Be Community-Minded
Why has eBay continued to grow and prosper while other online auction sites (not to mention a host of e-commerce retailers) have gone to that great Recycle Bin in the sky? It's not the ups and downs of the economy, which are always present. It's because of the strength of eBay's user community, and eBay's ability to build that community. The eBay Community isn't simply a place where you can submit feedback and view feedback of other users. It's the best way (along with articles like this) to get inside information from other experienced sellers tips you'd need weeks or months to learn otherwise. You can also find out who your competition is by talking to other users and searching the message boards and devise ways to stand out from the crowd by being a group participant.
Share Information
You learn a lot about selling on eBay by talking to the entrepreneurs who already sell there. That might sound obvious, but working at a computer tends to be a solitary operation. (I'm speaking from experience. ) After a few successful sales, you think you can do it all yourself, without anyone else's help. You are likely to be cured of this notion the moment you scan the current messages on the eBay Café or on the product-specific message boards. You'll regularly find such seller-specific questions as "What do I do about this deadbeat bidder who…," "My bidder showed up and refused to pay for the ___ when he saw it," or "How do you handle 40 or 50 sales per week?" In many ways, the best source of information about specific problems or situations you encounter on eBay is by consulting your fellow eBay users. You might also encounter eBay sellers while waiting in line at an estate sale, or in a crowd at an auction. Consider creating a name tag that says "eBay User" instead of your "real" name. Wear it to sales events such as auctions or flea markets. You just might meet some fellow eBayers with whom you can share tips and experiences.
Know Your Competition
Why is it that when a gas station appears on one corner of a busy intersection, another one appears right across the street? They don't necessarily take business away from each other. In fact, they tend to draw people to the same area, and both outlets get more business than they otherwise would.
It's the same with auctions. Sure, you'll see others selling the same things youare in the same categories. Be happy for the crowded activity. If you were all alonein a category, would you get as many bids? Probably not. How many times have you seen pages full of the same kinds of sales items, oftenwith nearly identical descriptions? It can be instructive to look at how the sales arepresented and to analyze which get the most bids or any bids at all. For example,many vintage gloves go up for auction without getting any bids. Another benefit of visiting the message boards on a daily basis is getting to knowother sellers. It also pays to scout around the other sales in your area of interest afteryour sales go online, not only to make sure your sales are presented correctly andall of your images appear clearly, but to know if anyone is selling the same thingsyou sell and doing a better job of it than you are.
Relax, It's Only a Sale
When you begin to think in terms of making hundreds of sales rather than individualsales, and of selling on eBay for years to come rather than on a week-to-week basis, you don't take each sale so seriously. You'll benefit in the long run by not gettingbogged down in problems and details, as described in the sections that follow.
Shed Your Reserve (Price, That Is)
You probably know from your own eBay buying that "no reserve" (usually designatedNR) auctions get more attention than those with a reserve. Does that mean you shouldsell everything without a reserve? Different sellers take different approaches. Whenyou're starting out, your impulse is to protect your investment with a reserve priceon all your sales. Many sellers go no reserve for all sales except their most expensive. When my mother asked me to sell some of her antiques at auction, she insisted thatI put a reserve price on them so she could be sure to recover what she had originallypaid for the goodies. However, when you're dealing in volume and turning your eBay sales activitiesinto a business, it only makes sense to go with no reserve as often as possible that is, for all sales except those items for which you originally paid a substantialamount. Time and time again, auction sellers have told me that they get the most interestand the highest prices for items that they offered for little or no reserve. I once wroteabout a woman who found a depression glass coaster at the bottom of an auctionbox full of other items. In other words, it cost her almost nothing. She put a reserveof $10 on it and an initial bid of $1. She ended up with more than 20 bids and theglass sold for more than $200.
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09052010
1. Eight Step eBay Sales Plan
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