Free instant auction traffic

by: Jason James

Here's an easy way to get extra traffic to your eBay auctions... ...and we all know, the more traffic, the more bids and ultimately, the more sales you'll get!   First...answer this question: "Do you look at other people's feedback ratings?" You probably answered yes...   So here's my idea - "Whenever you leave feedback, put your website URL in the feedback Comment"   If you don't have a website, no problem, see below for details. I have only seen this done once! - me. It's so easy and EVERYONE looks at feedback ratings before they bid.   So, the idea would be to try and leave feedback for users that get a lot of traffic... How? - check out ebay pulse and look at some of the highest watched items and try bidding on one of them.   After, you bid and win, leave your feedback with your website URL in your feedback comment. For example,   **AuctionResourceNetwork.com** - Excellent communication and great eBayer, Highly recommended You can see how the domain will *jump-out* at the reader.   Also, when you leave feedback for your auction sales, do the same. Now.., if you don't have a website, here's a quick trick on how to direct that traffic to your about me page. Simply create a free account at NameCheap.com and purchase a domain name, i.e. www.your-domain.com   NameCheap.com only charges $8.88 per year for your domain name! ...then, in your NameCheap.com account, you can set your new domain to redirect to your eBay about me page...here's how:   Login to your NameCheap.com account Click the 'view' link beside 'Number of domains in your account' Click your new domain name Click URL Forwarding under the Host Management section on the left Enter your about me page URL in both textboxes and click Save Changes Viola...you now own a domain that redirects to your about me page! And make sure you place your new domain name in all your feedback comments.   Ok...now that you know how to get some extra free traffic by using eBay's feedback comments, answer this question:   "Do you want to know how to turn that extra FREE traffic into cash?" Yes/No? - Well, I'm going to tell you anyways... ;-) There are a few things you can do...here are 2: Place your auction links on your AboutMe page so that your new visitors can get to your auctions. Place a newsletter signup form in your AboutMe page as well as in your auction pages and collect leads. Then market to those leads over and over again. I think the second idea is the most powerful...although it takes a little work on your part.    The quick`n`dirty way is to use AWeber.com to manage your leads and use their capture web form generator to capture your lead's name and email address.   BUT, there are certain rules you must obey in order to collect client information from your auctions pages as well as you about Me page.   About the author: Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 a month on eBay. Claim your FREE 14 Day "Learn How to Sell on eBay" e-Course Here: http://www.auctionresourcenetwork.com

Four Reasons Why You Should NEVER Use Animations In Your eBay Auctions

by: Sydney Johnston

Inexperienced auction sellers, or those lacking in confidence, often want to make their auction listings more dramatic and exciting. They dread the possibility that buyers will be bored by their auction and turn away with indifference.    Therefore, they reason, they will spice up their auctions with some "animations" - graphics that blink, change colors, spin, travel around the web page.    Or the seller may be a tech person who loves toys and is proud of his ability to create unusual effects. Regardless of their reasons, animated elements on an auction page are almost never a good idea for the following four reasons:    1. Rather than attracting attention to the merchandise in your auction, your potential customer may watch a spinning ball or follow Santa and his reindeer through the sky. We want the customer's total attention on that all-important question: "Do I want to buy this widget or not?" Distractions are not good for your wallet.    2. Animations can make the load time of your auction listing much longer. I have been using DSL four years and have forgotten (happily!) how horrible it is to use dialup. However, for many places on this planet, high-speed connections simply are not available. For these folks, loading your page might take forever, and you can be sure they won't wait. Experts tell us that the average user spends only 7 seconds at a webpage before departing for greener pastures. If your sales page is still loading, no sale for you.    3. It takes time for you to figure out how and whether to use animations. This is time that would be better spent on writing more exciting and dynamic copy - copy that will turn a prospective customer into a real buyer. A smart business person will treat time as her most precious commodity and spend it on what is most likely to bring a sale.    4. Many of these animations are just downright annoying. I personally do not enjoy looking at screens that are twirling, whirling and blinking. Two particularly irritating animations are an inescapable message that follows up and down the left side of the page, regardless of where I'm looking, and "trails" that follow my mouse.    A huge majority of people feel the same, apparently. Sellers need to make it as easy as possible for people to buy, rather than throwing obstacles in the way.    Are there any occasions when animated pictures are of any value in an auction listing? Possibly. For example, if you are selling to graphic designers then animated elements might be appropriate. As always, testing, testing, testing is the only way to truly know.    But for the rest of us folks - forget the glitter and focus on your merchandise. That's what makes us buy.    About the author: Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby. http://www.auction-genius-course.com

Five ways to quadruple a websites revenue

by: Steve Cash

Many website owners all too often give up on their website, even before their site has had time to shine. It can take months, or even years to reach the optimum for a business so why not expect the same out of a website? It is hard to find a business that finds the desired revenue within the first year. So why should a website be as popular as it should be within the first few months or years?   First of all just like any successful business you must believe that you'll succeed and never give-up. To be successful with a website you must have the same mentality, never give up and always put time and effort in. Giving up is the single major problem, if you give up on your website too early it will fail.   I have built many website over the years and found that what I have set out for you in this article will work, and keep on working.   Secondly, you need to increase your traffic, or hits to the website. I advise you to read my previous article “Six Techniques To Triple Your Website Hits.” This article illustrates six functional ways you can increase the traffic to your website.   Thirdly on the list, make sure you have branded your site well. People want to remember you and believe your site is quality. So build a clean and functional website that is appealing to your potential customers. The more professional your site is, the more you will impress the visitors.    Fourthly, one of the most important parts to a website: Quality content. You must have quality content. Always make sure you are original and unique. By having quality and informative information on my websites has benefited me to no extent. I found one of my website advertised on eBay. Not only was my site featured in an auction, but they were referring to my website and the products I sold. This alone gave my website over 40-50 extra hits from the eBay website alone, per day.   Not only did I find my website in eBay, but I found it in many other websites. I took a look at my link popularity and found my link popularity had risen from 60 to 300 within six months. These links were from quality websites and all were talking about my website as an example. No wonder my websites visitor count was dramatically increasing!   Fifth. Now that you have a quality and possibly a very well established website, you need to advertise. Advertising can be very expensive, and often not rewarding. So why not allow people to make money reselling your product or service?    I have found that every successful website I have setup, has an affiliate programme. Not only does an affiliate programme allow you to receive more new customers but it also increases your link popularity. As you all know, increasing your link popularity is something we are all trying to do.   I have found that affiliate programmes are the most important part to any website that sells a product or service. There is no other way to beat the free link popularity and the added bonus of extra sales you would not have had earlier. I cannot guarantee that you will quadruple your revenue, but the above information given will ensure that your website has a positive future and will prosper into a successful website. I have used every single example in the implementation of my current websites, and has worked for me. There is no time limit to how long it will take, although I have found a six month old website can quadruple its revenue within six months!   About the author: Steve is the owner and operator for Private Mail Services. http://www.private-services.com We endeavour to keep your personal life totally safe and private. http://www.private-services.com

Five Ways To Detect Shill Bidders On eBay So That You Don't Pay Absurd Prices

by: Sydney Johnston

There is as a lot of buzz about shill bidders on the eBay forums. But in actuality, shrill bidding isn't that common and is rather easily detected.    A buyer will sometimes attempt to use shill building to raise the price of merchandise he is selling. The idea is that the shiller will bid increasingly high prices, in the hope that legitimate buyers like you will top the artificially high prices in an effort to win the goodies for sale.    Here are five ways you can recognize a shill bidder: 1. Few shill bidders will have any feedback. This is because they never follow through with transactions and therefore don't have anyone to leave feedback. If the shiller does have legitimate transactions on ebay, he is usually smart enough to use a separate ID, because he does not want to get caught shilling and lose all buying and selling privileges.    {It is important to note, however, that just because a bidder has no feedback that does not mean that he is necessarily a shrill bidder. This may simply be a new account that has not had time to build a feedback reputation.}    2. Generally, a shiller only bids on the auctions of a particular seller. When in doubt, you can check the current and completed options of a seller and see if this shiller has bid on other auctions by the same seller. 3. Shill bidders are most often newbies. You can check the feedback, and the date that the eBay account was created, for any ebay member. If the bidder's account was created two days ago and he is bidding on several auctions of the same seller, you can be pretty certain about what is going on.    4. eBay has ways of the tracking shillers. Of course we don't know everything they do (and if I did know I wouldn't tell!) but some clues all are dead giveaways. For example, if the seller and the bidder have the same IP address, eBay knows to take a closer look.    5. Shill bidders retract many more bids than normal buyers. eBay does allow any buyer to retract a bid, although this is only supposed to occur for specific reasons. But in actuality, a retraction is rarely challenged and ultimately what can eBay do? It cannot force a person to pay for a particular item.    It is wise not to use this option on a frequent basis. Remember that your eBay behavior deal is constantly tracked. A retraction is considered to be a "black mark" on your reputation so don't do it very often. Shillers, on the other hand, don't care because they're unconcerned about their reputation. If caught, they simply open a new account.    Sometimes a shiller is the high bidder at the end of an auction. In that that case, the seller and buyer can agree to cancel the bid, rather than retract it. However, all this takes a lot of work, planning and effort. In the end, shill bidding is rarely worth the trouble and time. Instead, smart sellers spend their time finding products and writing listings - the two basic moneymaking activities of an ebay business - instead of plotting how to raise profits on individual listings. Success in business is about efficiency.    About the author: Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby. http://www.auction-genius-course.com

Five Knockout Affiliate Tips

by: Nicholas Dixon

Here are five “hook em in the jaw” affiliate tips that really work. Implement them and see how well they work for you.    (1) Develop a positive and realistic mindset. Do you believe that  you can get rich quick or that your business will take time to grow? Those who believe in the online hype are the ones who normally lose. Think positive and know in your heart you can earn an income from your efforts.    (2) Too much information or the lack of it can be dangerous. Not using the knowledge that you have gain can stop your business from getting off the ground and not having the right information can have the same effect.    (3) Market your programs with Google Adwords. This is a powerful strategy you can use and as long as you earn more in commissions than your PPC costs, then you are getting something for nothing.    (4) Write your own ads, articles and reviews instead of the pre-formatted ones offered by affiliate programs. This will set you apart from all the other affiliates in the same program.    (5) Make sure your affiliate program matches the content of your website or newsletter. If you have marketing content then you should promote marketing products on that page. Think of it like matching ads to the page content like the way Adsense does. There may a few exceptions to the rule though, even Adsense does it some time.    There you go. A few tips to help you with your affiliate programs whether you are looking for your first check or to boost your current earnings. Try them all or even a couple and test and track your results. I am sure Lennox Lewis would be proud of your hooks and jabs © Oceanroc Web Publishing    About the author: Nicholas Dixon is the CEO of Oceanroc Web Publishing. You are invited to sign up for a free five day mini course on search engines available at http://WWW.Oceanroc.com/Searchcourse.html

Fed up with eBay?

by: Richard Grady

For many people, their first experience of working online involves selling products on eBay. This was how I got started back in 1998 and I know countless other people that have done the same.   However, it is important to remember that eBay is not the 'be all and end all' - there is a much bigger online world out there. My reason for mentioning this is that I have spoken to three people this week who each make a decent full or part-time income on eBay but who are fed up with it and looking to move in other directions.   Having sold on eBay myself, I can understand why sellers do get tired/bored/frustrated with the auction site - it is highly competitive and it takes an incredible amount of hard work to succeed. In addition, it is normally the case that the more successful you become, the harder you have to work. Listing auctions, handling customer enquiries, packing, shipping, sourcing/buying stock, keeping up with feedback, monitoring the competition - selling on eBay is a tough job and it is no wonder that after working in this way for a few years, many people wish they were back in the land of the employed!!   Don't get me wrong, there is good money to be made on eBay for anyone willing to put the effort in and many people enjoy trading on this huge auction site. But it isn't for everyone.   Having spoken to numerous eBay sellers in the past, it seems to me that of the ones that don't enjoy working on eBay, the particular task that they enjoy the least is the packing and shipping of products. Funnily enough, this is exactly the bit of trading that I grew to dislike too.   I (and the sellers I have spoken to) didn't have a problem with creating sales descriptions, dealing with emails, collecting payment (naturally!) and the other administrative tasks involved in running an online business. But wrapping things up and taking them to the post office is something completely different and for me and many others that's where it all started to fall apart :-)   As I said at the beginning of this article, if you are getting fed up of doing the eBay 'thing' or if you just don't fancy the idea to start with, there is a wealth of alternative opportunities available online. My own solution was to get rid of the one aspect of eBay trading that I didn't enjoy - the packing and shipping - and start to produce and sell digital products which could be delivered to the customer automatically. I still have to write sales pages and build websites, I still have to deal with emails etc but I don't have to handle any physical products (neither do I have to deal with payment collection because that too can be handled automatically by software).   Of course my products are very relevant to eBay sellers and indeed, there are numerous individuals and companies out there that have made a fortune off the back of eBay without ever having sold a single product on the auction site. I am sure that there are numerous other problems that eBay users have that could be solved with a new piece of software or a particular service and if the idea takes off, there are 135 million registered users on eBay to market to!   eBay provides a wonderful opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people but it isn't for everyone and if you find yourself frustrated/bored with the same old routine everyday, start to look for something outside of the eBay world.   About the author: Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts), visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html

Eyes on your eCommerce Website

by: Richard Keir

In a recent article I talked about Google AdSense placement based on eye-tracking research. However, research by The Poynter Institute, Eyetools and the Estlow Center for Journalism and New Media has a lot to say about more than where to put an AdSense block.   Designing an eCommerce site is more than making it pretty. You have certain desired actions you're looking for from your visitors. You have specific things you want to be sure they see and hopefully act on. Now, there's some research that can guide your design. Certainly you want your site to look professional, but you want it to do its job as effectively as possible too.   People are surprisingly alike in some of their basic visual behavior. It's been argued that our evolution as hunter-gatherers has shaped much of our ingrained visual patterns. Whether you buy that particular argument or not there are still important commonalities.   Typical behavior on initially viewing a site is to do a fast scan of the entire visible screen with short focusing periods around the areas that attract attention. First pass tends to include headlines, the page logo, photo captions, subheads, links and menu items. And the big hot spot is the upper left corner of the screen. I haven't seen any definitive research on whether these patterns also hold for users with native languages that read any way except left to right, but I'm assuming most of you are building sites for left-to-right readers.   The clear message is that your most important real estate is in that upper left area and that the lower right (particularly if it's below the fold) is the least likely to receive much attention.   How you use your words in a headline, paragraph or link can make a huge difference in your success at capturing a visitor's attention. The concept is called frontloading. Wherever you can make sure your critical terms appear at the very beginning of headlines, links and other text. It's still got to make sense, but the first few words are far more likely to be at least scanned then the middle or end of a headline or link or the inside of a paragraph.   The exact same words can have drastically different capture rates depending on their order. You want to maximize the probability that the visitor will read a whole headline or link and then act on it. So put the most significant, enticing words first - the ones that are the best grabbers and convey the subject immediately.   You don't have a lot of time to mess about. It's been reported that a typical surfer may be off your page in well under 14 seconds unless something grabs his or her attention fast. Remember the upper-left? You want to do an especially good job with headlines, link and text in that area.   Dropcaps (where the first capitalized letter in a line is in a different, often unusual, font and extends below the normal text base-line), bolding, font changes and color changes can also serve as strong eye-attractors. If you try these techniques you need to be careful that you don't overuse them (your page will look like a mess), and it's extremely important that you test whether or not they're actually doing what you want. Annoying as it may be, running tests is the only way to make sure it's an improvement.   Do you use lists? Have you made sure that they're in-line and as close to the left margin as possible? Don't ever use an outline format with multiple indents. People scan down, not across and they tend to scan close to the left margin. Indent too much and it might as well be invisible.   An interesting testing result that I read somewhere said that somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of site visitors don't even see centered headlines. Sure they look nice and a lot of sites use them, but if they're totally missed by even 3 percent of your visitors, you're paying a major price to look good. Suggestion? Put those headlines up against your left margin.   This also applies to links. Put those links up against the left margin, not inside a paragraph, centered or off to the right. And if you want any clicks on a link, never put it in that nearly unseen lower right area. Might as well just leave it off your page.   How about indented paragraphs? Now there's a great way to start an argument. Some argue that it attracts the eye, it's different, few sites use it so you stand out. Others insist that you're far better off staying left justified and frontloading each paragraph. There's only one way to resolve it for yourself, yeah, run some tests and see what works with your visitors on your site.   The bottom line is that once you get beyond the basics of placement, frontloading, and left-justified links and headlines, you need to test if you want to fully maximize the effectiveness of your website design. I wish there were a simpler answer too, but in the end only testing will tell you what works best for your site.   About the author: Richard writes, teaches, trains and consults on business and professional presentations and eCommerce related matters. Visit http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.comfor more information on eCommerce sites and eCommerce site building - and http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.com/articlesfor more eCommerce articles.

Ebay Secrets Revealed

by: David B. Ledoux

It is rumored that the top affiliate at eBay made over $1 million dollars in January 2004. Who wouldn't like to know his eBay secrets? In fact, it is estimated that the top 10 eBay affiliates all earn over $100,000 per month.    In a world where average men and women commute to jobs they hate, knowing eBay secrets to generating extra income is of major interest. If at least 75% of people hate waking up to an alarm clock and commuting to work, then learning to make extra income part-time from home with online auctions is a big deal.    Can you really make extra income learning eBay secrets? Over 25,000 people make their FULL TIME LIVING with online auctions like eBay, Google, Yahoo and more. A whisper number of part timers is over 250,000! Imagine, a quarter of a million people are putting extra income in their pockets with online auctions.    Raise your hand if you'd like to join the ranks of the thousands of smart people making extra income in their own home-based business thanks to online auctions!    About the author: David Ledoux is a freelance writer for http://www.best-online-auction-links.comand http://www.free-palm-programs.com

EBay Scams To Watch Out For Or You May Be Next!

by: Jason W Cooper

There are many eBay scams out there to keep an eye out for when you are selling on eBay. This article will cover a few of the known and not so known scams to be aware of. Whether you’re a causal seller, or a professional seller on eBay, you need to know about these scams so that you can take measures to prevent or recognize if it’s happening to you.    Bid Shielding This scam is something you need to watch out for as a seller on eBay. Basically the scam is run using two separate eBay accounts. The scam works like this. You put your item up for auction. Let’s say your item is worth $100 and you have no reserve. The first bidder (scammer) comes along and bids $5 on your item. Right after that, another bidder working with the first bidder comes along and bids $200 on your item. Since your item is only worth $100, you receive no more bids for the duration of your auction. Right before your auction ends, the first bidder backs out and cancels their bid, leaving the $5 bidder the winner, effectively shielding all other potential bidders because of the $200 bid.    Because of the potential for this scam it is always good to have a reserve on your auction. Also, I would put some sort of disclaimer on your auction stating that if you suspect bid shielding on your auction, you reserve the right to back out of the sale. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your auctions and watch for this type of behavior. If you suspect this is happening to you, be sure to report the parties involved to eBay right away.    Wholesale List Scam This scam takes advantage of the fact that many people don’t pay close attention or read the fine print on an auction. This scam is targeted at buyers who are looking for deals on electronics and technological items on eBay. The wholesale list scam is basically an auction that looks like the seller is offering a great deal on a product like an iPod for example. They may have a buy now price of $40 for an iPod that is worth $150. However, if you actually read the fine print on the auction, you will find that you are not really buying the iPod. In fact you are purchasing a wholesale list.    To avoid this scam, just be sure that you read the entire details of the auction before making a bid or a purchase. Basically, just use common sense. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is, so read the auction carefully.    Bad Check Scam This eBay scam is exactly what it sounds like. The bad check scam is simple. Someone purchases your item and sends you a check as payment. You receive the check, and send out the item. However, 2 weeks later you find out the check bounces and now you are out your item and the money. To avoid this, simply do not send out any products until the check has cleared. Spoof eBay Emails This eBay scam is an attempt to get your personal information and/or eBay account information. Basically the scammer sends you an email that looks like it’s from eBay. The email may direct you to a website (that also looks like eBay) where it asks to you verify your information. In reality, the website is created by the scammer to collect your personal information and use it for identity theft. The scammers can be very tricky and make everything look very official.    To avoid this scam, you need to be wary of any emails that you get. The first thing you need to check is the email header. Emails from eBay, will have “@ebay.com” as the last part of the senders email. Also any links that are in the email may be directing you somewhere other than where they say they are. Also copy and paste the links into your browser, and only visit official links that start with “www.ebay.com”. If anything seems suspicious to you, forward the email to eBay and wait for their response. They will let you know if it’s legitimate or not.    In conclusion, most people you run into on eBay are good honest people and not out to scam you. You may do business on eBay for years and never run into any of this. However, occasionally these things do happen so it’s important to use common sense and use your best judgment when it comes to this stuff. Just be aware that it can happen, and take the necessary precautions and you will be fine. There’s a lot of money to be made on eBay, so don’t let anything scare you off. Keep yourself armed with knowledge and information and you will be successful out there in the auction world!    About the author: This article was written on behalf of eBayBusiness.net by Webmaster and Internet Marketing Specialist Jason Cooper. Visit http://www.ebaybusiness.net and download 3 eBayBusiness.net Success Reports for free today! (c) 2005, eBayBusiness.net. This article may be reproduced in all venues so long as the content and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are set live.

eBay Gold

by: Greg Hayes

Internet auctions are relatively new having been around since the mid 1990's. There are several Internet auctions including Yahoo Auctions and UBid. But of course the undisputed king of Internet auctions is Ebay. Ebay has over 40 million registered users making it one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world.    I discovered Ebay way back in 1998. At first, I was strictly a buyer. I was amazed at the thousands of items that could be found on Ebay. Just about anything you can imagine can be found on Ebay. And there were more incredible bargains to be found than at any other ecommerce website or brick and mortar store I had ever visited. After about six months or so of buying, I began selling items on Ebay. I had an extensive collection of unbuilt as well as built plastic model cars. I began placing the models on Ebay with starting bids of $5.00 and no reserve. To my surprise, people started jumping all over these model kits. Some of them sold for as high as $70.00. It was at this time that I realized the enormous money making potential of Ebay. The key to being a successful seller on Ebay is selling items that people want. There are a number of ebooks on Internet auctions that tell of the importance of a great headline and a killer ad for your auction. While this is true, it is also important to remember that the best ad in the world will never sell an item that no one wants. The items that do well on Ebay are unique or interesting items. Antiques, pottery, collectables and high-end apparel are just a few of the items that will bring high bids on Ebay. If you can easily find the item at Wal-Mart, chances are it will not do well on Ebay. There are a number of wholesalers around the country that you can buy merchandise from to sell on Ebay. But before you buy, do your homework. It's very tempting to buy a bunch of electronic widgets that sell for $2.00 a piece. You might think you can buy 20 of the $2.00 widgets and then sell them for $12.00 a piece on Ebay and make a killing. Unfortunately, you discover that no one is bidding on your widgets despite the fact that you have started the bidding at a mere $6.00. In fact, there are very few people that are even viewing your auctions. The end result is you are now stuck with 20 widgets that no one wants. The first mistake here was not doing a search of widgets on Ebay to find out if they're hot or not. The second mistake was trying to sell an electronic item. Yes, I know there is a huge market for electronic gadgets. That's the problem; the market is too huge. It is already saturated. How many times a day are you bombarded with offers for the latest and greatest cell phone or digital camera? If you try to sell in this market on Ebay, you're encroaching on Best Buy's turf, which means you'll be smashed like a bug. On the other hand, how many offers do you receive for NASCAR collectibles or Gucci shoes? Or how about die cast models? These are the hot items on Ebay. These are in demand items and more importantly you can sell these items without competing against Wal-Mart and Best Buy. If you're new to Ebay, the first thing you need to do is to build positive feedback. Feedback is vital to your success on Ebay. Potential buyers will read your feedback in order to determine if you're an honest seller. If you have high numbers of negative feedback, many buyers will look elsewhere. Take a look at some of the Ebay Power Sellers feedback. Many of them have feedback in the thousands with a rating of over 99% positive. It's no secret how these Power Sellers became successful on Ebay. They take care of their customers. This means they'll have plenty of repeat business.    When you first sign up with Ebay, you'll have zero feedback. Most buyers will shy away from an Ebay newbie with zero or very low feedback. Start building your feedback rating by selling personal items from around the house that you no longer want. This is a good way to get the feel of using Ebay and to build positive feedback. You should invest in a good digital camera. Good clear pictures are an important selling feature on Ebay. Remember to describe your items accurately and honestly. Do not try to trick or deceive buyers in any way. You can't afford receiving negative feedback this early in the game.    I came across a perfect example of a deceptive seller on Ebay a while back. The seller had sold a pair of slightly used shocks for a 2003 Chevy pickup. He used Ebay's Buy-It-Now feature to sell the shocks for just one cent. Wow! What an incredible deal! But wait a minute. The unwary buyer forgot to read the entire auction. The shipping charges were a whopping 60 bucks! The result was a pissed off buyer and negative feedback for the seller. This was an obvious attempt on the part of the seller to make money on the shipping costs. He was banking on the fact that the buyer would not read the entire auction and would simply assume the shipping charges would be reasonable. Do not use deception in your auctions or try to make money on shipping costs. If you treat your customers the way you expect to be treated you will never go wrong and you'll be well on your way to building a reputation as an honest top-notch seller.    If you happen to get a few non-paying bidders, resist the temptation to leave negative feedback for these individuals. Leaving negative feedback will only result in possible retaliation by the non-paying bidder and negative feedback for you. Once again, you do not want any negative feedback this early in the game. Buying items off of Ebay is another great way to build positive feedback. When you win an auction, pay for the item promptly. The result will be positive feedback for you. Most buyers will not care whether your feedback came as a result of buying or selling as long as it's positive.   After you've built a feedback rating of least 25, you'll be ready to start purchasing wholesale merchandise to sell on Ebay. Remember what I said about doing your homework before buying merchandise. If you have your eye on a particular item you think might sell on Ebay, first do a search of that item on Ebay to find out what people are bidding if anything on the item. If it looks hot, at least 7 or 8 bids, then it's probably a good bet. If it doesn't appear to be getting many bids, you should steer clear. You can also do an advanced search for auctions that have already ended. It's a great way to find out the final bid price for a particular item. A few extra minutes of research can save you from a giant headache down the road.    About the author: Are You Tired of the scams and the get-rich-quick schemes? Greg Hayes is founding editor of http://www.mammothprofits.com Mammothprofits is the website devoted to helping others filter out the scams and become successful in a home based business.

eBay Auctions - How to Create a Compelling Title

by: Ian Stables

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the by-line, copyright, and the resource box below is included.    This is an excerpt from the ebook "The 37 Effective Ebay Ad Writing Secrets"    Secret 7 How to Easily Create a Compelling Auction Title Very effective!    Think for a moment the questions that you would like answered. I bet you're really interested anytime you see anything offering the answer. Imagine your question is 'Is there an easier way to get to work?'. You might express it as 'I wish there was an easier way to get to work'. But it means the same thing. You see a headline that says 'New Easy Way To Get To (where you work)'. Would you be curious? Of course you would.    So it makes sense to ask yourself what questions your target customer has which you can provide the answer. Then construct your headline as the answer.    Examples: Customers question 'What can I buy for my wife's birthday present?'    Your item A quality ladies wristwatch    Your headline 'Just What The Lady Wants - Quality Wrist Watch'    Customers question 'How can I study less and still remember?'    Your item A new way to study faster and remember everything    Your headline 'New Way - Study Faster and Remember Everything'    Customers question 'What can I sell on Ebay?'    Your item A guide on what to buy and where to find these items at car boot sales    Your headline 'What To Buy and Where To Find Saleable Ebay Items'    Customers question 'I'd write and sell ebooks but don't know how'    Your item A simple way to write an ebook    Your headline 'The Easy Way To Write A Saleable Ebook'    Peoples questions often begin with How, Which, Who, Where, When, What and Why.    About the author: Ian Stables is the author of "The 37 eBay Ad Writing Secrets" - How to easily COMPEL people to buy your stuff on eBay. To see contents visit http://ebayadsecrets.tripod.com/

eBay Auction Seller's Guide to Finding Hot Money Making Products

by: Leroy Chan

You might be one of the thousands of individuals who open a trading account with eBay and dream about making auction selling a full-time home-based business.    However, before that dream can become a reality, you need to do many important things while running an auction business.    One of these important things to do is to pick the right products to sell. The right products to sell are the ones that people on eBay want or will buy.    eBay tells you what people actually want and what people actually will buy in four areas of its website.    "In Demand" One of these four areas on eBay's site is the "In Demand" section. There is an "In Demand" link for each of the main categories on eBay. Listed in these areas are the previous month's top ten products that people wanted and the top ten searches for each subcategory. To see the data in these areas follow the link below and when you reach the page, scroll down and click on the link "In Demand" under any of the categories shown. http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html    "Hot Categories Report" The next area containing information on finding what to sell on eBay is the "Hot Categories Report." This report lists the "fastest growing" categories on eBay for the previous month. The explanation for what eBay considers "hot" can be hard to understand on your first reading. Nevertheless, the important thing to know is that the categories listed are the ones were buyer demand for the items under those categories are growing faster than the seller supply. This report is a PDF file so you will need Adobe® Reader® to open it. Here is the link: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/hotitems.pdf    "eBay Pulse" "eBay Pulse" is another area where you can figure out what people are looking for on "The World's Online Marketplace®." It contains a category's daily snapshot of the ten most popular searches and the stores with the most active listings. A subsection on "eBay Pulse," known as "Most Watched Items," reveals the ten auctions that are getting the most attention. Visit this page and select a category to study from the drop-down menu. http://pulse.ebay.com    "Merchandising Calendar" The last area with information on what to sell on eBay is the "Merchandising Calendar." Here, eBay shows you the categories they will promote on their homepage each month. This is where eBay "tells" you what to sell. You can ignore their calendar and sell anything you choose, but wouldn't it be easier to make sales if you took advantage of eBay's promotional influence? Look at this page and use the calendar as a guide in planning your inventory and listings. http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/calendar.html    Last Thoughts Now that you have the links to data that tells you what people will buy on eBay, you can look forward to listing these items and making sales. The next step is finding the wholesale or drop-ship sources that carry those items that are "In Demand." That is when you will be one-step closer to achieving your goal of making a living from eBay.    About the author: Discover the "Insider Tricks" to making money on eBay. Visit Leroy Chan's site, http://www.AuctionSellerGuide.comto receive a free 12-part auction selling course.

eBay Auction Descriptions That REALLY Sell!

by: Ian Stables

Headline That Attracts The first thing you need to do is attract people to your auction. The more the merrier. Yes? You need two main ingredients. Keyword and big benefit.    Your keyword will be the main word that people will search on to find your item. But you need a big benefit aswell to ensure they select YOUR auction and not someone elses.    Powerful Opening Paragraph Then you need a very strong powerful paragraph to get someone interested enough to read the rest of your auction. And if you make sure it really gets their heart beating faster they're almost guaranteed to buy. They way to do this is by getting them to see themselves already owning your item. Getting them to test drive it, if you like.    Testimonials If you can, try to get testimonials from people who've owned this item. They could either be a past customer of yours or someone writing about very something similar to your item. If they happen to be famous, well!    Testimonials are other people selling your item. It's very powerful and it creates belief in the quality of what your offering.    List Of What You Get If this is done right it should sell your item on it's own power. Everybody likes lists because it's easy to see what you get. Make sure you've got one in every auction. And I don't mean a list of boring features like...    22ct gold Water resistant Sekonda make    I mean a list of the benefits... Look good with this prestigious 22ct gold watch Don't worry if it's get wet it's water resistant Know you've always got the right time (Sekonda is accurate)    A benefit is what a feature does for someone. Try to find as many of these as possible. There are certain techniques which are BRILLIANT at finding out the benefits in any item that REALLY SELL! One that I show in my book is particularly effective and quick at this task.    Fantastic Offer Only A Moron Could Refuse Try to make what you offer your customer well worth the price you're offering. Again, there are ways of making your offer irresistable by adding to it.    Motivating Call To Action This is where most people fail. They just describe their item and that's it. Sorry! If you want people to bid you've got to write a motivating short paragraph at the end. Tell them why they should buy.    There you have it. Good luck!    About the author: Ian Stables is the author of the popular ebook "The 37 Effective eBay Ad Writing Secrets". Available on eBay at only £2.97. Click here for details http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/stablesuk

eBay and Dropshipping - A Perfect Fit!

by: Joe Clare

eBay and Dropshipping go together like a hand in a glove. As you read this article, right now, thousands of eBayers are running there own auction business. Some of them make little money, and some of them make real huge profits. Why? It is mostly due to the products they choose to sell, the Dropshippers they use and how they promote their eBay Business.    If you are new to Internet Marketing, promotion of your new eBay Business is key. Also, staying up to date with all the new and better ways to advertise and promote your business is cruical. Things on the Internet can change almost over night and to keep your eBay Business making money you must keep up with those changes. But don't be discouraged, the ease of using Dropshippers will allow you more time to concentrate on improving your sales skills and learning how to bring more customers to your eBay auctions.    The great thing about Dropshipping, as outlined in my book "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" is that it will allow you to operate a Home Based Business as an Internet Marketer with out ever worrying about storage of inventory, packaging of inventory, or even shipping of that inventory. How? The Dropship supplier will look after all of that for you. And even greater still is the fact that your auction business will cost you very little to get started The fact is, most Dropshippers charge you nothing to become a member to sell their products. While others may charge just a nominal administration fee. So, with such a low financial risk the only thing you have to lose is a bit of your time.    How does one put together eBay and Dropshipping? It's really very simple. First, browse eBay to see what kind of product(s) you would like to sell. Then sign up as a member with eBay. Once you have decided on a product(s), locate a Dropshipper for that product(s). Sign up with that Dropshipper and then place an auction on eBay for the item.. Once your auction is over and you have a buyer for the product email your Dropshipper the required information. The Dropshipper will ship the product directly to your customer, and charge your account the wholesale price for that product. The difference between the wholesale price and your retail price is pure profit!    To run a successful eBay Business you will need to sell what the public wants to buy. Always research any product before you decide to sell it. Make sure it is popular and you can get it at a great price. Happy Selling!   About the author: Joe Clare is an active Netpreneur and eBayer! He is the author of numerous articles on how to succeed on eBay! Check out his latest Best Selling eBook "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" Your Passport to Success! at http://www.ebooksnsoftware.com

Ebay and Dropshipping, A Marriage Made In Heaven?

by: Ron Keegan

Believe it or not, eBay is the 'BEST' opportunity you can use right now to make money online in the dropshipping business from the comfort of your own home.    Thousands of people just like you use eBay auctions on a daily basis to sell and buy products on the Internet; now it's your time to START your own dropshipping home-based business and succeed in the eBay auctions 'game'!    There are no special skills required for this dropshipping business, all you need is a computer, Internet access and some basic computer / Internet knowledge.    Dropshipping is when you sell products on the Web, forward the orders to the dropship supplier and, in return, the dropshipper ships the product to your customer (buyer).    You act as the middleman between the dropshipping supplier and your buyer. You can take orders by credit card, PayPal fax or any other method you can think of. You can sell via your own Web Site, Yahoo store, or even through e-mails.    Your profit is generated on the difference between your selling price and the price the dropshipping supplier charges you.    Thanks to dropshipping you can start making money 'instantly' without any investment in inventory, warehousing, shipping, equipment, employees or office space.    Having products drop shipped by suppliers, allows you to concentrate on truly important aspects like advertising, sales and promotion.    Pay attention! There are lots of companies claiming to be 'Drop Shippers'. However, a legitimate drop shipper is a factory-authorized wholesale distributor, or sometimes the actual manufacturer of the product. A legitimate drop shipper should not charge you an 'account setup fee' or ask you to place a 'minimum quantity order'.    Make sure you find legitimate drop shippers who have the product(s) you want to sell, talk with them on the phone or by e-mail and let them know that you are truly serious about doing business with them.    Customer support counts in the dropshipping business, so don't hesitate to contact dropshipping suppliers before you proceed to work with them.    This will help you decide if you really want to do business with a particular drop shipper or not. To succeed in the dropshipping business you'll have to LOOK for hard-to-find products that people desperately need and want to purchase.    The key is to sell products with little or no competition. Do some research for product's you want to sell that you think will have little or no competition on eBay. I suggest you RESEARCH for quality products & legitimate dropship suppliers, MONITOR the eBay auction listings to see if there's any competition and TEST the market (e.g. find out if  people really want to spend CASH on the product you want to sell) Remember! Dropshipping makes it EASY for you to start and run your own home-based businesses on a shoestring budget; and eBay is the 'perfect' MEDIUM to expose your product to potential buyers all over the globe!    About the author: Ron Keegan runs Megastar Distributors a red-hot Web Site jam-packed with lots of FREE Resources, Tips & Reports on DropShipping & eBay. Pick-up your *FREE* ebook at http://www.Megdis.comto learn more about making-money dropshipping!