Monday, January 19, 2009

Secrets To Selling On eBay

Secrets To Selling On eBay

Rules #1 through #3 are always the same! And it’s always the same word, research! There is just no sense selling on eBay without decent research first. It doesn’t take endless hours, just a good look at titles and what has already sold recently in the eBay completed listings section.

The completed listings section tells you what things have sold for and that is exactly what we need to know. Doing that alone will save you from wasting hours doing a good item write-up, taking pictures, sorting and loading them etc. So do the research first second and third every time!

The real how to make money on eBay secret will come down to your writing style and your willingness to have a personality. Remember people buy from people. Don't be afraid to be creative, but don't say things that are not true. You'll get a negative feedback and that stays with your eBay reputation.

I will give a customer his or her money back before I'll accept a negative feedback. Sometimes you just have to park your ego. Your online reputation is all you have when selling on eBay, keep it at 100% if possible. There is always a solution when things don't go smoothly.

Once you have your items listed, watch your eBay account for messages, always stay on top of that. The best selling items on eBay do not have absent eBay landlords. Staying close to the action from the first day your item is drafted and listed, to the final day when items are shipped should have you always involved in the mix.

For the extra few cents it costs I run all my auctions from Thursday at 9:00pm to Sunday at 9:00pm Eastern time. A 10 day auction gets you exposed through two of eBay’s biggest exposure days, Friday and Sunday nights. A quick tip, on a long weekend, your Sunday night traffic will be less.

Try to have no less than 3 pictures, the first one is free and the other two are only a few extra cents each. If you think your item is worth at least $50.00 or more, always opt for the larger picture feature. Remember this is as close to your item as a customer can get, so good size clear pictures can really sell your item. It always amazes me how many people load 6 pictures of an item on eBay and none of them are clear. A good camera will pay you back very quickly.

Always check your shipping rates. Of course, you don't ever want to short change yourself, and you NEVER want to appear to be gauging the customer on the shipping charges either. If the post office says it's $17.00 to ship, somewhere between $17.00 and $20.00 is more than fair. In fact, I always suggest where possible, hike your selling price a bit and say the shipping and insurance are FREE. That always helps to create interest.

Make sure you have your PayPal account set up. When I started I only wanted to accept money orders, good grief! By the time the customer actually remembered to get a money order, it was literally 3 and 5 weeks before I was paid, and before the item was shipped. I want to get paid right now, ship the item asap and move on to my new eBay projects. This can be a very efficient system, if you set it up that way. eBay owns PayPal so there's rarely any issues there.

I've been selling on eBay since 2002 and it has been a great source of extra income. And I have to tell you there are treasures out there at yard sales everyday. Here's a real example of an old 1906 book on Cricket, it that looks like nothing. I would have never given it a second thought at a yard sale .. and boy can looks be deceiving:

eBay Treasures

By the way, I run that eBay Treasures site to help people see the amazing potential of what items can sell for on eBay. I just email my subscribers for free. Hey, I’m doing the research anyway, so why not share it?

Now I hope these secrets to selling on eBay were somewhat helpful, feel free to drop me an email anytime. I'm retired now and do a lot of eBay research .. I look forward to hearing from you. mikeperras@hotmail.com also on eBay as studio477

Also, depending on what stage you are in your eBay experience, here are a few extra goodies that may help you with your selling on eBay. Just click on the titles below.

Mike Perras, P.Mgr

A Great Resource For Wholesale Products To Sell On eBay

Build Your Own Niche Store On eBay

For Advanced Users Thinking Beyond eBay For Easy Income



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