eBay is ageless and
genderless, anyone can use it. It's a terrific way to earn
extra cash in retirement as well. My free eBay Treasures
Club newsletter offers even more free eBay secrets than are
listed here. So let's start with
your
Top 10 Free eBay Secrets:
1 - Always keep in
mind that there are two types of buyers, and two types of
sellers. Some sellers sell because they really need the cash
and other sellers sell because they know they really have
valuable items that will sell for good dollars.
The two types of
buyers, the first buys on impulse, because they love a great
deal, and the second buys because they are collectors and
can also spot a great deal.
So you want to sell
because you really want the extra cash, but also because
you've done your research, and you know your items have real
value. Thus you can price your items higher, and yes, even
the collectors will find your item and buy from you.
Don't get trapped
into putting 25 things on eBay without doing your homework
first.
2 - It can take just
as much effort to list an item for $10.00 as it does to list
an item for $250.00 . A little research can save you a great
deal of effort and can earn you eBay Powerseller status very
quickly (eBay Powersellers must sell at least $1,000.00 a
month for 3 straight months in a row).
3 - eBay will charge
you a little extra so that you can make your pictures larger
and easier for the buyer to see your items. Don't try to
save 50 cents and not go for this feature. Bigger pictures
are always better, it brings the buyer that much closer to
buying your item. NOTE: Don't just take pictures, take great
pictures, it's very important.
4 - Here's one of my
best free eBay secrets! eBay reports that their biggest
selling days are Sunday nights and believe it or not, Friday
nights come second. So always let your auctions run for 10
days, start on Thursday night at 9pm and run to the
following Sunday at 9pm. This allows you to expose your item
over two Friday nights and 2 Sunday evenings as well. I will
expand on that a bit more in my free eBay Treasures Club
newsletter.
5 - When doing your
research, always look at what your item has previously sold
for by someone else on eBay. Do your search first, and that
will show you what is listed for sale right now, then click
on "completed items" ( you'll find that link on the left
column). Now you can see exactly what people have paid for
that item and you can see how other sellers listed their
item as well. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Some sellers
have been around a long time, and list things in a way they
know attracts buyers like a magnet. Follow their success,
and it will become your success as well.
6 - A personal
favorite of mine is offering Free Shipping! People love this
feature, it's like buying an item, taxes included. Why does
this work? Because people know exactly what price they are
paying. And trust me, people always prefer to see a $69.00
price, all in, versus $56.00 for the item and then $13.00
shipping. Why? Because the shipping fee strikes a negative
nerve, it makes people mad that it costs so much and all
that negative energy distracts them from buying, makes sense
right! Just give them one price where possible. If it means
you have to add a few dollars to your selling price, no
problem. It always works for me. I love using this on
eBay! Experiment with the "Buy It Now" feature. When you say
Buy It Now, people can not bid, the first buyer owns your
item. Shoppers know, if they are really interested they MUST
consider your "Buy It Now" feature, as someone else may just
snap it up, and they have lost their chance to buy your
item. Buy It Now with FREE Shipping is extremely
powerful for you the seller!
7 - Sadly, there
will always be customers who will try to rip your off. Not
many, but they are out there. They'll say the item never
arrived etc. Always mail your items with a post office
tracking number, it will save you a ton of grief down the
road and if the item actually goes missing and you have
insured it, you are always covered. Just get burned once in
this way, and you'll track and insure everything after that.
Just trust me on this one!
8 - eBay owns PayPal,
and it's clearly the best way to get paid. In my early days
I wanted money orders, because I didn't want to pay PayPal
the extra fee. It took weeks and weeks to receive money
orders. It's just not worth the hassle to save $1.40 or what
ever. Use PayPal, it's a very efficient system and then
PayPal can actually transfer funds right into your own bank
account. PayPal also offers a debit card, so you can go to
an ATM machine and take money out of your payPal account
directly. I love that about PayPal as well.
9 - Once you list
things on eBay, make sure you check your eBay account at
least once a day for messages. A potential buyer may have a
simple question about one of your items. And a Buy It
Now item could get snapped up quickly because you
responded to an email in a very timely manner. Answering and
following up is very important. Remember some buyers may buy
from you 3 or more times. So treat every potential customer
with the greatest respect.
10 - Don't be shy to
check yard sales, estate sales or any of your local online
classified ads, even the bulletin boards in your local
grocery stores. They are great resources to find other
things you can buy and resell on eBay. Someone else is
selling items just like you are and they are not using eBay.
Many are prepared to take quick cash and those are the
places you will find your best items to resell. You know the
saying "buy low & sell high". And in no time at all, you'll
start to get really good at this. And that will put new cash
in your pocket on a regular basis.
I hope these ideas are
helpful. You can join my free
eBay Treasures Club
newsletter. Where I continue to share even more free eBay
secrets (just below). I hate spam too, your email
address will be kept totally confidential.
