SELLING ON EBAY: Secrets To Success.

I found this advice site and thought I would pass it along. It says a lot of the same things I have already said but says it different. Sometimes it takes hearing things in several different ways before it sinks in for me personally. Also, the more I hear something, the more likely I will be to try it. So here it is:

SELLING ON EBAY: Secrets To Success.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Caitlin Colford: Interview With Sarah Silverman: Advice for Bedwetters Everywhere! (huffingtonpost.com)
• Obama's Green Agenda Under Attack From Secretive Group Tied To Chemical Industry (huffingtonpost.com)
• Elizabeth Berkley to Offer Advice for Teens in New Book (readersread.com)
• Emily Bennington: The Worst Career Advice Continually Given to College Seniors (huffingtonpost.com)
• Secret Aussie advice on how to get on in advertising (mumbrella.com.au)
• Prince of Wales will take wedding 'secret' to his grave (telegraph.co.uk)
• This is Also Good Advice for Authors (edrants.com)
• eBay and Hearst 30 Days of Green (ducttapemarketing.com)
• What are the BIG 8 things that lead to SUCCESS (jonathancamp.com)
• Secrets Of Making Money On Ebay (domainmacher.com)

OnlineAuction.com

Image via Wikipedia

I was doing a little research on alternative auction sites tonight and came across a site started right here in Southern Oregon. OnlineAuction.com is a modestly popular auction site. It certainly doesn't have the business that eBay enjoys but, it is only one of many auction sites popping up on the internet trying to win a piece of the frustrated eBay sellers who are looking for a better alternative. Some other auction sites are:

eBid

Swoopo 

Overstock.com Auction 

uBid 

Shopgoodwill.com 

Bid4Assets 

I don't receive anything for advertising these sites. Its just for your information. You should check out the other auction sites because you may find they offer more for the money and may fit your goals better than eBay can.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Seller Faces £50k Fine For Sham eBay Bids (news.sky.com)
• Social auction site StuffBuff launches to compete with eBay (green.venturebeat.com)
• What is a reverse-auction? (askowen.info)
• How to buy and sell on eBay (timesunion.com)
• Washington Town Sells for $360,000 on eBay (mashable.com)
• 5 Easy Ways To Make Money On eBay (abcdigitalbooks.com)
• Fake eBay bidder faces £50k fine (news.bbc.co.uk)
• eBay auction-fixer faces £50,000 fine (guardian.co.uk)
• 1 reviews of 5050auctions.com (rateitall.com)
• StuffBuff Social Bidding System Hits Beta And You Can Try It Here (techcrunch.com)

Customer Troubles

I had the worst customer relations issue this week. It is the biggest problem I have had since I began my business. I had a customer buy an expensive item which I purchased through a drop-shipper. The said item did not arrive is satisfactory condition, which happens sometime. To make matters worse a third-party becomes involved through the customer and tells the customer that the item I sold them was in fact a fake! Well the item was not a fake and I had to end up contacting the manufacturer and having them verify that my distributor was an authorized distributor. This customer was about to ring me through the whole eBay, PayPal dispute system. It was a huge headache.

Honesty is such an important quality in business. You will never get far if you have dishonest business practices. Even though this week was stressful, in the end it worked out because I was honest with the customer. I can accept that an item arrived damaged and needs replaced. I am so willing to bend over backwards for customers in that instance. On the other hand, to be accused of selling fraud products hurts me because I am an honest person and the thought to buy cheap crap to resell on eBay has never crossed my mind.

When I decided to start my eBay business I went the legal route and obtained my tax id so I could work with real wholesalers and drop-shippers not those ones who say they are for real but don't require any special info from you. Those people are schemers and to sell the products listed you would have to mark them up way over retail and would be lucky if you made an occasional sale.

I am ranting today but my advice this week is, be honest. No matter what you think you can get if you aren't, it never works out in the end. Dishonesty in business will be the end of your business. If you are delayed in shipping be upfront with your customer. If you make a mistake, admit it. It may not be easy to do all the time but it is the best way to go.

Till next time...

Ebates

I have to write another blog about Ebates. My total earned by using this free service is up to $47 in two months. Anyone who shops online should be using this service. Especially if you buy clearance items to resell from stores like Gap or Old Navy.

Ebates is a shopping site that gives you up to 25% Cash Back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales!

Click Here to Sign Up

Happy shopping!

Cynthia

How to get repeat customers

It has been a crazy month. Selling has been going OK. I have been really busy with school and haven't been able to invest heavily in store promotion so sales haven't been spectacular but good enough for now. This summer I will be devoting myself to my business completely, except for the mom and spouse duties of course.

The issue I want to discuss this time is getting repeat customers. I have been using a program called My Store Rewards for a couple of months. It gives a rebate to buyers who buy from you using PayPal and then sends out bi-monthly emails to your prior customers who have opted in offering them a rebate for repeat purchases. You as the seller are in charge of the amount of the rebate offered in either percent or dollar value. I don't receive anything for referring them. I just think they have a neat program that is worth a look.

I hope you gain so value from this short but sweet blog. I am getting ready for Finals so I will now return to joy of college before my boys get home from school!

Until Next Time...