Other things to avoid when trading on ebay

This world is full of jungles and I would say the biggest of them is eBay. eBay is probably the most famous auction giant than any other in the world. Everybody, young and old wants to sell and earn money here. However, you will be able to tackle this monster only if you understand how it works. We are not going to talk about what to sell as that in itself calls for a whole new article, we are going to talk about the dos and don’ts of eBay.

First, there are things you need to do before selling.

Creating your account at EBay and Paypal
The first thing that needs to be done is creating an account in eBay by registering on their site. You will then need to open an account with ‘Paypal’, if you don’t have one. Many people that buy on eBay prefer to pay by Paypal.

Digital camera
If you are planning on taking this seriously, you will need an excellent digital camera. This is required because you will be including pictures of your products along with the ads. Photos provide a confirmation to your buyer as to what you are selling and in what condition. Remember the old adage, ’Seeing is Believing”? There is no ‘if’, you will need a camera.

Next step is finding something to sell. Once that is done, you will have to set up an auction.

How to set up your first auction
Once you have decided on what you are going to sell, click ‘sell’ and you are on your way. Choosing a category for the item is important, but then eBay helps you with this too. You will need to type the item name and eBay will suggest which category it belongs to.

Writing the title and description for the item comes next. Including keywords in the title that people use to search is very important. The rest of the information about your product goes into the description. Then set a starting price. People will be more attracted to your product if the setting price of your product is 1 cent. You don’t have to worry on that front because most articles are sold at much higher. You may set up the duration of the bid, depending on the options given, because the longer the auction, the more bids you get.

Adding a picture is important, because products with pictures sell more. Select the payment method to ‘paypal’ since you already set it up. Submit and watch eBay do the magic. Some buyers may send emails with questions, make sure to answer them all. If for some reason your article doesn’t sell the first time, you don’t have to worry, eBay lets you list it again ‘free’ of charge. Once you find a winning bidder, eBay does all the work for you, like sending the buyer emails and guiding them to send you payment. Pack and send the item only after receiving the money. You will find the buyer’s address in the sale confirmation email sent by eBay

There are several ways of getting bidders to your auction.

Advertising and Ad Writing
Advertising is probably the most important aspect of marketing anything. In this respect, your ad should be captivating enough for people to want to buy your product. Let me give you some tips on writing great ads.

It is very simple to write a ..BAD ad. Most of the marketers do it anyway.
Here is an example of a bad ad – For Sale..Digital Camera..$200. Are you impressed by this? I sure am not. This certainly is not going to help if you want to make sales. You have to learn the art of writing ads that attract people. The headline is what makes or kills an ad. How about – Steal my digital camera for $$$$. I would surely be interested into looking at this one. Next comes the main ad itself. Basically, what I am trying to say is that your ad is the face of your product.

You will be shocked to know how many people end up making a mess of their campaigns on eBay. Not because they do everything wrong but because they don’t do things right.

Importance of Web Video
Another great way of attracting people and one that has proven to be successful, is adding an interactive video. They say that a picture is worth 1000 words, then imagine what a video can do. Create a video of your product and tell people about its special features. Give the basic details of where it was made and also make sure to point out any defects too. Viewers will appreciate honesty and it helps with the trust factor. Then it’s time to create a video player to put in your auction. You will find many that can be modified and used.

Market your presence
Contrary to the popular belief that people will come automatically, you will have to build a presence in order to have success on eBay. How do you build a presence? This is not done overnight, it takes a lot of sales with positive feedback to establish your presence. The key is to take your time and do things the right way and provide quality.

Here are things that you cannot afford to do if you are planning on having a long lasting profit making consistently growing eBay business.

Casual treatment
The reason most people fail is because they don’t treat EBay selling as a business and consider it as a hobby. For your information, eBay is one of the most important business giants that is there today. Treat it casually and your clients will treat you casually too and give you negative feedback, and negative feedback results in very few sales. People who buy generally go by the feedback of the seller.

Buying too much
Another one of the major mistakes made by people who are starting off as eBay sellers is they buy too much. That’s because they visualize making lots of money making a lot of sales. Do not day dream and be practical and realistic. Buy only as many as you feel you will be able to sell. Unless you are getting into selling in wholesale, remember you can always go back and buy some more.

EBay and fraud
Need I say that there are some people who adopt fraudulent methods just to get some sales and make quick money. Be extremely careful and do no entertain any such thoughts. If you are caught, not only will your account be deleted but you will also be banned for life. Honesty is what works with eBay.

Things you cannot sell
These are a few of the don’t sell items. I am providing this list so that you don’t put your foot in your mouth the first time on eBay.

o Bootlegs: Unwarranted movies of people, shot with your video camera of people.
o Copies: Copies of either computer software or PC games. Everything that’s sold should be original.
o Replicas: These are products that are made copying the original, like RayBan glasses and other brand replicas.
o No copyright: Copyright that has been stolen from others.
o Alcohol: Alcoholic beverages or alcohol.
o Smoking products: Cigarettes or tobacco products.
o Weapons: Weapons of destruction.
o Animal products: Products made out of animal skin.
o Tickets.
o Catalogues that contain listing of products.
o Prizes cannot be announced or given for anything.

Let me tell you, following the tips given above, you can make your eBay selling a success and eventually you will end up making great profits.