These Are The Basics

In my life as an eBay addict, I have picked up quite a lot of knowledge about how to do things on eBay, the right way. Some from reading books and ebooks, some by reading eBay help topics, some by joining in online and face-to-face discussions with other eBayers, some by taking eBay classes, and some by trial and error. In an effort to help those of you just starting out as well as those who have been selling for some time, I'd like to share a little of what I've learned over the next few posts here on "When Do I Get To Retire?" It never hurts to get back to the basics. These are the basics.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. People everywhere are fascinated by pictures and depending on how one displays the picture of the items you are selling, a decision to buy or not to buy hangs in the balance. Often a prospective buyer will scan the search results and not even read a listing with a poor picture or none at all. Every listing needs at least one digital picture of the item. The picture must be clear and sharp and preferably in color. The background must be a solid neutral color that provides good contrast for your item. Your picture must be cropped so the image of your item fills all or most of the frame. These are the basics.

It is said that one who fails to plan is one who plans to fail. The same goes for research on eBay. Research of products similar to, or the same as, your product is essential. Before you list your items up for sale, check out what other sellers are asking for the same kind of product that you want to sell. This shows you what prices and practices (Titles, Descriptions, shipping methods, etc.) you will be competing against. In addition, search for the item you are selling under "Completed Auctions". This can help you to determine how much the items are really selling for. Setting your beginning bid or fixed price too high will mean failure. Remember also to pick a product that is selling before investing in inventory. These are the basics.

After the picture, the Title is the most important element in your listing. After all, the picture and the title are the first things the prospective buyer will see in the search results. The title must be filled with keywords. Keywords are what your buyer will search for to find your product. Think like your buyer. What keywords will she type into the search box. Put them in your title. You have 55 spaces. Try to use them all. These are the basics.

Your description is not only about listing the basic information about your product. You must market it too. Make an effort to describe your product in detail. Break your description up into paragraphs. One long paragraph will scare buyers away. Bulleted lists work well too. Learn to use words that make your buyer want your product instead of the ones the other sellers have listed. Free is always a good word...as in free shipping for instance. You can think of other words too, but don't sound like a used car salesman. People will go to the next seller. These are the basics.

Buyers like name brand products, great prices, good customer service and fast shipping. The good news is that in eBay, this is totally under the sellers’ control. So while selling, make sure you always include the correct shipping costs and explain how it will be shipped. You have no control of how long it will take to get there, so don't make those promises. These are the basics.

Choosing what payment methods to offer your prospective buyers is not just a personal choice. You need to try to meet the payment abilities of the greatest number of buyers while tempering that with your ability to deal with an occasional problem. Paypal handles most credit card purchases along with seasoned buyers with a Paypal balance. However, some buyers either aren't comfortable with a service like Paypal or they have no credit cards or even a checking account. So, your choice of allowing, or not allowing, money orders, bank checks, or personal checks may mean the difference between you or another seller getting the sale. These are the basics.

A good reputation matters more than anything else on eBay. Unless you are just on the site to sell one item and leave, the first thing that you should focus on is getting good feedback on your sales. A good percentage of eBay buyers will check the track record (called Feedback) of the person from which they are considering bidding or buying. So the better the comments and ratings you have from your past buyers, the better the chance you have of getting new buyers. These are the basics.

Lastly, providing good customer service will give you an edge over other sellers. This is shown in your attentiveness to questions sent by prospective buyers during the auction, how comforting your return policy is, and the amount of follow up in terms of emails that you provide to your customer after the sale. These are the basics.

Yes, these are the basics. But there is so much more to being successful on eBay. Check back regularly for more ramblings from an eBay addict. You never know what you'll learn. Also, if you live in the New York City greater metro area, consider taking one of our classes at Auction Progress, where you'll get the whole story, not just the basics. Our motto is "Helping eBayers Get to the Next Level."

Ken


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Finding a Local Group of eBayers

Okay, as I've said previously, I am an eBay addict. Some eBay addicts are buyers. They never sell anything, they just buy, buy, buy. To them it's like the Home Shopping Network without the TV. It's even better since it's not on TV, because their non-computing friends envy them for their techie status.

Others are sellers. (Actually, I've never met a seller who isn't also a buyer on eBay.) They want to make some money. How much money depends on the person. For some it's a hobby and others a business. I think the last statistic I read was that there are over 12 million sellers on eBay running a full time or part time business. With the exception of this last group, it's not about the money...well, not just about the money. If you are an eBay addict, you eat, sleep, and play eBay as much as you can get away with. For some it even borders on OCD, we... 'er they feel drawn to the computer all the time. Did I sell anything in the last 5 minutes?; Did anyone send me a question about one of my listings?; Are their any new sellers in my niche? etc., etc., etc.

So, one of the things that eBay addicts enjoy, is talking to other eBay addicts. Well, since this whole thing revolves around the computer and the Internet, how does one do that? Let me count the ways.... There are discussion Forums on eBay's website. There are Groups on eBay. There are even Blogs on eBay. You can also send email to other users through My Messages of eBay. I have a baseball cap with the eBay logo on it that sometimes gets another eBayer to say hello. With the possible exception of the last one, these methods are not really 'talking' to other eBayers.

What's the answer? You attend a local eBay networking group meeting. If you can't find one, you start your own local group. A couple of years ago I found a group in the neighboring state. It was an hour and fifteen minutes each way for a two hour meeting once a month. But I went, month after month...for awhile. It was great! Then one day I was reading some of the discussion topics in an online eBay Group meant for eBayers from my state. One discussion was titled, "Meeting other eBayers in Person." That got my attention. There was a lot of posting on the topic back and forth for months, but nothing ever came of it.

So I just went ahead and started a group. It's called the eBayers of Northern NJ. We meet one a month at a local Panera Bread restaurant which has free WIFI. It's not a big group , but we put notices in some of the local newspapers and we regularly get new visitors. It's so enjoyable to talk to others face-to-face and share what we buy or sell on eBay. We trade tips and techniques and stories about the products we buy or sell.

You can do this too. Go to eBay Groups and search for any groups with the name of your state as part of their name. Then join some of them and ask if there are any face-to-face networking groups in your area. If not, consider starting one. You can then go back and tell the people in those groups you visited, about the new group you started. Another way to find eBay meetings is to go to the website: Meetup.com. There you can browse groups by city or search for a meetup group with the word 'eBay' in the name.

Now, I'm looking forward to the big daddy of eBay meetups in a few weeks, the eBay Live convention in Chicago. This is eBay's annual education, networking, and exhibition gathering. I'll tell you all about it, in a month from now when I return.

Ken