The Insider's Secrets of an eBay Millionaire

Getting traffic to your eBay Stores is vital to your success.

Some of your listings will show up in eBay search depending on the competition for that item and else where on eBay.

Have a balance of store / auction items and use cross promotions.

But how do I bring in traffic from off of eBay to my eBay Store ?

There are some basic SEO tricks that you can use which will help your page rank well within the external search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

SEO ( eBay Store Search Engine Optimization ) is vital to bringing in off eBay traffic.

Keywords ( pertinent words / phrases regarding what you sell ) should be your main focus.

When you create your store use keywords in your name - it's not too late to change it if you already have one. ( however any links you have to your old store name will no longer work )

Have a great store description that includes keywords.

Use a header with relevant key words.

Make use of keywords in your store categories.

Create About Me Page and have links to your store on it. Remember to also use keywords in your about me page as it gets indexed also.

Turn on your xml/rss feed and submit it to certain search engine and comparison sites. Submit your listings to external engines via xml Exporting Your Listings

Use your store url as a link from your main website if you have one. If not you may be able to find someone willing to give you a link.

Always use your store signature and links in your emails - you can even in many cases use a referral link to get some of your fees back.

Search Engine Optimiztion basic Do's and Don'ts GREAT LIST

It does take time for the spiders to find your eBay Store and update the engines so you may not see immediate rise in your ranking but it will come

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

There are so many tools and features to choose from that this dizzying display can cause the average seller to begin to question his or her own sanity. In this column, I'd like to tell you about a few of the most important (and often overlooked) tools and how to integrate them to boost your bottom line.

Turbo Lister.This super eBay software that resides on your own computer is free, and is an excellent tool to use for almost any size seller. It's a must-have listing tool, allowing you to input hundreds of listings at once and launch them on the site in one huge bunch. It's a great tool that I've seen used by beginners as well as high-level PowerSellers.

Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro. I honestly don't know what I would do without my own trusty Selling Manger Pro. Both versions of Selling Manager replace the Selling area in your "My eBay" pages. They help you in your listing management by supplying you with many tools to automate your sales. These reasonably priced products are worth their weight in gold as they expedite many of your eBay tasks (including automating feedback!) and will save you hours of time when it comes to organizing your business.

The Pro version adds the features of inventory and bulk relisting, among others. The products are reasonably priced (the standard version is $4.99 a month and the pro version is $15.99) and are available free for eBay Stores subscribers.

Sales Reports and Sales Reports Plus. Here are more valuable tools that can make you aware of just how successful your eBay business is. Even the basic version will supply you with key performance metrics for your business, including data on total sales, average sale prices, your fees as a percentage to sales, and much more.

Many sellers don't have a clue that these reports exist because eBay requires you to sign up for the service in order to get the basic reports at no cost. (Sales Reports Plus is free to eBay store owners.)

eBay Stores. Somehow eBay stores has become a mystery to sellers. It shouldn't be. Opening an eBay store is just the same as considering a brick-and-mortar store -- you don't open up one if you don't have a regular source of merchandise. I highly recommend an eBay store to anyone who's serious about selling on eBay -- but only after they've become established on the site.

Don't open a store as a beginning seller. You really need to learn the rhythm of an eBay business before you open a store. Sell at least 50 items a month, have a good source of merchandise, and prepare to be creative when it comes to servicing your customers.

ProStores. eBay's newest offering is possibly the most misunderstood. ProStores are not a replacement for your eBay store; ProStores give you your very own e-commerce enabled Web site. They work in concert with your eBay sales and your eBay store.

In my eBay classes, I always teach that once you get the hang of eBay selling, you need to open an eBay store. Once you have your eBay store management mastered (and are running a successful enterprise), it's time for you to expand and open your own Web site. It's the Web site part that causes many sellers to stumble.

eBay sellers aren't usually masters of HTML and the idea of running and setting up a Web site is a huge, daunting task. ProStores supplies you with practically everything you need to set up a Web site. If you want help you can always search eBay for ProStores support or Web site graphics and you'll find people who'll help you make it perfect.

You won't find more reasonable Web site hosting, especially when you consider that it includes a shopping cart and e-commerce specialties. You can jump aboard with ProStores for as little as $6.95 a month.

eBay is coming up with great, new features each day. A serious seller needs to keep up.

By Entrepreneur.com

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

You receive many benefits when you become a registered Trading Assistant!
Extra Cash
The Trading Assistant Program enables experienced eBay sellers to generate a new revenue stream by leveraging your eBay wisdom and experience to sell on behalf of others.

Flexible Business Model
As a Trading Assistant, you control how you run your business, such as the types of items you accept, the fees your charge your clients, and the hours you keep.

Access to Marketing & Education Resources
Obtain help in acquiring new client leads! Through the Trading Assistant Directory, your business is marketed on a global level. You can also drive additional marketing efforts by downloading flyer templates, press kits, and program logos. You can also take advantage of the variety of training and education opportunities, including the TA Education & Training hub and TA Workshops.

Benefits of Becoming a Trading Assistant
Trading Assistant Toolkit

Posted by eBay Mentor at 01:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Skype is selling ringtones via agreements with several leading music publishers, but Skype is not selling the actual songs themselves.

Just heard from a Skype p.r. representative who clarified: "Skype is not selling full songs nor plans to be an online music store."

Well OK then, because I have a far better idea that would involve Skype-owner eBay, eBay-owned PayPal and Skype.

Here's how it would work:

eBay members could make their used digital content available for sale. We're talking music, books, videos, anything that could be broken down into "1's" and "0's."

While this service would work well for user-generated content, eBay members would be required pay a digital rights fee for retransmission of this content. Book publishers, music labels and publishers, would be recruited by eBay to join this alliance.

Fee administration, collection and redistribution to digital rights content partners could be handled by PayPal.

The digital information in these files could be securely transmitted to eBay, where they or a third party could digitize the content if it hasn't already been. It would need to be digitized for one-time only copying.

If the eBay member selling the goods is a Skype user, they could obtain an authentication key from PayPal that would allow them to show or play a sample from the digital content they are selling over their Skype connection. Prospective bidders who are also Skype users could then hear the music track, read a book page, even glimpse a sampling of the video for sale within their Skype softphone interface- much like Skype Video enables now.

Buyers and sellers could also use Skype's built-in IM functionality to chat about the digital content they are considering bidding for.

If the seller and prospective purchaser decide to go thru with the deal, that could then be handled via PayPal, thru the Skype interface.

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:31 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Seller Sues Dymo Corp over VeRO Complaints
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
April 26, 2006

Public Citizen Litigation Group said it filed a lawsuit against Dymo Corp. on behalf of Rene Mohl on April 24, 2006. The lawsuit seeks to guarantee Rene F. Mohl the right to tell eBay users that he is selling printer labels compatible with printers made by Dymo. The lawsuit also seeks to prevent Dymo from interfering with future sales of the compatible printer labels and to compensate Mohl for lost sales.

According to Greg Beck of Public Citizen, Dymo began invoking eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program to terminate Mohl's auctions of compatible labels. Dymo claimed that by stating the labels were compatible with Dymo printers, Mohl was infringing the company's "Dymo" trademark. After several VeRO terminations, Mohl had to remove the Dymo name from his listings in order to avoid the risk of losing his eBay account. As a result, it is very difficult for people to find his compatible labels, according to Beck, and he has suffered a major loss in sales.

"This is just another example of how corporations are exploiting eBay's Verified Rights Owners program to curtail legitimate competition by small online retailers," Beck said.

Disputes between Intellectual Property rights holders and eBay sellers are not new. This article from 2003 profiles a husband-and-wife selling team who have battled companies over VeRO issues http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m08/i05/s02.

eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy said that since eBay was not a party to the Dymo lawsuit, it would be inappropriate to comment on it.

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2183

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hey Gang.

I have a few useful links for people interesting in Auction Sniping on eBay

Check them out

Auction Sniper eBay Sniper and eBay Bidding snipe, bid sniping for eBay
eSnipe - Bid on eBay Automatically - eSnipe 3.0

If you know of any others, please leave a comment below. I will add it to my list.

Thanks a bunch!!!

Posted by eBay Mentor at 11:42 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay unofficially rolled out its new eBay Express marketplace in preview mode on Friday afternoon. eBay is banking on the new site to attract buyers who don't currently shop on its auction marketplace by offering new items in a more traditional ecommerce shopping experience.

eBay Express Registration
You can use your existing eBay User ID to register for eBay Express. When I tried to register as a new user, it told me I already had an eBay account, and asked me to login with my eBay User ID. For people who may not have logged onto eBay in years, there are "Forget User ID?" and "Forget password?" links.

Major Differences between eBay Express and eBay.com
eBay touts eBay Express as a safer, easier-to-shop marketplace. eBay Express is a subset of eBay.com - every item you find on eBay Express is also listed and available for purchase on eBay.com. There are major differences in the shopping experience, however.

No auctions. Only items that can be purchased right away are included on eBay Express. eBay.com fixed-price and Store listings must include a photo, the item condition, and shipping costs in order to show up on eBay Express.

Fewer categories. eBay Express only pulls from categories that have an "item condition" field. For example, you won't find items from eBay.com's Pottery & Glass category on eBay Express. However, you can find a McCoy vase on eBay Express from the seller who listed it in the Home Decor category.
Safety.

eBay Express will only include items from U.S. sellers who have a minimum of 100 feedback ratings, 98 percent positive, and sellers must have a Premier or Business PayPal account. Seller requirements are spelled out on the site.

http://pages.ebay.com/express/service/about/selling.html

Purchase protection. eBay promises better buyer protection on eBay Express than on eBay.com. Buyers must have a PayPal account in order to file a complaint. On the description page, eBay explains, "If your dispute is granted, PayPal will reimburse you for losses up to the full amount of your eBay Express purchase." Buyers have 45 days to make a claim, and can file one dispute per transaction. It's difficult to know whether shoppers will be satisfied with the eBay Express protection plan.

http://pages.ebay.com/express/service/account/purchase_protection.html

http://pages.ebay.com/express/service/account/purchase_protection_details.html

Shopping cart. You can place items from different sellers in your shopping cart and purchase with one transaction. Like other ecommerce sites, eBay Express uses cookies so it remembers the items you have placed in your shopping cart, even if you leave and return the next day. Note that another customer can purchase an item on eBay.com, and if you had placed that item in your shopping cart but had not yet purchased it, it will disappear from your shopping cart. I imagine items would also disappear from the cart if the listing expires on eBay.com. (eBay Store owners might be tempted to use the "Good Til Cancelled" feature for store listings to prevent that from occurring.)

User interface. While titles are of critical importance on eBay.com to help shoppers locate items, they are less important on eBay Express, which uses product attributes ("Item Specifics") to power its shopping navigation system. Shoppers on eBay Express are more likely to spend time clicking on links to drill down into categories and browse by product attribute than typing keywords into the search engine.

Feedback information. The Feedback information on eBay Express is currently limited to the most recent 25 ratings, but it contains the actual item next to the feedback rating. (eBay would do well to add this information to eBay.com feedback pages to give buyers more information about what the seller has sold in the past. ) At the bottom of the 25 feedback ratings on eBay Express, there is a link to ""View all feedback on eBay," so buyers can do more research on the seller if they choose.

eBay Express feels like a fixed-price ecommerce site when you are shopping, though you won't currently find the breadth of inventory in every category that you might hope for on such a marketplace. No doubt eBay is hoping sellers will fill in these gaps as they grow more comfortable with the new site.

eBay Express inventory will likely fill out if sellers feel comfortable with taking the risk of sending items to unconfirmed addresses, and as sellers learn how to make their eBay.com listings appear on eBay Express. In fact, sellers will likely be looking for gaps to fill on eBay Express if they feel there is enough buyer demand on the site.

There is a bit of "cognitive dissonance" on eBay Express. While navigation feels like a fixed-price ecommerce marketplace, such as Amazon.com, the actual item descriptions remind you that you are on an eBay site. There is no consistent formatting or Terms of Sale. And since eBay Express pulls from eBay.com listings, you will see messages that might be somewhat confusing, including notes that the seller accepts money orders and other payments that are not accepted on eBay Express. (Shoppers on eBay Express must use either a credit card or PayPal.)

In addition, many of the item descriptions contain links that lead shoppers off of eBay Express and onto eBay.com and eBay Stores, such as "View my auction listings" and "Visit my eBay Store."

eBay Express versus Amazon.com

As mentioned above, the item description page lacks the consistency on eBay Express that you would find on a site like Amazon.com. As for pricing, I did a random search for identical items on eBay Express and on Amazon.com. There was no clear winner in terms of pricing.

eBay is hoping to make its pie bigger: rather than move eBay.com shoppers to eBay Express, it is hoping it will attract new buyers who want to purchase new items right away in a fraud-free environment. But on eBay Express, shoppers are still buying from individual sellers, not eBay itself. With Amazon's reputation for excellent customer service and ironclad consumer protection, it's uncertain whether shoppers will want to take a risk on eBay Express unless prices are significantly cheaper and the customer service experience is an improvement over that on eBay.com. One advantage eBay Express has for shoppers with money in their PayPal accounts is that it accepts PayPal payments, while Amazon.com does not.

What's most fascinating about the eBay Express marketplace is that eBay has little control over the inventory offered aside from setting ground rules, such as which categories it includes. It will be up to sellers to "stock the shelves."

eBay employees answered questions about eBay Express Preview on Saturday on the Seller Central discussion board (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000267737). eBay is set to officially launch eBay Express this week, and eBay and its sellers have until the next holiday shopping season to test the site and work out the kinks.

http://express.ebay.com

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey Gang.

I found this really cool Paypal Fees Calculator

Check it out

PPC Calculator

Posted by eBay Mentor at 08:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Discover how YOU can Boost YOUR eBay sales and increase YOUR success rate by 25% through this Up-to-date Step-by-step Informational eBay Product

I have found a really useful and beneficial book that tells you the ins and outs on buying, selling, and sourcing product on eBay.

It is a "MUST HAVE" for all beginners and even advanced ebay users.

Don't waste your time on Free ebooks about ebay, take a look at this proven and testimonial driven product found at www.auctiontips.com

Posted by eBay Mentor at 04:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Here is excerpt's from eBay's announcement

During the past year ebay's worked with sellers to make improvements to Turbo Lister, a free listing tool that helps make listing items in bulk on eBay faster and easier.

I encourage you to download the new Turbo Lister and check out its enhanced features:

Easier listing process – Now you can create listings within a single page. You can also customize the options you want to see on the page, allowing you to look only at the fields that you use.

Enhanced editing capabilities

Now you can edit your items directly in the main inventory list.

Change the prices, modify the title, and make other quick changes from the list view without having to open another window.

Faster performance – We've also made some technical changes to the new Turbo Lister to make it faster and more reliable.

Join us for our next Turbo Lister workshop on Wednesday, April 26, to learn all about this popular listing tool. For more information or to download the new Turbo Lister, visit the Turbo Lister information page. We've also created a new Turbo Lister Upgrade page to help you as you move from the old Turbo Lister to the new.

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hermès Bag for $200?
Rules for protecting yourself on eBay

by Corina Zappia
April 20th, 2006 1:09 PM

When it comes to bidding on eBay, we've always held ourselves to a strict $20 limit. Granted, this means we're largely restricted to throwaway costume jewelry, discarded Smurf memorabilia, the first five episodes of 21 Jumpstreet on VHS (complete with bad '80s Fruit Roll Up commercials). But overall, we've been fine with this—or maybe we've just been too scared to shell out a half-month's paycheck for the Chloe Paddington bag that never arrives, the Dixie cup that Morrissey might've touched lips to (but probably not). Hearing from others about how little recourse there is against eBay scammers has always been a deterrent for us, and a call into eBay headquarters in San Diego confirms this: According to eBay spokesperson Catherine England, the company's main courses of action involve restricting or shutting down accounts, and what she refers to as "rehabilitation and reeducation." Assuming the perpetrator is not "malicious" but just "new to eBay," explains England, "there's a variety of tutorials, training and education materials we'll ask people to complete."
These measures are all well and good, of course, providing the perp hasn't dashed off to a remote tropical island with your precious Prada-bag bucks. eBay does have a free buyer protection program that reimburses victims of fraud. But assuming one even qualifies, the reimbursement covers only a fraction of what was lost and maxes out at $175 per claim. PayPal's free buyer protection is somewhat better, offering up to $1000 with items purchased through them. But then again, PayPal Buyer Protection is only offered with items from certain pre-approved sellers (for a full list of what qualifies one as an approved seller, go to this).

The bottom line with eBay has always been buyer beware—but how to protect oneself? eBay's site features an expansive section devoted to this concern—and if unlike us, you aren't normally too lazy to scan through it all, the safety tips can be extremely beneficial. (In our humble opinion, they should be required reading before one's even allowed on the site.) While some advice is quite familiar—contact the seller beforehand to discuss the merchandise, review feedback—other tips are worth a closer examination, such as the table that discusses at length the pros and cons of every form of payment. PayPal and credit cards rank highest for their traceability and the potential of retrieving funds; Western Union and Moneygrams rank lowest. "It's one of those things that once you use that money, it's gone," says England. "With other forms of payment, there's ways to track that money and you're more likely to recover it."

For advice from a practiced eBay buyer, we turned to a friend of ours (well, a friend of a friend)—Smoking Gun reporter Joseph Jesselli, who, as an avid collector of baseball and New York memorabilia, has engaged in many successful, high-end transactions over the past 8 years. He says:

1) Never respond to personal emails. After losing bids on expensive musical instruments, Jesselli frequently receives emails from people pretending to be the seller. "I get dozens of [fake] offers to buy the instrument, saying 'The bidder reneged on the deal, and we'd like to offer it to you at your price.' It is so rampant that eBay can't control it. And it happens every single time."

2) Look for "brick and mortar" sellers. "The authenticity—whether it's a real Louis Vuitton bag or an autograph of Babe Ruth—that's where you simply have to buy from a person who knows what they're doing, and you have to pay for their knowledge." Sellers of big-ticket items like designer bags or rare collectors' items will almost always have a more established presence, whether that involves being a known dealer in the field or having an actual shop.

3) Once again: Use PayPal. "It's incredibly safe," stresses Jesselli, a sentiment that is also naturally shared by England (eBay owns PayPal): "The nice thing about PayPal is that once you've established your account, your financial information is never actually shared with the merchant. Not only are you sending your payment through a secure system, but your information is protected."

4) Make sure the seller's feedback is legit. "Sometimes you look at the feedback and it looks canned," explains Jesselli, "and you certainly want to differentiate between buyer and seller." What Jesselli means is, click on the feedback from buyers. It doesn't matter if the person selling is an excellent buyer, you want to know what other customers have to say about the person's performance as a seller. Always go for sellers with a feedback of 99 percent or more.

5) Correspond with the seller. Both eBay and Jesselli heavily encourage this. By talking with the seller, Jesselli believes, one can usually gain an indication as to his or her credibility. "You can generally tell by the tone of an email whether the person's real or even in this country." Although Jesselli does believe there are bargains to be had on eBay, he's also seen too many scams—"I've seen items for sale, where the picture I've seen is the same elsewhere—and I know it's a scam artist who's selling it." Occasionally he will even do a Google picture search to check on an item.

"I've also asked people if I can call them and talk to them on many occasions." For an old Marx tin wind-up toy, Jesselli put in a call to the vendor, who was actually selling it on behalf of his mother. The seller didn't initially trust Jesselli either. "He thought I was trying to scam him," explains Jesselli. Though it ended up being a "delightful" transaction, for a while there, "it was like spy vs. spy."

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:43 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Need a faster easier way to search for eBay product ?

Want to reduce clicks to get to your most frequently used eBay pages.

Stop Identity Theft from Spoof emails ?

eBay Toolbar is for you !

Make the most of your valuable time.

Easily find items using advanced search options.

Check status of items you are watching or bidding on, and receive alerts.

Protect your account information using Account Guard.

Use buttons for one-click access to the eBay home page, My eBay, Stores, your Favorite Searches, and Community.

Customize your eBay experience

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:37 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Discover how YOU can find countless "profitable" Wholesale sources and Droppshipers for eBay

Wholesale sources and Dropshippers for ebay "Where are they?"

There are a few great sources for finding wholesalers and dropshippers for ebay. Here is a list of a few that I recommend:

www.worldwidebrands.com - A directory of wholesalers and "Credible Dropshippers" for eBay. This service is highly reconized through eBay. Drop Shippers, Bulk Wholesalers of 2,000,000 Products from 4,000 Brands that you can sell on eBay

http://www.wholesalemarketer.com/dropshipper/ - They drop ship a huge variety of wholesale products direct to your buyers. You sell ‘em, we mail ‘em!

www.wholesale411.com - A search directory of wholesalers. You type in the product that you are looking for and wholesale 411 searches its database for potential candidates. This is a very useful tool to find specific candidates that offer your specific niche products.

For more information on Wholesale sources and Dropshippers for ebay check out www.auctiontips.com

Posted by eBay Mentor at 08:11 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Get a Bargain on eBay ( both for resale and for your own needs )

There are some great eBay strategies you can use to your advantage to get a better bargain on eBay.

Shop in eBay Stores for many items which don't usually appear in the standard searches and are often priced to sell.

Buy seasonal items in the off-season such as a new swim suit in the winter when most buyers aren't looking for that item.

Shop for deals on major holidays and obscure hours such as middle of the night as not many people shopping so you will be able to get cheaper. You don't have to be up to do this ( see sniping below )

As tempting as it is, do not bid right away as you could get into a bidding war with other potential buyers. Instead wait till as close to the end of the auction as possible to place your max bid. Better yet use a Sniping program or service which will automatically place your maximum proxy bid during the last seconds of the auction. You can also use the eBay Toolbar and Your Watched Items to alert you as the auction is nearing it's end.

Buy in Quantity and Save - depending on what you buy you can stock up for the future or keep what you need and re-sell the rest on eBay. Try using the word Lot in your search or Browse Wholesale Sections.

There are sites on the internet that will automatically search on eBay for mis-spelled keywords - if buyers can't find the item of course they won't be bidding so advantage you !

Use the eBay sorting feature and advanced searches to sort by things like lowest priced, buy it now, set price ranges etc.

Browse the categories instead of just keywords as the seller may be using words in their title which are uncommon search terms.

Use Advanced Search Tips when you get too many results so you can narrow down your search.
It is important to know your pricing - what is the retail value / how much have past auctions sold for / what is a good price ?

Do your research ( on and off eBay ) or you could get burned. What is the msrp? What is the avg sold price?

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The eBay Foundation has committed $1.25 million to create an online community engagement initiative in partnership with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The eBay Foundation Community Engagement Program aims to inspire individuals and volunteer groups to take action against the six "unfreedoms" of racism, hunger, illiteracy, tyranny, genocide and slavery, the two groups said in a Tuesday press conference. The eBay money will go into a fund at the Freedom Center to support the effort.

A Web site, at www.freedomcenter.org, to engage visitors, promote dialogue and encourage them to take action in their communities;

A blog area to build awareness of, and give progress reports on the initiative;

Registering 20,000 volunteer "conductors" to work on community action;

Naming 30 local agencies as "Freedom Stations," and adding agencies in 10 additional cities in 2007 and 2008;
Partnering with the University of Cincinnati to produce a youth summit on volunteerism, to be held Nov. 5; and
Hiring a chief officer for community engagement to lead online and face-to-face efforts.

"With the establishment of the eBay Foundation Community Engagement Fund, we hope to create a thriving community of passionate individuals who will communicate, act and react to issues of freedom, diversity and tolerance," said Irene Wong, executive director of the eBay Foundation.

The eBay Foundation was established by online auction company eBay, based in San Jose, Calif. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is located in downtown Cincinnati.

eBay Foundation News Source

Posted by eBay Mentor at 09:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

ARLINGTON, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/19/2006 -- buySAFE, Inc. (www.buysafe.com), the leading online trust and safety company for e-commerce transactions, announced today that it has successfully resolved all claims related to the collapse of GlacierBayDVD, once eBay's highest-rated feedback seller. buySAFE paid thousands of dollars to hundreds of consumers who paid for -- but did not receive -- merchandise from GlacierBayDVD, and ensured that every buyer who completed a transaction bonded by buySAFE either received their product or was fully reimbursed for their loss.

In February, GlacierBayDVD shut down on eBay's marketplace and stopped shipping products to hundreds of buyers who had already paid for their goods. Because GlacierBayDVD was a buySAFE Bonded Seller, each of its affected customers was proactively contacted by buySAFE and was reimbursed for any losses. buySAFE Bonded Sellers are merchants who are inspected and monitored by buySAFE and whose transactions are guaranteed with a surety bond from Liberty Mutual at no cost to the buyer. In the rare instances when something does go wrong with a transaction, buyers can redeem their surety bonds for complete reimbursement.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=123811

As a seller you need to understand the mentality of your bidders. If your bidders are worried about the safety of online transactions becoming BuySafe is one the best things you can do to alleviate their concerns. I would also recommend this to any sellers that are selling items in the higher price ranges.

Ultimately anything you do to increase the trust a bidder has in you will increase your auction success rates, increase your average selling price, and increase your feedback rating.

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:36 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Attract as many potential buyers as possible

90% of buyers use the search to find items (not browsing categories)

You Must Write A Killer Title

Try to use all the characters.

Make sure to include as many searchable keywords as possible.

Be sure to describe what the item is and any other info that buyers are actually searching for.

Don't make it too fluffy avoid words like 'of,and, L@@K'

Common acronyms are good.

It should read well.

DON'T use all CAPS - Title Case Works Best.

Use spelling variations.

Is there a unique selling point?

Think like your buyers.

If buyers can't find your item how will they bid.

Extra Tip: Subtitles are fine in some situations but are not included in the standard search

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Social Networking Is the Key to your Success - At least that is what my mom taught me growing up. Its not what you do or how you do it that matters ... its who you know. The same can be applied as eBay sellers! Its not what your selling or how you sell it that matters ... its who you know that can source it for you!

This could be part of the reason eBay has invested $2 Million in a company called Meetup.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/04/12/ebay/index.php

It will be interesting to see how eBay chooses to apply this to their business model!

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 11:27 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay announced two promotions on Monday, a 50-cent insertion sale on eBay Motors Parts & Accessories and a 50-percent off sale on an optional "highlight" feature.

eBay Motors Parts and Accessories is holding a one-day 50-cent Insertion Fee sale on April 18 for auction-style and fixed-price listings for non-vehicle listings only. All other fees apply, see website for details and restrictions (http://pages.motors.ebay.com/promo/50cInsertion/041806).
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200604171645172.html

And eBay.com is running a two-day, 50-percent off Highlight promotion. For auction-style, fixed-price and ad-format listings on eBay.com, the fee for using the optional Highlight feature will be $2.50. Normally the fee is $5. All other fees apply, see website for details and restrictions (http://pages.ebay.com/promo/highlight).
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200604171702572.html

eBay News Source

Posted by eBay Mentor at 10:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Save on eBay Store Fees

If you have an eBay Store you qualify for the Store Referral Credit.

eBay will give you 75 % of your final fee values back for bringing in trafic from off of eBay.

This can be from your own personal or business website.

Links in your emails or signature file.

Paid Keyword Ads such as Google Ads are a great way to bring in traffic and can easily pay for themselves

From your blog

or anywhere else that you can post a link.

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Mick Cheung took a hiatus from the University of Washington last summer to enter the golf business with his father, who already owned several pro shops in China.

Today, the 21-year-old averages $30,000 in monthly sales auctioning off his father's golf clubs to Americans on eBay.

"My dad had never heard of eBay," said Cheung.

The quick success of Cheung's home-based business offers a dramatic example of what's sometimes possible when a niche market, online skills, hard work and global connections converge.

When Cheung's father, Eric Cheung, contacted his son last summer about the joint venture, the talk was of opening a bricks-and-mortar store in Seattle. The younger Cheung convinced his father that eBay was a better bet.

"There's no overhead and I don't have to deal with customers face to face," Mick Cheung said, acknowledging that there are indeed minor costs that include eBay's commission and credit-card fees.

Cheung started with a personal seller's account under the username mericgolf -- which has received a 98.9 percent favorable rating from the 725 customers who have purchased clubs from him. In March, Cheung registered with eBay as a business under the username evergreengolfbytrade.

Every few weeks, Cheung receives a shipment of golf clubs to his house in Seattle from his father overseas, who purchases them directly from a warehouse.

"The U.S. profit margin is higher," Cheung said. "People in China don't want to pay too much money for something that's made in China."

While his father sells various golf products in his shops in China, the younger Cheung said he sells only the most popular clubs online. Every day Cheung puts several listings of Cleveland, Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade iron sets, individual sand wedges and drivers on eBay. He usually sells a set of eight golf clubs for $500 to $600. His most popular item is the Cleveland set.

More eBay news Click here

Posted by eBay Mentor at 02:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"FAIRFAX, Va. - If you sell on eBay, you need to be aware of a new scam, one that's snared at least six victims in Fairfax County.

Here's how it works:

The suspects bid on items on eBay. After they win, they correspond with the victim using untraceable, throwaway cell phones and e-mail. The victim is convinced to ship the item via Fed Ex with cash on delivery. The address given is supposed to be a home address, but police say the address is actually a business that ships packages. That's where the suspects pick up the items and pay for them with counterfeit checks. In at least three cases, the suspects picked the items up at Fed Ex Kinkos stores in Fairfax County.

"These victims have been defrauded of approximately $80,000," says Fairfax County Police Officer Shelley Broderick.

The scammers have obtained a number of items, including a diamond cross with princess cut diamonds set in white gold, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Safari watch, a Game Boy system with games, Iraqi dinares, laptop computers and computer servers.

Broderick says several people across the country were able to detect the scheme by checking out the address and finding out it was a Fairfax County mail drop.

Broderick suggests signing up with a company like Pay Pal where the buyer's credit is verified.

Police say the suspects have used the following names: Jeremy Bowman, Joshua Bowman, Jack Thorn, Joshua Allens, Jason Belmont and Jeremy Swartz. They have used the following e-mail addresses: mrjeremybowman@yahoo.com, mrjoshuabowman@yahoo.com and jackthorn1@yahoo.com, police say.

Additionally, they have operated under the business name of Digital Max Wholesale, LLC, with at least two of the suspects using this business name to open a mail box. To set up the box, they used false, photo identifications. Their counterfeit checks use the company name of JP Morgan.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Fairfax County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477. A $1,000 cash reward will be paid for information which leads to an arrest in the Fairfax County cases."

- Police Warn of eBay Scam With Multiple Victims - WTOP

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 10:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Get a Bargain on eBay ( both for resale and for your own needs )

There are some great eBay strategies you can use to your advantage to get a better bargain on eBay.

Shop in eBay Stores for many items which don't usually appear in the standard searches and are often priced to sell.

Buy seasonal items in the off-season such as a new swim suit in the winter when most buyers aren't looking for that item.

Shop for deals on major holidays and obscure hours such as middle of the night as not many people shopping so you will be able to get cheaper. You don't have to be up to do this ( see sniping below )

As tempting as it is, do not bid right away as you could get into a bidding war with other potential buyers. Instead wait till as close to the end of the auction as possible to place your max bid. Better yet use a Sniping program or service which will automatically place your maximum proxy bid during the last seconds of the auction. You can also use the eBay Toolbar and Your Watched Items to alert you as the auction is nearing it's end.

Buy in Quantity and Save - depending on what you buy you can stock up for the future or keep what you need and re-sell the rest on eBay. Try using the word Lot in your search or Browse Wholesale Sections.

There are sites on the internet that will automatically search on eBay for mis-spelled keywords - if buyers can't find the item of course they won't be bidding so advantage you !

Use the eBay sorting feature and advanced searches to sort by things like lowest priced, buy it now, set price ranges etc.

Browse the categories instead of just keywords as the seller may be using words in their title which are uncommon search terms.

Use Advanced Search Tips when you get too many results so you can narrow down your search.
It is important to know your pricing - what is the retail value / how much have past auctions sold for / what is a good price ?

Do your research ( on and off eBay ) or you could get burned.

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Remember the old saying " a picture's worth a thousand words "

To sell successfully you product you should have a good picture to:

Create Credibility by showing actual item
Give Easy Visual Reference Points
Reduce Questions
Save on Detailed Description

Test your listing to determine how many pictures are needed to show as much detail as necessary - don't go overboard if not necessary as can cause the listings to take too long to load.

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ebay has invested $2m in the Meetup social networking site, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meetup offers a platform to accommodate meetings for people with common interests ranging from hiking to political campaigning.

Founded in 2002, the service boasts nearly 2m registered users. Meetup's business model is based on charging event organisers a fee ranging from $12 to $19 per month for listings and services.

Ebay said that both companies have a shared interest in using the internet to connect people and create communities. The company pointed out that there are several Meetups for eBay users.

The auction website's move was part of an investment round last month in which a group of investors acquired a 10 per cent stake in the company for an undisclosed sum.

Ebay typically does not disclose such investments, but in this case it choose to do so because Meetup is partially owned by Ebay founder and chairman Pierre Omidyar. The auction site stressed in its filing that these private business relations did not affect the terms of the deal.

Posted by eBay Mentor at 08:01 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

As more buyers and sellers have become interested in digitally delivered goods (such as mp3 songs, eBooks, etc.), eBay has recognized that it needed to improve the way these items were bought and sold on eBay.

If you aren’t familiar with the term, a digital item is a product sold in the form of a computer file that a buyer can access online or have delivered electronically via email. For example, the product could be an MP3 file of an original song that you wrote and recorded, or an original fitness video that you made. It’s important to note that these are both examples of items you created yourself. Strict copyright laws prohibit selling digital items for content that you didn’t create yourself or for which you are not a copyright owner.

Highlights of the site changes that were made to support digital items:

“List as a Digital Item” option in the Sell Your Item form – Selecting this option when you start listing lets us know you’re selling a digital item, so you won’t have to fill out sections that don’t apply (such as “Shipping”). You’ll also see a “Digital Item Delivery” field in SYI, where you can provide delivery information to your buyers (such as how to access the file once they’ve completed their purchase).

Search filter for digital items in certain categories – Buyers in categories that are more likely to feature digital items (such as Movies and Books) will be able to filter their results to see just the digital items that meet their search criteria.

Digital Information Box on the item page – On listings for digital items, a new information area will help buyers identify digital items, confirm the file type and learn about any system requirements they will need.

Some other examples of digital products could be recipes, sheet music, instuctional how to books, indi-movies, music etc.

Be sure to view this eBay workshop ( Jan 25 2006 )

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000064966

For tips on buying or selling digital items on eBay

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/selling-digital-items.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 04:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay has officially outlawed cash payments among its 100 million members. The auction site has begun deleting listings from sellers who offer to accept cash, saying that these sellers tend to be involved in scams.

"The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and now eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."

eBay managers approved the policy in October, but the change wasn't widely publicized or enforced until this week. Recently, several longstanding PowerSellers who have traditionally accepted cash complained that eBay is trying to force them to accept PayPal. eBay purchased the payments company in 2002, and is aggressively promoting its use.

After a rash of fraud last year, eBay and other sites such as Amazon.com warned buyers against paying for expensive items with non-reversible bank wire transfers. In many cases the fraudulent sellers posed as U.S. residents, but were actually outside the U.S. and never shipped merchandise after collecting the payments.

Some eBay sellers offering heavy or bulky merchandise don't offer shipping, and require buyers to pick up their goods. Some eBayers speculate that these sellers could technically comply with eBay's no-cash policy by advertising a policy of accepting checks, then verbally offering to accept cash when the buyer arrives for pickup.

"You've got to wonder though," said one eBayer who asked not to be identified. "Is eBay going to outlaw checks and money orders next?"

View Ebay Source

Posted by eBay Mentor at 01:48 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"Matt Frame couldn't believe what he was seeing when he found a red 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS with white striping on eBay last week." - Daily Mail

Lost in 2002 Matt recognized his 1967 Camaro for sale on eBay. This isnt the 1st time something stolen has been recognized by the owner for sale on eBay. I hope more stories like this turn up and the theif is captured. The more stories like this turn up the more thieves will know that they cant simply offload hot items on eBay.

This is just a good story and I am glad Matt and his family have been reunited with their missing family member.

www.auctiontips.com

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:33 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ebay's Skype Subsidiary to Acquire Sonorit for $27 Million in EBay Stock

NEW YORK (AP) -- Online auctioneer eBay's Skype Technologies S.A. unit, a British company that allows phone calls to be made on the Internet, on Tuesday said it has acquired Sonorit Holding AS and its U.S. subsidiary Camino Networks Inc. for 700,000 shares of eBay stock, or about $27 million.
Sonorit Holding AS and Camino Networks Inc. provide voice technology for the Internet. Skype said the acquisition will aid it in developing new technology in the future.

EBay said the transaction will be immaterial to its full-year 2006 profit.

Skype is available in 27 languages and allows people to make unlimited voice and video communication for free. Sonorit, based in San Francisco, builds software for speech processing, coding and transmission of voice over the Internet.

Posted by eBay Mentor at 08:42 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"World Cup tickets were still available for purchase on the internet auction site eBay yesterday, despite laws that came into force at midnight on Sunday making such sales a criminal offence.

An extension to existing UK statutes has outlawed the unauthorised resale of any World Cup tickets. Under previous legislation it was an offence to resell tickets for matches involving England, however they now extend to all 64 games at this summer's World Cup in Germany." - The Guardian 'Fifa steps up war on eBay's World Cup trade'

I have been trying to get tickets myself for months and months and was hoping eBay would be one means to get them. With such a high demand for the tickets it is hard to monitor and eliminate the sales of these tickets, especially if buyers are willing to pay premium prices. While these tickets are not allowed to be sold on eBay.co.uk perhaps they could be sold on a different eBay site?? Where theres a will theres a way.

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:39 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Expectations for eBay Express are running high among experienced eBay sellers, who view the upcoming specialty site as a potentially significant new channel and have their fingers crossed that the company will build and market it properly.

EBay Express, due during the second quarter, will feature only fixed-price items, most of them new, from experienced sellers with outstanding track records. On eBay.com, many items are used and sold via auction, and many sellers are novices.

The new site will offer a shopping experience that is much simpler and quicker than eBay.com's main marketplace. With eBay Express, the company hopes to attract buyers who either shop little or not at all on the main site, and deliver them to its best sellers, accomplishing two important goals: broaden its shopper base and keep its star sellers happy.

These sellers generally work full-time on their eBay stores and often have annual sales of over US$1 million. Many over the years have set up parallel stores outside of eBay.com precisely seeking to reach mainstream online shoppers who find eBay.com complicated, time-consuming and even unsafe. These sellers have also wanted to differentiate themselves from less-experienced peers and from fraudsters on eBay.com.

For more information click here:
eBay Express

Posted by eBay Mentor at 03:46 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Have you wondered how some sellers do? Go from $1000's / month in sales to $100000 / month?

In three simple letters I will tell you one of the greatest secrets to increasing YOUR sales ... SEO.

Many of your eBay pages can and will rank in natural search engines. This becomes especially powerful when you have an eBay store. This is one of the most under utilized tools. Previously most eBay sellers would rely on eBay traffic for their sales. With SEO and Keyword Optimization you can now tap into the Search Engines for additional traffic. I did this myself. (I monitored the changes in my traffic with Omniture a free tracking feature that comes with stores). Prior to my optimization 93% of my traffic came from eBay and 7% from search engines (mostly to my About Me page). Once I had optimized my page my search engine traffic increased to 31.1%.

The moral of the story? To take YOUR business to the next level optimize your pages!

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

American Idol is a cultural phenomenon. eBay is a cultural phenomenon. Bring them together and what do you get? The perfect way to raise money for charity.

Taylor Hicks, Birmingham’s American Idol, has jumped on board with Kid One Transport to help raise funds for this Birmingham, Alabama based non-profit! Taylor has been kind enough to round up 15 American Idol contestants and have them personally autograph an official American Idol T-Shirt to be auctioned off to the public in support of this organization!

Check the T-Shirt Out HERE

For More Information on the Charity Kid One Transport Click Here

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:42 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Google Base ... touted by some to be the David that would slay Goliath, has already started to lose some of its luster. In a recent article traffic to Google Base is already starting to dwindle.

I dont think, though, that this is the last we will hear from Google on the matter!

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)