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Learn to Sell on eBay: Seller Central
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| eBay Hacked? |
| 07.28.04 (7:38 pm) |
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I was waiting for more information to surface about the story on members of the Nigerian 419 syndicate who hacked into eBay. Alledgedly, 419 members have hacked into eBay's database and now have access to approximately 400,000 member records. eBay says they haven't been hacked. Let's imagine that eBay's database was actually hacked. Do you think eBay would actually admit that their system is not as secure as we have been led to believe it is? I don't believe they would. I'm waiting to see what kind of information surfaces about this situation in the coming weeks. Permalink |
| 0 Comments |
| Offsite eBay Sales Bad for Business |
| 07.26.04 (3:15 pm) |
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by Genia V. Stevens A new membr of our auction forum had this question: [i]I'm new to the auction game and clearly I need to build good feedback and a good reputation. I've been asked to end an auction early. Is that bad form? I don't want to start out by doing something wrong. Please advise.[/i] One forum member responded by telling the user that she had heard a rumor for years that sometimes these people are eBay employees acting as watchdogs --checking to see how many sellers have business practices that include Fee Circumvention. I would hate to think that eBay is stooping to entrapment, because that's exactly what that is. Entrapment is unethical in any state (even California), and could be grounds for a seller to sue eBay if they are removed from eBay because of a situation involving eBay's purposeful entrapment. When an eBay employee purposely taunts a seller with the possibility of avoiding eBay fees and closing a sale quickly, that's just wrong -- no matter why they're doing it. I can see a seller who wouldn't have even thought about doing something like this being very tempted to do it. Even if it's not an eBay employee and it's just a buyer who wants to avoid the hassle of an auction, I wouldn't advise any seller to do offsite eBay sales. The seller is doing nothing but setting him/herself up to be in a situation where the buyer feels the rules can be relaxed at any time: "well you did it once, why not now?" You end up with a buyer who always asks you to close auctions early, and now you're in a tough spot. Don't do these sorts of things, not because eBay doesn't like it, but because it's just bad for your business. In addition, there's always the possibility that it's a competitor who wants you to end your auction early because they are selling a similar item and can't stand the competition. I also posed the possibility of this being a scam. Many times a seller has been approached to close an auction early. The buyer offers much more for the item than the seller ever expected to receive. The seller sends a phoney cashier's check or money order and walks off with the seller's product. If you're asked to close an auction early, just don't do it. You're asking for trouble -- even if an eBay employee isn't the culprit. Permalink |
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| Auction Business Management Made Almost Easy |
| 07.25.04 (10:05 pm) |
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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? If you ask 100 sellers which image hosting service is the best and most affordable, you'll probably receive at least 60 different answers. But, do you really need an image host? Probably not if you're an occassional eBay seller who typically adds only 1 or 2 photos to your auction listings. But, if you're a full-time seller who views your online auction business as a significant contributor to your monthly income, you may want to choose an image host mostly for convenience. Once you have loaded your images into your file at your image host, knowing the location of your images will allow you to skip the image upload step when listing new auctions. Sometimes this step can take awhile -- especially when eBay is having technical problems. In addition, using an image hosting service often provides sellers with additional editing tools. Village Photos allows sellers to enter titles, captions, and resize or compress images. MrCoolPix allows sellers to replace the background on their images. Auctiva allows sellers to create slideshows. Sellers are provided with a myriad of auction tools to choose from. Everything from auction templates to auction accounting software like Quickbooks, Simply Accounting, and Peachtree. Sellers can even find advice about providing good customer service and software programs that will automatically write their auction ads. If a seller also uses an e-commerce site to sell outside of eBay, a quick course on Search Engine Optimization may come in handy. Online auction sellers have many options to choose from to help streamline the shipping process. One of the newest ways sellers ship large items is through Hitchpack -- a service that allows sellers to ship items through drivers who are heading in the same direction the auction item is heading. Once tax season begins, sellers will undoubtedly wonder if they should file taxes -- and just how to do so. Suzette Montgomery tells sellers: "all income from all sources must be reported . . . ." Montgomery mentions a few items sellers must remember if they prepare their own taxes: One of the first things a seller needs to consider is the amount of activity involved. If the person is just an occasional seller, the selling probably involves capital gains issue. Sellers may wish to visit various online auction forums to talk to other sellers about the dos and donts of online auctions. Just remember to choose the tools that are right for you and your volume of sales. Too many sellers purchase the Cadillac of auction management tools, when all they really needed was a skateboard. Permalink |
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| CheckFree Auction Payments |
| 07.22.04 (4:15 am) |
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CheckFree Auction Payments* is the leading solution that enables sellers to accept guaranteed e-check payments from buyers securely. By accepting CheckFree, sellers provide winning bidders with an opportunity to choose the payment method that best meets their needs. Additionally, CheckFree provides important features to help sellers manage their auction business, including automatic logo insertion, automatic payment confirmation, invoicing and detailed payment history. Founded in 1981 and celebrating its 23rd year in e-commerce, CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ: CKFR) is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services and products. Millions of consumers initiate online payments through services offered by CheckFree. Electronic billing and payment is available through more than 1,200 financial services organizations, including banks, credit unions, brokerage firms, Internet portals and personal financial management (PFM) software. At these sites, consumers are able to electronically receive and pay essentially all of the bills most common to a U.S. household. Annually, CheckFree delivers more than 90 million bills. CheckFree Auction Payment sellers have access to the millions of buyers that use CheckFree's electronic billing and payment services. CheckFree Auction Payment buyers can pay for winning bids online, pay bills online, and shop online. The CheckFree Way to Pay - right from your checking account, without the check - is at your convenience anywhere on the Web you see "CheckFree." For more information, visit MyAuctionPayments or contact Tasha at tspannmccall@checkfree.com. *Information for this post was provided by Tasha. This blog posting is not an endorsement of CheckFree. Please read all information about any payment processor before becoming a member. Permalink |
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| The www and Your Google Pagerank |
| 07.22.04 (3:56 am) |
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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? Typically, advertisers who concern themselves with your website's Google PR do so because it's a common belief that your website's PR is a good indication of how well the webmaster has optimized the website for search engines. Good search engine optimization for targeted keyword phrases may help improve your placement in Google searches. Webmasters who hope to improve their own PR will often ask other webmasters for link placement on their website. Sometimes these links are sold; sometimes the links are exchanged. I understood why my client was bothered by seeing the 0 PR when he visited my site. I emailed the client back to inform him that if he visited the site and left off the "www," he would see that my website did indeed have a pagerank of 6. Why the error? It wasn't really an error. Part of how Google determines your PR is based on how many sites link to your site. The version of my website that starts with "www" is rarely linked to, while the version of my website without the "www" is linked to quite often. This would explain why one version has a PR6 and the other has a PR0. I never use the "www" when linking to my own site. Many webmasters drop the "www" altogether when they link to other websites -- unless the site can not be accessed without the "www." If your site can be accessed either way and you wish to have duplicate PRs, that can get a little tricky. I've found that many webmasters link to my website and this blog without my knowledge (and I have no problem with that). Most of the time, webmasters have to make sure they request that the "www" is used as part of the link if the site can not be accessed without it, or if the webmaster is trying to increase the PR for that particular version of the site. If you find that webmasters are linking to your site frequently, without your knowledge and without asking for a reciprocal link in return, it may be very difficult to control just how many links contain the "www" and how many don't. Permalink |
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| Bye, bye Napster and iTunes |
| 07.16.04 (1:24 pm) |
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by Genia V. Stevens "Apple's iTunes music store, announced this week it had sold more than 100m songs sold in its first 14 months. . . " and eBay wants a piece of the cake. Actually, eBay will have the cake, the bakery, and the whole corner lot the bakery sits on. Bye, bye Napster. Bye, bye iTunes. Well, unless you plan to ask eBay for "approval" to sell music on their website: Pre-approved sellers with licenses to music could decide to auction tunes or sell them at a fixed price, as with other items for sale on eBay. So, iTunes and Napster will either agree to pay eBay listing fees, final value fees and the like, in order to sell downloadable music on eBay, or the companies will take their chances and compete with eBay. So, anyone wanna try to guess which market eBay will go after next? I'm still thinking on it. Source for quotes: eBay dips toe in music downloads Permalink |
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| eBay Founder Donates to Cloning Project |
| 07.15.04 (1:44 pm) |
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Let's call it what it is, shall we? eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, donates $1 million to stem cell research. This puts the world a few steps closer to cloning a few million more eBay buyers and sellers. --posted by Genia V. Stevens Permalink |
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| Seeing is Believing: Video for Your Auctions |
| 07.06.04 (10:39 pm) |
| by Genia V. Stevens Would you like to be able to show your product to potential buyers in video form? i2iAuction makes that possible. This technology allows auction sellers the opportunity to present streaming video and audio as a part of their auction ads. With i2iAuction Video, sellers are able to automatically place video in their auction description without worrying about complicated software. All video records instantly and users don't have to worry about uploads. Sellers pay $2.99 for a 60-second video and only $1.99 for a 30-second video. To see an eBay auction currently using the i2iAuction video product, visit the auction for VERSACE SHEARLING LARGE COAT AS-IS . Permalink |
| 0 Comments |
| Who's the Big Bad Wolf? |
| 07.06.04 (11:04 am) |
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by Genia V. Stevens A debate has started on TheAuctionBoard's forum about the eBay class action lawsuit. Maybe I shouldn't say debate -- exchange of passionate opinions is a more accurate description. One user feels the whole issue is a mess because the lawyers will make "$100,000,000" and eBay consumers will receive nothing more than $10 and increased fees. I, of course, wanted to stay on track and make sure we didn't forget that there wouldn't be a need for lawyers if eBay was more responsive. I did admit that the user was right in one respect; if eBay loses this class action lawsuit, the company will simply pass the buck on to the consumer and raise their fees to recoup the company's losses. Anybody with basic logic skills who understands that should be a bit ticked off (I would hope). That means: eBay caused a problem; eBay was non-responsive to the problem eBay caused; eBay gets sued for said problem; then eBay makes the consumer pay for eBay's problem -- if the case indeed goes in the consumer's favor. So, who's the big bad wolf here? eBay or the attorneys? To view the thread, visit: eBay Class Action Lawsuit on the forum. Permalink ------------------------- ------------------------- --- [b]This post sponsored by:[/b]  |
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| Sniping Software: Snipe It and Win It |
| 07.06.04 (1:12 am) |
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by Genia V. Stevens If you're new at this whole eBay thing (and I'm sure there's at least one person in Goshen, IN who is), you probably want to know how to sneak in on an auction at the last minute and snatch an item right out from under someone. You'll want to learn more about sniping an auction. Learning how to snipe will allow you to win an auction without participating in bidding wars. Bidding wars do nothing more than drive up the price of an item. Sellers love bidding wars, and sometimes buyers like them. It could be a lot of fun--until you realize how much you could have saved on the item had you kept a level head and hidden your interest until the very last seconds of the auction. There are many sniping products on the market developed specifically for the smarter auction buyer. Bidnapper places bids in any currency, changes or deletes bids without a hassle, and adds bids directly from eBay. This sniping program is offered at a flat rate and provides unlimited sniping for just one price. BidSlammer allows users to change all snipes with one submission and splash bids across many items --shutting off bids when you win. Pay only a dime per bid, and 1% if you win. There is a maximum cost of $5. Powersnipe work with all international and eBay motors sites and allows users to bid on the same item from different sellers until the user wins at the price set. Pay once for this sniping tool and get unlimited usage. Stealthbid allows users to manage multiple accounts on diffent auction sites. For small wins less then $5 the fee is a flat 5 pennies. For average wins of up to $499, the fee is one percent. For large wins over $500, the fee is a flat five dollars. These are just a few of the sniping programs available. BidSitter, JustSnipe, and EZsniper are a few others. Choose the one that best fits your budget and needs. Permalink |
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| Much Ado About eBay |
| 07.05.04 (11:21 pm) |
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I received several items in my email today that are very interesting and worth mentioning. According to a thread on the eBay boards, eBay is doing away with the reserve option on the eBay Australia site. This change is effective August 10, 2004, and will affect all categories except Cars, Motorcycles, Boats and Other Vehicles. There's quite a bit of speculation about this move. Some eBay users believe eBay has made this move to curtail the off-eBay deals made when items are not sold because the reserve was not met. The other item in my email box I found quite interesting was the mention of an eBay survey about PayPal. Apparently there's a survey circulating that asks users whether eBay should require that sellers offer PayPal as a payment option. I haven't seen this survey personally, but I've received several emails about the survey. I thought it was quite peculiar that a "venue only" entity such as eBay would require that sellers offer any particular payment processor. But hey, what do I know, right? And another item of interest (not received in my email box and not about eBay, but worth mentioning just because I get a kick out of making fun of these guys): another somewhat well-known auction forum has plans to follow on the heels of the TheAuctionBoard.com and introduce a blog. My business partner and I knew it was coming eventually and we can't wait to see how the competition works their stuff. --Item posted by Genia Permalink |
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| Musicland Launches Exclusive Auction Site |
| 07.03.04 (10:33 pm) |
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by Genia V. Stevens In the cut-throat business of online auctions, Musicland has tossed its hat in the ring. The success of this endeavor remains to be seen. The company has launched an exclusive online auction site for its Replay members called Showbidz. This exclusivity is supposed to supply the company's Replay members with authentic collectable music without all the fraud concerns found with online auctions. Musicland may deter scam artists and reduce the amount of fraud Replay members would have to deal with -- but at what price? Musicland is creating its own market of supposed authentic music that music lovers can purchase over the internet. I suppose the demand for such a product would be enormous. There are very few markets that react to consumer demand as quickly as internet auctions; in the world of online auctions, consumer demand dictates the cost of goods. Will this huge demand cause the price of Showbidz's music to rise so high that consumers run back to eBay to purchase music -- praying and taking their chances? Of course, there's always the chance that Musicland's Showbidz will never do more than take a few baby steps -- like so many other auction sites that have tried to take a slice of the eBay pie. The company power-suits may learn that running an online auction site costs more than they ever imagined and the exclusivity may go out the window in no time at all. It never ceases to amaze me how little thought and planning the power-suits put into these sorts of things. I'll just sit back and wait to see how it all plays out. I don't buy enough music to care one way or the other. Imesh.com is where I go for all my music downloads. Related Stories about Musicland: Downtown Media Play Closes Musicland to close 150 stores, lay off 900 Best Buy Sells Musicland Subsidiary | Permalink |
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| eBay Billing Issues Prompt Class Action Lawsuit |
| 07.03.04 (1:01 pm) |
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On July 2, 2004, Fazio & Micheletti LLP filed a class-action lawsuit against eBay on behalf of all eBay sellers affected by the ongoing billing issues that began when eBay began migrating to a new billing system in February 2004. Robert Cerreta of Florida and Nancy Spaulding of Ohio, will serve as representatives. Both Cerreta and Spaulding are experienced eBay sellers and have both experienced problems with eBay's billing system for months. Some of the issues eBay has failed to address adequately relate to double entries of debits and credits on seller accounts; overcharges; slow responses to customer inquiries; and no response to customer inquiries. Sellers have flocked to the eBay discussion boards to voice their frustrations only to be met with stricter discussion board guidelines. If you wish to be a part of the class action suit, you don't need to do anything. The court will be asked to certify the case as a class action suit. You can opt out later if you wish. To view the class action lawsuit, visit: eBay Class Action Lawsuit | Permalink |
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| Learn to eBay Like a Pro |
| 07.02.04 (9:51 am) |
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by Genia V. Stevens Now that the folks in India will have the opportunity to catch that eBay fever, those few skeptics left in the U.S. may just be thinking of giving eBay a try. If you're one of the reformed eBay skeptics, and you need a little help getting started, a quick search for the keyword phrases eBay tips and learn to ebay on the search engine giant Google returns over 2 million results. A word of caution is warranted. Beware of the supposed "powersellers" who are now "eBay consultants" writing ezines and software designed to teach you to become an eBay pro. Much of this information is information you can find for free on eBay's website in the help files. In addition, it's also information you can find for free on various auction discussion forums. You will also find ezines that are offered as free downloads. These free deals are often bundled with advertisements and collect your email address for an opt-in emailing list. The one thing I've often noticed about the "powerseller" turned "eBay consultant;" they rarely, if ever, give you their eBay seller name for verification. So, how do you learn to sell on eBay like a pro? Trial and error is a good way. That's how many of us learned. But, if you really don't have the time (or the money) to waste, here are a few sources that may help you: e-powersellers.com/forum and the rules page e-powersellers.com/forum/policy.asp Don't forget to perform an extensive search on other search engines. Google isn't the only place to find great material. Since the split with Google, Yahoo has material you may not find on Google. Dogpile and AskJeeves are also very informative search engines. Last but not least, if you wish to join TheAuctionBoard.com's free forum, joining takes less than 3 minutes. | Permalink |
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| Looking for Fast Food Collectibles? |
| 07.01.04 (2:03 pm) |
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by Genia V. Stevens If you're looking to add to your fast food toy collection, give BiddersnSellers a look. The owner of the site recently annouced that the auction site's members have listed over 700+ fast food toy collectibles on the site for interested buyers. Some of the items you'll find are: McDonald's Animaniacs; Burger King Scooby Doo Monsters; Long John Silvers Pirates and Friends; McDonlad's Bug's Life; McDonald's Spy Kids; McDonald's Attack Pack; McDonald's Hot Wheels; Arby's Babar Racers; Wendy's Police Cars; Burger King Mr. Potato Head; McDonald's Lilo & Stitch, plus much, much more. The best part? You don't have to fight a huge crowd to get a great deal! Would you like to make free announcements about your e-commerce business? Visit our auction forum and join as a free member. Please, no SPAM. | Permalink |
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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 . . . |