Have you ever had a secret yen to be
a detective? Maybe I’m exaggerating
here, but his is exactly how we feel
every time we get a lead on a new potential
treasure trove. In order to have something
to sell, you need to first find it.
This may be as simple as cleaning out
your attic or your neighbor’s basement.
Our first successful selling came by
cleaning out the attic. Linda had an
old Singer Featherweight Portable sewing
machine in a carrying case. It was originally
purchased for $50 in 1957 and sold on
eBay auctions in April 2001 for $380.
40 Franklin Mint Die-cast car models
that are highly collectible were also
re-discovered. These cars were inherited
when Linda’s father died in 1993 and
has been in storage ever since. Each
model sold on eBay auctions for $25
to $100. Old books were also stashed
in our attic and brought in over $600.
By the time we were through we had earned
$4,000 that we didn’t have a few months
earlier.
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1000 Killer Internet Tips
Internet websites, internet auctions,
garage sales, thrift stores, antique
malls, antique stores, flea markets,
estate sales, penny saver, newspaper
classifieds, bulletin boards, are just
a few places that you can find some
goodies. Watch for retail store clearances
wherever you are and especially discount
sales at department stores. Of course
you will acquire some “losers” along
the way, as we have done. You will discover
however, that you’re developing an “eye”
for what will be valuable and you never
know when or where you will find it.
INTERNET WEBSITES:
If you are looking for something unique,
it is sometimes easy to find it on the
internet via search engines. For instance
we have a website dedicated to obsolete
casino chips. Buyers can purchase the
chips directly off of the website with
the order confirmation being emailed
to me directly. It is then just a simple
matter to fulfill the order by sending
the buyer the chip.
INTERNET AUCTIONS:
This is by far personal favorite way
to obtain inventory. There are over
1000 auction sites, many specializing
in specific categories but the GRAND-DADDY
of them all is eBay. All of the activity
on all of the non-ebay auctions ads
up to just a fraction of the activity
on eBay. You may be able to buy items
at lower values on non-ebay auctions
as they just do not have the volume.
The next two with any volume at all
are Yahoo auctions and Amazon.com auctions.
We utilize AUCTION WATCH to search
all of the auction sites at once This
will enable you to find a specific item
that may be listed on a small auction
site for considerably less than it is
on eBay.
For example, Linda’s passion for collecting
Depression Glass has turned into a “search
and find” mission on the internet. She
searches a small specialty auction site
that deals only in glassware auctions.
Your specialty or passion may also have
it’s own small auction site that can
be uncovered via the AUCTION WATCH multiple
auction search site mentioned above.
HOW TO WIN BIDS: We
use automated sniping software to bid
on items at the very last second. This
insures us the lowest possible price
as we are not competing with other bidders
running up the price. We want to buy
low in order to sell high. The other
rule we always follow is only bidding
on auctions that the seller has an abundance
of positive feedback. It is very easy
to find out what other auction buyers
have said about the seller. Seller’s
negative feedback opens up the possibility
that you will not be happy with the
item you have bid on or worse yet, not
receive it. NOTE: There are hundreds
of books written on Internet Auctions.
GARAGE SALES: This
is an area that Linda has always loved
but Bob tolerated or avoided altogether.
That was before we became eBayers. Now
everywhere we look, we find someone
else’s trash that we turn into cash.
We get a newspaper or penny saver and
look under the garage sale category.
You can only do so much on a Saturday
morning, so we pick and choose the ones
that will work in our vicinity. Yahoo
has a free maps section that we utilize
to print out where each garage sale
is located. This saves us many frustrating
hours driving around trying to find
something.
You never know what you are going to
find. Recently Linda found a table-top
fountain that was in the original box
that had never been opened. Linda’s
offer of $10 was readily accepted even
though both of them knew it was selling
just down the street for $40. This highlights
the key concept of garage sale buying,
sellers want to “GET RID” of their items
in a one-day clearance sale. They are
not usually interested in maximizing
their profit. Bob purchased a Video
Tape cabinet with 40 mint VHS movies
in it for $40 The tapes were sold on
ebay auctions separately for $240 thus
providing a $200 profit and we still
have the beautiful heavy oak cabinet
that is probably worth $50 itself. What
fun!
One tip we learned about how to buy
at a discount is to combine a number
of items together, then offer 20-25%
less than the total combined price.
This only works of course if the items
are marked or tagged. If they are not
marked you will need to ask, “How much
will you take for all of these?” Whatever
they respond with, you can then offer
your 20-25% discount amount. Using this
technique, I have been amazed at how
low of a price we are sometimes given.
If I would have offered an amount before
asking, it often would have been for
more money. Always ask first if you
don’t know the price.
THRIFT STORES: We
have found treasures everywhere. Bob
found an Arthur C. Clarke, “2001 Space
Odyssey” in near mint condition and
a first edition in a thrift store for
$.90 … it was worth $100.00 Linda has
found green depression glass tumblers
for $.25 that were worth $25 each. We
have also found tons of Macdonald’s
collectibles for $.50 each that we have
sold for $.25 each on eBay. That’s right
we lost money because the key word was
“we found tons” which means there is
much more inventory available than people
looking for them. Our advice is again,
only buy what you love. We didn’t particularly
like what we bought but thought they
would bring a nice profit…one of our
many learning experiences that we are
able to pass on to you………..
ANTIQUE MALLS: Antique
malls are a number of individual antique
dealers under one roof. They are much
more challenging to find a bargain unless
you have expert knowledge in a specialty
area. The first thing Bob does in an
antique mall is his “speed check”. If
an individual booth wants to move their
merchandise, they will announce the
percentage off of their tagged prices.
Many times discounts of 50% can be found
in this manner. These discounted prices
enable you to buy items at low enough
prices to turn a profit on them later.
Usually this type of establishment will
offer you a courtesy 10% discount (only
if you ask for it), if you show them
that you are an antique dealer yourself
(business card is all that is required).
Be careful about what you buy if you
don’t know the worth of it. We have
bought things at 50% off and found out
later that it could only be sold at
a loss. This is just part of the fun
and adventure of auction webworking.
ANTIQUE STORES: Our
favorite places are junky looking antique
stores that are owned by one person
and NOT organized. We have found things
that are hidden away and loaded with
dust that are worth much more than the
price tag that was put there 20 years
ago. We found such a store. Linda found
a green depression juice glass tucked
away and marked $15. It was in perfect
condition under all the dust and a hard
to find pattern. When she got to the
checkout, she held up the dusty glass
and asked, “Would you take $12 for this?”
“NO problem!” was the reply. She later
discovered it is worth $28, but has
chosen to keep it in her collection.
ANTIQUE SHOWS & SPECIALTY COLLECTIBLE
SHOWS: We go to these whenever
we run across them in our travels. Our
experience has been that it is hard
to find any real bargains unless you
have a lot of knowledge in a specific
area. The sellers at these shows usually
know the value of what they are selling
and don’t make a lot of mistakes… still
it is possible to find trash and turn
it into treasure. We have found these
shows are invaluable for us obtaining
knowledge on whatever area we are researching.
Linda has learned a lot of information
about Depression Glass by talking with
the very knowledgeable sellers that
usually participate in antique shows.
FLEA MARKETS: This
is mainly a source for getting newer
items at below wholesale prices. We
stay away from the big organized ones
next to freeways except when we are
totally bored.
ESTATE SALES: We love
to find these when they are available.
The contents of the whole house is usually
for sale and run by a liquidator or
executor of the estate. One Saturday
while we were doing garage sales, we
ran across an estate sale. It was early
in our auction webworking and we were
not as knowledgeable about value as
we are now. There were about 20 beautiful
A-1 condition collectible plates for
sale for $8 to $9. Later we researched
them on ebay and found they were worth
$30 each or a total profit of $400 that
we passed up.
This was our first contact with a liquidator
and when we introduced ourselves as
ebay auction webworkers, he was most
interested in our services. We are still
working with him on his preliminary
preparation of estate sales . We do
the research on what items are worth,
and whenever possible we then create
eBay auctions for him at 25% commission.
Whatever doesn’t sell on eBay he then
places for sale at his estate sale that
is open to the public.
NEWSPAPER CLASSIFIEDS:
All newspapers have classifieds no matter
how small the paper is. In addition
there are entire publications such as
the Penny Saver that is filled with
nothing but classifieds and is given
away at local convenience stores. This
is an awesome source to find people
that are very motivated to sell their
trash, they are even paying to advertise
it! Again find something you are interested
in and go for it. Call them up, ask
questions about quality of item, price
of item, color, or any other information
that you need to make a decision. If
you are still interested, make an appointment
to go see the items. Don’t haggle with
price at all until you see the item.
Once you are there looking at it, the
seller will be even more motivated to
sell it than you will be to buy it.
You will most likely be able to purchase
the item for much less than it was advertised
for. Many POWER SELLERS will also place
their own classified ads in the antiques
and collectibles categories. This is
a great way to find your inventory if
you are particularly looking for specialized
collectibles. We have always been able
to find an ample selection of collectibles
in our local classifieds without having
to do our own advertising.
BULLETIN BOARDS: This
is Bob’s job. Many antique malls have
a bulletin board that he scans for items
that may be sold on eBay. One such antique
mall had their bulletin board where
there free coffee refreshments were.
While Linda was busy browsing, Bob spotted
a Polaroid snapshot of a rare Green
Depression Glass Dinner Plates. It also
happened to be one of the patterns she
collects. The picture wasn’t great but
the price said 3 plates for $10 each.
They are selling on eBay for $40 to
$50 each. Do you see the irony in this
as the mall probably had 50 antique
dealers, none of which had taken the
time to look at the board.
LOCAL SOURCES: Of
course, since we are traveling a lot,
wherever we go our eyes and ears are
always open to spot unique sources of
merchandise. We were at a Bluegrass
Festival in and spotted an elderly lady
that was selling old west building sculptures
made out of authentic pieces of crumbling
ghost town wood. We purchased several
wood-scapes, kept one for our RV wall,
and sold the others on ebay. We made
an appointment with her for the following
week to discuss a more permanent relationship
as a source for us, but she did not
show up and we could never find her
again. However, we always are on the
lookout for a truly unique item that
no one else is selling on eBay.
CRAFT FAIRS: A spin-off
on the local sources is the local craft
fairs that exist everywhere. In our
RV lifestyle, we run into them at almost
every RV park that we stay at, particularly
the ESCAPEES CLUB parks. Churches are
always using this type of activity to
raise funds to support their building
and operational expenses. If you see
something really unusual, experiment
with it. Buy one or two and see if there
is an auction market for it. If so you
probably can negotiate a volume purchase
agreement with the craftmaker. Let them
know up-front what you are intending
to do with it. You never know when you
will find someone that will work with
you so that you don’t have to take possession
of the merchandise yourself. In our
RV lifestyle this is an important option
since space is very limited.
OTHER RESOURCES: The above
list is far from complete, they are
just the ones that we have personally
used to find inventory for our eBay
auctions while RVing.
Clearance sales, discount sales, wholesalers,
the list goes on and on. However most
of these type of resources will require
you to buy in quantity and take possession
of the items. This of course is quite
challenging if you do not have the storage
space for large quantities of items..
Additional excellent sources that we
just have not personally explored ourselves
are:
- Consignment shops
- Pawn Brokers
- Live Auctions
- Trade Shows
- Government Surplus Property and
Asset Sales
- Postal Service Auctions
- Customs and Treasury Auctions
- Storage Facility Auctions/Sales
HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH?
Your next questions may be, “How do
I know if I can sell my trash?” “How
much is it worth?” The answers are found
by doing research. eBay auctions (http://ebay.com)
has an extensive closed auction research
capability. Just search for keywords
and discover what the eBay masses are
actually paying for items similar to
yours. This is one of the most powerful
tools that you have at your disposal
giving you knowledge that you will use
to successfully sell your item. To access
the closed auctions, click on the SEARCH
button, then click on CLOSED AUCTIONS
link, then enter your keywords and hit
enter. You will have the ability to
sort by closed date, highest prices,
lowest prices, etc. We always sort by
highest prices, as this will give us
the maximum amount that someone has
paid for the items we are researching.
I can’t stress enough the value of this
information, as this knowledge will
make you successful even if you do nothing
else that we will be recommending.
The tricky part is NOT being able to
do your research when you are out shopping,
especially flea markets and garage sales,
where you need to make a spur of the
moment decision. Our rule of thumb is
NEVER buy something that you DON’T like
just to because you think you can make
money. You may wind up with it, giving
it away to a thrift shop, or selling
it at your own garage sale. Many estate
auctions will have a preview day prior
to the actual auction. You can do your
research on those items that interest
you before the auction so you will know
how high you can bid.
We have taken an additional step in
our research department with the addition
of a portable Macintosh iBook computer.
We take it with us just in case we can
find an empty phone jack to plug into.
This allows us to do instant research
before we leave the premises. Our internet
connection is with Earthlink and we
have an 800 phone number access account
so we do not ever leave any phone charges
behind us. In the major cities we can
utilize a local phone number to access
Earthlink.
BUY-IT
This is actually the scary part, spending
money on items that you will hopefully
sell. If you have done your homework,
then there is much less chance of you
losing a lot of money. You may not win
‘em all but you only need to be right
part of the time to be successful. Be
sure to ask for discounts wherever you
go, you never know when you will get
them, particularly if you are a senior.
Often times at thrift stores there is
always a senior discount available if
you ask for it.
If you are buying to resell on eBay,
have some business cards printed up
indicating you are an auction webworker.
Always make this a known fact when you
are checking out. Ask them if they give
courtesy dealer discounts as you hand
them your business card. Most places
will give you an automatic 5-10% discount
and some as high as 30% if they have
a lot of markup in the item(s) you are
buying. For example we were in a small
antique store and had 2 items to purchase
that came to $7. Bob handed the owner
his business card and asked if he gave
courtesy discounts to dealers. He smiled
and said, “Sure do…how ‘bout $5.” That
is a 28% discount. This transaction
led to a lengthy discussion about eBay
auctions as it seems this owner was
just beginning to experiment with selling
his merchandise on eBay. The hot summer
months are very slow in that area and
they will now be able to earn income
year round.
If at all possible, find out as much
as you can about the item that you are
intending to sell on eBay. Does it have
a history that would be interesting
to others? Did anybody famous own it?
Is there a certificate of authenticity
for the item? This type of information
may allow you to get top dollar for
your auctions.
NOW I OWN IT … WHAT’S NEXT?
It is now time to take the pictures.
The better they are, the more money
you will make! If you want to be very
successful at this auction webworking
business, spend as much as you can afford
on a great digital camera. There are
some very good digital cameras in the
$100 range but $500 or more will get
you top quality for close-ups. We bought
a refurbished Nikon camera for $450
that was selling new for $850, you guessed
it, on eBay. It was purchased shortly
after a newer model had been released
so their was a refurbished/used market
available. While our camera is not the
LATEST, it has more bells and whistles
on it than I know how to use. It does
however take incredible close-ups.
Outstanding images can be taken only
with practice. Besides your camera,
the most important word for you to remember
is BACKGROUND, BACKGROUND, BACKGROUND.
Make sure you have a solid color background,
white, yellow, blue, black, maroon,
etc. Solid colors do not detract from
the image. Never take a picture with
the background very bright as the picture
comes out too dark. Although we have
seen some excellent artistic shots on
tables, in windows, and even outside
in the snow, we have seen more nightmare
backgrounds, like an open door to the
bathroom.
The angle of the shot and the lighting
are also extremely important. Take photos
from different angles if possible. If
your digital image camera has a viewing
screen, it is much easier to know the
quality of your photo before uploading
it to a computer. In fact I would definitely
recommend that you buy only a digital
camera that gives you the ability to
view the pictures you have just taken.
You can operate if you have a 35 mm
camera, it will just be more challenging
for you. Take as many pictures as you
think are necessary to insure a good
one. This technique will require that
you scan in the processed photos into
your computer or send the undeveloped
roll to us. Keep all of your photos
in one folder so that you can find them
when you get ready to upload your images
to ebay’s image handling service.
DESCRIBING ITEMS – It doesn’t get any
more important than doing this step
right.
Creative writing 101… Now is the time
to use the information you wrote down
at the time you purchased your treasure.
If you do this step immediately after
you acquire the item, you will be able
to do a better job of describing it.
Be honest at all times, point out ANY
flaws even the small ones. The more
accurate you define what it is you are
selling the fewer problems you will
have from your buyer. If a glass pitcher
has a small chip in the spout, describe
it and if possible get a close-up of
the area where the chip is. This disclosure
may not enable you to get top dollar,
but you will benefit greatly by it.
The buyer now knows exactly what they
are bidding on and perhaps it doesn’t
bother them as much as it bothers you.
They may want this for their personal
collection and need that piece to complete
the set. The personal history emotional
touch works wonders with many items.
Somehow the knowledge about the owners
of the item and how they used it or
found it adds to its value. Don’t be
afraid to be creative and flowery, particularly
with female items such as glassware,
pottery, clothing, household items,
etc.
SIGN-UP AUCTION ACCOUNTS
– This is the Preparation Step before
auction submission.
SIGN-UP INFO: Before
you can do anything, you will have to
signup for a number of basic accounts
that will allow for a smooth running
auction submittal described in step
7.
EBAY AUCTIONS: Sign-up
with eBay, forget about Yahoo, Amazon.com
and the other 997 auction sites for
now. They all serve a purpose but not
for the beginner. eBay is free to sign-up
but you will need to supply them with
current credit card information. This
will be used when you submit your first
auction as there will be listing fees
charged to it on a monthly basis. Be
sure you come up with your own unique
ID before you sign-up.
PAYMENT OPTIONS: Sign
up for these before you submit your
first eBay auction.
1. BILLPOINT: Sign up for ebay’s BillPoint.
It allows buyers an instant payment
option, credit cards and electronic
check processing. You do pay a 1.75%
credit card processing fee for using
this service, but it will more than
be offset with more and higher bids
over the long run. Inexperienced eBayers
often do not offer any credit card payment
options because they think they won’t
make as much money. This is a totally
false assumption as the more bidders
you get, the higher your closing price
is going to be. This will more than
offset the very small payment fee. BillPoint
deposits the final auction amount less
their fees, directly into your checking
account within 2 days. Electronic checks
usually takes 24 hours longer to be
deposited.
2. PAYPAL: This is our personal favorite
way for paying or accepting online payments.
PayPal handles International credit
cards and many times there is no charge
to you for receiving payments via PayPal.
If the buyer already has a PayPal account
with funds in it and then chooses to
send a payment to you…there is no charge
to receive that money. If the buyer’s
PayPal account is lacking the funds
to complete the payment transaction,
then it is taken from the buyers credit
card and this process creates transaction
fees that are charged to the sellers
PayPal account. PayPal also pays you
interest on your account based upon
a money market rate. Finally they have
just sent us a Debit MasterCard that
can be used to access your PayPal funds
with free transaction fee. Not only
is PayPal FREE to sign-up, it also pays
you $5.00 when you verify your PayPal
account with a checking account for
them to deposit your funds into. It
also gives us a referral payment of
$5.00. So we both make money to use
the most revolutionary international
payment handling system on the internet
today.
PAYPAL SIGNUP
IMAGE MANAGEMENT:
You do not need to do this step beforehand.
It can be done as you submit each auction.
Ebay has a photo-hosting service called
Picture Services. They host 1 picture
per auction for free. More than that
will incur a fee. You don’t need to
upload all of the photos before you
begin creating your auction, you can
do it when you create your auction.
Try to keep your images no more than
500 pixels wide by 375 pixels high.
This will allow the eBay auction page
to load fairly fast on slower connections.
AUCTION SUBMISSION: This
is where you actually create your eBay
auction. If you are at this step it
means that you have all of the details
and necessary information to complete
an auction.
There are many ways to accomplish this
task, however the most straightforward
is to just use ebay’s submission program.
There are advanced submission programs
that are available like Auction Watch,
Channel Fusion, Auction Works, that
you can check out after you have had
some experience (see resources in chapter
11). Ebay’s submission system has one
major flaw, you can’t schedule when
you want your auction to start or finish.
Whenever you log into your ebay account
and press submit, that exact time will
determine the auction starting time
and stopping times. This may be critical
to your success, as you want the most
people looking at auctions when yours’
closes. That means Tues, Wed, Thurs,
Sunday evenings 7:00 to 7:30 PM PST.
The next best time is Saturday mornings
at 8:00 am PST. Finally if you have
items that are best suited for housewives,
submit your auction on weekday mornings
8:30 am PST. Sunday evenings have the
highest number of eBayers online at
any one time. You may want to know why
this is important! Over 50% of the bids
occur on the last day of the auction.
People log into ebay and do their searches
on what is CLOSING TODAY & what is closing
within the NEXT FEW HOURS. This is what
they search on in order to do their
final bidding. Many times our auctions
will have NO bids for 6 days and 23
hours but get multiple bids within the
last hour.
FILLING IN THE AUCTION SUBMISSION
FORM on eBay:
There are a number of decisions that
ebay will be asking you to make. What
should I put in my Title? What about
my item description? How do I handle
my images? What should my opening bid
be? Should I have a reserve amount that
must be met for a successful auction?
What about Dutch auction quantity? Do
I want to utilize eBay’s BUY IT NOW
feature? What category or categories
do I want to place my auction in? What
about shipping charges? What about insurance?
What about payment options? What guarantees
should I offer? Should I offer escrow
capabilities or not? How many days should
I have my auction run… 3, 5, 7, or 10?
Do I want an Honesty counter?
This can be very overwhelming with
all of the different information required
to submit your first auction. Everything
is in a logical step by step sequence,
just follow the eBay instructions and
be sure to read each one very carefully.
Before you know it, you will be submitting
your first auction.
START YOUR AUCTION SUBMISSION
1. SELL button on the top of your MyEbay
page….. Select this SELL button to start.
2. CATEGORY(s) that
best describes the item you want to
auction. This is Really, really, really
important! If you have done your research
well, you will know what categories
the most successful auctions used to
sell their items. If your item fits
into multiple categories, you can choose
a second category. This will double
your listing fees, but may be worth
it to obtain double the activity.
3. TITLE: This is
perhaps, the most important part of
your auction information. Place only
KEYWORDS in your title. If you have
something that makes your item unique
or rare be sure to include that also
such as Model number, ID number, etc.
Also if it is truly unique or rare use
those words also… SINGER FEATHERWEIGHT
221 – ORIGINAL OWNER
4. ITEM DESCRIPTION:
We covered this earlier but we would
like to add that you don’t need any
fancy webpage html format here. You
can just enter your item description
text directly into the ebay form to
get you started. This is also the least
expensive way to enter your auction
item description info.
There are auction tools that will create
a very sophisticated advanced html formatted
webpage that will make you look more
professional. See our link resources
in Chapter 11. However, we are now offering
our own automated ebay auction submitter
that works from your browser as part
of our AUCTION ASSISTANT PROGRAM covered
in Chapter 9.
5. IMAGES: Make sure
you have already prepared your image(s)
as a JPG or GIF format and you know
where it resides on your computer. Ebay’s
free picture service allows you 1 free
image and you will be able to upload
it from your computer to ebay’s auction.
6. OPENING BID: Choose
this value wisely. It is used to help
determine your listing fee. Under $10.00
listing fee is $.30; Under $25 listing
fee is $.55; Under $50 listing fee is
$1.10; Under $150 listing fee is $2.20;
$150 and above listing fee is $3.30
Make your opening bid your reserve price
if your item has very low demand. In
other words if you are only expecting
1 or 2 bids based upon your research
and $100 was the max bid… then make
$100 your opening bid.
7. RESERVE AMT: Be
very selective in using this option
as it may eliminate as much as 50% of
your bidding. Buyers are looking for
a bargain and when they see a reserve
price they know they probably are not
going to find one here. Use this option
when you sell something very valuable
and there is a lot of demand for it!
Do not use this when there is low demand,
as you probably will not have a buyer
that meets your reserve. If your research
showed you could expect $1,000 with
50 bidders, then start your opening
bid low and set your reserve price at
$1,000. To use this option it will cost
you $1.10, $2.20, or $3.30 depending
upon the reserve amount.
8. QUANTITY: In the
beginning always make this a one (1).
Think of it as a lot of 1 even if you
are selling a set of 6 items in the
lot. If you enter a number larger than
1, ebay thinks you are wanting a DUTCH
auction. You can’t even run a DUTCH
auction unless you have had an ebay
account for 60 days and have more than
10 positive feedbacks. So to start with,
just make sure this value is always
Leave Dutch auctions for the future
when you are more experienced.
9. BUY IT NOW: This
is a most interesting option. If you
have done your research and know what
your item is selling for, then you may
want to use this option. Make it just
slightly less than the max bids on closed
auctions. When knowledgeable bidders
see that the buy it now amount is less
than their researched max amount, they
may want to lock in this lower bid right
now! Their risk is that if they wait
and bid on the auction with others,
they may wind up paying more for the
item. Never use this option when you
are not sure about what your item will
sell for. For instance, Linda was considering
a $200 BUY IT NOW on her Singer Sewing
Machine until she discovered some of
them were selling for over $400. Hers
went for $380 so she would have lost
$180 had she used the buy it now of
$200.
10. SHIPPING CHARGES:
Another extremely important field that
many times will be the difference between
a bid and no bid. If at all possible
make the ACTUAL shipping and handling
charges known! Bidders will look at
the shipping charges, using that amount
to determine their max bid. If the shipping
charges are unknown, to be determined
later, the ebayer may choose to not
bid, just because they are unsure about
what their max bid should be. They simply
find another auction that has the shipping
defined. Be reasonable with your handling
charges. Many try to “sneak” in their
profit in the handling charges and lowball
the opening bid just to get you involved
in the auction. EBay has rules about
making the shipping and handling too
high and have been known to cancel auctions
that violate this rule.
Define what shipping method you will
use, USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, AirBorne Express,
Other. If you want to give your buyer
a choice, that is just fine, just be
sure to give both prices. Our personal
favorite is the United States Post Office,
despite very poor press these days.
Whenever possible we ship Priority Mail
with Delivery Confirmation. The USPS
(http://www.usps.com) provides FREE
priority mail shipping supplies which
further adds to why we use them whenever
possible. Heavier and oversized packages
are sent via United Parcel Service,
their rates are slightly better than
the USPS Parcel Post and their online
tracking system is phenomenal.
11. INSURANCE: This
is usually paid by the buyer if requested.
Be sure to indicate on your auction
that buyer is responsible for insurance.
If none is requested then the buyer
is responsible for any damage that may
occur. Our personal approach is to completely
handle any problem that occurred from
our packing whether or not they paid
for insurance. Our only shipping problems
occurred when we first got started with
minor breakage due to how we packed
one item. We simply asked what the buyer
wanted to make them happy. They wanted
$20 refunded as they would have bid
that much less if they had known it
was not in perfect condition. We sent
them the $20 via PayPal and received
one of our most outstanding positive
feedbacks for responding so quickly.
We also still made a profit on the overall
transaction. A win-win for everyone.
12. PAYMENT OPTIONS:
Always offer as many payment options
as possible! This will insure the maximum
number of bids on your auctions. As
mentioned earlier, BillPoint and PayPal
are musts in our auctions. In addition,
we offer money orders, cashiers checks,
cash and personal checks.
Personal checks were a real challenge
for us in the beginning as we held up
shipment for 10 days while the check
cleared the bank. This definitely disrupts
the flow in the shipping department.
We now however ship the next day after
receiving a personal check and treat
them just like money orders and cashiers
checks. Our reason for changing this
policy? We have never yet received a
bad check in over 3 years of selling
on eBay auctions. There is a lot to
be said for eBay’s feedback system that
creates a spotlight on each individuals
payment track record. Buyers simply
do not want to be shutout of bidding
on future auctions by losing any positive
feedback that they have built up.
13. GUARANTEES: We
have always offered an unconditional
satisfaction guaranteed or your money
back offer. This does not cover shipping
and handling charges and we always publish
that on our auctions. In over 3 years
of selling on eBay we have never had
a return! Most people won’t use this
guarantee, even if they are not totally
happy with something, as it requires
effort on their part like repackaging,
re-mailing costs and time standing in
the post office line. The main effect
this offer will have, is on potential
bidders. They will be more comfortable
bidding on your auctions with the knowledge
that they can always return the item
if they don’t like it or it something
is wrong with your description.
14. ESCROW: This option
is mainly used for very expensive items
like automobiles, furniture, jewelry,
etc. Many sellers do not offer this
service as it does take time and money
to accomplish it. If you have a large
number of positive feedbacks then your
buyer will not even need to purchase
escrow services.
15. DAYS of AUCTION:
ebay has 3, 5, 7, or 10-day auctions
available for you. We mostly use 7-day
auctions, running from Sunday to Sunday,
or Tuesday to Tuesday, Wednesday to
Wednesday, or Thursday to Thursday.
Remember that whatever length of time
you use, make sure it includes the weekend.
3 day auctions should start on Thursdays,
5 day auctions on Tuesdays and so on.
10-day auctions have an additional charge
associated with them and should only
be used if you have something very valuable
with very few bidders. Then you can
run it over 2 weekends with a Thursday
submission.
16. HONESTY COUNTER:
This is free service that provides you
with a counter on your ebay auction
page so that you can track how many
times your page was visited. This may
be important information for you in
deciding whether or not you placed your
item in the right category. Maybe you
left out a misspelled one of your keywords
in your title and nobody can find your
auction from the search routine. Take
advantage of this free option to help
you in future auctions.
17. SUBMIT BUTTON:
Don’t forget to press this when you
have input all of the above info.
YOUR AUCTION IS UP AND RUNNING – It’s
Time to Kick Back for awhile and enjoy.
Now you get a well-deserved respite.
Be sure to check your email frequently,
at least daily. You may get an inquiry
from a prospective bidder about your
item. If you are curious how many people
are visiting your auction, check out
your honesty counter at the bottom of
your auction page. Check your MyEbay
to find out the bidding status on your
auction.
BIDDING
The opening and closing days of your
auction are by far the most active.
If you receive bids on the opening day,
you will most probably receive many
more on the final day of your auction.
The final day is when the majority of
bidding takes place. We generally get
50% of our bids on the final day. If
you receive bids on the days in between,
you will most likely be very happy with
the outcome as this means you have an
item in high demand.
It is often fun to watch the last hour
or so of your auction, particularly
when you have had active bidding before
the last day. We have seen bids double
in the last few minutes of an auction.
MYEBAY
This is your place to check all of
your selling auctions and other auctions
you are tracking for buying purposes.
We usually check our MyEbay webpage
daily to see how things are going.
YOUR AUCTION IS NOW CLOSED – TIME
FOR ACTION
At last, it is over! You have a winning
bidder. Now the communication fun starts
in earnest. Ebay allows 72 hours for
the buyer and the seller to communicate
with each other. Ebay sends an end of
auction confirmation email to both the
buyer and seller. We have seen this
confirmation take up to 2 days to get
to us. Usually it comes within a few
hours. Remember if you have not received
the end of auction email, the chances
are your buyer also has not received
it.
After you receive the end of auction
confirmation from eBay, contact your
buyer and inform them of their payment
options and the final shipping and handling
costs.
BUYER COMMUNICATES
Hopefully the buyer will send you an
email about how he intends to pay for
the item on which he was the high bidder.
However, they do not always do so. Sometimes
the buyer simply writes a check or gets
a money order. Then sends it to you
and never once seems to understand how
a simple email about the status of his
payment is appropriate. We usually give
the buyer a few days after our initial
winning bidder notification and then
send another email asking them gently
about the status of their payment. This
normally gets a response from them.
It is much easier of course if the
buyer uses PayPal or BillPoint, as you
know right away what the status of the
payment is because you receive an email
payment notice confirmation.
PAYMENT RECEIVED – TIME TO SHIP
Notify the buyer that you have received
their payment, given them positive feedback
and their item will ship the next day.
Print out or create a shipping label
for the outside of the package and a
shipper to be included in the inside
of the packaging.
Pack the item with care, use recycled
packing material that can be found with
a little searching of local businesses.
You definitely do not want any breakage
to occur due to your inadequate packing.
I can’t stress the importance of this
step, do not skimp trying to save money
on packing material. Remember you should
be charging your buyer for the costs
of whatever packing material you are
using. You may want to just get in the
habit of adding $1.00 to the shipping
costs to cover the packing material.
After shipping, send your buyer another
email telling them you shipped their
item. If you have a tracking number,
give them that also. I guarantee you
that when you follow these communication
steps, you will receive awesome positive
feedback.
CONGRATULATIONS -
Your first auction has been completed.
If you have not already done so, leave
your buyer positive feedback as soon
as possible.
