DON扵 PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE?DO THESE THINGS WELL BEFORE YOU EVER THINK ABOUT QUITTING YOUR DAY JOB:

I just started looking at some of the message boards and have read the lamentations of folks who quit day jobs to make a living on eBay. Havving few feedback, it is obvious most are just beginning to understand the process and what it takes to make a living on eBay (if they have any understanding at all abiut what they are getting into).

There are many books and web sites that sell people the 揂merican Dream?simply motivated by a desire to sell the new merchant tons of great ideas and/or inventory, or a business as a drop shipper. It pays to ALWAYS remember that if it sounds easy ?it isn抰, and if it sounds to good to be true — it is.

I don抰 like to be a wet blanket BUT I cringe when I see email on the message boards from someone with less than a thousand feedback asking how to get more sales because they quit their job to sell on eBay and are going under fast. I am sick of seeing people misled into mortgages they cannot afford and a business they cannot make money with. The following points may not be pleasant, but they are facts about building a business on eBay.

1. DON扵 just jump in and just feel your way through hoping you will make enough money to survive — you won’t. Read the 揌ow to Sell” on eBay Pages and practice by selling items you no longer want or need from your home. If you are a collector or hobbiest, sell duplicates of items you are OK with passing on. This gets you real world experience in how to list and in dealing with customers over a computer. Trust me, you NEED that experience badly as you build a business that you can count on as a bill paying job.

2. Learn about common tricks that are used to scam sellers and learn them early. If you don抰 know about the scams that go on, the precious little you build can be gone in an instant because of a stupid but honest mistake in falling for it. Learn about Fake or Spoof emails and the common trickery used to scam buyers and sellers. If you don’t want to read about it — take a class on computer security. The life of your business and long term success is deeply dependent on your understanding of computer security.

3. Find other very experienced and successful sellers who are selling what you are selling (or plan to sell) on eBay. Scope out what their ads look like, what their policies are regarding their sales. Learning from the masters is a sure way to get it right early. If you find a seller whose style and philosophy is similar to your own, use their ads as models for your own ad templates. Recognize that the more experienced a seller is (i.e. Power Sellers with high positive feedback ratings), the higher the price they may get for the same item — but their start prices are often a good clue for what yours can be too.

4. Feedback equals sales. There is NO way around it ?the more feedback you have that is positive (and the higher the rating) ?the more you sell. I have looked at this issue over several years of sales reports and it is what it is. So, your number 1 job as a new merchant building a business will be to build a LOT of positive feedback. Things start to move much better after 1500 feedback. So, set that as your first goal. To get to that 1500 positive feedback as soon as possible, buy what you need or want from eBay whenever possible. Good bets for regular eBay purchases are CDs, DVDs and books. They are usually less expensive on eBay anyway, so buying them on eBay and getting the needed feedback makes great fiscal sense. When you do buy ?be sure to leave feedback for the seller immediately after your item arrives. If they have not reciprocated within a week, drop an email note and politely ask for feedback. If you are a cook, you can buy e-cookbooks or recipes for a penny apiece. 100 recipes for a dollar means 100 feedback for you. Don抰 do too much of this, but a little will help you get to the first important seller plateau sooner. And finally — there is MUCH to know about feedback. I have written a guide specifically on that subject. Take the time to understand Feedback FULLY because that knowledge is a key one for eBay operations.

5. Great Customer Service means returning customers and more sales (a business essential for long term success on eBay). Inexperienced sellers love to dream up a bunch of policies that make prospective buyers nervous or angry. Needless to say, customers can choose where to spend their money and they are NOT attracted to negatives. Negative presentation in your ad content (i.e. 揚ayment MUST be within three days or you will be reported to eBay?or 揇ON’T BID IF YOU WON扵 PAY? is unprofessional and off putting ?don抰 do it. Keep it light and positive ALWAYS. The same is necessary in ALL communication too — no matter what! Yes, you will put up with short tempered people demanding things ?as a business owner this is life ?get used to it. If you can抰 deal with it or tend to take things personally — an eBay business might not be the right choice for you. Excellence in customer care is another one of the key elements of eBay success. Ignore it at your peril. In fact, quality Customer care is so important, I have written a guide entirely on that subject too!

6. Another area I would consider very carefully is your return policy. All sales final is a tough demand because opinions on condition or what the buyer thought they were receiving is VERY subjective and some people can be absolute asses about things. The fact of the matter is that if they complain to PayPal or their credit card, they will be getting their money back anyway because the respective payment services will deduct it from your account and give it to them. So, you might as well understand that fact and deal with it up front by having a reasonable return policy. It is scary to consider you will sometimes have to take an item back but my experience is that it is relatively rare and you can resell the item (often for more than the first purchaser paid any way). You may also reclaim your final value fee on returns too.

7. Provide customers plenty of information. There are those who would tell you that you should keep ads short and that less information is a good thing. I have a LOT of experience that is in total disagreement with that “keep it short and sweet” philosophy in ads. You SHOULD put your most important information up front. Then, you can share other information that might be interesting to the purchaser further down in the ad. You put it out there in order of importance and let your customers decide what or how much they need or want to know to feel secure in dealing with you. I have written several guides on writing ad copy and other forms of information to support your eBay presence.

8. Don’t waste money — check your ads before posting and make sure you put your items into the correct eBay categories. If in doubt, a few minutes searching for like items on eBay to get a good category makes all the difference.

9. Search engine optimization (the process by which your ads show up in any given item search) RELIES on the count of item names in the ad itself. To get a sale, and a good price for your merchandise, you must have many potential customers. To gather customers, you must be optimized for search engines. Study SEO techniques and learn how to optimize your ads. Ebay has great free information, but SEO is tough to understand. If you need it ask for help.

10. To truly build a business you must study the process constantly and become smart in the ways of computer based businesses. There is NO way around educating yourself. If you are short of cash, borrow books from the library and use the Guides posted on eBay. I cannot begin to tell you the CRITICAL information you can get anytime you want absolutely FREE of charge from the eBay site itself or the guides published by eBay sellers and even Power Sellers like me. I made it a hobby to read three or four guides on doing business on eBay a week. I learned a TON and course corrected as I learned and it helped. As I learned and the system became more sophisticated, I tried to pay back those who helped me by sharing what I know ?Today I have more than 70 guides and almost ALL are geared to selling on eBay as a hobby or a business. Each tells you the truth as I know it and have experienced it and I am not imparting the information to clean out your pocket book, I do it simply to help you –period.

11. A major rule for success is that you MUST understand your costs and your profits and be all over that information, ALL the time. It is easy to be sucked into bleeding money you desperately need otherwise. It is also critical to keep the flow going! Do NOT open an eBay store until such time as your income can support the monthly cost of $15.99 for the basic store. Once you begin eBaying you should plan to be running at least a few auctions EVERY day. Once you have a store, learn to move your unsold merchandise from the ended auctions into your store to keep them available to prospective customers. If you have a night when you do not have auctions prepared, move some items from your store out to the auctions to be sure you have auctions closing every night. The auctions are key — they draw customers to them and then into your store to take advantage of combined shipping and/or your sale merchandise.

12. If you are married, try to get your spouse to take a role in the business. One man (or woman) businesses (when you still have your day job) are very hard and require a ton of dedication and energy. It is also (with help) possible to build a business faster. If your spouse is not computer savvy, he or she can help with pulling merchandise, packing, shipping, post office runs and other errands related to the business — all making faster growth possible to the benefit of the entire family.

13. Give it time. You cannot just decide to become an eBay millionaire, quit your job and get to it and expect to remain financially solvent?anyone who wants to tell you otherwise is looking to empty your pockets and will NOT be there when you discover it was all a big lie. If you are flush with cash (i.e. have a half a million to live on while you build your income on eBay), you might be able to quit your day job as you start on eBay. If you have a unique product that has been market tested and is flying out the door so fast suppliers can’t keep up with the demand — you might be far ahead in that case also. However, if you are like most of us, you have to take time to learn and grow. My goal was to be able to make a living in 5 years and the jury is still out on whether I will make it in that timeframe or not. Part of the reason is what I sell and the other part is that it still takes a tremendous amount of time to sell on eBay and higher volume is the best solution. To know when you can quit your day job, add up all your monthly bills including money you spend on hobbies and entertainment (don’t forget insurance). Then add the cost of merchandise, the cost to sell per week (on average), the cost of your eBay store (if you have one). These costs will be what you will have to support with your eBay income. So, some months, you will be sweating bullets to meet those costs with your income if you quit your day job.

14. Finally, I do believe you will find this guide useful even if you are already out of a job through circumstances beyond your control. It will be a monumental struggle to build from nothing but if you dedicate yourself to learning and building a little at a time (working fulol time at it) you can succeed but it will be very tough for a long while. I do believe that you may have to augment your eBay work with a job until such time as the business has grown to the point where it can sustain you as discussed above. You will need a reserve of cash to maintain your accounts in times when sales are few and income fron eBay is non-existent. Be realistic!

I hope you have found this information useful and will heed it carefully. I feel so sad when I see blogs and emails talking about quitting a job to do eBay full time only to find it sounded a lot easier than it is. I hate seeing folks so desperate for sales to avoid foreclosure or other catastrophies that put them and their families in jeopardy. If you have questions, I will be happy to try to answer them.

Kind Regards,
Pepper120851 (The Write Stuff)

Hi, my name is Jay Morgan. I’m a sports fan, memorabilia collector and run the store Sports Cases Direct. Proper pricing of items to be listed for sale on eBay is one of the most important aspects of generating interest in one抯 auction listing.

If the price is too high, interest will be low, and the possibility of a sale decreases.

If the price is too low, the seller generates enormous traffic, yet the final bid might be too low to satisfy the seller抯 need for a profit.

The following are steps that will aid in that process.

Step 1: How Much Was this Item Originally Worth

First of all, one must find out how much the item was when it was bought. This helps the seller set realistic goals as to how much he will expect to profit from that item.

The seller must remember that the going price for that item nowadays will be different from its original price. And depending on the demand for that item, he may get a price that is better, or worse than the original price.

The seller must also come to an acceptance of the fact that the buying power of today抯 $1 is different from that of ten years ago.

Step 2: Do a Little Research

Sellers should research on the current price of similar items. This gives them a good standard as to how much they should price their wares. Searching eBay for successful auctions of similar wares is the best way to do this.

Step 3: How Much Has the Item Depreciated?

The seller must check the item for damages and other irregularities from a mint conditioned item of the same kind. He must then deduct a reasonable amount from his asking price. Wear and tear tends to bring down the price of an item considerably. It is wise to make sure the items are repaired, or spruced up before being auctioned.

Step 4: Start It a Little Lower than Usual

It is wise to start an auction a step or two (or even three) lower than a sellers intended price. This generates interest in the item. It may be hard to believe, but auctions that start lower than its intended price actually have a better chance at overshooting that intended price.

Professional opinions are available if the seller is in doubt of the value of his or her item. Third party appraisal companies help in this regard. A list of such is available at the Authentication & Grading link under Protection and Authentication on eBay.

A good resource for buying and selling on that I use everyday is Action Fuze.com

Just a comment to let anyone considering shipping any object of size or weight about the unbelievable costs now associated.

The postal service now considers any package over 13 ounces as a PRIORITY shipment.
THERE is NO slow mail-despite how long it takes to arrive
Packages over 7 pounds fall into a larger fee category, even if its a small item.
IF over 7 pounds and you can fit it in a “Large Priority box” suitable for a couple shirts, or pair of pants. Shipping overseas costs around $35.00, if in a larger box, small suitcase sized, consider fees to the United Kingdom of $45-60. MUCH higher to central Europe and more so to the Orient.

An even larger “oversized” box is charged additional fees.

I recently shipped a guitar to California, from Massachusetts. the cost was nearly $100. A sword to China cost the buyer $135.00

As I understand it there are no longer ships that sail the seas that deliver mail. The pony express rider that once took a 1?stamped letter by horseback, through Indian territory, across the entire country, and delivered the mail no matter what consequences arose must have died.

I hope this helps anyone questioning postage fees.

If you follow these simple steps you too can maximize your profits on E-Bay:

1. Shop at Gymboree during Circle of Friends, sign up via e-mail to be on their list - its a 30% off coupon, then head to the 60% rack and get your own Gymboree visa for an additional 5% off - that’s 95% off retail. Note pay your Gymboree bill IN FULL & ON TIME!!

2. When writing your title make sure you know the line, if not put in the year and spell it out for the customer New with Tags, Like New, do not put NWT/LN as new buyers will not know what this means, keep it simple. Also put size in title. Use the entire line.

3. Wash and pretreat everything & iron for that final touch prior to shipping.

4. List stains, be honest do not list items you would not put on your children and whatever you do - DO NOT list items with holes - you want buyers to come back - be honest

5. Ship same day, Sellers want to be paid, Buyers want their stuff - Buyers pay same day you won and Sellers ship same day - it really makes a difference to the buyer plus you get the stuff out of your house.

6. E-Mail the buyer to let them know you received their payment that day & that their package went out, this really means a lot to the buyer.

7. Space out your auctions, give the buyers a couple of minutes to bid on something else you have listed, as many bid at the last minute. That way your customer can get additional items.

8. Be very honest and very clear in your auctions. Honesty is the best policy.

9. Buyers do not lie and not pay your sellers, it costs money to the seller to list and it’s not fair on the buyers that have bid and really want the items, treat others the way you want to be treated.

10. Do not pimp your children on line by making them wear the clothes when listing - its really dangerous - you do not know who is looking at them.

11. Do not take pictures of clothes on the floor - use white or black poster board as it will make your listings pop out. You can pick this up at any office supply store or a Walgreens.

12. Check completed auctions so you know what is selling and what price to list at.

13. Offer combined shipping discount - it increases sales

14. Throw in matching hair, socks, & underwear if you have them, buyers want to feel like they are getting their money’s worth

15. Seller’s be available to answer all questions and be willing accept buy it now’s - remember its a sale and you can set your own price.

I hope this helps! If so give me a rating - thanks and have a great day.

Trading Assistants: Having Someone Else Sell For You!

Hello! As an eBay Registered Drop Off Location (REDOL), Jus’ Sell It helps customers in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia sell their items on eBay! You too can find a Trading Assistant (TA) to assist you with selling on eBay. Don’t have time to sell? Don’t know what it takes? Don’t have a computer? eBay Trading Assistants and Registered Drop Off Locations will take care of ALL the work. At most stores your only job is to bring the item in, and many offer pickup so you don’t even have to do that much! A good TA should do the research, photographs, listing, manage the auction, collect payment, and ship out your item. None of the hassle is passed to you, and you can receive payment in just a short amount of time!

Trading Assistant? Drop Off Store? What’s the Difference?

When you find something that you like in someone’s store I suggest taking a moment and do your homework to see if you can find it at the best price you can by searching in other peoples stores before you buy. For instance I sell mostly Gymboree Childrens clothing and I have things listed in my store cheaper than other people have sold their items for. I have seen where buyers could have saved up to $10.00. So the bottom line is to do your homework before you purchase the item to save youself money. I use the sort by pull down menu on the right side of your screen towards the top of the page and click on price shipping = lowest first and that will bring up items in your search with the lowest price and lowest shipping for the total price that you would pay for that item.