How Start an Online Auctions Business
With words like recession and credit crunch filling the newspapers many of us are looking for ways to increase their income. As you look for ways to make some extra money, you might want to consider online auctions. eBay is the largest and most successful online auction site. There is no reason why you should not join the many thousands of people who are making a god income selling products on this site.
So how can you start earning money through online auctions? To kick off all you need is is a product or two that you can list on eBay and you are in business! It is not a bad idea if your first auctions items come from your own home.
All of us have items around the house that we no longer use or need If you don’t believe me just take a look in your garage or attic. One item that you really do need if you are going to be successful with online auctions is a digital camera.. In order to maximize your bids, you need to have a photo of the object you are trying to sell. Potential bidders do like to know what they are bidding on. You should take at least one shot of any item in its best light and include it with your listing.
Possibly because eBay is the largest and most successful online auction site it can also be the most expensive to sell on. Therefore it can pay you to shop around and look at some of the smaller more specialized online auctions if your products are suitable.
Many sellers have moved away from eBay because of some recent fee and policy changes. Big and powerful also means expensive, as many sellers have noticed in recent months. The prices to list your item have gone up drastically since the beginning of the popular auctions site, while other websites offering the same services will still let you post for free. Check out if the websites charge you for selling and how much. That will help you make your final decision. You could also try posting auctions on several different sites and see how they turn out.
When you have reached a conclusion as to which websites are best for your purposes, you will probably have run out of items to sell from your own home. Now it is time to start looking for more sources. There are several ways to go about this.
Garage sales, car boot sales and the like are good places to find great items that just need a cleaning in order to sell well on auctions sites. However, it takes time to travel from one garage sale to the next and unless you really enjoy it, the hunt is not worth it. You will spend more time traveling, buying and cleaning than you will be paid. As they say, “time is money”!
Another option is to buy wholesale. If you are looking for wholesale items I would recommend you visit SALEHOO WHOLESALE There are dropshippers all over the world who will happily give you photos that you can post on your auctions site and when you get paid, you pay the dropshipper and give them the address of the buyer so they can send the item. The big disadvantage here, although you save time, is that dropshippers sometimes run out of things and you have no control over when an item goes out. If things go wrong, it is not your fault, but you’ll end up paying!
You could also buy several items packaged together from one auction, separate them and resell on an individual basis. This is probably the best way to go if you want to have full control and earn well.
It really is possible to earn with online auctions, you just have to know what you are doing. So get started today and start !learning.
For more information about Salehoo Wholesale click on picture
Welcome to UK Online Auction News
Welcome to the UK Online Auction News blog. My name is Dave Bromley and I have been studying and reporting on the activities since 2001. Until earlier this year I ran the UK Auction site UKAuctionline which I passed on to my friend Steve Haddock when I retired last February.
However, since then new problems have emerged effecting the worldseconomy. These are now moving on at a fast pace and effecting all our lives. This is bound to affect eBay, their buyers and sellers. So I have decided to come out of retirement to try and help those who are trying to make money selling products on eBay and the other UK online auctions.
The truth of the matter is that thousands of people are making a god living selling items on UK online auctions. Yet it is also true that many more thousands of others have tried but failed to make any real profit out of UK online auctions.
In the UK Online Auction News blog I will be providing hints and tips on how you. can grow your eBay sales. But I have to warn you that it is not going to be as easy as some people would have you believe. eBay and the other UK online auction sites are not going to be immune to the difficult financial times ahead.
There could be more and more people trying to supplement their income by trying to sell products through online auctions. How potential buyers are going to react is a little harder to fathom. It could be argued that because of the reduction in peoples spending power sales will fall in the coming months. Another view is that in some categories buyers will be looking for bargains and online auctions are well known for having bargains.
Those who survive and prosper through UK online auctions are going to have to provide a credible service to bidders.Credibility is crucial when you’re doing business – whether it’s on or offline. You need to be seen as trustworthy, otherwise people simply won’t buy – it’s the easiest thing in the world for a buyer to go elsewhere.
Feedback is one of the most important, and obvious things to keep an eye on, but it’s not the only one – here are four tips, all of which will help your feedback anyway:
1. Reply to your feedback – and do it promptly. Just a quick note: ‘thanks for your custom. If you need anything or need to know anything, give me a shout.’ That shows you’re there looking after your customers, and that you’re serious about your eBay business.
2. Be available. Respond quickly and efficiently, and informatively, to enquiries. If buyers can’t get hold of you, they quite likely won’t have the confidence in you to place a bid.
3.Get yourself to Powerseller status. This really helps. It is really not that difficult you need to build up to either 100 sales a month or have a monthly eBay turnover of £750 .You need to be invited by eBay, and getting an invitation depends on your feedback, sales, and account status. Powersellers are eBay’s finest – they sell a lot and they do it well, with good service – and buyers recognise those facts.
4. Offer a money back guarantee. This might sound scary, but it’s dead easy, it gives the buyer confidence, and very very few people request a refund – even if they’re unhappy with what they’ve received. People usually just slag it off a little but can’t be bothered with the hassle of looking for their money back. Add to that fact the good product, and good service, that you need to be supplying anyway, and you’ll get zero money back requests. I guarantee that – if I’m wrong, I’ll give you your money back.
5. Throw in a bonus – a free one. Just like this tip (I only promised you four tips!). And this fifth tip is worth £50! Don’t advertise your bonus – just give it – then it’s really free. And then you’re more likely to get good feedback, and good feedback reads as great feedback when it says, hey, I got ‘this’ too, for free! Tell the buyer the value of the bonus too, so they know precisely how fantastic you are!
I hope you find these tips useful. Remember to bookmark this blog because there is not going to be a better place to keep up to date with UK Online Auction News.
Michael Jackson Memorabilia- This is sick
I know that there is a great deal of interest surrounding the death of Michael Jackson but this listing takes the biscuit.
Selling on eBay – Getting your titles right.
There are millions of items listed for sale on eBay so it is very easy for your listing to get lost in the crowd. If you want to get your items noticed then you need to take time and care in two important areas, the title and description of your items.
Too many sellers on eBay just throw up a listing without spending very much time or thought on the matter. This is certain to lead to a failure either to get the best price or even make a sale. The majority of potential buyers look for specific items using eBay’s search facility by searching through the titles.
You can use this information to your advantage and make sure that the title of your listing is seen by those who are searching for the items you are selling. You should consider your listing as a n advertisement and the title as your headline. Leading copywriters will tell you that the headline is the most important part of an advert and as such is the part you should spend most time working on. This is just as true for your eBay listings.
You can only use a maximum of 55 characters with which to cover the maximum possible search terms for your item. Probably with such a limitation you will not be able to cover all the options but you should be able to include the major search terms a potential bidder might put in the search box if they are looking for what you have to sell.
The first step should be to try and put your self in the buyer’s shoes. What terms might he or she put in the search engine when looking for your type of item? Write down a list of terms as you think of them. Next do a search on eBay for similar items as yours. What are other sellers including in their listings? You will quickly be able to spot the amateurs who fill their titles with useless words and phrases such as WOW!,
“Cheapest on eBay “, “Biggest bargain ever!” Serious buyers would never search for phrases like those. It is just a waste of valuable characters.
If you are selling a camera for instance it is important that you include the make or brand and model number. For instance:
OLYMPUS E410 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA 2 LENS KIT E-410
This is an actual item for sale that I selected at random from eBay.co.uk and it is an example of a good title which with 3 days to go had already attracted 10 bids. The seller has used a total of 48 characters including spaces and covered the major likely search terms that someone searching for this type of camera might use.
Do not fall into the trap of spending all your time writing a superb description and then just giving it the first title that comes into your head. The more people who read your description the better price or more sales you will make. To get them there you need a title that searchers will find.
Jackson Memorabilia boost at eBay
Since the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death eBay has been flooded with visitors looking for Jackson memorabilia. eBay say that they have seen a big rise in the listing and purchases of Jackson related items.
eBay say that the number of searches for Michael Jackson items had surged 235 percent over the week prior to his death. People are apparently looking to profit off their old Michael Jackson loot, too — new listings of such gear are up 57 percent.
Michael Jackson dolls have risen in value by 450% and are currently selling for around $120. Vinyl copies of his award winning album Thriller are fetching about $70.
Beware of bogus Wimbledon tickets
Fans have been warned to beware of buying bogus Wimbledon tickets for both the Men’s and Ladies finals this week. The chief executive of the All England Club, Ian Ritchie, urged buyers to check the authenticity of the tickets.
There are tickets being offered on eBay for the men’s finals and bidding has reached £2,500. Another pair, with a face value of £200, attracted bids of £1,260 on eBay.
Before buying any tickets for the finals would be buyers are advised to contact the All England Club top check the authenticity of the tickets on offer.
The times they are a changing
If you have been around as long as me you may remember when eBay was a novelty and you could just about sell anything through the online auction. How things have changed. Buyers are becoming more demanding, more critical and more cautious.
This means that to be successful in today’s market sellers have to change their approach. To be fair many sellers having been adapting their approach to the changing market conditions for many years have prospered as a result.
To put it simply to become a successful eBay marketer requires professionalism, a business like attitude and quite a bit of work. The days of quickly throwing something up on eBay are long gone.
So does this mean the end of the good times for eBay sellers? It does if you are someone who just wants to put any old rubbish up on eBay and hope to make a quick buck. When eBay was first launched 14 years ago it was like amateur night, everyone was feeling their way and learning as they went along. Fourteen years later most of the lessons have been learnt and if you want to succeed on eBay you have to offer quality and value in a professional manner.
If you are prepared to do this then there is an opportunity for anyone to build a business using eBay as a launch pad. But as you build your business you need to be prepared to diversify. Relying on eBay as your sole outlet in the future could be a mistake.
Another eBay old wives tale was that if you sold on Bay you did not need a web site. That may have been true in the past but today no serious seller would consider having their own web site. Using your About Me page and flyers with the items you send out you can build up visitors to your site. You can then turn those visitors into customers without the need to pay any further eBay fees.
Why make life difficult for yourself? Don’t try and sell anything, sell the things people want. Sell them in a professional manner and operate your whole selling business in the same manner. Sure you might ell the odd refrigerator to an Eskimo but I bet you could sell them a lot more fur coats.
Is eBay becoming the place to buy stolen goods?
In an interesting article in today’s London Times Carl Mortished recounts his experience of suffering a robbery t his home. One of the articles stolen was a valuable vintage watch. When he told an antique dealer of his misfortune he was advised to “Look for it on eBay”.
Lo and behold a little later the watch did appear for sale on the auction site. Despite informing the police and trying to contact eBay with about the same amount of success most people have when they try and contact them the auction continued. It was only when using his power as a Times newspaper reporter and contacting the eBay press office that he was able to get the auction stopped.
The point of his article was to show how easy it is for sellers to hide behind false identities. Given the expected increase in crimes of robbery and theft due to the economic situation the problem of stolen goods appearing on eBay could grow.
What is it costing you to sell on eBay?
By Dave Bromley
There are no end of articles, ebooks, manuals and videos on the Internet that claim to show you how to make a fortune selling things on eBay. If you are to believe sales letters you are just a step away from making your fortune. But who is really making the fortune, you or eBay?
In a relatively short time eBay established itself as a huge International company which has held a near monopoly position in the online auction market for over a decade. Certainly there are many examples of both individuals and companies who have also grown and profited by marketing through eBay. However, for every success story there are many thousands of examples of less fortunate people who have spent more money than they have made from their efforts on eBay.
The truth of the matter is that it is still possible for any individual to build up a profitable business as an eBay seller. What many guides and manuals fail to emphasise is that just as in any other business you need to have a professional approach and get your costing right.
One of the major areas overlooked by newcomers is accurate costing. For example,
if you buy an item for $10 (or £10 in this example the currency does not matter) do you know how much you have to sell it for on eBay to make 50% profit. Obviously it is more than $15 because you have to also allow for all the eBay and Paypal or bank fees, plus the cost of packaging and postage.
Having decided the type of products or niche that you wish to specialise in then you need to find a reliable source of supply. Whether you are going to buy from a manufacturer, wholesaler or drop shipper you need to find out not only the basic unit price but what additional expenses such as tax or shipping have to be added.
Having established the cost of the item you then need to work out what the listing, final value and Paypal fees will apply. It is worth remembering that your listings may not always result in a sale and so you should also include an allowance in your figures for the cost of these unsuccessful listings.
Packaging takes time and money and this should also be included in your calculations. eBay are very keen to encourage sellers to keep shipping costs to a minimum and if you charge too much this can have an adverse effect on sales. Having said this, packing and shipping are not cheap and have to be included in your calculations.
Having calculated your costs you must decide on the profit per item that you require to make the sale worthwhile. This is not necessarily the price you should set, Always price your item at the price that you think your market will stand. You can always lower your price when competition or lack of demand forces it down. But never go below the price that gives you your minimum profit requirement, when that happens its time to get a new product to sell.
There is an old saying, “look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” and that is true with eBay selling. Unless you know exactly what your costs are you will find it difficult to make a fair and consistent profit.
Could eBay be your way out of recession?
By Dave Bromley
In these difficult financial times a great number of people are going to look at eBay as a possible way of solving their cash problems. Could becoming an eBay seller offer you a quick way to make some money online.
There is no doubt that a large number of individuals have been making good part and full time incomes thanks to the online auction site. So there is no reason why you could not join them. Before you commit any money or time to the venture there are some points you should consider. As with anything else in life there are pros and cons to eBay selling.
The one big factor that makes selling on eBay an attractive option is the low start up costs and the simplicity of getting started. Provided you have an Internet connection it is both easy and free to sign up to register with eBay. Having registered you can start by listing items for sale right away if you wish. However, sometime spent studying eBay and how it works could be time well spent.
eBay offer several formats for selling, auctions, buy it now and classified advertisements. eBay will take you step by step through the listing process and a good way to get started is to list some of the surplus items that you have in your own home. What attracts many people to eBay selling is that you can run your business from your home computer. There is no need for fancy offices, expensive storage facilities or the costs that go with a conventional business. It is also very easy to start small and build up as your knowledge and experience grow.
So there are some real plus points to starting a business selling on eBay but before you get carried away it is only fair to point out the downside as well. The big, big problem is that you are not the first person to realise the potential of eBay. There is a great deal of competition out there. Competition does not necessarily have to be a bad thing but unless you are prepared to put some thought and effort into your new business it could swamp you.
A large number of sellers do not use the tools eBay provide to help you, such as the About Me Page, Turbo Lister and Selling Manager Pro and this can be a mistake.. Look at the competition in your market, what are their strong areas what are their weak points. How can you become better then them?
Although it is true that the start up costs to become an eBay seller are low there is a price to pay each time you list and sell items. There are further charges when Paypal process the payment for you and all of these can mount up, especially if you are selling low cost items. Before spending any money make sure that you do your sums.
In these difficult times eBay could offer the answer to some peoples financial problems but do not be fooled into believing that it is a way to overnight riches. It is a lot like any other business 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Work smart and you should get a just reward but don’t expect it to fall into your lap.