Tips for selling on eBay

Author: John Case

Article:
Tips for Selling on eBay(R)

* The first thing you should do is sign up an account with
Paypal.com. Once your account is set up, follow Paypal's
instructions to verify your address and account. This will help
build buyers' trust in you as a seller. Paypal will help you
easily accept payment from buyers as well as pay wholesale
suppliers securely.

* NEVER respond to an e-mail from Paypal that asks you for your
login information, or asks you to follow a link to a login page.
This is a scam known as "phishing." A typical message might
include scare tactics such as "We have noted an illegal login
attempt to your account" or "You have added a new e-mail address
to your account." If you follow the link, you will be directed
to what LOOKS like a Paypal login page, but your login
information will actually be sent to crooks, who will promptly
use your info to clear out your account. Paypal will NEVER send
you an e-mail asking for your login info. If you receive a
suspicious e-mail, you should forward it to: spoof@paypal.com
and they will reply to let you know if it is authentic or not.

* Never respond to an e-mail from eBay that asks for your login
information. Some bogus messages appear to be from interested
buyers. For example: "Is your product still for sale? Let me
know!" or "I sent payment 2 weeks ago! Where is my product?"
Another common message is: "Update your eBay information within
48 hours, or your account will be suspended!" Again, your login
info will be forwarded to scammers who will use your eBay ID to
artificially drive up prices on their own auctions, or use your
eBay ID to run a fraudulant auction in which they collect
payment for an item that doesn't exist. If you receive a
suspicious e-mail, forward it to spoof@ebay.com and they will
let you know if it is authentic. If you want to respond to a
question from a buyer, it is safer to login to your eBay
account, and go to the "My Messages" section, and reply directly
through eBay.

* When buying from a wholesale supplier, ALWAYS pay through a
credit card, or Paypal. NEVER pay for products through Western
Union. Many Western Union clerks do not require ID for the
seller to pick up the money. It is too easy for a wholesaler to
collect the money and not send your order. If a wholesaler
insists on Western Union, simply look for another supplier.

* If you pay a wholesaler through an escrow service, use only
escrow.com. If a wholesaler insists on another escrow service,
simply look for another supplier.

* Before buying from a wholesale supplier, be sure to check
eBay for similar items and calculate if you can sell for a
competitive price and also get a profit. Each and every day, an
average of $86 million changes hands through eBay(R) auctions.
Every day, an estimated 2 million people use eBay(R) to buy
things they can not find in stores, or to get rid of things they
do not use any more in order to make room in their house. But
did you know that 430,000 eBay(R) run a full or part-time
business from their homes? Of course, there are the big product
sellers, who auction off things like new cars, real estate, or
computers. However, there are also normal people running eBay(R)
business from their homes, not only selling things that are no
longer needed around the house, but selling everyday consumer
goods, and making a full-time income from it.

The secret of eBay(R) success is finding products to sell that
match your interests and lifestyle, locating a reliable
wholesale supplier, and mastering the system of putting up
auction pages on eBay(R) in order to keep your seller fees to a
minimum while maximizing your profits.

Here are some tips for selling on eBay:

* Remember that eBay users will buy based on cost as well as
reliability of the seller. If you have a relatively low feedback
score, and you are selling the exact same item at the exact same
cost as a seller with feedback of 3000 or more, you are not
going to make many sales.

* Create e-mail template message to communicate with buyers.
You should make at least three messages: one for when you
receive payment, one for when you send the order, and one to
send approximately two weeks later, to check if everything is
OK. Good communications are essential in building good feedback
ratings.

* Feedback is very important. Always leave positive feedback
for buyers as soon as payment clears. If a buyer has not left
positive feedback by two weeks after the close of the auction,
send a follow up e-mail. Be very careful about leaving neutral
or negative feedback. Even if you have a valid reason for
leaving negative feedback,once you leave negative feedback, the
buyer is likely to retaliate with negative feedback, harming
your reputation. Instead, use eBay's "Send an invoice to buyer"
or "Report an unpaid item" functions.

About the author:
John Case operates http://www.easy-learn-to-earn.com, which
provides free information on making money online.