One of the major changes implemented in the policy of eBay site is that it is no more possible for sellers to leave negative or neutral feedback of their experiences on eBay. The reason eBay has done this is to avoid visitors deciding not to visit eBay again.

This is because eBay feels that by being extremely rude to buyers, not only are the buyers hurt, but all of eBay gets hurt. On feeling hurt, not only does the buyer not come back to eBay again, but he also advises his friends against visiting eBay too.

Moreover, by providing negative feedbacks, eBay is indirectly reducing the number of visitors to the site. This is running against the policy of eBay, which aims at bringing buyers back, and not chasing them away.

By: Joel Dresse

Finding great items to sell can be difficult for some people. After all, your auction site business depends on great items that you can purchase very inexpensively and sell for a profit. If you are having difficulty finding items online for your auction business, here are some easy tips.

One of the best ways to find a great idea is to check out the auction sites. Many people don’t realize that great ideas are on practically every page of Ebay. You can easily look at which products are selling, how much they sell for and the average price that they are sold at. Using Ebay is probably the easiest and quickest way to find great products that already have a thriving market.

You can also check out auction site forums. Here many people talk about great products that are hot. There are even auction analysis companies that analyze millions of pieces of data to come up with great items for their customers to sell.

There are many overseas manufacturers and distributors that would love to sell their items to you for a great price, which can be quickly converted into profit. Many of these overseas manufacturers are usually located on large marketplace websites which are easy to find. So if you are looking for great items to sell on auction sites, follow the above tips

By: Kevin Anthony

Selling on Ebay can be a good hobby or a nice profitable business for others. I like to sell on Ebay and other auction sites for both of these reasons. Below I will list some of the things that have helped me out enormously through trial and error.

1. Determine if the product that you are going to auction is a one time sale or if you have a continuous supply of this item. This means that if it is a one time item that you are going to want to get the best price for it. The best way I found to do this is to put a reserve price on the item close to what you need to get out of it. I know that alot of people say that a reserve price will hinder the chances of selling an item, but it won’t if you try not to be greedy. If you have a continuous supply of a product, taking a $15-$20 profit is the way to go on something like a $200 Digital camera because you will have many more sales.

2. If you want a steady income on Ebay you need to find suppliers. The best way to do this is to determine what type of product you want to sell, and then start researching what that item is selling for on auction sites. Once you find a supplier that carries your product and you determine that you can profit at least 10% after your listing fees and Paypal fees if any, you are then ready to climb aboard the Ebay bandwagon.

3. The next thing you will want to do once you find the right supplier is to buy a few items to sell. This way you are going to test the suppliers quickness in getting the items to you. Also it is good if the supplier will dropship to your customers. The reason for this is sometimes you may get a item that is broke or scratched and you don’t realize it until it is time to ship to your customer. A dropshipper can send this item to your customer just like it came from you.

I hope these few little tips will help you get started in a hobby on Ebay or maybe a lucrative business.

EBay is an auction site where you have to pay them their auction fees once a month. It is important that you pay these fees every month as without paying these fees, you end up getting suspended by eBay.

If you think there is a refund somewhere in there for you, it is possible to claim it. However if you don’t pay your auction fees, you only ask for trouble with eBay. It is only when you pay your fees that your suspension is terminated.

You could arrange for eBay to take these sellers fees directly from your bank account or credit card. If you don’t pay your fees for some time, eBay will contact a collection agency, and this will end up with a bad mark on your credit.

All transactions that you carry out over eBay will lead to buyers and sellers leaving feedback about each other. This is why you have to ensure that the feedback you leave is not a negative one.

Moreover, once you get a negative feedback, don’t think that eBay will remove it. Only if you have a very special occasion will eBay remove any negative feedback, so be cautious in your dealings and transactions.

Never bid on your own, or friend’s item as this is not only a federal offense, eBay will finally catch up on you and suspend your account.

With the first suspension, you face a 14 day restriction; however if you end up with more suspensions, your account is removed with no chance of any appeals.

Don’t you hate it when you win something on eBay, and then when it comes in the mail it’s not what you thought it was? Well, that’s what this is for, to teach you when you should and shouldn’t bid on eBay.

Steps

1. Always contact the seller before you bid. This helps you get a good idea of what kind of a seller he/she is. This also allows you to ask questions about the object. They don’t always include every detail. Whether it is a mistake or not, the listings should be very accurate, so if there’s any question about what something includes or doesn’t, if it has a return policy or not, or anything you might not understand, email the seller. If they do not email you back, do not bid on the item unless your question wasn’t going to affect your bidding. If anything should go wrong, and you have a good explanation, you can retract your bid if it’s before the auction ends.

2. Read the description very carefully. If you made a mistake, misread, didn’t read the whole description, etc., you can’t blame the seller. If you won an item that you don’t want because you made a mistake, it’s yours. The only way to send it back is if the seller has a return policy. Then again, you could refuse to accept it, but you would have to deal with eBay. If the description isn’t clear, don’t bid on it. Email the seller and ask in detail about what you don’t understand.

3. Take a look at the seller’s feedback. If he has good feedback, you can probably trust him. Also, look at some of the comments he’s received. Sometimes a seller will get pretty bad comments. Depending on what the comment is about, you can probably determine whether you should bid on the item. Also, look at the type of items the seller usually sells. If the item you’re looking at is unlike anything they usually sell, it could be cause for suspicion.

4. Make sure you know how they would make you pay. Some sellers use PayPal, which is very helpful when it comes time to pay. If he wants your credit card number and you don’t want to give it to him, use an alternative way to pay. If there are no other alternative ways, you will have to give him your card number, although most sellers use PayPal or another type of payment system.

5. Always total up the cost of the item and the shipping cost, and the insurance cost should you choose to put insurance on it. Sometimes the item will sell for a pretty low price, until you look at the shipping cost. You could end up paying much, much more than you had planned because you didn’t look at the shipping price.

6. Shop around to find the best deal. Sometimes you’ll have your eye on a certain item, when another auction might have fewer bidders, less time, and be going for a lower price. Always have more than one option, if possible.

7. Take note where the seller lives. The farther a seller lives from you, the more the shipping cost will be. If he lives close to you, you might be able to save the money and pick it up personally.

8. Look for ‘Buy It Now’ items. Sometimes these items are better than the auction items. Even though some of them might be a little or a lot more expensive than the auctions, you can ensure that you will get the item and that somebody else can’t pull it right out from under you.

9. Make sure you know how long it will take for the item to get to you. If the item is for a birthday, Christmas, or any other type of present, make sure that the item will reach you within enough time. In reality, you can’t find out what day, hour, minute, or second it will arrive, but you should get an approximation. If it doesn’t reach you in the approximated time, contact the seller. Do not contact Ebay. It might not have arrived when you expected for a number of reasons: the seller didn’t send it soon enough, there were problems with the mail, etc. If the seller sent it, then it’s neither you nor the seller’s fault. The seller should then contact the mail service. If the problem is with the seller, such as he changed his mind and doesn’t want to sell, then contact eBay. They will take care of the matter. You might not get your item but you will get your money back, and most likely the seller will be banned from eBay for a while.

10. Always note the item number. This is the best way to keep track of an item you have won, bid on, or are planning to bid on. Sometimes the auction will be taken off of eBay for certain reasons. If you need to email the seller about an item not arriving to you, and the auction has been removed from eBay because it’s over, you can type in the item number and get all the information you need from the auction page.

11. Check if a return policy is offered. Sellers that stand behind their products will offer a return policy. Be sure to read the terms and conditions as most return policies expire very quickly.

Tips

* The safest way to pay for your eBay items is via Paypal funded with a credit card.

* Never pay for your eBay items via Western Union money transfer. If the deal goes bad, there is no way for you to recover these funds. It is now against eBay rules for sellers to ask for payment via this method.

Warnings

* If a deal sounds too good to be true, it is probably fraudulent.

* There is no eBay warehouse. eBay and/or SquareTrade are not escrow services.

* Use only the eBay recommended escrow service www.escrow.com. Anyone suggesting a different escrow service is most likely trying to scam you.

* Spend some time reading the Trust & Safety discussion board before bidding, especially before bidding on anything expensive.

* Beware the snipers. Many people will wait on eBay until a few seconds before an auction is over. This is one more reason to have extra alternatives.

Wondering how to easily create a compelling auction title? Keep reading!

Steps

1. Think for a moment the questions that you would like answered. You’re probably really interested anytime you see anything offering the answer. Imagine your question is ‘Is there an easier way to get to work?’. You might express it as ‘I wish there was an easier way to get to work’. But it means the same thing. You see a headline that says ‘New Easy Way To Get To (where you work)’. Would you be curious? Of course you would. So it makes sense to ask yourself what questions your target customer has which you can provide the answer. Then construct your headline as the answer.

Tips

* Consider the following examples of the “headline as the answer” technique:
o Customer’s question: ‘What can I buy for my wife’s birthday present?’ Your item: A quality ladies wristwatch. Your headline: ‘Just What The Lady Wants - Quality Wrist Watch’
o Customer’s question: ‘How can I study less and still remember?’ Your item: A new way to study faster and remember everything. Your headline: ‘New Way - Study Faster and Remember Everything’
o Customer’s question: ‘What can I sell on Ebay?’. Your item: A guide on what to buy and where to find these items at car boot sales. Your headline: ‘What To Buy and Where To Find Saleable Ebay Items’
o Customer’s question: ‘I’d write and sell ebooks but don’t know how’. Your item: A simple way to write an ebook. Your headline: ‘The Easy Way To Write A Saleable Ebook’

* Use eBay Pulse (see links) to find the most searched terms, and if possible include them in your title

Your eBay feedback score says a lot about the type of seller/buyer you are. An increased score with a high percentage of positive feedback indicates that you are an honest person and that the transaction will go smoothly. Getting started out can be rough though, if you only make occasional purchases.

Steps

1. Search for “penny auctions”, those whose Buy-it-Now price is only $0.01 and that don’t charge for shipping.

2. Win at least twenty of those and make prompt payments.

3. Leave positive feedback for the seller (some sellers don’t leave feedback unless it is left for them)

4. Now you’ve increased your eBay rating at a minimal cost, and in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise!

Tips

* Start selling inexpensive items to build up your feedback.

* Don’t sell expensive items until you reach a feedback of at least 50.

* Maintain at least 99% positive rating.

Warnings

* Many experienced eBay sellers and buyers consider ‘penny auctions’ to be dishonest, as a clear attempt to pad one’s feedback score.

* In May 2007, eBay allowed feedback to be sorted by feedback as a buyer and feedback as a seller. Just buying cheap items will not help your feedback as a seller.

There aren’t that many scammers on eBay - but the ones there are tend to be greedy. This means that they will always try to pull their scams on high-value items like cars and computers, so that they can make a lot of money quickly. Since buyers generally buy these items very rarely, they may not know about the various scams out there.

Steps

1. Automobile Scams

2. With cars, you will generally find that scammers try to get you to send them money in advance, for whatever reason. For some reason, some people aren’t all that reluctant to pay 50% or 25% of the money before delivery using a relatively insecure payment method, especially on a car. They reason that the seller will obviously deliver it, as they’ll want the other half of the money.

3. But there never was a car! Pictures of cars aren’t hard to find, and the experienced scammers will have a whole library of pictures of different cars. The seller just got your $5,000 for nothing, and you can leave them all the negative feedback you like. They’ll just go and open another eBay account and find their next sucker.

4. While it’s not an outright scam, what you might find is that the car does turn up, but simply doesn’t live up to the description - it has been oversold, in the tradition of used car dealers through the ages. If this happens to you then you should open an eBay dispute and say your item was not as described - you might get a partial refund.

5. Computer Scams

6. If you bid in a computer auction but don’t win, the seller might email you to ask whether you would like to buy a computer the same as the one they just sold through their own website.

7. This is a bad idea! You have no guarantee that the item will ever arrive, and you haven’t just given them your money - you’ve given them your credit card details too.

8. There are sellers with nothing but positive feedback who use this scam often - and since you won’t be able to leave them any feedback on the transaction, their reputation will stay that way. If you complain to eBay that you bought an item outside the site and got scammed, they will tell you to get lost and not do it again.

9. How to Beat the Scams

10. There are lots of ways to beat the scams. First, whenever you buy anything expensive, be sure to check your seller’s reputation thoroughly. Make sure they have sold items of a similar high value before, and haven’t just sold a string of $10 items to get their feedback rating artificially high. If you want to be even more cautious, insist that the money is placed in an escrow service (eBay recommend escrow.com - don’t use any other service unless you’re sure of it).

Tips

* To be honest, it’s generally quite a bad idea to use eBay to buy things like cars and computers to begin with - you can get them anywhere, and the discounts aren’t that big any more. It’s better to use eBay for those rare, special things that you can’t find anywhere else.

When using eBay, there is a possibility of you making mistakes; this is why you have to aim at avoiding these mistakes to ensure that there is no loss of time, money or fees when using eBay.

When using eBay, there is basically no need of having any store or anchor store. With this store, you may end up spending $15 a month, for no reason at all. Though you may use a store for phone support or marketing, it is not required to have a store to be successful in eBay.

Remember that the biggest ticket sellers, coin sellers and other sellers have no stores at all for their goods; but have managed to strike good deals on eBay.