EBay Dropshipper - The Real Source

Everyone and their mother are trying to start a business selling on eBay these days. The first thing you need to do is find a reliable eBay dropshipper. This will allow you to get the lowest possible prices from a great wholesaler. The best part is that by using dropshipping you won’t have to store any inventory. Therefore, you only buy a product if your auction sells!

Using an eBay dropshipper may sound like something only a seasoned auction professional can do, but this is not true. You will learn how to successfully list and make your products sell. This company wants you to do well, because when you do well they do well and everybody wins. You will also benefit from this because you customer will end up paying less than they would anywhere else they might look.

What I like best about using an eBay dropshipper is that you know they are a certified dropshipping company and eBay realizes that. There are so many websites out there that claim to be a real dropshipper with the lowest prices. Many claim that you will make $1000 every week as soon as you start setting up auctions. It is not that simple and many of those websites do not offer the lowest price for every product. What it really comes down to is if you have the dedication to learn to create an auction business. There is more to it than just listing an item and collecting money.

To take full advantage of an eBay dropshipper you should do some research first. Find out what types of products are selling well and find out if the dropshipper you are looking at can provide you with those products. There are some websites that again claim to be a legitimate dropshipper but then end up being out of stock of a product you are selling or just take way too long to ship it to your customer. This is not good because many customers that will buy from you on eBay will want their item in a timely manner. The bottom line is to find a reliable source.

There are certain steps you can take to ensure that you find what products are hot and selling. You can use an eBay search function that will show you all listings that have already ended and what prices they have ended at. To utilize the eBay dropshipper you choose you must be able to find out what your products are worth in the market. To do this use eBay advanced search. Type in the name of the product you want to sell and make sure you checkmark the box that says include items that have already ended. This will show you about what price your product will sell for.

If you thought that you could just sign up with any old dropshipping website and start to make money then you may want to reconsider. Finding a legitimate eBay dropshipper can make your auction business a success. You will want to do research on every wholesale company you come across. This will ensure that you pick the right eBay dropshipper. We all know very well that there are many, many cheap products available from China. There are two sources listed with this eBay dropshipper and they will show you exactly how to do the transactions from start to finish. This is essential to your success. I am a huge fan of eBay and the best part about selling on eBay is that you don’t need a lot of money to get started; all you need is the best eBay dropshipper. Since I have joined this company it has been nothing but profits. They are hands down the best company to go with if you plan on starting an auction business.

The Best Digital Photo Frame For You

If you get enjoyment from looking at photographs then the latest digital photo frames are ideal for displaying all of your best your images in all their glory. The quality of the image that is displayed with these electronic photo display devices is actually very impressive. So go and buy yourself a digital photo frame now and have some fun with your photos.

Before making your final choice or selecting your potential purchase you should look closely at the minimum specification that you require for your new photo frame and then choose wisely to ensure you get what you want.

Make Sure You Get A High Resolution Display!

To get a clear, crisp and brightly lit image to show your photos at their best you must look closely at the resolution of the display screen that the photo frame uses. Digital picture frames use a Liquid Crystal Display. These are just like those used in flat panel televisions, but on a smaller scale.

So if the digital frame you are considering does not have good resolution ignore it. Screen Resolution makes such a big difference to the quality of the image that you need to get this right.

Many different resolutions are available and you need a 640×480 resolution as a minimum or 800×600 if you can afford it. It will make a big difference to the enjoyment of your photo collection. Any frame with a resolution below this minimum will not display images as well as the original photo and you will not like what you see.

For LCD photo displays that are bigger than say 9 inches you should consider trying to get the highest resolution that your bank balance can accommodate. A higher resolution will always give you a better quality image. Any frame that seems cheap more than likely has a low resolution so make sure you look at the specs.

Which Aspect Ratio Do You Want?

You only really have 2 aspect ratios to worry about, and these are the standard 4:3 as found in images from popular point to shoot , and the 15:9 ratio in found in some digital photo frames.

Because most photo images from digital cameras are in 4:3 formats this is the best ratio for displaying your photos as they were taken. A digital frame using 15:9 will have more impact with a cinema-like image as on a widescreen TV.

Unfortunately if you display 4:3 images on a 15:9 digital screen then the top and bottom of the image will be chopped off to make it fit, which you might not like…

Get The Right Memory Card Slot

Make sure the digital photo frame you are thinking of buying accepts the same memory card that you use in your digital camera. Some frames have a multi-card reader, which means they can take several different types of memory card in the same slot, although only one at a time.

Get a USB Port as You Will Probably Need One

Anyone who requires transferring images and digital photos using a USB cable from their camera or computer to the digital frame will need a USB slot as well. However if transfers using just memory cards is sufficient then there will be no need for any USB requirement.

What Else Do You Need?

There are many other options now available for the digital photo frame, such as Wi-Fi connectivity to download images from the web, speakers, headphones, remote controls, alarm clocks and many more. These are selected by personal choice and of course you should expect to pay more if they are what you want.

If you follow what we have recommended above and try to ignore the name of the manufacture or brand shown on the product then you will be in a very good position to buy a great digital photo frame. You will get a display that gives sharp images and you will also have enough confidence to find the best deal on what you want.

How To Use Affiliate Marketing To Earn Extra Income

It is very possible to make money from home online even without having your own product or service to promote. In fact, many people have made millions of dollars in a short time doing nothing more than promoting affiliate products.

Affiliate marketing is just a way for people that do have a product or service to be able to market their business. Many times what happens is once a business offers an affiliate program; their product gets tons of exposure because of how viral the internet is. This way they don’t need to spend tons of money on advertising or hire someone to do the advertising for them.

It would be smart to promote your product or service using services like ClickBank. ClickBank is the internet’s largest home for affiliates. Thousands of people are searching through their marketplace at any given time, so it would be wise to sign your own product through ClickBank to gain immediate exposure.

So how does this all apply to you? How are you supposed to make money from home online? Well, ClickBank is where you would go to find a product to promote and sell. They deal with all digital products meaning you don’t ever have to ship or send anything. Just simply search through the thousands of digital products in their marketplace to find a few products you think you can sell. Then you need to sign up for their free service and create a link for the product. Once you have created the special custom hop link via ClickBank, then all you have to do is spread your link all over the internet.

Now anytime anyone clicks on that link and purchases the product through ClickBank, you would then get credit for the sale and earn a commission for your help. Now ClickBank, the original product maker, and you all make money. It’s a win-win situation for all involved.

The opportunity to use affiliate marketing to make money from home online is there. Your biggest and most daunting task will be to get enough people to click on the link and convert them to sales.

The best way to do this is to get your own website and use search engine optimization and keyword strategies to pull free traffic. Over time you should get enough traffic to be able to make constant commissions.

You can use paid methods to get traffic but it is a slippery slope and will take many tests and trials to get it right. Using the free method will bring traffic forever without ever having to pay for it. When the traffic does start flowing in from the search engines it will be very difficult for you to be able to shut it off. Not a bad problem at all.

Wireless Camera for Home Security

Find the Best Home Surveillance Systems and Spy Cameras Anywhere -Discount Home Surveillance has the best surveillance systems available on the open market, including the best wireless cameras, helmet cameras, spy cameras, web cams, nanny cams, digital recorders, gps trackers, biometric locks, and personal security devices.

There is just no telling when we some crook decides that it will be our time to suffer at the hands of someone that makes home invasions there crime of choice. Use the Wireless Motion activated Security Cameras as your first line of defense.

If you are looking to protect your home with a motion activated security camera, than there is no doubt that the wireless set up is the way to go.

Wireless camera set up gives you the option to set up cameras in so many different locations. Some people need to place security cameras at different angles, or in places that aren’t normally used for security cameras. With a wireless camera, you aren’t limited at all by wires.

The wireless camera for home security does not make it an alarm. And this is probably just as well. Think about all the noise that a burglar alarm might make if an intruder enters your home. There are two possibilities. Either the culprit gets to escape and you will never know who he/she was; or the alarm just might provoke the intruder into doing something violent out of sheer panic. These are two possibilities that you do not want to encounter. With a wireless camera for home security, you can record all the activities in your house and stand a good chance at catching the culprit after the burglary by showing footage to the police. Also, you can have the camera trigger silent alarms that only you and the police will have knowledge of. This increases the possibility of the police getting to your house before the burglar even knows what’s going on.

There are many different names for different surveillance cameras in the market and it has become impossible for the laymen to make a selection and be 100% confident it will work for what he or she intends.  As a general example, all of the following surveillance camera terminologies have at least some models that have the capability to display video over the Internet:  Web Cam, Web Camera, Network Cam, Network Camera, Nanny Cam, Nanny Camera, Hidden Cam, Hidden Camera, Spy Cam, Spy Camera,Wireless Cam, Wireless Camera, IP Cam, IP Camera…the list goes on and on.

Making Money Selling Other People’s Products

Lots of people are now getting into online businesses and online marketing either to supplement their “real world” income or for it to become their primary source of income. Why? Since online marketing just provides them a lot of benefits!

Initially, you can reach just about anyone in the world who has Internet access if you market your products on the internet. That means a wider market for you, which can translate to larger profits. Second, setting up an online business requires only a fraction of the cost required to set up an actual business establishment, which means a lot of savings for the business owner.

An extra aspect that has attracted lots of people towards online marketing is the fact that one doesn’t have to have his own products to get started. In online marketing, one can start making a lot of money just by selling, or even by just trying to sell, other people’s products. And getting started with this kind of marketing strategy is in point of fact fairly easy. All that one needs to do is to set up an agreement with an online retailer or merchant, and after everything is settled, one can immediately start making money by selling the merchant’s or the retailer’s products.

By the way, the most well-liked and the fastest growing method of selling other people’s products on the internet is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing, in its simplest definition, is a relationship between an online merchant or retailer, who has products to sell, and his affiliates, who are willing to promote the merchant’s product on their website.

In a typical affiliate marketing set up, the merchant provides his affiliates with banners and text ads that links to his site. The affiliates will then get these ads posted on their website and they get paid whenever traffic or sales is directed to the merchant’s website. Affiliates are frequently paid on payment basis, although other online merchants would opt to pay a fixed fee for the affiliate’s compensation.

Starting to get money on the internet with affiliate marketing is relatively quick and easy. All that one has to do is to sign up as an affiliate for an online company that offers affiliate programs. An alternative method, and usually an easier one, is to sign up as a member of an affiliate network—a network that hosts a variety of affiliate programs for different online merchants or retailers. Signing up is usually free, although other companies and networks may require you to pay a particular fee. Such fees, however, are made as payment for additional services that the company may render, like providing you with tools and support to jumpstart your online business.

When you join an affiliate marketing program, you are as a rule required to fill out a form containing information about yourself. Some affiliate programs may in addition require you to present the URL of your website and describe its contents. This will allow the retailers to confirm that you actually have a website with contents that are relevant to their products. Some affiliate programs, however, won’t require you to have a website. After filling out the form and all, you are then allowed to pick the affiliate programs you want to promote.

After signing up with an affiliate program and being an actual affiliate, you are now ready to start making a lot of money by selling other people’s product on the internet. How do you make money? There are in point of fact a number of ways for you to earn money as an affiliate, and most of these ways depends on the type of affiliate marketing program you’ve gotten into.

Lots of affiliate marketing programs compensate their affiliates in either of three ways: pay-per-click (PPC), pay-per-sale (PPS), or pay-per-lead (PPL). In pay-per-click affiliate marketing, the affiliate is paid whenever he directs traffic to the merchant’s site. PPS and PPL affiliate marketing programs work in a different way. In PPS, the affiliate only gets paid when his referral converts into an actual sale. In usual PPS affiliate programs, the affiliate would as a rule get 15% to 20% commission for each conversion. PPL affiliate programs work the same way, although affiliates are paid a fixed fee whenever his referral converts into a lead for the company.

Some affiliate marketing programs are two-tier programs, wherein the affiliate is besides allowed to recommend other affiliates to the merchant. In such affiliate programs, the affiliate would not only be paid for the traffic or sales that he would direct to the merchant’s site but in addition for the traffic or sales directed by the affiliates who signed up with the program through his recommendation.

Yet another method of earning more profits with affiliate marketing is by means of residual affiliate programs. Residual affiliate programs are affiliate programs where the affiliate gets paid a number of times for as long as the merchant keeps the customer the affiliate has referred to his site. One variety of residual program gets the affiliate paid a commission every time the referred customer purchases something on the merchant’s site. Another type of residual affiliate program gets the affiliate paid a percentage each month for as long as the company keeps the referred customer.

With a lot of options available and a lot of ways to earn money, affiliate marketing is unquestionably the most popular and the easiest method to make money by selling other people’s products on the internet. As to how much money one can get from affiliate marketing actually depends on the affiliate. A dedicated and hardworking affiliate would certainly get more from the program compared to those affiliates who would just sign up and forget about the program later.

Who Are Dropshippers?

The option of becoming a dropshipper has emerged as the most profitable solution for people, who nurture entrepreneurial dreams. In general, setting up a small business and maintaining an inventory could be an expansive proposition. You have to keep a stock and need a place to display your stock, which may pose serious dangers to your financial health. Understandably, maintaining an online stories the most convenient and profitable alternative that can give you a good start.

Online marketplace allows small retailers to set up their store right from the comfort of their homes and display the inventory through the monitor. In this technique of selling of goods and services, a dropshipper encourage customers to go for the displayed product or services. As and when a customer with highest bid wins, dropshippers transfer his or her details to the wholesalers, who then ship the desired goods or services directly to the customer. A dropshipper can make the profit on the difference between the wholesale and the retail price. Hence, selecting the right dropshipper can actually increase a company’s overall sales.
Advantages of Using Dropshippers by a Company:

Using the right dropshipper can be a crucial decision for any business organization. This vary decision can make or break a business. It is mainly because of the fact that dropshippers help you to come out of the situations that may slow down your business and cause you heavy loss. Apart from above mentioned advantages, there are few more benefits of having a good dropshipper for your business venture:

• Dropshipper do complete research of products which they provide on their lists. They offer complete catalogues of available items at trade prices.
• A business owner makes the quick sell and gets the payment.
• Dropshippers package a trader’s order.

Find Dropshippers For eBay

Many websites, including the most famous eBay, allow dropshipping. Associating with the website can give you a chance to sell products or services to international customers so that you can increase your profit basket.

Here is some top dropshippers from China and Hong Kong :

HKDropShipper.com

Chinavision.com

Directdeal2000.com

eBay - King of Auction Website

Beginners Guide to eBay

Why eBay?

eBay is still a buzzword on the lips of many people espousing new entrepreneurial opportunities!!

The question is – is it really so special? And if so, why?

eBay has proved to be a very lucrative market for many sellers, especially those who have forged out their own niche. It certainly isn’t a get rich quick scheme – just like any other business it requires hard work and dedication. But an eBay business doesn’t necessarily have to make you a millionaire to be beneficial: the lifestyle benefits are pretty good on their own! Add in the fact that you are your own boss and you can control what you do, and the prospect of a full-time eBay business seems a very appealing one indeed.

What makes eBay different from anything else is that it is democratic. Members have the freedom to buy and sell directly and, as a consumer, you needn’t rely on the big brands and marked-up prices. Best of all, you don’t need stockpiles of cash to start selling on eBay.

Here’s what you’ll need to start an eBay business – and it’s surprisingly little!

• An up-to-date computer
• A digital camera
• Scanner
• High speed Internet connection
• Cordless phone
• Shipping supplies (i.e. boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, tape measure, postal charts & scales)

The first thing you’ll need to do is sign up to eBay as a Buyer.

Go to www.eBay.com and click the Register link at the top of the page. If you are already browsing, this link will appear at the top of every page in eBay until you have registered.

Fill in your details. You will be required to enter your address, phone number and a credit card number. The credit card number is used by eBay ONLY to check that you are who you say you are. Your details will not be given out to anyone else.

Your eBay user ID is what everyone will see who deals with you. Make sure that you choose an ID that you like – after all, you will be using it from now on for all of your transactions! eBay will suggest a number of options if your ID is taken, but most people like to create their own.

It’s a great idea to create an ID that reflects your business. For example, redhousejewelry.

Once you have entered your details, you will need to go to your email address and click the link to complete your registration.

When you have done this, you are immediately able to bid and buy. Hooray!

Creating a Sellers Account

Now it’s time to create a Sellers account. You’ll be given this option at the end of creating a Buyers account. Or, you can just click on Sell from the homepage. If you aren’t signed in, then you will have to type in your User ID and password before you can begin.

• Click the Sell Your Item tab.
• Once again, you will be asked to provide credit card details and your bank account number as authentication. eBay won’t charge these accounts unless you authorize the transactions. Make sure that there is no discrepancy between your credit card information and your billing address. This could result in hold-ups down the line.
• Now specify how to pay seller fees. Fees are charged for listing and selling items and you need to specify how you plan to pay. If you change your mind later, you can use My eBay to change your payment method.

And now you are ready to sell!! Check your email and you’ll find one from eBay congratulating you on becoming a seller.

The Feedback System

One of the most important things about selling on eBay is the feedback system. eBay uses community monitoring to make sure that high standards are upheld. After each transaction, the buyer and seller can give each other feedback. This feedback can be seen by everyone on eBay.

For example, for every item that is for sale, you can meet the seller by clicking through to read their feedback:

If you click ‘Read feedback comments’, you’ll be able to read every feedback this seller has had.

If either the sellers or the buyer act fraudulently, or do not meet their obligations, negative or neutral feedback acts as a warning. Once feedback drops below 96%, the account is closed.

On the other hand, the more positive feedbacks someone has, the higher their status. eBay gives special status to those who reach high numbers of feedback: different colored stars indicate different levels of points (that is, how many feedbacks the individual has received).

You aren’t obligated to give feedback, but most people do because it helps the community by reinforcing a good seller/buyer and condemning a bad one.

When it comes time to give feedback, you will need to choose between a rating of Positive, Neutral, and Negative. You should also add a comment to back up whatever rating you have given.

Ive a rating of Positive if everything about the transaction went relatively smoothly. That is, the buyer paid within a reasonable amount of time. A Neutral rating can be used if the transaction had some difficulties, but was sorted out in the end. For example, the buyer took an extremely long time to pay, or protested over the shipping, but eventually paid the total price.

A Negative rating should only be used in the very worst circumstances – when everything has been done to resolve the situation, but the buyer refuses to pay, or just makes no contact.

You can easily check the feedback of buyers by clicking on their eBay ID. Or, you can search their ID name by going to Community. Enter their ID into the window at the top of the screen and press Find A Member. Ebay will return with IDs similar to what you entered. Choose the correct one, and you’ll be able to see their location, how long they have been a member, feedback and so on.

The feedback system is one of the keys to eBay’s success.

The eBay Sale Process

1. First, you must have an item to sell

When you first start off on eBay, I recommend just selling something you’ve got lying around the house. It could be jewelry you no longer wear, the children’s old toys, or something like that. Once you’ve found something, check with eBay’s guidelines to determine whether or not it is permissible (some items are prohibited, see http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html) and research its value

You can easily see how much similar items have sold for by searching eBay’s completed listings. Just type in your search as normal, then, when the first results appear, move down the left hand panel and check the box for completed listings.

Hit the Search button again, and eBay will display completed listings from the previous two weeks. Note that you have to be signed in to use this feature.

If you think you have an expensive item on your hands, I’d recommend getting a valuation before putting on eBay. An authenticated certificate for an antique or collectible will also make it more likely for collectors to bid.

Another reason for selling a common-place item from around the house initially is that buyers are likely to be reluctant to purchase anything of value from a new seller. It’s only when you have 10+ positive feedbacks that buyers will start to take you seriously.

2. Take Photos

The next step is to take some photos of your item that give a clear and accurate representation. Digital cameras are the easiest way – and ultimately the cheapest. It isn’t strictly necessary to include photos in the auction, but tests have shown that photos dramatically increase your chance of making a sale.

An easy way to take a good photo is to buy a couple of pieces of large white matt poster board, and a sheet or two of matt white paper. For a small item, you can place the item on the board outside where you’ll get the best light, and take a photo standing above the item.

For larger items, place two pieces of white poster board at right angles to one another - e.g. one against a wall, the other flat on the floor in front. Then get a piece of white paper and sit it over both so that it forms a concave curve over the fold where the two pieces of card meet. This will give you a plain background for your item. Place the item in the centre and photograph.

Taking photos inside is a bit trickier. You can still use the poster board and paper, but lighting becomes more complicated. You’ll need at least two lights to get a good photo. Place one at either side of you and point towards the object so that the light paths cross. Keep adjusting the position of the lights if necessary. Your goal is to remove all shadows to create a professional-looking picture.

For very large items such as furniture, lighting is easier if the picture is taken outside. However, if the item simply cannot be shifted easily, just try to photograph against a plain wall. Remove any clutter, such as other furniture pieces and pictures on the wall. Or, if you have some image editing software such as Photoshop, then you can cut out the photo there.

I recommend taking at least two photos unless your budget is limited: One that pictures the whole item, the other a close up of the detail, label, any damage, and so on.

3. Setting up your Auction

Now it’s time to set up your auction.

First, write the title. It’s important that you use good keywords here. If you aren’t sure what to write, check out the completed listings of similar items to see what words have led to a successful auction.

eBay searches only check titles for important keywords, so it’s essential you include all the main words that describe your item here.

For example, a good title for a camera would be ‘Nikon Coolpix L4 digital camera 6.2 megapixel’.

This title would be picked up by very limited searches as well as the more detailed. It would appear for searches for:

‘camera’, ‘digital camera’, ‘nikon camera’, ‘digital’, ‘Nikon Coolpix’, ‘Nikon coolpix L4’, ‘6.2 megapixel camera’, and so on.

Sometimes it’s all too easy to get caught up in the specifics in the title and forget to put in the most important keywords of all. Once I listed an item as ‘Green Tsavorite and white gold matching jewelry set’. Quite forgetting to include the words earrings and necklace! These are probably the two most popular search terms for jewelry!

You also have to write a brief description of the item, including important information such as any flaws, whether or not it has a guarantee, age, brand, dimensions, and so forth. The easiest way to write a description is to use a bullet-point list.

Add your photo to this, along with payment and shipping details.

The safest and easiest way to receive payment from around the world is by using Paypal. It’s very easy to set up a Paypal account, plus it’s also very secure, traceable, and fast. Just go to https://www.paypal.com.

Other payment options include credit card, personal check, cashiers checks and money orders. Of these, the safest options are credit card and cashiers checks and money orders. However, it is very costly to set up a merchant account, and cashiers checks and money orders take at least a week before the money comes through.

For people selling antiques and collectibles, you may find that many mature buyers prefer to pay by check. Usually these customers are reliable and you are unlikely to have any problems. Consumer electronics is a riskier area, although many younger buyers will only trust Paypal anyway.

Specifying the areas that you will ship to is particularly important if your item is very valuable or large. Most sellers these days also specify shipping costs, rather than waiting until the auction closes. This avoids disputes later on and encourages bidder certainty. Plus, eBay now displays shipping costs in the search listings, making it a lot easier for buyers to compare shipping charges for a similar item.

eBay offers a lot of extra features to help your auction stand out – most of which cost money. This can be a bit confusing when you get started. It’s hard to know which represent value for money. Generally, I recommend avoiding everything except the Gallery feature. As your sales grow later on, you may wish to test some more of these features.

4. Manage the auction

Once you’ve put your details up, you can track how many people have viewed the item, how many have bid on it, and edit listings and manage bids.

5. Hooray! A sale

When the auction ends, contact the winning bidder who will pay you. If all goes smoothly, you should then leave positive feedback.

If the item doesn’t sell, then eBay will send you an email giving you the opportunity to re-list your item.

6. Shipping

If you haven’t already, then you’ll need to establish the most appropriate shipping method and make sure the item is well wrapped. Shipping is a highly important part of the selling process: You don’t want your buyer to receive a broken product! You need to wrap your item well enough to endure damp, being tossed around by postal workers (Fragile stickers are often disregarded!), and left out in the hot sun.

Other Listing Formats

Auctions aren’t by any means the only way to sell on eBay. You can list your items as Buy It Now, ask for Best Offers, or on eBay stores.

For buyers, auctions have the attraction of cut-price potential. For sellers, the competitive nature of auctions means that prices can often soar above the real market value of the item, making them a very profitable option indeed. For these reasons, auctions are and will remain a popular listing format.

However, if there are not enough bidders competing for an item, then prices can remain very low and this is where other selling formats can be put to use more effectively.

Buy It Now tends to attract people who like instant gratification and aren’t willing to wait the auction eriod out! Apart from appealing to a different audience, it is also ideal for selling several of the same item. For example, if you have 20 DVDs of The Sound of Music, then you only have to list the DVD once (avoiding flooding the market), but you can sell them as quickly as people will buy them.

Buy It Now can also be used strategically in other ways too. The Buy It Now price that you set gives the potential bidder some idea of what the item is worth and what they should be bidding. By running Buy It Now consecutively with an auction, you can increase perception of value – while also maintaining control of what bidders will see as a bargain. For example, if you place a Buy It Now price of $20 on your Sound of Music DVD, then the bidder will think they have a bargain if they purchase it with a bid of $15. Of course, the strategically-minded seller has arranged this neatly so that $10 is a price that they are more than happy with and gives them a decent profit. The Buy It Now price of $20, and any bids over $10 are an added bonus.

To use the Buy It Now format, click on the Fixed Price option when choosing a selling format and then complete the rest of the process as usual.

Another option that has only recently been introduced is the Best Offer format. This allows buyers to offer the seller a price they are willing to pay for the item. You can choose to allow Best Offers by checking the appropriate box when specifying your pricing.

Once an offer is accepted, the item is closed, and the buyer must pay the amount offered. As the seller, there is no obligation on your part to accept an offer.

The Best Offer format is available to sellers who meet the requirements of a feedback rating of 30 or more and being a registered user for at least 14 days. It can run alongside both the Buy It Now and the traditional auction formats.

The Best Offer format is a fantastic strategic tool and can produce some wonderfully generous offers. Although you do need to be prepared for a certain number of time-wasters hoping to get something for nothing!

Here are some strategies to try to get the most from Best Offer:

• Try listing a Buy It Now price 24% above what you would like to sell for. A keen, reasonable buyer will generally offer around 80% of your Buy It Now price, which means you get more than you want, and the buyer gets a bargain too.
• If you do get offers that are far too low, try emailing back with the offer price you would be prepared to accept, rather than laughing in their face – as tempting as that might be. It’s a wise policy to always treat people well and maintain a good reputation rather than using the opportunity to say what you really think!

Pricing Strategies

Most people are familiar with the old psychological trick of selling something for $9.99 rather than $10. Nine times out of ten, people will choose the $9.99 option over the $10 one, just because they subconsciously believe it is cheaper.

eBay works like this too – and there are a whole pile of other psychological strategies you can try in order to get the best price for your item.

1. Start the bidding at 0.99 cents. This is like having a sale – it can work very well for catching people’s attention. However, if there is not enough interest in your item, then you could find it doesn’t reach its true value. For the 0.99 cent starting price to work best, you need at least two bidders with a strong interest in the item.
2. Reserve auctions with a low starting bid. Reserve price auctions don’t tend to do very well on eBay. Buyers can remain emotionally detached from the item, because they don’t know whether or not they are anywhere near to the reserve price and owning it!
3. Buy It Now. Try setting the starting bid price close to the Buy It Now price. The buyer is more likely to pay the Buy It Now price rather than risking losing the item for a small amount of money.

Here’s some general advice:

• Don’t end your auction after 11 pm at night. The more people online when your auction ends the better.
• Be careful using Best Offer in conjunction with Buy It Now. This has the psychological effect of making it seem like the item is not actually worth the Buy It Now price.

Notes on Shipping & Packing

How do I work out shipping costs?

Shipping costs vary depending on:

• Weight & dimensions of the package
• Method of shipment – airmail, surface mail, fast-post
• The location you’re shipping from
• The location you’re shipping to
• Whether or not you include insurance – or whether or not the carrier includes it automatically.

If you’re shipping internationally, usually it’s the buyer who pays for shipping and any additional costs that are incurred, such as insurances, duties, taxes and customs clearance fees.

In some instances an ‘extended area surcharge’ may apply to your buyers depending on their international locations.

It’s also a good idea to include a handling charge in the shipping cost to cover your time and expenses. Be sure to specify that the cost includes a handling charge and isn’t just postage. Otherwise, some buyers will feel ripped off if they see that postage only cost $4.40 and you charged $6. Yet, your time is involved in packaging and posting the item, so it’s fair to cover those costs. You’ll find that if you itemize a handling cost, rather than just including it with shipping, people will accept this small extra charge more readily.

One other thing - don’t overdo the shipping costs. It is against eBay’s rules to deliberately set out to profit on the shipping, rather than on the item itself. Because this policy was being exploited so often, eBay has recently introduced the policy of removing auctions with outsized shipping charges.

Customs

For small items, many sellers get around customs charges by sending it as a gift. It’s wise to research the areas you are willing to send your items to. Some places have quite strange restrictions on goods that you would never guess unless you checked! E.g. Australia doesn’t allow used bedding, Italy doesn’t allow shoes.

Transit Time

One of your biggest considerations should be how quickly the buyer receives the parcel. Within your country, buyers would expect their item to arrive within a week from payment. Overseas, 1-2 weeks is acceptable.

Insurance

Insurance is yet another important issue. Some carriers will automatically insure your package for up to $100, but it is wise to check on this first. If your item is worth over $100, it would be extremely foolish not to purchase insurance.

To find out shipping costs:

If you have a ZIP code, Ebay’s shipping calculator helps to calculate the costs involved in shipping a parcel.

http://payments.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EmitSellerShippingCalculator

Some shippers have a shipping calculator on their website.

• UPS - http://wwwapps.ups.com/time
• FedEx - http://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=US&language=en
• United States Postal Service - http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/

Or do it at home the old-fashioned way with a postal scale and chart. (Postal scales can be purchased on eBay for around $20-70, not including postage).

Packaging

No matter what your parcel contains, it needs to be water proof and have a least one layer of bubble wrap.

For CDs and DVDs, special mailers are an easy way to post. Other items will require a variety of packing materials to ensure proper protection.

Unsurprisingly, you can find many common packaging materials for sale on eBay. To give you an idea of prices: 60 gallon bags of packing peanuts will cost you around $12-$16 on eBay, while 200sq feet of bubble wrap will cost around $16.

Many shipping companies also offer packing supplies – or will even do it for you!

Take a look at these packaging sources:

• http://www.bubblefast.com/
• http://www.officemax.com/
• http://www.shippingsupply.com/
• http://www.staples.com/
• http://uline.com/
• http://www.theupsstore.com/

If you’re packaging a fragile or oddly-shaped item, then you might want to check out this site that includes a list of all the packaging known to man!

http://www.ups.com/content/hn/en/resources/prepare/materials/insulation.html

For fragile items, pack them in a box that is large enough to allow for a 3” to 5” gap around the edge when the item is placed in the centre. Put your fill in the box, then wrap each part of the item in a layer of tissue paper and then a layer of bubble wrap. Place carefully in the centre of the box and finish off with another layer of fill on top of the item, so that the box is filled to the brim. Pack very tightly. Tape down the lid of the box and then give it a shake. If anything rattles, you’ll need to repack it again.