EBay may have been the only game in town when it came to online auctions eight years ago... but there are now a raft of options out there for you to choose from. That's not to say that eBay didn't have any competition way back then. There were several online auction houses and classified sites to choose from in the 1990's but they just couldn't compete with eBay when it came to traffic. EBay was also being nice to its sellers then.
But that was then and this is now. Other e-commerce sites are starting to take some market share from eBay. One reason for the seller and buyer drift from eBay may be caused by eBay executives sudden case of power intoxication. The eBay board has recently put in place sweeping changes to policy and practices, changes many sellers think were made to:
1. Squeeze more money out of the sellers using the site
2. Push the little guy from the site
3. Just irritate the sellers on the site
Here are just some of the changes eBay has put into place in the last five years:
* Numerous increases in fees
* Sellers are no longer able to leave neutral or negative feedback on buyers accounts
* Pressure in Australia, the UK and now the US to get Paypal as the only electronic payment system on the site.
* Higher volume sellers get discounts and added benefits for staying with the site
* EBooks and other non-physical items can no longer be auctioned
Other part-time sellers have also commented on a spotty customer service record and tendency to cancel accounts with no disclosed reason and make it difficult for the person to re-open them.
That being said there are still few better places to bring traffic to your own e-commerce site or online shop as there are a still an incredible number of people shopping on eBay.
If you're looking to boycott eBay or get out of eBay completely (just because you think that eBay sucks and not for the eBay boycott), Or you want to put your eggs in some other online auctions baskets then here is a list of more than 50 sites that you might want to check out:
1. Adflyers (http://www.adflyer.co.uk/)
A British classified site which has been online since 2007... It offers premium and free listings and even has some video functions.
2. All bidders (http://www.allbidders.com/)
An Australian-run auction site that's been around since 2001. It gets a reasonable amount of traffic. Most business happens in the automobile section. Listing fees are between 40 US cents and one US dollar with sellers paying an end commission of 3%-3.75%.
3. Altec Trader (http://www.altectrader.com/)
An international auction site registered in California in January 2008. It has already built up quite a bit of traffic but that could be because of all the free swag -- (swag including free listings, no final sales cost).
4. Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/)
The site that needs no instruction.... If eBay was the alpha male of the eCommerce community then Amazon would be the community member always competing for top-dog position. And if recent examinations of spending figures are to be believed it's making some ground on its claims to the ecommerce throne. For those people living under a rock it was set up in 1998 and it owns the popular traffic volume monitoring application and site Alexa. It has also recently launched its very own cart system.
5. Auction (http://www.auction.com/)
An auction site that's been around since 2000. It has a pretty low traffic volume figures considering its name.
6. Auction Addict (http://www.auctionaddict.net/)
An American auction site that's been online since 1999. The design may be tres Web 1.0 but anybody selling this site won't be paying any listing or commission fees. It gets similar traffic volumes to other sites.
7. Auction Bidz (http://www.auctionbidz.com.au/)
The Australian online auction and e-commerce market is very crowed apparently. Here's another Australian online auction site. It's been around since 2006 and is offering free sign up as well as a cash incentives to sign on as a seller or buyer (if AU$10 could be called an incentive)
8. Auction Quest (http://www.auctionquests.com/)
An American eBay alternative that has been around since 2004. It has okay traffic and seems to allow anything under the sun to be listed.
9. Auction Warehouse (http://www.auction-warehouse.com/)
An American auction site that has been around since 1999. DMOZ describes it as a place to find and sell computer peripherals... but pretty much everything under the sun is up for offer on this site and it gets the average amount of traffic.
10. Audiogon (http://www.audiogon.com/)
This auction and classified site has been around since 1998. The owners of the site state that they specialize in high-end audio equipment but seem to have listings for almost everything that is entertainment and home theater orientated. They have a fairly good traffic rating with listing and purchasing but no end commission.
11. Bang 4 Bucks (http://www.bang4bucks.com.au/index.php?)
This is yet another Australian online auction site. It's a fairly new site that looks like it's trying to take advantage over the recent turmoil caused by eBay Australia's push to get sellers and buyers to use its subsidiary PayPal.
12. Bidmate (http://www.bidmate.com.au/)
An Australian site founded in 2007 by Ron Gully (now you have someone to pin the blame on if things go belly up). It doesn't have too large a traffic base as of yet but the early reviews look good.
13. Bidtopia (http://www.bidtopia.com/)
Bidtopia is another online auction site that was set up in the states in 2002. They don't charge a listing fee but they do have a commission of 2.75% for successful sales and a 25 cent fee for failed listings.
14. Blujay (http://www.blujay.com/)
An American online classified site that doesn't charge buyers and sellers. It says it makes all of its cash from banner advertising. It's been around since 1998, making it one of the older ecommerce locations on the internet and seems to get most of its traffic from the states.
15. Bonanzle (http://www.bonanzle.com/)Yet another Australian site. This is a Craigslist clone and has been offering its services since July 2006. This is based in Seattle Washington which is in the United States and it is a Shop Forum Showcase. (thanks to bobbi85710 for the correction)
16. Buy Sell Trades (http://www.buyselltrades.com/)
Buy Sell Trades is an American eBay clone set up in 2002. It has similar traffic to other sites and promises a raft of free services.
17. Cqout (http://www.cqout.com/)
Cqout calls itself the UK's second largest online trading marketplace. It does have a lot of traffic for what it is. Launched in 2000 it gets most of its traffic from the UK and US. Its fees for sellers are based on the commission and will gradually drop as the sales profits get higher. It charges buyers a one-time registration fee to join.
18. Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.org/)
Craigs list has the name recognition of Amazon or eBay. It's perhaps the local classified site known the world over. Launched in 1998 Craigslist doesn't have that great a page ranking but its Alexa rating is through the roof. EBay owns 25% of Craigs list and the two have wrangled in the courts as recently as 2008.
19. Deal Tent (http://dealtent.com/)
An eBay clone. It's been around since 2005 and sells things internationally. It is registered in Florida and has similar traffic to Altec Trader, even though it has been around for a couple more years.
20. Ebid (http://www.ebid.net/)
An auction site that was started in 2001 it gets better than average traffic, most of which comes from the US and the UK. They don't charge to list but have a 3% fee for a successful sale.
21. Ecrater (http://www.ecrater.com/)
A free auction and ecommerce store creation service that was set up in 2001. There is a bit of buzz around this site. They use the Google checkout system and say that they are parters with Google in this regard.
22. EPier (http://www.epier.com/)
A US eBay copy that was set up in 1999 'to level the playing field' (according to the site owner). Private sellers can sell everything up to, and including, a car for free while business sellers are able to set up an online shopfront with the site.
23. Google Base (http://www.googlebase.com/)
Google's foray into the ecommerce world (apart from Google checkout, Google's shopping cart system, and Google product search, which is linked to Google base) Items can be listed for free with this system.
24. Hi Bidder (http://www.hibidder.com/)
An online auction site that has been around since 2005. Sellers are able to set up a store and offer items up for auction as well as set up a free store. There are no lisiting fees and most of the enhancement fee costs seem pretty low.
25. Hoobly (http://www.hoobly.com/)
Hoobly is a US-run global classified site set up in 2002 that gets fairly good traffic. It has a free ad service and an interesting premier ad system where you bid on how much you are willing to pay for an ad.
26. Inter Shop Zone (http://www.intershopzone.com/)
Wouldn't you know it... it's yet another American eBay clone. This time it was started up in 2002 and has very average traffic volumes.
27. IOffer (http://www.ioffer.com/)
An ecommerce site that's been around since 2001. It gets a large part of its audience from the US but a large proportion also from the rest of the world. It touts itself as being an ecommerce community where people can negotiate prices for things. You can even swap things if you want. There's a final listing fee of 5% for sales and one US dollar each for successful swaps. iOffer doesn't charge 5% for all sales, they have a whole table of their final value fees, which is cheaper than other sites. More info @ http://iofferdude.blogspot.com
28. LiquiBiz (http://www.liquibiz.com/)
The European branch of Liquidation it was set up in 2006 and uses the same US server.
29. Liquidation (http://www.liquidation.com/index.html)
Liquidation is a US site created in 1998 designed for the sales of lots. It's got a bit more traffic than most other sites.
30. Milbid (http://www.milbid.com/)
Another US eBay-like auction site that's been around since 2003 but hasn't gone too well in the traffic department.
31. Neo Loch (http://www.neoloch.com/)
A site with an interesting name and layout. The name is reminiscent of where the wee dongles would go for a drink and there are a menagerie of sea creatures on the front page for some reason. It was launched at the start of 2008 as the 'friendly auction site' and has already gained a fair amount of traffic (most of it from the US). Its fees are pretty standard ranging from 10 US cents to five dollars US for listing enhancements and final fees of 2.75% to 1.5% for successfully sold products.
32. Oltiby (http://www.oltiby.com/)
The online reverse auction where buyers make the listing and sellers bid for the sale. It's been around since 2005, is based in the US and has British and French offices.
33. One Way (http://www.oneway-au.com/)
Oneway has New Zealand and Australian branches and was started in 2005. This makes it one of the older sites in the antipodes. The banner stating "The largest kiwi owned auction website", which appears on both the New Zealand and Australian versions of the site, must go down really well with those on the Western isle. It's free to join and list on the site. It'll charge various service fees depending on the service (NZ$2.50 for a classified listing and 40 New Zealand cents for a bold or feature listing) and a 5 percent final value of the sale which doesn't go higher than NZ$199 (an item that sells for NZ$2000 will get a fee of $54 for example).
34. Overstock (http://www.overstock.com/)
A US site that has been around since 1999 and does most of its business in the US, although there is a little traffic from India England and Canada. Overstock is different to most of the other sites on this list as it deals with wholesale lots and requires you to apply to stock goods through their store.
35. Ozebid (http://www.ozebid.com.au/)
An Australian online auction site (unsurprisingly). While its been around for a while it hasn't made much impact on the market.
36. Plunderhere (http://www.plunderhere.com/)
ARRRR it be the ecommerce site you be visiting to offload your booty ARRRR. But in all seriousness it's an all purposes ecommerce site that is Canadian-based and was started in 2003. You can auction things off, trade things or set up your stall through this colorful site and most things are free or fairly cheap to do. Its traffic is a little lighter than other sites and Google doesn't seem to like it for some reason or another. Perhaps they prefer ninjas.
37. QX Bid (http://www.qxbid.com/)
An online auction site that's been around since last year. Its fees are pretty low and it seems to get reasonable traffic.
38. Ruby Lane (http://www.rubylane.com/)
If you're peddling the finer things in life then this site may be an option. It was set up in 2007 and is more like an online mall where you set up a shop within the site. Setting up a shop costs and they charge a listing fee per item as well as an advertising fee. But they do claim to advertise in several trade journals to boost rankings and increase your chances of sale. It's yet another US site and gets most of its traffic from the US although there is more than a little traffic in the UK, Canada and India as well.
39. Sell Bid And Buy (http://www.sellbidandbuy.com/)
A site that calls itself "Australia and New Zealand's low cost online auction site" free to join up with an AU$5 credit once you do. The fees, which are explained on a page fairly far back in the site, are pretty good. You'll pay nothing to list the item and a fairly low price for buy it now and reserve options (five Australian cents for 'buy it now' 10 for reserve). Final commission fees are 3% for things under AU$75, 2.75% for things over AU$75 and 2% for things over AU$1000. And if you're planning to sell get ready to go through a clearance check and you're going to have to use PayPal.
40. Sell My Stuff (http://www.sellmystuff.com.au/)
An auction site for Australian vendors, it's been given the thumbs up by vocal eBay critic EBay Exodus (AKA f*** eBay) so it can't be too bad.
41. Specialist Auctions (http://www.specialistauctions.com/)
A global online auction house, registered in the UK. The number of visitors it gets is pretty low but those who have used it seem to like it.
42. Tazbar (http://www.tazbar.com/)
Tazbar is an ecommerce site that offers fixed price sales, auctions and wanted adverts. It was set up in 2006 and gets most of its business from the UK with the next biggest amount of traffic coming from the US. It has a varying level of memberships which gives you different levels of access and exposure depending on how much you spend. At the basic level you're required to pay a 3% commission on successful sales.
43. Trademe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/)
A New Zealand online auction site that is possibly the best known ecommerce site in New Zealand. This could be because it was set up by the son of a TV economist, sold to the media conglomerate Fairfax and then tied to Stuff, the most widely-read news site in the country. It also could be because it's free listing nature allowed users to post unusual items for sale (like eBay). Some of the things have included a handbag used by the All Black captain to hit another player in a nightclub, the unsuccessful All Black World Cup squad of 2007 and a Prime Minister's signature. Listings are free and enhancement fees aren't too bad. Final fees for successful options range from 6.9% for items under $150 to NZ$71 and 1.9% for items over $1500. Most of it traffic comes from New Zealand but there's also a smattering of traffic from the US and the UK as well.
44. Trocadero (http://www.trocadero.com/)
Trocadero is similar to Ruby Lane in that it is more of a shop front for people looking to sell the finer things in life than it is a place to auction off things. You pay a monthly subscription to get access to the site with more cash getting you more services. It was set up in 1999 and has a reasonable amount of traffic.
45. Ubid Right (http://ubidright.com/cgi-bin/Auction)
A very new eBay copy (it's only been around since 2007) based in the US. Even though it's traffic isn't huge the site owner is relatively proud of its record so far (well you'd think so she's put up a stats page) they sell everything, have auctions and fixed-price sales and charge 2% of the value of the item on final sale and five cents US for basic listings.
46. UK Bids Away (http://www.ukbidsaway.co.uk/)
A British eBay equivalent that doesn't have much listed on the site even though it was launched in 2003. It has both small house lots listed and wholesale lots listed.
47. Wagglepop (http://www.wagglepop.com/)
An online auction site that gets most of its traffic from the US, Canada and the UK. If you are looking to sell items on Wagglepop you'll need to pay a monthly subscription fee, which will allow you to sell what you want. It has been online since 2004.
48. Webidz (http://www.webidz.com/)
Webidz is an ecommerce site where you can place classified ads or list auctions. It's been around since 2004 and gets most of its traffic from the US, although there is more than a little traffic coming from India, England, Australia and Canada. They don't charge listing fees or final sale fees but do charge a little for enhancements and an initial $5 'verification fee'.
49. Wensy (http://wensy.com/)
Yet another US-based eBay copy that's been around since 2004 (but was registered in 2003) and which seems to make most of its money from banner advertising and doesn't charge its users.
50. Xoobie (http://www.xoobie.com.au/)
Yet another Australian auction site.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
eBay Alternatives - Where Else Can You Sell?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Why eBay Is A Seller's Bliss
Today, more and more people are gradually opting for eBay as an alternative market site for their items. And the more people try on selling their products on eBay, the more they conclude that eBay is the best market site to sell products online.
So, for people who want to know why eBay had fast become one of the best website for selling items, here are some reasons online shoppers need to know:
1. It is not just a marketing website, it acts like a "virtual" garage sale as well.
Usually, a marketing website caters to people who need to sell their products. But most of these marketing websites only allows people who are really into business and that the products they offer should be of high quality.
However, eBay does it differently. It acts like a virtual garage sale, in which, a seller can still sell items that are already old. And so, ordinary people who wanted to make profit out of some old item that still has value or those who want to simply get rid of it, eBay is the only site that can provide such service.
2. eBay builds the seller's character.
There are features on eBay that serves as ways for sellers to build integrity at the same time establish rapport.
The "seller's feedback" section and the "ask a seller question" tab create a solid foundation based on trust among the eBay members. In this way, the buyer gets the feeling of security while doing transactions with the seller. Just the same, the seller's reputation is solidly established.
3. It offers a low investment.
For those who really want to make a business out of selling on eBay, they are guaranteed of a low investment capital. Actually, there is no capital that has to be paid. It's the selling fees that only need to be accomplished by the seller. If compared to charges of other marketing websites, eBay's selling fees are relatively lower.
4. The selling process on eBay is a lot simpler.
eBay does not require sellers' additional requirements like trade name, domain name, or any other pertinent documents being asked by other marketing websites. The only thing eBay requires a seller to do before posting an item is to create an account, after which, he or she can already start the posting the items to be sold.
5. It has an "autoresponder" system.
This means that the seller do not have to stay online most of the times just to get hold of any response from the buyers. eBay eliminates the hard-selling type of sale.
eBay: Things A Seller Should Know Before Selling On eBay
Nowadays, eBay is becoming a fast increasing market for online shoppers. It gives them the convenience and feasibility of shopping online.
However, it is the seller that benefits most of the time as they find selling things on eBay a lucrative way of earning additional wages. But before a seller logs in and sell his or her items on eBay, there are some things that needs to be done first, here's how:
1. Sellers must know the rules.
It is extremely important for sellers to first know the rules and regulations of eBay concerning items to be sold and the transaction method. This is one way of protecting themselves so as to avoid fraudulent activities.
2. They should know their market.
Before selling, a seller should first contemplate on what type of market is she or he aiming at. If the sellers know who their target market is, it would be easier for them to think of effective words to use on their descriptive title and the details of their items.
3. They should know the selling fees.
It's a must for them to know how much the selling fees of eBay are so that they may include this on the initial price of their item.
4. They should know the available payment scheme.
The sellers should know these first so that they can assess which type of payment mode are they comfortable with. After all, they should stress this out when posting their items on sale.
5. They should know how to make an account.
It is, indeed, important for the seller to know first the basic procedures of creating an account on eBay before selling an item. No one can go start selling an item right away without having an account on eBay.
They should know how to register first. They can do this by going to the eBay website and set up a seller's account by entering some pertinent information like a valid credit/debit card account or bank account. Though, they may opt for an alternative if they are not comfortable doing this. They may opt to become ID verified as a substitute.
For payment purposes, they should also know how to open a PayPal account.
They must also know what kind of format to use, the category of the item, how to write the title and the specifications of the sale, item description, how to increase the item's visibility, and how to contact the winning bidder before starting to post an item on eBay.
If all of these things are already clear on the seller, then posting an item on eBay will never be a problem. It's that easy!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
eBay Courses – Are They Worth It?
There are numerous eBay courses that are available on the Internet today. These books and courses are designed to help you become more successful on eBay. Unfortunately, not all of these courses are worth the money that you will pay for them. Some of them are full of what used to be good information – when it was relevant – and others are simply junk information, written by someone trying to make a quick buck.
Before you purchase any eBay course, find out when the course was written. If it was written in 2004, for instance, you don’t want it. Even though that hasn’t been very long ago, eBay changes so fast that much of the information will not be relevant. However, if the original issue of the course was written several years ago, but the course is updated each year, this will probably be a good course for you.
Again, use care when purchasing eBay courses. They can be quite helpful and enlightening, but only if the information in them is still good. Talk to other eBay sellers – preferably successful ones – to find out what courses are recommended.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
How to Use the Promotional Tools on eBay
eBay wants you to be successful. Essentially, if their sellers are not making any money, eBay is not making any money – or not enough money. eBay does have one other very small source of revenue, which comes from the sellers. This revenue is realized from the promotional tools that actually help you, as a seller, have more successful auctions.
The promotional tools on eBay are very inexpensive. For instance, you can have a bold listing for just a few cents. Highlighted listings are equally inexpensive. These two tools could easily raise your final price by as much as 25%! Not all promotional tools cost money. Many of them are free. The available promotional tools found on eBay are product finder, gallery, bold, highlight, border, gift services listings, subtitles, featured home page, featured plus, featured gallery, keywords, co-op advertising, and optimized listings.
If you are serious about making money from your eBay auctions, or if you are selling just one high ticket item, you should definitely take advantage of the eBay promotional tools that are available to you. These can easily be found through your sellers account.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
SafeHarbor: eBay's Own Scotland Yard
SafeHarbor are the eBay police department. If you break the rules, commit fraud or try to buy something you're not supposed to, they'll be after you.
When You Don't Pay
This is the most common rule buyers break - it's all too easy to just change your mind and try to get out of the auction. eBay regards every auction as a contract, and will punish you if you don't go through with your end of the deal. If you decide not to pay then expect to get a few nasty warning emails from eBay threatening you with banning if you do it again. Not to mention, of course, that you'll get a big negative 'DID NOT PAY' feedback comment from the seller.
So There Are Things You Can't Buy on eBay?
Yes, there are: more things than you'd expect. It makes sense that you can't buy firearms, for example, but you also can't buy fireworks - eBay are worried about the risks of sending them in the post. Laws in many countries mean that you can't buy alcohol or tobacco. You can't buy illegal or prescription drugs, stocks and shares, or lottery tickets. No underwear, either. You can't buy any little pet puppies or kittens, as animals are banned. If items infringe on copyright, like pirate CDs or software, then they're not allowed either.
eBay's policy is controversial, not least because it is somewhat random in its enforcement - and there have been accusations that they're more responsive to the copyright concerns of big businesses than to auctions for items that might actually be dangerous. If they do decide to go after you or the seller, though, they will cancel the auction and may also suspend your accounts.
Fraud
eBay runs remarkably well considering how unregulated it is, but there are still fraudsters. If you are a victim of fraud - for example, you pay for an item that never turns up - then SafeHarbor will investigate for you. eBay's standard purchase protection will give you up to $200 back if your claim is successful. Be aware, though, that this can take a few months.
In addition, if you paid by PayPal, then they can usually reverse the transaction relatively easily and get you more (if not all) of your money back. This is another reason why many buyers prefer to use PayPal. Some sellers are a little scared of the effectiveness of the refund system, as they can send out items in good faith only to find that their buyer was fraudulent and the transaction has been reversed. If you're worried about fraud, as a buyer, you should always use PayPal.
What's that? You don't know how to use PayPal? Well, luckily for you, the next article is all about using PayPal to improve your eBay life.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
How to Sell Expensive Items on eBay
Selling expensive items on eBay is really no different than selling low cost items. Essentially, no matter what you are selling, it all comes down to how you market the item. This doesn’t mean you have to surf around the Internet placing ads here and there – when it comes to eBay auctions, the marketing is all done at the eBay website. Basically, when you set up your auction, you are setting up an automated marketing campaign.
First, you must determine what the value of your item is, in three different ways. This will help you determine what your reserve price is. On eBay, the reserve price is the lowest price that you are willing to accept for your item. First, have your high priced item evaluated to determine what the actual market value is. Next, research similar items from past auctions at eBay to see what price those items sold for. Finally, determine what the value of the item is to you. With this information, you should be able to determine the lowest amount you are willing to sell the item for.
Set your reserve price, and then set your opening bid price lower than $50 – no matter how high your reserve price is. This is a marketing tactic. It will be hard to attract potential buyers to an auction for an item selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars – but getting them to an auction where the opening bid is only $50 is quite simple. Remember, you don’t have to sell the item to anyone who bids less than your reserve price – unless you choose to do so at the close of the auction. This method of price setting resembles marketing gimmicks used by offline businesses that are simply designed to ‘get customers in the door.’
Work hard on the description for your listing. Use words that really describe your item well. Provide as many details as possible, including details that prove the authenticity of collectible items. Include pictures of the item as well. Do not try to deceive potential buyers! If the item has marks or scratches, simply be honest about it, and make sure that the pictures convey this as well. State how the item will be packed and shipped. Also let potential buyers know that shipping insurance must be purchased as well – in case the item is damaged once it leaves your possession.
For higher priced items, most eBay buyers feel more comfortable using an escrow service. Offer this as an option in your auction, with the understanding that the buyer must pay for the service. This protects both parties from fraud, and it makes many buyers more open to spending the money to obtain the item. eBay has partnered with an escrow service that is commonly used for high ticket items.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Problems You May Encounter When Buying From eBay
Avoiding eBay Buying Pitfalls
As with a real market, trading on eBay is not without its hassles and snags.
First of all, it should be duly noted that eBay is an online market/transaction facilitator. It merely becomes a means for the buyer and the seller to meet.
Because of its online nature, eBay’s auction listing provides the buyers with a wide selection of goods. The buyers are also enabled to review the buyer through its feedback rating. This helps the buyer decide whether to pursue the trade or not.
The sellers on the other hand, benefit from a wider audience due to the popularity of eBay because eBay enables them to post easily, quickly, and extensively.
When eBay connects buyer and seller, the transactions truly begin…as well as the headaches.
Even with the automated nature of most of today’s transactions, eBay is still built on the basic foundation of trading: trust.
A good deal of trust is involved in eBay trading. The buyer has to trust that the seller is listing a legitimate item, and that he or she will deliver that item when paid. The seller has to trust the buyer to pay fully and without any catches.
Here are some of the problems one may encounter while buying on eBay.
Seller does not deliver product
This is the buyer’s biggest fear. However, it is also one of the most common snags buyers encounter. Usually, when closing a deal, the seller will email purchase instructions to the buyer. This will most usually include instructions for payment. The seller will then promise to have the item delivered upon receipt of payment.
If the buyer, after fulfilling his or her part, does not receive the item within the agreed upon date, he or she should immediately try contacting the seller. If this proves to be fruitless, he or she should file a complaint with eBay for assistance regarding the matter.
Seller delivers a different/defective product
Sometimes the trading is smooth. Everything goes according to schedule. However, upon receipt of the item, the buyer finds out that the item is significantly different from its description on eBay.
What should the buyer do about this?
Good communication between the buyer and seller usually brings about a speedy and satisfying end to any trading dispute. This should always be step one for disputes.
Seller cannot be contacted to close deal or for questioning
Most disputes come about due to miscommunication between seller and buyer.
But if the seller can not be contacted, that presents a bigger problem for the buyer – especially if that person has already fulfilled payment of the item. eBay may help in this regard by furnishing you with further information on the seller.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
eBay: How Important is Your Buyer's Reputation?
Your reputation as a buyer (or 'feedback rating') is the most important thing people see when they deal with you on eBay. It is on the basis of this little number that they will decide whether they can trust you or not.
Each time you buy or sell something on eBay, people can leave feedback for you, and you can leave feedback for them. This feedback can be positive, negative, or neutral, along with a comment. Your feedback rating, then, is worked out using a very simple sum: the number of positive feedback comments people have left for you, minus the number of negative ones. This means that someone with a feedback rating of 28, for example, might have 30 positive ratings and 2 negative ones.
If you are a considerate buyer, then you should find that positive feedback will just appear next to your username, without you needing to do anything. If you want to help it along, though, there are a few things you can do.
Always leave feedback for others: People will feel an obligation to leave feedback for you if you leave it for them (eBay will send you an email after each transaction to offer you the opportunity). Take the time to write a positive comment about sellers who do what they should and the chances are they'll do the same for you.
Pay promptly: Sellers love nothing more than to be paid promptly - paying as soon as the auction ends saves the seller all sorts of worry, especially if you pay by credit card or another electronic method. You will often find that your positive feedback appears within a few minutes of you paying if you pay as soon as the auction ends.
Don't be a difficult customer: Understand that your seller might take a day or so to respond to you, and perhaps a few days to send your item - harassing them is nasty and unnecessary, and won't get you good feedback.
Build relationships: If a seller sells a lot of a certain kind of thing you like, buy from them a few more times. They will be very happy to find a regular customer, and will go out of their way to leave positive feedback like 'a joy to deal with as ever'. Also, they might offer you a few special deals!
Sellers won't generally be reluctant to sell to buyers without much of a reputation, simply because it is the buyer who takes most of the risk in a transaction. It is worth remembering, however, that transactions where you are the seller and where you are the buyer are counted towards the same feedback total - so if you ever want to start selling, being a good buyer is especially worthwhile.
On eBay, people pay far more attention to sellers' ratings than they do to buyers' - most sellers can't be bothered to check their buyers' feedback, while bad feedback on a seller can (and should) be a deal-breaker. When you are buying, then, you need to worry more about the seller's reputation than you do about your own, and that's why the next email will be all about sellers' feedback ratings.
The eBay Item Listing Rules
Because eBay is such a huge marketplace, with members from all walks of life, in almost every single country around the world, it is no wonder that there are many scammers lurking about. In order to better protect the buyers, eBay has specific rules concerning the items that can be auctioned off on the site. These rules must be followed, or the person posting the item for auction can be banned from the site.
Even though there are numerous categories, items that are put up for auction really only fall into one of four categories at eBay: Prohibited, Questionable, Potentially Infringing, and Approved. Approved is the simplest category to define and understand. An approved item is any item that does not fall into one of the other three categories. That is fairly simple, right?
After the ‘approved’ category, however, it starts to get a little harder to understand – with the exception of prohibited items. A prohibited item may not be auctioned on eBay for any reason, under any circumstances. Prohibited items include alcohol, drugs, animals, tobacco, human remains or body parts of any type, lottery tickets, and governmental property. There is quite a bit more on the list, and that list can be viewed at the eBay website.
Questionable items are those that are not prohibited, but are not necessarily infringing. Adult material falls under the ‘questionable’ category. Tickets of any type may also be questionable. Law enforcement related equipment, as well as guns, knives, and other weapons are questionable items. Artifacts, food items, batteries, all hazardous chemicals and materials are also on the list of questionable items. You can auction questionable items at eBay, as long as those items meet certain conditions.
Potentially Infringing items are those that violate copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. These items are almost always some type of media, such as software, DVDs, and CDs, but the list contains other items as well, such as counterfeit items and illegal recordings. You can find out more about ‘potentially infringing’ items at the eBay website as well.
If you are unsure as to which category your item falls into, you should contact eBay with this question before setting up the auction. As a buyer, you should carefully consider the consequences of purchasing items that fall under one of the three categories above. In some cases, it may be very illegal to have some of those items in your possession – no matter how they were obtained. Before making such a purchase, or bidding on such an item, you should find out more details about the item in question, and then get some legal advice.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Weirdest Items Sold On eBay
Indeed, E-bay is today's most sought-after shopping portal in the Internet. It has created in itself a worldwide phenomenon that people get inflicted with. The joy and the thrill of bidding online create a certain diagrammatic representation of life's drama.
Consequently, due to its underlying nature, the success of E-bay can be well attributed to its wide range of market reach. Hence, a lot of people are going in or out of the arena with a number of diverse products at hand.
Because of its diversity, people all over the world resort to e-bay to sell just about anything, from the basic necessities to computer techies, and even weird stuffs.
The most common case of weird auctions on E-bay was about virginity being on sale. There were about a dozen of auctions that put one's virginity on the limelight. There was even one auction that sold for $10,000,000 with 17 bidders at the most. Though, there was no clear implication if the report was true enough.
Next, there were cases of auctioned letters from a serial killer being sold at 1500 pounds each.
Then, there was one auction about a man who is selling his "fully functioning" kidneys. The reported bid amount was $5.7 million. There was no way to verify the truth, but reports said that the sale did not push through.
There is much other weird stuff like one night stand with someone's wife, ghost in a jar, ghost cane, and air guitar, which were all sold, just for the heck of getting a sale on E-bay.
But among all, the report about a 10-year old Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich that sold for $28,000 was the most sensationalized and the weirdest stuff ever sold on E-bay. The seller was an old woman from Miami, Florida.
According to MSNBC, (this means it's for real) E-bay had deliberately post back the auction last November 2004 after it inadvertently pulled the auction out from the list, thinking it was just a hoax.
The GoldenPalace.com, an online casino, had won the auction. Executives of the company said that $28,000 was nothing compared to the privilege of getting to own this 10-year old half-bitten sandwich bearing the face of Virgin Mary.
Consequently, the fact that the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich was already 10 years old and still it did not bear any traces of mold. That made those who read and have seen the auction go "Huh?"
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
eBay: What To Do When After Winning A Bid And Then Changing Your Mind?
As the old adage goes, nobody's perfect. There are things in this life that people do at an instance only to change his or her mind after a few minutes or so.
On eBay, there are instances wherein online shoppers or bidders may find retracting a bid inevitable due to some unforeseen circumstances. Others find it tricky and sellers may find it maddening. But whatever the point is, buyers may still retract their bids even if they won the item.
As much as the seller would be professional about the matter, buyers should also, by all means, do the most civilized thing - inform the seller about the reason why he or she would not push through with the sale.
However, buyers may also do this legally, that is in accordance to the eBay policies. Buyers may declare a "clear error" especially when there were things done inadvertently. For example, the bidder mistakenly typed $100 instead of $10.
When things like these happened, the buyer has to make appropriate actions at once. All they have to do is to tick the "Services" link situated on top of the navigation bar. On services, the buyer should tap the "Retract Your Bid" link found on the "Bidding and Buying Services" section. The item number should be placed on the space provided in the Bid Retractions page.
Automated explanations are available and can be used by the bidder. Then, after the buyer had clicked on the "Retract Bid" tab, the bid amount will be deleted from the auction.
The eBay management, in reality, is reasonable on things like these. In fact, eBay may accept whatever reasons buyers have whenever they want to pull back a certain bid. But then, it may pose harm on the bidder's reputation in the future.
This can be tolerable especially if the reasons are valid, but nevertheless, it's still a big no-no when doing business on eBay. In the first place, it was clearly stated on the buyer's guide that the bid serves as a contract that binds the buyer to a commitment to make the necessary purchase of the item he or she had won.
What's more, bidders may even lose the credibility and the chance to bid at some point especially if their bidding history were made known to most sellers.
Indeed, retracting bids on eBay is not such a good practice to make, and can be a hard habit to break.
All of these things boil down on one common point. That is, the buyer should never bid on an item if he or she is not yet even sure of buying it.
Do You Need To Sell Before You Profit from eBay?
Since its inception, eBay seemed to be godsend entity to many especially those who want to find a lucrative way of earning a living. A lot of people contend that it is only with eBay that they were able to supplement their finances and extra necessities.
But the question of the majority still remains. Do people really need to sell something first before they can profit from eBay?
The answer is, undeniably, yes! Here some facts about eBay to support the answer:
The nature of eBay is focused on one thing: ONLINE MARKETING.
The concept behind eBay is the fact that it is an auction website. Therefore, to gain profit in a site like eBay is to sell something. It involves monetary transactions and deals, a niche market, and some strategies that can be commonly found in a typical market site.
Hence, a person that has no intentions of selling something on eBay does not actually have any business on eBay.
However, others may contend that buying a quality at the same time affordable product can also be considered as a profit. But nevertheless, taking a closer look at what profit really means, all of these boils down to the fact that whoever earns money benefits more.
Everything is a commodity.
Nowadays, everything seems to be a commodity, from mobile phones to even ideas. With an increasing rate on financial crisis, everybody seems to be finding ways how to earn a living. This goes to show why there are people who sell even the weirdest thing on eBay.
Some may assert that these things may not be true at all. But the question is, what if it is, indeed, true? What if there is really somebody out there who is in dire need of money and that there is nothing that he or she can trade but his or her own virginity?
These things may seem like too nuisance and may seem cheaper than what they had bargain for, but when necessities butts in, it's down to a now or never battle in life.
Indeed, the realities of life are clearly manifested on the kind of transactions that goes on in eBay. In fact, what eBay has on its context is the same as what goes on in real life. Like eBay, life is like an auction, there are those who win and there are those who lose.
With all these facts, the concept of whether a person has to sell something first just to profit from eBay breaks down to two realities in life: money, thus, makes the world go round, and that profit is claimed where there is money.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Know All You Can Before Selling on eBay
So you've decided that you want to get started as a seller on eBay. There are a few things that you really need to know before you go and throw yourself in at the deep end.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
You Wouldn't Want to Miss these EBay Income Possibilities
If you've ever read an article about eBay, you will have seen the kinds of incomes people make - it isn't unusual to hear of people making thousands of dollars per month on eBay.
Next time you're on eBay, take a look at how many PowerSellers there are: you'll find quite a few. Now consider that every single one of them must be making at least $1,000 per month, as that's eBay's requirement for becoming a PowerSeller. Silver PowerSellers make at least $3,000 each month, while Gold PowerSellers make more than $10,000, and the Platinum level is $25,000. The top ranking is Titanium PowerSeller, and to qualify you must make at least $150,000 in sales every month!
The fact that these people exist gives you an idea of the income possibilities here. Most of them never set out to even set up a business on eBay - they simply started selling a few things, and then kept going. There are plenty of people whose full-time job is selling things on eBay, and some of them have been doing it for years now. Can you imagine that? Once they've bought the stock, everything else is pretty much pure profit for these people - they don't need to pay for any business premises, staff, or anything else. There are multi-million pound businesses making less in actual profit than eBay PowerSellers do.
Even if you don't want to quit your job and really go for it, you can still use eBay to make a significant second income. You can pack up orders during the week and take them down to the post office for delivery each Saturday. There are few other things you could be doing with your spare time that have anywhere near that kind of earning potential.
What's more, eBay doesn't care who you are, where you live, or what you look like: some PowerSellers are very old, or very young. Some live out in the middle of nowhere where selling on eBay is one of the few alternatives to farming or being very poor. eBay tears down the barriers to earning that the real world constantly puts up. There's no job interview and no commuting involved - if you can post things, you can do it.
Put it this way: if you know where to get something reasonably cheap that you could sell, then you can sell it on eBay - and since you can always get discounts for bulk at wholesale, that's not exactly difficult. Buy a job lot of something in-demand cheaply, sell it on eBay, and you're making money already, with no set-up costs.
If you want to dip your toe in the water before you commit to actually buying anything, then you can just sell things that you've got lying around in the house. Search through that cupboard of stuff you never use, and you'll probably find you've got a few hundred dollars' worth of stuff lying around in there! This is the power of eBay: there is always someone who wants what you're selling, whatever it might be, and since they've come looking for you, you don't even need to do anything to get them to buy it.
So you want to get started on eBay? Well, that's great! There are only a few little things you need to learn to get started.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A New Way To Make Money With eBay
When you hear "eBay" and "money" in the same sentence your probably think of becoming an eBay seller.
You place product listings in the eBay marketplace, buyers bid, you pay your eBay seller fees and what you have left is your profit margin.
There is, however, another way to build a business which still revolves around eBay but which doesn’t involve you selling a single thing in the eBay marketplace.
This "other way" opportunity is based on the eBay affiliate program and a great tool which makes entry into this opportunity not only possible but also super easy. This tool is called "Build A Niche Store".
Now if you don’t know – an affiliate program enables you as an individual internet entrepreneur to promote the products of a company in exchange for a commission on all sales that you refer.
You are basically operating as an internet middleman and connecting internet browsers to particular products and companies through you own network of websites and marketing methods.
If we return to the eBay affiliate program, eBay actually invites you to promote all of the product listings in the eBay marketplace and in exchange for your efforts will pay you up to 75% of the revenue they make from each sale you refer plus up to $35 for each new active eBay member you refer.
You can have a read about the eBay.com affiliate program here
What this means is that you can earn up to three quarters of eBay’s revenue simply for connecting people to the products listed in the eBay marketplace.
Not only do you get to partner with the best branded marketplace in the world, you also get access to and control over ALL of the products listed in this marketplace. The eBay product inventory becomes YOUR product inventory and yet you do NOT have to stock items, deal with customers, organize shipping or process refunds.
You are no longer limited to selling only those products which you can buy and sell for a profit margin. You can choose ANY niche market and promote those eBay products relevant to your chosen niche outside of the eBay marketplace, funneling targeted traffic through to eBay and into your own affiliate commissions.
Golf clubs, sewing kits, laptops, dog collars, diamond rings, Florida real estate…
If you know eBay you know how BIG it is – there are NO limits.
At this point you might be thinking - well this sounds interesting but in reality is there any money in it? Well, here’s the shocker – eBay's top affiliates make over 1 million dollars a month. That’s right – 8 figures a year without stocking, selling or shipping a single thing!
Now eBay does provide some basic free tools to help you succeed as an eBay affiliate and build an affiliate business BUT it has been the development of a tool outside of eBay that has really opened this up as a legitimate business opportunity.
The tool, as I mentioned earlier, is called "Build A Niche Store" and what it enables you to do is build eBay affiliate websites targeted to any eBay niche you want. These act as the medium through which you funnel targeted visitors to eBay.
Here are a couple of examples, one targeting Race Cars and the other Golf Equipment:
Race Car eBay Affiliate Website
Golf eBay Affiliate Website
As you can see, these are professional looking websites that contain all of those eBay products related to their target niche inside a searchable store format, each of which automatically contains your eBay affiliate id.
These stores then automatically update as new products are listed for sale and old listing expire from the eBay marketplace and the software has built in development features which enable you to create new store pages, add content to these pages, create content pages, modify your template etc etc.
Basically, in the space of about 10 minutes (once you are familiar with how the software works) you can create a fully functional eBay affiliate website targeted to the niche market of your choice.
Your store content is all search engine friendly which will provide the foundation
for attracting targeted traffic from the search engines and you can then use the development features to attract more targeted visitors which will in turn mean more eBay affiliate commissions.
It really is a brilliant concept and I’ve been hearing great things about the guys behind the project and the member forum which you get lifetime access to when you purchase the product.
Build A Niche Store comes with a step by step user manual which will walk even the most technically inexperienced through setting up their eBay affiliate website, 9 professional template layouts which can be customized (from inside your admin panel) to match your target niche, lifetime member forum access, comprehensive product support and possibly most importantly – an UNLIMITED domain license which means you can build as many of these niche websites as you want for the small one time fee.
Think about how many niches eBay caters to!
How big could your eBay affiliate business be?!
This product gets my full recommendation – check it out today…
Click Here To Read More About Build A Niche Store
Monday, November 12, 2007
Tips for eBay First Timers
1. Get advice from experience eBay sellers before you start doing anything to develop your eBay marketing efforts.
2. Evaluate each of the marketing tools that eBay has to offer. Make sure that you can take full advantage of these marketing tools to assist you in developing your eBay business.
3. Serious about developing your eBay store. Your store is a crucial element in determining your success in eBay.
4. Take time to create an effective and responsive customer service program. Good customer service is important to your overall success for your business.
5. Think out of the box - consider other best eBay income generation ideas, you'll be able to lay the groundwork for your own eBay marketing efforts.
