Many people underestimate the potential of online ecommerce. You can sell anything from books to electronic to gardening equipment on the net. Ebay is the perfect marketplace to make easy money on ebay. With millions of dollars of transactions per day, you can make a full time living just by selling on ebay.

The first step to making money on ebay is to setup a seller account on ebay and if possible setup a storefront on ebay. It’s cheaper in the long run and you can put up more inventory for sale.

Ebay has made it very easy to setup your own store on Ebay. Even if you are not computer savvy, there are step by step guide that can guide you. After that, you need to learn how to advertise to attract targeted potential buyers to your auctions.

The key to learning how to make money on ebay is selecting the right ebay categories, the title and subtitle and the right keywords to attract visitors to your auction listings. There are various ebay tools such as the ebay research tool and other third party ebay research tools such as terapeak and hammertap that can assist you in this aspect.

Ebay also has several upgrade options to make your auction listings stand out but they cost money I would recommend you buy the upgrade to bold your ads at the minimum.

Another important aspect if you want to run a long term ebay business is your reputation. On ebay, it is transparent via the feedback option. Potential buyers can see the feedback from your previous customers and it can help you tremendously if you have a 100% positive ebay feedback.

There are several guides online that can teach you how to make easy money on ebay. Some provide genuine good information while many are just ebay scams and you should be careful who you learn from.

By: Ricky Lim

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content

Becoming a seller on ebay can be daunting. Becoming a travel seller can be impossible, unless you know the secrets. My tips on selling on eBay can apply to all categories of items, but some steps are unique to selling travel.

The travel industry is highly regulated on EBay, as it should be. High standards keep out disreputable sellers and scam artists, and adds to your own company’s trustworthiness when you are approved by eBay..

1. Before you are even thinking about selling travel on eBay, it is important to get a username and email address just for eBay. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. Register as a seller and you can use the same username to buy as well. Choose a name that reflects what you sell i.e., “Bermudabound” rather than “sexyblueeyes”. Other eBay members will come to recognize you by your User ID, so it’s a good idea to choose one you’ll want to use for the long term.

2. Your eBay name has sunglasses (i.e., read “shady character”) for the first 30 days, so don’t try to sell anything while you are wearing shades. Use this time to buy on eBay and learn good practices from other sellers.

3. Set up a PayPal account. EBay buyers feel more confident purchasing something from a seller who accepts PayPal. According to PayPal, “Listings that offer PayPal are 6% more likely to sell and experience a 5% average increase in final price.” Go to www. Paypal.com. Get a business account. Registration is free.

4. In the first 30 days, buy small items on EBay, pay for them promptly. I have always found eBay sellers to offer good values, provided that you check their feedback listing first.

5. Pay your seller promptly, because then you will always get positive feedback from your seller. Your feedback profile is the most important aspect of your reputation at eBay. Feedback is extremely important on eBay, as your future buyers can evaluate you at a glance. Even one strike against you counts heavily.

6. Create your “About Me” page on eBay. Use this page to tell other eBay users about yourself and your interests, your experience and your products.

7. While you are waiting the 30 days, also become a) ID verified and b)square trade approved. a) Get ID Verified through eBay as an extra sign of security for buyers. When a member gets ID Verified, a third-party company working with eBay confirms the member’s identity by cross checking their contact information across consumer and business databases. You’ll see the ID Verify icon in verified members’ profiles.

B) The Square Trade Seal is one way for sellers to show bidders that they are committed to high selling standards and have had their identity verified by a third party. You will need a credit card and your IATA, ARC, or seller of travel number. Both are requirements for selling travel, and you must place these numbers as the first lines of your ads on EBay. All members listing airline tickets, cruises, vacation packages, or lodging must be participants in the Seller Verify by SquareTrade Program. This program combines verification of sellers with ongoing monitoring. For instructions on this, go to eBay.com.

8. When you are ready to list your items at auction, sell small stuff first, building customers and credibility. Sell all items with no reserve, at the lowest price you can afford to accept, and fill all orders promptly.

9. Choose carefully what you will sell. You cannot sell some travel certificates, or vouchers and all listing must list the exceptions, blackout dates, and extra taxes and shipping charges. Travel agents, and other businesses selling travel services are regulated in eBay. According to the eBay rules for selling travel, “Businesses and individuals who sell and/or arrange air or sea travel or accommodations (but do not directly provide the travel service themselves) may list air and ship related travel items (i.e. airplane tickets and cruise trips), along with accommodations, on eBay only if they are licensed as sellers of travel lawfully able to do business in all 50 states and they themselves will be booking the travel for the winning bidder. Their listings should clearly set out their California seller of travel license number as well as any other license information required in other states. It is against eBay policy for travel clearinghouse affiliates, that are not actual agents booking the travel themselves, to list travel auctions on the site. Sellers are required to include the following disclaimer in all listings for travel exactly as it appears below and in a text size and color that can easily be seen and read by all bidders:

“By listing this auction I verify that I am the actual travel agent or travel provider and not a third party affiliate. The travel/accommodations in this auction will be booked directly through me and not an outside agency. I also verify that, other than the government taxes and related government fees stated within the listing description itself, there will be absolutely no additional fees, charges or after auction purchases associated with booking the travel within this listing.”

For travel services other than air or sea travel, businesses and individuals may offer gift certificates or coupons that are issued by a specific provider of travel, such as a gift certificate to a particular hotel. They may not, however, offer travel club memberships or “choice travel” certificates.”

10. Setting your price

Selecting your starting price requires balancing between how much money you want for the item, and what buyers will pay for it. As part of your pricing strategy, you can research the ending bids for similar items. You can look at similar item completed eBay listings using the completed listings search.

Be sure to include in your price enough to cover your insertion fees, final value fees, and your paypal fees. Set the LOWEST possible price you can afford to accept, but don’t offer something at a price you really don’t want to accept. Buyers expect bargains on ebay purchases, and you may, in the beginning, only get one bid on your item.

Attractively priced items (such as those priced at 99cents) may receive many bids, but unless it is a really outstanding items, the winning bidder may not have bid anything near your cost.

Setting your price involves not only deciding the starting price of your item, but also selecting pricing options based on which selling format you select.

Pricing for the auction-like listings:

The starting price is the lowest price you are willing to sell your item. Bidding will start at this price. Sellers have found that setting the starting price too high may discourage bidding.

If you do not want to sell your item below a certain price, you can specify a reserve price. A reserve price is an option you can use to stimulate bidding on your listing and reserve the right not to sell below the price you want. I do not recommend this option as it discourages buying.

Pricing for fixed price listings: In my experience, this is not a good way to sell anything, since the ebay method is based mainly on auction items. Enter the price at which you wish to sell your item or items as the Buy It Now price.

 

11. Build a store. EBay stores are free for the first 30 days. Afterwards, they are a small fee per month. ($15.95 / month) According to eBay, Store sellers see on average a 25% incremental increase in sales the 3 months after opening their Store.” Here is where you can list all those other items that are higher priced, but good value at a low listing fee - at Insertion Fees of .03-.10 per month - use good til cancelled

Note: The Insertion Fee covers a single listing (with any quantity of items in the listing), whether you list 1 or 1,000 of the same item. Final Value Fees range from 12.00% of the closing price for cheap items to

Over $1,000.01

12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial $25.01 – $100.00 ($6.00), plus 4.00% of the initial $100.01 – $1,000.00 ($36.00), plus 2.00% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01-closing value)

Auction and Fixed Price listings appear in your eBay Store as well as in eBay Search and Listings. The store allows your buyers to peruse your other items in addition to your auction items. Go to: http://pages.eBay.com/storefronts/openbenefits.html

12. Completing a sale: Remember, your reputation is of utmost importance. If your item sells successfully, the sale needs to be completed. This includes contacting your buyer, accepting payment and shipping the item.

13. I also recommend a “buy it now” listing, using the actual price of your item, i.e, what you really want. Using the “best offer” option allows members to make you a lower offer. Tip: Set a limit on “best offer” minimum bids, or you will get absurd offers of 1 cent or more.

14. Don’t use Listing Upgrades when you are new. Use your own hosting for pictures or eBay Picture Hosting.

15. For free templates for use on ebay, I like http://www.template-o-matic.com/

16. Examples of actions that are not allowed on eBay:

Bidding on your own item, or having family members, roommates or employees bid on your item (called shill bidding). For policy and examples, see Shill Bidding.

Interfering with another member’s transaction.

Accepting payment and sending an item that is significantly different from the item described in the item listing. For policy and examples, see Seller Non-performance.

Refusing to accept a buyer’s PayPal payment using a credit card when the seller included the PayPal logo in the listing.

Charging buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards.

If something goes wrong, including having problems with your buyer, there are options to help with your transaction problems.

17. Some ebay fees:

When you list an item on eBay, you’re charged an Insertion Fee. If the item sells, you are also charged a Final Value Fee. The total cost of selling an item is the Insertion Fee plus the Final Value Fee. The minimum insertion fee is 15 cents and goes to $4.00, depending upon the starting price of the auction. Final Value Fees:

Item not sold No Fee

 

$0.01 - $25.00**

8.75% of the closing value

 

$25.01- $1,000.00

8.75% of the initial $25.00 ($2.19), plus 3.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000.00)

 

Equal to or Over $1000.01

8.75% of the initial $25.00 ($2.19), plus 3.50% of the initial $25.01 - $1,000.00 ($34.12), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 - closing value)

 

 

 

For examples of travel stores on eBay, take a look at: http://stores.ebay.com/Travel-Ireland-and-Britain_W0QQsspagenameZMEQ3aFQ3aSTQQtZkm

 

Ellen Mc Nulty is President of Lynott Tours, specialists in travel to Ireland and Britain.. Lynott Tours has been selling travel for 38 years, and can be found on the Internet at www.lynotttours.com and www.cruisetourplanners.com as well as www.australiatravelmaster.com

By: Ellen McNulty

About the Author:

Kansieo.com

Are you looking to start buying on eBay? If you have never used eBay before, you may not necessarily know that it is relatively easy to fall victim to an eBay scam. While eBay is considered a safe place to shop online, there are a number of eBay scams that you should be on the lookout for. Knowing what these scams are, before you start shopping on eBay, will help to reduce or completely eliminate your chances of becoming a victim.

Before we start to examine some of the most common eBay scams that you should be on the lookout for, it is important to mention why those scams exist. eBay is considered an online market place or an online auction website. Just about anyone with an internet connection and an eBay account can start eBay sale auctions. This is what makes it possible for scammers to trap innocent shoppers like you. While eBay does work to combat these scams and eliminate the individuals behind them, there are some people who slip through the cracks. That is why you will always want to be on the lookout for eBay scams.

Speaking of common scams to be on the lookout for, one of the most common scams involves selling a product that the seller actually doesn’t have. This type of scam is sometimes difficult to spot, but there are signs that you should look for. When posting an eBay auction, an eBay seller should have pictures of the item or items that they are selling or at least accurate descriptions. With some items, such as books, CDs, or movies, eBay sellers are given the option of using a stock photo; one that is provided by eBay. All other items should have a genuine photo, taken by the seller. If not, you may want to refrain from making the purchase, as it may mean that the seller isn’t even in possession of the item or items that they are trying to sell you.

In addition to selling items that they don’t even have available, another common eBay scam involves lying about the items that they do have. For instance, there are some eBay sellers, although a small number of them, who claim that they have an item, like a car radio, which is in brand new condition, but it isn’t always. It is not uncommon for some eBay seller to outright lie or strength the truth a little bit. Unless you have a watchful eye, you may not find out until it is too late. That is why it is advised that you not only purchase items from eBay that are accompanied by pictures, but that you also examine those pictures. You will want to try and see if something really does look new or if it is in “like new,” condition.

Another common eBay scam that you will want to look for involves those who want your personal information. This type of scam is implemented in two different ways. First, there are a small number of sellers who tell you that they need your credit card information, but they shouldn’t. Whether you pay by PayPal, personal check, or money order, you shouldn’t give out any personal information to any eBay sellers, even if you are buying an item from them. If you are not using PayPal, just send a check or money order to the address given to you, nothing else needs to be done.

The second eBay scam that involves trying to get your personal information is phishing. Phishing scams are increasing in popularity, making it easier to fall victim to one. With phishing scams, a scammer sends out an email that looks like it is from eBay. The email is often accompanied with a message stating that something is wrong with your account and that you need to click on the attached link, sign in and fix it. This is a scam. What they are trying to do is get your eBay account information. Once that has been done, they may have access to stored personal account numbers, as well as the ability to use your eBay account to make fraudulent purchases.

The above mentioned eBay scams are just a few of the most common ones that you may run across. Although there are those on eBay who are trying to scam or take advantage of you, the chances of falling victim to a scam on eBay are actually quite low, as long as you proceed with caution.

By: Nicholas Tan

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content

If you are an eBay buyer, seller or would simply like to learn more about ebay then you are invited to visit

The MSRD Inc Forum. This forum is fairly unique as it allows registered users to post messages about the items they have up for sale or auction on eBay complete with the link to their eBay page. The message can even include images of the items and best of all it is free. The MSRD Inc Forum also features an Open Forum , a General eBay Forum and a forum style Article Directory.

As I am sure you are aware not every item listed on eBay actually sells. The eBay search function is very good at helping people find what they are looking for but some eBay pages always seem to get more traffic than others. One good reason for this is that some eBay stores and pages have links to them from other websites. All the search engine optimization gurus will tell you that is a good thing and they are right. Plus your eBay store gets traffic from the link itself provided the other website actually gets traffic and that is the goal at The MSRD Inc Forum.

If you have items up for sale or auction on eBay you can register as a user at The MSRD Inc Forum for free and start posting messages right away. In the eBay Stores and Sellers Free Ad Forum you can post ads for your eBay items and stores with text descriptions, images and the link to your eBay page. When you register as a user you get a signature file where you can also put the link to your eBay store and it will appear under all your post in all the MSRD Inc Forums.

Posting an ad for your eBay auction on any site does not do you a lot of good unless that site gets traffic.

That is the function of the MSRD Inc forum style Article Directory which appears below the main eBay forum under the category MSRD Inc Article Directory. The article directory is simply a series of 26 forums in alphabetical order. Such a directory can be filled up with articles on every subject from A to Z. With enough keyword and key phrase text article content and enough incoming links it could produce what can only be called non targeted general interest search engine traffic. The search engine optimization gurus will tell you that you are better off finding a niche and focusing on just one subject and nobody will disagree. However, this forums main theme is eBay and people will be posting messages about items up for sale and auction on eBay. These items will of course include merchandise of every description from A to Z. That being so non targeted general interest A to Z type search engine traffic is what this site actually needs.

If you are an eBay buyer visiting the MSRD Inc Forum can help you find more information about merchandise listed on eBay. Including descriptions and even images posted in the eBay Stores and Sellers Free Ad Forum by the sellers themselves. Buyers can also find more information about any subject from A to Z in the MSRD Inc Article Directory and therefore any kind of merchandise from A to Z. Some of the articles in the directory may have been written by authors who are also eBay buyers and sellers. If you have anything to say that is related to eBay please feel free to post it in the General eBay Forum.

If you are an article author yourself then you are invited to register and post your articles in the directory. It works pretty much the same way as any other article directory and it is free.

By: Burl T. Collins

About the Author:

Kansieo.com

Since the launch of Amazon.com in 1995, the number of affiliate marketing programs offered on the internet has grown enormously. Although Amazon.com was one of the pioneers with their affiliate program, other affiliate providers such as eBay and Clickbank now arguably offer a more diverse and profitable affiliate program.

The eBay Affiliate Program

Put simply, eBay launched their affiliate program to obtain more targeted traffic to their site. Originally many webmasters used the eBay affiliate program simply to make additional revenue from their existing web site. This has changed recently with an advancement in the quality of RSS feeds leading to a number of different affiliate store scripts flooding the market. These affiliate store scripts have created a new phenomenon where new eBay affiliates establish an affiliate store as the primary purpose of their web site and then add relevant content. EBay affiliates are now creating web sites that are established primarily to make affiliate commissions and not necessarily to provide useful and relevant content for the visitor.

My eBay Affiliate Store

I have an interest in golf and established my own eBay affiliate golf store called davesgolfstore.com using an eBay affiliate store script called Build A Niche Store. I provide my own web site content and have a direct feed of products from eBay. Every product listed on eBay under the golf category is displayed on my site in real time. When somebody clicks on a set of golf clubs listed on my site they are taken directly to eBay. If they place a successful bid I receive a commission from eBay ranging from 20-65% of eBays income. When I refer a new customer to eBay who makes a successful bid I receive a commission up to $24. The one downside of being an eBay affiliate is that you rely heavily on generating organic traffic from top listings on the search engines. The average commission I receive per sale is between $1-2. These commissions are quite small and it makes it difficult to use other traffic generating methods such as pay per click advertising. Given the search engines constantly update their page ranking algorithms, the inherent risk is it becomes difficult to generate consistent traffic as you rely heavily on organic searches.

Clickbank Affiliate Program

Clickbank offers an affiliate program that is primarily associated with promoting digital products that are predominantly ebooks. Similar to eBay, ClickBank has a diverse range of products to promote over a number of different categories across a range of interests and hobbies. The primary difference between Clickbank and eBay relates to the commissions paid per sale. Clickbank affiliates can earn between 25% to 75% per sale price while eBay commissions are based solely on eBay’s revenue per sale and not the total sale price of the item. The majority of eBooks available on Clickbank are “How To” type ebooks. Historically these types of ebooks sell in high volumes and suit the internet given buyers generally have instant download access to the ebook they purchase. Given the digital nature of Clickbank products , promotion does involve providing more content rich web sites as potential buyers generally require more information before they make a purchase. Buyers take a different approach to eBay where generally the majority of goods purchased are still “hard goods” and most buyers already have an understanding of what they are purchasing.

Clickbank or eBay - You Decide?

There are more resources online when it comes to making money on Clickbank as opposed to making money with eBay affiliate marketing. Wealthy Affiliate.com is one of the more popular making money with Clickbank resources available on the internet while Build A Niche Store is now commonly used amongst eBay affiliate marketers. If you are willing to provide a content rich site, promoting Clickbank products can be very profitable given the higher commissions received where as eBay affiliate marketing is more suitable for those who don’t necessarily wish to develop content rich sites and prefer to promote traditional type “hard goods”.

Running a web site that is established primarily to make affiliate commissions is some what a floored concept. A web site should be created for the purpose of providing relevant and useful content to the visitor, and then relevant affiliate and non affiliate links can be provided to the visitor to help them further with their search.

By: David Glen

About the Author:

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