"Make Money Ebay"
tips from a pro

"Make money Ebay" is a typical search engine phrase which everybody understand.

Buyers want to strike a good deal, sellers don't want to loose money.

I am writing these pages because of requests for pricing that I get.

Here are some Ebay collecting tips both from the buyer and the seller point of view. (A "buy sell ebay resource")

Related Article

• Top 10 collectible value factor (an antique appraisals insight)
• What's the difference between "vintage" and "antique"?
  
  

Let's take the example from a Hardy bamboo rod that you want to sell...

Here is what to do.

The seller

How much is my rod really worth NOW?

Make money online-mentality switching on....

1.

You can start browsing through auctions and see. Better if you have weeks of browsing and checking. Also you MUST see which category is the best (most articles): in our case the best category is "outdoor sports>fishing>vintage"

Alternatively, go here (terapeak) or here (vendio)and sign up for a FREE/TRIAL account (occasional eBAy user like most of us)

2. Look at the prices in the last 14 days.

I did it for you (done one 31 January, 2011 on terapeak)

Search for "hardy bamboo rod"

Number of listing: 3
Average price: $496
Average Starting price: $103
Sell through rate: 100% (all rods have sold)

Example:

a. Hardy Marvel bamboo fly rod 7 1/2 feet circa 1950's: sold for $1126, 7 bidders (good sign, avoid 2 bidders prices, it can be a bid "war")

b. Vintage Hardy Bros. of England Split Bamboo Fly Rod, NR: sold for $236.50

3. Once you know the price, prepare your sale

a: look for the appropriate keywords. In our case you can use these words:

fly, 3, fishing, hardy (specifically for hardy bamboo rod)

vintage, tip, 7 (generally for bamboo rod )

and of course you can use bamboo rod, cane rod, split, (plus the brand like montague, south bend) ft, build

b. decide how long you want the auction last

c. Usually, don't use a reserve unless the item is very valuable and very rare(e.g. a Gillum, Garrison, etc..; but for these items consider an real auction house.)

d. Don't use a "buy now" or "fixed price" option.

e. For cheap item, start your bid at $9.99 (the eBay fees are less), risky but do your maths and see the frequency of the bids/bidders and sell-through rate! "For items that sell for more than $550 and are thinly traded (like a valuable vintage cane rod), you're better off starting them with a high opening bid than using a reserve or fixed price listing. This will lower your ebay fees. ebay was running a promo for free auction insertions regardless of opening price. I expect to see this promo repeated a few times a year. " Terry Gibbs (February 1, 2011)

I warmly recommend you these Ebay Tips! by Terry Gibbs, a real professional..

Here is for instance what he advices:

1. Would you pay a quarter for a penny? 17 percent of eBay sellers
regularly spend quarters to get pennies. What is this common
mistake made by over 17 percent of new sellers? 

Listing items for 10.00 opening bid. eBay charges 35 cents listing
fee for items started between 1.00 and 9.99. Items started between
10.00 and 24.99 are 60 cents. For items started at 10.00 that only
get one bid the seller pays an extra 25 cents in listing fees. This
is like paying a quarter for a penny.

2. What listing upgrades are always a waste of money? 

Gallery featured. Very few people search the Galleries. Many of the
eBay listing upgrades have little effect on the final bid price,
and are also a waste of m0ney. The Auction Revolution Manual
explains all listing upgrades in easy terms you can understand.

3. What is the most common mistake made by eBay sellers? 

(Using eBay picture hosting. Not only is this expensive, but the
size and quality of the images is poor. Doing your own images
actually takes less time than using eBay's system. Another big
negative for eBay's picture service is during peak searching times
the images do not load correctly because the system cannot handle
the traffic. 

In the Auction Revolution you will learn how to crop, edit and host
your own images. After about 20 auctions, the amount you save on
images and the higher sales prices you get with your own high
quality fast loading images will more than cover the cost of the
Auction Revolution System.

4. Which eBay listing option always results in a 12-15 percent
lower ending price? 

eBay picture services slide show option. These are slow loading and
make potential bidders wait. If you are going to use multiple
images you are better putting fast loading pictures in a stack. Not
only is this cheaper than paying for a slide show, but it allows
the potential bidder to examine the pictures as they load rather
than waiting for all images to load. Remember, eBay is about
selling not entertaining. Selling is about building up confidence
and trust. Nothing that does not add to the viewer's desire to
purchase should be included in an auction.

5. What's the one thing that will destroy a buyer's confidence and
cause him to leave your auction without bidding? 

Poor photographs; close second- negative and/or wordy language.
People look at the auction images for two reasons. First - to
insure you really have the item you are selling. Second - to
determine condition and style. A photograph without adequate detail
will leave bidders unsure of the condition. You must have clear
fast loading quality images in your auctions. Negative or
aggressive language and lengthy terms of sale also decrease bidder
confidence because buyers are unsure how you will treat them after
the sale, and fear complicated payment conditions. The Auction
revolution explains buyer psychology in terms you can use to
increase buyer confidence and get higher bids. 

6. What is a simple trick with pictures to make your auction stand
out? 

Put them at the top of your auctions. People browse the auction
listings by looking at the title to determine if they are
interested in looking at the auction, then when they open an
auction the first thing they look at is the picture. Having a fast
loading detailed picture at the top of your auctions will get you
more buyer interest.

7. What two common seller mistakes will always cause lower final
selling prices?

Poor titles and wrong categories. People search eBay two ways.
Advanced users search by looking at categories of similar items or
with specific keywords. Beginning buyers search with broad
keywords. Failing to put your items into the right category, and
not using the keywords bidders search for in your title will always
cause lower selling prices. The Auction Revolution will show you
how to find the right keywords for any item - even if you do not
know what you are selling.

8. What is the most common reason people who start eBay businesses
fail? 

There are two main reasons people fail. The biggest is not having a
plan for acquiring items to sell. After you sell the unwanted items
lying around your home, you must have a system for getting more
items to list. The Auction Revolution explains eight easy ways to
get highly profitable items to sell on eBay.

The second reason people fail to run a profitable eBay business is
not having a system for listing and dealing with payments. This
increases the workload, and results in duplicated effort. In the
Auction Revolution you will learn a system for handling auction
developed over the course of running more 12,000 successful
auctions. The system will be the basis for your success.

Terry Gibbs

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! (1 February 2011)

Terry just told me that he will discontinued the forum. But I personally recommend the link because of the wealth of information and many good advices you can get (for istance read below)

Terry also gives this advice for expensive (over $300) items for international shipping in his paid subscription niche forum (posted in June 2008):

When you ship anything worth more than $300 you need to have the buyer sign for the item. This is the brown delivery confirmation slip from the post office. Failure to get a signature means the buyer can report not getting it and get a refund from PayPal. Insurance doesn't mean signature confirmation. 

For items under $300, you can use the green delivery confirmation slips as proof of delivery. Paypal won't automatically refund a buyer's money for non delivery if you use the green slips under $300. 

Shipping to foreigners is a problem because there is no way to prove delivery. Countries like Russia and Italy are especially prone to claims of non receipt. If you cannot prove delivery PayPal will refund the buyer's money. It doesn't matter if the buyer is lying or the item was stolen/lost in the mail. Once you hand the package to the clerk at the post office, you have no control. 

If you're going to ship internationally, you should use Fedex, or one of the other carriers. 

The post office will sell you more than $5000 worth of insurance, but won't pay out more than $5000 on a claim. The same is true for UPS.

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