As you know eBay is ageless and genderless, anyone can use it. It's a terrific way to earn extra cash in retirement as well. My free eBay Treasures Club newsletter offers even more free eBay secrets than are listed here.
So let's start with your Top 10 Free eBay Secrets:
1 - Always keep in mind that there are two types of buyers, and two types of sellers. Some sellers sell because they really need the cash and other sellers sell because they know they really have valuable items that will sell for good dollars.
The two types of buyers, the first buys on impulse, because they love a great deal, and the second buys because they are collectors and can also spot a great deal.
So you want to sell because you really want the extra cash, but also because you've done your research, and you know your items have real value. Thus you can price your items higher, and yes, even the collectors will find your item and buy from you.
Don't get trapped into putting 25 things on eBay without doing your homework first.
2 - It can take just as much effort to list an item for $10.00 as it does to list an item for $250.00 . A little research can save you a great deal of effort and can earn you eBay Powerseller status very quickly (eBay Powersellers must sell at least $1,000.00 a month for 3 straight months in a row).
3 - eBay will charge you a little extra so that you can make your pictures larger and easier for the buyer to see your items. Don't try to save 50 cents and not go for this feature. Bigger pictures are always better, it brings the buyer that much closer to buying your item. NOTE: Don't just take pictures, take great pictures, it's very important.
4 - Here's one of my best free eBay secrets! eBay reports that their biggest selling days are Sunday nights and believe it or not, Friday nights come second. So always let your auctions run for 10 days, start on Thursday night at 9pm and run to the following Sunday at 9pm. This allows you to expose your item over two Friday nights and 2 Sunday evenings as well. I will expand on that a bit more in my free eBay Treasures Club newsletter.
5 - When doing your research, always look at what your item has previously sold for by someone else on eBay. Do your search first, and that will show you what is listed for sale right now, then click on "completed items" ( you'll find that link on the left column). Now you can see exactly what people have paid for that item and you can see how other sellers listed their item as well. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Some sellers have been around a long time, and list things in a way they know attracts buyers like a magnet. Follow their success, and it will become your success as well.
6 - A personal favorite of mine is offering Free Shipping! People love this feature, it's like buying an item, taxes included. Why does this work? Because people know exactly what price they are paying. And trust me, people always prefer to see a $69.00 price, all in, versus $56.00 for the item and then $13.00 shipping. Why? Because the shipping fee strikes a negative nerve, it makes people mad that it costs so much and all that negative energy distracts them from buying, makes sense right! Just give them one price where possible. If it means you have to add a few dollars to your selling price, no problem. It always works for me.
I love using this on eBay! Experiment with the "Buy It Now" feature. When you say Buy It Now, people can not bid, the first buyer owns your item. Shoppers know, if they are really interested they MUST consider your "Buy It Now" feature, as someone else may just snap it up, and they have lost their chance to buy your item. Buy It Now with FREE Shipping is extremely powerful for you the seller!
7 - Sadly, there will always be customers who will try to rip your off. Not many, but they are out there. They'll say the item never arrived etc. Always mail your items with a post office tracking number, it will save you a ton of grief down the road and if the item actually goes missing and you have insured it, you are always covered. Just get burned once in this way, and you'll track and insure everything after that. Just trust me on this one!
8 - eBay owns PayPal, and it's clearly the best way to get paid. In my early days I wanted money orders, because I didn't want to pay PayPal the extra fee. It took weeks and weeks to receive money orders. It's just not worth the hassle to save $1.40 or what ever. Use PayPal, it's a very efficient system and then PayPal can actually transfer funds right into your own bank account. PayPal also offers a debit card, so you can go to an ATM machine and take money out of your payPal account directly. I love that about PayPal as well.
9 - Once you list things on eBay, make sure you check your eBay account at least once a day for messages. A potential buyer may have a simple question about one of your items. And a Buy It Now item could get snapped up very quickly if you respond to an email in a timely manner. Answering and following up is very important. Remember some buyers may buy from you 3 or more times. So treat every potential customer with the greatest respect.
10 - Don't be shy to check yard sales, estate sales or any of your local online classified ads, even the bulletin boards in your local grocery stores. They are great resources to find other things you can buy and resell on eBay. Someone else is selling items just like you are and they are not using eBay. Many are prepared to take quick cash and those are the places you will find your best items to resell. You know the saying "buy low & sell high". And in no time at all, you'll start to get really good at this. And that will put new cash in your pocket on a regular basis.
I hope these ideas are helpful. You can join my free eBay Treasures Club newsletter. Where I continue to share even more free eBay secrets (top right of this page).
Best always,
Mike Perras, P.Mgr
twitter.com/mikeperras
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