Free eBay Secrets to Success!

Gaining success through the eBay selling business may not be as complicated as you think. You only have to know where to find free eBay secrets that count. Once you get hold of free

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eBay secrets, start applying them in order for you to put up a successful eBay selling business.

No need to look high and low for free eBay secrets, we’ve got them compiled here for you. You can use these free eBay secrets to create a booming business on eBay.

Once you decide to become an eBay seller, choose the user ID you will have to use, carefully. Choose a User ID that represents your business or the items you sell. Your User ID automatically becomes your eBay identity to potential buyers.

1. Look up the “How to Sell” Tour and watch the eBay selling demonstration video. Then learn of free eBay secrets in starting up at the eBay Learning Center.

2. Get your ID verified by using the ID Verify option when setting up a Seller's Account. This gives you an ID Verify icon in your feedback profile thereby giving the eBay community more confidence to buy from you. Don’t let this free eBay secret go unheeded.

3. Make sure to get computer backup disks in order for you to store up valuable data. A free eBay secret of using accounting software will help you know how your business is doing so you can make it more profitable.

4. Look for a good place where you can put your inventory and shipping materials. It’s a free eBay secret that they need to be in a safe, dry place nearby. Writing a daily To-Do List will help you organize your schedule. It is also the free eBay secret for you to manage your time on normal tasks and follow up on opportunities that aren't part of them.

5. Taking eBay’s fees into account may be the free eBay secret you need that’ll guided the pricing of your items.

6. Find the best category where to list your products under. This free eBay secret is probably known by everyone. From eBay's home page, click the "Buy" button, and browse the categories to find categories that apply to your items.

7. Another free eBay secret that’s necessary for your products’ success is checking where competing items have been placed. It's a good idea to choose two categories for your listings to reach more buyers.

8. Even if you have to pay additional fee, spotlighting your title is a practically free eBay secret that’s guaranteed to grab buyers' attention when they search for listings.

9. Hiring a Trading Assistant can free up the time you need to let you focus on the more important aspects of your eBay business.

10.Constantly monitor My eBay for your listings performance and other activities on the site. Keep track of your eBay correspondence by using My Messages. Surely, this free eBay secret will be a great help.

11. Attending trade shows is not only a free eBay secret advice it is also a great opportunity where you can get product trends preview and connect with manufacturers and discuss the opportunity of selling their products on eBay. Make sure to bring your business cards and be ready for discussions/

12. Protect yourself from potential fraud. Be wary for unusual buyer requests and consider it as a fraudulent sign if such requests come to light.

13. eBay consultants are available for advice and even free eBay secret tip offs. Once you know how to sell on eBay and checked out the eBay Community, your head will be buzzing with new business ideas.

14. Subscribing Chatter may get you not only feature articles, tips, helpful links and member interviews but maybe also free eBay secrets to success. Signing up for the PowerUp Newsletter can get you advanced notice of upcoming events and promotions. You'll get to know free listing days, feature discounts, seller sweepstakes and more.

15. There’s nothing wrong in promoting your eBay store. In fact it is another free eBay secret that you design marketing materials to promote your store.

16. Once you made a final sale price, donate part of it to a Nonprofit Organization of your choice. Remember that the ultimate free eBay secret to success is passing on the blessings and knowledge you acquire!



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An Ebay Seller’s Checklist

Being a seller is a lot of responsibility, and sometimes you might feel like you’re not doing everything you should be. This simple checklist will help you keep on top of things.

Have you found out everything you possibly could about your items? Try typing their names into a search engine – you might find out something you didn’t know. If someone else

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is selling the same thing as you, then always try to provide more information about it than they do.

Do you monitor the competition? Always keep an eye on how much other items the same as or similar to yours are selling, and what prices they’re being offered at. There’s usually little point in starting a fixed price auction for $100 when someone else is selling the item for $90.

Have you got pictures of the items? It’s worth taking the time to photograph your items, especially if you have a digital camera. If you get serious about eBay but don’t have a camera, then you will probably want to invest in one at some point.

Are you emailing your sellers? It’s worth sending a brief email when transactions go through: something like a simple “Thank you for buying my item, please let me know when you have sent the payment”. Follow this up with “Thanks for your payment, I have posted your [item name] today”. You will be surprised how many problems you will avoid just by communicating this way.

Also, are you checking your emails? Remember that potential buyers can send you email about anything at any time, and not answering these emails will just make them go somewhere else instead of buying from you.

Do your item description pages have everything that buyers need to know? If you’re planning to offer international delivery, then it’s good to make a list of the charges to different counties and display it on each auction. If you have any special terms and conditions (for example, if you will give a refund on any item as long as it hasn’t been opened), then you should make sure these are displayed too.

Have you been wrapping your items correctly? Your wrapping should be professional for the best impression: use appropriately sized envelopes or parcels, wrap the item in bubble wrap to stop it from getting damaged, and print labels instead of hand-writing addresses. Oh, and always use first class post – don’t be cheap.

Do you follow up? It is worth sending out an email a few days after you post an item, saying “Is everything alright with your purchase? I hope you received it and it was as you expected.” This might sound like giving the customer an opportunity to complain, but you should be trying to help your customers, not take their money and run.

Being a really good eBay seller, more than anything else, is about providing genuinely good and honest customer service. That’s the only foolproof way to protect your reputation. Of course, you might be wondering by now whether it’s really worth all the hassle to get a good reputation on eBay. Won’t people buy from you anyway, and couldn’t you just open a new account if it really comes down to that? Our next email will set you straight.

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A Toolkit to Get Started Selling on eBay

If you want to sell seriously on eBay (or another online auction site), i.e. do more than get rid of the junk cluttering up your garage or attic, you will find that the following items can really help your business, no matter what you are selling. It is assumed that you own a computer with an internet connection and have already started your account with the online auction venue.

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This beginner’s toolkit will not magically turn you into an eBay millionaire overnight (and you should beware of anyone making such claims), but it will improve your competitive position.

1. A digital camera. Yes, eBay offers stock photos of items, such as books or DVDs. However, that does not help you if you are selling homemade crafts, for instance, and even if there is a stock photo, you might want to show the item from a different angle, or use a close-up. You do not have to spend a fortune on a high-megapixel model, though an optical zoom, a macro setting and the ability to adjust white balance are essential. Some good information on selecting a camera and photographing auction items can be found at http://www.search.reviews.ebay.com/ members/camerajim/

2. A tripod. No matter how firmly you grip your camera, holding it in your hand can easily introduce some blurring, and auctions with blurry photos are less likely to receive bids. A tripod will improve your photos considerably.

3. A photo-editing program. You will want to crop your image, remove irrelevant elements, adjust brightness and contrast, maybe add text or a border. You do not need an expensive program for this, and the freeware Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) may cover our needs. Also, look at older version of programs such as Microsoft Digital Image, which can be purchased quite cheaply.

4. A digital postal scale. As you will mail out your items to the winning bidders, it is important that you invest in a postal scale, so that you do not over- or underpay on postage.

5. Business cards. Even if you are only starting out to sell online, you want to project a professional image. Have some business cards printed up at an office supply store or one of the many online suppliers (such as www.vistaprint.com) and include your e-mail address and website on them. Slip in a business card with every shipment, and always take some with you, in case your online venture comes up in conversation.

6. Lots of Research. Don’t sell things that you know little or nothing about. Research your articles online and at your local library. Research current prices by checking completed auctions on eBay (do a search for the item, then click on the check box “Completed listings” and search again). You can also use Auction Shark (http://www.auctionshark.com/) to check prices on running auctions at eBay, Amazon, Yahoo and Overstock.com.

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An Easy Guide To Making Money On Ebay

One way to make money on eBay that a lot of sellers underestimate is by making money on returns. Items get returned to almost every seller eventually as it’s impossible to satisfy all of the buyers all of the time. By turning your returns into profits you can make money on e

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Bay without simply selling your items.

If you are going to make money on eBay from your returns then it is important not to refund shipping charges. You will probably make money on eBay from your shipping charges anyway if you are using cheaper materials and have a standard shipping cost for items, regardless of their weight.

If you just refund the charge of the returned items but not the shipping then you are going to make money on eBay because you will be able to charge the same shipping cost to another buyer who bids on the returned item when you relist it. As you have already made a profit from the shipping charge the first time, you are going to double that profit the second time you ship the item and be able to make money on eBay from your returns that from your original listing.

To help you make even more money on your returned items you can charge a restocking fee. This is not something that buyers particularly like and it may lead to negative feedback but you are within your rights to charge a restocking fee and it is a surefire way to make money on eBay from your returns. It would be advisable to only charge a restocking fee on more expensive or bulky items to lessen the chance of receiving bad feedback which will have a negative impact on your chances to make money from eBay by reducing your sales.

If you have an item returned then the best way to make money on eBay is, of course, to list it in another auction. However, it is important to take note of the reason for the return to ensure that it does not happen the second time and make it impossible for you to make money on eBay from selling the item as it keeps getting returned. If the item was returned because it was not what the buyer expected then you have to make sure that you write your description more clearly the second time around to maximise your chances of having a satisfied buyer and being able to make money on eBay that you intended to in the first place.



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What's eBay to you ?

If you were to ask a group of people how they could make money using eBay, they would probably all come back with similar answers – sell off their unwanted possessions, sell thin

gs for other people and take a commission on successful sales, or perhaps go the more professional route and buy stock to resell from a wholesaler. The chances are very high that none of them would think of using eBay as a springboard to achieving bigger and better things elsewhere.

Yet a small number of internet entrepreneurs are doing just that – utilising the sheer power and reach that eBay has to offer in order to build their own successful website and mailing list. And there are many advantages to using eBay in this way.

These people aren’t selling things on eBay to make money – not on eBay at least. They are using the site in perfectly legitimate ways to help them build their mailing list, which will reap them lucrative – and repetitive - rewards in the future.

If you have your own website and you want to build your own email list in the quickest time possible, you need to be looking at this gigantic auction site to help you do it. And if you are already selling on eBay and you’re thinking of expanding into your own website, then it’s time to start looking at eBay in a whole new way to make sure you get there in double quick time.

Before we get into the details of how to use eBay in this way, let’s look at why the auction site is such an attractive proposition for internet marketers who want to build an emailing list like this


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How to make money selling on eBay

You are already selling and you haven't been able to make the money you desire, you've read books and guides to help you make money selling on eBay. Even so you still feel frustrated because you are in the same spot, you haven't improved your sells, money and time is crucial and you just simply want to know what to do. In order for you to make money to sell on eBay you will have to do the following.

" Be descriptive
" Good communication
" Positive feedback

These three steps are keys to become successful in making money selling on eBay.

Be Descriptive: When you are describing your product make sure you include as much detail as possible. This will narrow down what exactly the buyer needs. Also be descriptive in you title, in your title you want to mention important detail such as size, color, brand name, etc. By doing so the costumer will find it very easy to visualize how the product looks like and see if it is something the buyer is looking for. When you are including detail in you description of your product, it is suggested to make the important words bold that will attract the buyer, for instance, if you are selling a shirt and is brand new, you will want to put in bold letters "Brand New:".

Good Communication: Communication is very critical when it comes to selling a product, for that reason it will be wise for you to respond to questions that interested costumers ask you, for they will lose interest if you don't. If you see that the question is often repeated then it is recommended to include the answer in your listing or in the descriptions of your product. Remember you can always go back an edit the product information.

Positive Feedback: Feedback plays a vital role in selling in eBay which making money selling on eBay will depend on these feedbacks either if there positive or negative. Keep the feedback system honest, some tend to simply give each other positive feedback for the simple convenience, but you want to be loyal and honest since you want buyers who can fully trust you on selling them a product. In order for you to receive positive feedback you will want to be as helpful as possible to the costumer and be prompt on shipping the product.


In order to make money selling on eBay you will want to have in mind these steps as well as try to keep you business running. Some start off selling random items from home that they feel is not of any need. Since selling items from home will eventually run out you will have to figure out a way to keep supply in hand. One way to have consistent supply is to lean your sells on items you are familiar with and you have sufficient amount of knowledge about. This is a good strategy since you will be above most competitors that are selling the same product since most of them are not as familiar as you are. This is an advantage because you will know what right product to sell is and which product is considered the most suitable.

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You Can Sell Anything on eBay – Or Can You?

Over 100 million people are members of eBay. Through eBay, you can buy items in almost any category that you can imagine – at great prices. You can also sell almost anything

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you can imagine on eBay – people often sell items that have absolutely no real value for very high prices. There are limits, however, to what can be bought and sold.

eBay does not allow certain items to be auctioned through their website. Services are one type of ‘item’ that cannot be auctioned – simply because it is not an item. Some seller’s blatantly ignore this however. The sell of other items is illegal, even if it isn’t being sold through eBay. eBay restricts the sale of any type of item that is considered ‘illegal for sale’ in any other selling format. Illegal items such as satellite descramblers are forbidden as well.

Anything that is copyrighted - such as copies of DVDs, CDs, or software - may not be sold through eBay auctions. You can, however, sell a DVD, CD, or any software that you bought legitimately…as long as you are not just selling a copy that you
made of these types of items. eBay does not allow the sale of ‘replicas.’ A replica is a knockoff version of designer items, such as purses, dresses, shoes, or sunglasses that look identical to those that have designer labels.

Items that are regulated by the state or federal government are forbidden on eBay. These items include alcoholic beverages, weapons and firearms, all tobacco products, and both prescription and illegal drugs. There are small exceptions to this rule,
however. If you have a collectable, such as a tin that contains tobacco, you may sell that item if the package has never been opened, and if you state the contents of the package are not meant for consumption. There are other conditions that must be met as well when selling these types of collectables.

Any type or breed of animal or reptile may not be sold through an eBay auction. This includes animals that were once living, and are now stuffed and mounted. This rule may also apply to items that are taken from endangered species, such as Ivory. When
it comes to these types of items, when in doubt, don’t.

Tickets may be sold, but it is illegal to sell tickets for a higher price than you originally paid for them. This is called ticket scalping, and it is illegal.
Lottery tickets are also banned from eBay auctions, as well as raffle tickets. Again, if you are not sure if your item is eligible for an eBay auction, either don’t put it up for auction, or contact eBay to get an answer one way or the other. Don’t risk breaking the law!




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3 Tools For Product Sourcing On EBay - Using Seller Central

You may have already discovered that selling on eBay can be fun and profitable. But after you’ve cleared out your garage and attic, and auctioned off everything your husband owns, where can you go to get new product ideas?

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Tapping into EBay’s Resources
Most people don’t realize that eBay itself is actually a terrific place to find product sourcing ideas. Besides being an easy selling venue with built-in traffic, it also contains a goldmine of useful data about what that traffic wants to buy. One of eBay’s best-kept secrets is their Seller Central page (http://www.EBay.com/SellerCentral). Very few people, even PowerSellers, are aware of this valuable resource. Consequently, very few people are taking advantage of the tools available there:

• The merchandising calendar — this is a great spot to get sourcing leads because it shows you specifically what products eBay will be promoting over the next few months. It gives you dates and tells you which item categories you need to list your product in for it to be displayed on eBay’s homepage. When a user clicks on that item, your auction will pop right up.

• The hot items section — this is basically a monthly trend-watching report. It tells you what items are moving, producing more bids, and getting higher final prices. It lets you get a feel for where the demand is.

Whether you’re searching for products at a tradeshow or a rummage sale, Janelle Elms (http://JanelleElms.com), of eBay University, recommends, “Print this report and keep it with you at all times.” She explains, “If you don’t know what to look for, this will help direct and keep your mind focused to what’s moving on eBay.”

• The hot categories section — this resource takes the top categories and gives you tips on how to sell in those categories, insider secrets about your buyers, and trending info. For each category, there’s a section called ‘In Demand’ that tells you not only the top-selling items in that category, but also the top keywords that buyers are using to find these items. Use those keywords in your listing titles. If you have any left over, put them in your description. Essentially, eBay tells you what to sell and then tells you how best to list it.

Catering to Your Customers
Advises Elms, “Don’t ever try to sell to the buyer what you think they need to own.” Users are already telling you what they want to buy — you just have to listen. These tools show you what consumers are saying they want and how they’re saying they want to find it. EBay users are ready to spend money with you — all you need to do is give them what they’re looking for.

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eBay Rules

It’s important to remember that eBay has very strict rules on what you can and can’t do on their site. For example, you can’t use the site to blatantly divert traffic to your own website. However they do give you certain allowances – and it is these that we’ll be covering in detail later, in order to build that list of people who are ready and interested to hear about – and buy – your latest products.

We’ll be covering how to make the most of your eBay About Me page and how to make sure it’s as accessible and appealing as possible for anyone who happens to be looking at your listings. We’ll also discover what to sell on eBay that is relevant to your business (whatever it may be) and how to design and use those products to legally self promote yourself and your business.

eBay may be strict on the rules, but they still offer you a goldmine of opportunities to develop and grow your own business elsewhere on the internet – you just have to know how to use them to your best advantage.

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Getting Started on eBay

You’ve probably heard about how much money can be made on eBay. With dreams of quick riches and easy money, you are probably ready to jump in with both feet – right now!

The best thing you can do if you are serious about making money with eBay, however, is to slow down. In fact, just stop for a minute. Don’t rush straight in. Take your time, and do it right.

eBay has over 100 million members. Think about that number for just a minute or two. When you get your eBay business set up, that is how big your customer base will be – instantly. 100 million people - 100 million people who are just waiting for you to get set up and running so that they can throw money at you! Well, not quite. It is true that there are over 100 million members, but at this point, they don’t know that you exist. In fact, no matter how well you
do on eBay, most of them will never know that you exist. 100 million is a very large number.

The most successful eBay sellers started out as buyers – and you should too. This will give you a
sense of how everything works. It will also show you how things are from the buyer’s side of the fence.

Let’s call this period of time ‘consumer research.’ You are literally studying how eBay works, from a customer’s point of view. You may not realize this, but this eBay buyer experience will
actually make you a much better seller – right from the very start.

Really pay attention to the customer service you receive from the buyer. Think about how you want to be treated as a buyer, and take notes. Take your time during this process. Interact with the sellers.

Get involved in hot auctions to see what they are like. In your spare time, start making notes about the hot items that you see. These notes will come in handy later.

eBay works just like any other business. You have to determine what people want to buy before you can hope to be successful. There are very specific items that sell really well on eBay – you just have to figure out what those items are. There are many resources for finding out this information. Start with the lessons that eBay offers to their sellers.

Strongly consider attending the eBay University as well. This is the next step in the process. After you have had the eBay buyer experience, it is time to learn how to be an eBay seller.

Read all of the information eBay provides for you at the site. The information is free and you will learn a great deal from it. Take full advantage of this – before you start setting up your first auction or your eBay store! By reading through all of the resources, you will avoid making numerous mistakes that so many before you have made.

This is another step towards building a successful eBay business. Once you’ve made it through the learning process, you should know everything you need to know to get started with a money making eBay business of your very own.

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