The Ebay Affiliate Program

You can earn extra money referring other to Ebay too.


The eBay Affiliate Program strives to make success of its members inevitable. The eBay Affiliate program has outlined some effective strategies and designed some effective tools to ensure you make money and have success. eBay's Affiliate program, is already a success for so many people, and has the benefit of experience to pass on to you. Once you become a member of the Affiliate Program you can be making money in no time flat.

The Program has recognized four models that their most successful affiliates utilize. These models increase traffic or maximize potential in a variety of ways: The first, the natural search, occurs when people go to search engines with a query in hopes of receiving relevant search information.

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL return listings from web sites that ranked the highest during the search process. Affiliate Program members who optimize this strategy incorporate eBay's helpful hints for natural searches. Indexed web sites with title pages and other rank-earning components earn more exposure, and increase their earnings with eBay.

The second model, the paid search model, increases hits with search engines because this model pays for placement. This model includes results that would appear in the "sponsored links" section. While these cost money, they are a cost-effective way to target interested leads.

The third model is Content websites. They place eBay ads on their website, and find added success when they choose to advertise for eBay in ways that also relate to their own content and aims.

The fourth model is opt-in newsletters. This option allows websites to broadcast additional information about their eBay Affiliate Program status to potential customers, and increase their customer base. To make the most of eBay, many websites choose to emulate one of the aforementioned models. These models are tried and true, and repeatedly spell success for eBay Affiliate Program members. These models are highly cost and time effective.

Cost and time effectiveness are highly important, as they ensure you are earning the maximum dollar for the effort you invest in your affiliate member status. The eBay Affiliate Program takes your time and effort seriously, and provides you with the necessary tools to maximize your success. Items such as the Keyword Tool, allow you to ensure your keywords are drawing the most attention.

eBay also provides you with options to track the hits your site inspired, statistics for the products and models that are performing best, and additional guidelines for best business practices. All of these options are free with the eBay Affiliate Program, and all of them will increase your earning potential with the programmed.

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How To Drive Customers Away

ADD CHARGES FOR HANDLING AND PACKING MATERIALS

You want the advantage eBay offers of a million possible buyers, otherwise you could just have a garage sale at home. And, you want to look like an antique store without paying for rent, employees, insurance, etc. What you want is to have the best of both worlds. But, a professional can't have it both ways. If you are selling more than three items a year on eBay, you are a professional.

Has an antique store ever charged you extra to wrap the fragile antique in lots of tissue paper? Did they ever tell you it would be 50¢ extra if you want a bag? Or charge for the bag by a percentage of the item price? There are expenses in a business, and your way of dealing with expenses should be to deduct them at tax time.

Some sellers use a professional shipper to pack all their items. This probably does assure that the item will be packed safely. But that is not why the seller is using the subcontractor. When you see a seller with tons of feedback, peek in and see how many auctions they are running at one time. Maybe 50? Maybe 100? Even more? How could any seller 1) keep track of all those (computer software) and 2) have the time to wrap up all of those items? He doesn't, he pays extra for someone else to pack up each item. Well, no - you pay extra so he has the ability to run hundreds of auctions at one time. This extra expense benefits him, makes his life easier, allows him to make tons more money, BUT does not cut into his profit margin at all. It is just one more "gift" to you - if you choose to accept it.

This is one of the best off Ebay, for some dishes: "Due to the enormous amount of packing and shipping, shipping and handling is $200.00! I have not decided how to ship yet. I'm thinking UPS just because of their handling policies." First, the seller doesn't even know the cost of postage because he hasn't decided on which company to use. Second, here's an important piece of advice: If you don't want to ever pay for bubblewrap and foam peanuts, sell clothing! You will also find ways to possibly get all of your packing materials for free.

Ebay is full of "gifts" of extra charges right now. Many of the newer sellers have seen the example of these over-charging sellers and have followed suit. The handling fee is $1.00 for unbreakables, $2.00 to $5.00 on breakables (depending on size), and some are charging $5.00 for a "good strong box." That's not all. Someone told them that $.55 is a small price to pay for delivery confirmation. Well, it is a small price for the buyer to pay for the seller's peace of mind. The buyer uses trust to send a seller money, certainly the seller can trust the buyer not to say that the item never arrived when it really did. That is all that delivery confirmation is for - telling the seller the date and time that a package was delivered. Tracking is not included. Just one more charge that is unnecessary and is passed to the buyer.

You might get away with extra charges occasionally if the customer doesn't read the small print, or if the customer does read the small print but really wants the item. The sellers who want to get rid of as many customers as possible put in their listings that the bidder agrees to pay shipping, insurance and handling without a warning of how much the handling charge would be. There is not always time to ask the question and get the reply before making a decision to bid or not.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE A HUGE LIST OF ALL THE THINGS YOU WON'T STAND FOR

Man, there is nothing like reading about all the bad deals the seller has had and what they simply won't put up with anymore to make you want to rush to put a bid on his item! It is almost funny that the sellers with some of the longest lists of do's and don'ts for their bidders are brand new to Ebay. Hmm. Maybe they read the woes of so many other sellers that they thought this would nip all the problems in the bud. If you don't mention cheating, fraud, paying slowly, bad checks, etc., the bidders might not ever think of such things. If you treat your bidders with dignity, fairness and trust, that is what you will usually receive from them. Besides, you certainly don't want bidders thinking that the reason you've had so many problems just might be you.

SNEAK IN EXTRA CHARGES

If you see an item listed for much less than it is worth with no reserve, it sometimes pays to ask a seller early in the auction just what postage would be for their item. You can't just assume even postage rates will always be the same. If the item sells for much less than the seller expected, that 1-pound package may just cost you $3.95 or even $5.20 instead of $3.50. It has happened. After all (they think), they need to make up the difference somewhere, and you probably won't ever weigh the package to even know what they did. This is also when you may see the handling fee go from 50¢ to $2!

HOW TO AVOID EXTRA EXPENSES AND FEES

As a seller, you have a few ways to deal with expenses like eBay fees. One is to add their fees to the opening bid. At least the actual price is then out in the open. Another is to just keep track of all expenses so you can deduct them at tax time.

The best way to avoid having to worry about any extra expenses is to simply buy smarter. If you think a platter will sell for $15, spend no more than $5 in the first place. That means that you need to shop around for good deals, buy in quantity for lower prices on your end, and keep informed so you know the current values before you buy. You do deserve to make a profit - first for all your time, and second for making such a wonderful item available in the first place. If you want even more profit, sell only what you already own.

Most sellers don't even worry about charging for bubblewrap and tissue paper because they get more than enough free when they receive packages from others. (Which, of course, they found for a "steal" on eBay by following the advice right here at this site!)

Sellers can avoid even more fees by selecting more carefully the services they use. Lots of photo sites don't charge for you to store your pictures, and pictures there can be used with auctions. Some of the other sites that offer free picture storage will not let you use your pictures in auctions (like Yahoo). Still other services charge per picture, which can really get expensive with auctions. And, some picture hosting sites will cost you dearly in sales if you use them because the pictures never load so do your homework.

Some sellers currently admit in their listings that they will only use one photo per auction now because eBay raised their photo rates. If the item is not worth an extra 15¢, why even sell items like that? Or, just add 15¢ to the opening bid. Many items simply require more than one photo to show their condition or quality. You need to treat your buyers fairly, and most items sell for much more when more than one photo is used.

Speak up when you get hit with extra charges that either were not listed or are higher than expected. You can usually get unnecessary charges removed or high charges reduced. If more buyers spoke up, these practices would stop. Sellers would be out of business totally without buyers, and they should truly see their customers as being valuable. That's what gets repeat buyers. When you find a seller with items you like and no extra fees, be sure to click on "View seller's other items ." In fact, bookmark his seller's list so you can check back often.


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How Do People Get Free Shipping Supplies?

The United States Post Office is still "pushing" their Priority Mail services. You can order all the shipping supplies you want through the USPS - order in minutes on line - and have them delivered to your door. When you make your first order, the USPS will mail you a postcard to sign and mail back to them. The "payment" for this deal is simply agreeing to (and signing to prove it) use these supplies only for their intended purpose. Anyone caught turning Priority Mail boxes inside out to use a cheaper mail service will be in big trouble. We haven't done this so we don't know if you get a large fine, jail time, or just lose the privilege to ever receive any more supplies. So, this is not for you if you prefer to send your packages by UPS or using the Book Rate.

Just what kind of supplies does the USPS offer? Small boxes, larger boxes, flat boxes, larger flat boxes, small flat boxes, flat mailers, "Priority Mail" tape, and labels. You can't have it all, you have to buy your own bubblewrap! The only real catch is that you must order the minimum, which can be a case of boxes. Since the boxes come flat, this is not as bad as it sounds.

For those that don't want to use Priority Mail or the USPS in general, there are still places to get boxes for free.

• Your local supermarket gets deliveries at least once a week. Just ask one of their employees on what day and at what time their deliveries arrive. They won't usually save boxes for you, but you can walk in and get as many as you like before they cut them down for recycling.
  
  
• Office Depot has great boxes for larger items. They receive their reams of paper in sturdy boxes with lids, and these are always clean. Our local Office Depot receives paper deliveries twice a week. The store manager even agreed to hold the boxes for a few hours. We just need to go in on the correct day. Since these are such handy boxes, you may have to be the first to get to the store to beat others with the same idea.
  
  
• Check the free ads in the Recycler. Companies go out of business all the time, and they would usually prefer to give their supply of boxes away than to pay someone to haul them away. We found a vitamin store that was closing down and got hundreds of small and tiny boxes. These are not only great for mailing small items, but they are perfect for double boxing a set of smaller breakables.
  
  
• Liquor stores have the sturdiest boxes since bottles of liquor and wine are so heavy. If you sell bottles, these may even come with cardboard slots in them already to keep bottles from hitting each other when you send out several to one buyer.
  
  
• Dumpsters behind stores sometimes have good empty boxes. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find the boxes piled outside the dumpster. Either way, you should check them to be sure that they are clean and dry (a box will be weakened forever once it gets wet).
  
  
• The most obvious is for sellers to BUY on Ebay. Your package will come in a box, and many will come full of styrofoam peanuts or bubblewrap also. Just be sure that the box is sturdy before using it again. And, don't use bubblewrap as padding for delicate items if the bubbles are popped.
  
  
• Get inventive, you may find even more good suppliers of boxes.

Your local stores that sell breakable items usually have lots of bubblewrap and styrofoam peanuts on hand that they don't need. After all, most of their customers put their goodies into the car and drive home. Talk to them. They will probably be happy to let you pick up all of their extras once a week or so. They get to recycle and have less clutter, and you get to save lots of money.

BUT, you may need boxes - in special sizes. You can get the discounts that the "big guys" do. Global Industrial offers boxes in many, many sizes. Since you buy them by the case, you get the big savings. Using larger boxes than you need drastically raises the postage cost, so spending 25 cents on the right box is a good investment in keeping customers happy and coming back for more. And, don't forget, whatever you sepnd on boxes is deductible at tax time. You can also get all your shipping supplies for less at Global Industrial. If you sell lots of fragile items, take a look at their peanut dispenser. It holds 30 cubic feet of packing peanuts at one time, it hangs from the ceiling out of the way, and you drop in all you need with a push of a button. This is a real time and space saver.


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Some Basic Strategies

Everyone has something that they can sell on E-bat. The question is, howdo you go about doing so? Is the item you have E-bayable? Where do youlist it, and for how long? Thats what this how-to aims to explain.

1. FIND SOMETHING TO SELL
It must be an item that you enjoy selling. Of course it is always better if you seek items out that are not available widely to many people in the world. For starters you can purchase ANTIQUES, CD's, and CLOTHING at great prices, and then list them on eBay and watch the money start rolling in! If you have a tax ID number, you may even be able to purchase items wholesale and list them on eBay (we will show you a work around if you don’t have one later in this Guide.
  
2. TIMES TO LIST
You never want to list your items to end during the day, unless you end them on the weekend during the day. I have found that 7-day auctions work the best. If you are selling a very pricey item, you should list this item as a 10-day auction. You will pay a bit more $$$ but it is definitely worth it to allow as many people as possible to see your listing(s). I usually do a bit of listing everyday from 7pm until 9pm. You don't want to list your items too late.

The most exposure you will get will be during the last 4 hours of your auction. That is the busiest time for bidding on items. If you list too late in the evening, no one will be willing to stay up until the wee hours just to bid on your item! This is very important! If you start out listing on the weekends, Sunday is a good day. IF your listings end around 4pm many people will be home to watch your auctions end! This increases your chances on making much more money on your item(s). 
   
3. TOOLS
I highly recommend investing in a digital camera. Film and processing are very expensive. If you plan on selling on eBay full time, the camera will pay for itself incredibly fast. We recommend shipping items via Priority Mail. I suggest you let the buyers pay for shipping. You want to make sure you quote their shipping price correctly. The post office has a list of prices according to weight. It is a good idea to get a list.
Another suggestion: Call the number on the priority boxes, they will send you what ever you need for free! TAPE, PREPRINTED ADRESSES LABELS, BOXES etc.! This is great because you should never have to pay for these items! The profit margin will decrease as you find yourself paying for these things here and there. I suggest shipping all of your items out at once, on one particular day. If you don't want to pay priority to pick up your items, I recommend shipping a few packages everyday. Otherwise it will be a lot of work and there is a chance you can get tired of this very easily! I try to make things as easy as possible! I figure my time is more valuable, and I can be listing more items in the time it would take to go to the post office.
   
4. LISTINGI don't recommend listing items as reserve auctions. I think it scares potential buyers away. Especially if someone is bidding and bidding, and after a while of seeing reserve not met yet, they are going to get bored and leave your auction. My theory is: If an item is valuable, people will find it!!!

I also suggest starting your auction price LOW!! Even if your item is worth $600.00, for a set of golf clubs. You can start the auction at $9.99. Then in your description you can state that the clubs are worth $600.00. This will get many people interested in your item; they will think they can get a great deal. This is where bidding wars can start!

Remember the more $$$ you start your auctions for the more fees you will have to pay to eBay! Trust me, if your item is valuable people will find it!! Make sure to put as many keywords in the title as you can! For example: you are selling a CD (wrong way) ALICIA KEYS CD (right way) Alicia Keys CD SEALED songs in A minor. This is what is going to help people find your auction!! It is crucial to helping people find you! I also suggest writing out the track listing in your description. People can do searches with words in descriptions as well! I highly suggest using words like RARE (of course it should really be RARE) WOW! L@@K, BEAUTIFUL. This really and truly makes a difference!

I always recommend selling your item with photos! This is very important. No photo usually = no sale! Make sure you list your item in the proper category, so people looking for this type of item will find it automatically. If you generalize your item too much, people may not find it easily. 
   
5. A SERIOUS TRICK TO MAKING LOTS OF $$$$$
I have recently discovered the trick of listing one item in a featured auction. It is a bit pricey, and only should be done when you have many auctions listed. Also make sure you refer other people to your other auctions. If you have a popular item listed on a featured area, chances are all of your auctions will do better in the end. I have paid as much as one hundred dollars to list an item, and I even though I would normally sell that item for one hundred dollars, it made all of my other auctions shoot up to a higher selling point!

Another great trick! I recommend starting a mailing list. Keep all of your bidders and winners e-mail addresses on file and when you list other similar items; send out a mass e-mail telling them you have listed more items they might be interested in. NEVER EVER SEND SPAM e-mail. Make sure all of your potential customers want to be contacted when you have new items up for bid!

Third great trick! Example: Let's say you are selling a sports memorabilia item from the New England Patriots. I would go do a search on all of the fan websites for the New England Patriots. Then I would go to the guest book and write that you have great items from this team for sale on eBay and add your link to the guest book. Then people can paste that link into their browsers and visit your auctions! You won't believe what a big difference this makes!
   
6. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Everything takes time. Once you get the hang of eBay, you will find your own tricks that work for you. It is all trial and error. Make sure you list a bunch of items at once. This will make all of your items more popular. Eventually you will begin to have repeat customers and your business will begin to grow. This is NOT an easy job; it takes hard work and investing time into your future. It definitely will pay off in the end!
   
7. BALANCE
Please remember to shop on eBay as well. Support your fellow eBayers. Purchase gifts and items for yourself on the site. Rememeber balance is key! If too many people sell on eBay and no one is buying, than we are all out of luck.
   
8. NEVER SHIP OUT AN ITEM UNTIL IT IS PAID FOR
I personally only accept online forms of payment because I find the longer I wait for payment, the more of a chance there maybe for someone to flake on paying for an auction. With online payments such as C2IT and PAYPAL, odds are you will be paid right away! It is very easy to sign up with these sites www.paypal.com or www.c2it.com. If you do choose to accept personal checks, make sure the check has cleared the bank before you ship the item. Accepting money orders is usually fine as well.
   
9. KEYWORDS
Finally the last great tip I have is to submit your auction page to search engines using keywords (This should be items you regularly sell on eBay) this way you can drive even more traffic to your auctions. You can then install a counter program such as Andale www.andale.com on your page. I recommend using a hidden counter, so others don't know how many hits you are receiving. This way you can track the tips that work for you with your products.
   
10. BE CLEAR CONCISE AND HONEST ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTIf the item has a tear, hole or dent, make sure to write that in your description. This will save you a lot of headaches later.

First of all, please do not be overwhelmed with the information you will find. There are a lot of links to thousands of wholesale companies. Take your time when you look around. You will be amazed. If you have questions about a company or their products, don't be afraid to call them. They need your business more than you need theirs. They will be happy to help you.

We highly recommend you write down your questions before you call a supplier so that you do not forget to ask them what is on your mind. Take your time when talking to them and do not let anyone talk you into buying something you do not want. When you see something you think you can sell, research it on eBay and see how the completed auctions went.

Make sure to look at both the auction price AND the shipping price as many eBay sellers bury profits in the s/h portion of the auction. After the auctions have ended, see which ones had the most bids, when they started, ended, and what category they were in. If you are using this information for offline sales, look around at other vendors and see if anyone else is selling the product and see if you can sell it for less and still make a profit.

Here is a big tip. If you go to a department store like Wal-Mart and see an item you would like to sell, pick it up, check out the packaging, and write down (or record if you have a voice memo recorder) who manufactures it (you can find out how to buy direct from the manufacturer by doing this). Go to the web and see if they are online. A great reference for finding a company online is: Network Solutions WHOIS database http://www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois

Get in contact with them and tell them you are considering them as a supplier and would like a price list. Don't be afraid to call or e-mail them. Be sure to represent yourself as a business and not just an individual. Be professional. It is really easy. Look around right now. Pick up some items in your home, just by looking at the labels, warranty information, or packaging, you can find out who manufactures & distributes it. If you can't get a phone number off a label or package, you can also try 1-800-555-1212, give the name of the company and get their phone number. When you talk to them, tell them you want a price list and would like to get set up as either a distributor, or retailer for them. If they are not in the 800 directory, you may be able to find them by looking at their warranty address information.

Just call directory assistance for the state they are located in and call them. It works like a charm. If the company only deals with "large" retailers, ask them for a list of their distributors and just keep calling their distributors until you find the one with the lowest prices. Sometimes it takes a little research but when you find what you are looking for it makes it all worth while!

HINT: If you do not have a tax id number, just enter your social security number in place of it (*big tip, you can do this with almost any wholesale company*).

They are the granddaddy of wholesale suppliers & you have seen their products all over eBay. We are giving you special access to their pricing website! Follow the link below. The login button is in the upper right-hand corner of the home page.

http://www.bnfusa.com
Username is: web
Password is: user

Want to save big money & buy at or below wholesale? Go to http://www.storepower.com. This is where you can get many of the same items you find in major department stores. Not off the wall junk items, but name brand quality products.

After you browse there a while & check them out, go to http://www.sumcomm.com . This site has a built in search engine you can use. They have direct links with over 45,000 products at wholesale pricing. Be sure to sign up for their free monthly catalog. It is full of suppliers, and if you do not find what you need there, it is probably not online. If your search pulls up more than 1 supplier of the same item, be sure to shop each company, they are flexible, and will normally go out of their way to keep from being undersold.

Another one to use is http://www.merchantsnews.com . Again, be sure to sign up for their free catalog as well.

One of my favorite sites for name brand electronics (but not the only one) is http://www.hotbuy4u.com. The name of the company is Premier Products.

Once you get your feet wet, and want to make some international contacts, go to http://www.allproducts.com . This site will put you into contact with contacts from all over the world.

Looking for government repos, bankruptcy liquidations, US Marshals items, etc, go to http://www.bid4assets.com . They have all kinds of different items you can get dirt cheap!

These sources are fantastic!! They are going to be very helpful to you. We have never had any complaints on this guide and have had many customers thank us over and over for helping them get their online, or retail business started. We love to help whenever we are able.

Best wishes, and have fun!!

DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by My Ebay Secrets, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

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The Best Ways To Not Overpay For Items on eBay

We know you'd pay just about any price to add that special item to your collection, but don't let anyone else know that!

Here are some tips on how to not overpay for items on

• Don't jump right in and bid a huge amount as soon as the item is listed.
  This lets others know that the item is worth something and makes them want it more.
  
  
• Keep your excitement in check and don't even bid on the item until the very end.
  
  
• If you are terrible at remembering auctions, you can bid in the beginning - but make the minimum bid only. (This way you'll be reminded with ebay's daily auction notices, or you can always do a search of what you bid on recently - even if you've been outbid.)
  This makes other bidders think you only would have bought it if you got a great price.
  Then leave the bidding alone until the very end! Nothing raises bids faster than competition.
  
  
• Snipe - see our sniping section to find out how. Basically, bid at the very last minute and bid the very most you could stand.
  
  
• Research the kind of items you collect or regularly buy.
  Can you find it just as cheap at the corner store?
  If there are usually six of these on any given day, wait for the one with the lowest price.
  
  
• Look around before you bid. You may find the exact same thing for half the price. 

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When is the Best Time to Go Shopping on eBay?

When you go shopping on Ebay depends a lot on your own schedule. But, when you can find the best deals depends on other factors.

Obviously, you may have the internet just about to yourself at 1:00 in the morning. But, you may not have many auctions to bid on that are closing in that time slot. You are able to bid on any item you want (not just those near closing), but your bidding procedures should be different depending on how much you are willing to spend. There are many auctions closing around noontime, but the internet i.s  s..o  s...l...o...w  then because so many people peek in during their lunch break. It could take you 6 to 10 minutes just to get a bid through, and that is after you finally get the page to load.

One method a lot of people use is to go browsing on a weekday morning or late in the evening on any day of the week. This gives them lots of speed so they can look in on many more auctions. When they see something interesting, they just bookmark it for later. That way, they can go back near the end of the auction to do some serious bidding (more on that is coming in a later chapter). There are many other times you can be assured of speeding through the internet: on a holiday; 7:00 to 9:00 on an important voting evening; while the most popular t.v. shows are on; Sunday mornings; any Saturday night (date night); while the Olympic gymnastics finals are on t.v.; etc.

There are two ways to speed up your internet shopping at any time you want......

  If you know the name and description of what you are looking for, you can do your initial shopping without pictures. You can "turn off" the images through your browser. In Netscape, click on Edit on the top bar, then click on Preferences, then Advanced, then click on Automatically Load Images to uncheck the box. You can shop through hundreds of auctions without waiting for any images to load. If you get to an auction that looks like a great one, you can then click on Images (on the second bar from the top) to see these pictures only, and click on Images again to turn them back off and continue shopping.

  Shopping at any time of the day or any day of the week is always slowest with a dial-up connection. And, most dial-up connections get lost often. Cable modem or DSL can make your shopping (and everything you do on the internet) at least 10 times faster - without disconnects. You only need to be disconnected just before bidding on something once to know how important your internet connection is. And, that is just an example from the point of buying. Sellers listing on ebay who use AOL simply cannot be having successful sales - their photos take forever to show up. Photos that just won't load or take SO long to load cause buyers to go on their merry way.

If the sky is the limit on something you really want, you may want to try to be the first bidder. If an item worth $20 is the one missing piece to complete your collection, you may feel like bidding $200 and not care if the bidding really goes that high. That kind of bidding almost guarantees that you will win the auction. We say almost because you run the risk of bringing extra attention to the auction that way. If two or three people want an item, the bids start going back and forth and the price goes up and up. Let's say the item you really need is a frog beanie baby. Many people who collect beanies will note that the auction has more bids than normal and peek in to see why. If your name is recognizable as a regular beanie baby collector, now their curiosity is really peaked. "If _______ is bidding on this frog, she must know something that I don't know...If ________ doesn't have this frog, it must really be rare!...I've got to get this frog!" Whoops.

If you want to get the best deal, you may want to wait till near the end of the auction. We will tell you in a later chapter just how to get the best deal whether you shop at the beginning, middle or end of an auction.

One other thing. The best time to go shopping is after you have done your research! Browse through many auctions to see how much that item normally sells for and in what condition it is normally available. If you have looked for weeks and never found one at all, you may be willing to spend much more when you finally find one being offered. You may find out that what you want is listed all the time and almost always in great condition, so you may not want to bid at all on one that is damaged or overpriced in comparison. Why do so many auctions have no bids at all? Maybe the opening bid is way too high. But, only an informed shopper would know the difference. Why does that wonderful item in perfect condition have no bids at all? Maybe the shoppers who did their research know that it is a brand new copy. If you don't care, bid away. If you do care, you need to be able to tell an original from a copy. Almost every copy will have obvious signs, you just need to know what they are. (If there are copies available in your item, it is not wise to bid on an item without a picture so you can see the item for yourself.) If you have the time and patience, you can do most of your research through the auction results. Sometimes you have to go to collector or antiques sites on the web to find answers. But, the best source of all is a reference book right by your side while you shop. Books are available on almost every collectible and are often very affordable. But, a $50 book is worth every penny if you could make a $200 mistake on just one wrong item.

eBay For Dummies
eBay For Seniors For Dummies
eBay Business All-in-One For Dummies
The Complete Idiot's Guide to eBay, 2nd Edition
eBay 101: Selling on eBay For Part-time or Full-time Income, Beginner to PowerSeller in 90 Days

 

When is the Best Time to List Your Items on eBay?

You may think that you should list your items on Ebay on Saturday mornings because that is when you have the most free time or on Monday nights after 10:00 because the family is in bed and you finally have total concentration. You need to ask yourself just how many possible buyers will be at their computers at closing time. Especially when 10:00 p.m. on the West Coast is 1:00 a.m. on the East Coast. There are lots of possible buyers shopping at lunchtime during the week. But, because of the enormous amount of traffic at that time, you really cut down on the possibility of last-minute bidding if the bids are all in an internet traffic jam and can't get through at all.

The amount of bidders available at closing time is of utmost importance to your auction. Most of the bidding on any auction  will occur in the first 24 hours (when it is listed as new) and on the last day (when is listed as ending today), with most people only looking at one of these two times. And, the bulk of the serious bidding will be in the last 5 minutes! An auction is truly at its best when two or more people fight over your item, and they may not be awake to do so at 1:00 in the morning.

When to list your items is best decided on actual sales histories of your particular items. Hardware and tools may get more male bidders who are looking on Saturday afternoon, and pokemon cards may get more attention from kids right after school. Etc. So, check the sales of completed items. You should be able to see a definite pattern for each type of item you plan to list. This is the first step.

If your item sells best on a weekday evening, now you need to see if there is also a second pattern. It sold best on Tuesday one week and Thursday the next week. Why? One big factor in evening sales now is "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" There are almost no bidders at their computers when this show is on television. This show happens to be moved around from week to week. On top of that, if it is on at 8:00 p.m., that means 8:00 p.m. on both coasts so West Coast seller has to work around 5:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m., and the East Coast seller has to work around 8:00 p.m. through 11:00 p.m.

 

There are many more factors that come into play. Watch the weather forecasts for all parts of the country. If the East Coast is due for heavy rains, more possible bidders will be available at their computers instead of outside enjoying the spring or summer weather - and vice versa. If an area is in the middle of a terrible heat wave, they may be hiding inside at their computer instead of doing anything outside. Great weather is bad for sales. You may not want to have items close on Thanksgiving afternoon when most of the country is sitting down to a great meal - or in the evening on the day of a Presidential election. Contrary to this logic, Christmas morning may be a good time to have items close because many people don't have family with whom to share their day or they are not of a Christian faith. Those people would see this as a great time to sneak in a few bids. Other people may go shopping on Christmas afternoon to try to buy what they didn't receive for a gift!

Selling at the busiest time of the day will make your photos load slower. At any time, using a dial-up connection puts your auctions at risk since they will take longer to load. And, since most dial-up connections get lost often, there is always the chance that your photos will not load at all. When either happens, you will lose buyers. Some could bookmark your auction to try again later, but last-minute shoppers don't have time to come back. Cable modem or DSL will make everything you do on the internet at least 10 times faster - without disconnects. You only need to be have your photos not load during the last half hour of an auction once to know how important your internet connection is.

The real answer to when to list your items is it is totally relative….relative to as many factors as you can think of. You will need to do research on the past and try to foresee the future. Good luck on the latter.

 eBay 101: Selling on eBay For Part-time or Full-time Income, Beginner to PowerSeller in 90 Days 

eBay For Dummies 

How and Where to Locate the Merchandise to Sell on eBay: Insider Information You Need to Know from the Experts Who Do It Every Day 

Titanium eBay, 2nd Edition: A Tactical Guide to Becoming a Millionaire Powerseller 

How to Buy, Sell, and Profit on eBay: Kick-Start Your Home-Based Business in Just Thirty Days 

Who is Ebay's Top Seller (In Dollars)?

Allow me to introduce you to...eBay's largest seller who is ALSO the future Mayor of NY! (and maybe President)

eBay's largest seller is (drum roll please): christopher1428!  who goes by the moniker Chris Riggs for President.

Not what you were expecting, huh? You thought I was going to say buy.com or maybe a big auto dealer. Nope. Well, let me walk you through what is going on here and I promise you, it will blow your mind.

Chris consistently keeps about 200 listings live on eBay in his store at the $200-600 range which is probably what this art actually trades at in the real world.  The genius move is Chris keeps 5-10 listings running of the same stuff he's selling at lower prices in the $10-30m range.  For example:

• Here's a green drizzle piece. This can be yours for $21m
• Here's more of a comic kind of piece for... $21m (I bet you can get a bulk discount if you buy both)

You get the idea.

Now of course, if someone is going to goof off on eBay, they look for expensive stuff and buy it, and don't pay.  I can 99.999999999% guarantee you that chris has never sold a $21m painting (meaning someone paid), but on eBay it's a regular occurrence for someone to 'commit to buy' one of these.

The UPIs are probably a pain for chris, but it does seem to drive a ton of traffic.  A TON of traffic.

This has been going on for years....

I first noticed this (because of the top seller reports I maintain) that this wasn't really above board back in 2005 and thought it would be interesting to watch and see when/if eBay put a stop to it.  Since then we've seen entire eBay regimes come and go, the feedback system changed constantly and new programs to raise the bar.  We now have a money back guarantee and lots of other strides.  But here's Chris, for 5 years now selling $21m paintings that nobody pays for.  There's also a fair amount of blatant keyword spamming that he does, but I won't go into that.

My favorite part is that on many of the photos, Chris stealthily adds pictures that at first seem relevant (e.g. the first will be a close up), but then they degrade into party pictures and usually Chris or his friends are giving the finger.  I'm sure after this eBay will take action, so I want to preserve some of these for posterity.
I've often wondered if this started out as a dare or a gag and they were shocked that a) the items weren't taken down and b) that people buy this stuff.

Whenever you see the top rated seller flag, that's me censoring out something in the photo you should go to eBay to see: (click these to enlarge) - remember, these are from LIVE eBay Listings! (as of 3/19/10)

(This last one is my favorite as it doesn't even have Chris in it (maybe that's his art back there), but check out the T-shirt on the guy on the left - the auction doesn't state if this offer is part of the auction or not - it seems to be $20 extra.)

Phew, that's enough of that - if you want more, Chris has a vibrant myspace page here.

What's your point?

As long as this kind of stuff is happening on eBay (and believe me, this is far from an isolated incident), eBay won't officially have solved their trust problems.  All of the other changes are good and positive forward momentum, but they are lipstick on a pig (as we say here in NC) when you have flagrant things like this going on right under eBay's nose for the last 5+ yrs.

The eBay Seller's Tax and Legal Answer Book: Everything You Need to Know to Keep the Government Off Your Back and Out of Your Wallet
How to Buy, Sell, and Profit on eBay: Kick-Start Your Home-Based Business in Just Thirty Days
1000 Best eBay Success Secrets: Secrets From a Powerseller
Three Weeks to eBay Profits, Revised Edition: Go from Beginner to Successful Seller in Less than a Month (Three Weeks to Ebay Profits: Go from Beginner to Successful)