MORE EBAY KNOWLEDGE
eBay and Drop shipping – Getting the Product to
Your Customer
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If you hope to own an eBay business, and make a
full time living at it, you can easily make that dream
come true – even if you don’t have a product of your
own to sell.
eBay provides many people who want to
quit their corporate nine-to-five jobs with a way to
make a good living, without having to put up a lot of
start up capital. This is made possible with the help
of drop shippers.
Drop shippers send merchandise to
the customers of business owners. If you have an
eBay business, you are a business owner. This will
allow you to offer a wide variety of stock in your
eBay store, without having the need to warehouse
all of those products!
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All you have to do is set up your auction, and sell
the product. You then pass the customer’s
information on to the drop shipping company. The
drop shipper does the rest, and they will even use
your company information, as well as your company
logo if you have provided it to them.
When the product
arrives at your customer’s home, they will have no idea
that your company didn’t send it. The drop shipper
will package, label, and ship the products that you
sell, allowing you more time to set up even more
auctions, for greater profits.
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You must establish a relationship with several drop
shipping companies in order to become successful.
In the beginning, most companies will require you to
pay for the items that your customers order before
they are shipped.
You need to fill orders in a
timely manner, so you should pay for the items with
a credit card for speedy service. Eventually, you will
be able to have the drop shipper fill your orders, and
then bill you for them later.
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When you set up your eBay auctions, make sure
that your reserve price is set higher than the price
that the drop shipper will be charging you for the
item.
The idea, of course, is to earn a profit!
Depending on the item you are selling, a markup
of about 10% should be about right, but you should
do some research to see if the item is selling for a
lower price in another eBay auction, or through
other online sources.
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By starting an eBay business using the drop
shipping method, there is essentially no financial risk
involved. The product will be sold before you pay the
drop shipper for the item.
This is one of the few
businesses where you can actually turn a profit
before you have expenditures!
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eBay Buyers: eBay Safety Tips You Should Know
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Are you interested in shopping on eBay? If you are, you are definitely not alone. Over the past few years, the popularity of eBay has literally skyrocketed.
Since eBay is considered an online auction website, one that allows internet users to post their belongings for sale, it generates a huge marketplace with millions of items for sale, at any given time.
Although eBay is a great place to do your shopping online, it can be unsafe; however, there are a number of ways that you can protect you and your finances when using eBay to do your online shopping.
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One of the most important things that you need to remember when using eBay is that you created a sign in name or a screen name for yourself. That screen name is used so that you do not have to provide other eBay users with your real name.
Yes, if you were to make a purchase online, you would need to give the eBay seller your real name and address, but that is the only time that you should do so. You should never give an eBay seller information about yourself, unless you have won an item from them on the eBay website.
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In connection with giving out personal information about yourself, you also do not want to give out any other personal information about your finances. eBay uses a secure checkout program, which enables you to make payment arrangements on your own.
The most secure way to make purchases online is through PayPal, but many other sellers accept personal checks or money orders. With PayPal, the eBay seller you are doing business with actually doesn’t get your credit card information, as all funds are transferred electronically.
For that reason, there is no reason to give an eBay seller your bank account information or your credit or debit card information, even if you are buying an item from them.
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When buying an item on eBay, you may place most of your focus on the price that the item is listed at, if it is a buy it now auction. If it is in a traditional auction listing, you may be focusing on the current highest bid.
While this is important to do, you will also want to place a focus on the total cost of shipping. It is not uncommon for eBay sellers to sell their items for a low price, but charge a high amount in shipping.
Also, be cautious of a seller who doesn’t provide you with shipping information upfront. Often times, you will find this is a front for a scam. After winning the auction, you are responsible for paying for the product, as well as the shipping costs, which often turn out to be high.
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To prevent you from doing business with a shady eBay seller, one who may be out to take your money, you will want to examine the feedback of each eBay seller that you are interested in doing business with.
While a few negative feedback ratings are not uncommon, you will want to be cautious of new eBay sellers with even just one or two negative ratings. Basically, when shopping on eBay, you need to use your best judgment. If something looks suspicious, there is a good chance that it is.
To prevent yourself from being scammed or losing money, you will just want to make sure that you use your head, as it is often the best sign of trouble to come.
It is also important to mention phishing scams. These types of scams are taking place off of the eBay website, but they are, in a way, related to eBay.
There are a number of scammers, who are creating fake eBay emails, as well as fake eBay sign in screens. These emails are prompting you to sign into your eBay account. Once you do so, the scammer will have access to your eBay account, as well as some of your personal information. Do not fall victim to these scams. All eBay messages should appear in your eBay account, which can be accessed once you log in directly from eBay.com.
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eBay is a great place to buy and sell on the internet. You shouldn’t let the possibility of getting scammed prevent you from shopping online. As long as you keep the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to do your online shopping on eBay, without having any problems.
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eBay Sellers: Tips to Help Your eBay Items Sell
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Are you an eBay seller? If you have been looking for a relatively easy way to make money, there is a good chance that you are. Different individuals use eBay, but many use eBay to make a little bit of extra money or even to financially support themselves and their families. If you are an eBay seller, how is everything currently going?
Are you making as much money as you had hoped to? If not, you will want to continue reading on; as some tips are outlined below on how you can help to make sure that your eBay items sell.
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When it comes to buying items on eBay, there are many eBay buyers who are the lookout for eBay scams. Before purchasing an item, one of the first things that an eBay buyer does is check the feedback of the seller.
Doing business with a highly rated and recommended eBay seller reduces or completely eliminates the chances of getting scammed on eBay. Feedback helps to give you a good reputation, but there is something else that can help you get a good reputation too, an “About Me,” page.
This is a page where you are able to introduce yourself and give a little bit of background information about yourself or your eBay business. “About Me,” pages are optional, but there are a number of benefits to having one.
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Once an eBay buyer has learned that a seller who has an item that they want for sale is a reputable one, they will then continue to examine the product being sold. This is where your biggest chance of making a sale comes in.
First, you will want to make sure that your products are being sold at a fair price. Keep in mind, when making your auction listings that you want to make a profit, but you don’t want to scare off any potential buyers with high prices. Just making sure that your prices are reasonable is enough to increase your chances of making a sale.
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Secondly, you will want to make sure that you accurately describe all of your items that are being sold. For instance, if you are selling a lot or a group of children’s toys, you may want to take the time to list the names of each toy being sold.
Outline the condition that each toy is in as well. If you are selling toys that require batteries, you may want to state whether or not the batteries are included. Providing a detailed, accurate description of all of your items will definitely increase the chances of them selling.
In addition to a detailed description, it is also important that you have pictures of your items. eBay allows you to post one free picture, but more can be posted for additional fees.
Don’t let these additional fees deter you from posting additional pictures, as they are likely to increase the chances of making a sale. In fact, you may want to look into free photo sharing websites, such as PhotoBucket, as they allow you to post additional eBay pictures for free.
When taking pictures of your eBay items, you will want to make sure that you take a number of close-up pictures. Also, make sure that the pictures are easy to see and that the lighting is good. Having poor pictures or no pictures at all is one of the many reasons why many eBay items go unsold.
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The methods of payment that you accept may also have an important impact on how well your eBay items sell. One of the most common forms of payments used, to pay for eBay purchases, is PayPal. The reason why PayPal is so popular is because it enables shoppers to buy items from you, without having to disclose their account numbers.
If you aren’t already accepting PayPal, you will want to look into doing so. Although most eBay buyers use PayPal, you will also want to remember that not everyone does. For that reason, you may also want to accept other methods of payment, including money orders or personal checks.
The only thing with personal checks is that you may want to wait until the check clears before shipping the buyer their merchandise, especially with large purchases.
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By implementing the above mentioned eBay seller tips, you may start seeing an increase in your eBay sales, even right away. In all honesty, you need to think of it from a seller perspective. Look at your auction listings; would you buy what you were selling?
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eBay Sellers: How to Deal with Difficult Customers
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If you are an eBay seller, you will have to do business with eBay buyers. As traditional retailers do, you may also have a problem with some customers. While the majority of eBay buyers are more than pleasant to deal with, there are some who can “ruffle your feathers.”
While your first thought may be to give a difficult eBay buyer a piece of your mind, you may want to refrain from doing so, especially if you rely on eBay to generate income for yourself and your family.
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When it comes to dealing with difficult eBay buyers, one problem that commonly arises is with your current auction listings. It is not uncommon to get an eBay message from a buyer requesting that you lower your price on one of your listed items.
In fact, it is not uncommon for an eBay buyer to mention that other eBay sellers have the same items listed for less. If and when this ever happens to you, you will want to keep your cool. You should simply state that you are unable to lower your asking price.
Kindly suggest to the eBay buyer in question that if they are looking for more affordable prices, they should consider doing business with an eBay seller who offers more affordable merchandise.
The decision as to whether or not you want to lower your eBay prices is yours to make, but you should never feel pressured into doing so.
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Another situation that commonly arises on eBay, concerning difficult eBay buyers, is the payment process. There are many eBay buyers who make the mistake of assuming that all eBay sellers accept the same methods of payments, but not all do.
One of the most common methods of payment accepted is PayPal. If you currently do not have a PayPal account, you may want to look into doing so. Regardless of what methods of payments you do accept, you are urged to outline them in your auction listings.
Yes, eBay has a section for that, but, unfortunately, not all sellers make their way down to that section. Should you have a buyer that wants to make alternative arrangements, you need to use your best judgment. If you cannot reach an agreement, eBay should be notified.
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One of the other common problems that arise on eBay, with difficult eBay buyers, is those who refuse to pay. With eBay, if you bid on an auction and win it, you are responsible for making payment; however, that doesn’t mean that everyone does.
When trying to request payment from a non-paying eBay buyer, you will want to stay professional when doing so. By simply sending a few reminder notices you should still be able to keep your positive image.
If you haven’t heard anything from your non-paying eBay buyer, you may want to contact eBay after about a week. eBay has a process that allows you to get your fees back, as well as a process that will gives non-paying eBay buyers a negative feedback rating.
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It is also not uncommon for an eBay buyer to be unhappy with the item that they purchased and received from you. If this happens, you need to also use your best judgment.
To prevent a problem from occurring, you will want to make sure that you provide a detailed description of whatever you are selling, as well as numerous pictures. It is also advised that you outline a return policy, whether or not you actually have one.
Should you have intentionally or unintentionally mislead an eBay buyer, you should make the situation right; however, stand your ground if you are being scammed or “taken for a ride.”
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The above mentioned situations are just a few of the many that you may come across as an eBay seller. No matter what situation arises, you are advised to use your best judgment and also keep your cool. In the end, you will be glad that you did.
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eBay Sellers: Why You Should Accept PayPal
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Are you looking to become an eBay seller? If you are interested in making money online, possibly even enough to support yourself, you just may be. Over the past few years, eBay has revealed itself as an online market place where just about anyone, including you, can make money.
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Although it is relatively easy to make money on eBay, as an eBay seller, there are a number of important factors that come into play. For instance, you will want to have good, quality items to sell, detailed descriptions of those items, as well as easy to see pictures.
Perhaps, those are some of the most important components of becoming a successful eBay seller, but there is something else that can be just as important, your accepted methods of payment. For the best chance of success on eBay, you will want to accept a wide range of payments, including personal checks, money orders, and PayPal.
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Speaking of PayPal, PayPal is one of the most common methods of payment accepted on eBay. Despite being one of the most preferred ways to shop on eBay, there are still a number of sellers who don’t accept PayPal as a form of payment.
If you have yet to setup your eBay seller account, you will also want to take the time to set up a PayPal account. Of course, you can still make money on eBay without accepting PayPal as a method of payment, but your chances for success are higher when you do. That is why it is extremely important that you at least look into getting a PayPal account.
When it comes to getting a PayPal account, you will find that you can have a personal account or a business account. If you want to make the most out of PayPal and eBay, you will want to get a business account, as it enables to you accept credits cards as a method of payment. The only difference between a business PayPal account and a personal PayPal account is the fees.
The fees that you are charged will vary, but you will be charged a small fee each time someone, namely an eBay buyer, sends you a payment.
Although the PayPal fees may be a turnoff for you, you should let them be. By accepting PayPal, you are more likely to have more sales, as well as higher priced product sales, as more eBay buyers rely on PayPal to shop online.
This will essentially make the fees seem minimal, as they easily pay for themselves overtime and you are still able to make a profit. In fact, your PayPal fees, from a business standpoint, can even be tax deductible.
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One of the many reasons why eBay buyers like to use PayPal is because it gives them a sense of security. When using PayPal to buy items on eBay, buyers do not have to actually provide you with their bank account information or their credit or debit card numbers.
This information is automatically stored in PayPal’s secure system. eBay buyers simply have to follow the instructions on the invoice that you send them, enter in their PayPal sign in information, click a few confirmation buttons and they are good to go; no important information has to exchange hands.
If you aren’t already accepting PayPal, you will want to think about the many benefits to doing so, some of which were outlined above. For more information on PayPal, you are urged to visit PayPal’s online website, which can be found at PayPal.com.
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Shipping eBay Items to Customers
If you stock the products that you sell on eBay, as
opposed to drop shipping, you probably spend a
great deal of time and money shipping items to your
customers.
If you are a big success on eBay, this
could quickly become a problem. Organize your
shipping practices before they get out of control!
Keep stamps, packing materials, and boxes on
hand. You can have these items delivered to you,
which will save you a lot of time.
Use large padded
envelopes instead of boxes whenever possible. These
envelopes are easier to handle, and usually cheaper to
purchase. Furthermore, they often weigh just a little
less than cardboard boxes do, which will save a bit of
money on the postage. Purchase stamps and packing
materials online.
Not only will you save time, you will
save money as well.
If you ship a lot of packages, purchasing your own
set of postage scales will increase your efficiency –
the expense will more than pay for itself.
Other items
you should invest in include a rubber stamp, label
printing software, a good printer, and labels. Either
use a stamp for the return label, or keep a large
stock of pre-printed return labels. All you need is a
plan and a little bit of organization to successfully
ship your eBay items.
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Tips on Making Money on eBay, Not Losing It
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Are you interested in becoming an eBay seller or are you a relatively new eBay seller? If so, you may still be learning the ins and outs of eBay.
Selling on eBay is a great way to make money on the side or even enough to support yourself, but you have to be successful at what you do.
Unfortunately, it can take time to fully learn the ins and outs of eBay, particularly how to become a profitable eBay seller, until now. Below some helpful tips are outlined; tips that you won’t necessarily find explained on eBay.
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eBay sellers are all required to pay fees to list their items for sale on eBay. You are charged two separate fees, a listing fee or insertion fee and a final value fee. For the final value fee, you are charged a percentage of the price that your item sold for.
The insertion fee or listing fee is figured out a little bit differently. Instead of being charged a percentage, you are charged a set amount. For instance, at the current moment, it costs .20 to list an item up to .99 cents and .40 to list an item for sale between $1.00 and $9.99, and the fee scale continues up in a similar fashion.
Please remember that this is just a sample. eBay regularly changes their fees; therefore, you are urged not to rely on the aforementioned fee samples.
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Although eBay sellers must pay the eBay fees mentioned above, many do not take the time to thoroughly understand those fees. You are advised against doing that, as it may end up costing you money.
For instance, many of the price ranges for eBay’s insertion fee scale ends at .99 cents. For you, this is a great opportunity to save money, but you must know how to do so. As stated above, if you list one of your items at $9.99, the sample insertion fee would be only .40 cents.
Did you know that if you listed your item for $10.00, your insertion fee could jump up to around .60 cents! An extra .20 cents just for a penny is pretty expensive, especially if you list a number of eBay auctions that way. Before listing items for sale on eBay again, examine eBay insertion fee sale and
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see how you can easily save money, sometimes by just shaving a few cents off your asking price.
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It has often been said that to be a successful eBay seller, you need to have good product descriptions and clear digital pictures of the item or items that you are selling. Of course, having a number of pictures in your eBay listings is a great way to increase your chances of making a sale, but it can be expensive doing so.
eBay allows sellers to post one picture for free. Additional pictures can be purchased for a small fee, but that small fee can add up overtime. For that reason, many eBay sellers limit the number of pictures they put in their auctions; however, you do not want to do this.
Instead, you will want to examine photo sharing sites. Photo sharing websites, like PhotoBucket are a nice, fee way to add more pictures to your eBay auctions. Register with a photo sharing site, like PhotoBucket, follow the instructions and you should be saving money in no time at all.
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The above mentioned ways are just a few of the many ways that you can save money on eBay, not lose it. In all honesty, you should do a little bit of research first. Using the internet is a great way to research selling on eBay, as many other eBay users will share their money making secrets with you, free of charge.
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Pros and Cons of Selling on eBay
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Are you interested in becoming an eBay seller? If you are, you are definitely not alone, as eBay has become a relatively quick and easy way to make money online. Each day, a large number of individuals use eBay to make extra money from home and a few lucky ones are even able to make enough money to support themselves or their families.
Before you jump on the eBay selling bandwagon, you are advised to take a few minutes and examine the pros and cons of selling on eBay.
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One of the many pros, or plus sides, to selling on eBay is the fact that is it is relatively easy to do. Once you create an eBay account, you can start listing items that you have in your possession for sale right away. When doing so, it is also easy to do. eBay has a step-by-step process for listing items for sale, in traditional auction formats or buy it now formats.
In fact, eBay also has a program that lets you compile your auctions, with pictures and descriptions, when you aren’t even connected to the internet. As soon as you connect to the internet, you can begin to upload your listings and have them start right away.
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Another one of the many pros to selling on eBay is that just about anyone can do it. You don’t have to have big fancy, expensive items to sell on eBay.
In fact, a large number of those selling on eBay are just selling items that are taking up space in their homes; items they don’t want anymore.
If you are interesting in becoming an eBay seller, but you aren’t sure as to how much you can depend on eBay for income, you may want to think about testing the waters. You can do this by listing the items have you have around your home for sale.
Items that tend to sell relatively well are lots, or groups, of toys and infant clothing.
While there are a number of pros, or plus sides, to selling on eBay, there are also a number of cons, or downsides, to doing so as well. One of the biggest cons or downsides to selling on eBay is the competition.
As it was previously mentioned, a large number of internet users have started using eBay to make extra money or even make a living. This is what leads to multiple auction listings for the exact same items.
While this is nice for the eBay buyers, it can hurt you as a seller. When the supplier is higher than the demand, you may not make as much money off of your items as you had originally hoped to, if they even sell at all.
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Another downside to selling on eBay is the fees associated with doing so. In recent years, eBay has redone their fee structure, often to raise their fees.
Although these fees are still considered relatively low, they could put a damper on your profits, which alone are sometimes hard to come by.
Of course, there are ways that you can the most out of eBay fees. For instance, if you have a “hot seller,” you could start your auction out at a low price, as the fees are less for doing so; however, you are taking a gamble, as you never have any guarantees as for how much your items will sell for.
Perhaps, the unknown is one of the biggest downsides to selling on eBay; you never really know if you are going to make money or even if you will end up losing money.
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As you likely already know, the decision as to whether or not you want to become an eBay seller is yours to make, but, when making your decision, you are advised to keep the above mentioned points in mind.
With a relatively equal amount of pros and cons, you may be wondering what your best option is. For more accurate information, you may want to think about testing the eBay seller waters, as you are able to sell whenever you want, with no minimum auction requirements.
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How to Use the Promotional Tools on eBay
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eBay wants you to be successful. Essentially, if
their sellers are not making any money, eBay is
not making any money – or not enough money.
eBay does have one other very small source of
revenue, which comes from the sellers. This revenue
is realized from the promotional tools that actually
help you, as a seller, have more successful auctions.
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The promotional tools on eBay are very inexpensive.
For instance, you can have a bold listing for just a
few cents. Highlighted listings are equally inexpensive.
These two tools could easily raise your final price by
as much as 25%! Not all promotional tools cost money.
Many of them are free.
The available promotional tools
found on eBay are product finder, gallery, bold,
highlight, border, gift services listings, subtitles, featured
home page, featured plus, featured gallery, keywords,
co-op advertising, and optimized listings.
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If you are serious about making money from your eBay
auctions, or if you are selling just one high ticket item,
you should definitely take advantage of the eBay
promotional tools that are available to you. These can
easily be found through your sellers account.
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