SuccessTheory's Famous No Guff, No Fluff - Bullet Style Fast Info Written by an ACTIVE eBay PowerSeller
OurSuccessTheory.com eBay Tips updated 09Jul06
Contents
- Testimonials
- How Buyers Buy
- Types of Buyers
- Tips
- Winning Items on eBay
- Really Making it on eBay
- Different Types of eBayer Sellers
- Different Types of eBayer Seller Philosophy
- eBay Odd Facts
- More Tips
- Ready Made Niche for Everyone
- Public Domain Books Niche
- Ten More Niches
- How I found my first Two Niches
- eBay and the Psychology of Buying (or NLP)
- Put the eBay Item Number in all correspondence
- Finding a Wholesaler/Drop Shipper
- Charity/Thrift Shops/car Boot Sales
- Drop-shipper Tips
- Testing the Water
- Calls to Action
- Loss Leaders
- Calculating Post & Packing (from UK)
- How to Run an eBay Shop
- Choosing A Category to Sell In
- Best time to Post on eBay
- Hot Item Formula
- Pricing Revisited
- Seasonal Sales eg XMAS
- Mining eBay
- Mining Yourself
- What I'm trying now
- Summary of eBay Traps
- Summary of eBay Opportunities
- Get Real
- Useful eBay/Auction Websites
- How eBay Deal with Rule Breakers
- Why Hot Items are so Good for you
- Why Items sell High or Low : A Theory
- Last Word
- Glossary of eBay Terms
1 Testimonials
- very useful and practical information bradbb23
- amazing will always be Learning. Thanks shanhssy
- I enjoyed your book and though it most helpful. I will update all my info Jan 2006 Nanda 6606
- Thanks for the suggestions and Help Feb 2006 rownhams14
- (Many more)
2 How Buyers Buy
- Mainly Keyword Search Ïpod" etc
- Search Items ending soonest/lowest price
- Stepping through the categories eg Books-Comics
- Search in a Category
- For heavy/large items Search by Postcode/ZIP
3 Types of Buyers
- Those who are searching for a specific item new or old
- Pricegappers looking for cheap items to resell
- Those looking for very cheap items to build their feedback
- Casual shoppers, Browsers (THE MAJORITY)
- Late Night Singles, browsing eBay after an evening out. These are the best buyers ever because they are spontaneous, nostalgic, caution free, they may participate in bid-frenzies just for the thrill!! (Time your Auction expiries for them, especially for all trivia)
- People living in remote areas, they will pay a premium for door to door delivery (Very Good Customers!)
4 Tips
- Become a verified member of eBay through their ID verification process. Getting verified will help get you past a lot of the restrictions placed on new sellers.
- Choose your eBay User ID wisely. Pick a name that's descriptive, easy to remember and instantly identifiable with your niche. Your User ID will become your business identification-the name that people in the eBay universe will learn to search for when they want to buy your products. (PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS TIP). You can now change your eBay Userid and keep your feedback.
- According to eBay, as long as all your user id names refer to the same e-mail address, you can have more than one. So if you want to sell model cars in addition to Widgets, you might choose another User ID that would be more pertinent to your new product line, such as "WonderWidgets" or "ClassicModelCars."
- Organize. If you're selling from home, set up a dedicated space with areas for inventory storage, packing materials, photographing and, of course, a desk for your computer and printer. The best businesses are orderly and organized.
- Groundwork - Before you even start, you need to research your market. If you have a product in mind, do you have a lot of competition, can you make a profit by selling on eBay?
- Research - eBay allows you to search for SOLD ITEMS , click on Completed items (under the Display heading) and sort the results by price (highest-priced first). Keep in mind that any given item on eBay is worth only what others are willing to pay for it, so ignore any listings that never received bids. Scrutinize the most successful sales and see how the sellers have described and promoted their items in order to earn top dollar (VALUABLE TIP)
- CHOOSING A PRICE . When you're ready to list, set your Buy-It-Now price in the neighborhood of what you expect your item is worth; raise it a little for particularly in-demand or scarce objects, or take a few dollars off if you want to move your merchandise fast. Set the starting price (the opening bid) much lower, though, anywhere from a single dollar to no more than half your item's value; this will encourage healthy bidding, thus raising the perceived value and the final price. If you've done your research, you won't have to worry about your item selling for too little.
- Passion - It will be much easier and more fun if you are choose a niche about which you passionate, you will have empathy with your clients, and be excited about new developments in the field. (ESSENTIAL?)
- Niche - Finding your Niche, it took me a while to identify mine (although it stared me in the face) it's that I love tips especially self-improvement tips. I am rather jealous of eBayers though that specialise in say some type of pottery or comic. Yes there is niche for you, you may have to brainstorm to identify it.
- Chemistry Formula - Many people will read these tips and have access to the same information as you, but the vital thing is you, your experience, your determination. Knowledge+Determination+Just Getting Going=SUCCESS. Remember most people will not take action, just decide NOW not to be one of them.
- Committment - Although selling on eBay may sound easy, if you want to set-up a real business selling, you will need a lot of committment, just as you would in any other business area.
- Presentation - Marketing your products is as important as any other tip on this page. Your listings pages are like parts of a shop window. Take time creating clear and uncluttered listings templates, make your listings as professional looking as possible and you could gain competitive edge over other sellers in your field.
- Growing your eBay business - Organic growth is best. Rather than spending a fortune on products and storage, why not test the water. See how the selling process works in practice, which items are the most popular and then grow the business at a reasonable pace.
- Reputation - eBay has a feedback system which rates sellers according to the amount of positive feedback they receive. People are unlikely to buy of sellers with a low percentage of good feedback. Over time, the number of feedback points your get will increase.
- Communication - You will regularly interact with buyers via email. Asking questions, confirming postage costs, etc. Make sure you answer all your buyers' questions in a timely and professional manner - you may well be selling to them again if you get it right the first time.
- TLC : Tender Loving Care, what you have to give your eBay business. Providing great customer care, improvinging your listings, researching the items you are selling. Packing and Posting properly. Responding rapidly to email enquiries (can often clinch a sale)
- Addressing Package I - Check Paypal Address identical to eBay address? (If different check with buyer which address is preferred)
- Addressing Package II - Use a Printed Address (Buy A4 Sheets of Labels and ask number of MS-Word Template for the label set) or simply print to standard paper and sellotape address to parcel. Be safe put TWO address labels on the package
- Addressing Package III - Put your address label on rear of packaging AND inside the package on the item inner wrapping (or possibly on item) (Imagine outer packaging damaged in transit)
- Packaging I - When sending goods out to customers, ensure they are well packaged. Receiving a securely wrapped parcel will impress customers and ensure you receive glowing feedback points. For higher value items, we recommend you use recorded or registered post. It is also worth sending a copy of the bid receipt with the package.
- Packaging II - Start saving packaging that you receive. For delicate objects consider buying cheap plastic "food" containers.
- Packaging III - I always OVERPACK, I wrap well and then reinforce with that brown sticky tape, I put TWO address labels on the package, return address
- Packaging IV - As soon as you receive a bid, package your item, ideally take it to the Post Office and get the Postage Stamp, so that once the item is won, you just have to post it, Buyers just love it (you) when goods arrive quickly!
- Packaging V - Include a copy of the eBay order, also a page advertising your other products/Ebay shop
- Posting I - Always ask for proof of posting, always ask for a receipt, write on the receipt what and who to posted (VITAL)
- Posting II - When you get a flurry of orders eg at Xmas, it is unfortunately too easy to get confused and send the package containing 3 items to the customer who ordered one, and one item to the customer who ordered 3. You lose big time as probably you won't get items back from the first customer (not worth the fuss for low cost items) but HAVE to resend the missing two items to the second customer . Solution : don't rush the final packing labelling also document.
- Posting III - Find out when your Post Office is least busy!!
- Postage IV - Always Cross check that the PayPal Address is the same as the eBay address if different email buyer to find out preferred address (IMPORTANT)
- Payment - Paypal is the recommended method of payment on eBay - transactions are instant and linked to the buyer/seller's bank accounts securely. Disputed transactions are easy to clear up. However, to reach as wide audience as possible, you'd be wise to accept all types of payment. If you do opt to accept personal cheques, make sure the payment has cleared before sending out the item.
- Keywords and Description - Take time to input accurate keywords relating to your product and make your title line as succinct as possible. Buyers will often make a decision at the search stage, i.e. if the title is clear and not full of sales nonsense, they are more likely to click on the link.
- Keywords and Description II - WRITING A GOOD TITLE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS look at other peoples TITLES and see which ones GRAB your attention
- Keyword Spamming - Put a keyword such as IPOD in your title even if it's nothing to do with your product and your item will get a lot of views. This however is called keyword SPAMMING you will make lots of enemies and get reported to eBay, delisted or banned. PLEASE DONT
- Use a Website like Overture or www.goodkeywords.com to suggest good (searched for) Keywords for your Item.
- eBay Second Chance Offer - eBay will allow you to send an email offer to failed bidders of an item you have already sold at the price they bid. If you have duplicate items then this may be attractive to you as it's a pretty sure sale.
- eBay Special Offers Days - eBay regularly has days when the listing fee or some other fee is reduced , you need to plan for these days in advance!!
- Corrections - eBay allows you to correct virtually anything about your listing UNTIL you've received a bid, so check your copy!!
- Keep a copy of all eBay Emails and back them up
- Tax Liabilities - You do need to keep a record of your costs and profits for tax purposes. The Inland Revenue is more than aware of the money made on eBay UK and you must declare your profits (minus costs) on your tax return each year as any small business would do.
- The Postage Trap - Its easy to lose money or your profit by underestimating the postage (and packing costs). You must be familier with Postage Costs and have a set of scales handy. On the other hand too high a postage charge will deter bidders. If you believe an object will sell easily you may consider ßubsidising" the P and P.
- eBay Postage Trap II - If you declare that an item is for sale WORLDWIDE remember to specify postage for both NATIONAL and WORLDWIDE as otherwise a clever Buyer can choose not to pay ANY Postage. This is specially important if you selling an Ebook where postage is "part of your payment"
- Many buyers and sellers pay attention to your eBay Feedback Score, you can quickly boost this score by using a number of tips
- Sell a very cheap "throw away item" eg an ebook, even for a penny (not like by eBay)
- Search for eBayers selling such throw-aways
- Watch out for very cheap items that no one has bid on, especially ebooks which have zero postage
- Try to buy everything on eBay, Ink Cartridges,Software, etc
- Feed the frenzy. You can feed a bidding frenzy on your item by using a low opening bid price and no Reserve, which should attract more bidders at the outset. The more people bidding on your listing, the more likely that two or more of them will get drawn into a personal bidding war. At that point, winning the item becomes almost as important as the product they want to buy, and these bidders might eventually pay more than they intended to pay to beat out the competition. This can lead to you getting much more for your product than you expected.
- Don't get stuck in a rut. If an item isn't selling as well as it once did, take a look at your photos, title and description to see if they can be freshened up.
- Just because you're moving merchandise on eBay doesn't mean you're making a profit. If you can't sell an item with enough of a profit margin, it's probably not worth your time and effort to sell that item.
- eBay Trap I - Watch out for apparently cheap items which have Expensive Postage (often penny items)
- eBay Buying Disappointment I - Every now and again a real bargain may appear on eBay, your wise natural caution may for once let you down, sometimes you must go for it and bid (especially for "Buy it Now Items"). Sometimes people have no idea of the value of something they are selling, or just want to clear the item - SOMETIMES YOU MUST THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND AND BID VIRTUALLY IMMEDIATELY - that doesn't mean you haven't got a few minutes to research the Sellers Feedback record and Google or eBay the price of comparitive items.
- eBay Buying Disappointment II - It's also frustrating to be outbid by a few pence of an auction item, so set your (mobile phone) alarm for a few minutes before the auction. Learn about sniping. Have two Pcs set up with slightly different bids.
- Create and Print your own eBay Compliment Slip - Put these inside the packaging of every item you sell to add a personal touch and build a relationship.
- The customer is always right, treat your customers as you would like to be treated. You may lose small, insignificant amounts of time and money, but you will build a faithful and loyal customer base.
- The Buyer should leave Feedback first and then the Seller. This is logical when you think about it.
- Try to Start and thus End Auctions in evening hours say between 19:00 hours and 22:00 hours. Except Friday and Saturday when many will be out. Sunday afternoon is another good time (best day) to end (lots of bored surfers). eBayers returning from an evening out in a good mood are also excellent spontaneous purchasers. An eBay Powerseller found that his sales from 9pm to 10pm usually exceeded the other 23 hours put together.
- Always Start Auctions every day (but see favorite days) so that you have Auctions ending everyday so as to attract buyers to your shop.
- A basic shop costs £6 (9 dollars or so) a month. A shop is a must have as it exposes buyers to a range of your products.
- The Title I - You have just 56 characters to attract attention and curiousity so the Title is Vitle (sic). Certain magic words work consistently, Secret/Ultimate/Resell etc. Use all 56 characters of course.
- Title II Buzzwords - Amazing, fantastic, unique, rare, best on eBay, mint, make money, resell, resale, superb, complete guide.
- Title III All the eBay Gurus place great emphasis on the Title, that's why I keep repeating it in this Guide
- Copy - Obviously provide your item with an interesting, honest and accurate description as many relevant photos as are necessary. If your item is in any way technical, be as PRECISE as possible, exact model etc. Remember your needs REASSURANCE. Copy is so important it needs an Ebook all of it's own, so as these are brief tips that's all I say.
- Copying other Peoples Copy - Frequently done because it saves so much time, search for the same item and find a good description but please don't COPY EXACTLY; a bit of imagination and you can personalise it. Avoid upsetting other eBayers at all costs. Copying other peoples Copy is forbidden by eBay.
- Search for Copy Ideas in Completed Items for Items which sold at a high-price they surely used a good title and good copy (New Tip)
- Copy Be Honest - Mention a few scratches etc, helps reassure yor buyer.
- Copy Personal Touch - Buyers love the personal touch, eg I bought this paperback when I was fogbound in an airport, was in my rucksack when I climbed Everest.
- Copy for Onesies - If you are selling a DVD for $10 you cannot justify writing a great essay. On the other hand, if you selling dozens of the same item then you should as much as possible on your copy.
- PICTURES - A picture is worth a thousand words, so put in as many as you can. Remember pictures offer great reassurance as to the condition , exact model etc. Buyers need reassurance.
- Checking your Email/eBay Account frequently - Potential buyers often ask a question and a quick response will often secure the sale.
- Automatic Delivery of Ebooks - Ebooks are either delivered as email attachments or better as a download link. If you are selling many you will want to setup automatic delivery. This is done by setting up an email rule which will recognise the incoming PayPal Confirmation of Payment and automatically reply with the relevant ebook email. A Mail Rule works by scanning the subject of an incoming email and then performing the prescribed action. (Read the Help section of your Emailer or Google for the information)
- Ebook Delivery, it is usual to deliver ebooks by emailing the hyperlink to a downloadable version. This avoids a lot of hassles with people whose firewalls, security settings don't allow attachments.
- Turbolister - Is an eBay supplied program which you download and install on your PC/MAC. It allows you to create eBay items on your PC and then upload some or all. It's intutitive to use and essential. When you first use it you can import the details of your existing eBay Items Selling and Sold
- Paypal - Makes buying and selling as easy as pie, especially for low cost items, you must have Paypal. Offering other payment modes eg cheques will be necessary if you sell high value items.
- Fees - Watch out for fees when selling low cost items eg Ebooks it's easy to forget the cumulative effect of these fees. I mention some, listing fee, Final value fee, PayPal Fee, possible Sales Tax/VAT. You also pay extra if you want to fancy up your listing with Bold, Gallery extra Images etc. When selling High Value Items these fees may be unimportant, but it means that the lowest value you can sell even say an ebook is say a dollar or a pound. Watch out for Fees!!
- eBay Fees : You pay a sliding scale to list 15p to 2 pound, then you pay a final value fee of 5.25% with a reducing final fee for high values. Then you pay a PayPal fee. Fees mean that you cannot realistically sell even air for less than 50p.
- PayPal Fees : 3.4% +20p charged on the whole amount received ( so includes postage as well ), fortunately if you sell a teaser item for less than 20p PayPal will just take all the fee, but not actually charge you more!!
- Checking someone's Feedback - In theory a 98% or better approval rate and a Feedback score of 30 or over means that the eBayer should be reliable, check however not jusy how long he's been an eBayer, but how spread out in time are his purchases. Check the actual purchases are there too many low cost and similar items? Check the advice in this Ebook to boost your own Feedback score very quickly.
- eBay Rules : eBay lists all sorts of items which are disapproved of or banned, eg firearms in the UK and lockpicking devices. But also included are items Potentially Infringing copyright or trademarks so no CDR copies etc (see VERO). It is your duty to be aware of these rules and avoid infringement. Remember although it might not be noticed immediately that such a item has been listed ANYONE can report you to eBay at any time. (DON'T RISK YOUR REPUTATION)
- eBay Rules for Ebooks - There are special rules for Ebooks, you many only sell those which are in the public domain, those for which you have bought the Resell rights or those you have written. What's more you may only sell in Everything Else - Information Services.
- Sell in Dollars or Pounds? - Well the pound is currently much higher than the dollar, Americans don't seem to mind paying in pounds (via Paypal anyway)
- Relisting Unsold Items - It's best to relist unsuccessful single items at least once as you get your fees returned if it's successful the second time around, this gives you 20 days advertising from only 15p. However, if the item does not sell the second time around you will have to pay for both listings. if this happens consider changing the title or category.
- Profit : Making a real or worthwhile profit requires a greater margin or markup than most people realise. Jim Wilson one of the early eBay Success Stories started off selling a defunct Software Title that he bought for $6 for $50 dollars or more. Don't think that's outrageous, think how many of these he needed to sell to make a "week's wages"
- eBay Forums : It is recommended that you DONT use your Sellers ID to Post here, you will notice that most people POSTING have a rating of zero. This is because other eBayers may attack your auctions, mischieviously report you to eBay if they don't like your posting. Use a spare email address to register a spare eBay ID use this to POST. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT'S NECESSARY BUT BELIEVE ME IT IS!! THIS WAS MY BIG MISTAKE, SOMEBODY COMPLAINED TO eBay AND GOT MOST OF MY LISTINGS DELISTED; eBay said later it was a mis-understanding but it was still very unpleasant.
- Honesty - Be honest first of it's good for your Karma, but also remember your Feedback score is all important.
- Personal Touch - Put your own personal opinion about the item in, may be say where you bought it, eBayers love this
- Buy Everything on eBay even NEW items - More and more retailers, wholesalers are using eBay as a low cost medium to sell new items. I have bought (perfectly authentic) items such as virus-checkers, printers at a fraction of the cost in even discount stores. This also increases your feedback score.
- Growing : eBay is still growing there is still room for success, new markets new ideas and twists.
- eBay (and eBayers) is the BIGGEST Tip itself , think of it as a huge database of marketing information. Spend time exploring eBay but be observant, see what's selling, what's working
- Stop Buying Stuff - You will be spending lots of time in eBay you will come across lots of interesting items, but sooner or later you've got to stop buying things or you'll NEVER make a profit.
- Magic Ingredient - Remember you are the magic ingredient of your eBay Success. It's your passion, enthusiasm, your experience, your determination not to fail that will make your eBay venture a success, just go for it you can start today!!
- Scanning - Instead of using a digital camera it's often easier to use a scanner, no wobble, you can select exact area to scan and it's straight into your graphics program, only works for flat objects live books, DVDs of course
- Page Counters - Always use, it's the only way of knowing if anyone is looking at your items. Nobody viewing your item at all, well there's something wrong bad title, wrong category, price too high etc. Lots of views no bids, could mean that people are interested by the title but are put off by something in the description?
5 Winning Items on eBay
- Bidding - Ideally you should never bid on an item until just before it expires, as it only encourages other bidders. You can of course set a watch on the item, but you will have to be disciplined enough to make sure you logged into eBay when the Auction expires. (I find it safer to bid so I get outbid emails)
- Penny Bidding - Just as retailers always price items at .99 cents when you bid at the last minute always bid .01 eg 10.01 etc. At the cost of an insignificant cent you will always outbid an equal amount bidder
- Sniping - It's always frustrating to lose a bid by pennies. There are many sniping tools, these automatically "bid" for you up your maximum price (unlike the Emay maximum bid which automatically reveals to any bidder prepared to match your price what your maximum price is). At time of writing http://www.auctionstealer.com allows you up to 5 free snipes per week.
- Spelling Mistakes - Some buyers snap up bargains by deliberating searching for Auctions with spelling mistakes, as most buyers find products by searching misspelt (UK) Misspelled (US) items often get ignored. Vice-versa don't mispell when you list. Try http://www.misspellsearch.com/
- eBay Website - eBay want you to buy and sell, there always featuring links (on their home page) to äll items entering soon with no bids" etc visit eBay Pulse for all the trends.
6 Really Making it on eBay
As said elsewhere in these eBay Tips you have to sell a product that has an excellent margin and then sell a lot of that product; you have to have a product that sells like hotcakes but how do you find such a product?
- Spend a lot of time in eBay (lurking)
- Read the Forums
- See what the big sellers are up to
- Bide your time
- Develop relationships with other eBayers
- Example the recent UK Heat Wave
- A few years ago there was a heatwave in the UK
- Fans of any kind quickly sold out and were unobtainable
- There was no eBay at the time
- Would you have the courage to order some fans from an international wholesaler?
- Then sell in the UK on eBay
- Would you be able to move quick enough (mentally)
- Example 2 : Recently certain types of Japanese Toys were unobtainable
7 Different Types of eBayer Sellers
All of the following try require good business acumen and knowledge of the value of things
- Price Gappers - They search eBay for cheap items which they sell for much more by jazzing up the listings etc
- Flea Market/ Car boot Sales/ Garage Sales- Buy to sell on eBay
- Drop-Shippers - Resell items on eBay where the drop-shipper delivers item direct to the buyer on your behalf!
- Wholesalers - Where eBayers buy bulk items from wholesalers to resell
- Free-Stuffers - They resell say free promotional material from Sports Events, Pop shows, Free Cds etc (works well, but you must be a good cadger)
- Retailers who become E-tailers - Selling new items from a low-cost base
- Joint-Venturers - JVers spot successful sellers on eBay, the Web or elsewhere and negotiate with them to resell their product on eBay (Sara Brown Method)
8 Different Types of eBayer Seller Philosophy
You have to decide which of the three you want to be.
- Normal eBayers Selling off their spare stuff (Majority)
- Part-timers looking for pin money ie happy to make a little cash
- Professionals who have given up their day jobs
9 eBay Odd Facts
- It has been estimated that eBay is responsible for 90% of the packages handled by the United States Postal Service
- Now eBay has 157 million users in 34 countries, with annual profits expected to reach $1bn in 2005.
10 More Tips
- Remember the Auction Insertion Fees increase by increment eg £1, £5, £15, £30 etc (similar for dollars) so listing an item at £4.99 is cheaper than £5. May be you can't be bothered to remember this, but why not play safe by always listing Auction Starting Price as x.99? (SUPER TIP)
- Gallery featured. Very few people search the Galleries. Many of the eBay listing upgrades have little effect on the final bid price, and are also a waste of money.
- eBay picture hosting. Not only is this expensive, but the size and quality of the images is poor. Doing your own images actually takes less time than using eBays system. Another big negative for eBays picture service is during peak searching times the images do not load correctly because the system cannot handle the traffic.
- What is a simple trick with pictures to make your auction stand out? : Put them at the Top!
- What two common seller mistakes will always cause lower final selling prices? Poor titles and wrong categories. People search eBay two ways by keyword and category.
- Whats the one thing that will destroy a buyers confidence and cause him to leave your auction without bidding? Poor photographs; close second- negative and/or wordy language
11 Ready Made Niche for Everyone
Buy technical/specialist books from fleamarkets, garage sales, car boot sales etc. The more obscure the better eg "Frobbitt's Steamroller Maintenance Guide". Now here's the important part, go to the sales at closing time when sellers are happy with their sales or depressed by the lack of them and buy the books by weight. Every now and again a book you will buy for a few cents/pence will sell for 30 or 40 pounds or dollars (400% profit) !!. Real books are not my sector but my first foray into this sector gave me a 400% profit, hey may be this SHOULD be my sector.
Remember to rub out/take the PRICE off the book before you post it!!
12 Public Domain Books Niche
Any book published before 1923 and many books afterwards are free of copyright
- Many of these books are surprisingly relevant
- Others have extra charm because they old-fashioned
- Whatever many eBayers are making a fortune locating and reselling these books
- They can choose to sell as an ebook or pay for a print run
- Public Domain is huge and this is just the briefest introduction of course
- Very Simple Example:-
- You start by searching for real second-hand books on sale on the Internet
- eg at http://www.alibris.com/
- eg at http://www.abebooks.com/
- You choose a book that interests you and that you are satisfied is copyright free
- You then buy that book, and start scanning!!
13 Ten More Niches
Use these as ideas and examples, to find your own Niches. Note most score high on nostalgia (always good on eBay)
- Historical Anniversaries
- Just click on the entry in Wikipedia for Next Year and see what's coming up!!
- In 2006 there are anniversaries of Mozart,Franklin and Rembrant. Apple's 30th Year etc
- Start buying related items
- Deaths/Anniversaries of famous People
- When celebrities/politicians/sportsmen die there is a huge boost in interest in their memorabilia. . This also occurs for anniversaries of their birth, death etc (Sorry this might seem bad-taste, but if you don't do it someone else will)
- When you hear the news try doing an eBay search, and buy any related BINs
- Newspaper/magazine cuttings
- Got a pile of old newspapers or magazines?
- Make collections of similar cuttings
- Imagine if you found a cutting of an early Elvis appearance
- Discarded Mobile Phones
- Many of your friends and family will have discarded cell phones
- There is a strong market for old phones
- Old PCs Atari, Commodore, Sinclair etc
- These have a high nostalgia value
- Old Toys
- Obscure 1970-80 pop-groups
- Theatre, Cinema, Sports programs
14 How I found my first Two Niches
- I wanted to buy an item on eBay and couldn't find it
- I bought a few such items from a local store, put them on eBay, they sold like hot-cakes
- I found my second niche I was eBay surfing and ended up buying a novelty item and then found it much cheaper in a local store
- So once again bought a few and they went like hot-cakes
- I now feel this is the BEST way to find Niches, rather paying lots of money to learn about other Experts's stale niches
15 eBay and the Psychology of Buying (or NLP)
- eBay is the biggest superstore on the planet open 24 hours 7 days a week and has millions of window shoppers.
- Buyers may be lonely, nostalgic, tired, in a hurry, stressed, inebriated, happy or sad, any of these states may make them likely to be impulse buyers.
- A few clicks, a few seconds and the purchase is done, buying was never easier
- You've probably bought things this way yourself
- It's your job to so present your ßhop-window" so that of all the millions of products available they choose yours.
- You have to present your item in as attractive and informative way as possible.
- You must not be coy about this, you must use best techniques of Madison Avenue, while at the same time maintaining your integrity!!
- Compelling descriptions do work, clever buzzwords do work
- A little bit of honesty about the condition works
- You must at all costs avoid confusing them as any delay to their decision making will give them time for their ßense of caution" to come into play :-
- Vagueness about Post and Packing
- Unclear what Model Type/Number
- Unclear what accessories supplied/not supplied
- Lack of informative or poor photos
- Unclear about age/condition
- You probably have less than 60 seconds to convince them before they change their mind and "click" away
16 Put the eBay Item Number in all correspondence
- In can be hard to sort out a query as buyers and sellers often have a different email address for eBay and PayPal and different names the only unique thing is the ITEM NUMBER
- Configure your Emailer to put the Item number into the Subject when you hit reply with a Mail Rule
- HANDY TIP: when I'm scanning a list of items I just mentally retain the last four digits, that seems to be sufficient. Of course when I've found the item I double-check the whole number.
17 Finding a Wholesaler/Drop Shipper
eBayers keep nothing more secret than the name of their supplier(s). Here are a few URLs to get started. You must evaluate these yourself.
- http://www.wholesalecitylimits.co.uk/
- http://www.wholesalemarketer.com/
- http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk/
- http://uk.wholesalerhub.com/
18 Charity/Thrift Shops/car Boot Sales
- Many Charity Shops are now run by Professional Managers, avoid these as they generally know the value of items
- Look for backstreet ämateur" Charity Shops run by volunteers
- Similarly avoid professional Car Boot Sales
19 Drop-shipper Tips
Many people have reservations about drop-shippers ie about whether you can make a worthwhile profit!
- Make sure they are who they say they are (check with BBB and ask for tax id).
- Make sure you have all of their contact info and not just an email (name of owner, physical location, etc).
- Make sure they offer prices low enough for you to still make a profit selling on eBay.
- Ask a lot of questions about shipment time. This is a very important step because slow shipments can cause negative feedback.
- Ask questions about products you're interested in. Make sure the product you're selling is as advertised and not a 'knockoff'.
- Ask questions about their inventory. Do they physically have the products they offer or do they have to obtain them from another supplier once you've requested it be shipped to your customer.
- Don't just list everything they have thinking you will make money. Do your research to make sure the product will sell before you even list it. Research, Research, Research on each product.
- Get clear on all hidden drop shipping fees. Shipping and handling, processing fees, etc. It's important to know exactly what your cost will be on each product so you don't pay more for it than what you're going to make. It's better to learn this ahead of time then after the fact.
- A true drop shipper will address a package so it looks as though it is coming from you directly. This means they won't include any of their own advertisements or information with your package.
- Ask for references. You may not be able to get any, but it's definitely worth asking.
- Order a product and have it shipped to yourself as a customer. This gives you the chance to see the overall appearance of a package your customers will receive. Don't let the drop shipper know it's you receiving the package, but a customer of yours. This will also allow you to confirm any type of advertisements or information of theirs they include.
20 Testing the Water
Many eBayers think that the most important thing is to find a good cheap supplier. But why not test the water first?
- Buy a few items from your local supermarket
- See how well they resell on eBay
- Then if all goes well then look for a drop-shipper, wholesaler
- The advantage of this GOLDEN-TIP is that it gets you going!!
- May help you avoid the disaster of buying a lot of stock that you later find to be unsaleable!!
21 Calls to Action
These are phrases which encourage the buyer to DO SOMETHING immediately
- Bid Now and Save Money
- Bid Now, Don't Miss Out on This Incredible Deal
- Buy Now, Before the Price Gets Too High
- Bid Now, Quantities Are Limited and Moving Fast
- This Is a Hard-to-Find Item, Bid While It's Still Here
22 Loss Leaders
Use loss leaders to attract shoppers to your shop items
- Try to have a few items with a start price of a penny or 99 pence to get bidding going and get visitors
- If you have a lot of stock of the same item say a CD or book which you are selling at a fixed price, loss lead by selling one or two with a starting price of 1p
- Always have a few novelty items selling for a penny, eg those free CDs you get with magazines and newspapers, or those free gifts you get at store openings. Remember that silly gimmicky things often attract a lot of bids.
23 Calculating Post & Packing (from UK)
Always round up the Postage Costs, don't underestimate the cost (and weight!) of your packing materials
- If the Postage within the UK is a X, then charge 2X for Europe and 3X for the USA
- A single DVD generally is charged at £1 to 2.50
- Brilliant UK based Postage Calculator http://www.seajays.org.uk/postage/
- Currency Convertor http://www.xe.com/
24 How to Run an eBay Shop
When people visit your shop you have a brilliant but fleeting chance to sell your items.
- The idea of your Auctions is to attract interest to your Shop
- So you should run loss some leading Auctions
- Your Shop should contain your higher-priced more profitable items
- That's of course just how bricks and mortar stores operate
- Your shop should have a recognisable Branding eg lingerie, or sports items etc (not so sure about this)
- Put as many items as you can in your shop, it's quite cheap to do so
- Everything seems to eventually sell
- You now have up to 300 hundred categories
25 Choosing A Category to Sell In
- Search (Buy) for an item similar yours to see what Categories others are using, this will give you a good idea of suitable categories
- If you hover over the hyperlink to the category you can see its number, write it down
- When you are asked to choose a category you can the category number directly
- Alternatively:
- Click Sell an Item and use eBay's Category Selector
- Select the most appropriate category offered
- Now here's the trick: Look down the selector and see what other adjacent categories are offered they are often more suitable
- I would only choose a second category if my item was really hot
26 Best time to Post on eBay
This section details the best times to post, there are exceptions of course and you should also regularly post to attract customers to your shop.
- Try to Start and thus End Auctions in evening hours say between 19:00 hours and 22:00 hours. Except Friday and Saturday when many will be out. Sunday afternoon is another good time (best day) to end (lots of bored surfers). eBayers returning from an evening out in a good mood are also excellent spontaneous purchasers.
- Best days Thursday Late Evening, Sunday Late afternoon
- May vary for your niche
- An eBay Powerseller found that his sales from 9pm to 10pm usually exceeded the other 23 hours put together.
- Remember that 8pm to 9pm varies according to timezone.
- Start a 10 day auction on THURSDAY as you get two weekends
27 Hot Item Formula
Scarcity + Desirability + Demand = A hot commodity on eBay!
- Once you know this formula, all you have to do is apply it to a product you're considering selling to find out for certain whether or not you have a winner. To find out if you have a hot product, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the item scarce? Scarcity is an essential component of any best-selling eBay item. As well as looking for a bargain, people go to eBay to find what they can't find anywhere else. It could be a hot product like a new MP3 player that's selling out quickly in the shops or it could be a rare and collectible movie poster.
- Is it desirable? When people can't wait to purchase an item, it's desirable. The item can be desirable to a mass market (such as an MP3 player) or it can be desirable mainly to collectors (e.g. a vintage poster). But it has to be of interest to more than a handful of people - or you don't have a feasible market!
- In general, items that are harder to find (scarce) are more popular (desirable) - making them rarer and more likely to fly off the shelves. A word of warning, however. Just because an item is scarce does not necessarily mean it is desired! These two qualities need to work in tandem.
- Is the item in demand? When a large number of people want your item, but few sellers are offering it, then there is demand for it. So if you have a product that is in short supply, and that people want, you have a product that is in demand. And that will bring droves of people to your auction. Simply put, if your item has ßcarcity" and "desirability" and "demand," you have a winning product that can fetch maximum profits on eBay.
28 Pricing Revisited
I recently was surprised to find that an item I'd just bought (Fixed Price) on eBay was cheaper in my local store in "Hicksville". I realised that I'd bought the product for its novelty value, price hadn't been a consideration. This made me realise that eBay can also price itself as a Premium "Door to Door" Service. If you can find your niche you don't have to sell cheap.
- Find a niche where you can sell goods at a premium
- Don't be scared to sell high
- You have to make a decent profit on the 50% of your items that will sell (eBay average), to make up for the 50% don't don't sell
- Consider a low auction starting price but a high BIN
29 Seasonal Sales eg XMAS
- Xmas is absolutely magic for eBayers.
- Buyers can de desperate to complete their shopping lists
- You must research/stock up toys, luxury, novelty items
- Put your prices up
- You must be ready very early to catch the Xmas Wave
30 Mining eBay
eBay desperately want you to buy more and sell more, so they provide lots of reports/data/links to special searches/hot selling items; make use of these!.
- You should regard the whole of eBay as a huge database of marketing information!
- On their Home Page they often highlight links to say Digital Cameras with no-bids
- A must visit link http://pages.eBay.com/sellercentral/
- You must research in the Auctions Completed section to see what's hot, what sorts of prices are being obtained.
31 Mining Yourself
We all start thinking that we've got no useful experience
- Sell items from your Hobbies/Interests/Sport
- Sell items using the knowledge from a Job you had
- Sell items from your knowledge of an Illness you may have had
- Sell items connected with your holidays (bring back a suitcase of items)
- Sell items/specialities connected with your region
- Use your experience as a buyer, what you buy, others would also buy
32 What I'm trying now
Having recently been made a PowerSeller, I am now trying a scatter-gun approach, selling anything that takes my fancy. This is a new test period.
What I have recently Learnt
- I have to develop and trust my entreprenurial instinct
- I have to develop a feeling for value
- I have to learn to post items quickly
- Sell anything
- Put more items in my eBay Store
- I should be posting more items, should be filling my shop!!
33 Summary of eBay Traps
- Beware of transgressing VERO (illegal copies of Cds,S/W etc)
- Just because other/many eBayers are doing something, is no proof that it is acceptable behaviour
- Avoid at all costs upsetting other eBayers
- Beware of Sellers whose Feedback has been built up too quickly
- Get your pricing right, know how to calculate all the fees
- Beware of trading outside your niche(s)
- Avoid selling low value heavy items
- eBay gets very upset (suspensions etc) if any of your eBay activities advertise any other selling medium, websites etc. Don't link to such sites in your items. If you have other operations keep them totally segregated.
- Take care posting the correct items to the correct customers, as mistakes cost extra postage, cause you a lot of hassle and worst of all upset customers. A few seconds CARELESSNESS can cause you hours of HASSLE and lots of EXPENSE.
34 Summary of eBay Opportunities
- TIMID BINs: Many ordinary sellers mistakenly use a TIMID BIN as a kind of reserve price for their item (to cover the cost of their item), which is pretty foolish as the BIN disappears after the first Bid. Scour eBay looking for newly listed items with Timid BINS and snap them up (Don't delay)
- PriceGapping: Looking for poorly listed/titled/advertised items and snapping them up
- Spelling Mistakes: Looking for items with mis-spelt titles eg WedgEwood "Play Station"
- Splitting Bundles: Occasionally inexperienced sellers sell many items as one lot, this puts off many bidders. Buy up a bundle and resell as individual items
- Seasonal : Xmas, Valentines etc certain items will sell like hotcakes
35 Get Real
Can you also make it on eBay? I've been in a various eBay newsgroups recently where there has been a lot of whinging about eBay and PayPal fees, eBay buyers etc. You have to get real, sure it's easy to make pin money on eBay, but it's tough to get rich (AS EVERYWHERE ELSE) but you can make it on eBay if you do the following
- Regularly Post Items (put Items on eBay)
- Get a Shop you can now have 300 categories, and Post Anything and Everything, you cannot sell items that are in your cupboard but are unposted
- Post, Post and Post Items
- Hang tough, I have nearly given up twice, but then been encouraged by a flurry of orders
- Realise that eBay is a huge learning curve
- Find your Niche, but keep looking for new opportunities
- Find that product that you can sell time after time
- Develop your business acumen/flair; become a shopkeeper in your head
- Watch what your local shops are selling, make friends with shopkeepers
- Tell everyone that you are an eBay Seller, EVENTUALLY people will bring you things to sell. I've met an Author with a stock of books for which I have great hopes
- Learn to think like a merchant!!!
- Get Real
36 Useful eBay/Auction Websites
As URLs change frequently please click on the following link for my own page of useful links (Forums/Postage Calculators/Information Sites/Resources Sites) etc
http://SuccessTheory.com/tips/ebaysites.php
Visit http://stores.eBay.co.uk/SuccessTheory/ for more Self-Improvement,Success and Business Ebooks
Visit http://stores.eBay.co.uk/SuccessTheory/ for more Self-Improvement,Success and Business Ebooks
37 How eBay Deal with Rule Breakers
It's really a bit like school in the sense that there are many more students than teachers. You can appear to get away with breaking one or more rules for quite a while, but when you get caught the punishment tends to be swift and brutal.
Whether you get a warning or delisting or worse may depend on who catches you, what mood they are in. Ebay rely heavily on other eBayers complaining about rule breaking, they also like to show they follow up complaints.
If you want to make eBay a long term success you have no choice but to keep up to date with the rules and obey them.
38 Why Hot Items are so Good for you
- If you are selling a hot-item ie one attracting lots of bids you will notice you will probably sell quite a few of your other items.
- This is because buyers are hanging around your store, looking at your other items to see if you have anything similar
- They also come back frequently to check their bid!
39 Why Items sell High or Low : A Theory
- If you sell a popular item, but which is also being sold by many other sellers: then eBay will tend to push the price of the item down
- If you sell a hot-item in short supply the price can rocket
- This is the normal law of supply and demand, but on eBay it is even more exaggerated
- In normal commerce you may know you can get an item cheaper elsewhere, but it is too much trouble to go elsewhere on eBay it is no trouble.
40 Last Word
To paraphrase Frank Garon Internet Guru see what everyone else is doing, learn from them, copy them, even buy their stuff but then do ONE THING different!!.
Develop and trust your own skills in spotting opportunities, that's how to be successful on eBay
41 Glossary of eBay Terms
- About Me: the page where you tell other eBay users about yourself. When an eBayer has created an About Me page you can see the "me" icon next to their user ID. You can view the page by clicking on the icon.
- Advanced Search: feature in eBay to search for items more accurately, by looking in the item title and description, the completed listings or by doing a search with other parameters.
- Announcements board: bulletin board on eBay.com where updates are posted so eBay users can be alert of what is going on in eBay. These announcements are in regards to policies, features, information regarding system problems, etc.
- As Is: selling an item Äs Is" means that the item is sold without warranties over its conditions and operation, and usually there is no return policy. The buyer must judge whether the item is worth the price when buying it, knowing it may not work perfectly. Äs Is" is also known as äs is, where is" and ïn its present condition".
- Auction: a method of selling an item by which the item is offered to the public with a starting price, and those interested bid on the item, making its price rise.
- Auction Value: the current price of an item being auctioned. It is also known as "Current Bid".
- Banned Items - Live animals, Counterfeit, illegal copies of software or music etc there is a LONG list see the eBay website
- Bid: an offer to pay a certain amount of money for an item that is being auctioned.
- Bid cancellation: the seller can cancel a bid from a buyer if they don't feel comfortable completing the transaction with that buyer.
- Bidding frenzy : Nirvana for Sellers, when 2 or more buyers get into a bidding war over one of your items, the real value is forgotten as it becomes a matter of honour!
- Bid history: the list of all the bids on an item that is being or has been auctioned.
- Bid increment: the amount by which bids for an item are raised. The increments are predetermined by eBay and are based on the current high bid.
- Bid retraction: the bidder cancels their own bid. eBay allows bid retractions only under certain circumstances.
- Bidder list: a list of all the items an eBayer has bid on. It can be used to track your own buying activity.
- Bid siphoning: it occurs when bidders of an item are contacted during the auction of an item and are offered that same item, so the bidders are taken away from the auction. It is not a legitimate practice.
- Bidder search: the search on all the items that an eBayer has bid on.
- Bidding: placing a bid on an item that is being auctioned.
- Buy It Now auction (BIN): an auction that offers the possibility of immediate sale of the item at an agreed price. Equals to buying an item in a shop. Obviously, there can be no more bids for the item. Also known as Fixed-price auction. Once someone bids for an item the BIN option disappears
- Category: the classification for the auctions, so the items offered are grouped by similarity.
- Category listings: list of auctions divided by categories. Under every category there are many subcategories.
- Commission: the fee that the eBayer has to pay to eBay upon completion of a sale transaction, which is a percentage of the final sale price. It is also known as Final value Fee.
- Community: the place on eBay for the eBayers to come in contact through the eBay forums and discussion boards. It also offers news, more information about other possibilities of eBay explained, and the latest news.
- Completed search: a search on ended auctions. It gives the possibility of knowing which items sold and which didn't, and at what prices. It is a great tool for both buyers and sellers.
- Contact information: the information that the user must give to eBay when registering. It includes name, address, phone number, and email address.
- Dropshippers: These are wholesalers who are prepared to deliver individual items directly to your buyer. You are just the middleman
- Dutch auction: an auction where the sellers offers multiple identical items. All the winning bidders pay the same price, which is the lowest successful bid.
- Featured auctions: the most prominent auctions of the day on eBay, which show at the top of the listing pages. Sellers pay a higher insertion fee for having their listings in the Featured section.
- Feedback: comments left by an eBayer for another, regarding the transaction with them. It is the main way to check if a seller is trustworthy. Once the comments have been left, they cannot be removed unless both parts of the transaction ask eBay to mutually withdraw their feedback comments.
- Feedback Extortion: When a buyer threatens bad-feedback in order to gain some advantage. If your Feedback score is very good the odd bad feedback will not cause you any harm
- Feedback rating: A number followed by a star which represents all the feedback that other eBayers have left for a certain user. If an eBayer has a feedback rating of 700, he has completed at least 700 transactions, either as a buyer or as a seller. The stars follow a classification according to colours.
- Final Value Fee (FVF): the fee that the eBayer has to pay to eBay upon completion of a sale transaction, which is a percentage of the final sale price. It is also known as Comission.
- Fixed-price auction: an auction that offers the possibility of immediate sale of the item at an agreed price. Equals to buying an item in a shop. Obviously, there can be no more bids for the item. Also known as Buy It Now auction.
- Final value fee refund request: a request from the seller to eBay for a refund on the final value fee when a transaction has not been completed by the buyer.
- Gallery: a feature on eBay to search for items by picture. It will show the items for which the seller has submitted a picture in JPG format.
- High bidder: the current or final bidder in an auction, who has bid a higher price for the item than the rest of the bidders.
- Indefinite suspension: eBay can suspend an eBayer indefinitely if they consistently break eBay's policies. This means that the person will not be allowed to sell or buy or participate from eBay in any way.
- Item: what is being auctioned. It can be a thing, or a group of them, but it is offered as a single unit. Also known as a Lot
- Item Lookup: a way of searching for an item by its number. Every item is assigned a different item number.
- Keyword Spamming: Putting Popular Keywords into your Item title regardless of their relevance : Strictly Forbidden
- Listing fee: a fee paid by a seller to eBay when they list an item for auction. It is calculated as a percentage of the opening bid or the reserve price. If the seller wants to include photographs or wants the item to be listed in the Featured Auctions, the listing fee will be higher. Also known as insertion fee.
- Lot: what is being auctioned. It can be a thing, or a group of them, but it is offered as a single unit. Also known as an Item
- Mail Rule: Help you to automate your responces to Email. Set up Mail Rules from inside your Emailer (press Help inside your Emailer) to say filter all your eBay/Paypal emails into special folders. Set up further Emails to automatically create "templated" replies
- Market value: the highest price of an item in the competitive market.
- Maximum bid: the highest price that you would pay for an item. You give your highest price to eBay and eBay's ProxyBidding system will bid for you on the item until it reaches the maximum bid.
- Minimum bid: the smallest amount of money that can be entered as a bid for an auction. It depends on the bid increments set up by eBay.
- My eBay: a personalised tool on eBay for each eBayer through wich you can keep track of your selling and buying activity, your favourite searches, your accounts, etc.
- NARU: acronym for Not A Registered User. It describes those eBayers who have been permanently discontinued.
- Neg: short for "negative user feedback".
- New: items which have been listed in the last 24 hours. eBay ads a small icon of a raising sun next to the New items.
- New User ID: eBay shows an icon next to those eBayers who have joined in the last 30 days.
- Non-paying bidder policy: eBay has a warning and suspension policy for those eBayers who bid and win items and afterwards don't pay. eBay will send the non-paying bidder two warnings, will suspend for 30 days at the third time and will suspend indefinitely at the fourth time.
- Onesey/Onesies: Any item you sell which you cannot get any more supply (most items sold on eBay). Hard to become rich with Onesey Items, better are items where you have a lot of stock of the same item and can streamline your operations (Copy/Listing/Packaging etc). Onesies are good for cutting your eBay teeth.
- Opening bid: the lowest bid amount accepted for the first bid on an item. Also known as Starting Price.
- Outbid: if another bidder places a higher bid than yours, you have been outbid. You outbid someone if you place a higher bid than them.
- Outbid notification: the communication from eBay to a bidder when they have been outbid.
- PayPal: a company owned by eBay with which instant and secure payments over the internet can be made. It is broadly used as the way to pay for items on eBay.
- Price Gappers : eBayers who scour eBay searching for underpriced badly listed items that they know they can sell for much more (using their eBay Skills) (also called Agregating)
- Private auction: an auction in which the bidders ID's are not shown to protect the winning bidder's privacy.
- Proof Pictures: When you photograph your item, place a card with your eBay-ID on it next to it; to prove that the photos are actual photos of the item.
- Proxy bidding: eBay's automatic bidding system in which you give them the maximum price you are willing to pay for an item, and eBay bids for you using just the necessary bid increments to maintain you as the highest bidder.
- Registered user: a person who has registered to use eBay. It is required for all selling and buying transactions.
- Relisting: if an item does not sell it has the possibility of relisting it, which is a click of a button a way and avoids the seller the process of listing it all over again. If the relisted item sells, the insertion fee is waived.
- Reserve auction: an auction which offers an item to be sold for a minimum price set by the seller. The seller reserves the right to sell the item if it doesn't meet the reserve price. Also known as auction with reserve.
- Reserve price: the minimum price the seller is willing to accept from a winning bidder in a reserve auction.
- Retracting a bid: the bidder decides to retract their own bid. eBay only allows this under certain circumstances.
- S&H charges: shipping and handling fees. UK P&P Post and Packing
- SafeHarbour: a dedicated part of eBay to deal with the misuses of eBay. It investigates offences related to feedback, bidding, selling, account theft, etc.
- Search: feature to look for the items you want. If you want to refine the search results you can use the Advanced Search feature.
- Shops Inventory Format (SIF)
- Sell Your Item (SYI) normal way of entering an item onto eBay
- Second Chance Offer - eBay will allow you to send an email offer to failed bidders of an item you have already sold at the price they bid. If you have duplicate items then this may be attractive to you as it's a pretty sure sale.
- Self-Policing - eBay is largely self-policed, that means other eBay Users report misuse to eBay.
- Seller list: a list of all the items that the seller is currently selling on eBay.
- Seller search: a search for all the items that a particular seller is listing currently on eBay. It brings back a search with the active and completed items.
- Sell-Through Rate: Likelihood of an item selling (50% of all eBay items) but different for each category.
- Shill bidding: Illegitimate bidding from the seller on their own listings by using an alternative eBay user ID or through an associate. eBay severly penalises eBayers who practice shill bidding with indefinite suspension. In any case can backfire when you end up buying your own item.
- Sniping: bidding on an item in the last minutes of the auction, so other bidders have no time to react with higher bids. It is allowed by eBay. You can also use third party software/websites to snipe for you.
- Star: the symbol that eBay adds next to an user ID to classify the number of feedback the eBayer has received. The different colours of the stars represents different levels of feedback rating.
- Starting price: the lowest bid amount accepted for the first bid on an item. Also known as Opening Bid.
- Straight auction: an auction with one item up for sale and with no reserve. It is the most frequent type of auction.
- Title search: a search for an item by using keywords that may be in the title of the item. You can refine your search results by using the Advanced Search feature.
- TIMID BINs: Many ordinary sellers mistakenly use a TIMID BIN as a kind of reserve price for their item (to cover the cost of their item), which is preety foolish as the BIN disappears after the first Bid. Scour eBay looking for newly listed items with Timid BINS and snap them up (Don't delay)
- Trading Assistant: Someone who sells items on behalf of others for a commission (A great way to get experience)
- User ID: a name chosen by the eBayer to publicly appear to the rest of the members on eBay. It does not have to match the person's actual name or email address, and it can be changed.
- User information: the information a user gives to eBay upon registration. It includes name, address, phone number, and email address.
- UPI : Un-Paid Item leading to a dispute procedure
- VERO: Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program allows intellectual property owners to easily report listings that infringe their rights. Infringe VERO and you can get banned temporariliy or forever
Full Resale Rights as long as unaltered and all credits maintained
eBay is the Trademark of the eBay Corporation
PayPal is the Trademark of the eBay Corporation .....end..
File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.61.
On 25 Jul 2006, 16:33.