eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Table of Contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 Chapter 1: Getting Started on eBay ………………………………………………………………………. 7
eBay Basics ……………………………………………………………………….…………………………….7
Equipment Requirements …………………………………………………..……………………………7
Navigating the Site …………………………………………..………………………………………………8
Drop Down Menus …………………………………………………………………………………………11
Signing In ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13
eBay From Around the World ……………………….…………………………………………….. 14
Ten Steps to eBay Fun………………………………………..……………………………………………15
Chapter 2: Buying on eBay ………………………………………..…………………………………………. 16
Before You Bid ………………………………………………….…………………………………………. 16
Bidding Features ……………………………………………………………………………………………..34
Bidding Strategies…………………………………………………………………………………………….41
Alternatives to Bidding…………………………………………………………………………………….45
Paying For Your Items……………………………………………………………………………………..47
Tips for Buying on eBay ………………………………………………………….………………………52
Chapter 3: Selling on eBay ……………………………………….…………………………………………. 53
Listing Basics ……………………………………………………………………………….………….….. 53
Listing Types ………………………………………………………………….………………….52
Fees ………………………………………………………………………………..…………………54
Auction Times and Days ………………………………………………..…………………..58
Filling Out Your Listing ……………………………………………………………….…………………..60 Page 2 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Before You Sell……………………………………………………………………………………………60
Creating Your Listing ‐ The Basics ……………………………………………………………..60
The Art of Writing Your Listing ……………………………………………………….…………67
HTML Listings…………………………………………………………………………………….……..69
Managing Your Auctions ……………….………………………………………………………..………… 70
My eBay Selling Section……………………………………………………………………………70
Communication and Feedback ……………………………………………………..…………71
Setting Up Your Store …………………….……………………………………………………….…………..73
Overall Selling Tips and Techniques …………………………………………………………………….76
Chapter 4: Useful eBay Features……………………………………………………………..………………… 77
Buying Tools ………………………………………………………………………………….…………………….77
eBay Map It …………………………………………………………………………………………….77
eBay MarketPlace Research ……………………………………………………….…………..78
eBay Pop………………………………………………………………………………………….………79
Selling Tools………………………………………………………………………………………….………………80
eBay Turbo Lister……………………………………………………………………………………..80
eBay Stores Markdown Manager ……………………………………………..………………81
eBay Stores Promotion Boxes …………………………………………………………………..82
Blackthorne ………………………………………………………………………………………………83
Selling Manager……………………………………………………………………………….……….84
Hammertap ………………………………………………………………………………………………85
Other eBay Features………………………………………………………………………………………..….…86
My World…………………………………………………………………………………………….……86
Blogs …………………………………………………………………………………………………….….87
Giving Works…………………………………………………………………………………………....88 Page 3 of 96
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Chat Rooms…………………………………………………………………………………………………..89
Wiki ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….90
General Announcements ……………………………………………………………………………..91
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….92 Index ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………93 Additional References………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….94
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Introduction eBay is a world of its own. It has its own members, its own rules, and its own rewards. And learning to work within this site can be the most rewarding experience. eBay has millions of users every day. People make their entire livelihood from buying and selling on eBay. And yet, even though it has enough power to make money for millions of users, it is also simple enough that with a little patience, almost anyone can use it. This book will give you the knowledge and skills to navigate your way through eBay, buying and selling. The tips and features provided in here are useful for beginners and professionals alike. Chapter 1: Getting Started on eBay will provide some of the basics for the first time eBay user. In this chapter, you will learn what computer system requirements are needed to access the eBay site. You will also learn about navigating around the huge site, how to sign up for an account of your own (which is a must‐do item before you can buy or sell anything), and how the system of drop down menus works. This is a brief chapter, but a vitally important one. After reading this chapter, you will be able to create your unique eBay user name and know enough about the site’s navigation to be functional. Chapter 2: Buying on eBay describes in detail the ins and outs of making a purchase on the vast eBay site. This chapter includes how to search for items (including eBay deal finder which searches for auctions with no bids and very little time left). Marketplace research is another key eBay tool to check out before placing a bid on any item. You will also learn about the different types of auctions (including traditional auctions, multiple item auctions, private auctions, and the Buy It Now feature). The feedback system is covered in this chapter, since it is important for you to understand how your feedback is evaluates as well as to be able to quickly determine the trustworthiness of the seller you are thinking about buying from. Also covered in Chapter 2 is how to place an automatic bid, different popular bidding strategies, and what to do once you win the auction (like paying for your winnings). Chapter 3: Selling on eBay lets you discover how the other side of eBay works. As a seller, you will learn about how to list your item for auction, determine which auction type is best for your item, and when is the best time for ending an auction. You will also learn the basics of filling out the Selling Your Item form, including selecting a category for your auction and how to create HTML auction templates. You will also learn about how to set up an eBay store to sell your items more effectively. This chapter builds on the Buying on eBay chapter, so be sure to read Chapter 2 as well. Page 5 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Chapter 4: Useful eBay Features covers many of eBay’s most popular buying and selling tools, as well as some other features. In this chapter, you will learn about eBay’s Turbo Lister, eBay Map It, and eBay’s Markdown Manager. And last, but certainly not least, you will learn about eBay’s Giving Works program which donates a portion of certain auctions to a charity. There are many more useful programs explained in this chapter – it is definitely worth the read. This book is a compilation of my own eBay experiences as well as those of other eBay users. It also has some information from popular eBay guide books as well as the eBay site itself. At the end of the book, you will find a list of references where you can go to get more information about eBay buying and selling. Also, if you find yourself looking for a particular topic, use the index at the end of the book for a quick finding method. eBay is an amazing place (and can be a very profitable place). Here’s to you and the beginning of a great journey through eBay!
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Chapter 1:
Getting started on eBay
ebay Basics Ebay is an online auction web site, located at www.ebay.com. Ebay can be an exciting place to have fun buying and selling items as well as being a profitable business. Its flexibility and amazing features enable almost anyone to profit from using this site, whether you are a one‐time user or a full‐ time ebayer. This section will teach you most of the basics that you will need to know to use ebay. You will learn what equipment you need, how to navigate around the site, set up your own account, and what the different site features are. You will also learn about the different ebay sites for different regions of the world. Although this book will focus on the American site, it is useful to know about the other sites as well.
Equipment Requirements Although there is not very much equipment required to use ebay’s auction site, there are a couple of key items you will need. At the most basic, you will need a computer with internet access. However, here is a list of items you may need and/or want as you continue to grow your ebay usage. Please note, if you do not have your own computer with internet access, check out your local library as they often have free computer labs which you can use as well. Item Description and Usage Computer (complete with This is an essential tool that will enable you to access the ebay CPU, monitor, keyboard, and website. Although it never hurts to have the most up‐to‐date mouse) computer, almost any computer purchased within the last five years or so should have enough capability to suffice. Internet Access Again, this is an essential item. Without internet access, you will not be able to access the website. Dial‐up internet will Page 7 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Digital Camera
suffice for the casual ebay user; however, if you are planning to make this your business, I would strongly recommend a faster connection speed. Often, auctions depend on exactly when you place your bid, and I don’t want to see you frustrated because you click to place your bid and then watch your computer “think” for 5 minutes while you lose the auction. This is an optional item. It will be especially useful, though, if you are selling items on eBay.
Navigating the Site To effectively use the eBay website, you will need to understand a little bit about its structure and layout. First, open your internet browser and in the web address area, type: www.ebay.com. This will take you to eBay’s homepage (shown on the next page). You will notice that there is a lot going on with this site. Let’s break it down into smaller sections and go through the navigation a little bit at a time.
Let’s start with the homepage. The homepage is the page you are brought to every time you go to www.ebay.com. If you are working on the site and want to return to the homepage, you can click on the large eBay symbol in the top left corner of the page. This symbol will be there regardless of which eBay page you are on. The overall layout of the homepage is as busy, but very user friendly once you get used to it. The top right corner has links to all of your basic functions on eBay: Buy, Sell, My eBay, Community, and Help. Each of these buttons has a drop down menu which we will go into more detail on later in this chapter. Page 8 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide eBay has two different modes for its site. One is as a guest, which is the original mode you will enter the site in. The second mode is for signed‐in users. In order to sign in, click on the link next to the eBay logo in the top left corner of the screen. To register a user name for the first time, click the register link in the same area. More details on the sign in process in the next section. The site map link will give you an overview of all of the webpage’s content and allow you to easily skip to whatever section you are interested in visiting. There are many ways to find products to buy on eBay’s website. Right now, we will just mention a couple of the methods and will go into further detail in the chapter on how to buy and bid on products. First, there is the search bar located at the top of the screen. This bar will allow you to type in a keyword and perform a search across the either the entire eBay site or within a specific category (selected through the drop down menu). The more specific your search words are, the more likely you are to find exactly what you are looking for. Another way to search the site is to select a category from the left‐hand column menu and continue to drill down until you find the product you are looking for. The eBay categories can also be found on the drop down menu “eBay categories” directly underneath the search bar. eBay updates its site very frequently, so don’t be alarmed if the images and products which are featured on the homepage are different each time you return (every after just a few minutes).
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Drop Down Menus Each of the drop down menus in the top right corner can lead you to almost anywhere on the eBay website. Let’s explore each of them. Buy: When you expand the “Buy” menu, you can easily jump to either browsing categories (which we’ve already discussed), help with bidding and buying (which takes you to the eBay university site), buyer tools (this section has many useful tools you can download, including Skype to talk to other users and programs to monitor your auctions on your desktop), and last but not least, reviews and guides section (this is the section where you can find product reviews written by other eBay users and guides on how to buy specific products) Sell: There are five different options from the “sell“ drop down menu. • Selling an Item: this menu takes you to a page to begin the selling process. From here, all you have to do is type in what you would like to sell, and eBay walks you through the rest. (Note: before you can either buy or sell anything, remember, you must sign in. We will walk you through how to do that in the next section.) • Getting Started: This is the page you will want to visit before selling anything. It has ideas for what to sell, how to write your listing, and so much more! • What to Sell: This takes you to a virtual house that lets you browse what you may have to sell already sitting at home. • Seller tools and eBay Stores: This takes you to a page where you can access most of the seller tools, including Turbo Lister and Seller Manager (more details on these in the Selling chapter.) • Shipping Center: Here you can get information on shipping rates, printing labels, and how to track your shipments. A must for any seller! My eBay: Once you’ve signed in, this is the section that will be customized to you. It includes: • Summary: here you can navigate to any of the pages in this section Page 11 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide • • • •
Watching: This provides you with a list of auctions you are watching (you can mark an auction to “watch” just by clicking the “watch this auction” link on the auction page) Bidding: Here you can see any auctions that you are currently bidding on. Note: if the auction is already closed, it will be moved to a different section. Selling: This is a list of all items you are currently selling on eBay. Favorites: You can save favorite searches, sellers, etc. and view them all here on one page. You can even have eBay email you when something is added to your favorite search category.
Community: This section is all about connecting with eBay and with other eBay users. The Announcements page gives recent eBay announcements, such as sales on reduced fees, new features to check out, and information on different training opportunities. The Answer Center page allows users to post and answer questions for other users. The Discussion Forums are eBay discussion boards where members can discuss almost anything. eBay blogs are another location for users to post their thoughts and comments for other users to read. And finally, the Groups button will take you to eBay groups where you can connect with other eBay users with a similar affiliation (like New Moms or Star Trek fans) Help: As the name clearly states, this is where you go when you need help. It includes Help Topics which is basically a Frequently Asked Questions page. It also includes the Learning Center (free online eBay courses) and eBay University (more in‐depth courses on making the most of eBay). The Security and Resolution Center is your first line of defense if you are having issues with eBay (like a dispute with a seller or buyer which cannot be reconciled, fake emails pretending to be from eBay, etc.). And finally, the Contact Us page is where you can get ahold of eBay if none of the other links provides an answer. Page 12 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Signing In When you first visit the eBay website, you may know who you are, but eBay doesn’t. Right now, you are a guest. Feel free to browse and peruse the website as long as you like without signing in. However, before you actually complete any transactions, you will need to sign in. Registering for an account is a fairly simple process. The only requirement is that you are at least 18 years old. (If you are less than 18 years old, you will need your parent to complete any transactions on your behalf.) Other than age, there are no restrictions on who can or cannot be an eBay member. Registering is a simple process, but a very important one. Registering allows you to bid on items, place items for sale, have an account history including feedback and rating, and many more things. This is the starting place for everything on eBay. Signing in requires only a couple basic steps: 1. Click the “register” link at the top of the homepage. 2. Enter your basic information (including name, email, etc.) 3. Confirm your email address. 4. Complete as much of the optional information as you would like to (or just skip this section, it’s up to you)
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Confirming your email address is an important step in the registration process. Email is the way eBay communicates with you when you are not looking at their site. This is where information about the items you are bidding on will be sent, and where you can get updates on almost all of your activity on eBay. Now that you are registered, anytime you visit the eBay site, just click on the “sign in” link at the top of the page and enter your username and password. It’s as easy as that!
eBay from Around the World While you might think that eBay is eBay, that may not always be the case. eBay has branched out and is now operating in several different countries, including (but not limited to): Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China France German Hong Kong India Ireland Italy Korea Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Philippines Poland Singapore Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand United Kingdom You can find the links to each of these sites at the bottom of the www.ebay.com homepage. If you are living in the United States, most of these sites will not be of much interest to you. But if there is something in particular that you want (and you are willing to pay Page 14 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide international shipping costs), these sites have different listings than the American site does. Just make sure you pay close attention to whether the seller is willing to ship internationally and pay attention to the currency you are bidding in.
Ten Steps to eBay Fun
1. Get online and signed up. 2. Browse for things to buy. 3. Pick your favorites and bid away! 4. Monitor your auctions and outbid the other buyers. 5. Pay for and receive your new items. 6. Collect all your unwanted junk from around the house. 7. List your findings on eBay. 8. Watch as people outbid each other for your items. 9. Sell it, ship it, and get paid! 10.Repeat until your heart’s desire! eBay can be fun entertainment, a sound business model, or an addiction. Follow the tips above to having fun with eBay while making some money at the same time. Just remember, if you wouldn’t buy it on the shelf in the store, it’s probably also not worth buying on eBay. Just because it is online and cheap, doesn’t mean that it is a value.
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Chapter 2: Buying on eBay
There are two basic functions that eBay provides: buying and selling. This chapter will introduce you to the basics of how to buy an item on eBay. It will cover everything from how to find the right item at the right price from the right seller, to how to win the auction for that item and complete the transaction. Get ready to shop!
Before You Bid
Searching for Items Before bidding on anything, you first need to find what you are searching for. This section will teach you some tricks on how to find your perfect item, and how to find it for the lowest cost as well. The two most basic search techniques are to use the search bar and to drill down through the categories. Searching for an item is easy. Searching for an item and finding what few others have is a little bit harder. Here are some tips to use when searching for items using the search bard. • When using the search bar, remember to type specific words. For example, if you are looking for a specific Barbie doll, then instead of just typing “Barbie” into the search box, try typing “Special Edition Barbie” or even “Special Edition Victorian Skater Barbie Doll” for a more specific search. I would advise searching using multiple different word combinations before narrowing it down to which one auction you want to bid on. • Search for mis‐spelled words. If there are words that are commonly mis‐spelled, search using both spellings. Also, if there are British and American spellings which differ, try both. Another handy tool is to use the * in your search. This will allow you to search for many mis‐spellings at the same time. For example, if you are searching for a puppet theater, try using “puppet theat*” as it will often get more results. • Think of synonyms for the words you are searching for. For example, if you are searching for an engagement ring, try also searching by the type of metal, by the Page 16 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide word “diamond” or by the words wedding and/or engagement. You might also try searching for anniversary rings. • Don’t worry about capitalization. eBay doesn’t care if you capitalize a word, so don’t waste time trying to search with both the capitalized and un‐capitalized versions. • All words in your search are used by eBay for finding you an item. So, only type the important words. If a word like “the”, “a”, or “and” does not add value to your search, drop it out and you might find more results. • If you are searching for a specific phrase, like “The Wizard of Oz”, the put it in quotes when you search for it, as this will give you more accurate results. (But don’t forget to also search by dropping the “extra” words: search for “wizard oz” (without the quotes).) • The minus sign can help you exclude words. For example, if you want to do a search on Mustangs (the horses) then you might search for: mustang –ford to exclude all of the cars from showing up in your search. • Use the advanced search feature to your advantage. In order to access this feature, click on the advanced search link to the right of the search bar. Then, click on the Advanced Search link on the next page to get an expanded set of search options. (see screen shot on the next page) The advanced search will allow you to narrow down your results significantly. For example, you can search for items that are within a certain distance of your zip code. The drill down method of searching involves using the categories. There are several different ways to access the category lists (see Chapter 1 on eBay navigation for more details), but the basic concept is the same for any of them. Let’s say for example that you were trying to find that same Barbie doll. If you searched through the categories method, you would be able to drill down to the Dolls and Bears category, then to the Dolls category, then to the Barbie Dolls (1973‐Now) and then to Barbie Dolls. There, you would be able to either type in specific key words or search by the categories on the left to find your item.
eBay Deal Finder Another method of searching for items to use is the eBay deal finder website (http://dealfinder.ebay.com). This site is owned and operated by eBay and has special search features. Here’s what it can do. It will find items up for auction which meet the following criteria: • Zero bids • No reserve price • Less than four hours left • Free or fixed rate shipping • A total price that is below the selected criteria • Been listed on eBay.com in US currency Page 17 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Sounds great, right? Well, it is! Although you may not always find the item you are looking for, this is a site that is well worth your time. Even if you only sometimes find a deal, think of the savings when you do! The search function on this page works the same way as the normal search on www.ebay.com, but it only searches for items matching your description and the criteria listed above.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Watching Auctions So, what do you do if you don’t want to bid on an item immediately, but still want to keep track of who is bidding? You watch the auction. To do this, when you are on the auction page, click on the “watch this item” link. Note: In order to do this, you will need to be signed in to your eBay account. Once you click the link, the item will be added to your watch list which you can access in the My eBay section of the site. Watching items can be a very useful buying strategy since it allows you to view other people’s bids and keep tabs on the auction without showing that you are interested. Then, if the price is right and the auction is about to close, you can swoop in and claim your item. Here are some features of your watch list: • Can store up to 100 items to watch at a time • Each item in your watch list will display a countdown clock showing how much time you have left on the auction. • Can sort between active auctions and already ended auctions. Here are some recommended uses for the watching feature: • Watch your competitors auctions to see when is the right time to sell your items • Watch comparable items to see which one to bid on • Watch items which you want, but only at a certain price • Watch items to see how slow or fast the bidding is going
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Marketplace Research eBay Marketplace Research, located at http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research, is a great tool for eBay sellers. The Marketplace Research is owned and operated by eBay, so it has all of the latest information and updates. However, this is a subscription service, but is well worth the money. By now, you are probably asking yourself, “so, what IS marketplace research exactly?” Well, it is a subscription service that provides buyers and sellers historical data on eBay items which have sold in the past 90 days. It collects all of the data for eBay listings (including starting bids, sold price, search trends, and more) and then compiles it for you in handy charts and graphs so that you can make an informed decision. eBay Marketplace Research also tells you how many of certain items were sold within the timeframe you are searching for. There are three different subscription levels in eBay Marketplace Research: Fast Pass, Basic, and Pro. Although the Pro subscription level will provide you with the most features (and should be used once you are ready to start seriously selling on eBay, the Basic level is what I would recommend you begin with. This level will provide you with most of the necessary features at a much reduced cost. It will also enable you to try out the tools and then decide if you would like to upgrade to the Pro level.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide To better explain how Marketplace Research works, let’s imaging that you are trying to find out the history on a certain video game. So, in the research field, we enter “xbox 360 NBA Live 07” and click “research”. This will bring up several important pieces of information. Note: if we had just typed in “xbox 360” the search would be too broad and we would not have been able to get any information without narrowing our search. One of the first things you will see is a list of categories show up below your search field. This will help you to refine your search. In this example, we can differential between whether we are searching for a video game or for a book about the video game. So, buy clicking on the “video game” category and then on the “game” category, we can get the most accurate results. The next thing you will probably notice is the chart that appears on your screen. This chart has several important features to it. You will notice at the top‐left corner, there are two drop down menus. The first one allows you to vary the time span that you are looking at while the second one allows you to vary the information that you are viewing. Depending on which time span you select, you will get significantly different data. Refer to the list below for an overview of the different time spans and the suggested uses for each. • One day: This time selection will display results on an hourly basis for the most recent day. This is useful to see what time auctions typically close and whether an auction that closes at a certain time is more likely to have a higher “sold price”. • One week: This time selection will allow you to see the previous week on a day‐ by‐day basis. Although this is useful, you can get the same information in the two‐week format and actually begin to see trends. I would recommend skipping this viewing option and go straight to the two‐week time span. • Two week: This is a very useful feature. This selection allows you to view your data on a day‐by‐day basis over the last 14 days. What you should be looking for in this graph are days where prices either peak or drop significantly, so that you can plan your auction around this data. For example, if you notice that items always sell for more on a Saturday, then you would try to plan your auction so that it closes on a Saturday to achieve the highest possible price. • One month: By using the one month selection, you are able to view data in weekly buckets for the past month. However, much like the one week selection, I would recommend skipping this one and moving straight to the two month feature as it will provide you with more data. • Two months: Like the one month selection, you can view the data on a weekly basis using this feature. This will allow you to see if the item’s price is changing significantly over time. Things to be on the lookout for on this chart are constantly rising or declining trends. Another thing to watch for is to see if this item generally sells for a higher price at the end of the month as opposed to the middle of the month. • Note: There are three different subscription levels. The options listed above are viewable in all levels, however, with the Pro level, you will be able to view up to 90 days instead of only 60 days of data. Page 22 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Here are two important charts generated for the xbox 360 game we were searching for. Let’s look at each one and figure out what it is trying to tell us. The top one is a view of average sold prices on a daily basis for the last two weeks. If you look at this graph, you might notice that items which closed on Wednesdays are selling for the highest dollar amount (almost 30% more than the auctions closing on other days of the week. If you are planning to sell this item, I would recommend that you set up your auction to close on a Wednesday. Now, looking at the second graph, we notice that it is set up in weekly buckets. This graph shows that the selling price for this item is fairly stable from week to week since we don’t notice any significant trends up or down in price. This would let you know that it probably doesn’t matter which week you buy or sell this item. It would also tell you that this is not an item that you should buy and expect to resell for a significantly higher value.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Below the charts is some more important information that you don’t want to miss. This section (shown below) will give you some very important statistical data on your item. It provides you with information including the price range of all the items (although don’t read too much into this range, as often items get added to this category that are not really what you are searching for). This section also provides the average number of bids per item, the number of sold items, and the last price that this item sold for.
There is another useful feature on this page which you should be aware of: the active items. So far, all of the statistics that we have been viewing are for completed sales. However, if you want to get a good feel for what is really going on in the eBay market right now, you need to look at the active items and what their current bids are. To access this information, click on the “Active Items” tab above the graph. The graph will update to show all current active items (in this case, there are 314 active items) as well as their current price. This price shows what the high bidder for each item currently is. By looking at this graph, you can tell that if you were
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide to sell this item today, you could probably expect to make somewhere in the $25‐$40 range for your item. One of the other useful features about eBay Marketplace Research is the ability to see what people are searching for. In the Top Searches category, you can see what the top searches are for all items on eBay. Note: Unless you are subscribed as a Pro user, you will only be viewing the American eBay. Pro users have the ability to see what is being searched for worldwide. Here is an example of the top searches on eBay currently. You can also narrow down this search to see what people are searching for in a particular category or by a particular key word. This can be helpful to decide what words to include in your listings and what items you should be selling to meet the current demand. Page 25 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Overall, eBay Marketplace Research is a useful tool for both buyers and sellers. Just remember to take the data for what it is and remember that it is a representation of what has happened in the past, not a conclusive predictor of the future.
Favorite Sellers The favorite sellers category in My eBay is actually useful for both buyers and sellers. This section allows you to track up to 30 different sellers all in one area. If you are primarily buying on eBay, then I would suggest that you use this area to track sellers which sell the types of items you usually buy. This way, instead of always searching for the items or the sellers, you can have it all in one place in your My eBay area. If you are selling, then this is also a good area to track sellers. When I am selling items, I usually track sellers who sell similar items. This way if they offer an item for a low price, I can be aware of that and wait to offer my item once theirs sells (remember the supply and demand theory from school – it applies here as well). In order to add a seller to your Favorite seller’s list, click on the “Add to Favorite Sellers” button in the “Meet the Seller” area on the item listing page. Once you click on that link, it will take you to a screen where you can add notes specific to that seller, sign up to receive emails whenever that seller lists items for sale, and sign up for that sellers newsletter to keep up to date on their items. One important point to remember is that in order to actually add the seller to your list, remember that you need to click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen or the seller won’t be added. Once you have added a seller to your list, you can track their items and monitor their sales through the Favorite Sellers link in the My eBay section. There is a screenshot of this area on the next page to give you an idea of what to expect. Page 26 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feedback System The eBay feedback system is one of the most important tools you can take the time to understand on eBay. This system allows users to rate each other based on their buying and selling experiences. The system has a basic rating system where you get 1 point for every positive feedback you receive, 0 points for every neutral feedback you receive, and ‐1 points for every negative feedback you receive. As you continue to complete transactions with positive reviews, your feedback rating will grow. In order to tell what feedback an eBay user has, you just need to look next to their user name. There, you will see a number and often a star. The number is their feedback rating and the star lets you know at a glance what their feedback level is. Obviously, the higher your feedback, the more likely other users are to trust you will deliver on what you say. Since both sellers and buyers receive feedback for each transaction, it is important to be a professional and courteous buyer as well as a seller. Here are some tips to remember to help keep your feedback ratings high (whether you are a buyer or a seller). And remember, the higher your rating, the more likely you are to be trusted, which can definitely impact your bottom line. Also, if you receive a feedback rating of negative 4 or worse, eBay will actually terminate your account. So, pay attention to your feedback! Page 28 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Buyers: • Make payments on time. • Pay using the method you had agreed upon. • Pay the amount you agreed upon. • Keep in touch with the seller using e‐mail. • If there are any issues, work with the seller to resolve them in a polite manner. Sellers: • Make contact with the winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends (I would recommend emailing them within two hours from the end of the auction.) • Ship the item quickly once payment is received • Don’t try to hide additional charges (like shipping fees). Be upfront with all costs. • Ensure that the item you are shipping is packaged well so that it won’t get damaged during transportation. • Ship what you say you are going to ship. • Be upfront about the quality of your items. If you are selling something with dents, make sure that the listing states that very clearly so that there are no surprises when the winning buyer receives their item. • Keep in contact with the winning buyer to ensure that they are completely satisfied. • If issues do arise, work to resolve them quickly and politely. When you are buying an item (and even before you place your bids), it is always a good idea to check out the seller’s reputation. The quick method is to just look at the number and star next to the seller’s name. However, this is not always the complete picture. In order to get a more accurate understanding of this seller’s reputation, you will need to dig a little bit deeper. Click on the rating number by the seller’s name and it will take you to their feedback profile. In this section, you can check out all of the feedback they have ever received. Note: Whenever a user changes usernames or personal information, their feedback profile still follows them. This is one of the good features on eBay since it does not allow users to hide behind false feedback. Additionally, it stresses how important feedback really is! When looking at the feedback profile page, you will notice several different sections. In the top left is their overall feedback score along with the percentage of positive feedback they have received. Generally, I would be very cautious about anyone with lower than a 97% of positive feedback received. Page 29 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide To the right of the overview, you will see a table that shows their feedback ratings broken out by the last month, last 6 months, and last 12 months. This is one of the most useful areas as it will show you if there is a changing trend in the user’s reliability. For example, if you see a user who has great feedback overall, but all of their feedback for the last month has been negative, then I would seriously question whether to do business with that user. Something has obviously changed in their approach to business recently. This section is also useful for viewing the proportion of positive, neutral, and negative feedback that a user receives. Remember, the neutral feedback doesn’t impact their overall score, so this is one of the few places to see how many neutral ratings they are receiving. Moving across the page to the right, there is another important chart to take note of. This chart shows the detailed seller ratings. For each rating, users rate a seller on several characteristics including whether the item was as described in the listing, how well the seller communicated with the buyer (and how frequently), was the shipping time reasonable, and were the shipping and handling charges fair and communicated upfront. For each of these categories, the seller receives a star rating (with five stars being the best).
The next section in the user’s feedback profile provides every rating that the user has ever received. These reviews are organized into four different sections: Feedback as a seller, feedback as a buyer, all feedback, and feedback left for others. If you are interested in buying an item from this user, then I would recommend checking out the tabs marked “feedback as a seller” and “feedback left for others”. After clicking on these tabs, you will notice that the most recent reviews are listed first. These are the ones you will want to scan through anyways Page 30 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide (unless you are really worried about a user, no need to scroll through all of their feedback comments). The reviews that the user received as a seller will tell you about their seller’s reputation and the feedback left by this user will give you a good idea of what type of feedback to expect after you complete your transaction with this user. Be wary of any users who do not leave feedback. It displays a lack of professionalism and courtesy for the other users.
Another method for judging how experienced a user is on eBay is to find out when they first signed up for eBay. You can do this by going to the More Options drop down menu on the far right of the screen and selecting “View ID History”. From there, you will see a screen like the one shown below that shows the user name, the effective date (or date that they registered for their user name) and the end date (this will only have a date if they are no longer a registered eBay user).
Here is one final message about leaving and receiving feedback on eBay. The eBay feedback system is a vital system to your success or failure on eBay. You should always leave feedback for every transaction and you should follow up on any feedback that you receive. This Page 31 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide feedback will by the primary means of other users knowing who you are and how professional you are before they decide to do business with you. It is vital to your success!
eBay Buyer Protection There are several different types of buyer protection available on eBay. Some of the most common ones are the PayPal buyer protection program, the eBay buyer insurance program, the eBay Motor Vehicles protection programs, and the Business Equipment Purchase protection programs. In most cases, these protection programs only cover your purchase if the item was never shipped to you or if the item you received was significantly different than described in the listing. These programs do not normally cover shipping errors, lost items, items damaged during shipping, or items that are as‐described but that you just aren’t happy with anymore. The intent of these programs is to protect you from fraudulent sellers, not ordinary mishaps. The table below shows the different types of programs offered for buyer protection, including what is covered and when you should use each program. On the next page, you will also find a step‐by‐step guide provided by eBay on the procedures to follow when you think you may need one of these services.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Bidding Features
Automatic Bidding Sometimes when you are bidding, you don’t always want to be sitting in front of your computer 24‐7 watching to see if someone has outbid you. You do have a life outside of eBay, and eBay understands that. That’s why they created the automatic bidding system (also called Proxy bidding). This system allows you to enter in your original bid as well as the maximum that you are willing to bid on that item. eBay then compares your bid to those of the other bidders and will automatically increase your bid as they do. You do not have direct control over how much eBay increases your bid each time, but it will increment it in small steps until it reaches your maximum bid. One important thing to remember about automatic bidding is that even though the bids are being placed automatically by eBay, they are still binding and if you win, you are still required to purchase the item just as if it had been you placing the bid (which, in reality, it is since you set up the automatic bidding). Shown below is a little bit more information about how eBay’s automatic bidding system works. Also shown below are the bid increments for the proxy bidding system.
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Multiple Item Auctions Multiple item auctions (also called Dutch Auctions) are a little bit different from an ordinary eBay auction. In multiple item auctions, the seller is selling more than one of the same item on the same listing. When buyers want to bid on that auction, they need to select how many of the item they would like to buy (up to the total amount that are being sold). Also, another important thing to remember is that automatic bidding (which we just learned about in the last section) is not available for multiple item listings. In order to determine how many items are for sale, look at the listing box under the Quantity section. Also, when placing a bid, be sure to put the correct quantity in your bid, as shown below. Page 35 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Here’s how it works. If there are 5 items available for sale, then the top five bids for those items win the auction, but all five bids pay the same price (that of the lowest winning bidder). Here’s an example of a bidding history to explain the concept. Bidder A bids on 3 of the items at $7 per item. Bidder B bids on 5 of the items at $8 per item. Bidder C bids on 1 of the items at $9 per item. Bidder A then rebids on 3 of the items at $10 per item. The auction then closes. Since there are 5 items to be sold, then the top five bids will receive the items. In this case, Bidder A has the highest bid, then Bidder C, then Bidder B. However, since Bidder A only wanted 3 of the items and Bidder C only wanted 1 of the items, there is still one of the items left for Bidder B. Since Bidder B has the lowest bid price per item of any of the top 5 bids, then all of the items (to all bidders) are sold at that price (in this case, at $8 per item). So, Bidder A wins 3 items at $8 per item. Bidder C wins 1 item at $8 per item. And Bidder B wins 1 item at $8 per item. However, there is another catch. If a bidder is not able to receive all of the quantity of items that they bid on, then they have the right to refuse the win. In this case, Bidder A and Bidder C both got the quantity that they were bidding for, so they are not allowed to refuse the win. However, Bidder B only won 1 item instead of the 5 items that Bidder B originally wanted. Bidder B then has the option to either purchase the 1 additional item at $8 per item or to refuse the win and not purchase any of the items. Multiple item auctions can be fun because you never know what is going to happen. Also, if it is an item that you only want one of, you are likely to get a better price on a multiple item auction (compare it to buying wholesale). Also, if multiple people bid the same price, the earlier bid takes precedence.
Private Auctions Private auctions/listings are not very common on eBay. These listings must be specifically requested by the seller and for a specific reason. When you have a private auction, the buyer’s information is hidden from view when bidding. While these types of auctions might be good for some very specific cases, such as sales of pharmaceutical items and some very high dollar value items, in most cases it is better to keep an open auction. To see how bids are displayed in a private auction, refer to the screenshots on the following page. Page 37 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Retracting Your Bid Retracting your bid is a very serious thing on eBay. Bids can only be retracted for very specific reasons. Additionally, every time you retract a bid, it is tracked in your feedback area (and viewable to other users). Also, eBay conducts a very thorough investigation into every bid retraction to prevent misuse of the system. There are only three different valid reasons for retracting your bid. First, if you accidentally entered the wrong amount. For example, if you entered $445.00 instead of $4.50. In this case, you would petition eBay for a bid retraction (using the form shown below). In order to prevent termination of your account however, you will need to immediately place a bid for the correct amount. This proves that it was in fact an accident, since you are willing to bid the amount you thought you were bidding. The second reason to retract your bid is if the seller significantly changed the description of the item after you placed your bid. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. The third valid reason to apply for a bid retraction is if you cannot contact the seller (either by phone or by email). This does not apply if the seller is not answering their email, but only if the email address returns an undeliverable message when you try to email them. One of the things that eBay is trying to prevent is bid shielding. Bid shielding is when someone places a very high bid early on in the auction, and then retracts it at the last minute to allow a significantly lower bid (or a friend or colleague) to win. This is a serious violation of eBay policy and will be cause for termination of your eBay account if it is discovered. For this reason, eBay has very specific guidelines about when a bid can be retracted or cancelled (see chart on next page).
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Bidding Strategies So, you’ve found the perfect item on eBay. Now, you are ready to bid on it. But how do you go about bidding? It can be a little intimidating at first, but after reading about these strategies and practicing them on some low dollar items, you will quickly get the hang of it.
Watch and Wait There are many auctions out there that you may be interested in. One of the more common bidding strategies on eBay is to add a listing to your “watch” area in My eBay without placing a bid on it. Let’s say that you find a gorgeous wrist watch on eBay. This is an item that you would like to have, but only at a certain price. And, let’s face it, if you don’t win this auction, there are bound to be a thousand more watches just like it being sold within a couple of days. So, you check out the auction, click the button to add it to your “watched auctions” list, and wait.
At this point, you don’t need to check the auction again until it is about to end. I would recommend checking it 24 hours before the auction ends and again 1 hour before it ends (all the way up until the final bid is placed). If, when you check the auction, the price has already been raised too high for your budget, just remove it from your watched auction list and move on. If not, however, then you can start bidding. At this point, you can follow any of the bidding strategies listed below. What you gain from the “Watch and Wait” strategy, though, is to limit the final price of the item a little bit. If you had been bidding the entire time the auction was open (and someone was bidding against you), then the price might have spiraled out of control. Once you get to the point where you want to start bidding, check out the other strategies listed below for ideas. Page 41 of 96
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Low Ball Bidder When a user bids using the low ball bidder strategy, they are often replicating what they have seen at live auctions. This strategy consists of looking at the current highest bid, and then bidding very slightly over that bid. When looking at the bid history for the item below, it is obvious that the bidders are using the low ball strategy, since they are incrementing the bid in small amounts (less than $1).
Bidding in Chunks Bidding in chunks is very similar to the low ball bidding strategy, with one major difference: instead of incrementing the bid in small amounts, these bidders increment the bid by large amounts. The thought behind this bidding strategy is that the bidders enjoy bidding, but do not want to waste their time nickel and diming the bid to death. Instead, they will bid a Page 42 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide large enough amount to be comfortably ahead of what they believe to be the other bidder’s maximum proxy bids. But don’t make any mistake about it: even though these bidders are bidding high, it is not usually their maximum bid. If someone else comes along and bids higher than them, the game usually starts over again and they make another large chunk bid.
Proxy Bidding Proxy bidding (also known as automatic bidding) has already been described in the earlier section of this book. However, since this is a very important bidding strategy as well, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate how proxy bidding works. When you place a proxy bid, you set up the maximum amount that you are willing to spend on that item and let eBay do the rest. Ideally, you would only place one proxy bid per auction, but some people decide that what they thought was their maximum is really not the most they are willing to spend, and up their proxy. For a more detailed description of proxy bidding, refer to the Automated Bidding section under Bidding Features.
Sniping Sniping is defined as placing a high bid within the last couple seconds of an auction. This technique is also known as last minute bidding (although, in reality, it is often “last second bidding”). There are many different techniques for sniping (and, yes, it is a legal bidding strategy approved by eBay). The two main strategies are to manually snipe and use an automated service. In this section, we will discuss how to snipe manually. The automated sniping programs will be covered in the “Useful eBay Features” chapter later on in this book. In order to snipe an auction, you need to know several things: • You need to know how much you are willing to pay for the item. • You need to know how many other people are bidding on the item • You need to know how fast your internet connection is To successfully snipe an auction, you need to be at your computer, mouse ready, when the auction is in its last couple minutes. Sniping is all about the timing. Beforehand, you can scope out the auction, see how many people are bidding on it, and make sure it’s still in your price range. But save any additional bidding for the last minute or seconds. Before you get to this stage, practice timing your bids, either on other auctions or earlier on this auction. Place a bid and notice on your computer what time you placed the bid. Then, watch and see how long it takes before it appears on eBay’s servers, and consequently, becomes a valid bid. Depending on your internet connection, it may take up to a full minute for your bid to actually be placed from the time you click the “bid” button. In sniping, that minute is vital! You want your bid to be clocked in at eBay with only a few seconds left to spare before the auction closes. Although there are automated computer programs which can do this for you (more on those in later chapters), sometimes the good old manual method is sufficient. The other key factor to a successful snipe is price. Let’s say you are not the only sniper on this auction; instead, you are competing with several other snipers for the same item. Since Page 43 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide you are all waiting until the last second to place your bid, it is often the sniper with the highest bid that wins, not just the one with the quickest fingers. Although, in the event of a tie, the earliest bid wins the auction. One of the strategies to use here is to bid the most you would actually be willing to pay for the item. Another strategy is to bid in odd dollar amounts. For example, if both you and another bidder are willing to pay $40 for the item, it might be your $40.12 bid that wins over her $40.00 bid. Sometimes the pennies do make a difference. The most important thing to remember is to not get so wrapped up in the bidding that you bid more than you had planned (or than you can afford). Also, if you don’t win the bid (and there are no guarantees no matter which method you are using), remember that there will probably be a similar item listed very soon on eBay and you will have another chance.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Alternatives to Bidding
eBay Stores Shopping on eBay stores is a mixture of online auction shopping and a stroll through your local mall (except that there are millions of items for sale). eBay stores can be found by either clicking on the little red door on eBay’s home page or by visiting http://stores.ebay.com/. Either way, you will have accessed millions of items with the click of a mouse. Many of the eBay sellers operate stores as well. This is a handy way for them to display all of their items, not just those they have a current auction open for. When searching for items, you can search store items just like you searched for auction items (see screenshot of search tool below). Most of the additional information about eBay stores pertains to sellers, so we will discuss eBay stores more in the next chapter (Selling on eBay). Page 45 of 96
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Buy It Now Buy It Now icons appear on most auctions before any bids have been placed. This symbol means that you can click on the item and purchase it for a set price, instead of going through the entire bidding process. Usually, the seller sets a price for the Buy It Now price that is higher than they might expect to get from an auction, so this is not always the cheapest option. However, it might very well be one of the easiest options. A word of warning about the Buy It Now feature: it will disappear after someone has placed a bid on the item, even if it is a very low bid. So, if you are considering buying outright instead of bidding, do it quickly as the opportunity might disappear.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Paying for Your Items
Winning an Auction While you may be over the moon about winning your eBay auction, sometimes it may not feel like everyone else is equally ecstatic. eBay will send out a winner’s notification letter, but it is also customary for the seller to send you an email as well. You can also tell that you’ve won by looking at your My eBay page under “Won” section. After you’ve won the auction (and done a happy dance), it’s time for the serious stuff. You now have to start the process of paying for the item, ensuring that all of the little details are covered, communicating with the seller, and waiting for your item to arrive. One of the most important things to remember at this point is to keep in constant communication with the seller. Nothing will be worse for your feedback rating (not to mention dragging out the time it takes to get your item) than slow communication with the seller.
Payment Options There are many payment options for eBay auction winners. Here is a breakdown of the primary options, along with some important details and tips. • Paying Through PayPal: This method is one of the easiest and safest methods for paying online. PayPal is actually owned by eBay, so their systems work very seamlessly together. Additionally, PayPal is free for buyers, is easy to sign up for, adds fraud protection automatically, and is one of the quickest methods for sending a payment. The next page shows a typical PayPal home page view and also describes some of the special features that PayPal has specifically for eBay customers.
•
Sending a Money Order: Money orders are essentially like cash when it comes to eBay payments. While sellers often pick money orders as their second preferred payment type (with PayPal being first), you have to remember that a money order has very little traceability. When you mail your money order, there is no guarantee that the seller will tell you when they receive (and cash) it. My advice is that even though money orders are easy to procure, they are not worth the risk except for very low dollar value items. Page 47 of 96
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide •
Personal Checks: Personal checks are not a preferred payment type (for buyers or sellers). From a buyer’s point of view, your personal check contains a significant amount of information about you (name, address, sometimes phone number, bank account, etc.). When you send a seller a personal check, you are essentially sending a stranger all of your personal information. And then there’s the question of the delay before shipping. Many sellers will (and with good reason) wait at least 14 days after depositing the check into their bank account before shipping the merchandise. With many banks, it takes that long to determine if the check will clear, and the sellers do not want to be out their money. The best advice I could give you about personal checks and eBay is that they don’t mix. • CheckFree: CheckFree is a bill payment system that is purely online and debits your bank account when you pay bills. This same principle is applied to eBay auctions as well. If you are already set up for CheckFree and the seller accepts it as a form of payment, go ahead and use it. It is safe and secure. There are other payment methods available, but I would recommend sticking with PayPal. It is the quickest, easiest, and safest payment method and almost all sellers accept PayPal payments.
What About Shipping? Shipping costs can make a cheap item sound a lot more expensive. Before you bid on any item, you should check out how much the seller will be charging for shipping and handling. And if they don’t have it listed, ASK! Do not bid without knowing this information. Sometimes the shipping and handling charges can be more than you pay for the item itself. In order to see if the seller is charging a reasonable shipping rate (and they are supposed to be, if not, report it to eBay), you can use a shipping calculator located on eBay’s site (screenshot shown below). This calculator should give you a good estimate of the shipping charges. Additionally, you can enter your zip code in and eBay will automatically calculate shipping to your home and display it on the auction listings for you. Another nifty feature is to be able to sort auctions by whether or not they have free shipping.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Overall Buying Tips and Techniques By now, you have learned all of the tips and strategies to be a successful buyer on eBay. In case you have forgotten some of them, here’s a handy Top Ten list of things to remember when bidding and buying on eBay. 10. Always do your research before bidding. 9. Check the seller’s feedback (and dig deep). 8. Pay attention to the shipping and handling charges. 7. Pay with PayPal if possible. 6. Pick your bidding strategy that you like and go with it. 5. Search smart (remember misspellings and other tricks) 4. Only bid what you can afford. 3. Have fun, but be professional. 2. Pay attention to your feedback score (guard it closely). 1. Remember, if you didn’t win the auction, there’s always next time!
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Chapter 3: Selling on eBay
Now that you know how to buy something on eBay, it is time that you learn the other half of the equation: selling. This chapter will introduce you to the basics of how to sell an item on eBay. It will cover everything from how to write your listing, manage your sales, determine payment and shipping options, and so much more. Get ready to sell, sell, sell!
Listing Basics
Listing Types There are several different types of listings available to you on eBay. We have already covered several of these in the Buying on eBay chapter, but we will now discuss which one is the best listing type for your particular type of selling. There are four different auction types you can choose from on eBay: traditional auction, private auction, multiple listing auction (also called Dutch auction), and adult auctions. We will cover each of these auctions in this section. The traditional auction is probably what you are used to and think of when you picture an eBay auction. You open it with an opening bid. You are only selling one item. Everyone can see who is bidding and how much. And it is open to the public. For most cases, this type of auction is the one to choose. The majority of eBay auctions are traditional auctions and if you are expecting a lot of new eBay’ers to bid on your auction, this is the way to go. The private auction operates exactly like the traditional auction with one notable exception: all of the bidders names are hidden. So, when you do a traditional auction, anyone and everyone can search for your name and see what you are bidding on. This includes your competitors, your family and friends, or a random stranger. With a private auction, bidders names are not shown. Instead, all that is shown is a bidder number and your user statistics. This type of auction is recommended if you expect more experienced eBay shoppers to buy your merchandise. It is also recommended for anything you want kept secret (for example, if you don’t want the whole family to see that you are selling the gifts they just gave you for your Page 52 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide birthday last year). On the next page is a screen shot of what the bidding at a private auction looks like.
Multiple listing auctions (also called Dutch auctions) are especially useful if you are selling many of the same item. For example, if you have 50 copies of the latest Harry Potter book, you would sell them at a multiple listing auction. Who knows, there might be a reading group out there willing to buy all 50 from you right now. The fees are a little bit different for this type of auction, so check out the fee section before getting started. The last auction type to discuss is the adult auction. This is where anything of an adult or mature nature is sold. To restrict access, eBay requires everyone who enters that area to have a verified credit card on file. Additionally, there is a warning screen (and password) that you must pass through to even see the auctions in this area. If you are selling something that is mature in nature, put it in this section. eBay frowns (and sometimes does more than just frown) at people who list adult content material in the general auctions. Page 53 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Fees Everything you sell on eBay is subject to a couple different types of fees. This is how eBay makes its money. The most basic types, that you will need to pay for all auctions, is the insertion fee and the final value fee. Refer to the table on the next page for a current list of fees. The insertion fee is paid at the time of the listing. This fee is non‐refundable and applies whether or not you sell your item (much like listing it in a newspaper). However, the starting or reserve price dictates how large your insertion fee is. For a multiple listing auction, the insertion fee can be calculated by taking the starting or reserve price and multiplying it by the number of items you are selling. However, the maximum insertion fee is $4.80. So, don’t worry, they won’t charge you more than that, even if you are selling 100 items in a multiple listing auction. The final value fee is only applied if your item sells. This fee is based on the actual sale price of your item. So, while you are sitting at your computer hoping and wishing for your item’s price to climb, so is eBay. This is where they make their money. The fees that they charge are relatively small. Just remember to include them when thinking about your starting price or reserve price. Because you are the one who needs to pay the fees, not the buyer. As a side note, the final value fee for multiple listing items is calculated based on the actual sale price of each item multiplied by the number of items sold. Page 54 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide There are also some optional features that you can add to your listings (and fees associated with those features). Here is a breakdown of the features and their fees. The reserve price fee is only charged if you don’t sell your item. Having a reserve price enables you to have a lower starting price to attract bidders, but not leave yourself vulnerable to selling your item at below cost.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide The Buy It Now feature enables you to sell your items (similarly to a at a store) without completing the auction process. This is a great tool to use when you don’t expect a lot of demand for your item. This chart lists several of the other different features which you can choose for your auction. Depending on what you are listing, some of these will probably make sense to purchase.
Pictures are a great feature to have on any listing. While one picture might suffice, if your object requires additional pictures to really give the buyer a sense of how great the item is, then it is well worth the extra $0.15 per picture to show that. Remember the saying: A picture is worth a 1000 words.
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These are some tools which can be used for the professional seller to sell many items or to automate their selling structure. The features in each of these will be detailed in Chapter 4: Useful eBay Features.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Auction Times and Days When to start your auction and how long to have it run for is a big debate with eBay sellers. And there is no one correct answer. However, hopefully this section will give you some insight into other people’s strategies. Remember, these are merely tips, not hard and fast rules. They might vary depending on what type of items you are selling and what the eBay marketplace can support at that moment. When you list your item on an eBay auction, you have several different choices for how long you want your auction to be listed for: anywhere from one day to ten days. Here’s a breakdown of suggested uses for each length of auction. One day auctions: Use these only when the item is hot and selling quick! For instance, if you have an item that everyone is wanting (or that is tied to a specific event), this might be the way to go. Because items are listed with the ones closing soonest at the top, your item will jump straight to the top of the list, without having to wait for several days. Three day auctions: This is also used for quick selling items that are high in demand. However, unlike the one day auction, you have a little more time for buyers to see your item. Remember to time this auction when people are bidding. For most items, this is on the weekend. Five day auctions: This length of auction might be good for a long weekend auction. Otherwise, I would recommend sticking to the shorter or longer options. Seven day auction: The one week auction enables you to attract both the weekday and the weekend shoppers. Also, since your item is listed for a whole seven days, you are more likely to get more bidders (and therefore, higher final prices). Ten day auctions: Although these auctions can cost a little bit more, they are often worth it for the more expensive items or the rarer items because this option provides two weekends of shopping (and bidding). However, if your item is one that there are lots of on eBay, this length of auction is not recommended – go with a shorter auction. When you start your auction can be as important as how long you let it run for. The closing date and time (to the minute) of your auction are determined by the starting time of your auction. The most preferred ending date is Sunday, because that provides weekend shoppers time to select your item and be there when the bid ends. The worst day to end your auction is Friday because everyone is focused on other pursuits on Fridays. A word of warning about closing your auction on a holiday – don’t! Often, people are out with their families or out shopping at the retail stores which are having huge sales. Below is a ranking of days to close your auction on, listed from best to worst: Page 58 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Thursday Saturday Wednesday Friday
What time of day your auction closes is also important to your bottom line profits. Studies have shown that the best time to close your auction is in the evening, because that is when most bidders are available to have bidding wars. The next best time to close your auction is late night (but not after midnight). If at all possible, do not close your auctions between midnight and 6am. Even though you may be a night owl, the majority of eBay bidders are not. Remember, everything in eBay is calculated based on eBay’s time (which is Pacific Time). If you are in a different time zone, remember to calculate your time in terms of eBay’s clock. And, if you are ever in doubt about what time it is on eBay, then just scroll to the bottom of the eBay homepage and click on the eBay official time link. Page 59 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Filling Out Your Listing
Before You Sell Before you list your item for sale, there are a couple things you should check out. You should always know the condition of your item, how much it will cost to ship it, and whether you are willing to ship it outside of the US (you might have to go through extra forms to get it through customs). Below is eBay’s recommended list of things to do before selling your item.
Creating Your Listing – The Basics To create your listing, click on the “sell” button on eBay’s home page (it’s located in the top right corner). It will take you to a page that let’s you type in a one or two word description of the item you are selling. As an example, let’s imagine that we are selling a Wizard of Oz DVD which was released in 2005. On the first screen, we type the general description of the item (only a couple words). In this case, “Wizard of Oz DVD” would be too specific, so instead, we just type in DVD. eBay is only using this description to help you find the right category to list Page 60 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide your products in. If you can’t find the category you are looking for using the search feature, then there is also a “browse categories” feature you can use as well. To browse through the categories, click on the “Browse for categories” tab that will show up on the screen. There, you can drill your way down through the categories until you find the one that best fits your item. Even though lots of sections have an option for “other” when you are searching for categories, it is not recommended to select this category. Many buyers will not be able to find your items if you are listing them in the other category. If you really can’t pick just one category, eBay allows you to list your item in two categories. However, you will end up paying two listing fees as well. Evaluate what the market is doing right now and decide. Once you select your category, you will be asked to log into eBay (if you are not already logged it). For information on how to get an eBay account, see Chapter 2.
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Once you have selected your category, you will be redirected to a page where you will fill in all of the details about the item you are selling. This page includes areas for you to type in your title, description, add a photo, select shipping and payment options, and save your listing. You can also select how long you want your auction to list for and what the starting price should be (refer to the Auction Times and Days section earlier in this chapter to optimize these selections). Also, later in this chapter, we will go into further detail about choosing the correct wording for your listing. Here is a step‐by‐step guide to filling in your listing: 1. Select your category (screenshots shown above). 2. Write a title for your item. 3. Add a picture. 4. Enter a detailed description. 5. Select your auction details. Page 62 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide 6. Select your payment methods. 7. Select your shipping fees. (Use the Shipping Wizard to help.)
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Time Saver Tip: Click on the Pre‐Filled Item Information to have most of the fields filled in for you. All you have to do is enter in the UPC code from the item you are selling. Page 66 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide The Art of Writing Your Listing Choosing the correct wording for your listing may be the thing that makes or breaks your auction. There are many stories out there of people who have purchased items far below market value because nobody else could find the item to bid on it. This can happen if the title is missing key words or has words that are misspelled. When buyers search for an item on eBay, more than 90% of them search by only the keywords in the title. This means that if you do not have a great title, your listing will probably not get found (or bid on). Here are some tips to creating an eye‐catching, search‐engine friendly title. Title Tips • Check your spelling. Try searching for the item online using your spelling and see what comes up. Also, think of any misspelled versions of your item. Write those in the title as well. For example, if you are selling an item with the word “Caribbean” in it, you might also try spelling it “Carribean” as many buyers might. Note: put both words in your title so that your listing will be found whichever way they spell it. • Don’t just fill up the space. eBay gives you 55 characters to use in your title. If you complete your effective title within 38 characters, don’t fill up the remaining 17 characters with annoying symbols (like !!!!!! or ********). Buyers rarely search for these symbols and could actually get annoyed when they see them in your title (you want the buyer to be happy so they will bid on your auction.) • Don’t use all capital letters. Capital letters should be used sparingly. Follow the normal rules for capitalization, and only use all caps if you want to emphasize one word in the title. The more capital letters, the more it feels like you are screaming at the buyer (and who wants to bid on something that they are being screamed at by). • Describe your item. Use words that give the buyer an idea of if it is old or new, what condition its in, any style, model, or size information. These descriptive words will help entice buyers to click on your auction instead of the one right above yours in the listings. • Use common keywords in your title. eBay provides a list of common keywords for you to browse. These are the words that are the most searched for words on eBay. If you can, use these words in your title to help increase the number of people who see your auction. The list of common keywords can be found at http://keyword‐ index.ebay.com/A‐1.html. A screenshot of this list is shown on the next page. Now that you have a great title which reels the buyers to your auction, you need to impress them with a great description, too. The basics of writing a description are listed below. Description Tips • Stick to the facts. When writing a description, you should only include facts about the item, not opinions. For example, if you are selling a DVD, it would be better to describe it as “new, wrapped, in box, with only one small dent in top left corner” than to describe it as “looks fairly good”. Be as detailed as possible with the facts as well. List everything Page 67 of 96
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•
•
• •
you know about the item, everything you think a potential buyer would want to know about the item, and then invite the buyer to email you if they have any questions about the item. List all of the good points that will help you sell your item, but also list the negative features. You want to be upfront about any dents, scratches, smells, worn parts, etc so that you avoid negative feedback later. Depending on the item, it can be considered fraud if you leave out important negative information (and eBay does not tolerate fraud). Be friendly. Most eBay buyers want to know that they can trust the seller. One of the ways they look for this is by looking for an open, honest, friendly seller. Include comments in your description such as “Please email me with any questions”, “I am willing to send additional photos upon request” or even “Have a great day”. These comments can go a long way to making the buyer feel comfortable enough to bid. Don’t scare off the buyer. Often, eBay sellers will list all of their rules, terms, and conditions in big, bold letters. These rules can scare off potential bidders. I would recommend keeping rules to a minimum (only one or two lines) or if you must list lots of rules, put the type as small as possible. Use your feedback. If you have a great feedback rating, mention this in your listing. It will help put buyers at ease and increase their chances of bidding on your item. Describe everything. Even if you use a photo, describe your item as well. List dimensions, colors, quality, etc. so that even without the photo, a buyer could Page 68 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide understand you listing. As a side note, many buyers are still using dial up internet connections, so make your pictures small enough that they will load quickly.
HTML Listings To improve the look and feel of your listing, you can create an HTML listing. I won’t go into too much detail about HTML right now, but just enough to get you started. HTML is a programming language that is able to tell the text in your listing how you want it to look. Using HTML, you can also add pictures or borders to your listing. The bottom line about HTML is that if you can create a Word document, then you can use eBay’s HTML editor to create your auction. eBay has some HTML templates that you can use for a small fee when you create your listings. These are nice, but not a necessity. You can also create your own templates and use them with no charge from eBay. One of the good things about HTML is that it allows you to vary your font size within your description. It also allows you to imbed more pictures without paying to use eBay’s picture hosting service. The one thing to remember is that buyers are looking for content. If you have a great HTML template with animated images and tons of non‐relevant pictures, it will not help sell your item. In fact, it will probably decrease the number of bids you receive because people won’t want to scroll through all of the junk to find the content. And, if they have a dial up connection, they might not want to wait while your large auction page loads.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Managing Your Auctions
My eBay Selling Section In order to see all of the auctions you are currently listing, you can check out the My eBay section. To access this, first, you must log in to your account. Then, in the top right hand corner of the screen, you can select the My eBay tab and then the Selling tab from the drop down menu (see screen shot below). Once you are already in the My eBay section, you can navigate to the selling section using the tool bar on the left hand side of the screen, as shown below. In these sections, you can track the progress of all of your open auctions (see who’s bidding and how much). You can also look at your scheduled auctions and completed auctions. It even separates your completed auctions into Sold and Unsold categories. Page 70 of 96
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Communication and Feedback As a seller, your communication must be stellar. All emails should be answered within 12 hours or less of when they were received. There are four main points when you must be in communication with the buyer (usually this is done through email). 1. During the auction to answer questions As the auction proceeds, some buyers may have questions about your item or about your policies. Quick communication is vital at this stage since the timing of a bid can mean the win or loss of the auction for the buyer. You can avoid a lot of this communication by filling out a complete and thorough auction listing description, but there will always be the buyer that wants to email you just to make sure you respond. Also, some sellers request that any buyers that are new to eBay (with a feedback rating of zero) email the seller prior to making a bid. This is a good, safe‐practice to ensure that you will receive your payment if that buyer wins the auction. 2. Immediately after the auction ends to notify the winner After the auction is won, you should send out a winner’s notification letter. Although eBay sends out a letter for each auction winner, yours will often come quicker and have more important information. If you are going to be selling a lot of items, I would suggest that you create a letter template to make it quicker and easier on you. The winner’s notification letter should include the following important information: congratulate the winner eBay user name of the winner amount of the winning bid eBay auction number and title seller’s eBay user name and information payment instructions confirmation of buyers shipping address provide any policies that are unique to you 3. Four days after the auction ends to issue a payment reminder (if necessary) If the buyer has not provided payment within four days, it is fine to send out a payment reminder letter. This letter should be brief and to the point. However, it should cover the same information as the winner’s notification letter, emphasizing that item will not be shipped until the payment is received. 4. When payment is received and item is shipped. After you have received the payment, you should send a letter to the winner. This letter should notify them that their payment was received. Depending on the payment type, you should also notify the winner of how long it may take to ship their item. If the winner paid by PayPal, then there is no reason to wait since the money is already in your account. However, if the winner paid by check, you will want to wait three weeks to ensure that the check clears (and you should state this in your policies and in your auction description). There have been many cases where checks have not cleared, but the sellers sent the items Page 71 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide anyway and were out the money. If the shipment date and the date payment was received are different, then you should send two different letters. If they are the same date, then you can add to your payment received letter that you have also shipped the item. In your “item shipped” letter, you should request that the buyer leave feedback for you when they receive the item and that if there are any issues, they should contact you prior to leaving feedback. Feedback is important for a seller. Once the auction process is over, you should always leave feedback for the buyer and expect that they do the same for you. As your feedback number grows, you will see an increase in the number of bids and an increase in the ending bid for your auctions. Guard your feedback tightly, since it will follow you through wherever you go on eBay and is the first thing that a prospective buyer will see. For more details on feedback, refer to page 28 in Chapter 2.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Setting Up a Store
eBay Stores eBay stores are a feature of eBay that can boost your sales and increase your profits. However, eBay stores are not for everyone. Much like a real store, eBay stores take time and effort to manage. This section will cover the basics of who needs an eBay store and the different features and fees associated with the stores. There are three different types of eBay stores: basic, featured, and anchor. The list of features below apply to all three store types. • Your own store URL • Ability to list as many items as you would like • Equal ranking in the search engine on eBay • Vacation Hold feature (let’s you suspend your store while you take a break) • Cross promotional ability with your auctions • HTML builder • Store templates provided by eBay • Up to 5000 emails per month • Stores Referral Credit (save on your fees when you bring someone to eBay and they purchase something at your store) Many eBay users swear that the basic features listed above are all they need for their eBay store. However, depending on your store type, you might want to upgrade your store to a Featured store or Anchor store. All store types look and feel the same, so your buyers can’t tell which type you have. However, there are some added features provided by a feature or anchor store. • Basic and Featured stores have customer service during the work week only, while anchor stores have dedicated, 24 hour‐7day customer service available to them. • The number of pages you can customize for your store varies by the subscription level. Basic stores get 5 customizable pages; Featured stores get 10; Anchor stores get 15 pages. • Basic stores get free access to Selling Manager. Featured and Anchor stores get free access to Selling Manager Pro. (More details about these tools in the next chapter.) • One of the key advantages to upgrading your store is the promotion of your store on eBay. eBay offers rotational stores placement on eBay stores gateway for Featured and Anchor stores. Featured stores are located at the center of the page while Anchor stores are located at the top of the page. Of course, there are additional fees associated with upgrading your store type from basic to either featured or anchor. On the next page, you can see a table that lists eBay’s fees associated with each of the store types. Page 73 of 96
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So, now that you know a little bit about what an eBay store can do, how do you know if you need an eBay store? In order to even sign up for an eBay store, you must have a valid eBay user name. Additionally, you must have a feedback rating of at least 20 with eBay, or have a verified ID, or have a PayPal account in good standing. That part shouldn’t be too hard. However, even though that’s all that eBay requires to open a store, there are more factors you should consider first. Before opening your eBay store, you should have worked with eBay for at least six months and have a feedback rating of at least 100. This will give you the chance to learn the system and watch how other buyers and sellers react. The best teacher is usually experience. In addition to the waiting period before opening your store, you should also set up a PayPal account. Being able to take credit card payments for your store’s merchandise will greatly increase your sales. And last, but certainly not least, you should review where you are at in your life and your career to determine if you are really ready and dedicated to open an eBay store. Stores are a lot of hard work and require dedication. You should not open an eBay store unless you are prepared to check in with it at least every day and to ship items quickly when ordered. Which brings me to my final prerequisite for opening an eBay store: merchandise. You shouldn’t open a store without anything to sell. This might seem obvious, but if you only have two of a particular item, you might do better listing them for auction than trying to sell them through your store. On the next page are some of the fees associated with your eBay store. Before opening a store, crunch the numbers and figure out if this is really the way for you to make money. eBay stores have increased the sales of many eBay’ers, but they still need to be entered into with a little bit of caution.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Overall Selling Tips and Techniques By now, you have learned all of the tips and strategies to be a successful seller on eBay. In case you have forgotten some of them, here’s a handy Top Ten list of things to remember when selling anything on eBay. 10. Only sell what you actually have . 9. Pay attention to the different fees associated with selling 8. Choose the correct auction type for your item 7. End your auction on a Sunday if possible. 6. Do your research before opening an eBay store 5. Communicate frequently with your bidders and buyers. 4. Guard your feedback closely 3. Word your listings appropriately 2. Don’t send any items until the check payments actually clear. 1. Have fun selling!
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Chapter 4: Useful eBay Features There are many useful eBay features which can make buying and selling on eBay more enjoyable and more profitable. This chapter will cover buying and bidding tools such as eBay Map It, eBay Marketplace Research, and eBay pop. The second section in this chapter will cover selling tools such as Turbo Lister, Markdown Manager, Blackthrone, Hammertap, and many more. The third section will cover miscellaneous eBay features including the eBay community (My World, blogs, etc.), eBay giving works (charity contributions) and eBay franchises.
Buying Tools There are three main buying tools that you should be aware of to be a savvy eBay bidder: eBay Map It, eBay Marketplace Research, and eBay Pop. This section will describe each of these in detail so that you will know when to use them and when not to. Feature/Tool: eBay Map It URL for more information: http://mapit.ebay.com/home Basic Functionality: Provides distances from your house to the item being sold. Cost: Free More Information: This feature is especially useful when you are looking to purchase large, bulky items that would be expensive to ship. In some cases, sellers are willing to let the buyer pick up the item instead and avoid a shipping fee. Page 77 of 96
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Feature/Tool: eBay Marketplace Research URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research Basic Functionality: Provides historical data on all items sold through eBay Cost: Subscription service ranging in cost from $2.99 to $24.99 (see table below) More Information: This service provides historical data including winning auction prices trended over days and weeks. It also provides which items have been searched for the most. Refer to Chapter 2’s section on eBay’s Marketplace research for more information (page 21).
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Pop URL for more information: www.ebay.com/ebaypop Basic Functionality: Provides recent information on the changes in sales for entertainment items. Cost: Free More Information: You can find out what items are gaining in popularity and what their average selling price is. This site also has current feature articles regarding the entertainment industry. Categories listed on eBay Pop are: books, collectibles, celebrities, CDs and DVDs, Fashoinista, Home, Tech, Toys and Games, and Sports.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Selling Tools There are many, many selling tools available to eBay sellers. Below is a brief overview of some of the more popular tools available. Feature/Tool: eBay Turbo Lister URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/ Basic Functionality: Allows you to create your listings offline and schedule and list them in bulk. Cost: Free More Information: Turbo Lister is an eBay program which allows you to create all of your auction listings offline and then have the program send the listings to eBay at your designated time. This is useful for setting the appropriate start and end times of your listings.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Stores Markdown Manager URL for more information: www.ebay.com/storefronts/markdownmanager.html Basic Functionality: Allows you to create sales on your store items to attract customers. Cost: Free with eBay stores (number of listings depends on store type, see chart below) More Information: eBay’s Markdown Manager allows you to create sales on your items, much like in brick and mortar stores. The sale items are denoted by a strikethrough pricing which shows the buyers that the items are selling at a reduced price.
Feature/Tool: eBay Stores Email Marketing URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/stores/email‐marketing/tutorial/ Basic Functionality: Allows you to send emails to your store customers. Cost: First 5000 emails per month are free, after that they are $0.01 each. More Information: Since the emails are free, this is a great marketing tool to help promote your store. You should create unique emails using HTML and send them to all past customers and auction bidders. Page 81 of 96
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Feature/Tool: eBay Stores Promotion Boxes URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/building.html#promotionboxes Basic Functionality: Promote items at the top of your store using promotion boxes. Cost: Free More Information: These are just one of the features of an eBay store. They are included in the price, so it would be wasteful to not make the most of them. Try different promotional strategies to determine which one works best for you: highlight the sale items, highlight the unique, high dollar items, or highlight items that you are overstocked on.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Blackthorne URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/blackthorne/basic.html Basic Functionality: Provides an end‐to‐end tool for sellers to create and manage their sales. Cost: $9.99 per month for Blackthorne Basic. $24.99 per month for Blackthorne Pro More Information: This selling tool is useful when you are selling more than 25 items per month and want one, easy way to keep track of all of your listings. The different features for Blackthorne Basic and Blackthorne Pro are listed below.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Selling Manager URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/selling_manager/ Basic Functionality: Provides an end‐to‐end tool for sellers to create and manage their sales. Cost: $4.99 per month for Selling Manager (free with eBay store). Selling Manager Pro is $15.99 per month (free with Featured and Anchor eBay stores). More Information: This selling tool is meant to be used in combination with the free Turbo Lister. Selling Manager helps you monitor your listings, generate bulk invoices and printing labels, and much more. It is located in the My eBay portion on eBay online instead of being a separate program. This program is designed for low to mid volume sellers.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: Hammertap (not powered by eBay) URL for more information: http://www.hammertap.com/ Basic Functionality: Provides detailed market analysis based on eBay sales. Cost: $19.99 per month (first 10 days are free) More Information: Hammertap provides a similar service to eBay Marketplace Research. You are able to get historical information from previous eBay sales. My advice would be to try both of the services and determine which one best fits your personal needs.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Other eBay Features Feature/Tool: eBay My World URL for more information: http://myworld.ebay.com/ Basic Functionality: Provide an outlet for you to share information about you with the rest of eBay Cost: Free More Information: The My World pages are not really about buying or selling. They are about connecting with the rest of the eBay world. You can add a bio about yourself, talk about your listings, or even have your own blog for the world to read.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Blogs URL for more information: http://blogs.ebay.com/ Basic Functionality: Provide an outlet for you to share information about you with the rest of eBay Cost: Free More Information: The eBay blogs are very similar to any blogging site. Anyone can post or read blogs. Often, blogs are not specifically related to eBay, but just about the thoughts of its users. This is a great way to connect with other eBay users.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Giving Works URL for more information: http://givingworks.ebay.com/ Basic Functionality: These are auctions which a percentage of the sales price is donated to a specific charity. Cost: Free (minus the donation to the charity) More Information: When either selling or buying on eBay, there is an easy way to help benefit charities around the world – eBay Giving Works. This program allows sellers to select the charity of their choice and donate a portion of the auction proceeds to that charity. Buyers can see which charity a seller is donating to (and are possibly more likely to bid on that auction than on a competitors). In the end, it is everyone who wins, but specifically, the charity.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Chat Rooms URL for more information: http://pages.ebay.com/community/chat/index.html Basic Functionality: The eBay chat rooms are a forum for members to discuss everything from eBay policy to the latest in the world of comic books. Cost: Free More Information: eBay chat rooms are often a great way to find out answers to your questions. If you post a question about how something on eBay works, more often than not, someone will be answering your question within an hour or so. This is also another good way to connect with your fellow eBay users. Warning though: these chat rooms should not be used for discussing business matters.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay Wiki URL for more information: http://www.ebaywiki.com/ Basic Functionality: eBay Wiki is a collection of articles about eBay specific topics, written by eBay users. Cost: Free More Information: eBay wiki allows you to browse through categories to find articles that may be helpful to you. If you are experienced in a certain subject, go ahead and write an article of your own. Often this is a great place to start when you need help on a particular topic.
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Feature/Tool: eBay General Announcements URL for more information: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml Basic Functionality: eBay general announcements should be checked at least weekly by users who make eBay their career. Cost: Free More Information: The general announcements section provides updates to eBay’s site and policies. It also gives you advance notice when they plan to do an upgrade on a particular feature.
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Conclusion Throughout this book, you have learned the basics of using eBay. You have learned about signing up on the site and the different items that you need to know the first time you visit. Additionally, you have learned about how to bid for and buy items on eBay. Remember, there are many things that you should do before even bidding on an item, including basic research on other items sold in the past and currently up for auction. You should also check out the seller’s feedback rating to ensure that they are trustworthy. When you are selling an item, there are many things to consider. Remember to set your auctions dates and prices according to what the market will bear. Also remember to keep in constant communication with your bidders and buyers to ensure a positive experience and positive feedback. Additionally, there are many tools and features available for use through eBay. Chapter 4 describes many of these tools and provides an overview of how they are used. Whether you are just starting out with eBay or if you are reading this as a refresher, this book provides you with the foundation you will need to be successful. At the end of the book there is an index which you can use to find a particular section later (keep this book handy for when you have questions). After the index is a list of additional references. There are many resources available to you to find out more information about eBay and how to make a profit using it. I wish you the best of luck with all of you buying and selling adventures!
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Index Auction Times – 58 Automatic Bidding – 34 Bidding in Chunks – 42 Blackthorne – 83 Blogs – 87 Buy It Now – 46 Buyer Protection – 32 Chat Rooms – 89 Deal Finder – 17 eBay Map It – 77 eBay Pop – 79 eBay stores – 45, 73 Email Marketing – 81 Favorite Sellers ‐ 26 Feedback – 28 General Announcements – 91 Giving Works – 88 Hammertap – 85 Help – 12 HTML – 69 Listing Fees – 54 Listing Types – 52 Low Ball Bidder – 42 Markdown Manager – 81 Market Place Research – 21, 78 Multiple Item Auctions – 35 My eBay – 70 My World – 86 Navigation ‐ 8 Payment options – 47 PayPal – 47 Private Auctions – 37 Page 93 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide Promotion boxes – 82 Proxy Bidding – 34, 43 Registering for eBay ‐ 12 Retracting Your Bid – 39 Searching for Items – 16 Seller Communication – 71 Seller Feedback – 71 Sellers Checklist – 60 Selling Manager – 84 Selling Manager Pro – 84 Shipping – 49 Sniping – 43 Turbo Lister – 80 Watch and Wait – 41 Watching Auctions – 20 Wiki – 90 Winning an auction – 47 Writing a description ‐67 Writing a title – 67
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eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide
Additional References
There are many books available today about eBay and eBay related topics. Here are a few that have helped me throughout the years. How to Buy, Sell, and Profit on eBay: Kick‐Start Your Home‐Based Business in Just Thirty Days Adam Ginsberg eBay Income: How Anyone of Any Age, Location, and/or Background Can Build a Highly Profitable Online Business with eBay Cheryl L. Russell eBay Powerseller Secrets: Insider Tips from eBay's Most Successful Sellers Debra Schepp eBay For Dummies Marsha Collier What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It Chris Malta eBay: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks Julia Wilkinson Titanium eBay: A Tactical Guide to Becoming a Millionaire PowerSeller Skip McGrath Three Weeks to eBay Profits: Go from Beginner to Successful Seller in Less than a Month Skip McGrath Starting an eBay Business for Dummies, Second Edition Marsha Collier Page 95 of 96
eBay: A Complete Beginners Guide The Official eBay Bible Second Edition Jim Griffith The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing Janelle Elms eBay Timesaving Techniques for Dummies Marsha Collier Absolute Beginner's Guide to eBay (4th Edition) Michael Miller How to Sell Antiques and Collectibles on eBay... And Make a Fortune! Dennis Prince eBay Millionaire or Bust Corey Kossack eBay Listings That Sell For Dummies Marsha Collier Ebay Exposed ‐ How to Really Make Money Selling on Ebay Andrew Lock 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 Cliff Ennico
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