• Welcome from Brian McGregor 
• Inspirational Quote of the Day
• News and Views
• How to Make More from eBay by Looking Further Abroad
• Can You Sell a Service on eBay?
• What to do After you Win the Item, but then Change Your Mind?
• A Gift from Me to You
• Someone's auctioning what? Unusual items currently available
• Finally
• My Products Catalogue
• Back to Newsletter Archive

1. eBay e-class Reminder

You've probably received an email from me about my training course, the eBay eclass, due to start on April 17th. This is personal training from me to you for those who would like to improve their sales on eBay.

I just wanted to let you know that there are now only a couple of places left. If you want to consider this, please check it out today.

You can read about the eBay eclass here.


2. Using Video in Your Auctions Yet?

If a picture says a thousand words, have you ever wondered what a movie can do for your auction?

For most eBayers, the idea of creating a video about the item they want to auction is a frightening proposition. There is so much to learn.

It's difficult enough knowing where to start on what essentially is a marketing video. But then you have to know about how to get a video from your camera onto your auction! For many, just getting still photos added to the auction can be daunting.

Now, however, there is a really excellent solution.

A company has set up a service whereby they handle the difficult technical bits about getting video onto your auction. And they don't just create any old video for you. What you get is a strong, sales oriented video, showing off your item in the best possible way.

If you have premium priced items to sell, you could make so much more from your auction if you wowed your page visitors with video.

Find out more about this unique service here.


3. What Do Rob Frechette, John Thornhill and I, have in Common?

I guess there may be several answers to this question. But the one I'm thinking about today concerns eBay.

Each of us has been interviewed by Mark Kenny of AuctionCUT Forum.

AuctionCUT is an independent auction forum which contains really useful input on using eBay. Membership is free, and I thoroughly recommend you consider joining.

Anyway, back to me being common!

One of the elements of Mark's forum is his interview series of leading eBay experts from around the world. I've had the pleasure of being the latest subject in this series.

You can read my answers to Mark's questions, and those of far more expert people than myself, here:


4. For Special People

When you first begin selling on eBay, you usually don't do it with any sense that you're starting a business. If you're like most people, you're just selling a few things to get rid of them or to raise a little cash.

From that point, some people go on to realise that eBay can provide a genuine, sustainable and regular source of additional income. Other people decide pretty quickly that they want to try and develop their eBay experience into a business.

For people with the mindset that they recognise eBay can become a business, there is an excellent new website full of helpful information. It's called www.entrepreneur.com.

The site is very comprehensive on how to get started in business. It also contains a section specifically devoted to eBay, which you mind find useful.


5. Would you like to Talk to Someone at eBay?

Just about every member of eBay at some time or another has wished they could pick up the phone and talk to someone at eBay. Everybody has been frustrated by eBay's insistence on using email as their primary method of customer service.

Whilst I can't give you a telephone number for eBay, here's the next best thing - eBay's chat system. You can find the eBay chat system on the eBay.com home page, near the top to the right, under "Live Help".

It doesn't matter if you're not based in USA, you're an eBay member and therefore entitled to their customer service.

If you're tearing your hair out at eBay's email customer service, try Live Chat.


6. Free Software Every Single Day

Here's a good idea. It's a site where they nominate one software title that will be a giveaway title of that day. The software will be available for free download for 24 hours (or more, if agreed by the software publisher).

That means a registered and legal version of the software will be free to the site visitors. The software isn't on trial or limited in any way, and is presented in full functionality.

You can start now, and collect today's free software from www.giveawayoftheday.com


7. Never Count Your Chickens...

A couple, who had never met before, found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a transcontinental train. Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, both are very tired and fall asleep quickly... he in the upper bunk and she in the lower.

In the early hours, the man leans over and gently wakes the woman saying,"Ma'am,I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold."

"I have a better idea,"she replied. "Just for tonight, let's pretend that we're married."

"Wow! That's a great idea!" he exclaims expectantly.

"Good," she replies, "Get your own f****** blanket!"

Sometimes, even very experienced members forget how big an operation eBay is.

With well over 200 million members currently, and growing steadily by around 130,000 new members every day, eBay is a massive business.

As well as having millions of members, eBay also operates in many countries. There is now an eBay site for each of 26 countries.

Whilst an eBay country site offers broadly the same facilities, the fact that the company is represented in each of these countries presents us with an interesting opportunity.

We can think globally, and look for arbitrage openings.

What do I mean by arbitrage?

In this context, what I mean is to buy an item at one price, and sell for a higher amount.

As you may know, the same product can be priced differently in differently country. This is due to issues such as the local economic conditions, competition factors, and marketing initiatives. For example, it may be that the same mobile or cell phone can cost twice as much in the UK as it does in, say, Australia.

What this presents is an arbitrage opportunity - you can buy low, and then resell high. In our example, you could buy a mobile phone from eBay Australia, and then sell it on eBay UK.

I suggest the starting point for this kind of trading is to find out what buyers are looking for on your home country eBay site. You can do this very easily from eBay Pulse. http://pulse.ebay.com/ or http://pulse.ebay.co.uk/

Once you've a list of the most sought after items, you can then go onto an appropriate eBay country site, and do a Completed Listings search for each item. You do a Completed Listings search from the Advanced Search screen.

http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/AdvSearch?sofindtype=13
or http://search.ebay.co.uk/ws/search/AdvSearch?sofindtype=1&ssPageName=h:h:advsearch:Uk

You'll quickly see if there is a price differential from which you can make money through buying and reselling.

It's definitely worth a little time doing this research.

You never know what you might find!

Most people think of eBay as a place where you buy and sell physical items. They often start by buying and then move on to selling.

The first items most people sell on eBay are unwanted bits and pieces - from the attic, or the garage. And then , when eBay begins to grab them, they venture into the market of buying items to sell.

However, not many people associate eBay as a place where you can sell a service.

Let's imagine I want to offer my services as a French language teacher. Where else do you know that I can advertise my service for 10 days, reach an audience of millions and only pay a few pennies or cents in fees?

I can easily create an auction for my language services including teaching, proofreading, editing etc. I would probably list my qualifications and add any appropriate memberships I have, and maybe incorporate some client testimonials. I would also include a photo of myself - making it personal.

What I am really doing with this auction is selling myself.

I would start the auction at a minimum hourly rate, and probably have a Buy it Now hourly rate too.

I know of a guy who lives in Germany and offered English language services on eBay.de. Within days he received work, and he continued to re-list many times as his Buy it Now rate was being taken up regularly. He gained commercial and private customers alike.

I also heard of a group of computer programmers who were made redundant after their jobs went "offshore". Having found it difficult to find new jobs, they decided to turn to eBay. Their ideal was to stay together as a team of software developers. So they created an auction to give the winning bidder the rights to negotiate exclusively for their services. The winning bid amount would go to a charity.

They started the bidding at $250, and the auction went well. They did indeed find an employer who wanted to take the whole team. And the group made several hundred dollars for their charity. A highly satisfactory outcome!

If you provide a service, either as your business or via a hobby, don't forget to put your offer on eBay. It's probably the most economic advertising you're ever going to find.

Guest Article by David Riewe

As the old adage goes, nobody's perfect. There are things in this life that people do on one instance only to change his or her mind after a few minutes or so.

On eBay, there are instances wherein online shoppers or bidders may find retracting a bid inevitable due to some unforeseen circumstances. Others find it tricky and sellers may find it maddening. But whatever the point is, buyers may still retract their bids even if they won the item.

As much as the seller would be professional about the matter, buyers should also, by all means, do the most civilized thing to do - inform the seller about the reason why he or she would not push through with the sale.

However, buyers may also do this legally, that is in accordance to the eBay policies. Buyers may declare a "clear error" especially when there were things done inadvertently. For example, the bidder mistakenly typed $100 instead of $10.

When things like these happened, the buyer has to make appropriate actions at once. All they have to do is to tick the "Services" link situated on top of the navigation bar. On services, the buyer should tap the "Retract Your Bid" link found on the "Bidding and Buying Services" section. The item number should be placed on the space provided in the Bid Retractions page.

Automated explanations are available and can be used by the bidder. Then, after the buyer had clicked on the "Retract Bid" tab, the bid amount will be deleted from the auction.

The eBay management, in reality, is reasonable on things like these. In fact, eBay may accept whatever reasons buyers have whenever they want to pull back a certain bid. But then, it may pose harm on the bidder's reputation in the future.

This can be tolerable especially if the reasons are valid, but nevertheless, it's still a big no-no when doing business on eBay. In the first place, it was clearly stated on the buyer's guide that the bid serves as a contract that binds the buyer to a commitment to make the necessary purchase of the item he or she had won.

What's more, bidders may even lose the credibility and the chance to bid at some point especially if their bidding history were made known to most sellers.

Indeed, retracting bids on eBay is not such a good practice to make, and can be a hard habit to break.

All of these things boil down on one common point. That is, the buyer should never bid on an item if he or she is not yet even sure of buying it.

About the Author

David Riewe is a Publisher and Online Marketer. Visit his eBay Blog to Discover 101 Ebay Auction Tips in this FREE ebook www.push-button-online-income.com/ebayblog

Here's a useful software tool which will enable you to check out any eBay member.

You simply tell BayCheck the eBay ID of the member you're interested in, and you get back information related to that member's selling history, buying history, feedback received and feedback left.

Try it with your own member's ID first!

You can download BayCheck from here.

Nothing surprises me when it comes to internet auctions. Amuse yourself with some of these beauties.

How about shedding some light on the matter?

I wonder what she would say if she knew about this?

Please don't check this one out if you're easily offended!

I guess the shipping costs won't be too high!

How can you resist?

Disclaimer - I have no association with any of the sellers of the above items.

You can check out my portfolio of products and services here:

"The eBay Formula"
My best selling ebook on eBay selling - time, after time, after time.
www.workwinners.com/rd01.htm

Your own eBay digital product sales business
A superb offer to have your own digital product sales business on eBay, from Platinum PowerSeller Justin Ormerod.
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Keyword Pro
Put the most popular keywords on eBay into your titles and watch your auctions explode! Special Offer for Newsletter Readers!!!
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First Page on Google
How to get massive free traffic to your websites by getting on Google's first page.
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Adsense Images
Improve your AdSense clickthrough rates by hundreds of percent.
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Easy Niche Products
The ultimate niche product membership. At least 3 brand new digital products to sell every month.
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Article Park
For loads of free articles on all aspects of buying and selling on eBay.
www.article-park.com

Broadband speed without changing your existing modem and ISP!
Up to 256k speed instantly with this incredible software for less than 7p per day.
www.workwinners.com/nlr1002.htm

How to grow your own beautiful rose garden.
www.garden-rose.com

How to start an investment club for fun and for profit.
www.start-investment-club.com

"UK Dropshipping Sources"
Twenty six genuine UK dropship companies.
www.workwinners.com/rd02.htm

Get your own website selling information and sources of dropshipping.
http://trading-web-solutions.com/workwinners/dropshipww.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.
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.
www.workwinners.com/rd04.htm

"Sourcing Maternity Clothing and Baby Needs at Trade Prices"
Where and how to buy at trade prices.
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.
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.
www.workwinners.com/rd07.htm

"The Streetwise Buyer's Guide to Radar Detectors"
Don't buy a Radar Detector system until you read this.
www.workwinners.com/rd08.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.
www.workwinners.com/nlr1110.htm

Do you trade stocks and options online? Here is a new software system which is aimed at helping if you're interested in utilising the principles of swing trading.
www.workwinners.com/swingtrader/

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:
www.workwinners.com/nlr809.htm

You can see my websites here: