eBay sellers, would you like to get higher prices and more bids than your competition! Though I've been selling on eBay for a long time, and am pretty proud of my results (user id mdmsports), I'm never too proud to consider new techniques to improve the number of bids on my dutch auctions, increase the winning bid price on my single-item auctions, or just outsell the competition on items that aren't unique.

If you've read some of the sales pages on either direct mail flyers you get in the mail, or on sales pages selling items on the internet by professional marketers, you've seen how the attention grabbing sales letters make good use of testimonials. The reason is simple:testimonials give comfort to someone who doesn't know you, and on eBay, what better testimonial than all the positive feedbacks you've earned?
... read the whole story about eBay testimonials ...

(Revised May 2004, recommendation has changed)
A few months ago, while scouting for new wholesale sources, I found my way to the 3 minute auctions on bidz.com. I was told that you could buy jewelry at 90 to 95% off retail, and I figured it was worth a look. I found a site that reminded me of a couple things, one being the old eBay when response time and site availability was inconsistent, and the other being what I always pictured the wild wild west to be like.

I started by following the bidding, and soon got excited at some of the ending prices. The jewelry looked good, the prices were insanely low, and I started thinking about how I could profit from this source. ...
... read our whole review of bidz.com ...

There are something like 17 million active sellers on eBay as I write this, and on most auctions you are hardly the only seller with that particular item. So how do you beat your competition, or at least not let them beat you?

First of all, put yourself in the buyer's shoes. What would make you feel more comfortable about sending money to a stranger? Here are some obvious points:
... read the whole story about making your auctions sell better ...

A great time to be alive!

You are a very lucky person! And so am I. We're in the right spot at the right time. At this point in e-history, we have open access to an incredibly profitable and exciting business opportunity -- one that didn't even exist ten years ago-- a net auction business.

If you already read my introductory article posted elsewhere on this site, you know my basic background in computers, and it has definitely helped me get a good auction business going, but I honestly believe my success wasn't because I had a computer background, but more because of two things: 1. I love working on computers (which doesn't necessarily tie into skill level), and most importantly: 2. I desperately needed extra income.... read the whole story about why it's a great time to be alive ...

Many people are not aware that they can have people find their eBay auctions from general (off-eBay) Internet surfing. If you have your own web site, you're most likely familiar with the major search engines, and terms like SEO (search engine optimization), etc.

Search engines are in the business of providing information for those searching for it. Their job is to go out and "crawl" as many web sites on the Internet as they can find, analyze them by keywords, and produce an index that can be quickly accessed when a surfer is searching for a specific product or topic.
.... read the whole story about how to get your eBay auctions listed with the engines ...

Q. How do you decide whether to use a regular auction, Dutch auction and/or BUY IT NOW?

A. This is definitely an experience situation. It depends mostly on:

--What are you selling ?
--How many of them do you have to sell?
--How soon do you need to move them?
--How "HOT" is the item?

Here are the "rules" that I follow:
... read the whole story about how to determine auction type ...

Why you MUST use fixed shipping/handling charges on eBay

If you do not yet use fixed S/H prices in ALL of your eBay auctions, then hopefully by the end of this article you will be convinced to do so.

The following information assumes that you are selling on eBay to make money, not as a social or community service. If you are not trying to pursue eBay selling as a business, then this information will have limited value to you. Come to think of it, there is a good chance you will be offended by some of this information, but you will GREATLY benefit. (So read on.. :-)
... read the whole story about fixed shipping prices ...

When eBay recently released its new Selling Manager Pro facility, I gave it a quick look and figured it was a "no-brainer" to at least sign up for it. ...

Anyway, over the years I've tried various auction manager products, and none worked for me. Many were really light in regards to working with dutch auctions, which is an important part of our eBay sales strategy. And many of them charge a fee for every winning bid. Now I don't know about you, but it's getting to the point where you have to draw the line somewhere. Ebay gets a listing fee, then 5.25% of the bid. Then PayPal gets their chunk, even on the shipping charge. I just couldn't see giving another bit to somebody else. And that's saying nothing about what the tax man takes...... read our whole review of Selling Manager Pro ...