"An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied."Arnold H. Glasow
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eBay marketplace fraud: How to fight it!
Did you realize that online auctions tops the National Consumer League's list of scams perpetrated online? Although the ebay marketplace has a wonderful track record of 99% honest transactions, you still need to be savvy to the sort of criminal activity ...
The eBay Community - Both the solvent and the glue: The re-defining of the online industry
Why the anarchy on eBay? Why the apparent contradiction between the merchandising as a community and the escalating tension that is creating an exodus to independent platforms, a slow down in growth on eBay, and reduction in users on the platform? The ...
Turning Your eBay Dreams In To Reality
Auction Wealth Secrets- Turning Your eBay Dreams Into Reality... How far do you have to go to turn your dreams into reality? Not far, says my friend and Internet legend Armand Morin. Not far at all. In fact sit down, right where you are and switch on ...
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So you want to be a successful seller with your own eBay business, do you? Here's a simple, ten-step path to eBay enlightenment.
Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for what sells and what doesn't out of the items you're interested in. Any market research data you can collect will be very useful to you later on. You'll probably see the 'sweet spots' quite quickly – those one or two items that always seem to sell for a good price.
Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and beat them at their own game.
Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can get are – don't be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best deal. If the eBay prices you've seen are higher than the supplier's, then you're set.
Step 4: Start small: Don't throw thousands at your idea straight away – get started slowly, see what works and what doesn't, and learn as you go. Remember that it's very cheap to try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they might just work!
Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until you find something that works, and then don't be ashamed to keep doing it, again and again. The chances are that you've just found a good niche.
Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn't need to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market opportunity you've spotted, your strategy, strengths and weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you than it is for anyone else.
Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing it each time.
Step 8: Make it official: Once you've made a few thousand dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as a business. Don't worry, it's not expensive or hard to do – a lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.
Step 9: Automate: You'll probably find that you're writing the same things again and again in emails or item descriptions. This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to automated software that can create listings for you, and respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever message you provide.
Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it's all going wrong, don't stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working at it then you'll almost always find that you make a real breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.
Once you get into the swing of things, you might start thinking that you should quit your job and take up eBay selling part time. But it's not always as easy as that – there are all sorts of factors that you need to consider. The next email will weigh up the case for and against taking up eBay full-time.
About The Author:
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
Copyright Kirsten Hawkins - http://www.auctionseller411.com/
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 Ebay's style director wields power (San Jose Mercury News)
On the front row of nearly every major New York runway show are fashion's elite: top editors from international magazines and newspapers, retail executives, television personalities and celebrities. Among them, a woman with a job that doesn't quite fit any of those categories yet, but encompasses all of them. Constance White, the style director for eBay, is a striking, model-esque presence amid ...
EBay's biggest challenge: Amazon.com (Miami Herald)
Walt Kolenda, also known by the handle "Auction Wally," began selling antiques and collectibles on eBay 10 years ago.
Arrest made over eBay computer sale (Channel 4)
Police have made an arrest over the sale on eBay of a computer said to contain the personal details of thousands of council tax payers.
eBay to Tell Shoppers, No Checks or Money Orders (AuctionBytes)
Sellers are saying eBay's ban on checks and money orders is, in effect, a move to a PayPal-only policy - at least for the many sellers who don't have their own credit card merchant account.
Survey Shows eBay Sellers Believe Payment Ban Lowers Profits (AuctionBytes)
eBay is moving to an electronic Checkout system, banning checks, money orders and postal orders, and more than half of sellers believe it would negatively impact their profitability, according to an AuctionBytes.com survey.
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