How to use the eBid auction site

There are a number of elements to this answer. Firstly, if your widget sells anywhere else, there's no reason why it shouldn't sell on eBid too - but if you've never sold one yet, there's no way of knowing how it will go! Secondly, selling on eBid is generally accepted to take more thought and effort than selling on more popular sites - the buyers won't necessarily just flood in, so you might want to think about upping your marketing efforts and letting people know where you are trading. Thirdly, eBid is a younger market than some other sites and doesn't necessarily have the same level of built-in trust as, for example, Amazon commands. So you might need to do a bit of groundwork to make yourself look like a trustworthy and reliable seller.

There's nothing much anyone can do to help with the first point - it's up to you as a seller to know your product, know your market, work out your margins etc and get pricing, packaging, and posting right.

There is, however, some help I can offer with the second and third points - these are merely suggestions, but if you want some ideas read on...
See "How can I market my eBid presence?" and "What can I do to improve my eBid trust-factor?"

eBid is a younger, less established market with fewer buyers, lower market share, and a tiny marketing budget in comparison to other well-known auction and sales sites. So it is generally accepted that doing a bit of marketing yourself will help boost customer awareness and bring in those all-important sales.

* Paperwork
Everytime you send out a sale from any outlet you probably include some paperwork. This can now include your eBid user ID, shop location if you have one (this is the URL/address in your "my eBid stores", e.g. http://uk.ebid.net/stores/Books-by-Kimbo) and a message explaining what eBid.net is for newcomers.

* Fliers
In addition to such simple notes on your existing paperwork, you could include an eBid flier, or one designed to promote your particular items. There are always a number of ready-produced fliers available via the forums and help pages such as these, and templates and logos for producing your own. Take a look at the "download" area here for a few ideas for starters.

* Promotional products
At any time there are usually a few promotional products available to buy (or suggestions to make your own) on eBid, ranging from the official car stickers that you can buy using your "buddy points" to items produced and sold by other ebidders such as bags, keyrings, packing tape etc. A search will bring up the current options, and ebidders are always willing to talk about new ideas in the Kitchen Table forum.

* email marketing
If you have a newsletter list of subscribers, or other "opted in" marketing list then you can definitely send them email news of your new eBid venture. If you do not have a subscriber list, but do have the email addresses of your previous customers then a note of caution: if you decide to email these people they might consider what you're doing "spam" and object. Lots of ebidders disagree and have successfully brought customers with them this way, but it's not something I would do... I mention it entirely out of fairness and to cover all the bases - what you do with the information and advice is entirely up to you! :o)

* Out and about
In addition to marketing electronically and by including information in your packages, you can also get out there and spread the word. If you frequently attend flea markets, boot fairs, jumble sales etc check with the organisers and ask if you can leaflet. Or just turn up wearing your eBid t-shirt and wait for people to ask! (eBid t-shirts - one each - are available from the site free for anyone currently upgrading to seller+ lifetime - just email eBid with your details and the required size). Other ideas seen around the forums include magnetic signs on your car, and even a teenager bribed to wear the t-shirt! Use your imagination!

*Social Networking
Social Networking sites provide an increasingly important and popular way of marketing yourself and your products. You definitely need to engage fully in this concept if you're to make the most of your opportunities on eBid. eBid provides quick buttons on every page for sharing via Facebook and Twitter, and you can use old-fashioned copy and paste or the social site's own widgets to promote yourself elsewhere. Popular sites in addition to Facebook and Twitter are... Squidoo, obviously! Plus Pinterest, MySpace, Google+ and blogging sites like Tumblr and Blogspot.

When a new buyer visits eBid, they're not going to start out with the same level of trust that they have for sites they've been using successfully for years. So in order to get them to part with their money, you're going to have to show them that you are a reliable, honest, trust-worthy soul who will not run off with the cash as soon as you have it!

First of all, make sure you make good use of your "all about me" page. http://uk.nine.ebid.net/perl/account.cgi?mo=account-all-about-user. It's there to let you provide a bit of background information, and any standard terms and conditions, along with anything you think will prove interesting or useful to your potential buyers. A decent "all about me" page shows that you're here to do the job properly, haven't just dumped some old stock and run, and care about the face you show to the eBid customer base. You can use it to mention any established accounts elsewhere (no links to ecommerce sites though!) with an indication of feedback you've gathered, for example. Here's what mine looks like to give you an idea of the sort of thing - but don't just check mine, ideas vary and you might see some good suggestions elsewhere.

Another widely accepted "fact" (read "opinion" :o)) is that zero feedback can be a turn off for nervous buyers. If you've got a little bit of feedback it shows that you're really here and trading, have completed a few deals successfully (from either side of the table) and know how to use the site properly. It means you've experienced the processes, dealt with any issues, and come out the other side with a successful sale or purchase... exactly what your buyer wants to achieve. There are a few ways of trying to get that elusive first few feedback points, but the two simplest and most popular are: 1. buy something! and 2. join in the YDC charity auction. Number one is obvious - find something useful and inexpensive being sold by an experienced ebidder (or it'll be the newbie leading the newbie!) and buy a few bits here and there - your feedback will get a kick start, you'll learn how the process works from the buyer's perspective and that will be invaluable when you're selling, and you'll probably get a bargain into the deal. Number two is less obvious - YDC is a monthly charity fund-raiser that involves ebidders buying and selling inexpensive items to raise funds for nominated charities. Those taking part are extremely reluctant to let any item go unsold and unloved, and will nearly always put in a bid of a few pence at least on something that's offered in the right spirit. So while no sale is ever guaranteed, a YDC auction stands a better chance than most. I'll be adding more about YDC here sometime or other, but for now check the forums - there's lots of useful information and helpful threads explaining all aspects of the concept.

This lens was last updated and checked by Kimbo on 29 February 2012.