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***
The
newsletter for
Issue 0701
=================================
The newsletter for eBay and QXL users in the
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This latest
issue is now also available online at
http://www.workwinners.com/newsletter/0701.htm
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In this
issue:-
1. The Sunday Times exposed
2. Don't lose your money
3. Five Top Tips for successful selling
4. Coming soon (Update)
.....
5. Someone's auctioning WHAT?? Unusual items
currently
available.
6. Finally ......
=================================
Brian
McGregor speaking - you receive the UK Internet Auction
Users
Newsletter because you have bought from me or enquired
about my
auction items on eBay or QXL.
I have no
wish to encourage S-P*A-M, so if you do not want to
receive
this newsletter, the only one dedicated to
sellers,
you can unsubscribe by sending a blank email to
remove@workwinners.com
=================================
Inspirational
quote of the day
" Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster."
Weston H Agor
=================================
The Sunday
Times Exposed
The Sunday
Times of 6 July carried a full page on eBay. Their
reporter
had attended, along with 10,000 others, the annual eBay
Live
Conference held in
If you're a
seller on eBay, or indeed QXL, and wondered if
spending
time on this activity was merely a hobby, or had the
potential
to be something bigger, then this conference would have
given you
food for thought.
eBay is
that most unusual of creatures - a dot com business that
is making
a profit, and thriving!
In 2002,
5,000 people attended the annual conference - in 2003 it
was
10,000 people.
In 2001,
eBay made a profit of $90m - in 2002, it made $250m
profit.
Revenues in
2002 was $1.2 billion - the revenue forecast for 2003
is $1.9
billion.
The
corporation had 2,500 employees last year - now it's 4.500
people.
It is now
every 30
seconds.
On eBay, someone
buys a computer game every 8 seconds, and a
digital
camera every minute.
eBay has
69 million members worldwide and serves around 1.5
billion
page views per month.
According
to the company, there are 150,000 people who sell
full-time
on eBay.
In
year on
year growth of 168% in new users between 2002 and 2003.
During that
period the number of
exceeds 1
million at any point in time.
The eBay
name is already well known, is constantly promoted and
re-promoted
by every new member and every auction listing. The
good news
is that eBay's eyes are firmly on international
expansion
- which is GREAT for us.
If you're
in the market to make extra money, and you want to do
it
through online auctions, then it seems you have picked the
right
vehicle. So, no matter how far you're on in developing your
business,
keep going.
=================================
2. Don't
lose your money
In your
auction buying or selling, have you ever used an escrow
service?
An escrow service is designed to protect the buyer, and
is
normally recommended for high value items. For example, at the
time of
writing eBay suggests buyers consider requesting the use
of an
escrow service for items costing £300 or more.
The theory
is that the buyer pays an escrow company for the item,
the
seller delivers the item and the buyer notifies the escrow
company
that the item is OK. At this point the escrow company
releases
the payment to the seller, minus an escrow fee.
This is all
seems very reasonable, particularly as escrow
companies
are now all online and you can arrange everything from
your PC.
If you do
feel that offering an escrow service will increase your
auction's
attractiveness, or if you are a buyer and your seller
suggest
an escrow service to you, all I can say is be very
careful.
Many escrow sites are a sophisticated online fraud.
I suggest
you look at the site set up by Fenton Smith,
www.sos4auctions.com
He was an eBayer who was scammed by a fake
escrow
company, but decided to do something about it. His site
contains
directories of escrow web sites, and he tells you which
are real
and which are false.
You will find
that 90% of escrow web sites are fraudulent!
eBay.com
only recommend one escrow site, www.escrow.com and I
can't
find any recommendation from eBay.co.uk.
The only
legitimate escrow service I have found in the
offered
by www.auctionpix.co.uk
Personally
I won't be using any escrow service whether buying or
selling -
the risks are too high.
=================================
3. Five Top
Tips for successful selling
Here are
five of the best tips I've come across when you're
selling
on online auctions:-
Keywords in
titles and descriptions
When
creating an auction for an item, try and catch a bigger
audience
by including related popular words in your title or
description.
For example if you're selling an XYZ make of DVD
player,
in your description you could say something like "it
doesn't
matter if you're looking for a Sony, Panasonic, Philips
etc, you
will find the XYZ competes on all features." So when
people
search for a Sony in the description, your auction will be
returned in
the list.
See my
other auctions
Although
both eBay and QXL have a facility which lets people
click
over to see your other auctions, always include a link
within
your auction description. Many people don't know of the
standard
links which are at the top of the page, or they
immediately
click down the auction page to get to the item
description.
Shoulder
the risk
If you
think about it, buyers bear all the risk in an online
auction
transaction. They will probably have to pay the seller
before
the item is despatched. This risk could be the final
reason
why someone may not bid on your auction. Think about
removing
the risk, and see if you can "afford" to offer a
moneyback guarantee.
Save time
on repetitive keying
You may
have noticed during your auction activity how often you
key in
the same words or phrases over an over again. You can
download
a lovely little piece of software which will reduce this
keying by
around 95%. It's at www.shortkeys.com
Feedback
promotion
If you have
a web site, include its address in every feedback you
give to
your buyers. It's free advertising for you which will
grow and
grow as your auction business develops, and it's within
the rules
of both eBay and QXL.
=================================
4. Coming soon (Update).....
In the last
issue of the newsletter, I told you about the eBook I
am
writing which shows
consistently on eBay.co.uk.
If you
recall I was fed up with seeing adverts for manuals which
purport
to show me how I can make my fortune on eBay. But as
these
were written for the eBay.com market, they didn't really
offer
what I needed in the
the size
of eBay.com, so we require a different approach. Hence
my book.
As I said
last time, I promise you that readers of this
newsletter
will find out about it before anyone else.
It's
finished, but is being enhanced to incorporate recent
changes
at eBay.
Please
watch this space!
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5. Someone's auctioning WHAT???? Unusual
items currently
available.
Nothing
surprises me when it comes to internet auctions. Amuse
yourself
with some of these beauties ...
Just type
the auction number into the Search Box on eBay/QXL.
-----
Fancy a
free lunch? Well, almost free. There's an exciting day in
prospect
for the lucky winner of this auction. If you like
2940034139.
-----
When I was
a boy, I always wanted to play on one of these. Now
I'm a wee
bit older, I thought my chances had gone. But heck,
for
a mere
£15,000 or so....... It's on QXL auction 8799441.
-----
How about
this for coincidence? Last Saturday I went to the
theatre
to see the Blues Brothers - it was excellent. Today, I
can bid
for life size display models of the Blues Brothers. I'm
thinking
about it...... It's on eBay 2939954340.
-----
Do I fancy
owning a piece of
this
auction for 10 acres of
Granted there
is some small print, like the legal fees, but apart
from
that!! Just call me Davy Crockett. It's on QXL at 8848567.
-----
OK. OK. I
think I have found the most unusual item ever on eBay.
A dangerous
statement I know. But have you heard about an auction
for live
snails?? I kid you not. You can see them on eBay
2334483974.
-----
Disclaimer
- I have no association with any of the sellers of the
above
items.
================================
6. Finally .....
I have been
using eBay and QXL for around two years, initially
for
buying, but very quickly I started selling items. My current
feedback
ratings are 695 on eBay and 118 on QXL.
I have
three User IDs, two on eBay and one on QXL.
eBay User
IDs: gbm0 and workwinners
QXL User
ID: bptrad
If you want
to look at the items I currently have on auction, use
Advanced
Search on eBay or QXL, and key in my seller ID.
I also
write Special Reports, and you can see all of these at my
web site:
================================
And 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!
Regards
Brian
McGregor
Editor -
"
==================== A note about
S-P*A-M ====================
"UK
Internet Auction Users Newsletter" is published whenever
there is
useful information to share.
In each
issue you'll get ideas on how to make the most of buying
and
selling on eBay and QXL auction sites from a
If you
would like to unsubscribe please use the link at the
bottom of
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Finally, be
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EVER!
I can't stand
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and staying on this mailing list.
=====================
Copyright
Information
=====================
Copyright ©
2003 Brian McGregor. All rights reserved.
No part of
this newsletter may be copied or published without
prior
permission, but please feel free to forward this 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 readers responsibility to practice
due
diligence
in any product or service acquired based on information
contained
in this newsletter.
To
unsubscribe, send a blank email to remove@workwinners.com
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