Introduction

EBay is the world’s largest trading community where millions of people buy and sell millions of items every day. EBay gives you an exposure like no other auction site does and you need to make the most out of this opportunity. EBay Favourites allows you to run your favourite searches or view your favourite sellers and store items with a single click. You can use eBay Toolbar to search for items or just to get back to various areas of eBay with one click. Plus, eBay Toolbar allows you to see the top items you’re interested in buying or are selling.

EBay is a trusted name so people are willing to buy the products offered through auctions on eBay. EBay and working at home is not for everyone. EBay has finally introduced its secure online-payment system Papal, so you can ensure a safe and reliable transaction for any purchase you make. EBay have for ten years been the premier shopping destination for millions of buyers, so this is the main reason you should use it to your advantage.

EBay Items

EBay also has a huge selection of classic games for the Play station, Sega, Atari, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Intellivision, Colecovision and other favourite vintage systems. EBay UK has a great selection of quality drivers, fairway woods, putters and iron sets to get you through those tough 18 whole courses. EBay Dolls has a large selection of Barbie, American Girl, Madame Alexander, Toner and more. EBay is the place you can find all of your arts and crafts supplies at great prices or sell your handcrafted items in the Handmade Category. eBay is the place to purchase one of a kind handcrafted items, discount craft supplies, and hard to find sewing machines like Beninna, Pfaff or Husqvarna Viking at great prices.

Selling On EBay

Selling on eBay can be your primary source of living, and if you do it just right, it can be the moneymaking machine you’ve only been dreaming of. Selling lots of items on eBay that are small and inexpensive can cost a lot in auction or fixed price listings.

Sell some of your own things before you invest any money in other products to sell. Selling on eBay can be your primary source of living, and if you do it just right, it can be the moneymaking machine you’ve only been dreaming of.

Conclusion

EBay is a very well known marketplace so I would advise to use it to your advantage, maybe you have item’s lying around the house that you can sell, get them on EBay now, or maybe there is something vintage you really want.

I have a little resource I’d like you to have a look at, see below for the link.

http://www.squidoo.com/ebayusesandadvantages

It is estimated that more than 500,000 people world wide are earning a full time income with Ebay. Whether you are looking to make some extra money to fill the holes in your monthly budget, or whether you are looking to quit your day job, Ebay might just be the answer. As the biggest marketplace in the world, Ebay provides many very attractive prospects to any aspiring online entrepreneur.

Apart from giving you the opportunity to get rid of some of the old stuff in your house, Ebay offers quite a few options for you if you want earn money from the comfort of your own home. If you think that you have to sell stuff to make money on Ebay, then you are grossly underestimating both the power and flexibility that Ebay offers you. Here are three of the most effective proven ways of earning an income with Ebay:

1. Open Your Own Store:
When Ebay first started it was purely based on auctions and it gave people the ability to ‘flog’ their unwanted and undesired goods. Everything changed when they adjusted their business model. By giving their users the option to open their own Ebay stores, they quickly turned themselves into the world’s biggest ’shopping mall’. Opening your own Ebay store can be very lucrative and some of the top Ebay stores have become multi-million dollar operations.

Anyone can do it. By simply buying dirt cheap wholesale products and reselling them for a profit you can quickly start building a highly profitable store and earn a nice income with Ebay each and every month. Websites like SaleHoo offers extensive listings of wholesale products and if you are up for having your own store there is still plenty of money to be made in virtually any market you can think of.

2. Open An Affiliate Store:
For many the idea of having their own store is just too much. Customers, inventory, shipping, complaints and all the usual hassles of running a store can be very stressful. But, this does not mean you can’t profit from Ebay. You can still have a store, without having a store. Huh? With Ebay’s affiliate program you get paid a commission on sales made through your affiliate links and by simply selling other people’s stuff you can get paid a commission.

In other words, you can earn money from a store that has no inventory, no customer issues, no shipping issues and no real ’store maintenance’. Although the profit potential is not as high as having your own store, it requires very little work and you can easily run a few of these stores without breaking a sweat. The best part is that you require very little money or knowlege to start with.

3. Sell As An Affiliate:
As we just saw, you can earn a commission for every sale that you make as an Ebay Affiliate. You don’t have to have a store though, and you can use any affiliate marketing strategy to earn sales commissions. In recent programs like Adwords Miracle the strategy of direct affiliate linking once again emerged to be very successful with Ebay products. By doing direct advertising with PPC networks like Adwords, you can do ‘direct selling’ by directing your ads with your affiliate links.

You can earn a decent income with Ebay using any of the above three methods. It all depends on your personality and how much time and effort you are wiling to invest.

Article By Deon Du Plessis of Sincere-Advice.com

To learn more about making money on Ebay and how to create your own affiliate store, visit http://www.Sincere-Advice.com/Affiliate_Store.html for more information.

If you are new to the world of auctions, you must do some research before bidding on products or services. New online bidders can be paying much more for an item than is necessary. Here are some things that you should look for:

1.-Type of Auction:

Is it a Dutch, English, Sealed-Bid or Vickrey Auction? Most online auctions are the Dutch-style, which means the auctioneer asks a certain price as a minimum (called a reserve) and the bidders keep bidding until time is up. The person who has out-bid the others wins and then must pay for the item.

Other types of auctions include business to consumer or consumer-to-consumer. eBay is the consumer-to-consumer model where almost anyone can sell their wares and anyone can bid on the item or service. AlltheAuctions.com www.alltheauctions.com is a business to consumer auction site, where there are trusted vendors who sell new items like jewelry, tools, watches and electronics.

2.-No Reserve Bids:

This means there is no minimum amount you must bid before the auction will send you the item. This is a great way to save money and get great items - generally, there is no catch. Check the details before bidding.

3.-Packing & Shipping Costs:

Always, and I cannot stress this enough, always check to see how much the shipping charges are before you bid! There are many examples of people having the winning bid on an item and then realizing the shipping fee is more than the cost of the item.

4.-Spending:

Always know the maximum amount of money you are willing to spend on an item. Also, do your research to find the fair market value of an item. Obviously, if the item is antique there are many different facets to the auction pricing, including quality, condition and original packaging. Never get overly competitive and just bid to win. You will pay more money and the other people at the auction will not be happy since in future you may drive up the price for items they will bid on. However, you will make the auction site happy

5.-Questions & Contact Info:

A reputable auction site or seller will have easy to find contact details to answer all of your questions. If you find no contact information, do not bid on anything. You may be short-changed on your items and if you cannot contact someone when you want to buy something, chances are if you want to return it or if the item is broken, there will be no one to contact then either.

6.-Fads & Resale Value:

Items like Cabbage Patch Dolls were big in the 1980s and are now considered collectibles. However, many items that were mass produced are worth virtually nothing. Make sure you know the long term outcome before you bid. Also, if people are making foolish purchases now because they trendy, when fashion changes, the market for them may collapse.

7.-Auction Newsletters:

You should sign-up for online auction newsletters, like http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101613989976 especially if you are a collector. Some items rarely come onto the market, and if you want to know when they are available, you must be in the loop. Also, put yourself out there, especially with business to consumer auction sites. Send them an email and tell them what you are looking for and they will put you on a list and notify you when and if the item comes available.

8.-Sniping:

It has happened to all of us. No one has outbid you on the item you want. Your bid has been the top bid for about a week. You check your bid moments before and when you turn away from the computer for one second a sniper comes in and outbids you and wins. Who is to blame? You are, in most cases. A sniper can be bidding on his own or can use automated bidding tools to outbid you. There is nothing illegal about it.

In an effort to help, most auction sites will automatically extend an auction by five minutes if there is a bid placed in the last 10 minutes of an auction.

Proxy bidding is the best thing you can do in this instance. Figure out what the maximum you wish to pay is and enter the amount in the correct location. The amount of your bid will only increase if someone else bids against you. If the sniper comes in and bids over you, you have your maximum price entered and you can feel good that you did not overspend.

9.-Bigger is Not Necessarily Better:

Auctions that sell anything and everything are great for someone who buys many different items. Auctions that sell specific niches are definitely better for collectors. To find auction websites that may be of interest to you just enter a large-scale search term like ‘jewelry auction’ or ‘bracelet auction’, etc. Bigger auctions may charge the vendor/seller more money to list their items and that extra charge will trickle down to you. My advice, shop around.

10.-Oops…

In the world of online auctions, or any other auctions for that matter, a bid is a bid, and it is like taking your finger off a checker. You made your move and now you must live with it. If you must renege, you will be considered a bad person, regardless of the issue. This is because you have driven up the cost of the item for other buyers, you have promised the vendor that you will buy and now you have just gone back on your word. What do you expect? Only, only, only retract your bid when absolutely necessary. Think before you bid.

Following these basic rules will help you in the online auction world. These are not the only things you should know, just the basics. Spend some time watching the auction before bidding and see how it works. Happy Bidding!

Trying to locate a bona fide wholesale directory with real wholesalers is one of the great challenges the Internet has to offer. With drop ship directories or light bulk directories, users can buy products at low prices that could be flipped over to EBay auctions for a nice, tidy profit. However, many sellers have the misbelief that legit wholesale directories are a dime a dozen. Rookies say that Google may uncover tons of real free wholesale directories, thinking that two clicks of the mouse will lead them to Balenciaga handbag sellers. This is not the truth by any means.

To begin, you have to spend money to make money. Legit drop ship directories cost money. This information cannot be passed around freely, as the right wholesale directory could mean the difference between living average and living comfortably. In the Spanish version of EBay, there is only one major retailer of Armani watch products. This status has allowed the seller to specialize in a dominant market in Spain. Chances are that a free wholesale directory or drop ship directory did not lead them to that! In addition, many directories of wholesale distributors are actual scams that portray middlemen trying to get in between the real wholesaler and the buyer with jacked up prices. It is a losing proposition starting business with these dealers.

One of the best ways to look for a light bulk wholesale directory is to buy one from a reputable company. Real UK wholesale directories or drop ship directories have a customer service team behind them that verify all wholesale suppliers listed. In addition, these wholesale directories come with personal guarantees of authentic suppliers. There are tons of scams out there from companies acting like drop ship agents that pose as middlemen to work between you and the real wholesaler, or none at all. They charge outrageous fees and cut into your margin.

Another deal with wholesale directories and drop shopping directories is that scammers are just convincing people just like you to buy from the same wholesale supplier. 282 selling Polo t-shirts on the UK EBay site is grounds for business termination. A real wholesale product directory comes with suppliers that own warehouses full of products, along with a staff to handle overhead. Drop ship agents posting as middlemen are the extreme opposite to this. Also, beware of EBay auctions that sell supplier lists. They are useless, come with false data, and are too widely circulated if there are one or two suppliers on it to benefit from. To conclude, true wholesale directories are tough to find, but a great joy to have with hard work.

Matthew is the currently the founder of an Online Money Making Review website including articles, forum, free eBooks and more. He is 32 years old and currently living in San Diego, California.

You’ve heard the claims about buying a relatively new used car for as little as $500. You may even have friends or family who have told you about the auctions or seen the ads.

A good example of for learning how the process works can be found through government auctions. Vehicles offered for sale at government auctions are clean, detailed and ready to drive away. These autos and trucks will normally be less than three years old. Most often they will have been used for short trips by government agencies rather than military or repos.

If you want low mileage, great maintenance, popular styles and colors, plus all the goodies, like power steering, AC and cassette players, government auction vehicles are your best auction bet!
If you’re curious about the real experience you may find this information to be helpful.

While there are offline auctions in many cities and counties around the country, the real giants are online. Big name online auto auctions sites have huge inventories which provide them and you the prospective purchaser, with the potential for tremendous deals.

Most people now days like to know they can buy a car after they have had an opportunity to preview what they’re getting. The sites go out of their way to build shopper’s confidence while making the shopping experience as comfortable as possible.

Every year more and more Americans are shopping and buying online and the numbers continue to grow. The simplicity couldn’t be easier to understand. Basically, if you have a driver’s license and enough money to pay for the car, you are on your way. Detailed pictures of everything are absolutely essential. Don’t buy a car you haven’t seen from all sides and inside as well.

When you are the successful bidder of an online auction, you can either pick up your vehicle in person or arrange to have the vehicle shipped to you for a minimal charge. You will be able to wait to finalize the transaction until the vehicle arrives at your location for inspection.

When you find a car that you’re interested in, the rules and regulations governing auctions require that you are given an honest representation of the condition of the vehicle. You must be given accurate mileage and the title status of each vehicle. Rules and regulations demand that auctions honestly represent the condition, mileage and title status of each vehicle.

Bidding
Make sure that you inspect your chosen vehicle before placing a bid. Look over every picture from every angle. Be sure you set your payment limit before the bidding starts, or you might get caught up in the excitement of a bidding war. Don’t make the mistake of spending more money than you intended just so you would “win.” It’s only a good deal for you if you save some money in the process!

Paying For Your Purchase
If you are the high bidder, go to the transaction section and complete your purchase in a prompt and efficient manner. You will often have the ability to use cash, credit cards or a check to pay for your vehicle. Financing is usually available as well. The auction company will always guarantee you a clean title to the vehicle you purchase.

About The Author:
Alex Rich PhD, is a personal and business coach specializing in start-up businesses. Did you know you can actually save up to 95% off retail prices through online auto auctions? Click here for instant access to the details.

Copyright 2007 - Alex Rich, PhD. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way and give author name credit.

If you’re fairly new to eBay, or business in general, you may be scratching your head and wondering why your profit isn’t what it should be. This article looks at some ways to plug the profit hole and keep you afloat!

There are two main aspects to ensuring profits in business - and this applies to any business, eBay or otherwise. Let’s look at them in turn. The first is the gross profit margin.

This is the term applied to the portion of any sales amount that is the profit element. For example, if an item costs you $50 and you sell it for $100, it’s tempting to think you’ve made 100% profit. This is incorrect - what you have in fact done is applied a 100% mark-up to your cost, which equals a 50% gross profit margin. This, for newcomers to business, is a common mistake and can give the trader a much rosier view of their profit margin than is real.

Also, the difference between gross profit margin and nett profit - the magic ‘bottom line’, so called because the nett profit always appears on the bottom line of a profit and loss sheet - is something not always fully understood by newcomers to business and trading. Put simply, nett profit is what you have left after everything else is paid out. These payments include such things as rent for premises, rates, staff wages, transport and insurances. These cost elements are usually known as overheads.

Although a full explanation of overheads is beyond the scope of this article, basically they are, as described above, anything that is not classed as ‘direct costs’ - defined as what you pay for your stock. Too often these overheads are either ignored or simply forgotten - and this can have a disastrous effect on the difference in the amount of money you should be making and the amount you actually are making.

This difference can, in some businesses - especially those in high-volume, low-margin markets - mean either success or failure. So - what can be done to ensure that this does not happen to your business? For that we turn to the second aspect of ensuring profits in business: price setting.

Price setting literally means just that - setting the price for any item that you are selling. Again, a full discussion on price setting is too large in scope for this article but, basically, you must set a price for your item that will do two things - firstly, the price must be competitive (you have to sell your goods!) and secondly the gross profit margin must be sufficient for you to make the nett profit you require.

This may seem very straightforward but there is one ‘hidden’ charge that is regularly overlooked by those traders who use eBay and PayPal on either a regular basis or as a core business vehicle. This is, of course, the percentage charges levied by eBay for listing your items and also the final value fees. As for PayPal, the charges for accepting money via their service are significant. In fact, to set a price for an item that will take into account eBay and PayPal charges the formula is cost price + required profit + 15%. This is a rough figure but certainly not far off the mark and a good ‘rule of thumb’ to work to.

What this means in real terms is this: buy an item for $50. Say you want a 50% gross profit margin - plus $50. Now say you sell your item. Your overheads (so you think!) equal $30, leaving you with a nice $20 bottom line nett profit. Whoops! You forgot the eBay and PayPal fees! These equal roughly 15% of you sale price which is $15. Suddenly your $20 nett profit is reduced to a measly $5!

This equation is even more important when selling items on eBay by the auction format. It’s very tempting to just put the item on at $5, or $9.99, or whatever - ‘because everyone does that’. I beg to differ. Many people may do that but the ones making money are those who stick to a formula such as the one I’ve listed. If your item does not sell, or regularly falls below the price you think is viable - choose another market or maybe another supplier.

The moral of this article is simple. Always, always examine all your costs before setting your selling price. Failure to do this may not result in total disaster - but you will be making far less than you should be!

Steve Dempster writes informative articles for the web and is also an eBay shop owner. To learn more about levering your eBay sales, take a look at A New Life 4U

If you have been online for very long you have most likely visited one of the many online auction sites that are available today. Online auction sites are responsible for introducing millions of people to the internet each and every year. There are really two main reasons for people using an online auction site - buying or selling. This article will take a peek at both sides of the online auction world.

If you are trying to get rid of your junk laying around the house you may have turned to one of the most interesting concepts in ages the online auction site concept. Online auctions are great for selling your unwanted items through the use of an online auction site such as eBay or Yahoo auctions.

There are a few tricks and tips you might use if you are trying to sell your items for the highest possible price. The first tip you need to master is by properly showing your items through pictures. You can dramatically increase your auctions effectiveness by taking clear and well thought out pictures for each item you are listing.

The next trick for selling more items in an online auction site is to use some key words in your title and description. Perhaps you are selling a diamond ring or a watch and you want to get the most value for your listing buck. The best way to do this is by adding some popular key words such as (not Rolex) to the listing title. The word Rolex will be found if someone is searching for that brand of watch. Your watch might not be the exact brand they are searching for, but the search results will still display your item because you have included a popular search term in your title. Although your item may not be the same brand there is nothing wrong with mentioning other brand names in your description, but you should include the word (not).

If you are looking to become a buyer with online auction sites the best way to make some nice buys are to search for misspelled auction items that may not have as many bids. You can also use software programs called snipe software that will bid at the very end of an online auction and win the item for you at the lowest possible price.

Online auction sites are a fun and often profitable place to visit. If you have not yet discovered this fascinating world on the internet you should take some time to do the research into it and enjoy the many benefits that online auction sites have to offer.

For more online auction information try visiting http://online-auctions-selling.com, a website that specializes in providing helpful auction tips, advice and resources to include Online Auction Site and more.

Your title is the most important part of your eBay listing: so take care creating a great title for your auction and make sure your product gets seen by 100% of your target market.

Your chance of achieving multiple bids and unexpectedly high realisations for your listing depends on one main thing: the title you create for your listing.

There’s an art to creating winning titles, used by all successful eBayers, and revealed here so you can start attracting an avalanche of keen bidders to your eBay listings.

This is why the title is the most important part of your listings: eBay says 70 per cent of members use the site’s search boxes to find items they might want to buy. But the search engine returns only listings containing the actual key words in the title and ignores key words in sub-titles or descriptions. The exception is where users actually tick the ’sub titles and descriptions’ box, which very few do, to add those areas to the search.

That is bad news, because:

* Few sellers realise this and waste time taking great photographs and writing detailed descriptions. But if their title doesn’t contain relevant keywords the listing will be missed by 70 per cent of potential buyers.

* There is no ’sub titles and descriptions’ box on the main search boxes, top right and mid left of eBay’s home pages or individual categories pages such as ‘Antiques and Art’. You’ll only find these on the individual search boxes in specific sub-categories such as ‘Antiques and Art > Antique Clocks’.

* Most people presume, as I did, that sub-titles are part of the overall title and therefore search engine sensitive. They are not.

* More than 20 percent of people search entirely by category (some viewing all listings, most studying just the first few pages). List in the wrong category and you won’t be found by these people even with a great title.

Why your auction title is what matters when Selling Your Product

Be skeptical to eBay’s advice: they will try to encourage you to spend more on a gallery picture or to have your text emboldened or your title color highlighted.

None of that will help if your title lacks those all-essential keywords.

Your title is THE most important part of your listing, create a poor one and you’re wasting time, money, and virtually every second spent perfecting pictures and descriptions.
Your title must include keywords potential buyers use to find products like yours! This is how to do it:

* Take a pen and paper and brainstorm words to describe your product, start making a list of key words.

* Study completed auctions for similar products, sort ‘highest price first’, look for common keywords in the top ranking returns. Add these to your list. Vitally Important: Duplicate ALL keywords listed earlier in this and the following steps.

* Think like a buyer, that’s easy if you know your product well. Imagine yourself describing the product to a friend. Add words used to your list.

* Find keywords people use outside of eBay to locate items similar to yours. These searches closely resemble searches used on eBay. Go to www.overture.com, click on ‘keyword selector tool’ right of page, key words appropriate to your product into the search box, and press ’search’. Add the top 100 or so words and phrases to your list.

* Look for sites featuring high in search engine for companies selling products similar to yours. Go to Google, key in words to describe your product, then click to search. Next, click to open the first few listings: go to ‘View’ top of your screen and choose ‘Source’. A mass of gobbledegook will appear. This is html code, and somewhere you’ll see keywords responsible for sites appearing high in the rankings. Add these words to your list.

* On the same list, study the bottom line of early listings for actual eBay sites for products like yours. These are regular sellers of items like yours and keywords in those listings are the reason they rank high. Add words used in the title to your list. Click on ‘View Seller’s Other Items’, right of screen, look for multiple listings of similar items. Notice any differences in title, add words used to your list. Spot any listings attracting multiple bids, higher prices, add title words to your list.

By now you should have a long list of possible keywords, keep it safe, you will be using it often.

How to Create Killer Titles that will act as a bid magnet!

It’s time to make money from your keyword list. You have just 55 characters to create your title, so there’s no room for waste, waffle or repetition. Make sure every one of those 55 characters earns its place.

Like this:

* Get a dozen or so highlighter pens - all different colours. Starting one word at a time, look for duplicates, use a different colour to highlight any words featuring four or more times in your list. Add these words to a separate list, ranked most often used, down to least frequent.

* Starting highest ranking words first, brainstorm titles for your product, include at least three common words. Use ‘telegraphese’: eliminate the clutter, delete words like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and’. Use acceptable abbreviations to save space, for example use

& not and

/ not or

New not **~NEW~**.

Now create as many titles as you can because:

* Where you have several similar products or ongoing same product supplies, it’s wise to create different listings for each item, using different keywords to attract maximum interest from eBay’s search engine. Top PowerSellers say, rather than create multiple same product listings, using one title for ten or so products available, reverse the process and create ten different titles, one for each product. This is best used for Buy It Now and Shop Items or auction items listed sparingly, say at two day intervals. List auction items together, even with different titles, and bidding will spread across your auctions and restrict finishing prices.

* Study bidding and sales levels for various titles, see which work best, cut poorer performing titles and replace with better performing titles.

* Add unused high ranking keywords to sub-titles. They won’t show in search listings but they will make your listing look bigger, more important and more likely to be opened.

* Be specific! For example, in ‘Doll’s, you’ll find ‘reborn’ dolls, looking like real babies. ‘Berenguer’ describes a particularly collectable type, ‘Reborn’ is a term commonly used by collectors. Some potential buyers will use ‘Berenguer’ or ‘Reborn’ in their search, some will use both. Add both to your listing for Reborn Baby Dolls bearing the Berenguer mark and you’ll appear in all listings for this hugely collectable, regular price breaking doll.

* Use every millimetre of space. Longer titles attract more interest than short ones. Fill surplus space with power words like ‘Limited Edition’, ‘Rare’, ‘Unique’, ‘One Day Sale’, ‘Stunning’, ‘New’, ‘FREE’, ‘New’, ‘Proven’, ‘Guarantee’. Avoid concocted words like ‘Wowee’ and ‘Yikes’ which no one searches for. They might get your listing opened, once found, but they look unprofessional and might also deter people to click through. Other silly space wasting techniques to avoid: ‘L@@K’, ‘!!!!!!!!’, ‘+++++’.

* Spell check your title and throw in a few misspellings of vital words if space allows. Google says that 33% of all search keywords are misspelled. Check possible misspellings of each prime keyword at www.fatfingers.com. Fatfinger listings are mistakes made by sellers, people who should be taking care, you’ll probably find many more similar misspellings used by potential buyers. Make a separate list of misspelled words, add one or more to your title. ‘Laptop’ is commonly misspelled ‘labtop’, hence the reason currently 31992 listings in the UK alone have ‘labtop laptop’ in their titles. Under Consumer Electronics > Gadgets > Breathalysers (note eBay UK used ’s’, in the USA it’s ‘Breathalyzer’) I saw a UK seller using ‘Z’ but not ’s’ in his listing. He doesn’t list in the USA, he’s unlikely to sell in the UK, so his listing fee is wasted.

* Use acceptable, commonly used, well-recognised abbreviations, like ‘PC’ and ‘P/C’ for postcards, ‘nr’ and ‘n/r’ for ‘no reserve’, ‘hb’ and ‘h/b’ for ‘hardback.

So, now you know how to get your listings in front of potentially thousands of buyers, it’s time to make sure your listings are opened and attract bids that will make you the envy of your competitors. I’ll show you how to do exactly that soon.

Avril Harper is a business writer and eBay PowerSeller who has produced several guides to making money from eBay, including MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: http://www.magstoriches.com 103 POWERSELLER TIPS can be downloaded with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at http://www.avrilharper.com

It was not until the 1900s that perfume, then usually called ’scent’, was sold in ready filled bottles. Previously scent was bought in plain bottles, functional not decorative, and most ladies (also men) owned an array of usually exquisitely ornate and intricately made bottles, sometimes made uniquely for them, often hand created, occasionally monogrammed or engraved and generating high prices today on eBay and elsewhere.

On eBay, recently, a globular - globe shaped - milk glass scent bottle attracted 38 bids and $1386.38 finishing price, and a Lalique scent bottle fetched $950. These are low prices compared to others selling recently on eBay or at offline auction houses. Consider, for instance, a 1910 Wiener Werkstatte cut glass globular design (there’s that word ‘globular’ again and key to a very popular shape) that sold at Sotheby’s for £1,000, and an egg shaped bottle/flask made from silver and hallmarked 1882 that sold by the same company for £550.

Things to Know About Scent Bottles

* This is a great area for speculating and risking a few pounds on something that might quadruple your investment or fetch much more. So many different collecting themes meet in the overall scent bottle experience that even the cheapest and seemingly most ordinary perfume bottles bought for a pound or two at flea markets, jumble sales and boot sales, can attract multiple bidders and high finishing prices on eBay. The trick is to focus on bottles with two or more collecting interests, such as maker and material, for instance, a Lalique glass bottle with silver stopper, or a bottle made by Bacarrat and decorated with gold leaf. Another good example is where original and subsequent use converge, as where a bottle once holding perfume can be used as a paperweight today. Two collecting interests in one item all but guarantees multiple bidders and enviable finishing prices.

* At flea markets and boot sales look out for box and tray lots of seemingly low value items, such as bottles of half-used scent from the 1950s and earlier. Some with undamaged labels detailing maker and perfume name, are popular with advertising enthusiasts, and like a 1930s bottle of Saturday Night Lotion featured in Millers’ Collectables Price Guide can be worth up to £35 each, some much more. A good example is a 1930 bottle of Guerlain perfume ‘Guerlilas’ in Baccarat bottle that fetched £521.10 (about £280.00) on eBay, and a vintage bottle of Lotus Bleu Perfume by Moehr of Monte Carlo that fetched £78.00.

* A name can cause fierce bidding, for maker of bottle or perfume, better still both in one example. The big names to look for in bottle makers are Lalique (sumptuous glass creations often frosted or opalescent); Baccarat, specialising in quality crystal items, not just bottles; Galle, famed for stunning art nouveau designs that fetch high prices on eBay. Other popular perfume makers include Christian Dior, Guerlain, Estee Lauder, Avon. Avon created some of the world’s most beautiful containers and many bottle collectors seek exclusively Avon creations which can fetch upwards of £100 each. They’re not that hard to find at flea markets, or at boot sales where I picked up a 1969 Blue Blazer body powder shaker in the shape of Andy Capp which cost me 50p and is valued in Lyle’s A Fortune in Your Attic at £100.

* Andy Capp is just one of countless characters whose presence on a scent bottle can make an everyday object worth hundreds, even thousands of pounds. Cartoon characters are especially popular, such as Bonzo Dog (my favourite) whose image appeared on thousands of collectable items including scent bottles. Also look out for Felix the cat who recently made $650 on a scent bottle, and don’t overlook Disney characters, Betty Boop, Florence Upton Golliwogs.

* Amongst most popular subjects depicted on scent bottles are dogs and cats (cats seem more often to sell and at higher prices than dog depictions); hand painted flowers, place names on crested china bottles, almost anything of oriental interest.

* Some scent bottles, complete or just the stopper, were designed to be used later as paperweights, thereby reaching another popular collecting area and potential bidding wars between bottle and paperweight collectors. There’s nothing to stop you describing your item as a paperweight and even listing under ‘paperweights’ in the Collectibles category.

* Detail all possible collecting interests in the title for your bottle and reach the widest possible market, such as a French 19th Century Opaline Egg Scent Bottle made by Baccarat that’s just fetched $560.52 and doubtless appealed to collectors interested in: maker = Baccarat, subject = egg, material = opaline glass, age = 19th century.

Avril Harper is a business writer and eBay PowerSeller who has produced several guides to making money from eBay, including MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: http://www.magstoriches.com 103 POWERSELLER TIPS can be downloaded with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at http://www.avrilharper.com

I wouldn’t believe it until a close PowerSeller friend told me so, but it seems a really nasty scam operates within eBay’s buying population and it depletes you of money and reputation.

This is what happens:

Someone has a damaged item, they bought it at a sale or broke it themselves, and they can’t get their money back from the seller. So they bid on a similar item on eBay which, when it arrives is swapped with the damaged item. The damaged item is returned to you and forms the subject of a complaint that you are selling damaged goods and a warning that you either refund the payment or face negative feedback and become the subject of a complaint to eBay’s own security branch as well as local and national consumer protection bodies.

It works, and works well, and will leave you out of pocket and the conman or woman in possession of a brand new item in place of another that may have originally cost little or nothing.

My friend came up with an answer to this problem, in the shape of one of those pens the police use to mark bicycles, vehicles and other valuables, with a code that only appears when held against a specific kind of ultra violet light.

Many enlightened PowerSellers mark all expensive items this way and, when items are returned which don’t bear the mark, the perpetrators are reported immediately to eBay and the police.

It’s heavy handed, but there are some very unscrupulous buyers out there, like the man who bought a 105-year old box I sold on eBay, in perfect condition, which was originally used to store stereo photographs. It was in perfect condition when posted, really well packed, but the message came back: ‘Either refund on this broken item or else!’ I requested the box back, I had to pay return postage, and on arrival the item bore no resemblance at all to the one I sent out. It was not the same box, just an inferior and badly damaged similar item.

The scam hurts, it’s expensive, and you feel totally useless to avenge yourself. So now I mark every expensive item before posting, except postcards and really delicate items which I photograph. If a poor quality replacement item is returned I’ll take the appropriate action based on certainty this time.

So how do you mark your items without being spotted and certainly without diminishing their value?

Let the London Metropolitan Police explain:
‘Invisible Marking. For antiques or other valuable property which might be devalued or spoiled by visible marking, there’s an invisible ultra-violet marker. Burglars cannot see it, but if something marked is stolen we can identify it with a special ultra-violet lamp. UV markers are available from most good DIY stores and stationers at around two pounds. It’s important to remember that UV marking fades and will need to be renewed every so often.’

Tips

* Make just a tiny mark where it won’t easily be spotted by anyone else, such as in a crevice or blended with bright background colours.

* It seems that sometimes the law protects thieves more than innocent victims and certainly in the home one must provide a sign to burglars indicating that items are marked for security purposes! What rubbish, but the law is the law. So include this information somewhere ‘quiet’ such as in paperwork accompany the fulfilment package.

Really Clever Thieves

Sadly, really clever thieves know how to remove UV markings so you might also consider the next deterrent to prevent your goods being stolen and replaced by inferior products.

* Buy some security tags, like those used to close plastic food bags, which once closed can’t be removed without destroying the tag. Add something to the tag to prevent replacement at the other end, like your signature (most thieves will stop short of forgery), or add your business name and address on a sticky label which also can’t easily be removed and replaced. In your paperwork say the tag must be intact on all items returned for replacement or refund.

Footnote

A similar scam operates among book buyers which works like this:

You sent the book, they say they haven’t received it, they want another copy. You send another and one comes back for refund, leaving you out of pocket and the thief reading your book free of charge. He or she threatens negative feedback if you don’t respond quickly, like within your guarantee period!!!!!

Protect yourself by marking the second copy by underlining just one word that wasn’t underlined in the earlier copy. This means:

1) If the first copy without underlining is returned your ‘customer’ was lying and just wanted another copy of the book, one for himself, one for a refund. You should still give a refund, these people are not worth arguing with, but you must take steps to ensure they never again get your product free. Remove these people from your mailing list, include them in your ‘Banned Bidders’ list on eBay.

2) If the second copy comes back, the person could be genuine, so refund and give that person another chance at buying. If it happens again with the same person, follow the tips in the earlier paragraph to protect yourself in future.

Avril Harper is a business writer and eBay PowerSeller who has produced several guides to making money from eBay, including MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: http://www.magstoriches.com 103 POWERSELLER TIPS can be downloaded with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at http://www.avrilharper.com