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One Page Primer to eBay

October 30, 2005 By barrie@compassdesigns.net Leave a Comment

Pre Sale

  1. Set up your About me page.
    Try to post (once a day?) on the eBay community boards. Make sure you
    include your “About Me” url in all auctions.
  2. Post your auction
    at the right time. List your items in Prime Time (9-11pm Eastern, 6-8pm
    Pacific). If possible, have it end on a Sunday, the day with the most
    traffic. (Note, auction software can list items remotely at any time)
  3. Know
    your price. Spend 15 minutes researching what your product sells for in
    the real word, in web stores, AND on eBay. Use the “search completed
    listings” feature. Andale.com has detailed reporting for a monthly
    charge. Hammertap (there is a 30 day free trial,
    http://www.hammertap.com/) is another version.
  4. List your item
    in the right section. Before you start creating the auction, decide the
    right category for your sale. The url is
    http://listings.ebay.com/aw/listings/overview.html. The default is
    “show number of items in category”. Use this to figure out what are the
    2-3 most popular categories, less than 200 and its inactive, 10,000+
    are active. THEN change the view to “category number” to see what to
    enter in when you create your auction.
  5. Use the right Keywords.
    Auction software helps immensely here. They search for what keywords
    were most effective. At the very least see what other auctions are
    using (completed sales again). At the minimum: a. Use specific
    descriptive words, don’t use words like “awesome” or “@@Look@@” b. Use
    numerals instead of words for numbers c. Include multiple versions of
    same word and abbreviations
  6. If you will be selling what you consider to be a quality item, consider using the gallery feature eBay offers
  7. Set
    a low starting price. Again, do your research to find final selling
    prices. Start auction as low as you can stomach.
  8. Place for 7 days. The longer the more eyeballs
  9. DonÂ’t buy extras. The costs mount up. Caveat: bold and highlight are ok if its an expensive item.
  10. Use
    a counter. It gives you feedback about your auction if it didnÂ’t sell.
    RESIST gong there yourself, use myeBay page.
  11. Use Paypal. Many buyers wonÂ’t even look unless they see the icon.
  12. DONÂ’T use a reserve price. DO use a buy it now price
  13. Include
    a picture! Make sure it can upload quickly (small file size),
    http://www.spinwave.com/ is a free site where you can do this.
  14. Use html in your listing to give your auction a professional feel. A crash course can be found at davesite.com.
  15. Offer guarantees, warranties or returns. People will bid if they feel more secure.
  16. Check
    your emails every 12-24 hours. If you donÂ’t answer questions you will
    lose customers. Include an email signature that links to your About Me
    page (the one with all your auctions)

Post Sale

  1. Respond
    to emails within 24 hours. Build a mailing list of your customers,
    either manually or with an opt-in newsletter. Offer the opt-in
    newsletter in your emails to the buyer. You can use it to announce new
    auctions.
  2. Use Paypal and its integrated UPS system to save time.
  3. Use
    free shipping supplies if you can find them. Your local liquor store is
    your friend! When you mail, include a receipt. If you are low volume,
    include a hand written thank you note. A good way to get your name/web
    site in front of users is to create a useful insert.
    http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/insert_main
  4. Provide
    outstanding customer service. Feedback is your lifeblood. Turn first
    time buyers into regulars (remember the newsletter?)

 

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The Skinny

I am an entrepreneur, web consultant, author and educator.

I have been involved in starting a K-12 School District, a Private High School, and three web tech companies. I also wrote one of the original and best selling books on Joomla.

And I like sailing with kids.

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