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The eBay Auction Newsletter

 

The newsletter for buyers and bidders on eBay

 

November 27, 2004 - Issue 5811

 

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This latest issue is now also available online at

 

http://www.workwinners.com/newsletter/041127.htm

 

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In This Issue

 

1. Welcome from Brian McGregor

 

2. News and Views

 

3. What Should I Sell on eBay?

 

4. The Price of Fame

 

5. Do You Want Your Own Internet Business Today?

 

6. A Gift From me to you

 

7. Someone's auctioning what? Unusual items currently available

 

8. Finally

 

9. My Products Catalogue

 

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Inspirational quote of the day

 

"You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your

dream is, go for it."

Earvin 'Magic' Johnson

 

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1. Welcome from Brian McGregor

------------------------------

 

Hi and welcome to the latest edition of my Newsletter.

 

Well here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun.

 

Are those lyrics familiar to you? It may help if I hum you the

tune. Hm, hm, hm, hmmmm, hmy, hm-hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm-hm,

hmmmmm. Can you tell what it is yet?

 

If you're of a certain age, you'll probably remember Slade. I

don't mind admitting I can!

 

Anyway, why am I writing about Christmas? It's only November.

 

Well, you've probably noticed that Christmas starts earlier every

year. One of our neighbours put up their Christmas tree last

Saturday! The 20th of November for goodness sake! My partner was

very annoyed. She wanted to be first in the street this year with

Christmas decorations. Oh well, there's always next October.

I suppose it's a reminder to us all that the Christmas frenzy has

really started in earnest. We seem to be getting more and more

conditioned to buying Christmas things early.

 

So, if you've been waiting to set up those Christmas auctions,

don't wait any longer. Do it now. The Christmas season is here.

And you should be cashing in on eBay now.

 

By the way, thank you very much to those of you who took the time

to email congratulations to me. This was about the announcement

in the last issue of the birth of my second grandchild.

Everything's going great on that front.

 

And, as always, I hope everything goes great with you. I trust

you will find something in the newsletter which is helpful in

your eBay activities.

 

Speak to you soon.

 

Brian

-----

P.S. You receive the the eBay Auction Newsletter because you have

bought from me or enquired about my auction items on eBay or QXL.

 

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2. News and Views

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a) Readers feedback

 

I am grateful to Andrew who emailed last week. He included an

unsolicited testimonial. This is for the ground-breaking high

speed dialup connection without changing modem or ISP that I've

mentioned in the past few newsletters.

 

"Hello Brian

 

I am only a buyer on eBay, but always find something of use in

your newsletter - particularly the link ...., which speeds up my

64K ISDN connection by 5-7 times.  Certainly makes eBay a lot

quicker to use!

 

So thanks for all your tips and little jokes."

 

You may recall I mentioned that this unique product had been

short-listed in the 2004 Future Awards. Well, the winner in the

Web Innovation category was iTunes from Apple Corporation. But we

came second!

 

Runners-up position is a fantastic achievement for this small

British company with a bright idea and a great product.

 

If you want to check it out, you can do so here:

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr9204.htm

 

b) eBay motors gets a check-up

 

HPI is the leading vehicle checking company in the UK. HPI can

tell subscribers whether a vehicle is clocked, knicked, knackered

or still on the never-never. (I copied those words from the HPI

website, please don't blame me!)

 

Subscribers using the HPI Exchange online vehicle locator now

have the option to load vehicles onto eBaymotors.co.uk at no

extra cost. HPI Exchange is free to HPI vehicle status check

subscribers.

 

Sounds like a useful option to those buying and selling on eBay

Motors.

 

c) Feedback matters

 

How's your feedback? AuctionBytes have just carried a useful

survey on the issue.

 

Significantly it shows that overall, eBay members who thought the

feedback system was good or excellent has dropped by 14% from

last year. It makes interesting reading, and you can see the

survey results here:

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1107.htm

 

While I'm on about feedback, would you like to guess the number

feedbacks currently accrued by eBay's most successful seller? You

can find the answer here:

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1108.htm

 

d) Chicago, Chicago

 

It's OK. I'm not going to break out into song again! Although the

citizens of Chicago might be singing all the way to the bank

after this.

 

In December, parts of Chicago's past and present will be

auctioned off on eBay.

 

City officials have teamed with eBay to sell items such as an

original Playboy Bunny costume (Playboy HQ is in Chicago),

Chicago manhole covers and decommissioned parking meters. All of

the money raised will go to the Chicago Culture Center, Cultural

Grants and the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts.

 

The auction has been dubbed the Great Chicago Fire Sale in

reference to the 1871 fire that destroyed much of the city. Now,

people participating in the auction will have a chance to extend

Chicago's artistic traditions by supporting free fine arts

programs and training, project grants and youth cultural

development.

 

The auctions run from December 2nd to 16th. You can find a list

of the items up for sale here:

http://www.thegreatchicagofiresale.org/

 

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3. What Should I Sell on eBay?

------------------------------

 

I probably receive more emails on this subject than any other.

 

If you are a new seller, my initial advice would be to gain

experience of eBay selling by cleaning out your garage or attic.

 

Start by selling used goods, small appliances, wedding gifts you

never use, old books (non-fiction ones are best), used sporting

goods and clothing items. Like that leather jacket that doesn't

fit you any more! The experience you gain will be invaluable,

there's no cost involved other than some small eBay fees.

 

The next step is to sell items about which you know something. It

might be related to your hobby or interests.

 

If you are knowledgeable about a collectable or an art object,

then you have the ability to do the research to find the products

at prices you can resell.

 

On eBay, anything will sell. It doesn't matter how obscure your

item might be item, eBay buyers will find your auction.

 

Once you gain experience try to focus on larger value items. If

you only make £2 profit per sale, you have to close and ship

1000 items per month to make £2,000.

 

Too many sellers think the way to make a fortune on eBay is to

buy hundreds of the latest hot selling items and put up dozens of

auctions. The problem here is that hundreds of other sellers are

doing the same thing. (If you don't believe me do a search for

diet pills, or DVDs. There are plenty of companies with enough

money to import these items directly by the thousands and

undersell anyone who buys through a distributor or wholesaler.

 

Another technique is to sell items in bulk. If you bought a large

box of videotapes at a car boot sale, separate them into

categories and sell them as a lot. You will often make more money

than selling them individually. This can also work for clothing.

There are sellers that buy children's clothing from car boot

sales, sort it by size and gender and sell it in lots.

 

One eBay seller I know purchases large lots of the fast selling

items on eBay (lighters, pocket knives, etc.) and turns around

and sells them in lots of 10 or 25 to other eBayers who want to

buy for resale. I know an eBayer who recently imported 50,000

disposable cigarette lighters from Korea that he bought for about

6p each. He sold them on eBay in lots of 500 for 19p each. He

made £65 on each lot less his eBay fees.

 

It seems everyone wants to sell computers, software, movies,

DVD's, digital cameras and all sorts of consumer electronics. The

sad fact is that SONY, Panasonic, Canon, and others don't sell

their latest hottest products to small dealers who work out of

their home. (In fact they don't sell anything except through

their distributors) Even the big stores have trouble getting a

large allocation of really hot products.

 

It is possible to get into this business if you have a lot of

market and product knowledge. You might work in a computer store,

and have the contacts to buy the merchandise. The problem is that

you are competing with major retailers. One way you can succeed

selling consumer electronics is with overstock and returns

products. The trick is to really know what you are buying and to

be able to work on small margins and turn your inventory over

often. It takes quite a bit of capital investment to compete in

this sector.

 

There is also a huge market on eBay for "vintage" hi-fi

equipment, cameras, old computers and computer hardware and so

on. I heard of a guy who found an Akai reel-to-reel tape deck at

a car boot sale sale for £15. He also got 10 reels of tape for

nothing. He sold the deck on eBay for just under £100 and sold

the 10 reels of tape separately in another auction for £15.

 

One of eBay's own product managers sells vintage Apple computers,

parts and software. She buys almost all of it at car boot sales,

second hand shops and auctions.

 

When I am asked about what should they sell, I am usually also

asked what are the best selling items on eBay.

 

Here is a list of the currently hot selling items on eBay. Note

that this is not a recommendation of what to sell, as each of

these product areas requires the seller to have relevant

knowledge and expertise.

 

- Diet Pills

- Nutritional Sex Enhancers

- Pheromone scents

- Glass chess sets

- Low cost jewellery

- Expensive watches and jewellery

- Heirloom jewellery

- Used toys in good condition

- New and used clothing for children and plus-sized clothing for

women

- Software (including closed-out or last year's software programs

and games)

- Strobe pens

- Tools (power and hand tools)

- Perfume (including perfume samples and opened expensive

perfumes that are at least over one-half full)

- Perfume bottles (some with or without perfume)

- Religious books and Bibles (Bibles are always a perennial

seller)

- Non-fiction books on hobbies, sports, nautical subjects,

history, military science, popular textbooks, and art &

photography. Also books containing maps and art prints that can

be broken and sold individually.

- Maps and old prints of ships, flowers, animals (horses and dogs

are good).

- Used parts for speciality cars (Porsche, BMW, MG, etc.)

- Car models and car collectables

- Signed sports collectables

 

If you want to know what to sell on eBay, probably the single

best piece of advice I can give is to be unique and to

specialise.

 

Find a niche market, learn about it, become an expert in it, and

work hard at building your reputation in that market. eBay buyers

are intelligent, and they like to deal with a knowledgeable and

responsive professional seller.

 

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4. The Price of Fame

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My most successful ebook is 'The eBay Formula'. It is designed to

help sellers create effective and compelling auctions, time after

time.

 

Although I knew there was need for the information given, I never

expected it to do so well.

 

As 'The eBay Formula' has been more successful than I had ever

dared hope, I have decided to lower the price to put it within

the reach of many more eBayers.

 

And, to reflect the lower price I have also adjusted the offer

price which has always existed for my newsletter readers. If you

want to see the special offer, you'll find it here:

 

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1109.htm

 

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5. Do You Want Your Own Internet Business Today?

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Whilst eBay is an ideal starting point, many see the next step on

their road to internet income as setting up a website from which

to sell products.

 

There are several sizeable obstacles for us all to consider when

we embark on that stage.

 

First, we need to get a website designed, created and hosted.

 

This assumes of course that we have some products to sell. But we

don't really want to have to invest in buying them in first

before we sell them.

 

And of course we have to be able to take credit card payments on

the website.

 

Then, depending on the type of products we sell, we will need

some kind of packaging and mailing facilities.

 

I know there are other considerations, but those are some of the

major issues with which we have to contend.

 

A colleague of mine has come up with what I think is a superb

idea, successfully handling all the above and more.

 

It is a purpose designed website, already stocked, with delivery

being handled via dropshipping. If you don't know what

dropshipping is, it's explained on the webpage introducing the

idea.

 

By the way, I've arranged a special reduction for my newsletter

readers on this unique package.

 

If you fancy trading online, literally within hours, it's well

worth taking a look at this clever idea.

 

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1110.htm

 

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6. A Gift From Me to You

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If you are a regular reader, you will know how often I comment on

the amount of fraud and scams that are eBay related.

 

I recently came across a very useful report on how to buy on

eBay. In particular it contains some excellent information

relating to eBay fraud, scams and spoofs.

The report has been written by Terry Gibbs, a respected eBay

seller of collectables. You can get a copy by visiting here:

 

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1111.htm

 

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7. Someone's auctioning what? Unusual items currently available

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Nothing surprises me when it comes to internet auctions. Amuse

yourself with some of these beauties ...

 

Thanks to Hilary for this one.

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1112.htm

 

I think this counts as unusual.

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1113.htm

 

If you're interested in this item, check out seller's other items

for sale, and you can get his mobile number in the XR3i auction!

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1114.htm

 

Fancy a flutter. It's a bit of a long shot though.....

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1115.htm

 

If you follow Coronation Street, you'll be able to work out this

seller's ID in an instant. After his recent experiences, no

wonder he's running this auction!

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1116.htm

 

Disclaimer - I have no association with any of the sellers of the

above items.

 

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8. Finally

----------

 

If you are changing email addresses soon please put a note on

your calendar to send a blank email to:

 

newsletter@workwinners.com

 

after you get your new email address.

 

I don't want to lose touch with you!

 

If a friend sent you this newsletter, you need to send a blank

email to:

 

newsletter@workwinners.com

 

That way you can get your own copy next time!

 

Increasingly, email filters are preventing genuine email

communications such as this newsletter from reaching subscribers.

 

If you use any method of checking on your email, and you wish to

continue receiving the newsletter you may need to include my

email address in your safe list, whitelist or address book.

 

Thank you for continuing to take my newsletter - I hope it gives

you as much enjoyment to read, as it does me to write.

 

Regards

Brian McGregor

Editor - eBay Auction Newsletter

 

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9. My Products Catalogue

 

Check out my portfolio of products and services:

 

"The eBay Formula"

How to sell successfully on eBay - time, after time, after

time. Special Price offer to newsletter readers.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd01.htm

 

 

"UK Dropshipping Sources"

Twenty six genuine UK dropship companies.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd02.htm

 

 

"Sourcing DVDs, CDs and Videos at Trade Prices"

Where and how to buy DVDs, CDs and Videos at trade prices, and

how to sell for profit.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd03.htm

 

 

"Sourcing and Selling Electrical Products for Big Profits"

Where and how to buy Widescreen TVs, DVD players and VCR players

at trade prices, and how to sell for profit.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd04.htm

 

 

"Sourcing Maternity Clothing and Baby Needs at Trade Prices"

Where and how to buy at trade prices.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd05.htm

 

 

"Sourcing and Selling Jewellery for Big Profits"

Where and how to buy jewellery at trade prices, and how to sell

for profit.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd06.htm

 

 

"Sourcing Mobile Phone Accessories at Trade Prices"

Where and how to buy mobile phone accessories at trade prices,

and how to sell for profit.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd07.htm

 

 

"The Streetwise Buyer's Guide to Radar Detectors"

Don't buy a Radar Detector system until you read this.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd08.htm

 

 

Oil Painting Marketing Business

Become my partner in this pleasant money-making venture.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd09.htm

 

 

Your Own ebook and Software Sales Business

Valuable ebooks and software which you can use and resell on

eBay, and through the website pages provided.

http://www.workwinners.com/rd11.htm

 

 

Broadband speed without changing your existing modem and ISP! Up

to 256k speed instantly with this incredible software for less

than 1p per day.

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1002.htm

 

 

Your own business recycling second hand mobile phones.

Make money today with this brand new business opportunity.

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1004.htm

 

 

Get your own ecommerce website selling watches, fully stocked,

with items dropshipped by suppliers direct to your customer.

Special Price offer to newsletter readers.

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr1110.htm

 

 

Finally, a book well worth reading. In 'The eBay Book', long time

eBay user David Belbin, explains how eBay.co.uk works and how to

get the most out of it, whether you are a buyer or seller.

Step-by-step, he takes you through the key features of the site,

advises on bidding and selling tactics, explains how to minimise

the fees you pay and why feedback is so important. He explores

the best ways to pay for goods, and what to do if your

transactions go wrong. This hugely readable book also contains a

wealth of case studies covering a wide variety of eBay users.

It's available at Amazon here:

http://www.workwinners.com/nlr809.htm

 

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See all of my products and opportunities here:

 

http://www.workwinners.com

http://www.more-auction-sales.com

http://www.internet-dialup.com

http://www.business-opportunity-at-home.com

http://www.uk-dropship.co.uk

http://www.radar-detector-guide.co.uk

http://www.free-sky-tv.co.uk

 

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The eBay Auction Newsletter is published approximately two

weekly.

 

In each issue you'll get tips and ideas on how to make the most

of buying and selling on eBay.

 

If you would like to unsubscribe please use the link at the

bottom of this email.

 

Finally, be assured that your email address will never be shared

or sold - ever!

 

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Copyright Information

 

Copyright © 2006 Brian McGregor. All rights reserved.

 

No part of this newsletter may be copied or published without

prior permission, but do please forward it to your friends and

colleagues as long as you keep it in its entirety. Brian

McGregor, as publisher, disclaims any liability for the use of

any information contained herein. We further claim no

responsibility for the legality or accuracy of any advertisements

or articles. It is the reader's responsibility to practice due

diligence in any product or service acquired based on information

contained in this newsletter.

 

If you do not want to receive this newsletter, please send a

blank email to unsubscribe@workwinners.com

 

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