There are people who buy items that are accompanied by poor (or no) photographs on eBay, take good photographs of these items, and then resell the same items on eBay for a profit.

Of course, this isn’t cost-effective with $5 items. It’s much more likely to be successful with expensive items where the profits can be counted
not in dollars, but in tens of dollars, or even hundreds or thousands of dollars. But any way you look at it, this seems to me a shocking practice,
one that catches your attention. Don’t let this happen to you.

The post eBay Product Photography first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

Another benefit of selling merchandise in an eBay Store is that eBay will automatically advertise items from your store on the Bid Confirmation and Checkout Confirmation pages it displays to bidders in your regular auctions. These “merchandising placements” help you cross-sell additional merchandise to your auction customers.

Setting up your own online storefront is surprisingly easy to do, thanks to a service called eBay Stores. An eBay Store is an online storefront where professional eBay merchants market fixed-price goods, in addition to their traditional auction items. If you’re a heavy seller thinking of making the move into real honest-to-goodness retailing, eBay Stores is a relatively painless way to start.

You access the eBay Stores home page at stores.ebay.com

Do You Qualify?

Just about any seller can open an eBay Store. All you have to do is meet the following criteria:

• Be a registered eBay seller, with a credit card on file
• Have a feedback rating of 20 or more, or be ID verified
• Accept credit cards for all fixed-price sales

Given that accepting credit cards can mean using PayPal, you can see that you don’t actually have to be a big traditional retailer to open an eBay Store. Any individual meeting the requirements can also open an eBay Store, thus making eBay Stores a great way for entrepreneurial types to get started in retailing.

Why would you want to open your own eBay Store? Well, it certainly isn’t for casual sellers; you do have to set up your own web page, and keep the store filled with merchandise. But if you’re a high-volume seller who specializes in a single category (or even a handful of categories), there are benefits to opening your own store. These include being able to sell more merchandise (through your store) than you can otherwise list in auctions; being able to display a special eBay Stores icon next to all of your auction lists; and being able to generate repeat business from future sales to current purchasers.

eBay Stores are great for small merchants who don’t otherwise have a Web presence. They’re overkill for the casual seller, however and probably not worth the effort for larger retailers.

You also have to pay eBay for each item you list and each item you sell just as in a normal auction. The difference is you’re not listing for a (relatively short) auction; you’re listing for longer-term inventory.

eBay Stores also offers a full assortment of listing upgrades, just like the ones you can use in regular eBay auctions. These enhancements gallery, bold, highlight, and so on are priced according to the length of your listing. You can also offer multiples of the same item in Dutch auction format.

Setting Up Your eBay Store

Opening your own eBay store is as easy as clicking through eBay’s setup pages. There’s nothing overly complex involved; you’ll need to create your store, customize your pages (otherwise known as your virtual storefront), and list the items you want to sell. Just follow the onscreen instructions, and you’ll have your own store up and running in just a few minutes.

When you’re ready to set up your store, go to the eBay Stores home page and click the Open a Store button. When you accept the user agreement, the store creation process begins. On seceding pages you’ll be asked to choose a store theme, enter a store name and description, provide a logo (or choose from supplied clip-art), and then choose a subscription level. On the last page you’ll click the Start My Subscription Now button, and then eBay will create your store. It’s that simple!

The post Supplementing Your Auctions with an eBay Store first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

Probably the most important type of promotion, however, is word of mouth based on your good reputation. You want to encourage repeat bidders and drive buyers into your online store (if you have one) for additional sales. That means treating your buyers fairly and with respect, and going the extra mile to ensure their satisfaction. It also means sending previous buyers emails when you have items up for auction that they might be interested in. (Which argues, of course, for keeping comprehensive records of all your eBay auctions.)

The post Promoting Your Online Auctions first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

Chances are your normal method of shipping won’t work for your international shipments. For example, you can’t use Priority Mail to ship outside the United Statesnot even to Canada or Mexico. This means you’ll need to evaluate new shipping methods, and possibly new shipping services.

If you want to stick with the U.S. Postal Service, you can check out Global Priority Mail (reasonably fast and reasonably priced), Global Express Mail (fast but expensive), Airmail (almost as fast, not quite as expensive), or Surface/Parcel Post (slow but less expensive). In addition, UPS offers its Worldwide Express service, FedEx offers its FedEx Express service internationally, and DHL is always a good option for shipping outside the United States. Be sure to check out your options beforehand, and charge the buyer the actual costs incurred.

Given the increased chances of loss or damage when shipping great distances, you should purchase insurance for all items shipping outside North America.

You’ll also have to deal with a bit of paperwork while you’re preparing your shipment. All packages shipping outside U.S. borders must clear customs to enter the destination countryand require the completion of specific customs forms to make the trip. Depending on the type of item you’re shipping and the weight of your package, you’ll need either Form 2976 (green) or Form 2976-A (white). Both of these forms should be available at your local post office.

When you’re filling out these forms, describe the item in terms that ordinary people can understand. That means using simple, generic terms. A “greatest hits CD compilation” becomes “compact disc.” A “SimCity extension pack” becomes “video game.” And so on.

You should also be honest about what you’re shipping. Some buyers will try to talk you into describing the item as a gift so that they can save on duties or tax on their end. That’s lying, and you shouldn’t do it.

eBay offers several pages of advice for international trading at pages.ebay.com/internationaltrading/.

In addition, there are certain items you can’t ship to foreign countriesfirearms, live animals and animal products, and so on. (There are also some technology items you can’t ship, for security reasons.) You need to check the government’s list of import and export restrictions to see what items you’re prohibited from shipping outside U.S. borders. Check with your shipping service for more detailed information.

Finally, note that shipping across borders takes longer than shipping within the United States. This is especially true if an item is held up at customs. Make sure your international buyers know that shipping times will be longer than what you might state for domestic buyers.

The post eBay International Shipping first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do if you receive negative feedback; under normal conditions, feedback comments cannot be retracted. (There have been some exceptions, when the feedback has been obscene or slanderous in nature.) What you can do is offer a response to the feedback, which you do by going to your My eBay Feedback page and clicking the Review and Respond to Feedback About Me link. When the feedback comments list appears, click the Respond link next to a particular comment and then enter your response. Your new comment is listed below the original feedback comment on the Feedback Profile page. Just try not to get defensive; the best response is one that is calm, clear, and well-reasoned.

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