Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Ebay

EBay has opened up a whole new world in terms of monetary gain and the elimination of household clutter. Time was that if you found that your house was simply getting too crowded, the day when the attic door just refused to open over your head or the garage was just too stuffed to fit your vehicle, you had no choice but to make a trip to the dump or await the summer garage sale season in order to get rid of some of the clutter.

The advent of eBay changed all of that, however. Now you can eliminate the clutter around your house without the waste involved in a trip to the dump or the iffy prospects of selling at a garage sale. All you need is an Internet connection and your junk could turn into someone else’s treasure.

EBay works on the old adage that if the customer base is big enough, a seller will always be able to sell any item, no matter how obscure. This has certainly proved true so far in the short history of eBay, where three million auctions close every single day, in every area conceivable. You might find it hard to believe, but the auction environment is such that that pile of old National Geographic magazines that you have might fetch close to their original value or even higher on the site. There are so many opportunities that some people have made a business out of becoming eBay Power Selling professionals, with some stores netting $1,000 a day!

In order to make eBay work for you, you have to use the right approach both in your marketing and in avoiding common eBay pitfalls. One great way to ensure sales is to purchase or borrow a digital camera to take pictures of your goods- items that have accompanying pictures are much more likely to sell, and at a higher price, than are ones that are placed without a visual aid. Buyers can see what the product is like, including the condition it is in, and thus the chance they are taking is much lower.

In terms of pitfalls, most of the deals that go bad on eBay are avoidable if you have a good heads up. The first issue, of course, is one of non-payment. If you have sold an item on eBay to a buyer who just refuses to pay, a simple task can become an arduous exercise in collections, and might even end up costing you money. In order to avoid a non-payment scenario, it is crucial to set up a payment option before you ship the goods. If the buyer refuses to pay you, all you have to do is relist the item and start another auction.

Other eBay pitfalls mostly revolve around bad payments. Bad checks, credit card fraud, international fraud, and credit card charge backs are all part of the Internet selling process. All of these situations can now be avoided, however, by requesting payment through the eBay developed Pay Pal. Pay Pal is a great way to receive money from the sale of goods immediately, and also incorporates a dispute resolution system in the event that the buyer or seller is unhappy with the outcome of the sale.

Ecommerce Websites – Howto Take Your Business Online

In the technological world full of changes from time to time, everything seems to undergo a transformation. For being a part of the web world, it is vital to keep pace with the varying trends and advancements. Information is required at every point and needs to be available at a click.

Gone are the days of dependence. With independence ushering in the workspace, it is necessary to have full control of the website too. Set the business free with an ecommerce website fully customized to the business needs and update whatever is required and desired as and when it happens.

For promoting the online sale of any product, it is essential to have a fully functional ecommerce website. An e-commerce website would provide the platform to sell and take payments online. It thus provides an opportunity to operate and grow any business online using internet.

Business organizations have now started establishing their own websites which enable them to come into direct contact with the customers easily. They can keep an established association with their clientele and prompt the sales of the product or service in a healthier manner. Any customer can visit or find his way to a website easily and in less time by just one click. A customized website will act as a bridge between the customers and the organization&s objectives.

To reap the benefits of these features, it is must to have a perfect ecommerce design and content. Let us have an idea of what is required. Ecommerce web site is the concluding goal which leads the customers to buy products from the right place. Hence, the website design should be artistic and should not take the customer away from the central purpose of purchasing. All that needs to be done is to take care and devote appropriate time in applying these tips. Following are the points that should be considered while having a custom e-commerce website: Domain nameS & Hosting The domain name is the actual website address and it should have hosting where the website is placed so that it becomes easily accessible to the customers. A well structured Buy path. The website should have a structured and definite path to persuade the customer to buy the product. Different web pages should be showcased along with the path direction. This content will make the website easily accessible for the customers.

Important product button The product button must be displayed on the home page. This will help target customer to buy products through the product page. The payment option should be displayed. It should help the customers to make payment for the product through their debit or credit card which makes their shopping easy.

Product information The product must be displayed properly with correct information about the customized website. The information must be enough to influence the thinking, choice and decision of the target audience in less amount of time. Product categories can be displayed along with its features and picture of the product. Business image defines the success of any image. A custom-made website provides an edge and the tool to refine and define the business and its key strengths amidst the target audience. It helps a business become exclusive and develop flexibility. The user friendliness and competitiveness offered by such a website calls for its need. For the diversity and a more refined personalized website, services of an expert can definitely make a difference. Custom e-commerce service providers ensure that a business reaches its peak through uniquely developed sophisticated website catering to specific client requirements.

Using The Ebay Anything Points Program.

eBay Anything points are a loyalty scheme, just like you might get in a shop. The buyer earns points on their purchases, which they can then redeem for money off when they pay for items through PayPal.

Buyers can also earn eBay Anything points when they use the eBay credit card, or exchange their frequent flyer miles for eBay Anything points. People think it’s really great to take frequent flyer miles they’re never going to use and get stuff on eBay for them.

How to Offer Points to Your Buyers.

Go to http://anythingpoints.ebay.com/offer.html and click ‘Log In to Offer Manager’. Enter an item’s number to offer Anything points on that item.

How Does it Work?

You choose how many points per dollar you want to offer to your buyers when they pay you with PayPal. Each point costs you 1c, and is worth 1c to the buyer – eBay don’t take anything out along the way.

For example, if you sell an item worth $500, and you offer 2 points per dollar, then the seller will receive 1000 eBay Anything points – the equivalent of $10. You only pay for the points when the buyer actually receives them, and you can offer points on as many or as few listings as you like.

Each listing you add will get a big banner below the description, saying “X Anything Points per dollar of the final price for buyers who pay with PayPal”. Buyers can click it for more information on the scheme.

Why Would You Want To?

Really, most sellers who offer points are doing it to get around a condition of their contract with their supplier. Many sellers only get access to goods at wholesale prices provided they don’t list them for sale below the manufacturer’s MAP, or minimum advertised price. The points allow them to offer the items at the MAP and then give their buyer money back in the form of points. It’s a bit like a virtual rebate.

The eBay Anything points scheme is good for you and for eBay, as it encourages buyers to use PayPal instead of more cumbersome payment methods. eBay are keen to promote PayPal, and obviously thought this would be a good way of doing it – not to mention that it keeps buyers coming back, to spend their points. You will also get to be listed on the ‘Earn Points from eBay Sellers’ page, which is here: http://anythingpoints.ebay.com/earn.html.

Here’s another advantage for you: if you buy things from sellers who offer Anything points, you can then use those points to pay your own seller fees. Another seller gets to pay your fees for you! All you need to do is go to My eBay, then Account Management, click the Pay button, and then choose the option to use your Anything points to pay.

If you’re going to offer points, then you want your auction to end for as much as you can possibly get – let the buyer pay for their own points! All you’ll need is our next email, all about strategies for when to start and end your auction.

SSL Certificates Offer Website Security

What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)? Basically, it is the standard security technology used to encrypt online data. SSL offers encrypted communication between the web server (server-side) and the customer&s web browser (client-side) when transmitting personal information such as credit card number, name and address. The SSL protocol uses Certificate Authority (CA) to issue &digital certificates& to the authenticated company.

The whole SSL process involves authenticating the server&s identity, the website&s identity and once the authentication is verified, the message will be sent in the form of encrypted information to the one who asked for a certificate. Usually, a browser requests a SSL certificate and in turn the web server supplies its public key with the requested certificate. Then, the browser has to verify whether the certificate issued is valid (certified by the authorized parties) and also should verify whether the SSL certificate issued comes from the particular website for which the request has been made.

An SSL certificate contains important details of the owner like his e-mail address, validity period, Distinguished Name along with the Common Name and also the certificate identification of the person who issues this information. The Certification Authority (CA) maintains an extensive list in which we can find names of the signed certificates and also more information about the revoked SSL certificates. Additionally, SSL increases the accountability and visibility of the company and creates goodwill and positive image among the customers. The certification maintains the integrity of the data passed to and fro between the browsers and web server (this is private and confidential). Thus, it’s a good tool to meet the security, privacy, safety standards required to protect sensitive and personal data.

SSL is especially important when we give our credit card, personal information to e-commerce websites. SSL certification cannot easily be accessed by hackers because the certificates have the proper key to encrypt the data. Therefore, the security of the certificate is taken care off in all aspects so one can really rely on the Certificate Authority (CA).

The internet has undoubtedly created new opportunities for e-commerce. However, that development is also attracting an ever-increasing number of cyber criminals. A fraudulent web site made to look very alike to a legitimate website may try to entice innocent customers into revealing personal information unknowingly. The only solution to this problem is to take advantage of the Secure Sockets Layer technology and implement it on your website. On the bottom line, every website that deals with sensitive information like credit card numbers or any other critical person information should have proper SSL certifications in place to protect them and their customers.

How To Start Your Own Affiliate Program

1. Why Start Your Own Affiliate Program?

Multiple web sites and distributors selling your product can result in increased sales and profits. Unlike conventional advertising, affiliate programs pay only for performance. Commissions are not paid out unless sales are made.

Also, with many more web sites linking to yours, your link popularity is sure to increase in search engines, resulting in additional traffic and income.

2. Combine a Merchant Account with Your Affiliate Program

If your product is downloadable (such as electronic books or software), you might consider ClickBank.com. For a $49.95 initial fee, you can process credit cards and on-line cheques for $1.00 per transaction plus 7.5% of sales. As an added bonus, you have your own built-in affiliate program.

ClickBank gives you a listing on their web site and visitors can buy your products and join your affiliate program. You choose the commission rate you are willing to pay. All commission payments are handled by ClickBank. One downside is that you can`t run a two-tiered program.

3. Use an Affiliate Program Script

If you are comfortable with running CGI scripts, you may wish to install your own affiliate program on your server and administer the affiliate program yourself.

Be forewarned, though, that this is a lot of work. You will be responsible for all the testing, security, commission payments, promotion and so on. Another downside: Will your potential affiliates trust you since their commissions are not tracked and paid by an independent third party?

4. Use a Hosted Solution

There are good reasons for not hosting your affiliate program on your server. Perhaps you don`t have the time to administer all the aspects of an affiliate program. Maybe your time could be used more productively in other areas of your business. Additionally, an independent third party tracking and paying affiliate commissions inspires confidence in prospective affiliates. Finally, you just might benefit from the additional exposure that an affiliate network brings you.

ClixGalore.com is an example of an affiliate network. You will need to pay a $75.00 deposit to cover affiliate commissions. They charge 25% of any affiliate commissions paid. For example, if you paid an affiliate a 10% commission on a $100.00 sale, you would pay the affiliate $10.00 and ClixGalore $2.50.

With ClixGalore, you can also have a two-tier program. Taking the above example, if you paid affiliates for finding other affiliates, you might pay 2% on your second tier. That would be another $2.00 commission and $ .50 affiliate network fee for a total of $15.00 in commissions on both levels.

5. For All Affiliate Programs

Setup your own web page (or pages) outlining the benefits of your affiliate program. Offer articles, suggestions, text and banner links, and other useful support for your affiliates.

Offer a generous commission so that others feel motivated to sell for you. Obtain the e-mail addresses of your affiliates so that you can keep in touch with them to aid them to sell more.

For increased traffic, sales and profits, start your own affiliate program.

How To Use The Ebay “Checkout Service”.

Back in the ‘old days’ of eBay, getting payment for the item was entirely left up to sellers: you had to choose your payment service, sign up for it and then send links to your buyers. Now, though, eBay handle most of the complexities of payment for you with their checkout.

How Do I Offer the Checkout?

The checkout will be offered to your buyers automatically. When they win an item, eBay send them an email with a ‘Pay Now’ button that takes them to the checkout, and they can also access it through their My eBay page.

It is in step 4 of the ‘Sell Your Item’ process, the payment and shipping step, that you can choose which kinds of payment you want to accept through the checkout and which you don’t.

PayPal: You should be accepting PayPal. You might want to click ‘Edit Preferences’, however, to either select or de-select the ‘tell buyers I prefer PayPal payments’ box – you don’t want to tell people you love PayPal when you only tolerate it. If you’re selling Buy it Now items, you can also tick the box to require immediate PayPal payment for them.

Money orders and cheques: tick these boxes if you want to accept the more ‘traditional’ payment methods. Your address will be revealed to your buyers so that they can post the payment to you – you should make sure eBay have the correct address.

You may also tick credit cards to accept, which you should do if you have your own merchant account or an account at somewhere like NoChex that you’d like to use.

It’s also worth writing any instructions that might be needed in the box on this page, such as who to make cheques out to or a warning that international non-PayPal payments might take a long time.

What Happens When Buyers Use It?

Once you’ve set the checkout up on your items, buyers will be able to choose which way they would like to pay you out of the options available, and eBay’s checkout will take them through the process step-by-step. This will save you the trouble of having to explain things.

When the buyer pays or agrees how to pay, eBay will send you an item letting you know what happened. If might tell you that the money is now in your PayPal account and you should send the item, or it might say that they’ve put a cheque in the post. Remember to wait for payments to clear before you send anything.

That’s it – the role of the checkout is over. You just configure the checkout; it’s the buyer who deals with it the most. You might have noticed, though, that you can configure the checkout differently for different items. This is sometimes worth doing if you some of the items you sell are worth more than others, and you’d prefer not to accept PayPal for the highly-valued ones, for example.

By now, you might be a little sick of going through the ‘Sell Your Item’ screens each time you want to list something. The next email will show you how to use eBay’s automated listing tools.