eBay-Basics-Course

The Resolution Center:-
PayPal’s Resolution Center facilitates fair and speedy resolutions should any dispute occur between a buyer and seller. A dedicated team of specialists will help you resolve disputes before a chargeback is filed, free of charge. Should dispute resolution fail and a fraudulent chargeback is filed, PayPal will work alongside you to fight it.

The Resolution Team:-
If a buyer files a dispute with PayPal through the online Resolution Center, Resolution Team will review and help both buyer and seller work toward a resolution so that the buyer does not file a chargeback. In many cases, Paypal team’s mediation expertise can resolve a dispute quickly and fairly so that both parties feel satisfied. PayPal is the only online financial service that provides arbitration free of charge.

If arbitration fails and the buyer decides to file a chargeback against you, PayPal is there to help. Paypal specialized team will review your case and work with you to ensure you have the best possible chance of winning a fraudulent chargeback. PayPal will ask you for information regarding the transaction and use it as evidence when disputing the chargeback with the credit card company. You’re much more likely to win a fraudulent chargeback dispute with PayPal’s team of experts on your side. Plus, you’ll save time and frustration by letting them handle most of the work.

In addition to Paypal Resolution Team, they also provides an online Resolution Center so you can monitor PayPal’s progress as their work to resolve the chargeback. And what’s more, if the disputed transaction automatically qualifies for the PayPal Seller Protection Policy, you’re covered for up to $5,000.00 USD per year.

Best Offer is a feature which allows sellers to choose to receive price-based offers from buyers which may be accepted at the discretion of the seller. The feature is available for listings in the Fixed Price format and once accepted by the seller, effectively closes the listing immediately.

Each Best Offer is binding, just like a bid, and is good for 48 hours. Buyers may choose to offer more than the stated Fixed Price so that shipping is included in the final price.

Important: Sellers must choose the Best Offer option when creating a listing.

Once a buyer makes a Best Offer, you can choose one of the following:

1)Accept the Best Offer and close the listing
2)Decline the Best Offer and tell the buyer why the offer was rejected
3)Allow the offer to expire on its own in 48 hours (the offer will also expire when the listing ends)

Accepting a Best Offer:-
If you choose to accept an offer, the buyer who submitted that offer becomes the instant winner of that item. The buyer is then notified that they have won the item, and the transaction proceeds like any other completed eBay listing.

Single quantity listings:
When a Best Offer is accepted, all remaining buyers are automatically declined by the Best Offer system.

Multiple quantity listings:
When a Best Offer is accepted and the items have all been sold, the remaining buyers with outstanding Best Offers will be automatically declined.

Shipping:
If you have specified shipping costs for the item, shipping is not negotiable on the part of the buyer. If, however, you have asked that the buyer contact you to obtain shipping costs, the buyer can offer a price for the item which includes shipping costs in that final price. You will see "including shipping" in the message box, and, if the offer is accepted the shipping costs are also accepted.

The eBay Toolbar now includes a new feature: Account Guard. This feature enables eBay members to protect themselves by:-

Indentifying when they are on eBay or PayPal.


Identifying when they are on a known Spoof web site.


Warning you when you may be entering your eBay password into an unverified site even if it looks like eBay or PayPal.


Enabling them to easily report a potential spoof Web site so that eBay can investigate.

The following tour shows you how you can take full advantage of the new Account Guard feature. If you would like more information on how to prevent falling for a spoof, please visit the Spoof Email Protection Tutorial at :-

http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial.

Members can withdraw negative feedback that they left a transaction if they've resolved their disagreement. The process used to withdraw the negative feedback is called Mutual Feedback Withdrawal.

When feedback is withdrawn, the positive, negative, or neutral rating associated with that feedback comment will no longer show or count in your feedback score. However, the feedback comment itself will remain. It's still always a good idea to try and resolve trading issues before leaving a negative feedback, whenever possible.

For full details :-Mutul Feedback Withdrawal

Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit ? No ? There are a little known feature of eBay that can literally stuff wads of cash in your wallet in less than 24 hours.

This is an eBay tool that you every day to locate products that you can buy and resell or buy cheap and keep for yourself. And the great news is you can use it, too.

What is it? It's eBay's Saved Search feature and you can use it to start making money tomorrow.The Saved Search feature that will let you set up a saved search criteria and eBay will let you know when an auction that matches your search criteria has been posted.

Let's say you're on the lookout for a Pete Rose card to complete your collection. You could troll eBay every day on your own and to see if anyone has listed such a card or you can set up a saved search and make your life a lot easier.

Here's how it works....

Got to eBay.com and sign into your account. If you do not have an eBay account all you need to do is set up a free buyer's account.

After you're logged in, type in your search criteria into a search window. For this example type in Pete Rose. Click submit and you will get a page of search results that match your search criteria.

At the top right of the search results listing you will see a link labeled "Add To Favorites." Click the link.

On the next page you will see "Create a new search" or "Replace an existing search."

If this is a new search select the "Create a new search" button, give this search a name (the search term you used will be in the Search Name box by default, in this case "Pete Rose").

You can select to receive a daily email if there are new items listed that match your search criteria.

Click "Save Search."

Now you will receive an email every morning with new items that have been listed that match your saved search criteria.

If the search term Pete Rose is too broad you will receive notifications for every auction that has the term "Pete Rose" in the title or description. You can always narrow the saved search by adding "Pete Rose Card" or something more specific. Just don't get too specific or you may miss items that you'd be interested in.

How can you use the saved feature to make money on eBay?

Easy, you set a saved search to let you know when something has been listed for sale that you might buy and sell for a higher profit. For example that Pete Rose card might have been listed by someone who is willing to sell it cheap or doesn't know its real value. You could buy the card, make them happy, then sell it for a higher price yourself. This is how commerce works, You buy cheap, you sell high.

Let's look at another example. Let's say you have an eBay shop that sells designer shoes. Naturally you would want to know when someone else lists designer shoes for sale because they may be a competitor you need to monitor or just an individual who has a closet full of designer shoes to sell cheap.

You set up a saved search with the keyword "designer shoes."

Each time an auction is posted with the term "designer shoes" in the title or description, eBay will let you know.

You can immediately check out the auction and if the shoes can be scarfed up and sold for a higher profit, you made money.

Do it the way eBay's successful sellers do it !

Choose a niche product and specialize. The benefits of cornering a niche market are numerous:

Your expertise will make it ten times as easy to spot bargains when you’re shopping for products to resell. Bargains might be all around you, but if you don’t know anything about what you are going to sell on eBay, you won’t know how to spot the bargains that are right in front of you.

You will find different ways to add personal value to your products. These low-cost add-ons or unique twists to your products will drastically increase your sales and your profits by making your items unique and desirable.

You will have little or no competition from other sellers.

By dealing with the same type of customer over a long period of time, you will get to intimately understand the mindset of your target customer and what your customers want. This will help you sell your products better and allow you to market your products in ways others haven’t even thought of.

You will be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about what you sell on eBay, and you will be attentive to your customer’s desires. This results in satisfied customers, name recognition, and a lot of repeat business.

You’re going to find something you’re passionate about and specialize in it. If you love what you’re doing, you have a much greater chance of sticking to it and loving it. So it won’t even feel like work – it’ll be like you’re getting paid to play when you sell on eBay.

Make Your Terms Clear!

Create a separate box at the bottom of your auction ad for payment and shipping terms and state your policies very clearly. List the payment methods you accept. List the shipping charges if fixed. If not, include a shipping calculator for your buyers to use. If you hold personal checks sometimes or always, say so. If you accept international payments, say so. Tell your buyers to e-mail you if they have any questions.

The more buyers you reach, the more sales you make. It's as simple as that.

Non-Paypal Payments

There are over 40 million Paypal users today and it is obviously the most popular and the best payment method for eBay transactions. It's also the easiest and most convenient for sellers and for buyers. The problem is that not all buyers KNOW that Paypal is the best option and not all buyers want to pay with Paypal.

The solution is to accept multiple payment methods. Even though Paypal is the safest payment method, many internet users, especially new ones, are afraid to give out their personal information online. Let them pay with personal checks and money orders at the very least. If you're worried about personal checks bouncing, hold them until they clear with your bank (and clearly state this in your auction).

Be smart about it. If your buyer sends you a personal check for a $600 item, wait for it to clear. If you sell an item for $15 and you receive a personal check, deposit the check and send the item out in good faith. The very rare occurrence of a bad check will be overshadowed by the repeat business you'll generate by providing your customers with a memorable experience.

Do not Reject Zero Feedback Buyers

The biggest mistake you can possibly make is not accepting bids from new users. It's one thing to screen buyers with multiple negatives for non-payment. But don't say "if you have no feedback, contact me first", or "I don't accept bids from buyers with no feedback".

Thousands of buyers sign up for eBay every single day. It is ranging from 40,000 to 100,000 new users on eBay every single day. These figures should scream at you, not only to accept bids from new users, but to make your listings new-user-friendly (i.e. don't use any jargon they won't understand and make your post-sale payment and shipping terms crystal clear so that anyone can understand them).

How Do I Know What To Sell ?

Before you decide to list your item for sell, I must first search Completed Listings.

There is nothing worse than getting stuck with products that do not sell.

Looking at ongoing auctions can be very deceptive. Unless you look at completed listings you have no way of knowing the actual value and sale potential.

When entering a new market you always want to study how many sell each day and how much they go for.

Create Your eBay About Me page. Your free About Me page should introduce your business and build trust with potential customers.

Tell your buyers why they should buy from you (stress benefits), promote your 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Provide a link to your website (this is the only place on eBay where you’re allowed to link to your website, so really display it prominently and convince your readers to visit it).

How can I tell if I'm being phished?"

Phishing is a fast-growing type of Internet fraud. The first stage of the scam is when you receive an email that appears to come from a trusted institution such as eBay, PayPal, or your bank. The email subject and text vary, but the fraudsters often pick an angle that scares users into taking action quickly, such as warning your account may be suspended or that unusual logins have been made. Other hoax emails look like eBay second-chance offers; invitations to become an eBay PowerSeller; or emails announcing you have won an eBay contest.

Phishing emails contain a link that you are instructed to click. This leads to a web page that looks just like the business the email supposedly came from, but has really been set up by the fraudster. The page requests your username and password, which, if you provide them, will be used for criminal purposes such as identity theft or fraud.

A year ago, phishing emails were easy to detect. The spelling and grammar were often awful, and the designs just didn't look right. Still, they worked often enough for the fraudsters to make money and improve their game. Their emails are much more convincing now - subject lines vary widely, email layouts are identical to the real thing, and link URLs are cleverly composed to mock the real site.

There are various ways of detecting a phishing email. It's possible to do it manually, but you must have your wits about you, and all of us can suffer errors of judgment when we're tired or stressed out. Still, if you rely on the manual approach, here's how I recommend you do it:

- Check the address that the email was sent to, as many of us have multiple email addresses. Is your account actually registered at this address? Phishing emails are sent using spamming techniques - they don't know that you have an account with this email address; it's just a random guess.

- Don't rely on your knowledge of prior phishing emails. Much as we detest these fraudsters, we shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking they are stupid. They are constantly changing and improving their attacks, and phishing emails can now look identical to the real thing - and different to all the ones you have seen before.

- Without clicking on the link, find out where it points. The way to do this varies between email programs, but if you hover your mouse pointer over the link it will normally show up in a tooltip or the program status bar. Find the first forward slash in the URL after "http://". There may be a lot of text before that first forward slash, but just ignore it - the fraudster is trying to fool you. Work backwards from the forward slash, and note down everything up to the second period you find. This is the real domain name of the website. If it doesn't match the domain of the business the email is supposed to be from then it's probably fraudulent.

As an eBay seller, you have the perfect opportunity to offer your buyers a little something extra just before they pay-- an extra goodie to go along with their winnings. I'm often surprised at how few sellers take the time to do this, even though we see it all the time in brick and mortar stores.

You might be thinking, "that would be great, but I bet setting it all up would take forever and be too complicated." Before you stop reading, I PROMISE that you can set up cross promotion in just a few minutes, and I PROMISE that it's a no-brainer. Deal? Okay, great. Let's get to it.

Real quick, just so we are clear on WHY you should take the few painless minutes to cross-promote.

First, you are already shipping customers something. . . why not combine shipping and make more money for your effort ? Second, recognize that you have already targeted your market. Once you know a person likes Mickey Mouse, it's easy to see that person might want another Mickey Mouse widget.

Offer customers is a second item at a reduced price, and shipped for free with their winnings. For example, if you are selling collectibles offer your bidders items from the same artist at 15% off and shipped at no additional charge. Once you know which items are likely to interest your audience, it literally takes just 5 minutes to cross-promote them using eBay's tools.

Look into the "Merchandising Relationships" options of your eBay Store to see how to set this up. Basically, what the Merchandising Relationship does is displays photos and links to up to 3 related store items, and you get to choose which items are cross promoted. When I tried this out, I was surprised at how simple it was. It took you less than 5 minutes to setup cross-promotion for my most popular items.

There is always business opportunities on eBay.More than 430,000 people in USA, and thousands more around the world, are making all or most of their living by selling on eBay.

Take a look at how many PowerSellers there are: you’ll find quite a few. Now consider that every single one of one of them must be making at least $1,000 per month, as that’s eBay’s requirement for becoming a PowerSeller. Silver PowerSellers make at least $3,000 each month, while Gold PowerSellers make more than $10,000, and the Platinum level is $25,000. The top ranking is Titanium PowerSeller, and to qualify you must make at least $150,000 in sales every month!

The fact that these people exist gives you come idea of the income possibilities here. Most of them never set out to even set up a business on eBay – they simply started selling a few things, and then kept going. There are plenty of people whose full-time job is selling things on eBay, and some of them have been doing it for years now. Can you imagine that ? Once they’ve bought the stock, everything else is pretty much pure profit for these people – they don’t need to pay for any business premises, staff, or anything else. There are multi-million pound businesses making less in actual profit than eBay PowerSellers do.

Even if you don’t want to quit your job and really go for it, you can still use eBay to make a significant second income. You can pack up orders during the week and take them down to the post office for delivery each Saturday. There are few other things you could be doing with your spare time that have anywhere near that kind of earning potential.

What’s more, eBay doesn’t care who you are, where you live, or what you look like: some PowerSellers are very old, or very young. Some live out in the middle of nowhere where selling on eBay is one of the few alternatives to farming or being very poor. eBay tears down the barriers to earning that the real world constantly puts up. There’s no job interview and no commuting involved – if you can post things, you can do it.

Put it this way: if you know where to get something reasonably cheaply that you could sell, then you can sell it on eBay – and since you can always get discounts for bulk at wholesale, that’s not exactly difficult. Buy a job lot of something in-demand cheaply, sell it on eBay, and you’re making money already, with no set-up costs.

If you want to dip your toe in the water before you commit to actually buying anything, then you can just sell things that you’ve got lying around in the house. Search through that cupboard of stuff you never use, and you'll probably find you’ve got a few hundred dollars’ worth of stuff lying around in there! This is the power of eBay: there is always someone who wants what you’re selling, whatever it might be, and since they’ve come looking for you, you don't even need to do anything to get them to buy it.

An eBay seller must maximize each product's profit margin :-

1. Sell like products at the same time :- Bidders look to see what else you have for sale they might be interested in. Combined shipping saves postage for the buyer. Packing in the same box saves time and packing costs for the seller.

2. Bundle a less desirable item with a more desirable item increases sales :- This is an old offline auction technique. If the bidder wants the better item he has to buy both. If two sellers offer the same item, the buyer bids on the two item auction. Bundling two low cost items together also increases bids. A buyer may not be willing to pay shipping for one item, but would for two.



3. Remember seasonal issues :- Don't sell snow skis in July, water skis in January. Be sure to offer seasonal items early enough to allow for shipping. Don't expect to sell many Christmas items that must be shipped during the second week of December.

4. Understand profit margins :- Don't buy to resell for only a $5 profit when you can make $20 on a different item. Determine your desired monthly income and choose products appropriately. Want to make 1000 a month ? That is $250 a week. That's ten successful actions at $25.00 profit, or five items at $200 a month, or ten items at $100 each. Also packing 10 items takes less time than packing 20 items. Always consider time as a cost.

5. Don't forget back end sales and secondary products :- Offer similar products during the payment process or on your auction store/web site. If you sell underground fences for dogs, an up-sell item is a customized collar. A secondary product could be a pet door. Another secondary product could be an e-book on "Travel Safely With Your Pet". A back-end sale to the e-book could be an item that helps your family travel safely with your pet.

6. The List :- For many successful online sellers the mailing list is where their money is made. Using an autoresponder, sellers automatically email customers on their list at regular intervals. Including content with announcements of upcoming sales increases back end sales. Once a customer buys, they are more likely to buy again from same person or company. For information on autoresponders see this company.

7. Auction terms and conditions should be included with each auction :- What shipping options are available ? Do you take questions ? Do you ship only certain days ? What kind of payments do you take ? Type whatever standard terms you offer in a word processor and cut and paste into your auctions. This saves time. For some sellers, typing the content for each auction is one of the most time consuming tasks.

Profit involves keeping costs reasonably low and creating higher bids.

EBay is a great business opportunity but like any business, sellers must be wise in their product choice and sales techniques.

How to push your potential bidders over your listing and make them leave a bid ? Read on for some tips :-

Improve your picture: In all that description writing, you might have missed the vital importance of your item’s picture. A picture with bad lighting or an intrusive background looks amateurish and won’t make anyone want to buy from you.

Add an "About Me" page: You’ll be surprised how much you can reassure bidders just by creating an "About Me " page and putting a little bit about yourself on your business on there. You can also have a few special offers there for people who bother to look at the page, and let people subscribe to your mailing list so that you can email them updates.

Write terms and conditions: Have the ‘small print’ clearly visible on all your auctions, giving details of things like shipping times and prices, your refund policy, and any other business practices you might have. This helps build confidence with buyers.

Show off your feedback: Copy and paste a selection of the feedback comments you're most proud of to each item's description page, instead of making bidders go and look for it. If you have 100% positive feedback, be sure to write that on every auction too.

Add NR to your titles: If you have extra space in a title, put ‘NR’ (no reserve) on the end. Bidders prefer auctions that don't have a reserve price, and doing this lets them see that yours don't.

Benefits not features: Make sure your description focuses on the benefits that your item can give to the customer, not just its features. This is a classic sales technique. If you have trouble with this, remember: ‘cheap’ is a feature, ‘save money’ is a benefit.

List more items: If you want more people to respond to your items, then list more items ! You might find you have better like listing items at the same time, instead of one-by-one. There’s no need to use a Dutch auction – you can just keep two or three auctions going at once for an item you have more than one of in stock.

Accept unusual payment methods: To reach those last few buyers, accept payment methods that many sellers don't, like cheques.

Do some home work before list your items !