7 Foolish Mistakes You Should Avoid If You Are New To Selling on EBay

(1) Keyword spamming

This is a sure fire way to make yourself look like a complete fool.

Basically, keyword spammers list words which are not related to the auction in the title to try and attract more visitors. Often the words they use have absolutely no relevance at all to the product they are selling.

For example:

ps2 the getaway not xbox nintendo pc sega
(from a listing found 1st November 2005)

This particular title is a very bad choice. Why on earth the seller decided to put "not xbox nintendo pc sega" in the title I do not know.

Does he think that a potential XBox buyer will suddenly feel compelled to buy a game for another console?

The only result of this is that a huge number of potential bidders will miss this auction.

The seller has overlooked the fact that anyone searching for "getaway playstation 2" will miss his auction. And people searching for that term are looking for his product!

A better title would be:

Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) Game - The Getaway - As New

Even worse than those who spam in the title are the sellers who spam in the subtitle. Searches on eBay do not include the subtitle so it is completely pointless keyword spamming in this way.

Instead of spamming, make sure you use the entire character allocation of your title and cram in as many keywords as possible.

(2) Feedback Gathering

One quick way to get to 10 or 20 feedback points is to buy lots of 1p ebooks from other eBay members.

The foolish newbie believes this to be a great way to increase feedback, after all, you can spend �1 and receive 100 positive feedbacks!

The problem comes when they start to sell products and their potential customers look through their feedback. When they see that the seller has purposely inflated their feedback by buying crap, it looks like a scammer's account.

Go about your eBay business professionally from the beginning. If you need feedback, sell some things you don't need from around the house. You'll soon build up some positive numbers next to your useame.

(3) Trying to sell "resale rights" eBooks

One reasonably well-known information marketer recently made a massive mistake by selling an eBook with resale rights. Within a couple of days her �30 eBook was changing hands for as little as 5p (�0.05).

Resale rights do not work on eBay because as soon as you sell an eBook with these rights someone even dumber than you will undercut your price. Then someone even stupider will undercut theirs. Next thing you know, several sellers are offering the eBooks, along with 10 or so more for 1p. The price drops within 48 hours and there is no real money left to be made.

If you want to sell eBooks on eBay, write them yourself and beware of other people trying to sell your work. Never try and sell someone else's work unless you have purchased the right to do so. You will get sued.

(4) They neglect to give prompt, polite service

When you list an item on eBay you can sometimes get someone who asks a very silly question or makes a ridiculously low offer. Always be courteous to these people, they may be future customers.

At the same time, when you do make a sale, ensure that the product is dispatched as soon as possible once payment is received. eBay buyers are very, very impatient. You may think that sending an item with 2 weeks is OK, most buyers want it within 2 days.

You can, and probably will, get negative feedback for being too slow or by appearing to be rude in email communication. Remember your manners, answer all questions in full and treat everyone as a potential life long customer and you will have an easier time on eBay.

(5) They sell the wrong products

The ideal eBay product is easy to source, easy to post and popular. When first starting on eBay it is a good idea to concentrate on selling small items such as CDs, DVDs, video games etc.

Buy bulk lots from eBay, break them up and list them seperately. Make sure your title, description and photos are clear and show the product for what it is. You will be surprised at the profit you can make just by doing this.

Also, steer clear of huge, bulky items. Selling plasma TVs may seem like a good idea but when you come to post your TV to the buyer, you will soon regret offering it for such a low price.

(6) They try to cheat their customers

New sellers can be very "wet behind the ears" and neglect to mention some damage to the item they are selling. If you do not mention a scratch or other significant damage on your item, the customer will retu it and expect a refund. You may even receive negative feedback for your troubles.

And, more seriously, never, ever try to bid on your own auction to raise the price. You aren't the first person who thought of it and you won't be the last. Shill-bidding will land you in trouble with eBay and potential customers. A lot of buyers check a seller's previous sales. If they continue to see the same bidder bidding on your auctions they will refuse to buy from you and may even report you. eBay will then ban you.

(7) They over-charge on postage

Be fair with your customers and you will have a lot less hassle from them. Overcharging on postage may seem like a good idea to boost profits but what you will probably find is that any potential bidder will bid less for your item if the postage is too high. Always state your postage in your auction and you will get a higher price than if you do not.

Ben Catt is an active eBay buyer and seller and runs an eBay Tips and Tricks website found at http://www.BenCatt.com. He also runs a business opportunity information site - http://www.BizOppsUK.com

eBay PowerSeller Profit Tips to Help You Make More Money on eBay 1 of a Four Part Feature

Sometimes just a few small tasks make all the difference between making a few dollars profit on eBay and generating a small fortune each month. These ideas will help you make more from your listings.

* Don�t think if an item goes unsold first time round that nobody wants it. Many times I�ve had items that failed to attract even one visitor but achieved multiple bids and high profits on second or third appearance. eBay is a fast changing marketplace with new members appearing daily and many more categories to list previously unsold goods. See the next tip.

* A more appropriate listing category might increase sales. For example, I had some World War One stereoviews which eBay�s suggestion tool considered most appropriate for listing under �Antiques and Art > Art > Photographs > Pre-1940�, where I sold some, but not many of my 200 photographs. I relisted unsold items under �Collectables > Militaria > World War 1� and lowered the price from �4 to �3. Almost all sold, many at �3, others up to �40 each. Magic!

* Market your most likely best sellers outside of eBay. For example, I had a brass statue recently depicting a Greyhound, but not just any Greyhound. This one had won the revered Waterloo Cup in 1906. I listed it under Collectables > Animals > Dogs > Greyhound but visitors were few and the statue went unsold. I relisted it in the same category, but this time I wrote to editors of specialist Greyhound and Dog Racing magazines which I�m certain helped lift a simple �Dog� statue into a much prized Racing collectible that sold for fifty pounds. (It cost me 10p at flea market).

* Look for anniversaries or other events which might inflate the price of your goods significantly, and list them close to the appropriate date. For example, an early autograph I had of Fay Wray, heroine of the film King Kong, had gone unsold over two listings, until she died recently, whereupon my third listing suddenly attracted dozens of bids and a cool �20 profit.

* Be aware that it�s just as easy (some say easier) to sell to people who have money as to others on tiny budgets. So rather than offer cheap items with tiny profit margins, go for big ticket items. You�ll probably achieve fewer sales, but you won�t work so hard and there�ll be fewer communications to handle. Consider: computers, fine jewellery, designer clothing, original art, cars, motorbikes. But be careful and check listing fees before pressing the submit button. Some items, like cars and motorbikes cost more to list and could eat extensively from your profits. Check carefully or do as I did and promote a pair of cufflinks shaped like motorbikes under Motorbikes > Accessories, and realise later you paid �6 in that category compared to the 35p you�d have paid under �Jewellery�.

* Consider setting a reserve price on a low starting bid item. The low starting price can generate early interest, but be waed, some bidders feel cheated on encountering a high reserve price on that �99p� starting price item. Nevertheless, the low starting price / reserve price combination can result in furious bidding and high realisations and guarantees you get a good price or the item goes unsold. The reserve price is never disclosed but is always fifty pounds plus.

* Specialise! Become an expert in one area and make fewer costly buying and selling mistakes. Experience also saves you time researching and listing items for sale. You�ll also generate repeat business from regular customers who�ll come to trust you and your business.

* LIST, LIST, LIST!!! And when you think you�ve listed enough � LIST SOME MORE! Waing: This applies to items you�ve already tried and tested, and not to expensive new products about which you know little or nothing.

* Aim to have a web site outside of eBay from which to sell additional items to customers derived from eBay. This can be done by including a leaflet or other mention with the original fulfillment package, thanking the buyer and inviting him (or her) to visit your web site for other items of interest. Consider including a voucher for a small discount on anything ordered outside of eBay. See the next tip.

* When you have that web site, get it listed faster in Google�s search engine by including the site url in your �About Me� page on eBay. Someone told me that Google and other search engines index eBay related pages faster than most other sites. I wasn�t convinced, so I tried, and found it worked. Start by creating an �About Me�, you�ll see how in your eBay account, and say something like. �Thank you for visiting. We are suppliers of XYZ and you can lea more about us at www.oursite.com�. Bear in mind it doesn�t matter if no-one ever visits your �About Me� page, Google and other search engine spiders will visit and index your site. I follow this technique for all new web sites and find them indexed in days or weeks, never months. Waing: eBay takes a dim view of anyone giving web site addresses in their listings, or as part of an eBay ID and active links are likely to get you barred. The rule does not apply to �About Me� pages.

* Use counters in your eBay listings. These are provided by eBay, free of charge, during the listing process. Counters let you see how many visits each listing gets, from which you can plan and make changes (lots of visits but no bids is a sign something is wrong in your listing; few visits and several bids normally indicates a hot product). Few visits and plentiful bids could indicate a niche market, one with fewer members but one hundred per cent responsive buyers. But your competition can also check popularity of your listings, allowing them to capitalise on your expertise and possibly poach your ideas and products. The choice to use counters or not is up to you and you can always remove them once testing is complete and you know your product�s a winner.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and editor of eBay Confidential and webmaster of http://www.publishingcircles.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and ebooks at http://www.toppco.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Avril_Harper

Online Auctions 5 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online Auctions

Online auctions are now the new gold rush on the inteet.

It seems as if everyone is talking about online auctions. And why not. There are thousands of online auctions on the inteet with more popping up everyday.

People love them because they can usually find great bargains. Businesses are now also seeing the benefits of online auctions.

Below are five ways your business can benefit from online auctions.

1. Get Rid Of Excess Inventory

You could sell your excess or discontinued products at an online auction. Your unsold inventory is doing you no good sitting around, collecting dust. It's an effective way to make extra income and it won't be a total loss for your business. You could even get lucky and make a profit depending on how much people will bid for your excess inventory.

2. Test Pricing For New Products

An easy way to test new product prices is to see what people will bid for them at an online auction. First, sell your product at three different online auctions. Next, calculate the average selling bid from all three auctions and that will be your selling price for your new product.

3. Sell Your Products

You can get your product in front of a large audience by selling it at an online auction. Some of the bigger auction sites draw over millions of hits a year. The key to being successful is to sell your product at multiple online auctions at the same time. Let's say you sold one product a day from just one auction site. If you sell your product at one hundred online auction sites that would be one hundred sales a day!

4. Start Your Own Online Auction

Drive traffic to your web site by starting your own online auction. People will visit your web site to find bargains and to sell their own products. You will get plenty of repeat visitors from people re-bidding on products and adding new products to sell. You could also charge other businesses to advertise on your web site.

5. Lower Your Business Costs

You can find lower prices on business supplies and equipment at online auctions. I'm not saying all the time, but before you go pay retail for a new printer try bidding on one first. A company may be selling them at a lower price at an online auction because they have excess inventory.

May you succeed in your online auctions and make a lot of money.

Warmly,

I-key Benney, CEO

I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of "Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System", (home based business) which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free �cash��

How to Focus on What It Takes to Make Money Selling on EBay

As eBay has grown and evolved over the years savvy eBay sellers have had to adapt, as is the case in any business. In the early days of eBay, virtually any items put up for sale would receive multiple bids. This allowed the sellers to start an auction at $1 and not have to worry about the final winning bid amount. The market price on eBay would dictate the true value of the product.

As time passed, more and more sellers entered the eBay arena which led to a dramatic shift in starting bid techniques. A majority of eBay Powersellers now use the fixed price format. In order to do this effectively, the seller needs to do a lot of eBay research prior to putting auction items up for sale.

By using the eBay Search Function and researching the last two weeks of completed auctions on an item, you can gauge what that item should sell for. It is a good idea to eliminate both the high and low final sale prices and then take an average of the remaining items to determine the fixed auction price.

There are several reasons top eBay Powersellers use this pricing strategy. Even though there are more sellers and increased competition, buyers are also more knowledgeable and they will also do a simple check of recent sales before they look for the item priced in the average range and simply buy it now.

This allows Powersellers to obtain market price and actually increase their sales because they do not have to wait for the end of the auction to complete the sale of their items. Another plus, this also thwarts the auction sniper who uses automated programs to shoot off a computer-generated bid in the closing seconds of an auction.

Use the pricing technique that the top tier of eBay's elite sellers are using today to increase your monthly sales and receive fair market prices for your auction items.

Tim Gilberg is able to provide information and insight from a unique perspective - that of someone who is actually doing what others just talk about. Ebay Power Seller Platinum Status was Attained by Tim Gilberg, which is one of the highest sales levels attained selling on eBay. Tim is active on Ebay and liquidation.com as well as consulting and working with other Top ebay Power Seller's to give you real life in use insight, not theories.Visit Tim Gilberg at his website Make Money on eBay

An Easy Guide To Making Money On Ebay

One way to make money on eBay that a lot of sellers underestimate is by making money on retus. Items get retued to almost every seller eventually as it's impossible to satisfy all of the buyers all of the time. By tuing your retus into profits you can make money on eBay without simply selling your items.

If you are going to make money on eBay from your retus then it is important not to refund shipping charges. You will probably make money on eBay from your shipping charges anyway if you are using cheaper materials and have a standard shipping cost for items, regardless of their weight. If you just refund the charge of the retued items but not the shipping then you are going to make money on eBay because you will be able to charge the same shipping cost to another buyer who bids on the retued item when you relist it. As you have already made a profit from the shipping charge the first time, you are going to double that profit the second time you ship the item and be able to make money on eBay from your retus that from your original listing.

To help you make even more money on your retued items you can charge a restocking fee. This is not something that buyers particularly like and it may lead to negative feedback but you are within your rights to charge a restocking fee and it is a surefire way to make money on eBay from your retus. It would be advisable to only charge a restocking fee on more expensive or bulky items to lessen the chance of receiving bad feedback which will have a negative impact on your chances to make money from eBay by reducing your sales.

If you have an item retued then the best way to make money on eBay is, of course, to list it in another auction. However, it is important to take note of the reason for the retu to ensure that it does not happen the second time and make it impossible for you to make money on eBay from selling the item as it keeps getting retued. If the item was retued because it was not what the buyer expected then you have to make sure that you write your description more clearly the second time around to maximise your chances of having a satisfied buyer and being able to make money on eBay that you intended to in the first place.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Steve Gargin is the administrator of all-ebay-info.helper-guru.com which is a free resource site totally dedicated to helping visitors use eBay effectively.

eBay Secrets For A Successful Wholesale Empire

Have you seen those big star certified power seller identifications given to certain amount of eBay sellers on numerous auctions? They are everywhere on eBay. There are certain requirements you need in order to become a money making power seller giant on eBay, and ultimately own a wholesale empire through successful selling.

I�m going to discuss the most important start-up knowledge and tools you need for a successful power seller monthly experience and clarify many of the myths that have been around on the net for years.

Power seller Secret Number 1: In order to start in the right track for a successful eBay power selling experience you need to know lea how to do online research. It is truly vital that once you decide to start a business, you start with the vital step named �research�.

How to do online eBay research? For the sake of the article I am going to discuss the manual free way of doing it immediately. There are many paid tools you can use to cut your research time, however, getting to know how to do research on your own is highly recommended.

First, you need to go to eBay�s home page and on the left side of the main page you will see multiple categories. You will then search and locate a category, once you have located the appropriate category for your niche, you will do a search on eBay for main keywords relating to that niche category you have selected and see how much popularity and competition there is for that certain category.

If you did a search and found over 20,000 or more listings for that certain keyword and niche, you know that you find a profitable niche, however, the only draw to such niche is that competition is very high. If you are a seasoned starter on eBay, I will not recommend starting up a business in such high competitive category since you are most likely to stumble hard at the beginning and most likely will end up later on saying, that making an online business on eBay does not work and that the ultimate way to profit from it, is if you started from the beginning, big time myth. I have mad e$1,000�s by selling in high competitive niches, you just need to do the right research and get some background experience to support possible flaws you will possibly encounter.

So my recommendation for your first step. Do a wide research relating your item that you feel passionate and try it only if you already have some selling experience on such auction portal. An experience seller is someone that has at least 200 feedback or more. If you are starting on such auction giant, start making your own garage sell and lea how selling process works by trying different selling angles, presentations and items. You will plenty of experience by then.

Power seller Secret Number 2: Selecting a real wholesaler or distributor. It is imperative to choose a correct wholesaler or distributor for your item(s). Today, there are hundreds if not thousands of middleman scams in the wholesale industry. It is vital that you know your potential wholesaler and distributor background. How do you search for such hidden gems?

Again, you can do it manually or you can pay for a list of potential distributors in your field. However, be waed that 98% of those wholesale list around the same eBay search are completely outdated and incorrect, just to confirm it in fancy words.

You need to know that a real wholesaler does not advertise on the search engines of the Inteet. They don�t need to. A real distributor as well a genuine wholesaler gets plenty of business already from offline corporations. It is imperative that you understand this fact.

So how do you find one for your eBay experiment? You search for a top dollar wholesale list that can support their claims or reach a top successful seller to advice you in exchange of compensation.

I have done both, and thanks to it I have been very much profitable for it. The simplest way to get a good list of a true distributor and wholesaler is to pay an authority wholesale company or guy for this. Many successful business entrepreneurs will be willing to give a list of phone numbers and website address to get more information and top sources for different kind of items. Make sure to offer top dollar for this and they will most likely give you such sources as most of the business starters that ask for such list, never take the business serious or make it because they don�t follow the top step mentioned above.

The other way around is to send the eBay seller an email asking him for a distributor list. As long as your business does not conflict with him or is potential competition to him, you won�t have a problem. Make sure to prepare a nice one hundred word letter with a simple inquiry.

Most people don�t follow these primary steps and fail. The steps probably look simple or ridiculous, but they work and I as many others had made $1,000�s on eBay thanks to following the right steps and correct diligence.

Joaquin Reveron is successful wholesale business consultant. Trainer and wholesale marketing agent for online and offline businesses. Wholesale Video Games is one of the topics discussed at http://www.videogamesmystery.com

No FT No Comment Ebay and the Changing Auction Market

The story of the astonishing �40,000 price achieved by Encore Auctions on eBay fizzed around the world in no time. The equine painting by famed Irish artist Jack Butler Yeats was the subject of fierce bidding by three parties. It was featured on Yahoo and CNN news channels plus a host of websites as a key indicator of the changing auction market.

There will always be a place for traditional auctioneers who can validate and promote individual lots through a quality catalogue and network. However, online activity continues to grow exponentially within the art, antiques and collectables field as the Yeats sale testifies.

Why did the vendor choose Invaluable to dispose of this work? There are, of course, many viable alteatives but the bottom line is that Invaluable is respected for the breadth and diversity of its mainstream auction search service over the past 15 years. Its reputation for outstanding customer service also means that it has rapidly attained power seller status on eBay and gives vendors numerous advantages should they wish to access this 150,000,000 strong audience.

Further benefits include the anonymity of Encore Auctions, the Invaluable store on eBay, low seller commission, no buyer�s premium and very targeted online marketing through major search engines. Moreover, there is ongoing cross fertilisation between the listings placed on Encore and lot information from conventional auctions that meet the criteria of the Invaluable clientele.

The best way to fully appreciate this shift in the way business is being transacted is to read the recent article in the FT by Simon de Burton. This outlined clearly that Invaluable, while sensitive to the historic approach, is witnessing more and more salerooms, dealers and private individuals use its services to dispose of items that did not sell first time around.

Evidently, it�s horses for courses. Not everybody will embrace and welcome such innovations but there is a groundswell of support for Encore and similar initiatives that continues to gather pace. When one sees the FT generate that kind of coverage, there is a sense that the tide is inexorably tuing towards slick, cost effective marketing campaigns that combine old world values and new world communications

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies.

http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.

Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.

How To Play The Bidding Game On EBay

Bidding is the act of making an offer for an item that is up for auction. Bidding on eBay however is slightly different, and does not work in exactly the same way as normal auctions, at least in theory. Bidding on eBay is meant to be fun, but remember that all bids on eBay are binding, except in the sales of real estate or businesses and the sales of items that are prohibited by law or by eBay's user agreement.

On eBay, you enter the maximum amount for the item you are willing to pay, and then eBay's bidding system bids for the items on your behalf. Meaning supposing you are willing to pay $100.00 for an item, you can end up paying only $30.00 for the item, if that was the highest maximum bid anyone else placed.

Bidding on eBay can be very addictive, so its a good idea to have a pre - determined amount you are willing to spend for an item and not exceed it regardless of loosing out on the auction. A good strategy here is to use eBay's proxy bidding system to automatically bid on your behalf. This means you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid every time someone places a higher bid.

An Example of how eBay's Proxy Bidding Process Works

* Search for an item you want to bid on.

* You determine how much you are willing to pay for it, in this example $30.00.

* The current minimum bid on the item is $18.00.

* Enter your maximum bid of $30.00.

* If there are no other bids on the item, eBay's proxy server will bid for the item at the minimum of $18.00.

* If someone bids $22.00 for the item, eBay's proxy server will automatically increase your bid to $23.00, which is what it is currently bidding for plus the minimum increment.

* EBay then emails the other bidder to inform them that they have been outbid.

* If there is another bidder with a higher maximum, you will obviously be outbid. But if no other bidder has a higher maximum, you win the auction, and the item is yours and this saves you the time and effort of having to sit around to bid again anytime you are outbid.

And because the proxy bidding system bids using your pre - determined maximum amount, there is no tendency for you to overbid, which significantly saves you some money. Of course you will not always win if someone bids a higher maximum value, but then it will not make you over spend, and because it's eBay you can always come back again and bid on a similar item from a different seller.

Copyright � David E Nettey

David E Nettey is the webmaster of http://manicures.lyecryads.com and http://culinary-arts.lyecryads.com He operates a successful home based business and coaches others to successfully start their own home based business, for a home business that comes with training that you can easily start, visit his website http://www.PlugInProfitsSite.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_E_Nettey

Online Auction Sellers Seize Control Of Your Business

As the online auction model of business continues to evolve toward a more commoditized, corporate marketplace, it is time for online auction sellers to seize control of their business, before it�s too late.

In this article we will highlight some effective steps you can take to shift control back to your own business.

Why is it so important to seize control?

There are three Mega-trends that have the potential to hurt online auction sellers:

1. Increased expenses across all services that cater to online auction sellers. eBay recently increased their fees, Yahoo Auctions recently began charging fees for listing auctions with them. The U.S. Postal Service recently raised their postage rates. Auction Management services are increasing their fees. Free photo-hosting services now charge fees to host photos on their sites. Payment processing services have also increased their fees. It is a post dot-com-bust reality that most services that used to be free, aren�t anymore. Everywhere you look, expenses are going up. Taken cumulatively, they can eat away profits that used to be there. This fact alone is reason enough to consider developing your own online presence - apart from the online auctions.

2. Restrictive policies by eBay. The online auction community is in an uproar over eBay�s recent strengthening of their linking policies. These rules essentially eliminate a seller�s ability to advertise their site and / or develop clickthrough traffic from eBay. The links rules were only a precursor to the new "eBay Stores", eBay�s way of providing idealistic havens of e-commerce for their community. The new eBay Stores allow eBay sellers to set up online storefronts, which of course, have their own fee schedule! These storefronts have opened to mixed reviews. There really is no comparison between having an eBay Store and having your own online storefront. An eBay Store is like having a shop open inside of a gated community. The only traffic you�re likely to get is from other eBay members. Having your own website with an online store is like opening up shop on Main Street. You have all the traffic you are able to create and more important, you have freedom to decide exactly how you run your business. You see, in the gated community there are a lot of rules, rules designed to benefit the community at large.

3. Corporate and institutional involvement in online auctions. This is a growing trend. Many large corporations are taking advantage of the eBay auction concept to liquidate unwanted or overrun merchandise to the masses. Even the U.S. Postal Service is involved in eBay auctions! They use eBay to liquidate items that were undeliverable or lost in the mail. Police departments are selling off seized goods on eBay. Corporations are getting on the eBay bandwagon and creating a hyper-competitive environment for some of the "smaller sellers". Basic economics dictates that the greater the supply of goods, the lower the price of those goods.

This triple whammy of higher expenses, a restrictive selling environment and increased competition will have the effect of squeezing sellers out, unless they take action to prevent their demise.

What are some steps you can take to avoid being an Online auction casualty?

1. Begin today to "think outside the auction box". That is, develop an attitude that the online auction goldmine might end tomorrow, so you are going to take the right steps TODAY to secure your future. This is especially important for those sellers who depend 100% on their online auction income!

2. Begin today to make plans for developing your online presence, away from the online auctions. Developing your own website is only the first step towards online success. Getting traffic to your site is really the key that many people ignore, to their dismay. Developing traffic takes time and knowledge.

3. Build, manage and maintain a customer list. Every marketing expert worth his or her salt will tell you that your customer list is EVERYTHING. Maintaining your customer list and staying in contact with your customers is one way to explode your sales. (even if you are selling items not related to what your customer initially purchased!) So much of selling has to do with breaking down that trust barrier. Once you�ve established a successful relationship with a customer, most of your battle is won. The worst thing to do would be to drop the ball and not re-contact that customer in careful, but constant ways, always affirming the original purchase and informing them of new opportunities.

4. Find the tools necessary to take your business to the next level. This step will take some research, but it will be well worth it. Today, you can find software that will dramatically simplify your life, from autoresponders (automated e-mail response) to bulk e-mail programs (that help you do a mass e-mail to your customer list) to search engine submission programs. (that help you increase your positioning on the search engines) If you are in any type of business that requires continuous education of your customers, a Newsletter program (which not only mails out your Newsletter, but handles unsubscribes automatically) would be a great benefit. Having a Newsletter is one of the best ways to stay in constant contact with your customers and keep them informed about new trends in your industry and new products that have debuted.

5. Lea. lea and lea some more! When I first got online a few years ago, I was intimidated by everything Inteet. I knew I wanted to bring my collectible toys business to eBay and I had some theoretical knowledge about it, but had never done it before. As I threw myself into books and websites related to what I needed to know, I came to a very profound discovery. It�s all there! Everything you could ever want to know about making your business successful on the Inteet is available all over the Inteet! Some of the information was free, some of the information cost money and some of it was downright expensive! But one thing was always true - it was all there. Even more important, I found out that there are all kinds of people that are willing to help you with any type of problem or roadblock you may face, you�ll find them in the appropriate Message Boards. Everything you need to know to become successful is there, waiting to be discovered!

You will only lose at your online business if you fail to take the steps of

• leaing

• testing

• implementing and

• improving

As the three Mega-trends of increasing costs, restrictive policies and corporate involvement in online auctions continue to invade the once-safe world of the online auction seller, the people that take the steps outlined above will be the winners in the online business world.

About The Author

David Espino is the author of "Beyond eBay - How to build a Home Based Inteet business and make more money, working from home"

To receive a FREE sample from this breakthrough book, click here: www.HomeBasedBusinessowner.com

Email: dave@HomeBasedBusinessowner.com