for your announcement e-mail message from eBay, you can click on the item's link in the message. Once there, you will find the Pay button.

Pay Up

After you win an item, you are expected to pay for it promptly. According to eBay's rules, the buyer and seller must contact each other within three days. In the original listing, each seller indicates the forms of payment that he or she accepts, which you should keep in mind when you decide to bid. Just about every seller accepts PayPal. Some dealers accept money orders or checks, but PayPal is by far the easiest way to pay for your purchases.

Information about PayPal can be found in various locations on eBay's site. PayPal will bill your credit card, or you can put money into your account. Sellers can have the profits from their sales go directly into their PayPal accounts. Registering for PayPal is quick and easy. Also, PayPal provides insurance up to $1,000 for your items at a nominal cost. Before you set up a PayPal account, it is worthwhile to read the New Buyer Overview.

eBay encourages both buyers and sellers to leave feedback about their experience. Reminders to leave feedback will appear in the My eBay section, where you track your eBay activities. The reminder is toward the bottom of the page, and as each item is displayed, there is a link under it that says "Leave Feedback."

The feedback form consists of an edit box, which has the name of the item that you purchased. Underneath it is another edit box, which contains the item number. Four radio buttons appear next. You check one to rate the experience: positive, neutral, negative, or "I will leave feedback later." Below the radio buttons is an edit box to leave comments. The final control is the Leave Feedback button. If you have a problem, there is a link that says, "Dispute Console." This is the link to go to if the item was inaccurately described or if you have not received your item in a reasonable amount of time. The link presents a form and instructions about how to submit your problem to eBay.

Once you buy an item, the seller can leave feedback for you. In the Track Your eBay Activities section, there is a number right under the user ID. Clicking on this number brings up a page that shows which sellers left feedback and what they wrote. The first time you receive feedback, eBay sends you an e-mail message. After that, the information is on eBay's web site.

Learning and Getting Help

On eBay's home page is a link called Learning Center. When this link is activated, the next page has information about various aspects of eBay, including how to buy, how to sell, and safe trading tips. There are also brief Audio Tours with such topics as registering, searching for items, bidding, and selling. However, these "tours" are not specifically designed for individuals with visual impairments. Before you play the Audio Tours, you may need to turn off any pop-up blocker software.

The Getting Help link provides several ways to get assistance with a problem. There is a list of most frequently asked questions and their answers. Links to eBay Acronyms and the eBay Glossary are also on the Help page. There is also a help query where a topic is entered in an edit box and a search button is activated. The A-Z Index link brings up a list of topics.

eBay's corporate telephone number is 800-322-9266, but customer support can be found only online. On the program, "The eBay Effect," eBay's vice president of customer support for North America, Wendy Jones, explained, "We average about a hundred thousand contacts a day. Our response often comes across as less personalized and less friendly than we would like." Jones added that this problem is being addressed.

Selling Items

Listing items for sale is significantly more difficult than is buying them. Numerous forms need to be completed, and they do not always work well with a screen reader. Completing all the required information is time consuming, and the process can really test your tolerance for frustration.

The majority of items that are sold on eBay include photographs with their listings, but providing photographs is not mandatory. If you do not have enough vision to take a picture, you may want to consider getting sighted help for this task. If you plan to sell many items, a digital camera is more cost-effective than is a 35-millimeter or Polaroid camera. A scanner may be good for some items, such as autographs or CDs. If you plan to use photographs, they must be loaded onto your computer's hard drive. When it is time to upload the photographs for your item, you will need to know where they are located on the hard drive.

Before you choose to sell an item, check to see how much the same item or a similar item has sold for on eBay in the past. Simply check the Completed Listings check box in the Customize Search Options section of the item listings. Doing so brings up a list of previously offered items with details about how many bids there were and the price that an item sold for or that the item did not sell. To see the description of an item, simply select its link, just as if you were interested in buying the item. Reading the item's description may provide ideas about how to word the description of your item or about which words are not good to use.

Seller Registration

Before you can start selling items, you must complete a seller registration form. To begin this process, activate the Sell Your Item link on eBay's home page. The next page gives reasons for selling on eBay, and there is a Sell Your Item button. Information about this button is found on the page that is displayed when the button is activated. After you read through the information and decide to go ahead with the process, activate the Create Seller's Account button.

The account form is slightly different from a standard registration form. The first part is for filling out credit card information. First, there is an edit box for the credit card number, followed by two combo boxes for the month and year of the card's expiration date. Then there is an edit box for the credit card's security code. Underneath the credit card information is your billing information. This information may already be filled in. Just check it to ensure that the information is correct. After the billing information, there are two radio buttons. The first one says that the credit card will be used for verification of your identification and eBay fees, and the second one says that eBay fees will be paid through a checking account. Choose the one that you prefer and activate the Continue button.

The next page says "Congratulations" and your eBay user name. Your seller's account has been created successfully, and you are ready to sell. On the same page are radio buttons to select the selling format. The top one is to sell an item using an online auction. Review the other buttons and pricing information on the page. Once you select a selling format, activate the Continue button. Almost immediately after the account is created, you will receive an e-mail message that contains some tips on how to sell items.

Listing an Item

The next page that comes up walks the seller through the listing process. The first edit box in the form is for entering a category. Here is where a screen reader can have some difficulty. There is a way to browse the categories, but it is not a link or a combo box. There is, however, a link that tells you to click there if you are having trouble browsing the categories. Activating the link presents the original categories in eBay's combo box as radio buttons. Check the one that best fits and then activate the Continue button. The next page is where subcategories are chosen, and it too has the same problem. Activate the link for having trouble viewing the subcategories, and you will be presented with a list box, so just arrow down to what you want and click Continue.

Next, it is time to enter a title for the item. Enter a clear description with as many key words as possible. A subtitle can be added for an additional cost. Next enter the item's description. Again, the edit box for this task is not easily located. There is another Having Trouble link for finding the place to enter the description. Activating this link puts you on a page where you can insert the description. You can use HTML commands or write a description in advance and then cut and paste it into the edit box. The advantage of doing the latter is that the application's spell checker and grammar checker can be used. Also, it is easier to make changes than to manipulate the text once it is in the edit box. There are also combo boxes for selecting the type and size of print and other visual attributes. If you plan on using photographs, there are numerous choices that need to be made, including the number of photographs, size, and location. eBay charges different amounts, depending on how the photo display is arranged. Be sure to fill out the edit boxes for the location of the photographs for the item and then upload them. There is an option to select the type of counter for showing the number of times your item has been viewed. Select Andale Counter. A description of this type of counter is given later in this article.

Next set the start and end dates and times for the auction using a series of combo boxes. There are a variety of theories about when it is the best time to run an auction. In general, it is best to have the item available over a weekend and to end the auction at night. This time frame allows for the highest number of last-minute bidders, since it is more likely that people are at home at these times.

The last part of the listing process deals with payment, shipping, and returns. Most sellers on eBay accept PayPal. Other options include a money order, cashier's check, and personal check. Choose all the ones that you are willing to accept. There is also an edit box to explain your return policy, if you have one. For example, I listed a poster on eBay, and my return policy was that I would give a full refund if the poster was not as advertised.

It is important to determine how much it will cost to ship the item before you list it. There are check boxes for determining where you will ship the item, such as the United States only, Europe, or worldwide. Enter the price and check the correct radio button for the shipping method, such as ground UPS or U.S. Postal Service. When all the information is completed, choose the Submit button. You will immediately get a page showing you the link for your item. Before any bids have been placed, it is still possible to make changes to the listing. Once the first bid is received, it is possible to add to but not change the description. You can still change the category if you find that you are getting few hits.

When an item is listed for sale, eBay immediately charges the "insertion fee" to your account, starting at 25 cents and going up to $4.80. When the item is sold, eBay charges a modest "final value fee." There is no final value fee if the item does not sell.

Once the auction starts, eBay sends an e-mail message saying that the item has been successfully listed. The seller can track the bidding process through the My eBay section of the web site. In My eBay, all your items for sale are listed, along with the number of watchers, the high bidder's user ID, the current price, and the time until the auction closes.

Within your listing, the number of hits (people who have viewed your item) is presented as a graphic. To get the number of hits on the counter, you can register at the web site <www.andale.com> for no additional charge. Andale will send you an e-mail when your registration is complete. Live help and e-mail help are available for this site. Once you are registered, there is no need to log in each time you visit Andale if you allow your computer to set a cookie; the web site will know who you are. The information about the items you are selling is in the middle of the page. Above this information are some links that may be difficult to understand with a screen reader, but the important information is the last few words of each link.

eBay notifies you if your item receives a bid. Once the auction closes, eBay sends the information about the buyer and how much the item sold for. This e-mail also contains an option to send the buyer an invoice. At the bottom of the e-mail is the information that would appear on the invoice.

If the buyer uses PayPal, you will receive an e-mail message informing you that you have received an instant payment. In fact, the message will have the buyer's e-mail address as a return address, but it is actually sent through PayPal. In the body of the e-mail message is a link to view the transaction online. Activating this link brings up the PayPal log-in page. After you log in, the transaction page is displayed. Basically, this page lists the item's name, price, and shipping cost and the buyer's name, eBay ID, and e-mail and shipping addresses. Once the money is deposited into the seller's PayPal account, the seller can use these funds to pay for future eBay purchases. Money is deducted from the PayPal account first, and then the balance of the cost appears on your credit card statement.

Just as a buyer can leave feedback about a seller, a seller can and should leave feedback about a buyer. Leaving feedback for a buyer can be helpful if this person also sells on eBay. Future buyers can check the particular buyer's feedback score to determine whether they want to bid on an item that the person is selling. Feedback is critical to the eBay system.

It is possible that you will receive spam e-mails that appear to be from eBay and PayPal. If an e-mail message is really from eBay, your user name will be included, but that is not definitive. Never give out additional information by e-mail. It is fine to view an item using the link in an e-mail message from eBay, but do not give out your user name, password, or any other information. The same is true for PayPal. Do not give out your PayPal password, and do not enter your credit card number or other personal information unless you have gone to PayPal's web site manually, rather than through an e-mail link.

The Bottom Line

Be prepared to experience periods of frustration with eBay and do not try to learn everything in a day. With patience, eBay can be a lot of fun to use and a huge time saver. It is a good place to hunt for bargains, sell things that you do not need, and maybe even get some extra money. It can save you a lot of time traveling to stores and keep you out of long lines.

Brian Nelson's Blue Box 3