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.

How to Start an eBay Bidding War

A bidding war is where two or more people bid furiously against one another, each desperate to own a particular item.

Phenomenal results are possible, such as last month, where a postcard by artist A. R. Quinton, depicting a cliff view at Herne Bay, fetched £100 plus. By anyone’s standards, the card was worth about £3 for the view and maybe a few pounds more for the artist.

I checked and found that two serious bidders, one of Herne Bay topographical postcards, the other a Quinton enthusiast, had launched a bidding war that was eventually won by the Herne Bay collector, or was it the seller of this rather common-a-garden postcard?

Such events are not uncommon. My own best selling item this month, a pair of vintage cufflinks with ancient Greek Coins, for which I paid £3 at a flea market, went for £34, with the two final bidders being a collector of cufflinks and another of Greek coins. The Greek coin collector won.

You only need two bidders and it doesn’t matter if they’re interested in the same product or specific parts of your product or listing. The end result is always the same; more money for you.

You’re looking for just two people in the whole wide world, these tips will help you find them.

* List a minimum two items (or themes) in one lot. The trick is to make each item valuable in its own right and appealing to more than one person. The cufflinks and postcard are good examples. I’ve seen other wars raging over two completely unrelated postcards listed together; two books bearing no relation to one another; a pack of artist illustrated playing cards where one bidder wanted the cards and the other collected all things artist related.

* List in two eBay categories to achieve maximum market penetration. You can also list in two shop categories. For the Quinton/Herne Bay postcard I’d list under ‘Artist Drawn Postcards’ and ‘Topographical’.

* Research and use commonly used keywords for your product to attract the highest audience for your item. Go to eBay Pulse pages for common keywords or use software such as Adword Analyzer to study most commonly used key words and phrases for specific subjects. Although developed largely for search engine optimisation and Google advertising campaigns and similar, products like Adword Analyzer are equally suitable for all areas of the Internet, including eBay. Visit our site, www.1st-in-auctions.com/Keywords.html for more ideas on keyword research with tips from top eBayers and other Internet marketers.

* Offer free gifts and bonuses to attract interest from people selling similar items. For example, offer three cufflinks where most offer two (emphasise these things get damaged, lost, stolen); ship items postage free; add complementary items such as matching tie pin (free or otherwise) with cufflinks, free presentation boxes with every batch of wholesale necklaces, and so on.

* Offer a free gift that is valuable in its own right, worth more than the product listed, and not available from any other source. Remember to change the freebie regularly as frequent buyers will have it already. Study and comply with eBay rules regarding gifts, bonuses and discounts. The trick is to find people not necessarily wanting your listed product, but very keen on the freebie.

Blogging for Profit

In the several instance that you have browsed the net you have probably come across a blog or two. Blogs refers to online journals where people express their feeling through writing. They represent personal opinions of authors about certain topics. Blogs allows people to share their ideas and interest with other people around the globe.

Blogs have become popular nowadays for a number of reasons. First, they are search engine friendly. As long as you are making posts regularly, search engines spider them and index them often. Search engines loves blogs because of the regularly updated, fresh content they present. Second, it’s the quickest way to build a website. People who want to build a website but do not know HTML and how to create a website can use blogs instead. You do not really need to create websites or any programming language. And third, blogging increase marketing reach dramatically.

Even if you are not much of a writer you can always try blogs. When you become consistent with your blogging you will soon realize why it is important for internet marketers. But setting up a blog does not mean that you will have a one hundred percent boost in your income. A blog won’t give you any new ways to make money except with the following ways:

1. Selling advertising space. You can sell text links or banners on your blog. If your blog have a high page rank then this strategy might work for you.

2. Offer affiliate ads. You can offer visitors links or banners to your affiliate products or services just like with a website.

3. The simplest way to get money through your blogs is by having Adsense or any other ads in your blog. Once people click on this ads, that the time you make money.

Keep in mind that your competitors are probably using blogs so you must use one as well. If your competitors are blogging then they are perhaps reaching customers easily and effectively. When you have a blog you can publish information about your business quickly while keeping pace with the growth in the market.

Simply put, blogs are useful social and communication tools. The market is getting smarter and more organized. People would want to talk to you and want to participate in the development of your products. Blogs can allow this because readers can submit their comments to the authot’s post if the author allows it.

Blogs will be around for the years to come so it may be a smart decision to start blogging now.

How To Post Your First Ebay Auction in Five Simple Steps.

Ebay is the internet&s largest marketplace, and it’s an excellent place for buyers to find what they want at bargain prices, and for sellers to find buyers. If you haven&t posted an auction on ebay before, It’s fairly simple to post your first auction on eBay. Just do the following five steps.

Step 1: Open an eBay seller’s account.

Obviously, this is the first thing you need to do . If you’ve bought things on eBay, then you already have an account – just log in with it and click ‘Sell’ in the toolbar at the top of the page, then click ‘Create a seller’s account’. If you’ve never used eBay before, then you’ll need to open an account first using the ‘register’ link underneath the toolbar, and then click ‘Sell’ and ‘Create a seller’s account’. The eBay site will then guide you through the process. For security, this may involve giving card details and bank information.

Step 2: Decide what to sell.

For your first little experiment with eBay, it doesn’t really matter what you sell. Take a look around the room you’re in – I’m sure there’s something in there that you’re not all that attached to and could put in the post. Small books and CDs are ideal first items. Once you get more used to how things work, try to indentify which market is right for you.

You need to consider two things in your market choice. The first is market size, which indicates how much demand exists for the products you’re considering to sell. Second, your personal intterest in what you sell. You must balance between those two factors to be successful.

Another thing I noticed on Ebay is what I call the Uniqeness Factor. What I mean by that is how unique are your offerings. If people see a lot of people selling the same item. They will tend to buy the cheapest, and that starts price wars between sellers. A smart seller chooses a smaller, more profitable niche to conquer. When you differentiate your offerings your profits and chances of making a sale will be higher. That’s why starting with your own things at home will be unique enough and wouldn’t cost you much for your first auction.

Step 3: List your item on Ebay.

Click ‘Sell’, and you’re on your way to listing your item.

Before you go ahead and list your item, look at some other existing sellers and learn from them. Notice how they layout their auction page, what keywords they use. Also note their starting prices and determine some of the startegies they use to attract bidders.

Next, choose a category – it’s best to just type in what the item is and let eBay choose for you. Next, write a title and description. Include key words you think people will search for in the title box, and all the information you have about the item in the description box.

Make sure you build an attractive and inforamtive auction page. Use pictures and headlines to highlight the benefits of your product. Answer as much questions a buyer might have as you can. Clearly state your refund, shipping and payment policies and contact information.

Now set a starting price. $0.01 is the best starting price, as it draws people in to bid who otherwise wouldn’t, and items will almost never finish at such a low price. The next thing to set is the duration of the auction: 3, 5, 7 or 10 days. This is up to you: longer sales will usually get more bids, but will also seem to drag on forever. If you’ve taken a picture, add it now – items with pictures always sell for more. Finally, tick the payment methods you will accept (just PayPal is best for now), and where you will post to (limit yourself to your own country to begin with). Submit and you’re done!

Step 4: Wait for it to sell.

This is just a matter of sitting back and letting eBay do its thing – buyers will find your item and leave bids on it. Some bidders might email you with questions about the item, and you should do your best to answer these questions as quickly as you can.

Remember that if your item doesn’t sell then you can list it again for free.

Step 5: Collect payment and post it.

eBay will sent your buyer emails guiding them through the process of sending you payment for the item. Make sure you have the money before you send anything.

Once you’ve got the payment, all you need to do is pack the item for posting (make sure to use some bubble wrap), take the buyer’s address from the confirmation email eBay sent you, and write it on the parcel. Put some stamps on, post it, and you’re done!

I hope you will enjoy selling your first item on Ebay.

Five Ways To Continually Grow Your Affiliate Checks

The promise of earning profits without really doing much of anything has enticed a lot of people towards affiliate marketing. But does affiliate marketing really work this way?

As an affiliate, all that is required of you is to simply place the merchant’s ad on your website. Then after that, you virtually do nothing but wait for anyone to click on the merchant’s ad and later collect your profits. Easy, right? Well, not quite often. Many affiliates earn almost nothing from their affiliate programs simply because they do nothing. Remember that affiliate marketing is but another form of marketing, and you’ll definitely need to market your merchant’s product for you to earn something.

Successful affiliates in any affiliate program simply don’t sit there and wait for money to come. Why? Because there is no money in simply sitting and waiting. If you want to be successful in affiliate marketing and if you want to continually grow your affiliate checks, you’ve got to do something. Think of ways on how to promote your merchant’s business and products better. Think of ways on how to induce other people to click on the link or ad provided to you by your merchant. Think of ways on how to make your affiliate sales increase!

So if you’re new in affiliate marketing and you try to follow the easy go lucky pit that most unsuccessful affiliate marketers follow, then you’re definitely on the wrong track. But we&re not advising you to stop right there. No. Rather, we want you to take some steps to make your affiliate program work better and gain more commissions for you. How? Here are a few guidelines that may help you to continually grow your affiliate checks:

1) Become an expert on your affiliate product.

You can promote your merchant’s product better if you know a lot of things about it. To become an expert, the best thing you can do is purchase your merchant’s product yourself. This way, you can tell your customers about your first-hand experience using the product. You can even write a testimonial or a personal endorsement ad about it. But if any condition does not permit you to purchase the product, you can at least make a thorough research about it.

2) Host your own website.

Or at least have a domain name that is short and easy to remember. You certainly wouldn’t expect a visitor to remember a very long and incomprehensible URL. And if that&s so, you also wouldn’t expect him to visit your website any time soon. That means less traffic for your page and the less chance for your affiliate ads and links to be clicked.

It is also a good idea to create a private website and offer access to it to anybody who clicks on any of your affiliate ads. Visitors usually get interested with these private websites. Private websites also gives you a venue to promote your back-end affiliate products.

3) Write your own affiliate ads.

Many merchants usually wouldn’t mind if you write and design your own ads for their products, for as long as you ask permission from them and present them your ad before posting it on your site. This gives you a greater advantage over a lot of other affiliates who must be advertising the same affiliate products.

4) Participate in chat rooms, discussion boards, and forums related to your product.

If you use to ignore them before, then it is time for you to start focusing your attention on them. You can start your own chat or join an existing chat related to your product. You don’t have to promote your affiliate product at once, but find the chance to advertise and promote it as you go along. The same would be true for message boards, discussion boards and forums.

5) Create a free ezine or newsletter.

Ezines and newsletters are periodical publications whose aim is to inform a group of people about a certain subject. In your ezines and newsletters, you don’t always have to promote your merchant’s product for this may greatly annoy your subscribers. Rather, find a way to insert your affiliate ads and links on some portions of the letter. Also, don’t forget to promote your ezine or newsletter on your website.

These are but a few guidelines on how you can increase your affiliate sales and continually grow your affiliate checks. Sure there can be a lot of other tips that out there, and if you think they would work, we won’t discourage you from following them. What’s important is that you be able to find a way to: attract more traffic to your site, induce your visitors to click on the ads on your site, and be able to promote your merchant’s products even outside the boundary of your website. If you can do these, there’s no reason for you to fail in affiliate marketing.

Why is my blogs revenue so low?

Those who blog partly because they want to earn some extra money often ask the question:”Why is my revenue so low?” There are people who think that blogs simply can not generate much money. They are wrong! Blog can generate you the same amount of money if not more compared to any other website. Now im talking about PPC (Pay per click) sorces of revenue such as google adsense here.

The main problem I have noticed is that people tend to concentrate on wider markets. If you are running a personal diary kind of blog, the chances are that there are thousands of similar blogs around. The more competition you have, the harder it will be for you to make some cash. Instead try concentrating on smaller markets also known as niche markets. Not only it will be easier for you to develop the traffic, the CPC (Cost per click) should also be higher due to advertisers demand exceeding publishers supply.

Secondly you need to have a unique selling point. You need to give your readers something that nobody else does. This should really help you get returning visitors.

Finally it’s the ads themselves. You should channel your ads. This way you will be able to measure your ad block’s performance. One of the most important things is to experiment. Try different ad formats, colours and positioning. Run your setup for a few weeks, note the performance and try something different. Even if you think you have found the optimum ad setup keep on trying to improve it. In most cases you can always tweak something to make your ad performance better.

If you need help finding traffic for your blog, you can always submit your blog stories to the new personal blog news publishing system designed especially for the blogging community at the blog reporter