Biz sense in the online arena

More EBay news

2008-12-17T23:36:00.001-08:00

In October, eBay enforced limits on shipping and handling charges for what eBay calls its most competitive categories: Media - Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games. Sellers listing these items, after the limits go into effect, will be required to offer at least one shipping option within eBay's specified limit. Sellers may also provide other options that are above the maximums for expedited or international shipping. These maximum shipping charges apply to the first flat-rate shipping service within or into the U.S. Merchants are required to offer at least one shipping option within the maximum.

Lorrie Norrington, President of eBay Marketplaces, has previously said that enforcing shipping limits is designed to protect buyers from excessive shipping charges.

But one of the biggest concerns expressed by sellers is that they will lose money with set shipping limits, as not all CDs and DVDs, for example, are the same size. At times, vendors may have a specialty box set, or an antique book, for instance, that will require them to go beyond the set shipping limits for those types of items.

EBay has addressed this concern in a public announcement discussion forum by saying that sellers with an unusual media item that is too heavy or too valuable to fit within the shipping limits can use the Shipping Calculator instead of the shipping max limit. When listing an unusual item within a media category that will require extra for shipping, sellers will need to clearly describe why the item is non-standard to prevent having the listing removed for excessive shipping.

Lastly, we all know that shipping is tied to Best Match search results. And while eBay has accommodated sellers who list unusual items in media categories, they have not changed Best Match search functions to "forgive" sellers with these unusual items in a category that requires higher shipping charges.

Don't forget to visit the initial posts,Earning money online to start from.

More about eBay DSR-3

2008-12-16T23:41:00.000-08:00

In the last post I had discussed about a minimum DSR level of 4.3. So the question arises “What Sellers Can Do If Their Level Drops Below 4.3”

Sellers who do not meet the minimum required DSR will be blocked from listing on eBay.com, eBay Motors Parts & Accessories and Half.com. It's important to note, however, that being blocked does not means suspended, it means you will be prevented from listing new items until the DSR goes back up. Any items you have listed at the time will remain active, and in many cases, successful completion of those listings resulting in high DSR scores being awarded by the buyer may be enough to put any DSR score back over the 4.3 threshold.

Sellers should also note that if the 12-month DSRs are above the minimum standard, you can wait for low DSRs over the last 30 days to roll off until the 30-day DSRs are above the threshold or a full 30-days have passed. If 12-month DSRs are below the threshold, you can also wait until the low DSRs expire.

Sellers have the next three months to work on their DSR scores to ensure they remain above the new 4.3 minimum. For those concerned mainly about the possibility of their shipping time and shipping and handling DSR falling, eBay suggests sellers do the following:

Ship as soon as possible after you receive payment.
Specify your shipping policies in the shipping details section of your listing; specify when you ship after receiving payment.
Be specific about the shipping services you offer, including delivery time for each service.
Offer a shipping service that provides tracking numbers.
Specify details such as service and cost in the shipping details section of your listing.
Use calculated shipping to determine actual shipping cost to your buyer's location.
Offer discounts for shipping multiple items in one order. Your customer will see other items you have for sale, be happy to save on shipping, and most likely leave you a great rating.
Provide details about any handling or packaging costs in the item description.

More about eBay DSR-2

2008-12-16T02:37:00.001-08:00

DSR is an area that has many sellers worried about how frequently their items will be seen in Best Match searches and how they will be viewed by a prospective buyer. A seller's DSR is made up of ratings in four areas; item as described, communication, shipping time, and shipping and handling charges. Using DSR lets buyers rate the seller on a one-to-five-star scale in these four key areas. Buyers and sellers can only access a seller's score; they cannot see the exact score or comment left by an individual buyer.

Changes to the DSR, dubbed "DSR 4.3" will require sellers to maintain a minimum 4.3 DSR rating across all four DSR categories, over the prior 30-day or 12-month period — depending on volume — to list on the site. For example, sellers with less than 10 DSRs over the past 30 days will be evaluated on their DSRs over the last 12 months.

For most sellers, the main issue is how they are rated by buyers on shipping charges and delivery time. Many eBay merchants are frustrated over shipping issues because, to some extent, they have no control over what happens to the product once it's out of their hands. In short, once the item has been shipped, and is in the hands of the carrier, a seller cannot physically get the item to the buyer any faster.

Unfortunately, in the eBay discussion forums, sellers are reporting that despite doing everything they can to boost shipping, some buyers will score them low here, even when a seller is working the shipping process in an honest and speedy fashion. There are also some sellers, even those maintaining DSR scores well above the new 4.3 minimum, who just say the DSR system is too much. Scarletslounge (who has excellent positive feedback and 4.6 to 4.8 DSR scores) is one seller who posted in the public forum, saying that anything four and above shows a good seller.

Meanwhile, eBay says that right now only a small fraction of sellers fall below this threshold, but the same small percentage of sellers below a 4.3 DSR are actually responsible for a high percentage of customer complaints. So, to penalize this tiny percentage of sellers, eBay decided to implement the strict rules for all sellers. The problem with this, according to many sellers using public forums to discuss DSR, is that by enforcing a 4.3 minimum, sellers are being forced into doing things they really can't afford to do, such as offering free shipping and taking the loss simply because they are afraid a buyer will score them low enough on shipping and handling charges that they may see their DSR drop below the 4.3 minimum.

More about eBay DSR

2008-12-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

Detailed Seller Ratings at eBay

2008-12-14T03:09:00.000-08:00

In early 2007, eBay introduced a new twist to the feedback system called Feedback 2.0. As part of Feedback 2.0, eBay introduced Detailed Seller Ratings – four new ‘Criteria' that buyers can anonymously rate sellers on. The Criteria include:

Item as described
Communication
Shipping time
Shipping and handling charges

Each DSR is rated on a scale of one to 5 stars. In late 2007, eBay announced that they will begin advantaging sellers with high DSRs in the search results and disadvantaging (and even taking trust and safety actions) for those sellers with low DSRs.

DSRs are going to be as important, if not MORE important than overall feedback starting in 2008.

You can learn more about DSRs on eBay here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/detailed-seller-ratings.html.

EBay's Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) have probably managed to irk more eBay sellers than any other changes the auction giant ever implemented. From the year 2008 a new minimum Detailed Seller Rating requirement will be implemented. This new minimum will require sellers to have at least a 4.3 across all four DSR categories, over the prior 30-day or 12-month period, depending on volume, in order to list on the site.

Lastly, a quick reminder that as of yesterday neutral feedbacks are no longer counted as a part of a seller's Positive Feedback percentage. Due to the timing of this change, neutrals will not impact PowerSeller eligibility for August.

The use of Checks and Money Orders on eBay

2008-12-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

EBay says that checks and money orders will no longer be accepted on eBay after this fall. The company's reasoning: it says that check or money orders are 80 percent more likely to result in an "item not received" (INR) than those paid with credit card or PayPal. However, buyers can still use these payment methods for item pick-up, at the seller's discretion. EBay also says this change is prompted by its upcoming checkout system that will only support electronic payment methods, including a seller's own Internet merchant account for direct payments. Obviously merchant accounts will be a huge benefit to many bigger and business-focused sellers, but this still leaves the many casual and part-time sellers out in the cold.

Currently eBay's Mature Audience category is one that prohibits the use of PayPal, but on the eBay Discussion forums, some sellers are speculating that by the time eBay removes paper purchase options in favor of electronic payments, PayPal may very well be accepted in this category. EBay has long said that it will never make the auction site PayPal-only, however, by removing the ability for sellers to accept checks or money orders, eBay has removed all payment options that are cheaper than PayPal.

Shipping Limits Introduced in Media Category

2008-12-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Again, eBay is blowing the free shipping horn by offering free shipping incentives in all categories, plus introducing new shipping charge limits in the Media category. Shipping costs are seen as a problem for many buyers, and eBay has been getting tough on sellers they think charge too much for shipping.

While eBay is offering several shipping incentives, it will also introduce limits on shipping and handling charges in one of the auction site's biggest and most competitive categories — Media — which includes Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games. Under the new rules, sellers listing these items will be required to offer at least one shipping option within a specified limit.

The dollar limits set by eBay were based partly on what e-commerce competitors typically charge for shipping. This, according to eBay, will ensure that buyers encounter fewer excessive shipping charges. Some examples of shipping limits are as follows:

Audiobooks: Max shipping price of $4
Children's Books: Max shipping price of $4
Blank Diaries & Journals: Max shipping price of $5
Wholesale & Bulk Lots (Audiobooks): Max shipping price of $10
DVD, HD DVD & Blu-ray DVD, HD DVD & Blu-ray: Max shipping price of $3
VHS: Max shipping price of $3
Wholesale Lots DVDs: 101-250 Items Max shipping price of $3

EBay's complete shipping limit chart can be read here.

A summary of annual updates at eBay

2008-12-11T04:02:00.000-08:00

This year EBay announced new fixed-price listing fees, new media shipping charge limits and gets tougher with new DSR minimums. Plus, the auction giant plans to cut paper payments and enable merchant accounts for direct payments in a new checkout system this fall.

This year eBay has really shifted its focus to buyer satisfaction — often at the dismay of many of its sellers. Today's big eBay announcement shows that eBay is still on track and fully committed to keeping its buyers happy.

Starting Sept. 16, eBay will be changing its pricing to reduce start-up costs for sellers. To do this, eBay will lower the listing fee for all items sold in the fixed price format to only 35 cents in all categories, except Media which has been reduced to a 15-cent insertion fee.

Sellers can also take advantage of a special 5-cent rate on Buy It Now listings in the Media categories using pre-filled item information until year-end. The listing duration of all Buy It Now fixed price listings is also being increased to 30 days, up from seven, with an option for automatic renewal. With the new fees this enables sellers to list in Buy It Now fixed price listings for 30 days at 35 cents.

There is the decreased listing fee which is good news for sellers, but unfortunately there will also be changes to Final Value Fees (FvF). EBay is shifting the costs to sellers by way of final fees instead of listing fees.

More in another post.

Some more e-commerce sites-4

2008-12-10T05:15:00.000-08:00

Continuing from the previous post, I shall discuss here more about E-junkie in this one.

If your business offers non-digital goods, you can set the quantity and time limit for any product that you promote, which is a great for selling goods such as calling cards, event tickets and more.

To assist with shipping, E-junkie calculates the total weight of the purchased products and applies customizable rules to determine the most efficient packaging to ship them. E-junkie then refers to USPS for U.S. merchants or a configurable shipping table to estimate the shipping cost based on the weight and destination.

E-junkie's cart also calculates and charges sales tax by matching a buyer's location with its taxable region. If you use the VAT option, prevailing rates will be based on a customer's location relative to that of your business. To work internationally, E-junkie supports various currencies that include the US Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro, Yen, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.

Some more e-commerce sites-3

2008-12-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Carrying on from where the previous post left, when customers visit your site, they'll see E-junkie's "Buy Now" and "Cart" buttons and can click on them to purchase items. And after making a sale, E-junkie conveniently accepts payments via PayPal, Google Checkout, 2CheckOut and ClickBank accounts and offers built-in shipping, sales tax and VAT calculators when working with non-downloadable products.

You can sells goods on any number of sites and manage them through E-junkie's administration site. And once you have pasted the button code into your site, you should never have to change it even if you alter prices or other details.

If your company sells downloads such as e-books, MP3 files, software or digital images or artwork, E-junkie can store your products on its server so you don't have to deal with hosting space. The company's storage facilities are separate from publicly accessed Web folders, which should make them quite secure.

After payment, buyers are sent an e-mail that includes a link to download the product. The links are designed to be hack-proof and expire after a designated number of downloads or a time limit that you set.

The program also supports PIN codes. This is handy, for example, when selling phone cards or programs that require a registration code for activation. Another strong capability, E-junkie can call a script and apply a code that's generated by it.

Some more e-commerce sites-2

2008-12-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

There is another site called E-junkie which offers powerful capability to quickly create and integrate sales features into a Web site. The service is particularly good for selling downloadable products such as software and MP3 and video files. And what's particularly buzz-worthy is that the service has no transaction or bandwidth limits and no setup or transaction fees. Its low price starts at $5 per month and tops out at $125 per month, depending on the number of products that you sell.

The company recently released its "FatFreeCart," its next generation online shopping cart that is browser independent, works inside a site without relying on pop-ups or the installation of additional software and supports leading payment systems such as PayPal, Google Checkout and 2CheckOut. It is indeed a seamless way to add e-commerce features to your site, as well as sell products on eBay, MySpace, Google Base and Yahoo Stores.

To incorporate E-junkie's sales features, all you have to do is define and describe your products in a form and then paste the resulting code into your sites. The code defines a button that can also be integrated into a stand-alone blog or Myspace profile. Each product that you wish to sell gets its own E-junkie "buy now" and "add to cart" buttons. There's no programming involved and it can take less than three minutes to define the product and generate the code.

Buttons are easy to create. In E-junkie, simply go to the administration ("admin") page and click the "Add Product" option. After entering the name and price for a product and customizing its accompanying e-mail message, which can offer instructions, warnings, thank-you notes and more, the service generates the button code, which you may then paste into Web pages through editors such as Macromedia Dreamweaver.

More about this site in the next post.

Some more e-commerce sites

2008-12-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

There is another site called as PayLoadz which provides means to market and sell downloadable products such as music, software, e-books and other files. PayLoadz offers an easy and powerful e-commerce service. It also manages the transactions through eBay and provides the server space to store the files.

After uploading and configuring your products, PayLoadz generates software code that you simply paste into your Web site and that adds a "Buy Now" button. And beyond secure storage and transactions, PayLoadz carries out file delivery and handles product key registrations. Overall, it's a seamless path to selling digital goods on the Web.

Setting up a PayLoadz account is a simple matter of defining your name, e-mail and PayPal account. If you don't already have a PayPal account, you'll need to create one and then configure PayLoadz to work with it. The service does a great job of walking you through this setup process. If you've already worked with eBay and PayPal, you should encounter no problems here.

With the accounts configured, you're ready to enter the products that you wish to sell. A product page asks for item name, ID number and selling price and allows you to write a "thank you" note that will appear in a customer's e-mail along with the download instructions.

You define the file format (pdf, exe, mp3 and so on), delivery file format (for example, "zip") and file type (video, music, e-book). After that, you can add product descriptions and link images as well as define keywords that will optimize Web searches and help customers find your site.

After defining each product, an upload function guides you through the process of uploading your digital files onto PayLoadz' servers. With files in place, PayLoadz generates code that you paste into your Web site that defines and presents a shopping cart button.

More Places To Sell Digital Goods

2008-12-05T23:34:00.000-08:00

If you have a skill of your own which you can teach to others through the digital media, there's a place for you to show off — and sell — your stuff called as Zipidee, looking to provide the storefront and tools to allow you to publish, protect, promote and profit by selling your original digital content.

The platform currently supports videos, audiobooks, podcasts and music, with e-books, games and ring tones coming in the near future. Ebay allowed people to take what was in their attic and turn it into an online store. We are doing the same thing, but for digital goods. There's a market that exists offline where people are already selling to a large audience. This site provides everything they need to sell online and set their own pricing and payment model. The company will convert DVDs and such content to digital download format for free and lets you set your own pricing model, whether it be rental, subscription-based or a flat fee for a download. Wong said sellers can also choose how to sell their content. For instance, they can decide to offer an entire video or e-book, sell individual chapters or bundle together different formats, say, an e-book and a video.

Reporting and Promotion
In a format similar to eBay, sellers have a "My Zipidee" page with a control panel that lets them list items for sale, set pricing and insert meta tags, descriptions, titles, keyword tags and so on. They can create thumbnail video captures so customers can preview content, and set it for a selected time-frame or for the first two minutes. For content that may need it, sellers can also place ratings, such as PG-13.

The "My Zipidee" page also shows the history of sales for each buyer, so you can see how much you've sold, what profit was generated for each sale and so on, and this data can be exported to Excel.

And, if you already have a Web shop or page in a social network, you can use Zipidee's promotional and affiliate widgets.

In addition, Zipidee also offers a proprietary digital rights management platform as well as digital watermarking, Wong said, "so you don't have to worry that your stuff ends up on YouTube." Vendors simply choose to opt in or out during the registration process.

More about selling digital goods

2008-12-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

If you want a fast and secure option of a service for handling electronic payments and secure digital product delivery and have the space to host your own files, ByteCommerce is the answer for you. Once you have your files online you can then use this service to redirect your customers from your own Web space to ByteCommerce for checkout. ByteCommerce handles the electronic payment thought PayPal and the customer can then download the purchased electronic goods or get the registration code for the product from a secure ByteCommerce page.

Once you have registered on the ByteCommerce Web site, you are able to access an author dashboard that lets you add products to the ByteCommerce catalogue. To add a product you must provide a product title, price and the URL to the product page. You can also specify a serial code to be provided when the customer pays and also specify special discount coupon codes. Once you have your product added to the catalogue you can then generate the HTML code that renders the button that customers will click to purchase your products. This code can also be sent to a customer who has purchased your item from an online auction or Web store.

ByteCommerce doesn't physically host your files, except when it has been purchased by a customer. This means you will need to provide the URL of where the file is hosted on your own Web site, which should be in a secure folder with a to prevent unauthorized file downloads. When an order is received for the digital item, the file is dynamically downloaded by ByteCommerce from the URL you specified. It is then stored on their server for the customer to download. The file is kept on the ByteCommerce server for a certain amount of days, and if there are no more sales, the file is deleted until the product is ordered by another customer. If you do not have your own Web site you can also store the files with one of many free Web hosting services.

Since there isn't a physical hosting of files, using ByteCommerce is cheaper than many of the digital goods e-commerce services. ByteCommerce forgoes set-up and commission plans in favor of a single straightforward commission plan. Payments for sold digital items go directly to your own PayPal account. For every 20 copies of a file sold, the 20th order is directed to ByteCommerce as payment for their services. ByteCommerce does not set any time length restrictions on sales and its commission.

2008-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

There are some online websites that allow you to sell digital goods online. One of them is Tradebit which offers merchants and publishers an eShop for selling their digital goods. The service is favoring its Publisher's account, which is tailored to meet the needs of self-publishers, including musicians, writers, amateur movie makers and others. The Publisher's service lets you upload and sell PDF, MP3, FLV, and several image formats including JPG, GIF and BMP. For those creating and selling in other formats, Tradebit provides details on free file conversion programs to help you get your goods into compatible formats.

To list and sell using Tradebit, you first must register on the Web site. After activating your account you can then start uploading your digital goods, , with a maximum file size per file of 2GB, through JAVA FTP, JAVA HTTP, Browser Upload or you can even use an FTP client. After the files have been uploaded, through your account dashboard you choose a category and also edit details of the item including thumbnail views, price, description, tags, and so on. After providing the details, you get the automatically generated PayPal button code that can be used on your own Web site.

If you create your upload as a public file and include a description, your product will also be listed in Tradebit directories which can help increase exposure to your online digital goods.

Using the Tradebit Publisher's account will send purchase payments directly to Tradebit, with your earnings deposited to your own PayPal account twice monthly. Sales generated through any Tradebit Web property will incur a 10 to 25 percent commission, with lower rates for higher volume and quality content sellers. When using your own Web space to sell your digital goods, the sale itself is free, with PayPal fees still applicable. The Publisher account also provides you with 99GB of storage.

Selling digital goods online

2008-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

When selling digital goods online, most merchants tend to invest as much time and effort as those selling physical goods, but normally the overhead and start-up costs are significantly less, which is why e-goods are such a popular choice for auction-style listings and storefronts.

However, eBay vendors who sell digital goods are facing a dilemma: starting today they can no longer list their inventory in auctions, as the company employs a new policy stating that digital goods may only be sold in the classified ad format.

Fortunately, the Internet offers online sellers many choices for selling digital goods such as computer game items, custom-designed sewing patterns, e-books, digital images, music — anything that can be provided to the consumer in an electronic format. For eBay merchants and other online sellers looking for alternative places from which to sell digital goods, here are three online services available to you.

E-Commerce Site Checklist

2008-11-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

If you have the opportunity to set up an E-commerce site the following outline could be used for setting it up:

Create an Online Plan

Assess the opportunity and check out the competition
Define vision and metrics of success
Figure out the cost of doing business online
Determine tasks and staffing needs

Establish your Merchandising Approach

Inventory
Merchandising focus
Promotions plan
Merchandising calendar
Integrate across channels

Figure out the Moving Pieces: Logistics, Shipping, Fulfillment, Customer Service

Set up a merchant account; establish payment method(s)
Determine shipping options and policies
Think about how you want to fulfill orders — in house or outsource
Establish customer service policies and get toll-free number and email address

Select the Right Technologies

Domain name
Hosting service
E-mail/list management
E-commerce engine/platform/storefront
Analytics & reporting tool

Develop the Web site

Product photography
Product copy
Product tagging/attributes
Site design
Site search
Online marketing program covering SEO, SEM, viral campaigns, online affiliations and public relations as well as online advertising.

Be Ready to Adjust

More about drop shipping-7

2008-11-27T02:30:00.001-08:00

The "Secret" of Drop-Shipping Success
Launching an online store that uses drop-shipping to fulfill orders is comparatively easy. Hire a Web designer to build a site, post some photos and product descriptions from wholesalers, and — like magic — you're running an e-commerce site. But building that store and making it a real success are two different things. To attract actual paying customers, that store must offer far more than a selection of goods that shoppers can find elsewhere. The biggest mistake that small online sellers make is that, they forget the fact that they're a retailer and they need to add value, they need to market the product. As easy as it is to carry virtual inventory, it hasn't made it any easier to be a retailer in the sense that your job is to have a unique value proposition, a reason for somebody to buy from you. Anyone can post a photo of a glitzy new digital camera. But the best retailers in the world, they take that and say, 'I used this camera in my backpacking trip and it changed my life'. Other techniques that retailers use to establish a brand identity include offering a library of articles about their products, and hosting the opinions of industry experts. Customers respect retailers who have a deep understanding of the products they sell. Regardless of how you build your brand, leveraging the technology of drop-shipping can help you operate your business more efficiently. Just be sure to consider how inventory controlled, be sure the firm you hire has a proven track record of delivering goods and be sure it can accept your order protocol.

More about drop shipping-6

2008-11-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

Detecting Fraud
It's not often talked about in e-commerce but it's a huge problem: fraud. Unlike the face-to-face transactions in commercial storefronts (which also deal with credit card fraud), online transactions take place between two parties who don't know each other.

Some big e-tailers budget 2 to 3 percent for losses to fraud. But for small sellers working on razor-thin margins, that's not realistic.

Furthermore, drop-shipping adds a third party into the transaction. It's a little bit easier for people who are looking to be bad people to use the disadvantages of drop-shipping to defraud individuals.

Some companies go to the extent of covering up the transactions between the retailer and the other party, but this is an exception and not the rule.

More about drop shippers-5

2008-11-25T00:30:00.000-08:00

Tight Margins
It's inexpensive to get started with drop-shipping. Some companies charge its retailers a monthly subscription fee, ranging from $30 to about $70, depending on the services required. But working with a drop-shipper is not a path to easy riches. For a retailer, drop-shipping typically provides smaller profit margins than if they carried actual inventory.

Given the nature of drop-shipping, these tight margins are to be expected. The supplier is taking all the risk and covering the expense of holding inventory, plus handling fulfillment and shipping. All the retailer does is post a photo and description of the item on their site.

Some companies can offer a better wholesale price for retailers because it aggregates the purchasing power of its many retailers to negotiate a competitive rate. Margins differ greatly among the many product categories, from consumer electronics to home and garden to camping equipment, and may even vary from product to product within a category. One notoriously slim-margined category is electronics. Overall, the margins vary from "10 percent to 90 percent," he says. But it's reasonable to assume the majority of products offer margins near the smaller end of that scale.

More about drop shippers-4

2008-11-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

There are some companies who handle drop-shipping for small and midsize retailers.

They handle all the communication for the retailers and the retailer doesn't need to know that supplier A is sending data in XML and supplier B is sending flat files that go to an FTP site, and supplier C just hired three people to manually do all the work."

The companies enable retailers to monitor suppliers' inventory levels, allowing sellers' sites to accurately (and quickly) reflect remote product offerings. With a few clicks of a button retailers can fire [a product] off to eBay or eBay Stores, and take the pictures and the descriptions from the supplier and leverage that to make it easier to list the product for sale to the consumer. (Although lookout for an eBay Certified Service Provider.) Retailers, of course, don't have to purchase the products before they post them - they owe nothing until a shopper actually buys them.

More about drop shipping-3

2008-11-22T03:06:00.000-08:00

By the early 2000's, drop-shipping was no longer seen as a magic cure-all for every Internet retailing woe. Many retailers who were setting up shop online carried their own inventory, giving them a competitive advantage over virtual inventory sites. Plenty of businesses began viewing drop-shipping with a pronounced disdain.

Data Translation
Fortunately, the technology for carrying virtual inventory has improved significantly. Some companies in the business of drop-shipping for big retailers, offer "universal connectivity hub," between suppliers and sellers. This hub is a central clearinghouse for data exchange, with the ability to translate as many communication protocols as the United Nations translates languages.

Retailers, instead of having to wonder about a wholesaler's inventory level, can now view those levels remotely. And store owners have a "dashboard" to monitor whether a supplier is breaking any of their pre-set delivery rules.

Although big companies handle mostly larger players, some do work with some smaller retailers. Generally, though, a retailer must be making a minimum of around 2,000 transactions per month for it to be cost efficient to work with. The company's initial implementation fee can vary wildly, ranging from $500 to $150,000, depending on factors like volume.

More about drop shippers-2

2008-11-21T00:05:00.001-08:00

Many of these snafus were caused by slow, inefficient communication between wholesalers and e-tailers. In many cases they sent orders back and forth via fax or e-mail, or even — gasp — used the phone. Orders had to be keyed in manually and were prone to human error.

Even for those companies that sent information electronically using EDI or XML, obstacles were numerous. Businesses tend to do things their own way, all the way down to the number of digits in a purchase order number. Or how many lines they use in purchase orders, or how many words are allowed in each field of a purchase order. Consequently, drop-shipping created as many problems as it solved. The problems usually were the suppliers' fault.

For suppliers, it was a foreign concept to ship, say, one camera to a buyer's home. They were used to shipping pallets of products to retailers. Worse still, as Internet commerce rocketed, the demand for drop-shipping companies exploded, leading plenty of shady salesmen to set up drop-ship firms. Sure, they would take a store owner's money, but would they ship the product, that was the question?

Make Drop-shipping Work

2008-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

As Internet retailing was getting started in the mid '90s, online storeowners assumed drop-shipping would be the answer to their every worry. Little did they know it's an issue still being worked out today. Still, progress is being made in the technology, including standardization protocols and remote inventory-watch functions, and vendors can stand to gain from the distribution method if they know what to consider before signing up.

Filling orders through drop-shipping (sometimes called "virtual inventory") meant that site owners could route all their orders to wholesalers, who shipped directly to customers. For e-tailers, this eliminated the expense of carrying inventory - and the risk of being stuck with it if it didn't sell.

Online retailers assumed the days of needing a warehouse were coming to a close. And pity those poor brick-and-mortar stores who actually had to stock goods. They would probably be extinct by about 2005 or so.

But, there were service issues — in fact there were all kinds of issues with virtual inventory. Customers placed orders, retailers routed it to the wholesaler, but the product was never sent. Wholesalers shipped the wrong product or couldn't keep up with the pace of retailers' sales. The list goes on. More in other posts.

More about drop shippers-1

2008-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

The question arises where do you find the drop shippers.

Finding a good genuine drop shipper takes time, research and plenty of fortitude. While there are no formally published methodologies describing how to find drop shippers, there are several techniques to take note. There are at least three methods proven to be tried and true. We will examine three of them:

· Internet searches

· Trade show searches

· Government Embassies

Search Methodologies

Regardless of the search methodology used, they will all have one thing in common. They require labor intensive research.

Internet Searches. Doing an Internet search for a drop shipper has become one of the most widely used methods of finding a drop shipper. Many folks leverage the search engines to locate a desired product. After finding a specific product, they work their way backwards towards a search for a manufacturer listing the product. The manufacturer can sometimes be found by discovering several retailers selling the same product listing the name of a manufacturer. Once the manufacturer is discovered, a phone call can be made to find out about their distribution policies. At this point you can begin discussions to find out information about their drop shipping and business policies.

Trade Show Searches. Trade shows happen across the country in many major cities. There are many large shows that feature manufacturers and focus on a particular market segment (i.e. sporting goods, gift market, automotive, hardware?etc.). A trade show has the advantage of getting you face-to-face with manufacturers. Trade shows are some of the best ways to meeting a quality drop shipper as you can perform an interview and get the critical information needed for your business. Likewise, it gives your drop shipper a chance to meet you and find out your needs and requirements.

Government Embassies. Some of the government embassies have become a real opportunity for manufacturers, in other countries seeking to sell their products in the U.S. Many U.S. drop shippers in the import/export business have requested a list of these manufacturers from the embassies. Likewise, you can also get in contact with these same manufacturers to find out their U.S. wholesale distribution centers.

Your Search.

Regardless of the search methodology you choose, hard work and persistence will get you the desired results. Remember, your searches should always be focused on the brands and products you wish to sell. Once you have a couple of successful searches under your belt, you will start to get a little quicker at spotting the authentic drop shippers from the middlemen.

How to Locate Drop Shippers for Your Success

2008-11-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

Drop shippers often can be the key to success for online retail businesses who do not wish to stock actual inventory. Drop shippers are the source of wholesale merchandise many Websites offer to customers. An authentic drop shipper will have many qualities that make them desirable by an online retail business:

They do not require you to buy a minimum amount of products.
They do all the warehousing and shipping of their products.
They do not charge for initial setup fees or membership dues.
They will ship product from their location to your customer.

Because the task of locating true drop shippers can be very labor intensive, so many people turn to us (www.hienote.com) to help them locate drop shippers which saves them time and money on doing the searches for drop shippers themselves.

Good Drop Shippers

Finding a good drop shipper is critical but there are some drawbacks to drop shipping. If you sell products from a wholesale drop shipper, you are dependent on them to get your products shipped to your customer's on-time. Drop shippers are truly a business partner of yours as they handle some of the critical pieces for your online business.

Interestingly, not all drop shippers want to work with online businesses. This is particularly true for folks wanting to sell products via online auctions. The most common reason for not wanting to work with online retailers relates to profit erosion and competition from sub-wholesalers. We will not go into that discussion for this article. More in another post.

How To Increase eBay Profits

2008-11-16T03:50:00.000-08:00

Some sell on eBay to clean out their garage or attic.Some sell to make a little extra money here and there. Butfor some, eBay represents a chance to create a secondincome or start a home business. Product choice isimportant. But to really increase profit you must know how toincrease the number and amount of bids per item. An eBayseller must maximize each product's profit margin. Thisarticle describes techniques to make as much profit aspossible.

1. Sell like products at the same time. Bidders look tosee what else you have for sale they might be interestedin. Combined shipping saves postage for the buyer. Packingin the same box saves time and packing costs for the seller.

2. Bundle a less desirable item with a more desirable item increases sales. This is an old offline auction technique.If the bidder wants the better item he has to buy both. Iftwo sellers offer the same item, the buyer bids on the twoitem auction. Bundling two low cost items together alsoincreases bids. A buyer may not be willing to pay shippingfor one item, but would for two.

3. Remember seasonal issues. Don't sell snow skis in July,water skis in January. Be sure to offer seasonal itemsearly enough to allow for shipping. Don't expect to sellmany Christmas items that must be shipped during the secondweek of December.

4. Understand profit margins. Don't buy to resell foronly a $5 profit when you can make $20 on a different item.Determine your desired monthly income and choose productsappropriately. Want to make 1000 a month? That is $250 aweek. That's ten successful actions at $25.00 profit, orfive items at $200 a month, or ten items at $100 each. Alsopacking 10 items takes less time than packing 20 items.Always consider time as a cost.

5. Don't forget back end sales and secondary products.Offer similar products during the payment process or onyour auction store/web site. If you sell underground fencesfor dogs, an up-sell item is a customized collar. Asecondary product could be a pet door. Another secondaryproduct could be a ebook on "Travel Safely With Your Pet".A back-end sale to the ebook could be a item that helpsyour family travel safely with your pet.

6. The List - For many successful online sellers themailing list is where their money is made. Using aautoresponder, sellers automatically email customers ontheir list at regular intervals. Including content withannouncements of upcoming sales increases back end sales.Once a customer buys, they are more likely to buy againfrom same person or company.

7. Customer demographics should be considered. Collectorshave expectations non-collectors don't. Example, some bookbuyers that are allergic like to see "book from non-smokinghome" in ad. This would earn you a higher bid. What doesthe customer expect to see in a description?

8. Auction terms and conditions should be included witheach auction. What shipping options are available? Do youtake questions? Do you ship only certain days? What kind ofpayments do you take? Type whatever standard terms youoffer in a word processor and cut and paste into yourauctions. This saves time. For some sellers, typing thecontent for each auction is one of the most time consumingtasks.

Profit involves keeping costs reasonably low and creatinghigher bids. We've described some techniques for increasingprofit. Sit down and mentally run through the process of auctionselling and come up with some of your own ideas.EBay is a great business opportunity but like any business, sellers must be wise in their product choice and sales techniques.

More about tradeshows-6

2008-11-15T06:02:00.000-08:00

Manufacturer's from India are very attentive when selling their products at Trade Shows and they look kindly on those who buy at last one item (no matter how inexpensive or small), as a point of moving forward in cementing a long term business relationship. This overture of buying one small item instills a trust level and signals the beginning of a business relationship.

You will very, very rarely find manufacturer's at trade shows offering drop shipping and if you do, then expect to pay much more for the product line, as drop shippers make money not only on the product line but, through monthly membership fees and fees associated with shipping and handling.

If you are unable to attend a tradeshow to pick up your own wholesale sourcing contacts and product, here are five wholesalers you can check out online:

eXtreme Toy Zone: This importer, distributor, and wholesaler offers a nice line of toys from dinosaurs to pop-star dolls. They also carry a large line of remote control (RC) toys.
Sidelines International: This site is a retail site, but you can contact the wholesale division if you're looking for a line on Zippo lighters and products, Victorinox Swiss Army Knives and other products.
Kole Imports: A broad supplier offering a huge selection of more low-priced products like auto accessories, tools, hair care, seasonal items and more.
Cutting Edge Products: Offers wholesale and dropship programs for security products like alarms, stun guns and other unusual products related to safety and security.

More about tradeshows-5

2008-11-14T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some tips to follow at tradeshows.

Bring your corporate checkbook and when you find a manufacturer with a great product line and bulk discounts, offer to write three checks for your merchandise order. They will RARELY refuse such a deal!

Let's say you're going to spend $3,000.00 with a specific supplier. Offer to write three checks. One for $1000.00 (which can be deposited immediately) and the other two for thirty and sixty days out from the date of sale. You have just bought yourself 60 full days to resell the merchandise! In addition, ask for a 10% discount!

Remember, when attending trade shows, you will be meeting sellers from all over the world.

Those who display at trade shows come from Japan, China, Thailand, India and other pacific-rim countries. Learn about their cultures, as this knowledge can go very far in developing firm (solid) working relationships.

More about tradeshows-4

2008-11-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

When the trade show is only open to those in the business of buying and selling, the deals and price points are in line for reselling to the general public. The idea of a one day walk about (during a three day) event is useful in that during the last day, the deals and discounts get better, as those who are selling at wholesale, have paid to display their products for big bucks and are seeking to sell as much product as they can to recover trade show costs.

You'll find that trade shows for many product specific areas take place three to four times a year. Trade shows are scheduled just before upcoming holiday periods.

When you attend trade shows you may not only be able to purchase merchandise on the spot but, may also be allowed to take the merchandise with you. If you find a wholesaler or manufacturer who offers some great deals, size them up! Take nothing for granted. Make sure they are personable, will work with terms (up to 90 days out on payment for product) and can offer delivery guarantees. In some cases, it's best to buy even one or two products from a number of vendors at trade shows in order to forge several relationships.

More about tradeshows-3

2008-11-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Going back to registering your new business enterprise.

This is an important step in attending a trade show, as you may be asked for a copy of your business license or corporate documents when registering. Open a business checking account and bring corporate checks with you when attending a trade show.

Whatever you do, never attend a trade show, which opens its doors to the general public, as you'll be defeating the purpose of attending such a show. The vendors attending these types of shows open up the floor to the general public during the last show day and no doubt, have little incentive to offer a reseller a great deal. These shows are usually filled with "merchant middlemen".

More about trade shows-2

2008-11-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

During day two, you'll focus your time on re-visiting vendor booths, which interested you during your first day "walk about". You will find that at some trade shows that more than a few vendors will annoy you by "barking" their product line as you walk you by. This may a clear sign that these vendors are NOT manufacturer's but, "merchant middlemen".

A manufacturer - a true source of product - rarely conducts themselves at trade shows in this fashion.

You can also weed out the merchant middlemen by checking out prices. You will normally find a few merchant middlemen selling the exact same product line at a trade show with varied price points. However, when you come across the main source of the same product line (at the very same trade show), the price will be greatly reduced and is usually accompanied by a discount and terms program.

Finding a trade show is easy. Do a Yahoo! search for a trade show in your product area of interest. If you want to sell home accessories, do a search for "Home Accessories Trade Shows" and you should luck out on your first try accessing a list of national and/or regional trade shows in your area.

More about tradeshows

2008-11-08T00:11:00.000-08:00

Where can you truly find product at wholesale prices? Trade shows. The answer is and always will be "trade shows". Yes, you can find product in eBay's Reseller Marketplace however, availability and a continued flow of product may not always be consistent. In addition, the Marketplace may not have the product available, which you prefer to sell.

However, go to a few trade shows and you'll not only learn more about the product line you wish to sell, you'll begin to forge ahead and cement the "ties that bind" with manufacturer's.

First, you have to have all your business ducks in a row. Set up a corporation, set up a business bank account and print out plenty of business cards. When you visit a trade show, you'll hand out dozens of business cards and you should present yourself as an established "registered" business.

Trade shows can last from just a few days to a full week and take place all over the globe. You might want to plan to attend a trade show in a locale, which has other attractions, as to combine a trade show experience with a short vacation.

Day one at a trade show should be a "walk about". In other words, walk up and down every aisle and put a check number next to the booth numbers, which look interesting to you. You will receive a trade show guide with an alphabetical listing of vendor names and associated booth numbers and appliable product lines.

Spend no more than a minute looking at any one booth of products, as you'll get back to that booth on day two and three.

Don't be afraid to pick up brochures and business cards during your "walk about" as you'll spend your evening time (on the first day) reviewing this information in preparation of your next few days of "vendor visits".

Sourcing goods from tradeshows

2008-11-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to source products for your eBay and ecommerce business, and trade shows are a great way to keep your product line fresh. Tradeshows are crucial to developing your own eBay business. While searching online can be a great resource for finding wholesalers, there are significant advantages to attending industry events. At a tradeshow, not only can you see the products firsthand, but many wholesalers just do not have an online presence.

Trade shows offer many businesses a simple and convenient way to directly target relevant buyers in an industry. When attending a trade show, making a statement that rises above the visual roar of neighboring booths is probably the greatest challenge. Portable trade show displays offer a cost-effective way to convey your message forcefully and effectively in the few seconds potential clients spend walking by your booth.

When you enter a trade show it can be overwhelming. There are loads of folks walking around and tons of booths to see. Use the first couple days to orient yourself. Be sure to walk the aisles multiple times and in different directions. You'll see something new each time. Here are a few tips to help your first trade show be a success:

Wear sensible shoes and be prepared to walk!
Bring a wheelie bag or backpack because you will pick up lots of fliers and hand-outs. On the last day of the show, many vendors sell their floor samples, so you'll want a place to carry it all as you walk the floor. Be sure to have cash to pay for the samples.
Bring a box of business cards or brochures. I passed out over 200 business cards and I still ran out! You never know what opportunity will present itself for you to network and promote your business. It is wise to always have a business card handy.
Practice your pitch. If you want to sell an idea or negotiate, practice on vendors you don't really care about. You have 30 seconds to get them interested in your business. Then, when you really want to negotiate with a vendor, you're warmed up and you know what to say. It took me two days of practicing before I felt completely confident.
Be open and creative about incorporating products you normally wouldn't consider. On my way to the show I said I definitely wasn't interested in Scrapbooking. When I got there, over half the show space was devoted to Scrapbooking. Needless to say, I became very interested!
Listen to folks walking the floor. Even though they're business owners, they're buyers, too. Find out what they're buying. Look for the hottest booths, too. Crowded booths are a good clue that those products are probably good sellers.
Be prepared for the occasional shut-down and use it to your advantage. Some vendors don't understand online businesses and argue that the online community is unfair competition to their brick-and-mortar customers. Use this as an opportunity to teach them about your business and what you are doing online (another reason to practice your pitch!). A good place to find very amenable vendors is in the new vendor area. These vendors are trying to break into the market and are open to all kinds of negotiations.
Stay focused. I see the creative potential in everything, so it's easy for me to lose my focus. It can be a struggle to keep separate those products that would be viable for my store and those which are just fun for me. If you suffer from an overactive creative vision, it helps to mentally categorize what you see into "store" or "self interests." This helps you from picking up too much stuff.
Stay organized. Each night when I got back to my hotel room, I organized my fliers and samples into YES, NO and MAYBE piles. The last day of the show, I reviewed the NO and MAYBE piles one last time. If they remained a NO, they were recycled. If they were a MAYBE, they came home with the YES pile.
Oh, and definitely bring an empty suitcase for all those YES and MAYBE piles and cool floor samples you find. You'll definitely need it!

The following sites give a comprehensive idea about tradeshows taking place around the world.

http://www.tradeshowalerts.com/

http://www.tradeindia.com/TradeShows/

http://www.biztradeshows.com/

Marketing with niche auction sites

2008-11-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

Online auctions are big business, but they can be big headaches as well. People spend a lot of time sifting through cluttered pages of auctions, bidding, setting up accounts and managing multiple, confusing and expensive fees that can take an accountant to figure out. And trying to figure out how to submit a simple email or place a quick call for help can be a pain in the neck.

The solution is smaller, niche sites with personalized service. Some of the auction tips for these sites and in general are:

Customer Service - When you have an item listed and a potential buyer contacts you with a question, respond quickly. It is important and actually critical to your success to check your email account several times a day. Answering a question could be the difference between you getting the sale or the buyer going someplace else.
Description - When you list your item(s), write an accurate description. No need to write long paragraphs of rambling information. But do provide exact measurements, colors, condition, etc. Be precise.
Exceed Expectations - You want every customer to be happy. So do a little more research on shipping, or negotiate on price. But remember that the customer is the reason you will have success. Be prepared to go the extra mile and provide superior service every time.
Digital Images - While auctions without photographs can and do sell, auctions with photographs sell much better. People like visualizations and want to see what they will get with their money. Make sure your photograph is clear, focused and offers more than just a straight view.

Niche Sites

2008-11-05T03:25:00.000-08:00

Niche sites may be the real cream of the crop, depending on what you are

selling. And, as was said earlier, niche sites attract targeted visitors. Sounds

like the perfect combo!

Here are a few possibilities that might “fit” with your passion...

1) Free Bid ( http://www.freebid.de /) is a German site specializing in

antiques and art, both European and German. The entire site is in German so I

was at a disadvantage to understand it completely but it gets reasonably good

traffic and it might be a good source for anyone interested in international

sales.

2) Just Glass ( http://www.justglass.com /) concentrates on (surprise!) just

glass! They sell such items as Vaseline glass, Avon, Boyd Glass, Collector

40’s, 50’s, 60’s Glass, Phoenix/Consolidated, Pyrex and Elegant Depression

Glass. The site has a nice collection of features, such as access to an expert,

online prices guide, a bookstore, no fees, dealer shops and an online

magazine.

3) Biddington’s ( http://www.biddingtons.com /) is the site of upscale

Biddington’s Contemporary Art Gallery. This isn’t a site like the other because

while Biddington’s definitely auctions its own property, it also acts as an

intermediary for anyone wanting to sell. You aren’t allowed to handle your

transaction yourself.

Normally, we wouldn’t include this site but it sells some really expensive art so

it might be worthwhile for anyone interested and knowledgeable in this field.

Biddington’s charges 10% commission for its services and holds the money in

escrow until the transaction is complete.

Smaller general sites

2008-11-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

There are a handful of smaller, general sites that you may want to
consider. They show promise of becoming larger and if you believe in healthy
competition (as I do), they need our support.
Generally, I copy the same ads that I use on eBay or Yahoo so it takes only a
few extra minutes to put these on the smaller sites.

Here are a few sites to get you started.
1) My favorite small site is at http://www.epier.com / ePier has no listing
fees, no end of auction percentages, and free image-storing. Some veteran
sellers start their items on eBay and later list unsold items with ePier until the
right buyer comes along. You save at least 50% in final value fee for most
items when you sell at ePier.

2) Belgium and Holland Antiques Online
(http://www.BelgiumAntiques.com /) is a site for Belgian and Dutch
antique shops, dealers, wholesalers, exporters, auctioneers, fairs and flea markets. They also offer free classifieds and list dates of intriguing events.

3) ubid ( http://www.ubid.com /) is a general purpose site but it’s heavy on
computers and electronics. It has an affiliate program and is growing quickly.

4) Buynsellit ( http://www.buynsellit.com /) has no fees and it has the
usual collection of general categories.

5) Eurobid ( http://www.eurobid.com /) sells European goods with some
fascinating items like food and wines from France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Prices are in British pounds and Eurodollars. Customers are able to read the
site in their language of choice -- English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.

6) Auction.com - Auction does not charge any listing or final value fees, but does charge you for enhancements like bolding your listing and so on. Traffic seems a bit low, and a lot of bells and whistles you’re used to seem to be missing.

7) Bidtopia.com - Bidtopia has some unique ideas in that bidding and selling have to be done from separate accounts. The site only charges final value fees and focuses heavily on $.99 auctions.

8) Bonanzle.com - The site allows you to import your existing items from eBay and Craigslist, encourages direct contact between buyers and sellers, and prides itself on a quick listing process.

9) eBid.net - eBid offers several country specific sites, free registration, no listing fees for auctions, and even offers you the ability to pay for a lifetime membership that will remove all final value fees from your listings.

eBay Alternatives

2008-11-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

eBay’s main competitors are:-
Yahoo! Auctions ( http://auctions.yahoo.com /) and
Amazon ( http://www.amazon.com /) .

Here are the popular online alternatives:
1) Amazon Marketplace lets sellers list items that are already for sale through the website, such as books, DVDs, and household items. The fact that most items are already listed makes it easier for sellers, because they don't need to take their own photos or enter their own product descriptions. Amazon charges no fees unless products sell. Commission and closing fees vary by item. Books, for example, carry a 15 percent commission rate plus $2.35 in other fees. It is good for casual sellers looking to unload old CD collections or slightly used books.

2) Bidville attracts all kinds of sellers, from those selling vintage Beanie Babies to cars to jewelry. It charges no listing fee for unsuccessful sales, and sellers pay 5 percent on items under $25 and between 1 and 2.5 percent on more expensive items, plus a low flat fee It is good for sellers seeking an eBay-like experience.

3) Etsy.com features handmade products, including bath products, earrings, sweaters, and woodwork. Pomegranate soap goes for $4, and a pink and brown vintage apron for $24. Etsy.com charges 20 cents to list an item and a 3.5 percent flat sales fee, which means a $20 item will carry a 90 cent fee, excluding shipping costs.

4) My Auction Planet- Free item insertion, free image upload, free stores and no final value fees are some of the many give-aways that My Auction Planet, formerly called Ubid Fast, is offering. Additionally, sellers can take advantage of auto-listing, which lets them post any item until it sells. Like most small auction sites, My Auction Planet still has just a handful of registered members and only 50 or so total auctions listed. Still, with lots of "free fees" it might be worth bookmarking and checking in on from time to time.

5) OnlineAuction.com- According to company spokesperson Valerie Fain, the success of OnlineAuction is due to its low cost membership. OnlineAuction offers free basic member accounts that can be used to bid, browse or buy on the site. A $4-per-month account offers access to private mail, feedback and chat rooms to connect with the sellers. Sellers can get verified for as little as $8 per month, and that fee also allows you to buy and sell as many items as you like, without paying additional listing or final value fees. A Founding member account gives you access to everything offered by OnlineAuction and costs $196. After the first year, this membership is $96 each year.

6) BiddersnSellers - Online sellers looking for another basket to carry their wares might want to take a look at BiddersnSellers.com, an auction Web site offering more than 30 categories for buyers and sellers including art, cars, parts & vehicles, cell phones, clothing, DVDs, real estate and video games. Currently BiddersnSellers is promoting the "EB** Boycott", as they call it on this site, with plenty of features for new sellers including; $1 per month fees, Homepage Featured for $1, penny Gallery fees and a flat 1 percent final value fee for the first month

7)Wensy -Launched earlier this year(2008), the site Wensy has grown in the past six months to a total of 2,400 registered members conducting $60,000 in net sales. Currently Wensy offers offer 21,000 listed items spanning a total of 22 categories. Wensy has become more popular than many of the smaller online auction sites we've covered simply because all services to buyers and sellers are completely free.

Evaluation Criteria for auction sites

2008-11-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

The best way to know where to sell your goods is to evaluate auction sites.

Use the following criteria to evaluate the two sites as a practice run. Continue
to add to your criteria as you gain experience. You want to locate the best
auction sites for your product or service.
1) Degree of professionalism -- Many auction sites are so amateurish that
they are an immediate turn-off. This does not mean that unless the site owner
has spent $10,000 creating a site we should ignore it. Sound business
practices, however, do need to prevail.
2) Ease of use -- Net research has proved again and again that site owners
have a few critical seconds to either entice a visitor to stay, or turn her off
entirely. And causing confusion in potential customers is a great way to send
them screaming away.
3) Targeted traffic -- Starting a general site and successfully competing with
huge, well-financed, already established giants may be possible -- but it’s
unlikely. However, smaller niche sites (who specialize in a field that is too
small for the giants to bother with) have a chance for success. Attracting
targeted traffic is their only reason for being.
4) Site promotion -- One of the ways that eBay grew to be so gigantic, so
quickly, is because it has spent a fortune advertising itself. Not only has it paid for advertisements but eBay has also created an affiliate program, developed
strategic alliances and has skillfully used press releases. In short, eBay has
followed all the rules of sound Internet business practices.
If you are going to ally yourself with an auction site, you need to make sure that
the owner is actively promoting the site in as many ways as possible. As a
potential customer you have the right to ask. If their response isn’t satisfactory,
then carefully consider whether you should spend time with them.
5) Site owner interest and enthusiasm -- The last, and most subjective,
criterion is whether the site seems lively and interesting. Do you have a feeling
that the owners are excited about what they are doing? Keeping any auction
site alive is intense work, and if the owner isn’t interested in doing it, forget it
and go elsewhere.

eBay options

2008-10-31T01:40:00.000-07:00

The auction business is so “hot” that there are auction sites all over the Net. If
you want to find them for yourself, there are three methods…
The most obvious way is go to a few of the major Search Engines and type
in “auction sites” and you will find listings that will keep you busy for hours,days and weeks.

The truth of the matter is that most of these auction sites are absolutely
worthless, if your only objective is to make money. However, they can be
wonderful for increasing your auction knowledge, doing comparison shopping
and/or providing entertainment.
Many people are lured by the huge profits of eBay and other big sites and they
believe, sadly, that all they have to do is set up an auction and wait for the
millions to roll in. If you want to maximize your returns, you have to choose
your sites carefully.
There are problems with the huge sites, including eBay. It has far and away
the largest amount of merchandise and the most action. But as a veteran, I can
state that undeniably it is tougher to sell on eBay than it used to be, simply
because of eBay’s growing size.
Buying and selling items on online auctions should be fun, easy and safe. Online auction sites should be easy to navigate, provide a wide selection of categories and subcategories, several custom selling options and a straightforward feedback forum.

Additionally, detail pages should disclose all information about the item and the auction including pictures, descriptions, bid history and information about the seller.

The following are the criteria TopTenReviews used to evaluate online auction sites:
-User Base – While more sellers does increase competition, it also means more potential bidders, better bargains, and more options. For online auctions, bigger is better. The User Base score is determined by how many members the service has and how many items are up for auction on average.
-Fees – Sellers want to make the most of their auction listings without paying extra fees. Some online auction services charge registration fees, listing fees, and/or final value fees. The ideal for sellers is to pay no listing fees, but sometimes a few extra dollars in fees goes a long way in selling potential.
-Selling – Sellers should have a large amount of control over their items. They should have the opportunity to block bidders, choose their own listing and category and disclose all information about the item in the details page. The auction site should also provide tools to assist in listing and selling products as well as managing personal product inventory. This may include features like editing images, adding item descriptions and canceling bids.
-Buying – Finding what you're looking for should be fun and easy. Online auction sites should provide resources and tools to help users find and bid with confidence. The auction site should also provide helpful information about the products and help the bidders feel safe. Some sites provide mobile features and other customizable options to further advance browsing, bidding, and buying.
-Reliability/Security – Helping buyers and sellers feel safe is important for online auction services. Sellers should have control over their auctions and bidders should have assurance that they're buying from a reputable source. Most online auction sites utilize a feedback system where sellers and buyers can rate each other based on transaction experiences. Checking out a user's feedback helps potential bidders and sellers evaluate other members' reputation and credibility.
-Help/Support – Auction services should provide receptive and comprehensive customer support through several methods including email, live chat, telephone and FAQs.

Never make these mistakes

2008-10-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

Misspelled keywords in the auction title essentially eliminate the buyer and seller equilibrium usually inherent in eBay. Because the vast majority of prospective eBay buyers find their item by typing in keywords into the eBay search form, such spellings errors have the potential to make or break the final sale. However, due to the sheer size of the eBay marketplace, even such spelling error bargains are bound to be snapped up eventually, but there are simply more spelling mistake and eBay typo deals to be had than that with correctly spelled and properly placed auctions ads.

It isn’t comfortable to single out sellers and point out their mistakes. But you need to know what not to do to maximize auction income. Sometimes, the most awful listings are swamped with bids -- just because the deal is so good. Nevertheless, the more professional you are, the better you will play the game. Making careless and pointless errors isn’t very productive.

Some common mistakes are:-

1) Not giving your photos proper attention. There are two common mistakes people make. One is not having enough pictures to accompany your item’s description. Multiple pictures from various angles will ALWAYS help you get higher bids for your products. The second mistake is not making sure the pictures are up and running

2) Not maintaining the correctness in your listings. For e.g. if you give a link for your home do make sure that the site has a 100% uptime. If you have a link to other auctions do make sure that they are there and remove the link if it is’nt.

3) Using flashy listings or a one that uses all kinds of flashing animation, multicolored text and other bells and whistles in an attempt to entice bidders. In fact, listings like these are distracting, hard to read, and will always discourage people from bidding, resulting in a lower final sales price.

4) Listing an item at the wrong time. It’s found that more buyers browse Internet auction sites on Sunday evenings than any other time during the week. Your auction should be scheduled to end at Sunday evenings (specifically between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.).

Here are a few steps to avoid online auction description mistakes.

Don't assume the buyer understands what you want them to understand with a picture. The adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes with as many stories of why this saying isn't always accurate. A picture can be doctored, it can be dark and it can be dismal. A buyer cannot make up the description that is lacking simply by viewing your pictures. Even stellar sets of photos with arrows to features cannot ever make up for a good, solid description. To help allay a buyer's fears and assumptions, avoid relying on the pictures alone and definitely avoid using such cop-out terms as:

As is
Item as pictured
Item purchased in condition seen

Don't be lazy. No matter whether you are a one-time seller or a full-time seller, you need to take the time to detail the key points about the item you are selling. If you don't do this, then perhaps the local pawnshop is a better bet for you. A description of key elements will help the buyer assess readily whether or not this sale is worth pursuing and if your item is the one that beats the other similar items hands down. There is no need to make it overly long or flowery but there is a need to make clear, concise statements about the elements of the item that matter. Then use the photos or illustrations to back up your written points.
Avoid using subjective language. Nobody really cares if you think this item is the best thing since sliced bread. Buyers in Wagga don't know sellers in Oregon from a bar of soap, so why should they trust your say-so that "this item is the best thing anywhere in the world." Unless you've travelled all over the world examining this item in great detail, you really don't have a leg to stand on making such a broadsweeping statement. If you have done so, state such along with your business or professional qualifications!
Don't overstate the value or rarity. There is a bizarre tendency for enthusiastic amateur sellers to believe that they are holding the only stock of its kind in their collection because they don't take the time to look further afield and some even don't bother to look on the online auction site itself for duplicates! Avoid such lines as "there's no better deals anywhere else" or "this is rare and it's unlikely you'll find another one anywhere". That is just an invitation to go and find another one and the more a buyer turns up, the lower on the list goes yours. Stick to factual statements, such as it's in excellent condition for its age, it is brand new, it is less than cost price in "insert your" region, has no foxing, is still in original box etc. Factual statements those are things buyers do want to know when comparing apples with apples and can often check.
Do not be ambiguous. When you leave things out or you use euphemistic language, you do your sale and your buyer an injustice. One of two things can happen with ambiguous language: the buyer may buy and then be angry or disappointed when they assumed things arising out of the unclear description and leave you poor feedback. Or, the item won't sell because savvy buyers haven't a clue what you're getting at. Again, be clear, concise and straightforward in your description. If the item has bad points, be honest; this will enable buyers to pay a price reflecting the problem whilst accepting it and it may even be a problem that is easily remedied or is outweighed by rarity or uniqueness.
Never stoop to criticising anybody else. Whether it be other online sellers, or stores, or a non-paying bidder just do not do it. It is poor taste, it reflects badly on you and it is often untrue because you just do not know the full story behind what other sellers or buyers are doing and this could land you in hot water with them, let alone putting off future buyers. Buyers don't like a bad sport and the more negativity written into a sale, the more a buyer will be hesitant, even if only subconsciously. Friendly, open and welcoming language without being condescending or deriding of others is what makes for the best read on an auction page.
Avoid auction fatigue by listing lots. If part of your despair at writing descriptions is due to trying to list single items that would be better sold as batches (for example, knitting patterns, used stamps, baby's bibs etc.), then don't hesitate to do so and to put your writing efforts into fully describing the lot and explaining the bargain being received by the buyer in getting a lot rather than a single item. This can be a very helpful way for buyers who have accumulated too many items in a burst of enthusiastic collecting.

Auctioning Professional Services

2008-10-29T00:55:00.000-07:00

Selling services online is much easier than selling physical products. Services can be sold and delivered without any warehousing or shipping costs. All the benefits that a website affords (e.g. worldwide audience, easily updatable information,interactivity, etc.) and none of the drawbacks.
Products are definitely the overwhelming majority of what is sold on the auction sites. But there are a few services that are auctioned as well. So if your business involves some sort of service, an auction is a very feasible option to consider. Use the auctions to promote features of your services.

The following are the few reasons for selling services online:-
1) Save time - Time is the most precious commodity in our society. Many
busy people will pay exorbitant amounts of money for services.

2) Supply specialized service - Sometimes a particular service is sought-after because it is so specialized that the customer doesn’t have the skills required to do it.

3)Cost effectiveness - You can advertise for 10 days, reach an audience of millions and only pay a small fees. Your auction start price could be your minimum hourly rate that you generally have.

You can have your picture, email address, phone number and a list of services. You can also list your teaching qualifications, membership of teaching organisations.
Lawyers can auction legal services, teachers can auction classes, artists can auction their painting services, writers can auction their writing talents. Keep the auctions on for as long as possible and your talents will be advertised to millions of people every day for a small fee. Compare that to what you would pay for a newspaper advert. Plus not as many people will see it because the paper's readership will be limited. eBay, on the other hand, is international and it is cheap.

There are restrictions though. For a start, you can't provide links to any external Web sites that offer services for sale outside eBay. You must also not misrepresent yourself, exaggerate your experience or promise things you can't deliver. You must also not imply to eBay visitors that they shouldn't bid on your auction, but should, instead, contact you for private arrangements. That is a definite no-no, and auctions have been stopped for breaking these rules. eBay also has a policy on "choice auctions" that says that you cannot offer customers a choice of goods in the auction. However, you can customize or tailor the product to the customer's requirements. If someone bids for my teaching services, then they are buying my time. What they want to do in that time is up to them.
Many big companies are turning to eBay these days. If you have a talent they want, they could be getting in touch with you very soon.

Other Profitable Options

2008-10-28T00:31:00.000-07:00

There are some other situations where Net auctions do a sensational job in
promoting and building a business.

- Import/Export Business -- The import and/or export business is
wonderful for auctions. You are dealing with unique merchandise that is not
widely distributed. Remember, people are willing to pay more for something
that is exclusive.
If you have ties to suppliers in other countries, there is a wealth of merchandise
that would make perfect niche products to sell in your country. And there are all kinds of folks from other parts of the world looking for someone to represent their products outside their home countries. Of course, the import/export business has its own rules like everything else and it is necessary to know what you are doing before you rush into it.

The following information could be useful for offline as well online help for citizens of various countries.

For U.S. citizens:-
-United States Chamber of Commerce, 202-463-5460
-U S Trade Information Center, 800-872-8723, h ttp://www.ita.doc.gov/tic
-World Trade Centers Association, 1 World Trade Center, Suite 7701, New
York, NY, 212-432-2626

For Indian citizens:-
-Export Inspection Agency-Mumbai (Head Office)
Aman Chambers - 4th Floor,
113, Maharshi Karve Road,
Mumbai - 400 004.
Tel: 022 - 2363 0311 / 2363 0312 / 2363 0113
Fax: 022 - 2368 3927
E – mail: eiabombay@eicindia.org

For UK citizens:-
General enquiries: +44 (0)20 7008 1500
+44 (0)20 7215 8000
or by Minicom on +44 (0)20 7215 2471, 9.00am - 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Online enquiry:-https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/appmanager/ukti/home?_nfls=false&_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=contact_us

For Australian citizens:-
-Customs Information and support centre
telephone: 1300 363 263
email: information@customs.gov.au
internet: www.customs.gov.au
-Foreign affairs and trade, Department of
International Law and transnational crime section
telephone: 02 6261 1111 fax: 02 6261 3111
email: sanctions@dfat.gov.au
internet: www.dfat.gov.au

For Canadian citizens:-
Export News, Canadian Exporters Association, 99 Bank Street, Suite 250,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6B9, 613-238-8888

- Advertising your products
Say you have a site where you want to promote yourself as a professional or sell some service which can’t be done at eBay. If you go for advertising in a famous magazine or even newspaper, daily advertising will definitely be more than that of a listing cost at eBay.
What you can do is list an infoproduct to promote your business. List it for a very low cost, with some useful help guide in it(so that the buyer has some satisfaction of buying it afterall.). You have to list it at a price since auction sites do require you to list goods at a price.
Develop your whole promotion plan to pull target customer traffic in both
directions -- from auction listing to Web site and from Web site to auction listing.

Excess Inventory

2008-10-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

Many retail stores have a problem if they have excess inventory in stock at a
certain time of year. When either their fiscal or calendar year ends, they must
pay taxes on these unsold items. If you can sell this merchandise for them, you
are providing an appreciated service.

Off-price retailers (those that sell at discount rates) sell clothing and accessories from major-label brands at a significant discount. These companies take advantage of overruns, canceled orders, and forecasting mistakes made by their counter-parts in the full-price retail sector. When a major designer produces more clothing than it can sell through specialty retailers or department stores, or a store can't move all of the items in a particular line, the excess inventory is sold at a 20%-60% discount to an off-price retailer. The company passes these savings onto consumers, marking up goods by a lower percentage than full-price stores and instead building their operating margins by moving a high volume of inventory quickly, at rock-bottom prices.
Off-price companies serve a special niche in the retail industry, capitalizing on volatility in consumer demand and mistakes made by designers and full-price retail outlets to keep their stores stocked with new low-price products. It is the unpredictability of the market, and the inability of designers and retail stores to perfectly predict consumer demand, that create excess inventories for off-price consumption. While a specialty retail or department store must rely on fashion trends and innovative product designs to drive profits, an off-price retailer depends instead on its ability to move high volumes of goods quickly, and on its relationships with designers and distributors who provide the low-cost inventory on which its stores depend. Off-price companies rely on extremely lean cost structures, using their scale along with sophisticated systems and distribution infrastructure to maximize productivity while maintaining the lowest possible prices for consumers.
Merchandise bought at less than regular wholesale prices & sold at less than retail; often-leftover goods, overruns and irregulars obtained at reduced prices from manufacturers or other retailers. Factory outlets are owned and operated by manufacturers and normally carry the manufacturer's surplus, discontinued or irregular goods.
Example: Mikasa(dinnerware), Dexter (shoes). Independent off-price retailers are owned & run by entrepreneurs or by divisions of larger retail corporations.
Example: T.J.Maxx, Filene's Basement. Warehouse clubs (or wholesale clubs) sell a limited selection of brand name grocery items, appliances, clothing and other goods sold at deep discounts to members who pay an annual membership fees. Warehouse clubs serve small businesses & group members from government agencies, nonprofit organizations and some large corporations. They operate in huge, low-overhead, warehouse like facilities & offer few frills.They offer rock bottom prices- typically 20% to 40% below super market and discount stores prices but make no home deliveries and accept no credit cards.
Example: Sam's Clubs, Max Clubs.
These are one source of acquiring low cost goods.
Another way to find them is to use the Yellow Pages and send letters to stores that sell merchandise in your niche. You can go directly to the stores and talk with the manager or owner. Or you can put ads in trade magazines and newspapers.

There are online sites for the same as well like:-
http://www.closeoutsavailable.com/
http://www.costplus.com/
http://www.colesmyer.com/

Charity Auctions

2008-10-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

Charity auctions are a great excuse for a media fest. And, by extension, they
are great publicity opportunities for your auction business. Local media
love interesting, colorful local stories and an Internet charity auction is
definitely different.

eBay for Charity is an easy way for buyers and sellers on eBay to support their favourite charities. Buyers can shop for items knowing they’re supporting a good cause, be it an everyday bargain or a special auction. Sellers, whether they’re individuals or businesses, can donate a percentage from any sale to a charity of their choice and add Gift Aid to their donations. Charities can also sell their own items directly on eBay.co.uk.

In addition, all eBay for Charity items will qualify for a fee credit on basic insertion and final value fees equal to the percentage donated.
When you’re selling, the real beauty of eBay for Charity is that there’s something for everyone - yourself included. You decide exactly what percentage of your final selling price you’d like to give to charity (that’s good causes sorted), and what percentage you’d like for yourself (that’s you sorted). You also get to choose which charity you’d like to support.

It's seen by everyone

eBay for Charity listings are the same as any other eBay listing, except for the blue and yellow eBay for Charity ribbon in search results and your chosen charity’s mission statement and logo in your listing. This means your listing can be seen by everyone who searches through eBay.co.uk. It’ll also get extra visibility through the eBay for Charity pages.
It’s the perfect way to make a difference – while doing what you do every day on eBay, whether you're a fishing enthusiast selling angling gear or a big business trading electronics.
Go to http://pages.ebay.com/charity and you will see the huge number of
charity auctions that are on the sites. If you would like to make money this way,
you can arrange these auctions - and handle the details - for various groups
who have never considered this idea and don’t have the expertise to handle it.
You make your profit by charging a certain percentage of the total revenue.
If this type of auction business appeals to you, specialize in handling auctions
for all kinds of groups. You can stage charity auctions for schools, athletic
organizations and church groups, as well as regular charitable causes.

Here are the steps on eBay for creating a charity auction.
1) Get approval from eBay for your organization or cause. They also will
require some information at the time of the auction such as the name of a
contact person, a brief synopsis of your organization and examples of items
you would like to list.

2) Create an “About Me” page, explaining your organization and what it does.
The only difference between your auction page and your personal page is that
you should change Feedback to “Show no feedback” and change “Items for
Sale” to “Show all items.” eBay further suggests that you may want to include
your logo for your organization at the top of your About Me page.

3) Have e-Bay link your listings to the “Charity page” which gets a lot of
attention.

The 1-2-3 of selling for charity
1)Once you’re ready to sell your item, go to the Sell hub and select ‘Advanced Sell’. If you're stuck, you can get some tips on how to list

2)As you’re filling out the details, look out for the charity box just below where you set your price. Select a charity to support and the percentage (10%-100%) of your final selling price that you'd like to donate. Note: There is a minimum donation per listing.

3)A week after your item sells, MissionFish (eBay's charity partner) will automatically collect the donation from you. You can also manage your donations through the 'My Donations' section of My eBay, under the My Account tab. Any fee credits will appear on your next invoice.

If you are really ambitious, you can often find celebrities who will participate by donating items, their name or their time.

Sell high value goods

2008-10-25T01:56:00.000-07:00

Generally sellers followed the business model of high volume/low price. With that particular approach, the seller must sell large quantity of items to make a substantial income.
You can become a low volume seller, the one who specializes in very
expensive items. That does not necessarily mean, however, that those
thousands of dollars invested in merchandise are coming out of your pocket as
the seller. The safest way to sell high-end items is to sell merchandise that
belongs to other people.
Certainly, if you find something that you recognize as an awesome bargain
and you are an experienced trader, then go for it and buy the expensive item
with your own money. But that is a long way off for the smart auction seller.
Never, never, never do this until you are experienced, very experienced!

Here I can give you a brief as how to find vehicles at a bargain. First of all you need to find these vehicles. Obviously, you don’t want to talk to the dealers. You are interested in individuals, not professionals. So take your detective skills and search. Newspapers and Specialty Magazines are another source. Another approach is to pay attention as you drive around. Private citizens park cars in mall parking lots, on busy streets and all kinds of public and private spots with “For Sale By Owner” signs on them. And of course there are online options as well.

Since you could source your products online and thus you could be a buyer, the following could be some basic guidelines for making safe online high cost purchases:-

-Don't buy based on price alone. We all know that if the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Not all knockoffs sell for cheap, however. High prices can add a sense of legitimacy, and many knockoff sellers know this. Just because the price is high doesn't mean it's authentic.

- See to it that the seller has a return policy, or ensure that they use a buyer protection program like that of e-bay’s (refer to my previous post for details

-Read the fine print as well. Some auction sellers will lure you in with words that you're likely to search for like "Chanel" or "Gucci". Many sites also use words like -- "authentic," "genuine" and other enticing adjectives -- to describe their fashion items. It's only by reading carefully through the descriptions that you will see comments like "Inspired by..." to let you know that the merchandise isn't an exact copy

-Don’t trust pictures alone. If a seller shows only a few pictures, and won't share more, he might be illegitimate.

- Counterfeiters are one step ahead, and know how to fake packaging and ID cards. Recent reports have stated that counterfeiters are even buying fake receipts to prove authenticity.

Drop Shipping

2008-10-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Drop shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to wholesalers, who then ship the goods directly to the customer. The retailers make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and retail price.
Some drop shipping retailers may keep "show" items on display in stores, so that customers can inspect an item similar to those that they can purchase. Other retailers may provide only a catalogue or website.
Retailers that drop ship merchandise from wholesalers may take measures to hide this fact to avoid any stigma, or to keep the wholesale source from becoming widely known. This can be effected by "blind shipping" (shipping merchandise without a return address), or "private label shipping" (having merchandise shipped from the wholesaler with a return address customized to the retailer). A customized packing slip may also be included by the wholesaler, indicating the retailer's company name, logo, and/or contact information.

Many auction sellers are surprised to find out they can sell merchandise they
don’t own, may never see and best of all, definitely don’t have to ship. There
are many companies who will drop ship items for you.

Drop ship is a sales strategy used by many businesses, especially small companies.
These are often the companies who can’t afford ads.
They don’t have a large sales staff and they can’t afford large spreads in national magazines. Therefore, they will sell merchandise at reduced prices to small buyers like us. We act as their unofficial sales people.

It’s a win-win situation. The company sells more merchandise than they could
ordinarily sell. Your Net auction business wins because
1) You don’t have any financial investment in the goods you are selling. If
the merchandise sells on the auction you receive payment from your buyer and
send part of the money to the company. Most of them will mail to your
customer with your mailing label on the box. If the merchandise doesn’t sell,
you have not risked your money and have no capital tied up in merchandise.
2) You do not need to bother with the shipping and handling of these
items. You are free to pursue your real love -- finding exciting and salable
goods.
3) Many of these companies have professionally created catalogs and/or
pictures that you can use on your auction site. The quality may exceed that
which you can achieve with your own camera or scanner.
4) There are no goods to store. This can be a huge advantage.
5) This works best with higher-priced items. If you are going to sell 50
widgets at Rs.100 each, you are either going to have to take possession of them
and mail them yourself, or you are going to have to pay a gruesomely
expensive shipping charge to your supplier.

Some of the drop sites can be found at :-
http://www.dropshipsites.com/

Caution: There is a caveat to all this. Not all drop shippers are real and some of it might be pure scams. Normally it is found that online drop shippers belong to this category, but not all of them. To find a real drop shippers, don't use search engines. Instead, find a broker who has list of real drop shippers.

Here are the important points.
i) I didn’t ship anything! My distributor handled all that for me and I didn’t have
to bother with it at all.
ii) The company guaranteed it for 30 days so I didn’t have to concern myself
with that part, either.
iii) I risked no money at all, except for the fee that I paid eBay for my listing.
The great part was that most of my customers paid me through PayPal.
iv) It was so convenient and quick. I ordered my customer’s product right
online. There was an account sheet that was created especially for me,
complete with ID and password so that no one else could access it. I then sent
an e-mail copy of the order to my customer so that they felt comfortable that
they would soon receive their merchandise.
v) There was no extra work to repeat the auction indefinitely. I spent
approximately half an hour creating an ad, and I just re-submitted the same ad,
again and again.

So there you are with the various ways of sourcing and selling goods online.

Finding bargain merchandise to sell

2008-10-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

Having a successful online business depends greatly on offering the right product, at the right time. Before you buy wholesale merchandise for your store, try to visit a competitor or a store selling a product line similar to what you plan to sell. Browse the store's product selection, making a mental note of the brands they carry. t price, at the right time. Bargain merchandise might be worth a fortune to someone else.
When things don’t sell at garage sales, they often get donated to charity for a tax write-off. Some people just prefer to skip the hassle of selling their throwaways and take the tax deduction. The charity then sells the goods in its thrift shop to fund its programs
There are many, many small auction sites that have very little traffic. If you are following the prices in your chosen niches, you can sometimes find products on these sites and sell them for a profit on the biggies like eBay, Amazon and Yahoo.
There are many people who sell goods who have absolutely no idea what their merchandise is worth. Ads in specialized magazines can be a gold mine.

Choosing a Vendor
Once you've located several sources of products, evaluate each vendor on a variety of factors. The following could be the factors to consider
• Price
• Location
• Shipping Options
• Shipping Costs
• Customer Service
• Terms of Sale
• Returned Merchandise

You may have heard of factory outlets, bargain shops, factory stores, or discount shops, which are all outlet shopping stores. The idea is for the retailer to offload as much out of date, refunded or excess stock at a very low price. There are more than two hundred of these stores in the US alone. Sometimes you will only be required to pay 20% of the original retail price!

There are pessimistic individuals who contend that there are no bargains to be
had at flea markets. Yet there are Net auction sellers who regularly make six figure
incomes just from flea markets. (Maybe they’re the ones who start these
no-bargain rumors!) The best bargains are found if you’re there at dawn or as
the dealers are packing up at the end of the day or weekend.

Outlet shopping is a great way to get items that are still vogue at a discounted price. Sometimes items are sold at 80% off retail price! There is an abundance of products only just out of season, and it can be a great way to shop for next years warm or cool weather clothes. If you are going on a holiday, outlet shopping could have what you need for the overseas climate your heading to. You can also pick up items that were refunded or repossessed for a fraction of the original prices.

Below are some of the links of sites that could serve as an information base.
Expomarket's shopping offers online shopping services, gift shopping, jewelry shopping, Handicrafts from india.
http://shopping.expomarkets.com

Tesco UK Online Price Check is a price comparison site that allows you to search and compare Tesco's supermarket prices against their competitors.
http://www.tesco.com/price_check_search/

An eBay search utility which allows auction searching by zip code, college campus, or major airport.
http://www.internetbargaincenter.com/

Canada Classifieds, buy and sell everything online. Fast, free and easy to use.
Buy and sell bargain used equipment used cars classifieds used deals car and auto bargain hardware bid auction buy and sell used good bargains yard sale garage
http://www.cdncc.com/

The yahoo web page given below has a host of links for bargain shopping and sites with related information.
http://in.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/General_Merchandise/

Selling options

2008-10-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

In any kind of trade there are basically 3 options for you to trade with respect to your goods.

1) Sell the merchandise you already own
2) Find bargain merchandise to sell
3) Drop ship

I will discuss these part by part in my posts. I’ll start with the first one.
The first, and easiest, way to begin your Internet auction career is to sell goods
that you already own. This is how most people begin and I certainly
recommend this way for the novice. Selling used merchandise has many advantages: It’s easy to come by, you don’t need to do much research to learn about it , since you either already own it or were able to purchase it for pennies on the dollar from others cleaning out their closets.
Time to clean out your own closets, attics and basements. Being passionate about or fascinated by a particular subject or product category will inspire you to learn as much as you can about it, making you a more savvy seller. Similarly, before you start selling, do some research to find out how much products generally sell for and not just on eBay. On eBay’s Sell page you’ll find a "How to Sell" video tutorial that will walk you through the selling process. You’ll also find several sections devoted to various aspects of selling: determining an item’s value, what’s selling well now, shipping rules and regulations, and other resources. One of those resources is advice from fellow eBay sellers, most of whom are more than willing to answer questions posed by newer users. eBay’s discussion boards are one place to get answers or feedback from experienced sellers

Apart from the above you have the following benefits.
1) You have access to millions of buyers. You can go beyond your
surrounding neighborhood.

2) There is no risk involved. You can try it out, see if you like it, and then
decide if it is a game you want to play. Do you know of any other business that
can be experienced in such a modest way? I certainly don’t.

More about the other 2 selling options in later posts.
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Reporting Violations

2008-10-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

Since auction sites can’t possibly monitor all the items they are selling, they
rely on the membership to help them.

Each site has its own rules for reporting behavior. The most advanced of these
is eBay’s VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program. If you own “intellectual
property,” you can be a VeRO member. This means that if someone is using
your ad copy, your course information, your logo or copyrighted item, you can
do something about it.
Members of the VeRO program include hundreds of law enforcement officials
and representatives from companies who are very zealous in the protection of
their property. eBay doesn’t prosecute people but it will suspend them
permanently. Federal governments sometimes prosecute offenders.

eBay developed the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program to facilitate cooperation between eBay and rights owners protecting their intellectual property rights.

How to report a listing to eBay

The following steps are for reporting a listing to eBay. Only the intellectual property rights owner can report potentially infringing items or listings through eBay's VeRO Program. If you are not the intellectual property rights owner, you can still help by getting in touch with the rights owner and encouraging them to contact us. For a list of rights owners who participate in our VeRO program, view the list of About Me Pages.

Step One:
If you have a good faith belief that a listing on eBay infringes your copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights, all you need to do is download our Notice of Claimed Infringement (NOCI) form, fill it out, and fax it to eBay. Download eBay's NOCI form
Note: You will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view and print our NOCI form. You can download a free copy at Adobe's Web site.

Step Two:
After we receive your first NOCI, eBay will send you an electronic version of our NOCI form as well as instructions on how to submit future reports electronically.

Step Three:
We encourage you to educate eBay users about your products and legal positions by creating an "About Me" page. We have found that many of our users cease listing potentially infringing items when presented with such information.

You can know more about the program at:-
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/questions/vero-ended-item.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/programs-vero-ov.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/compliant-listings.html

You can know more about reporting feedback at :-
http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback.html

You can report suspicious activity at :-
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?LeaveFeedbackShow

If you mistakenly break the rules, chances are nothing will happen, if you can convince eBay that is was an honest mistake. But repeat offenders don’t receive the benefit of the doubt.

Evaluating your product

2008-10-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

Valuing an antique or any other good often takes research and patience, and you still might not be able to count on selling an item for the determined value. As uncertain as valuing antiques may be, appraisers do value them every day of the week largely by looking at comparable values.

Items value can increase with a high price tag. Jump on a “hot” trend whenever possible. Good profits come when you catch a trend just when it is beginning.
There are many books and magazines to determine true value.
There are several reference options online as well like:-.
www.antique-antiques.com/evaluating-old-toys.shtml
http://antiquescentre.com/
http://www.collectingchannel.com/
http://www.toyfan.com/
http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/cmart/

E-Bay itself provides a page for tips on evaluating antiques:-
http://pages.ebay.com/buy/guides/antiques-selling-guide/

Visiting online auctions to look up past results or logging on to a large online antique mall and searching the inventory for comparison pricing are two more convenient ways of assessing approximate value. You’ll want to keep in mind that online pricing can vary widely from dealer to dealer, and the price they’re asking for a piece might not equal the negotiated value when it eventually sells. And sometimes, especially with online auction results, prices reflect values far less than what dealers tend to ask in brick and mortar shops and at antiques shows. All these should act as a reference for your auction business, but the only thing that matters is what your buyers will pay for your merchandise.

However, if anyone who has ever auctioned antiques on eBay might have found, moving big-ticket items is rarely as easy or as profitable as it seems. Similarly, selling antiques through a dealer or an auction house, while perhaps more reliable, can get pricey when you factor in commissions, fees, and shipping. Buying can be expensive, too.

If your item is not bringing in the bids you expected, don't panic. Since many bidders wait until the last minute to bid (sniping) the price on a desirable item can double or even triple during the last few seconds of an auction. If a potential buyer makes you an offer via e-mail to end the auction early and sell the item to them outright, that's not a good idea either. It's not only against eBay's rules to skirt around paying ending item fees, you could be cheating yourself out of a high ending price by selling to someone making a lowball offer.

Shipping and handling charges can really increase up the cost you pass along to bidders. Consider charging only what it costs you to mail the item, and build in the cost of packaging and labor into your starting price instead. Bidders want to know how much they're going to have to pay to get their buys home before they bid. Some people will avoid auctions that don't explicitly state shipping charges up front.
If you specialize in certain items you can set up an email list to keep in touch with past bidders. Ask them before placing them on the list so your email won't be considered spam. Once you've compiled lists of people interested in your specialties, you can keep in touch with them weekly, bi-weekly or monthly to let them know when you've listed items they might be interested in viewing.

It’s also wise to keep in mind that common items sold in online auctions often bring lower values, sometimes even lower than wholesale, when compared to what you could ask for the same piece as an antique mall or show dealer. To get the most for an antique or collectible, selling directly to the secondary market consumer in an offline venue is usually the most lucrative method. There are exceptions, however. If you’re hawking a rare item or hot commodity, online sales can reach more buyers and usually bring in a higher price.

Remember that researching the best way to sell your items will be one last step in determining their ultimate value.

Bidding Abuses

2008-10-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

Many auctioneers complain about snipping as illegal, but it isn’t. There are, however, bidding practices that are considered as illegal and can lead to expulsion from the site.

i) Bid siphoning – It is a practice where another seller outsells you. Suppose Jay is selling an item and the current price is Rs500. You email the bidders with the information that you have the same item and will sell it for Rs450, thus undercutting the seller.

ii) Fake bidding - It is quite common, although it may not be obvious to everyone.
In this the seller gets friends and relatives to bid on the item, either to increase the price or to prevent a sale at a too low price.
Suppose you want to sell an item for at least $500. You put your bidding price at Rs.50.
Then you get your friends and relatives to bid on the item.
The auction sites have no way of knowing whether the merchandise ever actually changed hands. If neither seller or buyer ever complain, they assume all is well.
This method is also used to increase the items visibility by making it a hot item and it receives a favored position at the very beginning of the category.

There are other things that are considered offensive like revealing any information other than e-mail addresses online, sending spam, giving wrong identity details. All these may attract suspension from the site.
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Ways that you can be defrauded

2008-10-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

There are really only three ways that you can be defrauded by a dishonest
buyer.

1) The buyer claims to have never received their items – To protect against
this possibility some sort of tracking system with any packages.
When the buyer wants a really cheap mailing option that doesn’t qualify for tracking, send him an e-mail stating that this is his risk, not yours. and save the e-mail.

2) Non payment of your merchandise cost- You can protect yourself from this
scam if you carefully choose your payment options. If you accept checks, allow time for the bank to clear them. Be sure to make it crystal clear to your buyers that this is your policy. Once the bank has informed you that the check is good, you are protected.

3) The buyer claims the merchandise was damaged - This issue is
the toughest to handle. Perhaps it really was damaged, in which case we have
an obligation to satisfy the buyer and then deal with the carrier.
Preventing fraud in this area depends on your guarantee.
With a more expensive item, you can take a photo of it, along with the
shipping label before you send it.

Your best protection is good records so that you can prove that you are
telling the truth. There are many more buyers defrauded than sellers so the
sympathy leans toward the buyer.
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Irreconcilable Disagreements

2008-10-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, it just isn’t possible to amicably settle a dispute. In that case, you
have several possible remedies. Just be aware that if the deal isn’t really a
major one, all veterans will strongly urge you to forget it.

Here are a few options:-
1) Formal Complaint with the site- Provide the facts. If it becomes a matter for law-enforcement agencies, the site may not notify you of the results.
The buyer or seller can become a NARU (Not a Registered User).
Unfortunately, unscrupulous people may simply re-register under a new name.
If it isn‘t a law-enforcement problem, you will be notified that customer service will contact you. This is a pretty overworked crowd and you may not hear from them for days.
The auction sites can’t compel someone to honor their agreement with you.
Their only course of action is to suspend the guilty part from the auction site
and hopefully from the auction business. Ultimately, auction sites are a
community, and like any small town, word gets around.

2) Insurance – You will have used an escrow service for any expensive items and thus eliminated your risk. Some of the sites themselves offer insurance but this is usually for buyers, not sellers. If you are careless enough to ship merchandise for which you have not been paid, you are on your own.
eBay has contracted an specialized service called Square Trade
(http://www.squaretrade.com /) to help resolve disputes between buyers
and sellers. It is a free Web-based forum which allows users to attempt to
resolve their differences on their own. You can file a complaint and Square
Trade will then contact the other party.
If you are dealing with a genuine crook, this system is of no use because they won’t abide by the results. On the other hand, this method is effective between two honest people who have simply become outraged with each other.
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Disputes in online trading

2008-10-09T00:30:00.001-07:00

In online trading, there are a few horror stories, and it is always smart to be prepared for the worst. The more business you do, the more likely you are to run into someone dishonest.

There could be some disputes where you think that the other party is wrong and he would think the same about you. The following are the few possibilities that could happen :-

1) The buyer doesn’t respond - First of all, don’t panic! There might be valid reasons why they have ignored you. Don’t rush out and give negative feedback about this buyer right away. Send the buyer a gentle reminder.

Mention him your last message and remind him that the auction site considers a bid a valid contract. Remind him that you have held up your part of the bargain and you expect him to do the same. Specify a date by which you expect payment.
If after a couple of weeks, you still haven’t heard from the buyer, the only recourse you have is to leave bad feedback on the buyer. Refuse to ever allow him to bid on your merchandise again.

Unfortunately, you will have to relist your item and start again or you can check the bids on your item and contact the second-highest bidder and ask if he is still interested in your merchandise.
When you post your feedback, be professional about it. Calling someone
horrible names and being really ugly does not serve your seller image at all. In
short, Mr. Bogus Buyer isn’t worth it!

2) A bad check - Earlier, we discussed the importance of deciding on the
method of payment in advance of your first auction. As you recall, you either
hold the check, or only accept money orders, or use a third party like PayPal.
Veteran sellers say that most often a bouncing check is just a mistake that the
embarrassed buyer will correct when it is pointed out. If you are uncomfortable with the risk, don’t assume it. And, of course, never ship a really expensive item until I was certain you had the money.

3) Damage If you send an item and when the buyer receives it, and it’s damaged, I urge you to take responsibility for this problem, rather than ignore it.
Unless you are selling a billion rupees item, your reputation as a professional and honest seller is much more important than a single item. It is best to either replace the item, if you have one, or refund the buyer’s money. You can then take your claim to your carrier.

Follow Up With Your Customer

2008-10-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

After mailing your package, it is important to send your buyer a follow-up email.
For example…

Dear Ravi,
I received your money order today and therefore mailed
your package this morning. Your tracking number is 123456789 and
you can follow its progress at .
I am sending some positive feedback for you and would appreciate
you doing the same for me. Please let me know when your
package arrives. Thanks for a successful and happy transaction.

John

Some people think that this constant harping on follow-up and good customer
service is overkill. As long as you don’t get negative feedback, it doesn’t matter if the exchange is sloppy. However, for long term success, attention to detail is important.

Some sellers want to make money on shipping. But don’t try this with your customers because most buyers resent paying more than actual shipping charges and experienced ones may avoid your auctions altogether if your costs aren’t reasonable.

Handling of Goods

2008-09-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

By this I mean packaging of the goods and other activities involved.
What you sell influences the degree of difficulty in handling these.

The following could be the things you need to bother about :-

1) Boxes –Do not use just any old box for packaging. A shipping-type box is necessary. Do not use a shoe box or some other flimsy container. If you are shipping really fragile items, two boxes are safest. The outer box should be a couple of inches larger than the inner one to allow for extra padding.

2) Padding - Sending a few tough books without padding is safer than sending some porcelain dishes unprotected. You can use newspaper as padding of choice because it is cheap and readily available. However, be careful because the ink can rub off on some objects and detract from their beauty, so wrap these kinds of items in plastic. Cardboard can also be very effective as packing material. Bubble wrap is also a good option. (But, it costs more than the other materials so always look for bargains on this valuable product.) Save every scrap you get.

3) Other supplies - In addition, you need mailing tape, regular tape,
scissors, labels and a legible marker. I wrap everything in plastic bags just for
safety’s sake. Another precaution you might consider is to include an extra label inside the package. You don’t want your inventory sitting around one of those ghostly mail offices. If you reuse a box, cover up the old label or scratch through it with a marker. I sent a package to a seller that came right back to me. I thought the new address was quite obvious but apparently the Post Office didn’t.
Whatever materials you choose to use, be sure to pack your items securely.
Companies will sometimes contest an insurance claim if they feel you didn’t do an adequate packing job.

Shipping of Goods

2008-09-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

The movement of product to your buyer is a demanding process. Your entire
auction business will fall on its face if your merchandise delivery isn’t prompt
and intact.

If you're like me, you probably hate packing and shipping the things you sell on eBay.

The following 7 steps will help make your job easier when it comes to shipping, as well as get rid of the stress of waiting for the item to be delivered to the buyer.

1. Professional Wrapping

When you wrap your item(s), wrap it professionally in nice, clean tissue paper. If breakable, be sure the item is wrapped with bubble wrap as well. Include a business card with your website information, name, address, or a printed statement showing the item(s) name, item(s) number, price paid, and a small hand-written note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

2. Insurance

Insurance is usually a good idea but in general, it should be an optional feature, with the decision left to the buyer. Remember two important things about insurance. First, insurance is VERY inexpensive. Therefore, in your description, you should state how much insurance would cost and recommend it. Second, you should also state in the description that if insurance is not purchased, you are not responsible for lost or damaged items.

3. Weighing

In order to provide accurate details and help in determining shipping costs, you need to know exact weights. The best option, which will save you many unnecessary trips to the post office, is to purchase a inexpensive quality scale for weighing your packages.

4. Postage

Instead of always running out of stamps or having to run to the post office to ship a smaller item, fill out the information located at stamps.com where you can print stamps directly from your home computer.

5. Post Office Freebies

If you use the Priority Mail option through your post office, they will provide all your supplies for free. This includes boxes, labels, and tape. Best of all, they deliver all these supplies directly to your door. Get them at your local post office or go to USPS.com request mailing supplies.

6. Ship-To Locations

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

7. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

Do yourself a favor and put these tips into action - you'll save yourself both time and hassles. Use the time you save to get more listings up, and watch your eBay income grow.

Most auction items in India are shipped through mostly Speed Post, Blue Dart, DHL, United Parcel Service and Federal Express.

India Post (www.indiapost.gov.in)
One indispensable item for successful auction selling is a postal scale. Mine
is measured in ounces because I usually deal in small items. Buy a scale that
is flexible enough to meet your needs.
Do make use of the postal calculator available at "http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Netscape/PostageCalculator.html”
Know your shipping charges in advance, have postage affixed to the package
and just drop it off at the Post Office.
Do make use of the pincode finder facility at http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Pin/Pinsearch.aspx. It might be a hassle initially but a sure shot way to get the exact pin code. It will help if you know the exact post-official name of the place.
Do include tracking for cheaper items, even though it may cost a little more. Always charge the buyer a bit of the extra that you spend for the tracking facility on every package, don’t request permission. It’s just included as part of the transaction.

Among the private providers I liked UPS with their advanced tracking system in which you can track the status of your parcel at their website at “http://www.ups.com/tracking/tracking.html”.

The other options are:-

Blue Dart - www.bluedart.com
DHL - http://www.dhl.co.in/

Since I have used only the Indian Post and UPS I wont be able to comment on the others.

Few Areas of Key Information

2008-09-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

Here are a few areas you need to concentrate your record keeping efforts in:-

1) Payment - Big companies like PayPal or Visa do make mistakes so you have
to know the payment method(credit card, a money order, a check, PayPal) and
the payment. You need to know how you were paid and you should keep track of the
payment date at least.

2) Merchandise – You may be selling a lot of merchandise to different customers and
suppose out of the blue some buyer tends to revert back asking for some details
of, there is a possibility of you getting confused on that.At this point record
keeping about the goods helps a lot. Here is what you must record about your
merchandise.
- A description of the item
- The site where you listed it
- The auction dates -- both when you submitted it and the day it sold
- The auction number given to you by your auction site -- you can always
track an item if you have the number!

3) Buyer – Just in case a customer reverts back to you with some request without
giving full details of his, the information you keep of the customers then will
be of great help to you. You can keep information like name, e-mail id, address
to name a few.

4) Shipping – Your customer might be wanting to ask you a few details about the
mail/courier you sent. In such a scenario you must be able to give those details
to him. It also helps you to prove that you had done the delivery .

Keeping Records of Your Sale

2008-09-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

If you are just going to do a sale here and there, you probably won’t need an
extensive record keeping system. Here are a few reasons for doing otherwise

1) Tax Purpose -. You certainly will have to pay income tax and want to
claim every single legitimate deduction. You need good records to do this so that you will have a complete list of every transaction you have made including who, what and how much.

2) Customer List - You are creating your own customer list in the process. If a person bought or bid on a certain item, he may be very interested in similar items in
the future.

3) Good service means happy customers - If you don’t keep good
records, you will soon be floundering and making mistakes. If you have
several auctions going, you will soon get lost and make pointless
and expensive mistakes. Learn from my foolishness and keep
comprehensive records right from the very first transaction.

4) Identification of profitable items – It lets you know which merchandise is
profitable and which isn’t.

5) Legal Protection - In the event of any future problems, you will have all your
Information at your fingertips.

After getting a successful bid for your product

2008-09-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

Watch your auction listing in "my eBay" until the listing closes or a sale is made. After you get your first actual bid and there would be a super thrill in you. After overcoming the initial moments of joy, you need to get to know what needs to be done next. The following is a general procedure that you will have to follow after the successful bid by some buyer on eBay.

Here is how it goes ahead:-

1. Contact With Your Auction Site
You will receive an e-mail from the auction site. Both buyer and seller will receive a message with instructions to contact each other within three days.

2. Contact With Your Buyer
If you want your transactions to be 100% perfect, make sure that you
communicate completely and clearly with every single customer. Try to assume that everyone you deal with is a complete novice with no experience. Of course, this might not be the case at all but if you make this assumption, everything usually goes well. If you don't immediately receive PayPal payment, use "my eBay" to send the buyer of your item an invoice. On the invoice form, be sure to send payment instructions to the bidder if necessary.

Every communication with every buyer should always include the following
Information as far as possible (some are optional).

1) Congratulations - It may not be necessary but it is a smart thing to do. The friendlier and more professional you are, the better you will do in the auction business.

2) Purchase Reminder - Always specify what your customer bought. Many
people deal in multiple auctions and may have bought or sold dozens of items
that week. Remind your buyer of who you are and what he bought from you.

3) Item Number - Include the number of the item that was issued by the
auction site. There are 2 reasons to do this.
i) It will help your buyers to give you feedback because it is done by item
number.
ii) Some auctioneers keep comprehensive records. This type of
organization pays off, especially for tax day. In addition, they are able to get
confirmation from the auction site, if necessary.

4) Price - Don’t make any mistakes here. Mention the price correctly.

5) Payment Options - Even though those were included in your item
description, always review them. Many people forget and this is especially
important if you are going to hold a check for 10 days.

6) Your Address (if applicable) - The buyer needs your mailing address
so that he knows where to send payment. This is not an issue if you are using credit cards or third party payment methods.

7) The Cost of Shipping and Handling - You may or may not have
included the actual amount in your auction listing. If you did, repeat it. If you
have not, tell them the cost now. (My next blog will explain how to calculate this)

8) Insurance - I always let the buyer decide if he wants to pay for insurance
because he is the one paying for it (or not). Generally, though, the more
expensive the item is, the more likely the buyer is to desire insurance.
However, if the buyer does not pay for insurance, you will need to decide, in
advance, what your policy will be if the package is lost or damaged.
This can be a real sore spot between buyer and seller. Be careful on this.
If you are shipping through Speed Post(Priority mail), you automatically pay for tracking. In this way, you can prove that the package was mailed and you are
relieved of the responsibility.
If the merchandise is expensive, I suggest you insist on insurance or state
clearly that you won’t take responsibility for mailing. Raising the price to cover the
cost of insurance is not a good solution because the more your merchandise costs, the less likely you are to sell it. I think the best compromise is to pay for tracking, where available.

9) Buyer’s Address - Ask the buyer where he wants you to send the item.

10) Inclusion of the Item Number With the Payment - If your buyer is
paying with a check or money order, you might ask your buyer to please
indicate the name of the item on his payment. This can save you a lot of
time.

What if your goods don’t sell?

2008-09-22T10:55:00.001-07:00

If an item doesn’t sell no matter what you do, don’t panic.
There was an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal about a couple who owned a gift shop in an economically-depressed town. Not only couldn’t they sell their merchandise. They couldn’t even give it away! They discovered eBay and are now, according to the “WSJ,” making $600,000 a year. They say that only 40% of their merchandise sells the first time around.

If an item doesn’t sell well enough, you have several choices like:

1) Re-list it. If you are selling a one-time item, this experimentation
may not be worthwhile. But for a repeat-seller you need to know.
Simply changing categories can make a huge difference because
your customer base is so different.

2) Lower the price. Knowing the value of any object is an art, not a science.
Your best method of research is to look at similar items but even that does not
guarantee exact conclusions. Sometimes, we have started too high and must
make the choice of making less money or no money. In other words, be flexible
in your assumptions.

3) Try a different auction site. If you are selling on a general site like
eBay or Amazon, try a specialized site, or vice versa. Some
expensive stuff that you are selling may not be appreciated by the
general public. In contrast, someone on a specialized site might be drooling
for them, ready to mortgage the house and take out a bank loan.
As well, some sites just don’t have lots of traffic. Others seem to cater to more
inexpensive items and your merchandise is too costly. There are a lot of
differences among sites and you may have to experiment to find the best match
for your interests.

4) Store it for a while and try again later. Hold it for a period of time
and try again. Rafts and snowshoes definitely have seasonal value i.e.
certain products are sold only on certain time of the year. And fads
come and go.

5) Group it with other merchandise. Include your unsold item with some
other merchandise, as part of a package. Many auctioneers can make more
money for three items included as a bundle than they make for the three sold
separately. And many buyers will purchase items because there is something
in the group that they really want.
It is a standard practice in the mail order business to include a lot of items for a
higher price because weight sells, believe it or not. Entrepreneurs are taught
that there is more money in bundling than in “cafeteria” selling.

Keep in mind that the market is inexplicable. There are items which sell really
well at one time, and very poorly at others. Who knows why. Even though we
should try to understand why an item sells, or doesn’t, there is simply just no
way to know for sure.
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Provide good and high-value content

2008-09-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

We can now discuss about the content that we put up on our listings. There aren’t as many space limitations in the content section as the headline area. But that doesn’t give you permission to drone on forever. To create high-value content in your listing, you need to:

1) Be specific -- It is crucial to be specific with your words. There are details that are important and the answer depends on what you are selling, however here are some guidelines.
• Information and specifications like model numbers are important with technological products.
• Manufacturer’s name -- Many customers search for items by brands, rather than by category.
• Manufacture date
• Material -- For example, some people will buy shutters based totally on looks. It doesn’t matter if they are a laminate or plastic. Others, however, not only insist on wood but on a particular kind of wood.
• Country of origin -- This depends on what you are selling. A Swiss watch and Dutch chocolate mean something to many.
The more information you provide in your description, the fewer questions you will receive from prospective customers. The fewer e-mail inquiries you are required to answer, the more time you have to list other items, and generate income.

2) Be positive -- Just like in your headlines, accentuate the positive. Your customer needs a reason to buy from you. It’s a good rule-of-thumb to follow as long as you keep your description to a reasonable length. Leave out all the “You’ve got to have this or your life is ruined” stuff.

3) Tell the truth about any negatives -- Your customer must have a clear description of what she will be buying, both positive and negative. Be straightforward and honest with your information.

4) Be friendly and professional -- Be friendly. Wish your customers well and welcome any questions or comments they might have to share. Answer promptly. A twenty four hour turn-around should be the minimum time on the Internet. A response within two or three hours is better.

5) Be careful with your grammar and spelling -- Be creative. Make your reader want to read your content. But there are limits. Spelling errors and garbage sentences detract from your message. The shorter the message, the more prominent the mistake and therefore make it grammatically correct.
6) Add a Picture
You can auction an item without a picture, but it is not advisable. If you have a digital camera, take a picture of the object with a clean plain colored background. If you don’t have a digicam do some research and try to find the picture of the object , for example when I had to sell my printer when I had just started this online trade I used a picture of the printer model from the company’s website(When you find the picture all you have to do is right click it and select the option to save the image). Some items absolutely require a picture. You can’t imagine buying jewellery or art without seeing it.
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Marketing Skills for online trading

2008-09-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

For successfully traing at eBay you need to have good marketing skills. In order to succeed in auctions, you have to think of your auction listing as your “Web site” and your sales copy as your “Web site salesperson”.
Know what your customer wants and then speak to him or her on a one-to-one level. If you are thinking that you can’t do this, I can assure you that it isn’t that difficult. The simplest, easiest method to figure out what your customers want is to constantly study winning and losing auctions!

Often two sellers will offer identical or almost-identical products, but one will be a smashing success and the other, a dismal failure. Whenever you find such a situation, examine the listings carefully to understand the difference.
For example, I auctioned a printer, and the results were just OK. I relisted the item with one adjustment to my previous ad -- I put the retail price in the headline. This time it was a smashing success. Obviously, my buyers wanted a bargain.
Your ad should be an attention grabber and the most critical attention-grabber is the headline or title of your auction listing. You have to grab your customer’s attention and make them want to read more. Be honest. Veteran auction users become annoyed if you make extravagant claims for your item. They will decide for themselves if they can live without it.
Avoid mixing capitals and lower case letters in odd ways. Decide for yourself if the headline is harder to read than the regular way of writing.
Marketing experts know that changing the headline of an ad can increase its power exponentially.

The following can be considered to be of some help while making headlines.
• Offer a Solution to a Problem
This is the pain and gain headline. By offering your customer a solution, she
automatically recognizes her problem
• Promise a Major Benefit
Increase Your Computer’s Speed For Only Rs.250.00!
• Ask a Question
Creating curiosity so as to tempt the customer to read further.
Lose 80 Pounds In One Month? Guaranteed?
• Use a Testimonial
These kinds of headlines are rare on auction sites except when used for
selling work by famous people.
Tendulkar personal model signed Bat

These are just some of the ideas of making successful listings. All you need to do is adapt things to the way that suit you.
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Things to look out for while selling.

2008-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

It is imperative that every seller be honest about the condition of whatever she is selling. If it is chipped, say so. If it is stained, say so. After all, the buyer will see it sooner or later and an unhappy customer is fatal to your success in the auction business.
The auction sites are like small towns in many ways. People do talk. Your reputation as a honest seller is beyond price and once it is tarnished, you may be handicapped forever. I can’t emphasize this point enough.

Return Policy
What is your return policy going to be, if any? Don’t wait until you have unhappy customers to make this decision. No auction rules force their sellers to have a return policy. However, having a liberal one, and letting your customers know about it, can create more business. It signals to your customers that you care about them and stand behind your merchandise, even if it costs you money.
There are only two possible kinds of return policies, unconditional and
conditional.

An unconditional policy means that your #1 goal is a satisfied customer and you will take back the merchandise for any reason. This doesn’t mean, however, that anything goes. The merchandise needs to be returned in excellent condition and there can be a time limit.

With a conditional return policy, you specify the conditions. For example, if the
merchandise isn’t as described by you or it was damaged in shipment, you will
accept its return.
Buyer’s remorse isn’t an excuse, nor is finding it cheaper elsewhere a
legitimate reason.
Many sellers make a mistake with guarantees. They create a fabulous guarantee but then they don’t reveal it unless they have to because they are afraid someone will take them up on it. If you decide on a powerful unconditional guarantee and if you’re going to assume this liability, get marketing mileage out of it..

Duration and Timing
Your next decision is how long you want your auction to continue. On eBay, for example, auctions can run three, five, seven or ten days. Most of them last a week.
If you have a hot item, and there is any sniping, it will occur near the end of the auction. You want the biggest possible audience for that event.

Selling Internationally.
The two biggest auction sites, eBay and Yahoo, have sites in multiple countries. Paying and shipping between different countries can sometimes present special problems. Decide in advance where you are heading with your Net auction business.

International Payment
“How much do I owe?” The first problem is figuring out prices in another
currency. eBay has a really terrific Universal Currency Converter at…
http://pages.ca.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/currencyconverter.html
It works beautifully. Simply insert the amount and highlight your own currency
on the left. Put the currency you want to know about on the right. Click your
mouse and you have an answer.

• Transfer of Money Safely Between Currencies
Fortunately, there are some payment options which are worldwide…
Visa
http://www.visa.com/
American Express
http://www.americanexpress.com/
Master Card
http://www.mastercard.com/
These three biggest credit card companies accept payment all over the world.
Western Union
http://www.westernunion.com/
Western Union will send money orders all over the world.

In addition, all four of the companies above will accept online payments. So a
buyer in Thailand can pay in bahts and a seller in Austria will receive her
payment in schillings. What happens with sellers who don’t accept credit
cards? American Express will send money orders that are good anywhere.
PayPal can also handle international transactions.
Sellers and buyers can, of course, sell on the eBay and Yahoo sites of other
countries. A German is certainly free to sell on eBay Japan and depending on
his merchandise, may have a strong marketing reason to do so.
Anyone wondering about whether they want to participate in international
auctions might want to check out eBay’s International Chat Board at...

http://chatboards.ebay.com/chat.jsp?forum=1&thread=41

Think through your transaction before you list anything. When you are testing,
it is OK to make only a small amount of money at Net auctions or even break
even. But that is definitely not the long term goal of participating in auctions.
You want a high profit-generating business.
You are on your way to becoming a really sophisticated seller.
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eBay Buyer Protection Program

2008-09-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

While the vast majority of eBay transactions are trouble-free, there are occasions when transactions do not work out as expected. When buyers face any transaction problems, our Buyer Protection Program can be of great help.

Buyer transaction problems could be of the following two types:
• Paying for an item and never receiving it; or
• Receiving an item that is significantly different than what was described, such as winning a solid gold necklace but receiving a copper one instead.

Features of the Program
• Buyer Protection Coverage Limit
• Eligible Transactions
• Non-Eligible Transactions
• How to request Standard Buyer Protection
• Escalating a Dispute to a Claim
• Important timelines
• Leaving Feedback after requesting Standard Purchase Protection

Step-by-step guide to buyer protection

Most common issues can be resolved by communicating directly with the seller, even before using buyer protection programs. The following steps are recommended:

Steps	Details	Timeframe
1. Check the item listing.	Review the seller's terms of sale, item description, and shipping and payment terms. Have you allowed enough time for the seller to receive and confirm payment?	First 10 days after the listing ends
2. Email the seller.	If you’re still concerned, email the seller with your questions. You can request the seller’s email address or use the "Ask seller a question" link on the item page.	First 10 days after the listing ends
3. Check your email spam filters for messages from the seller.	It's possible that the seller is trying to email you but your spam filters are blocking the messages.	First 10 days after the listing ends
4. Check your own contact information.	It's possible that the seller is trying to email you but your contact information is incorrect. Go to the Account tab in My eBay and click "Personal Information." Make sure your email address is correct.	First 10 days after the listing ends
5. Call your seller.	Request the seller's contact information and give the seller a call.	Any time after completing the first four steps
6. Resolve your problem through the eBay Resolution Center or PayPal Resolution Center	If you're not able to work it out directly with your seller, you can go to the eBay Resolution Center, which helps you start and track problem resolution with your seller. Important: You can open a case only through the eBay country site where you purchased the item.	10 to 60 days after the listing ends
Or, if you paid for the item with PayPal, file a claim with PayPal.	You must have a PayPal account in order to file a PayPal Buyer Protection claim. If you paid for the item with PayPal and didn’t create a PayPal account, you’ll be asked to do so before filing a claim.	First 45 days after the listing ends
7. Contact your credit card company.	Credit card companies typically provide some level of identity and purchase protection. Contact your credit card company to learn more. Note: If you paid with your credit card through PayPal, we encourage you to try PayPal’s Buyer Protection process first.	First 45 days after the listing ends
8. Leave Feedback	After you file a case, we encourage you to leave Feedback for the transaction. Please be honest, fair, and factual. This will make other members aware of your experience and help keep eBay a safe place to buy and sell.	After you’ve closed a case or requested reimbursement through a buyer protection program and up to 60 days after the listing ends

Launched in October 14, 2003, the PayPal Buyer Protection program is available in all categories. eBay buyers will be eligible to receive coverage up to $500 on all purchases of tangible goods, from verified PayPal sellers with a proven track record on eBay.

Under this program, PayPal will introduce a Buyer Protection logo that will be displayed on all qualified sellers’ listings. A qualified seller is categorized by his rating, and must have at least 50 feedback points and a 98% positive feedback. The seller must also have a verified PayPal account and be based in the United States or Canada.
Increased security is provided through the new Buyer Protection Program, by covering non-delivery of items, or products that are substantially not as described, all with no processing fee. For transactions that do not qualify under the PayPal Buyer Protection program, eBay will continue to provide its standard protection feature of $200 coverage, with a $25 processing fee.

Through its partnership with PayPal, eBay ensures privacy of information, as the buyer’s financial information is never shared with the seller. PayPal maintains one of the best online fraud prevention systems in the world, ensures that sellers are paid instantly and makes the transaction process convenient and easy.
Here is a link for PayPal terms on buyer protection:- http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/paypal-protection.html

Note:-The information from here on is provided by the Indian subsidiary of e-Bay and is applicable to Indian users.

Buyer Protection Coverage Limit
• Up to Rs. 50,000 in case of PaisaPay payment (minus Rs. 50.00 for processing costs)
o Note: PaisaPay buyer protection will be applicable to all completed transactions paid through PaisaPay. Learn more
o Note: Buyer can claim full refund on a PaisaPay within the timelines to report that the item was not delivered. Learn more
• Up to Rs. 10,000 in case of other safe payment modes (minus Rs. 50.00 for processing costs)
• Coverage for the amount which you have paid using eBay Gift Vouchers would be paid in the form of eBay Gift Vouchers only.
Learn about the safe payment methods on eBay
Note: Retain the photocopies of the Cheque / Demand Draft / Bank Deposit slips and all offline correspondence with the seller.

Eligible transactions
Under the Buyer Protection Program, the following transactions or items are eligible for protection coverage:
• The final price of the item is over Rs. 50.00. Multiple listings cannot be combined into one claim to become eligible, even if purchased from the same seller. Items purchased through Multiple Item Auctions (Dutch Auctions) are eligible, provided the combined value of all items purchased through a single listing is over Rs. 50.00
• You paid through PaisaPay and the time to confirm that the item was delivered or not has elapsed.
Note: You will not be eligible for protection if you have already raised a refund claim with PaisaPay. Learn about eligibility criteria for PaisaPay protection
• You are a winning bidder or fixed price buyer of an item listed on the eBay site.
• Both you and the seller had a Feedback rating of zero or above at the close of the listing.
• Your item is legal and in accordance with eBay's Listing Policies and User Agreement.
• Payment was sent to the seller in good faith and proof of payment can be documented.
• You have not exceeded the three claims per six-month limit.
• If you paid with a credit card (either directly to the seller or through an online payment service other than PaisaPay) you must have already contacted your credit card issuer and sought reimbursement from the issuer prior to filing a claim.

Non-eligible transactions
The following items are not eligible for protection coverage under the Buyer Protection program:
• Items which are not significantly different from the item description (the value of the item is not affected)
• In case of a PaisaPay payment, if the timeline to confirm that the item was delivered or not has not yet elapsed.
• Items paid for with cash or instant money transfer services such as Western Union
• Items damaged or lost in shipping
• Items that have been altered, repaired, discarded or resold
• Items which are picked up or delivered in person
• Intangible items, such as services or digital items
• Double payment or overpayment
• Shipping and handling fees
• Buyer's remorse (items bought by mistake or if you change your mind)
• Items purchased with BidPay: Please contact your credit card provider to file a chargeback

How to request Standard Buyer Protection
1)Report an item not received or significantly not as described To do this, please go to the dispute console in My eBay. This online communication tool helps you track, discuss, and resolve a dispute as quickly as possible. If the dispute can’t be solved and after a certain timeframe, you can close the dispute and request buyer protection. (Between 10 to 60 days after the transaction date)

2)The buyer can escalate the dispute to a claim. From My eBay, click the "Dispute Console" link. From the Dispute Console, click the relevant dispute. On the View Dispute page, click the link to the Standard Purchase Protection Program claim form. Fill out the form and click "Submit" to file your claim.(If the seller does not respond to the dispute within 10 days OR Anytime after the seller responds to the dispute and at least 30 days after the item listing closed )

3)Submit proof of payment - An eBay claims administrator may contact you via email, asking you to provide proof of payment. Proof of payment may be provided in the form of a photocopy of the demand draft, receipt, cheque, etc. In case you have made the payment through PaisaPay, you may not be requested to provide your payment proof.(Within 14 days of submitting your claim)

4)Submit Letter of Authenticity (if applicable). If you would like to avail the claim for a significantly not as described item, an eBay Claims Administrator may contact you for a Letter of Authenticity or Appraisal.
The Proof of Authenticity must include the valuation of the item and contact information of the authenticator (name and telephone number) on the letterhead of the authenticator. This information can be mailed or faxed to eBay. (After an eBay claims administrator contacts you)

Points to remember:

* A dispute can only be open for 90 days after the transaction date.
* If the buyer has not closed the dispute within 90 days, it will be automatically closed.
* When a dispute is automatically closed, the buyer is not eligible to submit a claim under eBay's Buyer Protection Program.

Escalating a Dispute to a Claim
Here are the steps to escalate a dispute to a claim:
1) Sign in to your eBay.in account.
2) Click My eBay at the top of the eBay homepage.
3) On the left-hand side of the page under My eBay views, click the “Dispute Console” link.
4) On the Dispute Console page, select “Item Not Received or Not as Described” link and click the “View dispute” link to check your dispute status.
5) In case you haven’t received an item within 30 days from transaction date, you may choose the 3rd option to escalate to a claim to receive Buyer Protection.

Important Timelines
* Buyers can open an Item Not Received or Significantly Not As Described dispute between 10 to 60 days after the transaction date (the date when the listing closes and the buyer commits to buying the item and the seller commits to selling it).
* File a Buyer Protection claim after 30 days but not more than 90 daysfrom the end of listing
* A dispute can only be open for 90 days after the transaction date. If the buyer has not closed the dispute within 90 days, it will be automatically closed and buyer may not be able to avail Buyer Protection Claim
* Remember to fax the payment proof as early as possible from the time you file a claim
* Help us to proceed with your claim by responding to an eBay Claims Administrator's request for information within 72 hours.

Leaving Feedback after requesting Standard Purchase Protection
After you file a dispute, we encourage you to leave Feedback for the transaction. Please be honest, fair, and factual. This will help make other members aware of your experience and help keep eBay a safe place to buy and sell.

For tips please visit the following web page:-
http://pages.ebay.in/securitycentre/mrkt_safety.html

Note: If you have made your payment through Bank Deposit or Online Bank Transfer, also provide us with the following details:

* Seller’s bank account number
* Seller’s bank account name
* Seller’s bank name
* Seller’s branch name

Choosing Your Category

2008-04-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Once you decide to list an item for sale, you must then choose a category. That

choice is simpler on the specialty sites. But if you are using a general site, how

are you to choose?

For example, you have some toy trucks to sell. Do you place them in “toys,”

“collectibles,” or “automotive”? To make it extra tough, there are subcategories

within those categories. The choice you make may be the

difference between a sale and a no-sale. This section will help you choose the

most appropriate listing area.

• Category Search

First, do your research by checking all possible categories. Initially, this may

take some time, and seem rather tedious, but the research you are doing now

will enable you to become a power seller. The task won’t take nearly as much

time in the future. Choose one potential category to begin with. And then, ask

yourself these questions:

1) Are there other items similar to yours for sale?

2) Do similar items have bids, or not?

3) How do the prices compare in different categories? For example, there are

lots of diecast vehicles for sale in both the Toy and the Automobilia categories.

4)Which category has higher prices?

• Past Auctions

Past auctions are simply wonderful sources of information. Search already

completed auctions for toy - trucks. If you get too many results, narrow your

search. See where the toys have sold well.

• Active Categories

Avoid the faulty thinking which says that you should list your item in a

category where there isn’t much action. Too many newcomers make this

mistake. The problem is that there aren’t any buyers, either!

Of course, if there are six items just like yours, it may (or may not) be prudent to

wait until some of these auctions close. That’s one of the good things about

online auctions -- they’re over very quickly.

• Multiple Categories

One sensible strategy, if you have multiple items, is to try them one at a time in

different categories so that you can compare your success. In this way, you

inexpensively test your market.

If you are selling the only antique clock that you own, obviously you must

choose only one category. But if you have an entire line of merchandise that

you sell repeatedly, list it in any category that makes sense.

Appraising the value of your goods

2008-04-06T12:03:00.003-07:00

“Value” can be tough to define. The ideal price according to veteran sellers is 100% over cost. That means that if you pay Rs.200, you should begin at Rs.400. Sometimes this may be unrealistic for whatever you are selling.

In many ways, merchandise can be like the stock market where it experiences

a dramatic and sudden reversal in either direction.

The following could serve as guidelines for assigning value to an item.

1) Research - The best way to do research is right on the online auction sites

themselves. Check completed auctions, as well as current ones, for price

comparisons. On many online auction sites, you can look at past auctions for up to 60 days. This type of research will give you valuable guidance.

On the flip side, also pay attention to similar items that didn’t sell. Figure out

why they didn’t sell.

2) Pay an expert - Because of the huge demand, there are now online sites

that will supply an expert appraisal for you, mostly at reasonable prices.

Once again -- just because an item is valued at Rs.5000 doesn’t

mean that someone will actually pay that much. Even the appraisers themselves acknowledge that we should use caution with these appraisals, especially as buyers. It is easy for unscrupulous people to submit deceptive pictures.

Yahoo has a special service that helps sellers link to an authenticator

(expert) or a grading service.

The following are some of the authenticators:

http://psacard.com/

http://www.eppraisals.com/ and many others are there.

3) Price guides... If you walk into book stores, you can find lots of “price

guides.” As we mentioned before, don’t take these too seriously. They are just

that... guides. As well, many people sell merchandise that is new and therefore

not included.

In general, price guides aren’t all that helpful. They can certainly make it

easier to decide if an item is relatively rare and whether you should be

purchasing it or not. For example, if you see a stamp and your price guide

says that only seven were ever made in the world, start negotiating!

4) Fellow auctioneers can help - Look no further for genuine guidance.

Most auction users are very friendly and are totally willing to help those with

questions. Even so, look at the feedback on these helpful folks before you take

their advice too seriously.

5) Set a reserve price - When sellers are totally stumped about the value

of an item, they often try and use the “Cover Your Assets” strategy by creating a reserve auction. However, as we discussed before, many buyers absolutely refuse to participate in a reserve auction.

eBay recommends using the following criteria to determine if you should use

the reserve feature for your item...

• Is your item very valuable? If it is, you might consider a reserve. Even those

collectors who are drooling on their computer screen over your 1824 signed

edition want to feel like they are getting a bargain. If you start the bidding low,

hopefully they will be hooked when it begins to rise.

• Do you believe your audience is large enough that you can afford to give up

that large percentage of buyers who won’t play the reserve game?

• Is your item hot, hot, hot? If it is then forget the reserve. If the item is in heavy

demand, you can count on competition. Set a reasonable minimum and let the

excitement build.

• If your market is a real mystery, then go for a reserve. You certainly don’t

want to give away your merchandise and then find out later that your buyer

made the deal of the century. Just be aware that this can be a dangerous

decision because you may price yourself out of the (unknown) market.

• If your investment is low, you may be better off to forget the reserve. Set your

minimum profit level and let the market set the rules.

Other selling options at online auction sites.

2008-04-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Up till now I had discussed about online selling through listings on online auction sites like e-Bay. Apart from this there are other avenues as well through which we can promote the sale of our goods on such sites.

1) Home Page Featured
Featured auctions are expensive and this strategy is not for the novice. But it does increase the likelihood that your item will sell at the online auction site.
If your items are featured, you are guaranteed to be in the featured section
which can be accessed from the front page of the big sites. Generally, featured
items have a much higher sale percentage than those that aren’t. If you
are very, very lucky, you will be briefly featured on the home page of the online auction site where thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of potential customers, may
see your goodies. Luck has its part to play here since most of these sites say that it “may be” on the front page but nothing is guaranteed.

2) Featured Plus!
On eBay, it costs less than the above one and your product appears in your category’s Featured Item section and in bidder’s search results. Plus, your item may be selected for display in another area -- your category index page Featured Items section.
If a customer types in the exact words that you have used in your listing, they will find your item.
However, if the words aren’t exact, it won’t be featured.

If your item receives 30 bids, it is placed in the “hot” category, and is placed at
the very top of your category. More bids get a ranking of “hotter” and “hottest”.

Apart from the above categories there are other categories as well which can be used to put up an item for sale.
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Reputation in online buying

2008-03-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

This business runs on reputation and if you get a bad one, your image on the online auction site will be damaged, possibly beyond repair. Many buyers won’t do business with you. In the worst case, you can be suspended from the online auction site.
Retracting a bid is considered serious and it is strongly advised that you do not to do it unless under extreme circumstances.
You may retract an online bid under exceptional conditions like:
i) You accidentally bid a wrong bid amount. For instance, you bid Rs.9950
instead of Rs.995. But this doesn’t hold good if you want to make a small change to your bid amount, people will, take it harshly.
ii) The item description of something you’re bidding on has changed a lot.
Sellers will sometimes add to the description of an item. If this changes,
bidders will sometimes withdraw their bids.
iii) You cannot verify the seller’s identity, or she won’t respond to any of your
questions. Even though this is sometimes accepted by sites as a legitimate
excuse, you really should figure all this out before bidding, not after.

They can’t make you buy it-true. However, online auctions sites
expect the bidder to fill out a form explaining the reason for the withdrawal.
If you absolutely must retract, do it before the auction is over to reduce the
damage. It is unfair to leave the seller hanging after the online auction is over. Even if your explanation is accepted, it will go into your feedback profile and make
future sellers and buyers wary of dealing with you.
A seller may always refuse to sell to any particular person, and needs no
reason for her refusal. You might find this happening to you a lot if you decide
to retract your bids.

Similarly reputation is of utmost importance for online sellers, once damaged there would be detrimental effects on the business. Since regular, experienced buyers buy mostly after seeing the feedbacks on the seller any negative feedback will be damaging for the seller's business.

So ,deal fairly every time you trade on online auctions, since bad reputation spreads like a forest fire as in the real world market,albeit at a more rapid pace.
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Kinds of auctions

2008-03-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

There are different kinds of auctions, about which it is important for the buyer and seller to know. The typical auction is the nice straightforward kind of winner-takes-all.
However, there are special auctions, and one kind in particular is critical for
any seller who wants to reach the top pinnacle in the auction business.
Here are of the few different kinds...

1) Reserve Auction
I have already explained this kind of transaction in my previous post. Reserve auctions are a very small minority and are usually reserved for higher-priced items.

2) Dutch Auctions
Dutch auctions are vitally important. They are the key to substantial
income generation! A Dutch auction is one in which the seller offers more than one of the items she is selling. For example, if you have 25 pens to sell, you can create 25 different listings, or you can put them all in a Dutch auction.
Sometimes it is appropriate to create single listings. Other times, Dutch
auctions are the way to go. There are different strategies for either approach...
i) Rules -- On most sites, brand new traders cannot participate in a Dutch
auction. This restriction isn’t to pick on the “new kids.” It’s
because it takes some skill and practice to manage them.
There can be no reserve price in a Dutch auction. There is no proxy bidding,
either. The winners in a Dutch auction purchase the item at the lowest
successful bid.
Take the following example:
Let’s say that X is auctioning 10 pairs of socks, with an
opening bid of Rs.5. If 10 people (or less) bid Rs.5, no problem. They all get a set of socks. But what if 16 people bid on those 10 sets of socks. We can have the following scenario:
Buyer A - Rs.13.50
Buyer B - Rs.12.75
Buyer C - Rs.12.25
Buyer D - Rs.11.80
Buyer E - Rs.11.00
Buyer F - Rs.10.43
Buyer G - Rs.9.10
Buyer H - Rs.7.50
Buyer J - Rs.5.00
Buyer K - Rs.5.00
Buyer L - Rs.5.00
Buyer M - Rs.5.00
Buyer N - Rs.5.00
Buyer O - Rs.5.00
Buyer P - Rs.5.00
Buyer Q - Rs.5.00
Buyers A to K get the socks. J and K got the socks, and
buyers L to Q did not get them, when they bid as much as J and K. It all has to do with the chronological sequence. The first buyers who bid a winning
price are the lucky ones.
Now for the tough question. What does everybody pay for these socks?
The price is based on the lowest successful bid which in this case was Rs.5.
Therefore, everybody pays Rs.5. Yes, you read it correctly. Everybody! Even though Buyer A bid Rs.13.50, she only has to pay Rs.5. For now, just be aware that Dutch auctions are something you want to master. They are the source of super profits.

3) Reverse Dutch Auctions
Reverse Dutch auctions are sometimes found at specialty sites, but they are
not very popular. In a reverse auction, the price begins dropping at specified
intervals. The buyer’s job is to figure out when the price is acceptably low.
Wait too long and someone else will buy the widget.
It is similar to a Dutch auction, however, in that everybody will buy at the lowest price. However, you had better be willing to pay whatever you have bid. Be sure of your bid -- don’t hope or expect the price to drop because it may not.
So far, this doesn’t seem to be an especially popular format. I have yet to talk to anyone who has participated in such an auction.

4) Restricted Auctions
Restricted auctions are usually for “adult” auctions. To even look at the items in restricted auctions, the site requires credit card information which means the browser must be 18 years old.

5) Private Auctions
In a regular auction, the identity of the bidders is available for all to know. In a
private auction, this isn’t the case. There are usually two reasons for a private
auction...
1) If the item is very expensive, the bidders may not want the world to know
that they can afford a Van Gogh.
2) In the case of adult auctions, the bidders may not want anyone to know they
are bidding on a particular item.

But Dutch auctions cannot be private.

Bidding process and strategies

2008-03-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

The more you know about the online auction process, the more effectively you will sell. The better you know your customers, the more successful you will be in your online business. In short, you need to know how your customers feel and behave. You have to get into your customer’s mindset.

The Bidding Process

Each item will show to have a minimum bid.

If you could match this bid, two things happen.

The auction site asks you to review your bid
Then it will ask you to give your password and user ID.

In a short time, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from the auction site.

Remember, there is no charge for bidding.

Bid Increments

There are bidding increment guidelines of auction sites which have to be followed. For example if an item is quoting Rs. 190, you cannot bid it for Rs.191. You only win if you have the highest bid when the auction closes. One great feature of Internet auctions, however, is that they will notify you if you are outbid and by how much.

Proxy bidding

This is an interesting feature of auction sites. Suppose you have a game collection to be purchased and you are desperate to have it and are willing to pay up to Rs.2500 for it. At this point, though, the bidding is only Rs.1200.

Thanks to proxy bidding, all you must do is click “proxy bidding” below the minimum bid amount and enter your proxy bid of Rs.2500. The computer will bid for you. Whenever your arch-rival bids on your game, the computer will automatically bid the next accepted amount for you. And each time the computer bids for you, it notifies you via e-mail. Your maximum bid is a secret. When and if the price exceeds Rs.2500, the computer will not bid any longer.

Here's how bidding on eBay works:

When you place a bid, you enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item. The seller and other bidders won't know your maximum bid amount.
eBay places bids on your behalf starting with the next bid increment for the auction. We'll bid as much as necessary to make sure that you remain the high bidder (or to meet the reserve price). We'll keep bidding for you until bidding reaches your maximum amount.
If another bidder has placed the same bid before you or a higher maximum bid, we'll let you know that you've been outbid so that you can place another bid if you want. However, if no other bidder has a higher maximum bid at the end of the auction, you win the item even if your bid doesn't go as high as your maximum bid. You could pay significantly less than your maximum price. This means you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid every time another bid is placed

Reserve Auctions

A reserve is a price below which the seller will not sell and the amount is kept secret during the auction. One reason online sellers do this is to have a lower insertion fee to pay. Another reason is to create interest on the part of the buyers.
A downside to this kind of auction is that most buyers shun it since they get bugged off if the price they bid doesn’t meet the reserve price.

Bidding Strategies
Really serious online auction players and collectors develop winning strategies to make sure they get the items they are craving and they manage to buy items that they can then resell for a nice profit.

Here are a few strategies to consider:-

Strategy #1 Don’t bid high and early. If there are several people who are determined to acquire the item that you want, you will only be forcing the price up and up. Wait until closer to the end to make a determined series of
bids. When you are selling, you will see this happen again and again. Many buyers wait until late in the game to bid just because they don’t want to run the price up.

Strategy #2 -- A few paise more can make the difference. Most buyers bid in nice, round numbers like 5.50 or 10.75. But those who study the auctions learn that a few paise more can make a difference. Instead of bidding Rs.10.50, bid Rs.10.53. Sometimes these few paise will be a difference between winning and losing.

Strategy #3 Use the two window strategy. In the event of a bidding war, really serious bidders use this strategy to acquire a treasured item. First, make sure your clock is set to the time of the auction site. You wouldn’t want to miss out on your treasure because you lost track of time. You can open 2 browser windows (press the Control (Ctrl) and N key together will open a second window on your browser). You can use one screen to bid and the other to watch a flurry of last minute bids. To keep up with the bids, keep hitting the reload or refresh button on your computer. In this way, you know what all your opponents are doing. If you use this tactic, be aware that it takes precious seconds to fill in your ID and password so have that part of your screen filled in to save time.

Strategy #4 – Be patient. This is the fine art of waiting (also called as sniping in online auction lingo) until the last possible second to defeat the current high bidder. Be prepared, though. You may be on the wrong end of a such a strategy as well. Some people go to the extent of keeping alarms to alert them of in the ending seconds of the bid, but nonetheless effective.

So make use of these strategies and some of yours and try making some really good deals at online auctions.

For more information do visit this link:-
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bidding-ov.html

Buyer beware

2008-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

I have seen a lot of sites promising to give a lot of information/tips on trading on e-Bay but at the end of it all I have found them to be bogus and scams. Over here I am trying (through my blogs) to inform the viewers about some real hard facts. No round-trips of my sites,no bogus claims or books to be sold. Here is a follow-up of my previous blog where I had told a few things about why you should buy first at e-Bay and then start selling. Here are a few guidelines for making payments through PaisaPay in e-Bay:-

PaisaPay for Buyers

Benefits of paying through PaisaPay

No fees - absolutely free for buyers!
Pay instantly using your credit card or make an online bank transfer and receive the product faster, thus eliminating the hassle and delays of cheques and demand drafts.
Make fast, assured purchases, and get your money back if the seller does not deliver the item. You can also claim up to Rs. 50,000 under the eBay Buyer Protection if the item delivered is not as described.
Increased safety in online payments: All transactions paid through PaisaPay are protected till you receive the item. If you don't receive the item within the specified delivery time, you can file a refund claim. PaisaPay will investigate and refund the money to you including the shipping costs.
Convenience of EMI payments: You can pay for an item in 3 or 6 monthly installments by using your ICICI bank credit card through PaisaPay.
Enhanced and simple tracking of your buying activity: You can use “My PaisaPay” to track your PaisaPay transactions. You can stay updated on information like shipping details, payments, and refunds, along with key action points, alerts and reminders.
Get discounts with eBay Gift Vouchers: If you have received an eBay Gift Voucher , you can redeem your vouchers to get great discounts while paying through PaisaPay.

How to pay using PaisaPay?

· Check if the item is available on Auction or Fixed Price

· Read the Item Description thoroughly

· Check the accepted payment methods / shipping charges and warranty policy.

· If you have any questions about the item, click on the Ask Seller a question link and clarify your doubts.

Once you make the payment you will receive a confirmation through email. You can check the status of the PaisaPay transaction in your “My PaisaPay”. You will also see the payment confirmation in your My eBay as a yellow bar below the transaction.

After having an overview of how to make payments on e-Bay let us get back to how to go about getting to know more about the goods we are purchasing. In previous post I’d given some hints for the same. But you might need more diligence while doing purchase since there are unscrupulous sellers as well who would craftily hide certain details from you. What if you have questions that aren’t answered by the item description? In that case you can always contact the seller if you don’t totally understand what you are getting into. Whenever you see an item for sale, you will also see a phrase that says “ask seller a question.” It is the buyer’s responsibility to be very clear.
What if your bid wins an item and you discover that it’s something you don’t like? Unfortunately, in that case you didn’t ask any questions before you bid so it’s tough luck and you will have to go on with what you get.

The point of me teaching you buying lessons in my posts so far was to allow you to get a real experience of doing business in e-Bay. You can do your buying by purchasing a low-priced item and thus start your first lesson in becoming an effective seller.

Since I wrote this blog some updates have been made at PaisaPay features. You can access them at the following link:-http://www2.ebay.com/aw/in/200807171437152.html

Buying goods online

2008-03-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

The things mentioned in this series of posts (this one and before and after this one) attempt to enable you to make good deals on the net by letting you know how to:

• write powerful ads and listings

• figure out your costs so that you sell at a profit

• master record keeping

• arrange shipping and handling

• accept payment

• build traffic

To become a good auctioneer, you must start by buying something because you can’t sell effectively if you have never bought. After you find a new supplier, you never auction their merchandise until you have ordered at least one item from them. If their service is awful, or their merchandise is not what is expected its better to know it. Its always better to know this before than to have a bunch of angry customers attacking you.

You can search items at e-Bay’s search engine (the search box located at the top left of the site) by the items name as well as by the following criteria:

iii) By seller -- lots of serious auction sellers use this search method to keep

themselves informed about their “competition.” Personally, I think there is so

much opportunity in the auction business that there is very little reason to be

concerned about what others are doing.

iv) By the bidder -- this can be a very powerful way to learn your niche. If

you discover someone in your field who really knows her stuff, you might want

to follow her around for a while and see what he’s doing.

There are some softwares which surf the web for shoppers called as ShopBots and AuctionBots will search an item for you. Their biggest advantage is that they aren’t limited to only one site. Those robotic softwares instantly compare prices for thousands of items on as many sites. You simply type in what you are looking for, and they will go to many different sites to find what you are seeking. Right now, bots specialize in simple price comparisons, which tend to drive prices down and steer commodity buyers to e-retailers that can live on narrow profit margins.

Some of the best known Auction Bots are...

http://www.vendio.com/

http://www.auctionwatchers.com/

http://www.bidxs.com/

But there are some drawbacks of bots like they might be a little complicated to use for novice users, and it might take some time to get the desired results.

Some of these bots also provide real price comparisons, including tax, shipping, handling,etc. which may turn a good deal into a bad one. Bertelsmann’s DealPilot.com, which tracks books and CDs, is the first to offer such comparisons.

A few bots link to online reviews as well, but these links can be hard to follow and the volume of data quickly can be overwhelming.

You may make serious buying errors after you learn the process, you will also learn how to be a more powerful seller. Here are some tips…

1) Item Description -- Obviously it is the buyer’s responsibility to know what

he is buying. If you have any questions, ask the seller.

2) Item Condition -- There are “grades,” which refer to condition.

The grades are...

i) Mint or MIB (for Mint-in-Box) -- this is a never-used item, still in its original

container, complete with directions. In other words, perfect.

ii) Near mint -- the item is perfect but it no longer has the original packaging or

the packaging is less than perfect.

iii) Excellent -- has some minor wear but is very close to perfect.

iv) Very good -- has minor defects

v) Good -- looks used, with defects

vi) Poor -- is barely collectible at all, heavy damage, heavy use

3) Transaction Terms -- You need to know the details of the transaction...

i) What is the seller’s refund policy if the item is damaged?

ii) How long will it take to get your purchase?

iii) What are your payment options?

iv) Who pays for shipping (almost always the buyer).

v) Who pays for insurance, if any?

4) Seller profile -- The most important thing you can do is to know who you

are buying from. eBay, for example, has an elaborate system of seller

feedback.

i) Wait until the transaction is complete before you comment. Don’t be too

hasty to give negative feedback (there are only specific circumstances where

feedback can be withdrawn).

ii) You can’t leave feedback for yourself.

iii) Don’t ever threaten others with feedback. That’s a quick way to get thrown

off the site.

As a buyer, you have the responsibility to use feedback fairly. If you don’t, you

may be on the receiving end of some pretty tough criticism when you are in the

seller’s role.

6) Financial limits – Don’t over-bid for an item. Set your limit and stick to it unless there is an absolutely compelling and rational reason for doing otherwise.

Buy It Now

In e-Bay when you see the Buy It Now icon next to a listing or see a Buy It Now price listed on an item page, you can get that item right away without waiting for an auction-style listing to end.

To purchase an item with Buy It Now:

Decide whether you're willing to buy the item for the Buy It Now price. Please remember, shipping and handling charges are not included in the Buy It Now price. You may need to contact the seller to determine the total price of the item.
Click the Buy It Now button at the bottom of the item page and enter your User ID and password.
You'll need to choose a shipping method. Then, you can choose among the payment methods offered by the seller (PaisaPay, cheque, demand draft, Cash on Delivery, and Buyer Picks Up & Pay).
Pay for the item or commit to pay.
The seller ships it to you.

Tip: If you see an item has both a Buy It Now price and a bid price listed, it means you will need to act quickly! The Buy It Now price is available until the auction price has exceeded a price threshold or until the reserve price has been met.

Note: To qualify to use Buy It Now as a buyer, you must have one of the following:

Have feedback greater than or equal to zero

If you don't qualify when you click the Buy It Now button, you will be asked to do one of the above to qualify. Once you have met one of the above requirements, the listing will end automatically and you will be the winning buyer.

Geting a payment after selling your items online through e-Bay

2008-03-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Before I give you some tips for trading your goods online it would be beneficial if you could understand the payment method used at e-Bay.
The details given here are applicable for getting payments when you make a deal through e-Bay only.

PaisaPay for Sellers

Registration with PaisaPay is absolutely FREE. All you need to have is a valid bank account in any of the “PaisaPay supported banks”. Once you are registered with Paisapay, the Paisapay logo automatically appears as a payment method in all your listings. PaisaPay is a mandatory payment method and will appear automatically in all your listings.

Benefits of receiving payment through PaisaPay

Easier and convenient PaisaPay remittances: Earlier PaisaPay would send you a demand draft for the amount in your PaisaPay account every 7 days. With the new PaisaPay, your payments will be transferred to your PaisaPay account online as soon as the buyer confirms receipt of the item.
Online Remittance: Twice a week, PaisaPay will transfer your remittance online to your bank account. So no more hassles of depositing demand drafts and waiting for clearance. Your bank account will instantly receive your money.

Enhanced tracking of PaisaPay transactions: With the new PaisaPay, you will have the use of two features that will form the hub of all your PaisaPay transactions:

My PaisaPay: While you always tracked your eBay activities from your My eBay, a new section titled “My PaisaPay” will help you keep track and take action on all your PaisaPay transactions. My PaisaPay will be available from the left-hand navigation panel of My eBay.
Transaction Details Page: Tracking all the items bought by one buyer has been now made simple. You have a comprehensive information page for each PaisaPay transaction. This includes order details, shipping information, action points, refunds, and current transaction status.

How does a PaisaPay transaction work?

Step 1: Buyer pays for the item using PaisaPay (credit card or online bank transfer). PaisaPay confirms the payment and advises you to ship the item
Step 2: You ship the item and provide shipping details (courier name and airway bill number) in your My PaisaPay. Note: If you do not enter shipping details within the specified timelines, your payment will be refunded to the buyer.
Step 3: Buyer receives the item and confirms to PaisaPay that the item was delivered.
Step 4: PaisaPay transfers the payment to your PaisaPay account, which is sent periodically online to your registered bank account.

Important action points to remember.

Enter the shipping details: After the buyer has paid for an item, be sure to provide details of shipping within the timelines. If you miss this deadline, PaisaPay will treat this transaction as unsuccessful and refund the buyer’s payment.
Meeting delivery deadlines: After providing shipping details, a delivery deadline will be available on the Transaction Details page. You must ensure that the item is delivered to the buyer before this deadline. If the item is delivered within this timeline, the buyer’s payment is transferred to your PaisaPay account, which will be remitted to you after the buyer confirms receipt of the item. If the item does not reach the buyer within this deadline and the buyer informs PaisaPay, PaisaPay will investigate the case and refund the buyers payment.
Request for shipping / delivery time extension: If there’s a possibility that you may not be able to ship / deliver the item within the specified shipping deadline, you can request the buyer for a time extension. Be sure to request for a time extension before the deadline to enter shipping details.
Provide proof of delivery to PaisaPay: When the delivery deadline is over, PaisaPay will request the buyer to confirm whether the item was delivered or not. If the buyer confirms that an item was not delivered, PaisaPay will initiate a refund. However, if you have shipped the item and the buyer has accepted the delivery, you should contact PaisaPay immediately. PaisaPay will investigate the case and accordingly refund the buyers payment or remit the amount to the seller.

What are the important timelines to remember?

Action	For delivery within India	For international deliveries
Entering shipping details	Within 1-7 days of buyer's payment confirmation	Within 1-10 days of buyer's payment confirmation
Dispatch Time Extension	Max 23 days	Max 23 days
Delivery Time Extension	Max 8 days	Max 8 days
Delivering item to buyer	Within 1-10 days of entering shipping details in My PaisaPay	Within 1-21 days of entering shipping details in My PaisaPay
Buyer confirms item was received / raises item not received refund claim	Within 5 days from end of delivery deadline	Within 5 days from end of delivery deadline
Seller Disputes a buyer refund claim	Within 5 days from the end of the buyer confirmation deadline	Within 5 days from the end of the buyer confirmation deadline

Charges for receiving payment through PaisaPay To receive online payments, PaisaPay charges a processing fee of 4% of the total payment value on online bank transfer and credit card payments (excluding applicable taxes).

Earning through online selling

2008-03-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

Online money making is not only limited to earning through ads in your site. There are ways to earn money from the items stored in your closet i.e. if you want to. IF you are interested in making a few good bucks from the unused stuff that you can sell online go on with the following :
STEP number 1 -- Register. There are three requirements for registration...
1) You must be 18 years old.
2) You must provide a credit card number. Buyers pay nothing to
the auction sites. Only sellers pay charges.
3) You must have a valid e-mail address.

STEP number 2 -- Choose your User ID.

STEP number 3 -- Pick your password. For safety’s sake, auction sites
recommend the following safeguards...
• Never give your password to anyone
• Don’t pick anything obvious.
• Change your password if you think anyone else might have it.

STEP number 4 -- Agree to have a personal page. eBay, for example, has
created “About Me.” page facility for their members.

Here is what you can do with a personal Web page...
• Create a storefront for yourself.
• Show off your fabulous finds.
• Display your items up for bid.

STEP number 5 -- Provide your credit card number. The fees for selling an
item are very minimal. In fact, selling on an auction site has to be the biggest
bargain in town. Sellers are charged an insertion fee when a product is
placed for auction. If it sells, they are charged a final value fee, based upon
the final price of the item. Each seller receives an invoice for the previous
month’s fees.

Here are some ideas, guidelines given by eBay on what online trading at eBay means.

eBay is a marketplace - a platform where sellers and buyers can meet and trade. eBay never sees, takes possession of, inspects, or authenticates any of the goods for sale. Therefore, you should follow the guidelines provided below and always apply the same common sense to online transactions that you do in your everyday life offline.

1. Use of our guidelines and your common sense will help you trade safely

* eBay provides a feedback system, trust & safety advice and openly available information and tools - we recommend you make use of this advice and tools to make informed trading choices. You need to use all of this information together.
* Always apply the same common sense to online transactions that you do in your everyday life offline.
* Learn the ropes from experienced buyers and sellers on the member-to-member chat boards.
* To be protected by eBay's safety measures including the Buyer Protection Program, it is essential you always complete your transaction on the site - do not trade outside of eBay with people you meet at eBay.

2. Review a member's eBay reputation - eBay Feedback

* In the spirit of providing openly-available information, eBay members can leave Feedback about a transaction after buyer or selling. This Feedback is posted on each member's Feedback profile and is a key indicator of your reputation.
* Checking the seller's Feedback rating and positive, neutral and negative comments provided by other members of the eBay community can help you evaluate the seller's previous trading history and gain an understanding of their reputation.

3. Get to know your Seller

Learning more about your seller helps you make informed choices about your purchases:

* Review the seller's feedback rating score and positive, neutral and negative comments provided by other members of the eBay community to evaluate that seller's previous trading history.
* Review other items the seller has previously sold to assess the overall quality and type of items this seller usually trades.
* Many sellers have an “About Me” page or eBay Shop you can visit to read about their selling practices and contact details.
* Contact the seller to learn more about them and the item. Ask questions about the quality and condition of the item, return policies, postage costs and accepted methods of payment.
* Be wary of sellers who try to entice you to trade outside of eBay (e.g. before the listing ends, or afterwards if you are not the high bidder). If you trade outside of eBay, you will not be protected by eBay's safety measures including the Buyer Protection Program.

4. Know what you are buying

Knowing more about what you are buying helps you make a confident and informed decision:

* Research your desired item and its fair market price both off and online.

* Read the item description and the seller's terms and conditions carefully, including payment options, postage costs and return policies.
* Closely examine photographs to assess an item's condition.
* Ask the seller specific questions about their selling policies and the quality and condition of an item - especially if a description or photo is not clear, and wait for satisfactory reply before bidding or buying.
* Remember, there are great buys on eBay but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your homework.

5. Pay Smart!

Sellers on eBay offer a range of payment methods with varying levels of protection. Always apply the same common sense to online transactions that you do in your everyday life offline.

* Select a seller that offers a payment method you are comfortable with using to add to your peace of mind.

* Credit cards with chargeback facilities add security but it is important you check with your credit card provider on the level of protection provided.

* Member-to-member payment services like Paymate and PayPal protect your bank account details from being seen by others. Additionally, some member-to-member payment services like PayPal offer additional protection programs for eBay purchases.
* For additional security, eBay recommends the use of a reputable escrow service, like TradeSecure, particularly for amounts over $350. For a small fee, escrow services hold a buyer's money in trust until the buyer has had the opportunity to receive, inspect and approve the item.
* Question a seller who will only accept money orders or instant cash transfers such as Western Union as these may be harder to trace or be reimbursed should anything go wrong. Bidders and buyers should be especially cautious if one or both of these are the only payment methods accepted by the seller. Exercise caution if the payment address differs from the item location.

6. What to do if something goes wrong

It is rare that something goes wrong with a transaction, but if it does, there are several options available to you:

* Contact your trading partner and try to resolve the problem. Most buyers and sellers are honest and reliable, and often the cause is a simple misunderstanding or lack of communication.
* Request the sellers' contact details and give them a call to discuss.
* If resolution can't be found, a third party mediation service such as Squaretrade might be the answer.
* Remember that your credit card provider, online member-to-member payment services or postage insurance may help to recover funds lost in a transaction. Make sure you understand the policies of payment provider you are using and the time frame in which you can file a claim.
* Additionally, eBay's Buyer Protection Program can provide for a payment of up to $350.
* Consider contacting the police. You can be assured that eBay assists law enforcement officials in their investigations of any suspected criminal activity when appropriate.

Protect your online accounts

* Exercise caution when receiving communications from outside the eBay community.
* Watch out for “spoof” e-mails. A spoof email may appear as though it has come from a trusted company (including eBay) - if in doubt, do not click on links from emails.
* If you receive a request to update your personal information and you do not feel comfortable about the source of the email, do not click on any links provided in the email - simply open a new browser, type www.ebay.com.au, sign-in, and use the site map to navigate the site.
* Never give out credit card or password details. In the same way that you never tell anyone, even the bank teller, your PIN number, you should always protect your private information, including passwords.
* Select a secure password that is a combination of letters and numbers to protect your account information - never choose an obvious word such as 'password', your email address, your name, your family's names or birthdates.
* Regularly check your account and preferences to make sure there is no unauthorised activity.

More insights on this subject will be there in my next blog.
So try to get rid of those things in your attic or closet which might be of more use to others and in the process make some quick buck.

For readers who like reading business literature books here's a link to one of the book summaries that I have written:
http://www.shvoong.com/books/management-literature/1770359-beating-street/

Earning money online

2008-03-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

This time I thought about sharing some of my views and information on earning money online.
Since this is a craze now-a-days with some people, I thought I could provide some insights on earning money online to interested people.

Some people dream of working online from the comfort of your home; at their own time.
Internet was earlier the great source of knowledge and information but at present era one feature has added it. Now a days internet is more popular for its money making quality than previous specialty. There are numerous jobs and work that can be done online and these are the great source of easy and fast.

There is a lot of online earning opportunity for part time jobbers, network marketers, net surfers and home workers to earn additional money from any comfortable place or home. You can earn big money through online working without leaving your main or present job or work.

Online research is emerging as a good opportunity. If you've used search engines to look for specific information, you'd know how tiresome it is to sift through the junk before you arrive at what you want.

Knowledge or information based services that require you to use your experience or skills are a good way to make money. Some sites hire your services for their clients; others put you in touch with people who need your services.

There are services like Google Answers that save surfers the hassle of searching themselves. Surfers post queries on computing, shopping, entertainment or food, and Google's team of online researchers get cracking on the information requested. You can set the price for your answer on the basis of the work involved. Three-fourths of the price goes to the researchers. Responses are rated by the people who request the information, while registered users offer comments.

There are many ways of online earning some people do online jobs on the other hand some runs online business for making money. If you are interested to online income then there are huge opportunities for you.

There are companies like AskDownUnder which hire online researchers to offer Web search and information services to their clients.

There are lot of other sites offering the opportunity to earn some money by outsourcing work from people who can work online.
More about this in my next blog.

2007-12-22T03:43:00.000-08:00

For the time being I am putting up 2 links of the abstracts that I've written for a site about 2 books:
http://www.shvoong.com/books/1728856-ideas-free/
http://www.shvoong.com/books/management-literature/1729310-building-bridge-walk/

Intro

2007-12-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

I've started this blog to introduce people about some of the aspects of business. My knowledge of business is goes with the business done at a typical small shop in India, doing online business through trading goods and through online posts/blogs. There are many other types of doing businesses online about which I'd be telling you in my future blogs.
Along with my experiences I'd also like to share with you the various things that I've learnt from some of the books on investing and doing business and my insights on the views expressed in them.
I'd like to start with one of the books that I've recently read first.

In the book that I read, the author who is a stock market firm chief talks about his ways investing in the markets. He starts with the fact that investment acumen is only gained slowly and through practice. He warns of always keeping your losses in check. As is correctly said he asks the reader to have discipline (by that he meant always keeping our emotions in control) in their investing practices. Sell as soon as you make losses of more than 7% on your investment.
He later says that there is no perfect time for starting to invest; you don't have to wait for a right job or for a big sum of money to accumulate to start investing. (I agree with him in that the fact remains that the sooner we start to invest the more we'll have for our later days. And as is rightly said by Einstein the most powerful force in the universe is compounding and the sooner we start the more we'll gain from the compounding effect.)
He further advises us to follow a strict set of rules for investing. Not to stray from these rules is very important since the market is an unpredictable place with upswings and downswings and it becomes absolutely essential that we don't get depressed or too excited at times.

There is much more to discuss about investing which I'll do in my next blog. Till then make some plans for investing of your own.