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Learn to Sell on eBay: Seller Central
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FTC Settles Fraud Case
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Ping Your Blog
| Closing Auctions Early to Make A Deal |
| 11.30.03 (4:46 pm) |
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Buyers are seeing a practice become increasingly common on eBay: closing an auction early to make a deal outside of eBay. Many sellers are looking for a quick close to their auction transactions. Although eBay discourages buyers and sellers from negotiating outside eBay, it is not illegal to do so. Be advised that both the buyer and the seller set themselves up for the added possibility of fraud and eliminate all buyer/seller protection eBay offers when they make deals and buy/sell outside of eBay. For example: Joe is selling a book on eBay. It's a 5 day listing. The auction is on day 3 and currently at $3.25. Mary emails Joe and asks him to close the item early and she'll pay him $50 right now. Joe closes the item early and waits for Mary to send him $50 via PayPal. Mary never pays. How will Joe get his listing fees back? He won't because he closed the auction early to make a deal under the table. Let's say Mary sent Joe a $50 money order and Joe never sent the book. How will Mary get her money back from eBay? She won't. The transaction was never completed via eBay. Both buyers and sellers should play it safe this holiday season. |
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| Feed That Elvis Addiction, Find Your Rolling Stones |
| 11.29.03 (2:40 pm) |
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Do you miss listening to that old rock music? Do you need to feed that Elvis addiction? Did you lose your favorite Rolling Stones album? Find everything from the the Beatles to stage passes at eRock! One online auction site owner has chosen to focus his energies on the music industry - specifically, rock music memorabilia. The site is clean, simple to use, easy to maneuver, and fun! You can listen to some classic tunes while you shop. 'Tis the season to reminisce. |
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| PayPal Scam Asks for ATM Pin Number |
| 11.27.03 (10:15 am) |
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I received an email, supposedly from PayPal, telling me that my account had been restricted due to recent fraudulent activity. I was instructed to follow the update link and complete the information to verify my account information. Once I verified my account information, the restriction on my account would be lifted. Of course, I followed the link and typed in all types of foul words. I then traced the IP address of both the email and the website so I could report the scam artist to internet.abuse@sjrb.ca Original content of email: ------------------------- --------------- From: PayPal To: staff@theauctionboard.com Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2003 6:36 AM Subject: Official notice to staff@theauctionboard.com from PayPal Dear PayPal member #32963223! It has come to our attention that your account may have been used by third party in a fraudulent activity with PayPal. As a result, your access to your account on PayPal has been restricted. According to our site policy you will have to confirm that you are the real owner of the PayPal account by entering your credit / debit card information. Please click on the link below to get to the PayPal secure page and complete the form that will appears. Thank you. Update here. Read our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions. Copyright 1999-2003 PayPal. All rights reserved. ------------------------- --------- PayPal will never ask for your personal account information via email. PayPal will always address you by name, not by a number. |
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| Auction Newsletter Tips |
| 11.26.03 (10:05 pm) |
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Newsletters and ezines can be a very productive way to promote your auction business. Establish yourself as an authority on a particular aspect of the auction business. Does your strength lie in marketing and advertising? If so, start an auction newsletter devoted to helping auction sellers fine-tune their advertising and marketing skills. Are you an expert at Search Engine Optimization? Many auction sellers fail to realize how important internet searches can be to their auction business. Develop an auction newsletter designed specifically to help auction sellers with their search engine optimization talents. Provide useful and relevant tips in that newsletter geared specifically towards those people who sell on auction sites or who own their own online auction houses. Network with others who own newsletters. Do link exchanges with other webmasters who publish online newsletters. Do not view other webmasters as competition; these webmasters are your allies. Publish articles from other newsletters in exchange for those publishers publishing your article. This is usually very easy to accomplish, as long as you keep the author's resource box intact. Avoid publishing a newsletter only to load the newsletter down with advertisements. Newsletters are the one item on your website that should be loaded with content. You should have at least a 70/30 content to advertisement ratio. The fastest way to lose a visitor on your newsletter site is to have that visitor see more ads than words. Ensure that you have your newsletter's meta tags set to have the search engine robot return to re-index your page as often as you update. For example, if you publish your newsletter every 2 weeks, your meta tag revisit should read: meta name="revisit-after" content="14 days". You should then make sure you always update every 14 days. [b]Links to Help You Create Great Newsletters:[/b] |
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| PayPal Points to eBay: Huh? |
| 11.26.03 (9:33 pm) |
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On September 15, 2003, an eBay buyer in the US purchased a set of golf clubs from an eBay seller in the UK for the amount of $120.00. The buyer then paid an additional $78 for shipping and handling fees. Allegedly, the seller never fulfilled the contract and the buyer never received the golf clubs. The seller advised the buyer to use PayPal because of PayPal's security and ease of use. Three weeks after the buyer paid for his purchase, he had not received his golf clubs and could not reach the seller. The buyer contacted both eBay and PayPal at the 3 week mark. eBay contacted the seller and the seller contacted the buyer. The seller contacted the buyer and informed the buyer that he would indeed receive his gold clubs. Three weeks later, the buyer had still not received his golf clubs. The buyer filed a case with PayPal and received an official ruling on his case on November 8, 2003: ------------------------- ----- Complaint Details ------------------------- ----- Transaction Date: 30 Sep. 2003 Transaction Amount: -$198.00 USD Case Number: PP-025-291-029 Seller's Name: ************** Seller's Email: ************** Our investigation has determined that the seller is at fault, but we were unable to recover any funds from the seller's account. As stated in the PayPal User Agreement, Buyer Complaint funds recovery cannot be guaranteed. If this transaction took place on an auction site, we encourage you to contact the auction site and see if they offer insurance coverage. We appreciate your business, and regret this experience. To make sure future transactions proceed smoothly, we suggest reading these Security Tips: Fraud Prevention Tips for Buyers Yours sincerely, Protection Services Department ------------------------- ------------------- ****seller name and email address edited If I'm not mistaken, doesn't eBay own PayPal? So, the auction site PayPal has suggested that the seller contact is essentially . . . eBay/PayPal! Looks to me like PayPal sent the buyer a canned response. |
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| Change That Red Light Yourself! |
| 11.26.03 (12:36 pm) |
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"It can sit on the dashboard of your car, just like a radar detector, but with the potential for much more menacing results. The gadget, which Fox 59 found for sale on Ebay, can run drivers about $500 and can turn red lights to green." Buy it on eBay. |
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| Buyers & Sellers Auction Database |
| 11.26.03 (5:14 am) |
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Canadian eBay seller opsdl offers a very useful tool for both auction buyers and sellers: the auction database. This tool is very simple to use and keeps track of all the Items the seller listed, the payment form accepted, the date the payment cleared (if the payment was a check), the date the seller shipped the item, any items that didn't sell, the original purhcase price of the item, the amount the seller finally sold the item for, and a host of other useful features. There's even a feature within the databse where a seller can keep track of buyers to avoid. This tool can be easily manipluated for auction buyers to use to keep track of items they have purchased on eBay or any other auction website. Check out the database. It's worth a look. |
| 1 Comments |
| 1 Cent, No Reserve Auctions |
| 11.25.03 (11:47 pm) |
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The Key to Success with 1-Cent, No Reserve Auctions by Sherah Taylor Published at The Auction Board on November 25, 2003 We've all seen them: the Powersellers on Ebay who start their auctions at 1 cent with no reserve. .. and usually end up making a killing. So, how do they know if it will go high or not? And even worse, what if it sells for the starting bid of 1 cent? Let's dig a little deeper to see what really goes on behind the scenes. [Read more of Sherah's article.] |
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| Ecommerce Payment Services |
| 11.25.03 (7:50 pm) |
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The following links have been randomly generated: |
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| BidFind: What Is It Exactly? |
| 11.25.03 (7:22 pm) |
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BidFind was established in 1995 as one of the first sites to index classified and auction sites, conveniently listing all merchandise from those sites in one place. Google has recently launched a beta version of the same type of program. Google calls this beta progam froogle. Many of the small auction site owners have their sites listed on BidFind. Visit BidFind's Getting Listed page if you own an auction site or a classified site. If you want to shop, visit their Items page. You'll find their category listing very well laid out and easy to maneuver. |
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| Watch Your PayPal & eBay Pennies |
| 11.25.03 (1:46 pm) |
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One of the biggest complaints many online auction sellers have is the cost of receiving PayPal payments from their buyers. If you're using PayPal as just a personal account, simply to send money to Johnny who's off at college, most of the fees are free (according to PayPal's fee schedule). If you're like most of us, and using PayPal to manage your business expenses, you're subject to PayPal's Business/Premier Account fees. To receive money from your buyer, you pay 2.9% of the purchase price + an additional 30 cents (US dollars). There are different rates if you accept foreign dollars. eBay Insertion/Listing Fees $0.01 - $9.99 -------------- $0.30 $10.00 - $24.99 ----------- $0.55 $25.00 - $49.99------------ $1.10 $50.00 - $199.99 -----------$2.20 $200.00 and up--------------$3.30 Final Value Fees $0 - $25------------5.25% of the closing value $25 - $1,000------- 5.25% of the initial $25 ($1.31), plus 2.75% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000) Over $1,000-------- 5.25% of the initial $25 ($1.31), plus 2.75% of the initial $25 - $1000 ($26.81), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 Please refer to the links provided to ensure that you're fully aware of all the fees associated with running your auction business. |
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| Children's Hospice Charity Auctions |
| 11.24.03 (4:33 pm) |
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CHHUGS, Children's Hospice Hugs, is a charitable organization that "had the idea of collecting Beanie Babies together and donating [their] spares to Children’s Hospices around the British Isles." Charity auctions are becoming increasing popular on eBay and many other online auction houses. CHHUGS auctions have raised more than $13,500 since they began. To learn more and donate to a worthy cause, visit CHHUGS on the net. |
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| Increased eBay Fraud in Italy |
| 11.24.03 (3:56 pm) |
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It's been reported that there have been an increased number of fraud cases related to eBay in Italy. The scam artists, supposedly, have accomplices in New York, Miami, and the UK. Items that are associated with this fraud are: laptops, big screen televisions, snowmobiles, and high tech cameras. The scam artists use phoney IDs and always request that the buyer uses a wire transfer to complete the transaction. Visit Ming the Mechanic for more information. |
| 0 Comments |
| The Reserve Auction Scam |
| 11.22.03 (9:07 pm) |
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A Reserve Auction is one in which the seller sets a minimum price at which he/she is obligated to sell his/her product or service. Typically, these auctions start at a very low bidding price. The Reserve price is always hidden. How The Reserve Auction Scam works: Let's call the eBay scammer Ed. Ed lists an auction for a plasma TV with a Reserve Price of $6000 (yes, I know that's ridiculously high, but that's the whole point of the scam. Bear with me.). He starts the bidding at .99 cents. The auction is a 3 day auction. There are 6 bidders and Sue bids the highest at $850. The next highest bidder is Jack at $825. The third highest bidder is Mark at $800. Sue did not officially win the auction because the Reserve price was not met. Ed emails Sue and asks her if she wants the item anyway. Sue is delighted. Ed tells her to send a payment of $850 to PO BOX 123, Any City, US 12345 in the form of a money order. Ed then emails Jack and tells Jack that Sue decided against the item. Jack is delighted and sends Ed a money order in the amount of $825. Ed then emails Mark and informs Mark that neither Sue nor Jack wanted the item. Mark is, of course, elated! All three buyers sit and wait for weeks for their plasma TVs. They contact the seller and receive no response. They contact eBay and eBay informs them that their purchases are not covered because the transaction was never completed via eBay. Even if the transaction was completed via eBay, all three buyers used money orders to pay for their purchase. eBay's Buyer Protection does not cover money order purchases. Now, Reserve Auctions aren't always used to scam buyers, but I'd certainly be leery of any email communication from a seller who suddenly wants to sell you an item he/she originally didn't want to part with unless he got a certain price for it. Contact others who bid on the item and ask them if they've had contact with the seller also. As long as the seller didn't make the auction private, you should be able to view the list of bidders easily. |
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| Why Spend More Than $200 Per Transaction on eBay? |
| 11.22.03 (2:36 pm) |
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Many buyers and sellers are confused by eBay's Buyer Protection and PayPal Buyer Protection plans. First, eBay's Buyer Protection covers your purchases for up to $200 minus a $25 processing fee. Purchases made with cash, wire transfers, or money orders are not covered. Second, PayPal's Buyer Protection covers your qualified purchases up to $500. Only certain sellers are eligible for this additional coverage though. You must look for the PayPal Buyer Protection Offered symbol next to the item you're purchasing to ensure that your purchase will be eligible for this additional coverage. These purchases must have been made using PayPal. Only sellers who have at least 50 feedback reviews (with 98% of them positive) are eligible to offer this additional coverage to their buyers. With this in mind, why would anyone purchase anything from a seller with 50 feedbacks (less than 98% positive) that costs more than $200? I wouldn't, and never have. |
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| Private Auctions: What's the Purpose? |
| 11.22.03 (1:41 pm) |
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Often times I've seen private auctions for pre-fabricated websites -- like banner exchanges, text link exchanges, and personals websites. What would be the purpose in having a private auction? Sellers say they have private auctions so that other sellers don't email their potential buyers and offer them the same services at a much lower price. Others would argue that sellers have private auctions because they're doing what is commonly called shill bidding: deliberately bidding on their own items to artifically inflate the price. What about private feedback? Why would a seller who has 100% positive feedback make that feedback rating private? Yes, I've seen that before -- a few times. Within a few months, those sellers were no longer registered eBay members. Interesting. |
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| Is Your Private Email on a Newsgroup? |
| 11.22.03 (1:15 pm) |
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While cruising the newsgroups yesterday, I saw yet another disgruntled eBay buyer who had posted email communication between himself and an eBay seller who had angered him. This is a common thing. The email communication that was posted contained the seller's email address, the seller's eBay name, and a link to the eBay auction ad. What was missing was the buyer's email address and the buyer's eBay name. Since the sale was never completed between this particular buyer and seller (based on the contents of the email communication), we'll never know who the poster was. Is this fair play? While we get, what we think, is a complete depiction of the situation, the fact that the poster removed his/her own name and email address from the posting tells us that the poster could have just as easily edited the contents of the email communication. What can you do, as a seller -- or even buyer -- to protect yourself from this sort of thing? Simple! Corporations do it all the time. Communicate with your eBay buyer/seller using one email address only. Include a privacy statement at the bottom of your email that states the communication is meant solely for the person to which it is addressed. State that any distribution of that email communication to anyone other than the person to which it is addressed is a violation of your privacy. Read the court ruling. Be sure you have a privacy statement in your email. Most people create one using their signature tag feature. Other ways to protect yourself: 1. Always be professional in your email communication -- regardless of how rude the other person may be. 2. Use your carbon copy feature. Carbon copy your communication to a third party. Most likely, if a disgruntled buyer/seller plans to post your emails all over the newsgroups, he/she will think twice if he/she knows that a 3rd party has a copy of the original emails -- unedited. 3. Don't respond to a disgruntled buyer at all via email. Ask for a phone number and call them. Settle all disputes over the phone. In the end, 'tis the season for angry shoppers. Guard your business. |
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| REAL Customer Service at eBay |
| 11.22.03 (2:00 am) |
| The people who get REAL customer service at eBay. Go ahead, take a look. |
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| Auction Related Links |
| 11.21.03 (3:50 pm) |
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| Big Brother: eBay Admits You Have No Privacy |
| 11.21.03 (12:18 pm) |
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In a September article, eBay's Joseph Sullivan admitted that eBay routinely hands private information over to law enforcement officers -- even if those officials do not present them with a subpoena. The reason: eBay is so bogged down with fraud complaints, that the corporation gladly hands its problems over to the law, even if those officials do not present eBay with the proper paperwork. That means, the average Jane can fax eBay a copy of anyone's police badge and ask for your private information. Read The Auction Board's discussion on this issue. |
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| Did you Buy From These Sellers? |
| 11.21.03 (11:17 am) |
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Did you ever buy from any of these eBay sellers? [b]amolaur, beewasz, goldrush, gooddeal10, and sellya1[/b]. If you did, more than likely you bought stolen merchandise. Don't worry, you can keep it. Feds Bust up Mom & Son eBay Theft Ring. |
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| AT&T Goin' After eBay: THIS I Gotta See! |
| 11.21.03 (10:55 am) |
| In a recent article, AT&T claims that PayPal infringed upon its patent rights by using a 3rd party system to process payments. Since eBay owns PayPal, this is like one giant taking on another giant. This case will be very interesting to watch because eBay isn't immune to patent infringement lawsuits. I wonder just how bloody it will get! |
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| Can You Legally Sell Levi's Jeans on eBay? |
| 11.20.03 (5:29 pm) |
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Survey says, "YES!" But, can you? Really? Yes, you can -- unless the Levi's corporation decides to pull rank and deny you the right to do so. Once the Levi's corporation contacts eBay and informs them that only authorized personnel are allowed to sell Levi's products on eBay, you can kiss those profits from selling vintage Levi's jeans goodbye. Levi's would have to first join eBay's VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program. From there, the corporation would own exclusive rights to the sell of all Levi's and Levi's related products on eBay. Why would Levi's do this, you ask? Hypothetically, if Levi's wanted to sell off their overstock on eBay and dominate the market -- completely eliminating their competition -- this would be just the thing for them to do. Makes sense, right? Would you do it? Learn more by reading: Sellers Beware! View a list of VeRO participants. |
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| New Auction Sites: To List or Not to List |
| 11.19.03 (7:16 pm) |
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Any auction seller who's been treated unfairly by eBay knows how difficult it is to detach from the online auction giant and go in search of new auction sites to do business. The problem isn't the lack of online auction sites. There are 100s of new online auction sites available for the disgruntled former eBayer. The question is: will that new auction site generate enough traffic and interest in order to produce revenue for your auction business? Many auction sellers will answer with a resounding no, but some will answer optimistically and encourage you to try your hand at other auction sites. [b]Advantages:[/b] A. Many new online auction sites offer free listing and low-cost feature listing fees. B. Many new auction sites are small enough to provide a very informative and useful community where you can meet and mingle easily with other members of the online auction house. The posting rules aren't as stringent as eBay's rules. C. Many new online auction sites allow you to post links to your e-commerce sites within your auction ad -- something eBay does not allow you to do. [b]Disadvantages:[/b] A. Even though you can list your auctions free, there are not as many potential buyers on the site as there are on eBay. You'll have to put more work into marketing your auction listings on a smaller, less-known auction site. B. The community is too small. Once you've made someone angry, your name is mud! Stay as anonymous and be as friendly as possible. Related Links: Banned by eBay Bouncers Threw Me Out of the eBay Disco eBay's Suspension FAQs eBay Sucks eBay Suspended My Account |
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| Great Debate: Overcharging for S&H |
| 11.19.03 (12:07 pm) |
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Great Shipping Debate digitalproducts: as a seller, I dont see why we can't charge for shipping and handling. if we have to take the time to package a product and drive it to the post office we should be able to charge extra for it. all companies do it. i decide how much my time is worth. jvs458: WHat about customer service? You don't have to drive to the post office. you can just leave it out for the mail carrier to pick it up when he delivers your mail. save your customers a few dollars. if your worried about someone taking it, leave a note for your mail carrier so they know you have a package that needs to go out. i think it's wrong to make $3 profit off of shipping fees. Geenius: I myself don't do it, but if a seller wants to make a profit off of shipping, that's his choice. This is America, and that's free enterprise. If you don't want to pay that much shipping, YOU have the freedom to purchase it somewhere else. I normally don't overcharge for shipping, but if I am selling something expensive, I might want to make a few extra dollars for the extra caution I have to take while shipping the item. That's the seller's choice. Just ask about shipping before you place a bid on something or commit to buying it. Read the rest of the Great Debate Charging for Shipping & Handling |
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| Federal Trade Commission Guide to Online Auctions |
| 11.19.03 (1:19 am) |
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a governmental agency that works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices. This organization provides consumers with a wealth of information to help prevent such activity. Their guide to online auctions contains the following information: 1. Auction Rules 2. Payment Options 3. Online Payment Services 4. Online Escrow Services 5. Types of Fraud 6. Tips for Buyers 7. Tips for Sellers You can view the full guide online at the FTC's website. Look for the article Internet Auctions: A Guide for Buyers and Sellers |
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| HiJacked eBay Account Information |
| 11.18.03 (1:04 am) |
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State police say complaints from people ripped off by crooks who've hijacked eBay account information are on the rise. View the article in full. |
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| Buyer Protection on eBay |
| 11.18.03 (12:31 am) |
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eBay has initiated new Buyer Protection, but if you read between the lines the lingo can be quite confusing. According to the information posted on their site, click here, you have between 30 and 60 days to file a fraud alert, the first step toward potential reimbursement. Once a buyer has filed a fraud claim, the buyer then has to file a protection claim -- within 90 days of the auction's end, but only after filing the fraud claim. To file a fraud claim, you must have received an item that was misrepresented or not received the item at all. Here's where it gets tricky: Before you buy on eBay this holiday season, make sure you're familiar with the protection policies. Assess your risks, then behave accordingly. Related Links: PayPal Purchase Protection eBay Buyer Protection |
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| Protect Your eBay Feedback Rating |
| 11.16.03 (3:09 pm) |
| Your feedback rating is considered one of your most valuable assets as an auction seller. Several auction industry professionals suggest that the simplest and most effective way to protect your feedback rating is to create multiple Auction IDs. You cannot use these IDs to bid on your own auctions, but you can use one ID to buy and the other ID to sell. If you buy something from a seller and you're dissatisfied with the item, you can then leave negative feedback for the seller without fear of retaliation. It's against your online auction house's policies to create multiple IDs with the intent to defraud other buyers and sellers; however, creating the multiple IDs for the purpose of protecting your feedback rating is perfectly acceptable. |
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| eBay and PayPal Games |
| 11.16.03 (2:54 pm) |
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eBay buyers often complain that even though they've paid for an item using either a money order, check, or credit card, the item listing still shows up on eBay as UnPaid. Why is the system setup like this? Scenario: An auction seller sells me a CD on eBay. I paid using a money order. I get the CD in the mail, and not only is it scratched, but it's the wrong CD! The seller then charged me $10 to ship it, to add insult to injury. I decide, after trying unsuccessfully to settle things with the seller directly, to just leave the seller negative feedback. What does the seller do? The auction seller leaves me negative feedback, telling the whole eBay world I never paid AND the seller files a non-paying bidder complaint on me. When people start looking through both the seller and the buyer's feedback comments, it will look like I gave the seller negative feedback because I just didn't want to pay -- especially since there's no PayPal PAID icon next to the item listing. Do people do what I just outlined? Yes! And eBay damn well knows people do it. So, when the buyer calls eBay to complain, eBay then sells them "If you use PayPal in the future, you protect yourself against that sorta thing." And then, the buyer decides to just start using PayPal (hell, it's cheaper than paying for a money order to pay), and eBay adds even more money to their bottom line by taking their portion off the seller's PayPal payment. Read more about this discussion on The Auction Board's discussion forum. |
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| Auction eZine |
| 11.16.03 (1:56 pm) |
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[b]Make Online Auctions a Home Business[/b] by John Lynch Everyone is aware of online auctions nowadays. We all know someone who has bought or sold something on an Ebay online auction site. But how many people know that this hobby can be turned into a profitable business? The fact is online auctions are a new kind of home- based business created by the Internet with no capital investment and no risk. An online auctions business has the following advantages: Read the rest of John Lynch's article in The Auction Board's Ezine Archives. [b]Also see:[/b] Charity Auction Newsletter: free monthly e-mail offering tips, reviews, and resources to help you produce, grow, and manage your non-profit auction. |
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| Choosing Products to Sell |
| 11.16.03 (6:28 am) |
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Finding Your Niche on eBay Not sure what to sell on eBay? Learn how to research your ideas and find product sources. Read more in How to Start an eBay Business. |
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| News: eBay Seller Arrested |
| 11.16.03 (6:23 am) |
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Seller on eBay arrested in Utah Police recover stolen items in West Jordan By Pat Reavy Deseret Morning News MIDVALE — A big-money scheme allegedly involving the sale of stolen items on eBay was broken up this week by police. Hundreds of items were recovered. Because of the firearm offense, detective Doug McGrath said, federal counts would be sought. Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News Investigators have recovered hundreds of stolen items ranging from guns, computers, video games, bicycles and lawn mowers. And detectives believe hundreds of other items stolen in the Salt Lake Valley have already been sold to people across the United States. Read the rest of the article. |
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| Running a Successful Auction Business |
| 11.16.03 (1:45 am) |
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Are you a part-time auction seller making a little extra cash, or a full-time seller who's decided to make online auctions your sole source of income? If you're just starting out (or an old hand who needs a few extra tips), here's the mini MBA in Online Auctions: Your first step would be to learn as much as you can about the basics of online auctions. Each online auction site has a Help section for your convenience, but you'll still need to take a look around each auction site and get a feel for what's selling. Your next step: Decide on a product. Perhaps you can turn a hobby, like making wooden birdhouses, into a profitable auction business. From there, you'll need to have a working schedule and an office space of some sort. Many new sellers underestimate just how important it will be to set aside a special place to work and a set time during the day. You'll need a dedicated phone line and a dedicated email address just for your business. You'll also want to make sure you have adequate storage space for your inventory. Your next step would be to list your products on your chosen auction site. Use descriptive, but not misleading, titles. Avoid excessive use of graphics and do not use extremely large text. Many successful sellers suggest you do a test to determine the best days to list your auction items -- paying close attention to time zones on each coast. The 5th step: Fine-tune your customer service. Many sellers forget that online buyers still demand good customer service skills. Providing good, descriptive auction ads and detailed checkout instructions will help you avoid problems later. And finally, when you're ready to grow your business, learn ad much as you can about marketing and advertising. Try selling new products, but make sure you don't over extend yourself. Join The Auction Board's auction discussion forum and meet other auction buyers and sellers. |
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| Irritating Auction Listings |
| 11.15.03 (10:44 pm) |
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Ever wanted to buy something really bad, but decided not to because the seller's auction ad was extremely rude? Auction sellers, listen up! Buyers will walk away from your item if your listing is written in such a way as to insult or annoy potential buyers. A few suggestions: To view a lengthy discussion on auction manners, view Irritating Listings? Bad Wording. Crappy Terms at The Auction Board. |
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| Is Google a Threat to eBay? |
| 11.15.03 (10:33 pm) |
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"Meg Whitman, chief executive of online auctioneer eBay, on Monday downplayed speculation that its chief business partner, popular search engine Google, was poised to become its biggest rival." Originally published at: [url=http://news.com.com/2100-1038...]http://news.com.com/2100-1038...[/url] A. Google launched a trial version of Froogle, a price-comparison search engine for thrifty shoppers: eBay originally started as a place for thrifty shoppers. Now, it's overrun by corporations selling off their overstock (while proudly displaying the powerseller symbol) and crafty scam artists. With Froogle, all I do is add my shop/webpage that lists all items for sale and optimize the page so that Google's spider comes back every couple of days for updates. The price? $0 B. eBay is one of Google's biggest advertisers, investing a significant part of its marketing budget on keyword listings that appear on the world's most recognizable search engine. What does that mean for Google? It means Google's Froogle can simply place a competing ad alongside an eBay ad everytime someone does a keyword search for something on eBay. Other advertisers do it all the time. What would make eBay and Froogle any different? Do you think this would make eBay stop advertising on Google? Absolutely not! eBay needs Google more than Google needs eBay. Why do I say that? eBay has gone out its way to keep advertisers from using certain keywords on Google -- claiming trademark infringement. Even if eBay the corporation decides to stop advertising on Google (highly unlikely), eBay sellers will continue to submit their websites, stores, and ME pages with Google because they know that Google is the largest search engine in the world -- powering even Yahoo's search engine! C. Meg was quoted as saying, "We're good for Google, and Google is good for our sellers," . Meg, please repgrase that: Google is good for eBay and Google is good for eBay's sellers. eBay is good for Google's bottom line. I don't see Google advertising on eBay. So, is Google a threat to eBay? Many of us wonder and would love to see a Google version of eBay available to online auction sellers. |
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| SEO and Your Auction Business |
| 11.15.03 (9:27 pm) |
Many auction sellers underestimate the importance of Search Engine Optimization for the success of their auction business. Creating an e-commerce website is an excellent way to boost sales and increase revenues. With Google's new Froogle, an optimized e-commerce site can give auction sellers an added advantage."Froogle is an extension of the Google search engine that millions of people around the globe use daily to research products before they purchase. Listing your product in Froogle is a free way to extend the reach of your marketing efforts to millions of new customers. |
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| eBay "About Me" page Success |
| 11.15.03 (9:10 pm) |
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Many online auction houses offer their sellers a mini-website which can be used to introduce their products and services to potential buyers. This mini-website is called the About Me page on most online auction sites. Productive use of this mini-website could mean generous revenue for the smart auction seller. Auction sellers who wish to use their About Me page as part of their marketing strategy, should ensure the following criteria are met: Originally published in The Auction Board's Auction eZine on October 12, 2003. To read the entire article: Marketing Your About Me Page: Effective Advertising Strategies for Your Auction Business. |
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| Purpose Statement |
| 11.15.03 (8:58 pm) |
| This blog belongs to The Auction Board. We'll use it to provide quick and easy to read advice for making your online auction business a success. We'll also discuss the latest developments in the auction business, provide tips and tools for auction advertising, and provide links to auction news articles for your review. We hope you enjoy! |
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| Articles Marketing Partners: Tag-Team Your Way To Success by Genia V. Stevens Due to the rise in eBay sellers -- approximately 60 million -- many auction sellers are finding it increasingly difficult to sell their products and services through the largest online auction house. Creating a promotional alliance with other websites and auction sellers could be the key to your success. Partnership Offers: If you sell CDs, consider partnering with an auction seller who sells home stereo equipment. You could also consider partnering with a seller who sells DVD players, TVs, or even MP3 players. Here are some examples of a partnership offer Read more . . . Auction Advertising: Taking a Closer Look by Genia V. Stevens If you sell on eBay or any other online auction site, you're probably always open for suggestions about how to make your product visible to potential buyers. If you sell TVs, you're probably one of thousands of sellers who do. So what could make you different from other sellers? Consistent marketing. Many sellers who buy advertising don't really understand how important consistency is to their marketing strategy. Marketing is an investment; It's an investment into the success of your business. Read more . . . Marketing Your About Me Page by Genia V. Stevens Many online auction houses offer their sellers a mini-website which can be used to introduce their products and services to potential buyers. This mini-website is called the About Me page on most online auction sites. Productive use of this mini-website could mean generous revenue for the smart auction seller. Auction sellers who wish to use their About Me page as part of their marketing strategy, should ensure the following criteria are met Read more . . . Free Online Auction Tools by Genia V. Stevens Managing an online auction business is no simple task. Serious sellers may find that the cost of running an online auction business exceeds their expectations. Free auction tools help sellers minimize expenses, maximize profit, and manage the selling process. Read more . . . Auction Business Management Made Almost Easy by Genia V. Stevens You may have searched the internet for auction resources only to find yourself experiencing information-overload -- one website after another claiming to provide the absolute best information you'll ever need to run your online auction business. Every company claims superiority; but, how do you pick the right one for you? Read more . . . The www and Your Google Pagerank by Genia V. Stevens I sold a text link to one of my advertising clients on TheAuctionBoard's main page. My auction ad stated that my website's main page had a Google pagerank (PR) of 6. After the client was informed that his link had been placed, he visited my website to verify the placement, and responded with this: When looking at your website it is showing me a 0 PR. Can you explain this or clarify the error? Read more . . . |