i deal Auction Seller Resource

Grade Ebay Auction Pro Stores Website

2005-11-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Auction Sellers, I wanted to update you with information about Pro Stores another Ebay product for ecommerce selling off Ebay's Auctions site. Well the grade is in and it is a D. I have worked with the product for 4 months and have to give you the information behind the grade.

First I like to say that the platform itself is basically user friendly for the most part but could use some work but ok overall, the customer service was very disapointing. Example: questions could not be answered, problems behind the scenes were fixed days later in some cases, and overall seem like they themselves new nothing about Pro Stores. Another thing that really concerned me was that Pro Stores purposely blocks meta tag information from search engine spiders as well as blocks most link and additional information you ad to your own website template, now after calling them and looking over there control panel I found out that they do this so you have to pay them to market your site for you to Price Comparison engines / sites, etc. Sound formilliar Auction Sellers, of course it does. Ebay just being Ebay I guess showing there customers how much they appriciate us all by finding another way to charge fees.

So my suggestion if considering a ecommerce site stay away from Pro Stores a great option with much more tools and flexibility would be webmasters.com a better value at a cheaper overall cost.

Google Base Go's Live Watch Out Ebay Auction!

2005-11-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

Google base has afficially gone live and I have had the chance to check it out and experiment a bit with it. First I would like to say I'm glad to see the response on my last post on Google Base a potential real competitor your comments are important and respected. Now back to Google Base, I have put some items online in this new platform from Google.

It is easy has plenty of options to add what ever you want and really makes it easy for small and novice ecommerce sellers to sell product with out a website and with out any website optimization issues. Ebay Sellers should take notice, the information gathered from accross the internet all point to the fact that Google is targeting Ebay and Craigs list. This multi function search engine slash classified slash market place is fast as far as response on quaries and is has a very targeted result. Now this new item is still in the starting stages as far as growth so Auction Sellers don't go and close your Ebay Stores as of yet, but It looks like the real deal and it is FREE. I'm sure that is refreshing news since we all know that Ebay tends to nickle and dime every one with out really paying attention to customers / Auction Sellers. With Ebay annually raising fees this could change the way we all run our ecommerce business.

Here is a link to Google Base so you can experiment for it yourself.

Auction Ebay Site Compition?

2005-11-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

Compition for Auction Ebay Site may be comming sooner than Auction Sellers may think. Now the question has been who can compete with the online auction king. Not Overstock, Not Yahoo, and certainly not Ioffer. The big battle may finally begin with the arrival of Google Base. The news has been buzzing around the internet with a so called leak with screen shots of the up coming Google Base a free online data base and selling engine and it is FREE. Auction Sellers should take notice of this potentially internet changing posibility. No one dominates the internet more than Google and Action Ebay Site has taken notice as stocks fell the day Google Base was discovered. This may be a big money making forum for small internet marketers. The information is still new and Google has since pulled the screen shots but do admit to the creation of such a monster tool. I will continue to research for new developments.

More Resources
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051025-5480.html

Sales Down for Ecommerce Auction Home Business.

2005-09-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you have noticed a significan decrease in you online ecommerce auctions home business sales. We'll its not just you or anything your doing. Ecommerce business sales are down across the board. Alot of the reason for the decearse in sales is being pointed to gas prices increaseing due to the Hurricane disaster in New Orleans. When gas prices increase by 50 - 75% in a very short period of time it will effect disposible income for online ecommerce shoppers. But dont panic it look bad at the moment but new studies are showing that ecommerce / auction home business sales will reach all time highs with the upcoming holidays season fast upproaching. So hand in there the clouds will clear, don't give in it the situation will improve.

A great way to position your ecommerce home business is to create great online sales options like FREE SHIPPING, Discounts on items, and other great promotions that will increase sales for customers looking to save as much as they can due to gas hikes.......

Tera Peak Successful Ebay Auctions FREE Price Research Tool

2005-09-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

This FREE tool is a great way to research pricing for successful Auction items that have sold. I have done some research for my Ebay Auction items and used the information to adjust some my online auctions to increase sell through. The tool can also be used to look at new items being sold on Ebay that you may have not thaught about and see starting price and ending auction selling price. It also can provide some insite on search terms being used in some successful Auction Titles and copy being used in ads. Take a look at this FREE tool for yourself Ebay Price Research it could help increase you sell through rate as well as help you with understanding item value on Ebay.

Build More Traffic to Your Online Aution Home Business!

2005-09-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Bringing more traffic to your online auctions is crucial to you success in you ecommerce home business. Sure sites like Ebay Auctions and Overstock Auctions help bring a good attention to your auctions. Things like good item descriptions, good photo's, and a overall right product are all extremly important another consideration is bring in traffic from outside of ebay. If you have an Ebay Store or another online ecommerce site that is connected to your online auctions a true way to bring in new targeted prospects is search engines. Internet Market you Ebay Store or Website by getting listed in Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. I realize that is not a simple task but with some research you could double your monthly visits to your online auctions. Link building is a great way to catch the attention of search engines. List to online FREE directories. Get your items listed in FROOGLE for FREE. Look into other FREE online auction sites and ecommerce product listing sites. Don't Just rely on the traffic provided by Ebay or Overstock Auctions you can increase sales build you business faster and more successful with outside resources.

My next post will give more detail on getting great rankings and link building for Search Engines.

Ebay Online Auction Sales Scam BEWARE!

2005-09-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

I have come across a new Ebay online auction scam which consist of a so called seller sends an email informing you that you better pay for an item you purchased or seller will report you to Ebay security. One problem I have not purchased anything. The email has a link to a fake Ebay site which records your password and then high jaks your account. Never use the link in the email, always connect to your Ebay account through a seperate internet window and go in that way. Then check your messages in my Ebay. When I checked my ebay account I discovered NO message sent exsisted. SCAM!!!

FREE Wholesale Dropship Source for you Ebay Auctions!

2005-08-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Everybody serious about building there online Auctions business has to find a reliable source for the items they want to sell. Sure its great to sell the unwanted items you currently have in your home but once they are gone there gone. Now like myself you have to start planning on sourcing your items to keep your Online Auction business bringing in profits. I have attched a couple of great places to locate dropship wholesale suppliers for you to use in your Ebay, Overstock Auctions.
Go Wholesale
Wholesale 411

These two directories are the most used FREE Online Wholesale directories for Ebay and Ecommerce sellers.

Note: Always look into each company you choose from any one of these list to ensure there real Drop ship Wholesalers. Unlike World Wide Brands wich does a indepth screening before listing each company in there directory, there is a potential for a bad company to be listed in these FREE directories. But there are also alot of great dependible companies listed as well.

FREE Auction Trend Report What Is Selling And When to Sell It On Ebay?

2005-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ebay has released a great FREE tool that shows Ebay buying trends month to month. A great way to evaluate what is selling and when is the best time to sell items. Take advantage of this market research report to improve your selling practices. Click Here Ebay Trend Report. Its FREE!

How To Get More Exposer To Your Ebay Online Auctions

2005-08-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Looking for a way to bring more attention to you online ebay auctions with paying any extra fees? This simple technique is easy, not talked about and in the guidlines according Ebay. Now I start buy explaining how auctions are displayed and listed online when search term is entered in ebay. The auctions closest to ending are listed before auctions that are new with a - example: a seven day auction. Ebay allows you to make as many updates to your online auctions as long as if the auction has zero bids and atleast 12 hours remaining on auction. So the idea is to bring your online auction items to the front of the line for more exposer. How do you do that? Start your auctions as one day auction. Keep track of the amount of time left being sure not to miss the 12 hour mark. If you have no bids revise auction to a 3 day auction. Again track the time remaining on your auction not to miss the 12 hour cut off. If no bids revise / extend to a five day auction, then to a seven day auction. You may not want to extend to a ten day auction seing that it increases your fee. This simple technique will keep your auction up front for a longer period of time than your compition. Resulting in more exposer which could equal more sales..

Try it out, I have implemented this technique to good results it may do the same for you.

Beware of Paypal Payments Listed as Uncomfirmed!

2005-08-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

I have stumbled on a problem that seems to be the trend these days with Paypal payments listed as uncomfirmed. I have since changed the payment details on my Online Auction ads stating that any payment made by Paypal listed as unconfirmed must be updated to confirmed with in 10 days for item to ship. If account payment remains uncomfirmed after the 10 day period payment will be refunded and sale void.

What happens is items are paid for with either a bad, stolen credit card number or items is purposely purchased with CC that is not confirmed in Paypal account. So once you ship item out after receiving this Paypal payment and item is received by the so called customer a Charge back is placed against your account and Paypal does pretty much nothing to protect you. They take the funds out of your account, charge you for trying to keep the funds and your left with a loss. So keep an eye out for this growing scam, It only costs me a small lost ( thankfully ) but could have been much worse.

Make the proper adjustments as needed to your Online Auction ads. I got burned so you dont have to. I love Paypal but this problem could be something for them to work on and hopefully soon.

Overstock Online Auctions Expeariment Review Part 3

2005-08-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ok after we started the small expeariment to veiw and look at Overstock Online Auctions as another selling platform the thought was how does it stand up to Ebay, but soon I realized that Overstock attracts a different type of shopper, offers a differnent type of selling format. Do I think that Overstock is worth it? The truth is YES! I beleive that you should never put all your eggs in one basket and with the changes Ebay is making - good or bad, having another marketing forum is a great idea.

Now my approach to Overstock Auctions will differ than that of Ebay the goal remains the same BUILDING MY BUSINESS.

I also took a look at Overstock Auctions costs + hits to my auction ads and what I found was that if you were to break down the visits to your ads + costs into a pay per click module the truth is that there isn't much of a differnce between the two.

I will continue to expeariment with Overstock Auctions and all they have to offer and will update information for others to follow and learn.

Overstock Auctions Expeariment Update Part 2

2005-08-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well the results are in for week one with Overstock auctions selling expeariment. Auctions closed with zero sales, but hits looked promising so I have gone ahead and made a few adjustments to see if this helps close the sale. I extended the length of the online auction ad now having it close on a monday after noon. I was surprised to see that activity was head to head with the same ebay ad ( wich didn't sell ). I have made the same adjustment to the ebay auction ad. I will keep you updated with information, corrections etc. If I can prevent a mistake for you than it helped after all. If you have any pointers feel free to fill me in I will be more than happy to look at all angles to find a fit.

Overstock Online Auction experiment update 1

2005-07-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ok well I have the ads place on both Ebay Auctions and Overstock Auctions, so far both selling platforms seem to be pretty close in results. Now the big difference is of course the fees Ebay is atleast 35% more than Overstock Auctions fees. The approach I chose for the first experiment is and Auction option with no buy it now and no researve price. The starting price on the auctions is well below item retail value but not rediculously low were item true value is lost or destroyed ( part of the problem with Ebay ). And were in the business of making money not loosing money.
Now this approach may not be the propper approach for this type of item but that wont be determined untill Auction closing were hits and bids can be avaluated. Stay turned for updates..

Ebay Auctions Intergrading Online Game Play?

2005-07-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

The secret is out, I found out today that Ebay tends to have games intergraded into there auction platform. These games will give you the opportunity to win prizes and cash. Now Ebay will have a pop up appear as customers enter a search term and a game matches search keywords. Does this sound like fun? for me NO and it should be concerning because customers could be destracted away from your ads or even leave your ad completely to play these online games. Now Ebay will be charging to play these games ( of course they charge a fee ). In reallity Ebay can possibly be making money twice from you, once with insertion fee and then again when your potential customers get leared away from your ad to play a game they found with yours and other sellers key words. Thats Great the Ebay carnival continues. Just keep your eye out and build your own oppinion about this move, there is alot of Ebay propaganda flowing around on the net from Ebay employees, again always feeding positve thoughts and avoiding the real issues at hand, you the seller and your business.......

Overstock Auction Product Selling Experiment!

2005-07-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

There has been some very good buzz about Overstock Auctions and what the platform has to offer. I know that Ebay is the giant of auctions but I also know that I do not want to put all my eggs in one basket. So I have decided to do a Auction experiment in Overstock trying different techniques, selling catagories, starting prices, etc. and I will post the results as I they develope. There is alot of options that Overstock offers that Ebay tends to ignore and I have seen growing activity in this Ebay Auction Alternitive. Keep checking in to see the results of this online auction test....

Bulk Email Marketing For Your Online Sales!

2005-07-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

When I mention bulk email marketing Im not talking about email spamming. I mean creating targeted email marketing. How do you gain good emails? Well the answer may be right in your email box already. When ever a customer responds to you Ebay Autions or Ebay Store ads they are considered to be opt in. You now have the ok to persue cross promoting items related to the items they are interested in or purchased. Remember to always allow leads in your bulk email marketing campaign to option to cancel any further emails. You can also gain great email list online for a great price, targeted traffic, more bids and higher Auction selling price.

Keep this marketing option in mind when building your business..

About Prostores Ecommerce Ebay Online Store Platform.

2005-07-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ok now I have had some time to review, experiment, and try Prostores Ebay's new ecommerce plateform. I found the Prostores Platform to be slow, sluggish, unforgiving in some screens, and A overall grade of C. I don't like the set up or the lack of fundamentals. I would love to here about other people experience with the new Ebay product. My view is that it is missing something. Ecrater.com offers a much easier more upfront option to ecommerce store building. I have closed my account and have moved on. I'm sure that ebay will adjust the flaws in this new venture but until then I am out.

Give me your feedback!

Bring More Traffic To Your Ebay Store And Auctions!

2005-07-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

A great way to bring more traffic to you Ebay Store and Ebay Auctions is FREE. Just sign up as a new member and participate. This great traffic generating source is Discussion Forums. Find a forum that relates to the type of item you sell in you Online Auctions and read through the threads and participate by answering question other may have, give your opinions, and leave a link to your website or Online Auction. Now keep in mind you do not want to spam the forums with ad after ad, make your link to your Auctions a answer to a problem, make it an example to a question asked, etc. If you leave spamming type ads the forum may delete your thread and may even ban you from forum. The Traffic generated from disussion forums is surprising, the threads stay out there for months and even years. Search engines list these threads high because of the content rich information provided, so with out even relizing it you Auction ads links are found in search engines.

Now try to find a forum that has high traffic and found on search engines, because some discussion forums by leaving a link and help you PR rating for your website wich helps Google crawl your website and Auction Ads and list them in search.

Just spend about a 1/2 hour to an hour participating in the forums, read posts, and be sure to post your own messages. remember leave a link back to Auction ADS or Website. It is worth the cost FREE!!!!

The Advantages To Having a Ebay Store VS a Normal Website.

2005-07-13T03:16:00.000-07:00

The question that I come accross in forums and chat pages is should I have an Ebay Store. The answer to that is yes. Reasons for having an Ebay Store include:
Cross Promotion of Ebay Auction Items, Ebay Online Search Presence on Keywords for your items, Easy Set up for xml pages for Froogle, and much more. Keep in mind that you store items do not show up in Auction section of Ebay but you auction items do show in Store. Using your Auction Items to promote store items is done by using Ebay's FREE Cross Promotion Bar which shows 4 other items you are selling. The cost to have an Ebay Store Starts at $15.99 and for the promotion they give you for FREE it is well worth it.

The reasons for having and Ebay Store is growing all the time. Ebay pays alot for search keywords and I have found alot of my items showing up in google search near top of page. I know I said your ebay items do not show up in Auction portion of site but there is a case in which you ads do show up in the Auction portion for FREE. If a search term returns 10 items or less in Auction Portion, Ebay Store items will show in Auctions. Another reason to use an ebay store is that you have the power to optimize you store for search and you are backed by the Ebay name. The ebay brand has become a trusted well known brand for you store.

Check into opening a store, it is a great way to promote other items without spending a ton of Ebay Auction Fees. My Store sales have gone up in the past few months, and seems to improve more and more. Try it out ebay offers the first month FREE.

FREE Online Auction Ad Template Software !!!

2005-07-11T00:35:00.000-07:00

One way to help build sell through rate on your auctions is to have professional looking Online Auction Ads. I have found a great FREE Auction Ad Template Software you can use to create these ads for you Ebay, Ioffer, Overstock Auctions, Yahoo Auctions, and more. These professional designed FREE Templates work on almost all Online Auction Platforms.

Heres another great FREE Online Auction Template Creator Software for you to use to make great looking Ads.

Online Auction Giant Ebay Has Ecommerce Stores Outside of Ebay Auctions

2005-07-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ebay the Online Auction Giant wich recently purchased Shopping.com have jumped into the ring of online Ecommerce Stores. I'm not talking about Ebay Stores ( in Ebay Auction Platform ), I'm talking about ProStores . Now it seems a bit more clear on why the purchase was made for Shopping.com, I'm sure there is more reasons than just the new ecommerce forum, but it make sense now.

ProStores is a great platform for building and hosting a Ecommerce store, they give you the first month FREE to get in and try it out. ProStores does a automatic data feed to the top market place search engines like: Shopping.com, Froogle, Yahoo Shopping, and Shopzilla daily to help market your products and produce more sales. ProStores also is intergraded with ebay to import listings to you new website or even place items for auction on Ebay. This platform also has many helpful reports, it also tracks visitor stats, connects to Quickbooks, easy to use site builder, and much more.

ProStores has a couple of different store options to fit your needs, and the price seems great for what you get in Marketing and site admin tools. Its FREE try it out, it may be a new selling venue for you.

What is the Best Day To Start My Online Auctions

2005-07-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

What day to start your auctions is probably the biggest question I here. Starting your Online Auction Ads on the right day will determin a large amount of last minute bidders. I find that Sunday is the best day to post your auctions because you get a full weekend and two Sundays to sell you items.

The worst days to post your Online Auctions are Friday and Saturday because alot of people party on fridays or go away for the weekend. Not a great amount of people online shopping for your items.

Other great day to Post your Online Auctions is Wedsday and Thursday.

Now What time of day is the best time to post your Auction Ads is another important thing to remember. A great time to start your auction is 9:00pm east - 6:00pm west ( 3 hour differnce ). People are home from being away and have had time settle in or are home from work. You dont want to post to early or to late, it may cost you. There other considerations to determine what time to start your online auctions, depending on what you are selling but these days and times are a good even starting point for most items.

Drop Shipper Wholesale Sources For Your Online Auction Business.

2005-06-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Were to find product to sell in my Online Auctions was a hard and time consuming process. Who can you trust, what Drop Shippers are real, and are they dependible. I hered about a Online Auction Product Source that I had to look into. I found them while listing to an online interview, the company had a real Wholesale Dropship Directory that was put together by having each company having to be approved after a detailed aplication before even being considered in there directory. World Wide Brands seperates the FAKES from the real Wholesale Drop Shippers out there. I signed up with them and have been using them to source almost all of my products. They have great customer service that actualy contacts you back with any questions you have in less than 24 hours. This is a great Wholesale Drop Shipper with a fine reputation and a amazing amount of brand name products to source. Check them out....

Ebay Auctions Store Discount Coupon Code!

2005-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am releasing my first Online Auctions Discount Code to be used for any purchase $25.00 or more in my Ebay Auction Store or Online Auction. Just give coupon code number with payment and discount will be applied to your online auction item.

Code #: 715593R11
Discount: FREE SHIPPING
Date: July 3, 2005

click the link below.
Ideal Auctions Ebay Store

Code only good for date listed above. If Auction discount code is submitted after date listed coupon will be VOID.

Online Product Market Research for What to Sell In My Auctions.

2005-06-27T03:09:00.000-07:00

I have come to relize that just putting items up in my auctions without really finding out if people want or will purchase my items can become almost a waiste of time and money. Online Auctions have evolved for buyers as well as sellers, buyers have become more savy and really look more for bargains in the auction forum so if you don't do MARKET RESEARCH for you items you may loose profit. There are many ways to perfrom MARKET RESAERCH for what you are planning on selling in you Online Auctions Like using advance search in Ebay. Just click on advance search button on top search box, then enter in title of you item, click closed auctions, then click search. A list of closed auctions will appear showing price, how many bids, closing purchase price, and weather item sells at all ( price listed in green = sold ).
You can get a good idea what demand there is for that item, what average price it is selling for, and an idea how well it sells. The down side to MARKET RESEARCH TECHNIQUE is that for one it is time consuming, and does not tell you what %ompatition is. I use a tool for my auctions called

Marker Research Wizard. This tool really simplifies the process FAST. It tells me what item gathers demand, and compition and gives me a successful selling percentage rate ( 83% ) for my item. It also shows my top search words used for my items, auction selling price, were items are selling, and more.
The Market Research Wizardperforms these actions with in seconds not hours. They also give you a FREE trial of product. I use it and it helps my auction sales, there are other items and services that work some are on a monthly payment system ( $15.95 a month or more ) and I will get info on these item and post findings in upcomming blog post.

What and How To Become A Ebay Auctions PowerSeller.

2005-06-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Although you here the term Ebay Auctions PowerSeller, but what and how do you get to this status. I hope Im not the only person that was wondering about this. If not here is what I found for information that explains The Power Seller title.

The Ebay Power Seller is the online auction business people that profit the most, not just in merchandise but overall revenue with a fair amount business activity. Now to become a Ebay Auction Power Seller yourself you have special requirements:

*Maintain a consistant high level of ebay sales.
*Maintain a minimum of 4 average monthly total iten listings for 3 straight months.
*Have been active on ebay for atleast 90 days
*Achieve and maintaing a feedback rating between 98% - 100% Positive
*Deliver post-auction messages to successful bidders within three business days
*Be a good member with good standings, values, honesty and respect.

5 PowerSeller Level Requirements:
*Bronze $1,000 per month
*Silver $3,000 " "
*Golds $10,000
*Platinum $25,000
*Titanium $150,000

Ebay PowerSellers receive special benifits and customer support. A difinate goal to set. Just Think there are real Titanium PowerSellers Averaging $150,000 a month, I have a lot of work to do to reach this point, but atleast you know it is possible.

Hope this clears up the simple question of what a Ebay Auctions PowerSeller is, there is more information about this topic, I just gave you a breif explanation to help clear up the question. Check out ebay's PowerSellers Page.

Internet Auctions Product, Service, Software Review.

2005-06-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

As I come accross many different offers about online auctions, how to get rich type scams. I really wonder how many of these software, service products work. That is were I come, in addition to posting FREE online helpful information About Online Internet Auctions ( ebay, Ioffer, Overstock, etc. ) I am also going to start pocking around the internet to investigate new internet auctions services and products. I am going to search for some truth, facts, amd feedback from others that have tested these items and find out wich ones are legitimate for your online auction business success and wich ones are just a waste of time and money.

I will post the results for everybody to use in deciding whether any item they were thinking of purchasing is realy worth it. Just another way to help build trust and avoid unwanted junk.

Keep your eye out for my Product, Service, Software Reviews.

What Are The HOT Selling Auction Items on Ebay!

2005-06-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a great Online Auction Tool to use to find what items and catagories are HOT on ebay. This tool can help you determain if an item you want to sell is in demand for online auctions. Just follow this below link to get ebay's monthly HOT Auction Items Report FREE ( pdf file ). Also attached is ebay's trends page that shows top keywords and most watched items ( ebay pulse )FREE.

Ebay Auction Hot Items List

Ebay Top Keywords and Hot Auction Trends

Ebay Stores Combining With Shopping.com?

2005-06-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

After Ebay purchased the large and popular market place price comparison site Shopping.com talk about online auction giant ebay would have online ebay auction store item list in this new selling platform. As of right now ebay stores are not really receiving enough traffic to make respectible sales for some and the belief is that this merger may help increase ebay auction store activity. Now the question is if ebay does decide to do use Shopping.com to list auction store items, what if any will ebay charge for this new forum.

Shopping.com is similar to froogle were there is a list of items with competing pricing, you click on the item you want and then redirected to you online auction ad were purchase can be made. Shopping.com is a highly visted sight, and items when searched for show up in search engines ( google, yahoo, msn, etc. ).

I will keep my eye out for any news on this topic and will update my blog with any information I may find. This may help ebay stores build better traffic = more sales and I looking forward to this new marketing option.

Niche Products For Your Online Auction Business.

2005-06-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing everybody talk about Niche products are what sells online in ebay auctions, ioffer, overstock auctions, etc. But what exactly is a Niche item?
I have talked to some people who thought a niche item was something big, the next best auction item that everbody wants like the ipod or related items like this.
After hearing a great interview online with a online auction pro she realy explained niche products and how to possibly find them to sell them in you auctions or ebay stores.

She noted that Niche products are items that are not found easily but are in demand. Her example for finding niche items was as follows: Think about an item you would like to have but are having trouble finding it. Chances are if you want this item and are looking for this item, alot of other people are most likely looking for these item to. Write down a list of these items and see if you can find a source or sources online ( wholesale or dropshipper ) to resell in your online auctions. Demand for niche products are high and compition is usually low which means sales for you with a great turn around margin. I am trying this simple technique, it makes alot of sense.

A great place to find niche products and more is
WorldWide Brands a trusted and real wholesale and dropshipper. I use them,check them out!

Keyword Weighting and SEO For My Online Auction Ads

2005-06-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

I read recently that using keyword weighting for your auction ads works for creating search engine freindly auction ads. So I went ahead and gave it a shot. I implemented the same type of information and techniques that I would use for SEO by creating keyword rich headlines (H1 HTML TEXT) and then creating good keyword prases in my product descriptions. Then I added alt tags to all my auction ad images with keywords to describe image. I noticed in google that my ads were showing up in the top 3 in some cases and with the first page to second page in other cases. So the result has helped in getting more exposer in My Online Auction Ads. It Worked. So now Im aming to improve results by treating each online auction ad like a minni website, following the same frame set up for SEO. It worked better in Ioffer than did in ebay. But still received some results in Ebay Auctions. I want to improve those result for ebay, try this in your ads its worth it it...

Great Customer Service and Coupons For My Auction Store!

2005-06-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

After getting my ebay store running and applying the information that I learned and studied about how to make my business successful I sat down and thought of a way to do more for my customers. Not only am I going to give a ton of free information about the online auction business but I also going to set up speacial offers for my ebay auctions store. The specaial offers will be coupon codes for savings on just about all my items and FREE items with different purchases. I just want to do more, show a appreciation for every customer I have, and I think this is a great way to give back by offering savings and FREE item bonuses with speacial dated coupon codes.
I have looked around at other auctions and have noticed that not enough sellers are doing this type of great customer service for their ebay auction stores.

I will still continue to post FREE information to help others have success in their Online Auction Home Business, and will also post information for buyers to help them save on purchases in my online home business such as the coupon offers in my blog.

Keep your eye out for the speacial offers they will be coming soon....

Ioffer Online Auction Ebay Alternitive

2005-05-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hi I would like to introduce to you a fearly new option to selling online. It is ioffer.com now this marketplace works a bit different that ordinary online auction places such as ebay and overstock auctions. The difference is that you set the price and deals are made between you and buyer on purchase amount. You are in complete controll on what item sells for by rejecting offers you don't like and accepting offers you like. The great thing is that all item insertion is FREE and you auctomatically get a Ioffer online store FREE with a listing of 2 or more items. Take a look at my storeto see what you get.

Now the down side is that you don't get the number of hits you would on ebay auctions but Alexa is showing that traffic is continously growing all the time. Another great thing to mention about this online auction alternitive is that it works with ebay auctions, yahoo auctions, and other auctions. Ioffer has a tool that allows you to import all of your Ebay auction ads into ioffer automatically along with your feedback rating. NICE!!

Ioffer also automatically enters your ads into Google product search engine Froogle FREE. You don't have to do any data feeds, they do them for you.

This is a forum for more traffic, the opportunity for more sales along with you other online auction marketplaces you currently use. Someday it may be a major player in the online ecommerce business. It is something you just can not ignore.

How To Market Online Ebay Auction

2005-05-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

To market my ebay and online auctions I began by opening up a basic ebay store. The price is about $15.95 a month to have store open and operational. Now you don't need a ebay auction store for your home business but it has its advantages to have one. For example with a online store you get the use of a powerful tool called the Cross Promotion Tool. This tool will help market other items you are selling that customers may not normally be looking for. Your regular online auction is equiped with a cross promotion bar at the bottom of your ad and lists 4 other items you are selling. This tool will help increase sales! Take a look at what this tool looks like in one of auctions in My Store. You also have the advantage of loading up the store with plenty of inventory that has 30 to 60 day ad life and cost .03 cents to list items in store.
Now you do not need a store to use a cross promotion bar in your auctions you can also get this amazing tool Here. This tool is also availible to Overstock Auctions.
The bad thing about ebay stores is that your items that are listed in your store does not show up in regular auction platform. This is were the Cross Promotion Tool shines.

Another Way to Market my ebay auctions is the use of Froogle. Google product search engine. All you have to do is open an Froogle account and upload your data feed into Froogle. This is a option you just can not afford to miss, and best of all it is FREE.

I also Market my ebay items by cross promoting in Ioffer.com . This is another Market place that works a bit different than ebay auctions. Customers make offers for your items and you can either reject or accept and sell your items. They have a tool that pulls all you ebay auctions ads and places them into Ioffer. Ioffer.com is FREE to list items, but does have a final selling fee. Not as much traffic as ebay but is another great way to get more traffic to your auction items = more sales.

What Should I Sell In My Auctions?

2005-05-25T03:06:00.000-07:00

What should I sell in my auctions? Well this has been the biggest question to answer in this new venture. I have done a bit of research for the answer to this question and have found that there is no specific product. Just about everything is for sale on eBay. First thing is turn to your hobbies and interests. Many sellers think the only way to make great money is to buy hundreds of the latest hot selling items and put up dozens of auctions. The problem is that hundreds of other sellers are doing the same thing. As you gain experience you can move into these markets, but this area is diffucult for the new seller. There are plenty of companies with enough money to import these items directly by the thousands and undersell anyone who buys through a distributor or wholesaler.
Sell something you know something about. Almost everyone collects "something." If you are knowledgeable about a collectible or an art object, then you have the ability to do the research to find the products at prices you can resell.
Another way is to sell items in light bulk. If you bought a large box of videotapes at a garage sale, separate them into categories and sell them as a lot. You will often make more money than selling them individually. This can also work for clothing. There are sellers that buy children's clothing from garage sales, sort it by size and gender and sell it in lots. One of my neighbors does this. She will typically pay between $3 to $6 total for several pieces of clothing that she can get over $20 for on eBay. She does the same thing with closeout dealers. She will buy a pallet load of new children's clothing, sort it by size and sell it in lots of 5 or 10 pieces. Although she might make slightly more selling the pieces individually, this way they sell quicker, the average sale is larger and she turns her inventory over many time more often than she could otherwise.
On eBay seller I know purchases large lots of the hot selling items on eBay (cell phone boosters, pocket knives, etc.) and turns around and sells them in lots of 10 or 25 to other eBayers who want to buy for resale. He recently imported 50,000 disposable cigarette lighters from Korea that he bought for about 11 cents each. He sold them on eBay in lots of 500 for 36 cents each. He made $125 on each lot less his eBay fees. I asked him who was buying the lighters and he said that most of his buyers were flea market, gas station and convenience store owners who sold the lighters over the counter for 99 cents each.
Everyone wants to sell computers, software, movies, DVD's, digital cameras and all sorts of consumer electronics. The sad fact is that SONY, Panasonic, Canon, and others don't sell their latest hottest products to small dealers who work out of their home. (In fact they don't sell anything except through their master distributors.) Even the big stores have trouble getting a large allocation of really hot products.
It is possible to get into this business if you have a lot of market and product knowledge (such as you work in a computer store) and you have the contacts to buy the merchandise. The problem is that you are competing with major retailers, some who sell under their own name and others who sell under blind usernames. One way you can succeed selling consumer electronics is with overstock and closeout merchandise. Millions of dollars worth of consumer electronics, computers and software are sold by closeout dealers every week. The trick is to really know what you are buying and to be able to work on small margins and turn your inventory over often. Unfortunately it takes quite a bit of capital investment to compete in this arena.
There is also a huge market on eBay for "vintage" hi-fi equipment, cameras, old computers and computer hardware and so on. Last year I found an Akai Reel-to-reel tape deck at a garage sale for $25 and the seller threw in 10 reels of tape. I sold the deck on eBay for just under $200 and sold the 10 reels of tape separately in another auction for $30. I met one of eBay's product managers last year at the first eBay Live event in Anaheim. She sells vintage Apple computers, parts and software. She buys almost all of it at garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores.
Drop shipping is another strategy used by new sellers. I hesitate to recommend working with drop shippers because so many of them are not very reliable.
The problem with drop shipping is that your feedback is on the line. If the drop shipper is temporarily out of stock or somehow screws up your order –it is your feedback that will suffer. When you are starting out just one or two negative feedback comments can set your back months. Also the merchandise available from most drop shippers is very common and being sold by hundreds of other sellers.
If you are really strapped for cash, you can use a drop shipper temporarily. As soon as you can afford it however, I would start buying wholesale from direct wholesalers and/or distributors. You will make more money and have greater control over your business.
If you want to know what to sell on eBay, probably the single best piece of advice I have found is to be unique and to specialize. Find a niche market, learn everything about it and work it over and over.

How To Start A Online Auctions Home Business

2005-05-24T02:54:00.000-07:00

How To Start A Online Auctions Home Business

Once you have joined ebay, you can start planning your business online. Decide what your goal is, full-time operation or part time. Do you want to work from your home or set up in a commercial location? Do you want to be a one-person show or have employees? Do you want to be an eBay PowerSeller or a Trading Assistant? And, of course, what will you sell?
What to sell is often the most overwhelming question for new eBay sellers because you can sell just about anything on eBay. Choose a product or service you know something about and enjoy working with. Consider Things such as how you will acquire the products you sell, where you will store them, and what will be involved in shipping.

Before starting your eBay business, you need to set up a Seller's Account. This is a simple process very similar to the registration process. There are fees and commissions for their ebay services. Seller fees vary, but considering the advertising and traffic ebay provides it is much cheaper than a brick-and-mortar retail store. Before you sell anything it is a great idea to purchase things first if you have not yet done so. The reason is that most buyers do not like buying from someone with zero feedback rating, so look around for something you need or could use and build a little trust, it will go along way. It is also a good idea to practice selling to gain some confidence and experience with the process. You can sell items you have around the house that you don't need. eBay is a great way to get rid of gifts that just aren't right for you, or those items you thought you couldn't live without but haven't used in a long time. The process will also help you figure out what equipment (computer, digital camera, scanner, packing materials, etc.) you're going to need to efficiently operate your business. You'll be able to practice taking pictures, writing headlines and product descriptions, and responding to buyer questions. If you make a mistake with one of your practice listings, it's all a part of your education.
You should also do some testing with the products you're going to sell as part of your business. Try to start doing a little market/product research to see if things you want to sell are in demand and what are they selling for, also testing various listing formats. You can do this in ebay with there FREE Advance Search tool. Some Top ebay sellers took a year to testing the concept to see what [listing] formats work best." You may not need to take that long, but build testing into your plan.
You can operate exclusively within auction-style listings, sell at a fixed price, or open an eBay Store. An eBay Store provides a consistent location for your listings and merchandise and is an excellent place to sell add-on merchandise. It's also an inexpensive and simple way to establish an e-commerce presence.
Another important part of getting started is setting up your "About Me" page, which is a free eBay feature that allows you to promote your business. Once you're up and running, don't get complacent. Pay attention to new eBay feature announcements, stay on top of your customer service, and keep an eye on your competition, as eBay is constantly changing, expanding and enhancing its services. Today's eBay business is far better than it was just a year ago, and the eBay of next year will be even more powerful.

The Online Auction Home Business

2005-05-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

When I decided to start my online auction home business ( part time ), I searched for information on the best ways to make the business a overnight success, how I could get wealthy fast. I researched information after information untill I felt ready and confident enough to start.
Well I felt ready and I started my ebay auction home business and it wasn't as easy as those books said it would be, what a surprise. All the information that I researched was incomplete, most were misleading, and old out of date information. I soon relized that this was not some get rich quick sceme, but a real business that needs to grow and mature. I pieced my information together then doing proper market research and saw real results. I will continue to build my business giving my customers the best service I can. I have seen to many fraud type ads on ebay auctions and cant imagine trying to dupe someone for the short term. I feel you should build a honest customer base for the long term, it makes sence dosn't it. I will continue to build my business ( it's my goal ) and sharing the ups and downs, also sharing the NEW information I have gathered from message boards, Blogs, and interviews about the online auction business.
I hope the information can help anyone who is on the same journey by leaving information that can teach new ideas, warn about scams, better business practices, new business tools, and more.

Lets build our business together Starting NOW!