Auction Information

Selling on eBay - Have You Found the Magic Formula Yet?


Selling on eBay can be very profitable and a great way to make some cash while clearing your house of unwanted items at the same time. It's quite simple, just describe and photograph your items and seven to ten days later you'll get a payment though paypal or by cheque posted to you.

With so many items available, how do you ensure that your item sells above similar items. Despite many ebooks, self acclaimed experts and guides on the subject, there simply is no magic formula to absolutely guarantee you sell successfully. Even professional power sellers sometimes have a maximum of just 60% of auctions finish successfully. However you can increase the odds of your auction finishing successfully by using your knowledge of how buyers search.

The title of your item is the most important part of your item description. The reasoning behind this is because a standard eBay search will only search item titles. A massive 70% of buyers use eBays search box to find the items. Keywords entered into the search box are not compared with the item description or sub-title.

So ideally you need to research into your item before listing it, or at least before deciding on the title of your item. To assist you with there are two services I recommend. The first of these is called Keyword-Pro which is a comprehensive list of top 50 keywords in every eBay category. Updated weekly, the service can give you a wide range of keywords to insert into your title to give it a higher chance of being found in searches.

Details can be found at: http://trading-web-solutions.com/keywords/

eBay themselves have a smaller less powerful version that lists the top 10 keywords in each category. With just 10 words you are less likely to find words relevant to your item. It's still worth a look though - You can find eBay pulse at: http://pulse.ebay.co.uk

However a word of warning about your title. NEVER KEYWORD SPAM - This is listing irrelevant keywords in the hope of your item being found. It's used most often with vehicles, if you've used eBay to search for vehicles before surely you must have saw an item titled such as the following

"SEAT LEON CUPRA - NOT CRX, MR2, AUDI, TURBO OR LOTUS"

See in this example how the seller would be using popular keywords to draw visitors to their auction. It's a clever tactic but if someone reports you to eBay your auction will be removed and you may be issued with a warning, or even have your account closed.

Finally, if 70% of buyers use the search function, what about the remaining 30%. We can assume that the majority of them browse though the categories on eBay. Did you know for a small fee of 9.95 (eBay.co.uk) you can feature your item so it's at the top of the section. If your items of high value, them featuring it is strongly recommended. This way you should gain high coverage however your bidders search.

Mark Kenny is an eBay seller & online entrepreneur who highly recommends the Keyword-Pro. Full details are at: http://trading-web-solutions.com/keywords/


MORE RESOURCES:

WISH

Upgrades planned for N. Ind. classic auto auction
BusinessWeek
The new owner of a long-running classic car auction in northern Indiana has announced plans to finish $1.5 million in improvements to the facility before ...
RM prepares for first auction at former Kruse siteAutoWeek
Renovations Underway at Auto Auction ParkInside INdiana Business (press release)
Auburn auction upgrades pledgedFort Wayne Journal Gazette

all 20 news articles »



Daily Mail

'Real Housewife' Teresa Giudice's Auction Goes Global
Wall Street Journal (blog)
We recently wrote about the upcoming auction involving “Real Housewives of New Jersey” personalities Teresa and Joe Giudice: The contents of their lavish ...
Bankrupt 'New Jersey Housewife' Auctions Off Mansion ContentsHousing Watch

all 14 news articles »



Brazil's Central Bank Buys Dollars In Auction At BRL1.7585
Wall Street Journal
BRASILIA (Dow Jones)--Brazil's central bank bought US dollars at an auction Friday for BRL1.7585 to the dollar, the bank said. ...
Brazil Real Ends Stronger With Lift From InflowsWall Street Journal
Brazil Real Slightly Weaker Early As Market Mulls US DataWall Street Journal

all 3 news articles »


Private mineral owners in Wyo. to auction rights
BusinessWeek
A group of people who own mineral rights in eastern Wyoming say they're planning to sell those rights to oil developers in a public auction. ...

and more »


Buffett-Autographed Dairy Queen Spoon Raises $4500 for Charity
BusinessWeek
Buffett has raised more than $8 million with 11 Glide auctions. In 2006, a 2001 Lincoln Town Car owned by Buffett with the license plate “THRIFTY” sold for ...

and more »




Mix-up has condos up to auction block early
Bradenton Herald
Court officials rescinded the sale after discovering the error, which was caused by a failure to notify the auction company that the sale had been canceled ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006