Successful eBay Holiday Sales Tips

eBay selling is a challenge year round. For the most success this holiday selling season, make sure you are taking advantage of all of eBay's features to boost your holiday sales. Here are a few tips to help you increase sales and stay organized during the busy holiday selling season.

• Add Best Offer to all inventory items. You never know what people will purchase once they have already bought something from you and are browsing your store for deals,or to take advantage of your combined shipping rate. Adding Best Offer will result in more sales. You don't have to accept the offers, but you will give your customer more options, appear to be a more flexible seller, and be able to capitalize on more opportunities to sell your items.
• Use Buy It Now on all auctions from now until Christmas. Decide on what you will accept for a BIN price. As the holiday gets closer, people procrastinate, sometimes even panic, and don't want to wait for an auction to end. Offering BIN will result in more sales. (Just do your research and make sure you have your BIN price set high enough.)
• Order packaging early. Go to the USPS website and order plenty of boxes and Tyvek envelopes. Take an inventory of what you will need such as bubble wrap and packing peanuts, and order it several weeks in advance.
• Know the shipping date deadlines. Again, visit the USPS website to see a chart with all of the shipping deadlines for the various services. You may want to print out this table of shipping deadlines and post it by your computer.
• Stay focused on operating your business. Complete your income producing activities first before getting caught up in holiday activities like baking, shopping, wrapping, and decorating. You still have a business to run.
• Prioritize. Choose your top 3 business related tasks each day before starting to work, and stick to that list. To keep your eBay business running smoothly, accomplish your business tasks before getting involved with personal tasks.
• Stay caught up with your shipping. It is very tempting to want to list more and more items when sales are hot. You don't want forget the customers who have already paid you and are waiting for their product. The USPS is slow enough over the holiday season - don't risk a neutral or negative because you aren't keeping up with your shipping.
• Set your limits. If you are doing the "crazy toy thing" (going on the 2 AM Wal-Mart runs to purchase large quantities of the hottest toy), keep in mind that you can't be all things to all people. Select a few hot toys to concentrate on and don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Remember you are going to have to pack and ship everything in addition to listing, running your business, and preparing for your own family's holiday. A few hundred dollars in hot toy profit is not worth having a personal meltdown and ruining your own family's holiday time.

Have fun and happy eBaying this holiday season!

Surviving the Holidays - Tips for enhancing the memories.

Between the frenzy of school and holiday parties, shopping, cooking, and spending, sometimes the spirit of the season seems anything but happy. Stress, over-extended schedules, and concerns over how the money just seems to be flying out of the wallet can turn the season of joy to that of anxiety and hassle. But parents CAN turn the holidays into a time of family and cherished quality time. How? Here are eight ways to help families reconnect and enjoy the season.

1. Serve others

It's better to give than to receive, right? Then turn the saying into a true practice by volunteering TOGETHER as a family. Where? How? The options are endless. A best bet is to choose as a family. Here are some options to get the brainstorming started: Serving dinner at a homeless shelter, helping to sort and inventory items at a local food bank or clothing collection agency, or helping to groom and care for animals at a local shelter.

2. Emphasis hand-made gifts

Why would anyone want a homemade gift when money can buy the latest and greatest on the market? Parents, if your child thinks like this, then this is a value that really should be stressed this season. The holidays are the time to celebrate families and to show love and appreciation to those they love, and not just for the gifts. And what better gesture than a gift made by from hands and heart? Gifts can be as simple as a cherished handprint, a scrapbook, or a service such as housecleaning.

3. Help Kids Learn About Dollars and Sense

Children can start learning about the value of money at a young age, and a good time to teach about budgeting and finances is around the holidays. Letting children shop for an inexpensive gift is a great way to teach how far--or not--a buck will go. It's okay for parents to talk about how much things cost. Educate kids that spending is a choice, and that there is a difference between a "want" and "need."

4. The Gift of Time

Many parents trying to force holiday spirit on their family through movies, shopping, extra activities, and often with the result of overload. The best gift a parent can give is time! Kids love evenings by a fire with hot cocoa and reading holiday books, and may prefer a holiday video watched together as a family than waiting in line at a busy movie theatre. Family games, walks in the park, and even looking at holiday lights while listening to seasonal tunes are what memories are made of.

5. Making memories and establishing traditions

Does you family have a special holiday tradition? If not, add one, and enjoy how it adds to the sense of family tradition and togetherness. How about sharing memories during a special meal? Decorating the tree as a family? Opening one special gift with just your family that has special meaning? Starting a journal with contributions by each member? Have a family PJ night. Building traditions can add to the holiday joy and strengthen families.

6. Reflection and Goal Setting Made Easy

Regardless of the holidays on the calendar, families should embrace the end of the year and new year that lies ahead by setting a direction for the future. Family members can brainstorm together and develop common goals, or at least share personal goals and ask for members' support. Whether it is to eat together more often, to make healthier choices, to limit extracurricular activities, or to work smarter, share your dreams and focus for the new year.

7. Let There Be Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Stir up some fun in the kitchen this season for family togetherness. Make a gingerbread village each year, with each member crafting an individual cottage. Or, bake up sugar cookie cut-outs and use imagination with the decorations. Consider stringing popcorn and cranberries while enjoying some home-cooked soup and bread around the fire at the same time. Cooking together brings family members together, and is a great way to combine food, fellowship and fun!

8. Learning to say "Thank You" From The Heart

Kids don't just "know" how to be grateful. It's a taught behavior from parents and other adults. A child's natural tendency is to think selfishly, but parents should emphasize an equal amount of selflessness. While it's natural for children to possess a case of the "greeds" around the holidays, parents should use the season to teach manners, respect for elders, grace, giving, and gratitude.

I hope these ideas give you some ways to improve your holidays and make them more enjoyable and meaningful. Happy Holidays!

eBay Tips & Tricks

Bling! It is a new software product designed to help eBay, Amazon and website sellers create dynamic product images that make your photos look like the big guys. Don't get confused by the name.. Bling! It, is actually useful for lots of product applications besides Jewelry.

On eBay and in any competitive online environment, the best product shots get first notice. With Bling! It, your high quality product shots will help you make sales and gain attention.
Bling! It offers extreme ease of use for even the most casual eBay seller to create high-quality web-ready product shots that can compete with large sophisticated sellers. In the past, only the most seasoned Photoshop professional could create product shots like this, but with the availability of Bling! It, even a novice user can create “shot in the studio” quality product images in minutes. All that is required is a digital camera and a few clicks of the mouse. No Photoshop and no complicated layering, outlining, or hours in front of the computer.


Here is some of what the software can do:

• Sharpen product appearance without hiding a product’s characteristic imperfections
• Add drop shadows to provide a depth-of-field to the image
• Use the “Highlight Brush” to lift the image highlights to create a “shot-in-the-studio” feel
• Enhance product resolution independently from the background to make the product really stand out
• Embed a logo to make product shots even more professional and protect your image from being stolen
• Adjust the edge blending between the product and the background to preserve the warm feeling of a sweater or the furry softness of a teddy bear
• Customize the position, size and rotation of the product relative to the new background with the easy-to-use handling points
• Optimize the final image for use on various preset e-commerce sites such as eBay or Amazon

Here are a couple of shots that show what you can do:

Before After:

Bling! It is software that downloads to your computer. My readers can get a 15-day Free Trial download at this link.

eBay Tips & Tricks: Bundling

I have often found that it's easier to sell several items bundled together rather than trying to sell them each separately. However, one of the most common mistakes sellers make on eBay is selling too many things together as a "lot."
One of my favorite eBay anecdotes involves a single auction for a large lot of model trains, for which the seller had originally paid approximately $800. He then turned around and sold half the collection, all told, for about $800. He estimated the value of the remaining items to be around $1,000, all of which he effectively got for free because he had already sold enough to recoup his costs.
The most direct approach is to research completed auctions and to compare the expected value of a collection with the total expected values of the separate items. But this can take a lot of time, and you'll be hard-pressed to find another auction with exactly the same items.

So instead, just ask yourself this question: How likely is it that any single bidder will want all of the items I'm selling? Bidders who buy large collections or lots typically do so with the intention of reselling some or all of the items. Since they'd do this only if there were profit in it, it's unlikely that anyone would pay the full value of such a collection.
However, if there's a good chance that a single person will want to keep all of the items you're selling, then you very well may get what they're worth.
Never bundle unrelated or incompatible items. For instance, say you'd like to sell two camera lenses, each for a different brand of camera. It should be obvious that they should be sold separately, but even experienced sellers sometimes try to sell odd things such as these together. In this case, anyone who bids will likely be interested in only one of the lenses and, as a result, won't bid higher than what that single lens is worth.
Accessories can go either way. Sometimes, adding $50 worth of accessories to an item will increase the desirability of the item by at least that much, if not more. Other times, it won't make a lick of difference.
Take, for example, a $300 handheld computer, sold along with a $40 memory card, a $25 leather case, a $10 screen protector, and $150 worth of software. Here, knowledge of the market will save you time researching the value of each item. Accessories such as used leather cases (at least the cheaper ones), used screen protectors, and especially the software are all pretty much worthless when sold separately but will probably raise the value of the handheld. Why? Because it is likely that any single bidder will actually want all of those things and will pay more to avoid having to buy them separately.
Naturally, the market for your particular item will be different, but this should give you an idea of the methodology used to determine the practicality of bundling related items.
Leverage Dutch auctions. If you have a large quantity of an inexpensive item, you may be inclined to sell the entire lot in a single auction. But who is going to want 4,000 pairs of shoelaces, even if you offer them all at the low, low price of only $200? Naturally, it also doesn't make sense to list them separately at 5 cents apiece, but there are other options.
Probably the best choice is a Dutch auction--but not necessarily the kind you might expect. The nature of a Dutch auction suggests that if you have 4,000 items, you enter a quantity of 4,000, wherein a single bid buys a single item. But then you'd be back where you started: handling up to 4,000 different customers at a nickel a piece. Instead, try selling 400 bundles of 10 for $4 each. So a single bidder would be able to buy 10 pairs of shoelaces for $4, 20 pairs for $8, and so on. You'll have to build only one auction, you'll get eight times as much money per shoelace, and you'll be much more likely to get any money at all for your bizarre collection.
Remember, if you decide to bundle, group only related items. Clothing of the same size, etc. If you have odd items try doing a mystery box auction and reveal only a few of the better pieces. It can be fun to reveal new items or hints to what is in the box throughout the duration of the auction as the bid prices rise.
Have fun and Happy eBaying!

Haunted How-To's

Halloween is coming and since it's one of my favorite holidays I'm putting my regular Tuesday feature of eBay Tips & Tricks aside to focus on some Haunting How-To Tips:

The Bubbling Cauldron
Want a real witches’ brew? Mix soap-bubble solution with dry ice, or use liquid nitrogen for bubbles that release fog when they pop. In the following video, PopSci’s contributing mad scientist, Theodore Gray, uses the help of a few young assistants to create cauldrons of toil and trouble.
Here’s how it’s done:
There are many ways to make a bubbling cauldron of witch's brew. As with all magic, some preparation is required for the spell to work properly. The three most practical methods for creating a bubbling cauldron are:

Liquid nitrogen
Dry ice
Mechanical injection of compressed air or, preferably, helium

• All magic potions begin with hot water. If you don't have a fire under your cauldron, it's OK to just fill it with hot water from the tap—the hotter the better. To this, add magic-potion ingredients such as chili powder (for its blood-red color), cayenne pepper (for its strong magical smell) and any other spices, herbs, dried leaves, sticks, bones, wolfsbane or eyes of newt you may have lying around. Bulk chili powder, etc., can be purchased at warehouse clubs quite inexpensively.


• If you want overflowing bubbles, add several good squirts of dishwashing liquid. For some reason, regular (non-Ultra) Dawn is renowned in the bubble industry as the best for producing suds.


• A note on cauldrons: Cast iron is the proper material for cauldrons, but for the potions discussed here, pretty much anything will do. Plastic buckets, cooking pots—anything that will hold at least a few gallons of water is fine. Your cauldron should be about half full (or half empty, depending on how you look at it).


• After mixing up the stock (cragged sticks and 6- to 10-year-olds are best for mixing), you’re ready to add the magic.


• Liquid nitrogen, available from any welding-supply shop (provided you have a certified transportation Dewar to carry it in), is by far the most dramatic bubble maker. A few quarts of it dumped rapidly into a cauldron of hot, soapy water can create a billowing tower of bubbles several feet high in an instant (stand back). Much fun is had by all, but it doesn't last very long.


• Dry ice is much easier to get. Some larger grocery stores and supermarkets actually sell dry ice from chests just like the ones selling regular ice. Call around to find a place that sells it. Ten or 15 pounds should be plenty, and it costs about $1 per pound. Bring it home in a cooler, and use within a day. (Do not try to store dry ice in a freezer. Your freezer is boiling hot compared to the dry ice, which will last longer left alone in a Styrofoam cooler.) Do not lick the dry ice, and handle it with gloves at all times.
  
• Use a hammer to break up the block of dry ice, and add about five pounds at a time to the cauldron. It will bubble gently for quite a while, the bubbles full of spooky smoke. If you have soap in the brew, it will slowly bubble over and spill out in a most satisfying way. If the water gets cold, add hot water.


• The last, and most complicated, method of bubbling a cauldron involves injecting compressed air or other gas using a coil of copper pipe with small holes drilled in it. Air from a compressor works great if you want a basically unending stream of bubbles overflowing the cauldron and making a gigantic mess (which is, I should remind you, a good thing if you're six).


• But the ne plus ultra of bubbling cauldrons is, without a doubt, the helium-bubble cauldron. The same copper-pipe bubbler can be connected to a regulator attached to a commercial helium cylinder (available at the same welding-supply shops you get liquid nitrogen from, and from party-supply stores, though they will not have the right regulator). Turn the helium on just fast enough for the bubbles to rise about one or two inches per second.
  
• Any child who has not seen this before will be absolutely floored by it, as will many adults. Do note: It does not work very well in high winds, and the more you stir or otherwise mess with the bubbles, the less well they float. It's best to leave them alone or just slice them off when you think they are ready to go free. (Just try to enforce that rule once the kids get involved.) Also note that this is an expensive hobby: A full 240-cubic-foot tank (the largest commonly available size) will last about 15 minutes and cost about $80 to fill.

Other ideas:

$20 Fog Chiller - instructions for building a pipe-based fog chiller.

$30 Mummy - instructions for making a wrapped mummy (PDF format).

Baby Alien Specimen - instructions for making an alien-in-jar prop.

Dummies - basic instructions for creating static dummies.

Easy Eyes - instructions for making realistic eyes from deodorant balls.

Eye-Bead Demons - Instructions for making eyes-in-the-bushes out of tin cans.

Cheap Foam Walls - instructions on how to cut/paint foam blocks to make a faux brick/rock wall

FrankenHand Table - basic instructions for an animated wiggling severed arm on a mad scientist table.

Haunted Books - basic instructions for making a row of books that move in and out of a bookshelf.

Spooky Old Sign - instructions for making a weathered sign.

Witch Kitchen Jars - instructions for making with potion jars and labels.

More Haunting How-To's are here.

eBay Tips and Tricks

Here's some ideas to help you determine what to sell:

1. Sell what you know first. If you're into fashion, sell that; if you're into golf, sell golf equipment, and so on.
2. Be observant. Watch for opportunities to obtain items (in quantity if possible) at a low price for resale. Often, they're right under your nose, such as merchandise your local retailer would liquidate. Make an offer to clear out the re-tailer's old or damaged stock.
3. Don't start out with just one product or product line. An effective way to build a customer base on eBay is to offer at least two separate types of items, between which you can cross promote and drive customers from one to the other.
4. Spend time on ebay browsing outside your normal categories. Find out what's hot at www.ebay.com/sellercentral.
5. Become a trading assistant and sell other people's items for a commission. As a Trading Assistant, you won't have the expense of building inventory, and you can build your business on eBay very quickly without having to spend a lot of capital.
6. Take some calculated risks. Being too careful can cost you. Do a little research on eBay, and trust your gut when you find potentially salable items.
7. If you're not familiar with the product you're trying to sell, educate yourself before you write the description. If you describe the item incorrectly, buyers may be leery of bidding. Even worse, buyers could decide not to bid on any of your future items if they're under the impression that you don't know what you're selling. The more correct information you have and use, the more credible you'll become in the buyers' eyes.

10 Suggestions for Better eBay Descriptions

Ok, you posted an eBay ad and now you’ve got a potential buyer that has clicked on your item title, the next thing you want him or her to do is bid or buy the item you are offering! Your aim is to make the product so appealing that buyers can’t help but bid on it immediately.

Remember this VERY IMPORTANT rule to create a good listing:1. Describe your item as if there is no picture of the item for buyers to see. 2. Take pictures of your item as if there is no description for the buyers to read.

Without wasting more time, lets explore what to include in your item descriptions as you sell on eBay:

1. Details. Be as specific as possible in your item description. Would you buy something if you are not at least 90% sure what the item is about? List any special features that comes with the item besides the basic details like size, condition, colors, make and model. Kill buyers’ doubts on the item and speed up sales by reducing the times they need to communicate with you asking questions. ...Be descriptive, but don't overdo it. Don't make your buyer spend more than 1-2 minutes reading your description.
2. List Any Imperfections. If there are any scratches, dents or just any flaws, remember to list them out too. Please do not think you can hide even the smallest stain on that Fila tank top you are selling. When your buyer found out, he may either leave you a negative, call you as a dishonest seller or worst, file a dispute to Paypal saying that item received is not as described. Even if the buyer kept quiet about it, think how this incident could affect your reputation as an eBay seller.
3. State The Benefits. State one or more features of the item and then combine it with one or more benefits. Your item may be the cheapest or the best on eBay, but until the buyers can relate how they can benefit from it, it is as good as the other 21,000,000 items on eBay which ended unsold. You need to appeal to the customers emotionally. A compelling item description on eBay sells 80% more.
4. Offer Warranties. Set yourself apart and let buyers see you as a professional seller. Make your items more valuable by offering warranties or guarantees. Having guarantees on the item makes buyers feel safer to purchase from you. Don’t you feel like that too as a buyer, even at the local superstore?
5. Offer A Return And Refund Policy. Offer an easy method for shoppers to return the items if they are not happy with it. It might sound silly. You might be thinking “What if 10 buyers bought my item and were not happy with it?” In that case, I’d suggest you thoroughly look at your item again. If that item is in such poor quality, consider not selling it. You must be confidence with what you sell. And over the course of selling on eBay, I have zero buyers asking me for a refund because they are not happy with it. Include your Refund Policy in your description.
6. Neatness counts. Although you need to provide as much information as possible regarding your Prada Wallet, keep in mind to keep everything spaced out evenly. Clutter makes it difficult for your eBay buyers to search for information. Put up proper headings like ‘Descriptions’, ‘Shipping’, ‘Payment’ and ‘Returns Policy’ for that specific piece of information. Avoid unneeded items like animated Gifs or colorful backgrounds. You need to keep the buyers eyes on the ‘Bid Now’ button! Use short paragraphs. People have short attention spans.
7. Call For Action. Always include a call for action like “Bid Now”, “Buy It Now”, “Sign Up Now” or “Click to Visit My Store” at the end of your description. Although this sounds simple, most people are not going to do something on their own until you ask them to. Create the urgency! A call for action is such a simple way and usually ignored by most eBay sellers.
8. Use Testimonials. People are greedy by nature and like to get what other people are getting. Some customers send you a message telling how happy they are with the items. Include those messages in your item description. Optionally, you may also add a portion of your positive feedbacks in your description.
9. Linking. Include links to your Store, Auction Listings, Feedbacks and other pages you have on eBay. Make it easy for your buyers to navigate around and let them stay on your auctions a little longer. A link to your store is like an invitation to browse your other items.. many buyer will click on it out of curiousity. One sale might become two. Remember, not to have link outside of eBay though. It is forbidden by eBay!
10. Keep A Positive Tone. Last but not least, sound optimistic in your tone of writing and avoid sentences that threaten buyers. Consider this statement in your eBay item description “Do not bid this item if you are not interested. Non-paying bidder will be reported to eBay and negative feedback will be left.” I know there are all sorts of eBay buyers. But would you think it is a good idea to give an impression that you are just a grumpy old man? Keep a positive and happy tone throughout your description.

eBay Tips and Tricks

One of the most effective and least used tools to generate traffic to your eBay listings is the About Me page. I can't stress this enough.. If you're on eBay, you need an About Me page.

I can hear you all asking "why?" eBay is a community and all eBay users are members of that community. Checking out the About Me page of people you conduct business with gives you an opportunity to get to know them. Because eBay is cyberspace market, you have no other way to get to let prospective bidders know that you're a real person.

Think about it.. you shop at some stores because you like the people who work there. An About Me page takes the first step towards establishing a professional and trusted identity on eBay. So, if you don't have an About Me page I want you to go create one as soon as you finish reading this post. It doesn't have to be a work of art; just get something up there to tell people who you are. You can always go back later to edit or redesign it.

When you plan your About Me page consider adding the following:
-Who you are and what part of the world you live in. (it's not necessary to give your home address or phone numbers)
-Your hobbies. If you collect things, this is the place to let the world know.
-Tell whether you run your eBay business full-time or part-time and if you have another career, share that information too.
-The type of merchandise you sell (or buy) should be mentioned. Promote youself here. Tell the reader why your products and service are highly valued.
-Include your most recent feedback and a list of your current auctions.
-If you have an off-eBay business with a website, your About Me page is the only place where eBay will allow you to include a link to your website. Be sure to take advantage of that and include a link.

To create your About Me page, click on the Me icon next to any user's name, scroll to the bottom of their About Me page and find the line that reads "To Ccreate your own About Me page click here." or type in the following: http://members.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?AboutMeLogin then follow the simple preformatted template for your first page and work from there.

Good luck!

10 tips for buying and selling success on eBay

1. Build A Positive Feedback Rating
Having a good feedback rating makes other eBayers comfortable doing business with you. I won't buy from someone that has less than 98.5% positive feedback. Keep your feedback rating high and you'll continue to have lots of customers.
2. Be generous with your feedback
Post feedback quickly and leave specific comments. Leaving a comment that says: "great seller," is nice –but it is more helpful to say, "Item arrived quickly in perfect condition, just as described." Or: "Quick Professional transaction –good email and just what I ordered." If the seller sells something specific you can mention it such as: "Beautiful Print –I will enjoy for many years."
This type of feedback is very helpful to future buyers and it tends to get you better feedback comments in return.
3. Create an About Me page on eBay
eBay allows you to create a page to describe you and your family or even include your pets, hobbies, interests – basically anything you like. If you have a web site, this is the only place on eBay where you are allowed to place a link directing buyers to your web site. USE IT! The About Me page is searchable on outside search engines like google and yahoo. This can help generate traffic to your listings so be sure to mention the types of things you sell.
4. Understand the rule of odd cents
Most people bid in even numbers. If the bid increment is 50 cents, make your bid .52 or .53. This way you will just outbid someone by a few cents instead of a large increment. This is very important when sniping (see next item)
5. Learn to snipe
eBay’s proxy bidding system allows you to set your highest bid and then forget about it. eBay's system will keep bidding the minimum increment up to your maximum. This is fine if you know exactly how much you want to pay for something. If you are not sure how much you want to bid or if you know an item will be hot, then learn how to snipe at the last minute. Here is how to snipe:
Open one window with the auction description. Open a second window and place the highest amount you will pay for the item and hit "Review Bid." Now enter your username and password –but don’t hit "Place Bid" yet. Wait until 15 or 20 seconds before the auction ends. (Refresh your first window to see the time left). At the right moment, hit "Place Bid." With luck your bid will arrive at the perfect time to beat out your competition.
6. Search Completed items
To find out what a product is worth, it doesn’t do any good to find prices for on-going auctions as this could change minute by minute. Searching Completed Items (from the eBay search box) is the best way to determine an item’s worth or value.
7. Become an expert in your field
Become an authority on what you do in your online auction business. If you sell printer ink cartridges, you want to be thought of before anyone else.
When you become an authority in your field, a whole new universe of business and opportunity is opened up to you. I buy certain types of things on eBay from the same sellers over and over. I wouldn't dare do business with anyone else, not when they have proven themselves and their product.
You want to earn that same type of position in the minds of eBayer’s for your niche. Also continue your auction education. Read books and training manuals, visit the chat and message boards, attend an eBay University when it comes to your town, go to eBay Live, and keep learning all the time.
8. Master the art of writing an effective auction headline and item description.
Your headline is your advertising and your item description is your salesperson. On the web, how your potential buyer perceives you and your product is everything.
Be sure to use descriptive words in your auction title (headline). Common words like Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc. are not as effective as more precise brand names, model numbers, sizes, etc. Use common words (like those above) only when you have enough space for them in addition to the precise description terms. Just be sure not to exaggerate. Don’t call something ‘rare" if it is not.
Copy writing is the art of showing you and what you sell to your buyer in the best possible light. It’s the most important thing you have going for you. If your item is used and has a crack in it.. be honest and say so.. but minimize the negative aspects of it.
9. Learn simple HTML commands to spice up your auctions
Don’t be afraid of HTML. Anyone can do it. You can make your text bold, increase or reduce the size, add color backgrounds, etc. by typing a simple html code within your listing. Go to: http://echoecho.com/ or http://www.davesite.com/ for simple and free online tutorials on how to do HTML.
10.Take the time to take good photos
Here are some simple tips to take good digital photos:
Clean up the area around the subject or use a backdrop
Always use a tripod to make your photos sharp
Avoid clutter in the photo
Shoot outdoors on a cloudy day or in open shade. Don’t shoot in direct sunlight, as the contrast is too high
Indirect window light is also excellent. I often shoot objects ona table next to a window with a white or gray sheet for a backdrop
Get reasonably close to the object
Show a close-up of any repairs or defects
If relevant, show the product being used.
If size is an issue, show some thing such as a coin or a ruler toto indicate dimensions.

Bonus 11. Use multiple photos. The more photos you have the better. Buyers want to see your items before they bid so take photos that show it from multiple angles. Upload your photos to a free hosting site like photobucket or flickr and use html to pull the photo into your listing. eBay can host them for you also.. but they charge a fee.

Good luck!

Just for fun: Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on eBay

Off Track

My life and hence my schedule has gotten off track the past week and a half. I woke up this morning thinking it was Monday and only just realized it's Tuesday. I typically feature an eBay Tips and Tricks column on Tuesdays and I am totally unprepared for it today. So here is some general advice for you eBayers out there.

1. Set up an eBay Store. You'll never achieve the success you want without one. The cost is minimal and even if you don't list store items it will display all of your auction and Buy It Now listings together. This is great for buyers who want to browse.

2. Learn some HTML. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge about HTML to be able to dress up your listings and give them a more professional look. eBay buyers like to shop in the stores and listings that are pleasing to the eye. Make yours pleasing. This is one of my favorite sites to learn some basic html code.

3. I recommend using whatever FREE tools eBay offers. Selling Manager has some wonderful time-saving features and it's free with a Store subscription. Use it! Use the marketing tools that are available on your Manage My Store page. The listing header, Promotion Boxes, Cross Promotion Displays, etc. They will all help to generate traffic to your store and listings!

Good Luck!

August's Outdoor Barbeques

We are nearing the end of August and children are preparing to go back to school, the temperatures will be dropping soon (we hope), and vacation time is coming to an end. But there is still a lot of time left for outdoor barbecuing.

I've been known to step out on the back deck in a freezing snowstorm to light up the grill and barbecue dinner so there's really never a time that you can't enjoy the wonderful flavor of a meal cooked on the grill. Here's some tips before you get started:

1. Scrub the grill (or rebuild it, if you have to).
2. Scour the ice chest.
3. Provide comfortable seating:
Re-strap patio chairs with vinyl webbing
Pressure-wash plastic outdoor furnishings
Fix wobbly benches
4. Provide shade or improve the shade you've got:
Buy a sun umbrella
Clean the vinyl sun umbrella that you already own with an automotive convertible vinyl-top cleaner
Repair the crank mechanism
5. Keep the bugs at bay:
Buy bug spray repellent and repellent wipes
Buy food tents to keep the bugs off the food
6. Keep the garden hose and a spray nozzle handy for anything from hand washing to plate rinsing.
7. Hit the deck: Remove and replace loose planks or rusty, protruding fasteners.

Also see: 180+ recipes for the grill from MSN

What are YOUR favorite grill recipes? Share them in the comments!

Product Sourcing for eBay Sellers

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another episode of eBay Tips & Tricks.

Let's talk about the biggest problem most eBay sellers have.. Sourcing. Without a doubt the biggest hurdle most sellers face is where to find a consistent supply of merchandise to sell. First off, don't fall into using a commercial drop ship company. These companies buy hundreds of items and warehouse them for you. When you sell an item they ship it for you. It sounds great, in theory, but in reality their costs are usually too high and with lots of sellers trying to sell the same things the competition is too tight to make a profit.
The most successful sellers find their products in a number of ways. Let's review some here.

1. Garage Sales and yard sales have limited coverage areas and you can find good used items at great prices if you take the time to visit them on a regular basis. Remember, fancier neighborhoods have better items than poor or middle class neighborhoods. Early birds DO get the worm and the first people at a good yard sale will walk away with the best items. Estate sales have better items than garage or yard sales and usually feature things that have been collected over a number of years. Garage sale ads that say "moving to a smaller house mean these people are doing more than just cleaning out the junk.

2. Going out of business sales can be a real bonanza. Some companies will advertise "going out of business" only to take the best merchandise and reopen with a different name or in a different location. Be sure the business is REALLY closing. If they are really going out of business, don't be afraid to make an offer on a quantity of items. They may surprise you and accept your offer.

3. Auction houses are another place to find unusual items and pick up great bargains. Many companies will liquidate their excess inventory through an auction house and you can gain the advantage of buying new items at greatly reduced prices.

4. Thrift shops, including Goodwill, Salvation Army and a variety of Resale shops are another place to find good items to sell on eBay. Many people don't want to bother with a yard sale and prefer to donate their goods to a charity thrift shop. Check them out frequently as they move through their best inventory quickly.

5. Discount stores and factory outlets. While consulting with sellers for eBay, I had a client who spent a large portion of every day waiting for a local factory store to find the best items. Whenever they brought out a new rack of clothing she would buy the best items, take them to her van and return to the store to wait for the next rack. While she shopped, her husband was home taking photos and listing the items on eBay. They had more than $25,000 in sales every month!

6. Look into sources close to your home for buying unclaimed freight, returns, seasonal overstocks, liquidations, etc. You might find a new source that brings your eBay business to the next level.

7. Last but not least.. there are just to many sources to mention, contact traditional product manufacturers and distributors and inquire about setting up a wholesale account. Buying products at a true wholesale price and selling it at a discount from retail can still generate a great profit. If you don't have overhead and employee salaries to pay you can give a discount of 15 to 20% off retail and still realize a 10-20% profit! Some manufacturers and distributors will also drop ship for you and you won't even have to carry the cost of inventory! It's a great way to do business!

8. Okay, one more. Become an eBay Trading Assistant and sell things for other people. They provide the merchandise and you do the selling. The return is a nice percentage of the sales price ending up in your pocket.

Good luck and happy eBaying!

Managing Your Inventory

When you sell a physical products of any kind, inventory control becomes the life-blood of your business and one of your biggest costs. eBay has helped many people with no business experiece create a viable business. One of their biggest problems is they just don't understand that inventory sitting on a shelf is costing them money every day.

There are two costs associated with inventory. The first one is your product cost and the second one is your opportunity cost. Product cost is simply what you invested in the merchandise including the cost to ship it to you. Opportunity cost is the money you are not making while your cash is tied up in that inventory. If you bought 200 items for $6.00 each that you hoped to sell for $12 each, your product cost is $1200 and your opportunity cost is $1200 (the money you will make if they sell at $12. Obviously you only incur the opportunity cost if the items don't sell. Once an item sells the opportunity cost on that item goes to zero and basically becomes gross profit.

There are two basic rules to follow if you want to maximize the return on your inventory purchases:

Turn your inventory over as often and as fast as possible (within reason). Let's use our $6.00 item as an example. If you price them to sell at $12 and you sell 10 widgets a week, at the end of 6 weeks you will have sold 60 widgets and made $6.00 on each one for a total of $360. Now let's say you find that by pricing the item lower --at $10 each your sales increase and you sell 20 widgets a week. You are making $2.00 less on each widget, but at the end of the same 6 week period you will have sold widgets for a total gross profit of $480.

Obviously if you reduced the price further you might be able to sell even more, but at some point you will not be making a profit. So the trick is to find that sweet spot where you maximize your return.

If you buy a product that won't sell, keep reducing the price until it will --even if you are losing money on it. What you are trying to do here is get rid of non-performing inventory. When you have inventory that doesn't sell you are tying up cash that could be spent on product that will sell. Remember your opportunity cost. When you are not making money you are actually losing money.

I know it can be painful to cut the price on an item to your cost or even below, but it really is a good business decision to do so. And remember, you also learned something valuable that will help you make money in the future.

Increase Your Sales on eBay

Here are five of the best ways to enhance your descriptions and increase your sales on eBay.

1. Take good pictures – Because buyers can't touch or feel the items you're selling on eBay, your pictures need to be of the best quality possible. Great photo help the buyer to feel confident of the quality of your items. Your pictures need to be in focus and excess areas need to be cropped out before you upload your photo. Don't have distracting objects in the background. If you ever look at your pictures and think, “That’s good enough”, they most likely aren’t. The quality of your pictures directly relates to your quality as a seller. A good picture can be worth a thousand dollars, a bad picture will cost you dollars.

2. Correct grammar and spelling – eBay buyers want to know that they are buying from someone that they can trust. You ruin that trust with poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Always double check your final version before posting it to eBay. Poor grammar hurts your credibility as a seller, which in turn will cost you sales and return customers.

3. Proper formatting – Keep buyers’ attention by keeping your description short, relevant and truthful. Use numbered lists or bullet points when describing the details of your items. Bullet points should be phrases and are usually not complete sentences. Don't make your bullet points into paragraphs as that will tend to draw attention away from your crucial selling points. Use bold and underlining only when necessary, and stay away from rainbow colored descriptions. Just get to the point of why your item is so great.

4. Play nice – Don't become the angry seller. We've all had bad experiences with deadbeat buyers on eBay, but that doesn’t mean that buyers are your enemy. If your description comes across as someone who is angry and is willing to leave negative feedback at the drop of a hat, then buyers will steer clear of you. Always keep your tone positive and buyers will trust that their business with you will be a positive experience.

5. Clearly state your terms and conditions – Don’t leave anything up to the buyers’ imagination. Always state your return policy, even if your policy is no returns. If you hold shipments for people that pay with personal checks, then put that in your payment terms and conditions. Buyers want to know the rules of the game before they play, and the more you hide from them, the less likely they will be willing to set foot in the stadium.

In conclusion, put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. If there is something that makes you feel uncomfortable about your listings, imagine what the buyer feels about doing business with someone whom they’ve never met. These five simple enhancements will help you become a better eBay seller and will help increase your sales.

More eBay tips next Tuesday!