Making Money on eBay and Beyond

Why is it that some auctions have more success on eBay than others? Find out why with this TOP TEN list of selling mistakes and how to avoid them:

10. POOR REPUTATION: eBay's feedback system is an integral part of the buying decision (buyers avoid sellers with a low feedback score), so buy your way to a perfect "10+" feedback score!

9. EXCESSIVE SHIPPING: Charging too much shipping is a buyer turn-off and may even get you booted from eBay. Gage your charges by looking at competitors.

8. BAD PHOTO. Pictures speak a thousand words and can draw a thousand potential buyers. So use a crisp, clean, and colorful image (always use the gallery option it's the best .35 cents you'll spend).

7. NO RESEARCH. Avoid entering a market with a flood of competitors or with unwanted products. Learn how to use eBay's completed item search to know whether your auction has potential.

6. WRONG CATEGORY. Listing in the wrong category makes it difficult if not impossible for buyers to find you. Copycat the listing categories of sellers who are already performing well.

5. BAD TITLE. Choose keywords carefully making sure to avoid spelling mistakes. Potential buyers may never find your auctions with a typo or a weird word. Use eBay's spell check and think how a buyer might search. On the flip side, as a buyer you can profit from seller's mistakes. Check out this free eBay typo tool

4. INSUFFICIENT COPY. Your copy should answer most all a buyer's concerns. Avoid unnecessary e-mails and speed your sales cycle by thinking like a buyer -- provide a full list of features and benefits to sway the most jaded buyer.

3. NO INTEGRITY. Copy should have a positive spin, and speak the truth about flaws. This will go a long way to avoiding negative feedback. Besides, sometimes it's actually the flaws that sell.

2. NO PAYPAL. Offering only checks or money orders will limit your market. Knowing that 95% of all eBay users have PayPal should be incentive enough to offer it. Even so, there are alternatives to consider, like accepting credit cards. PayPal alternatives

1. REPEATS MISTAKES. If something doesn't work the first time, then take a new approach. Learning from failure is key. The best way to avoid mistakes is to copycat eBay success by studying Powersellers and modeling after them. Now's the time model success and and visit a Real Live PowerSeller

Thinking of starting a home based business? You may already have a name for your business and know what you're going to sell, but before you run out and print business cards like those other unguided souls, spend some time on the basics to make your enterprise is legal, and to set a solid foundation for a thriving business.

Here are some TO DOs:

1.) FILE A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME. After you've picked a name for your business you've got to stake your claim to it. Just head to the Clerk-Recorder's office at your local Civic Center. There you'll complete a page or so of paperwork for a nominal fee (around $2.50 to $10). The Clerk-Recorder's office will inform you of the acceptable newspapers where you are required to publish the fictitious business name for four weeks (the newspapers will charge around $25).

2. GET A BUSINESS LICENSE A business license is available from your city. This costs around $100, plus the quarterly sales tax you report from you state if applicable (usually annually, but sometimes quarterly). Fines can be steep if you don't stay current, so make sure to pay the bills and stay on top of the paperwork. The Small Business Administration can help you get started in your state.

NOTE: To obtain a business license you must first present evidence that you've filed your fictitious business name.

3. OBTAIN A SELLER'S PERMIT (a.k.a. reseller's license, Seller's Tax Permit). A seller's permit enables you to buy wholesale so that you can sell retail. Get a sellers permit through your state's Department of Revenue. In California this would be the Californai State Board of Equalization

This valuable piece of paper in California costs $50 and enables you to get wholesale pricing and to purchase products for your business without taxes. If you don't have one, vendors will charge you sales tax. It also provides a resource of classes to help you with your taxes.

4. ESTABLISH PAYMENT PROCESSING: If you're going to be raking in the cash, you'll need a place to stash it. At minimum you must open a bank account (checking or savings). We recommend opening checking account along with a PayPal account. Opening a merchant account to accept credit cards will go a long way towards establishing credibility.

>> Open a business banking account. Go to the local bank and bring your seller's permit, a drivers license, a social security number, and some cold hard cash! Open a checking account online now

>>> Open a PayPal account. Knowing that 95% of all eBay business is conducted using PayPal should be incentive enough to open an account. PayPal is currently the only payment processing solution outside of money orders and credit cards that's integrated with eBay -- so it's must have for your eBay business! Even if you already have a PayPal account, you really should have two accounts (one as a buyer's account and the other a a seller's account). Open a PayPal account now.

>>> Open a merchant account to accept credit cards. When you accept credit cards you should expect sales to increase by as much as 50-400%! And having credit cards available to your clients is a great alternative to PayPal. The one we recommend is backed by Warren Buffet's favorite Wells Fargo Bank. Open a Merchant account to accept charge cards now.

If you're thinking of opening an online store, we have some further suggestions:

1. OPEN AN EBAY STORE: Register an eBay store in three easy steps. Open an eBay store now.

2. START SELLING ON AMAZON. Did you know there are merchants selling all sorts of wares that aren't books? Start your 30-day free trial. Navigating Amazon for this information is difficult, but here's the quick link to Amazon.

Open an Amazon store now

3. START SHOPPING ON EBAY. Purchase at least ten things from ten different sellers, pay promptly and gain 10 feedback points. This magic number will help you gain credibility with your potential clients and could cost you $10 or under. Gone are the days when you could buy a dozen digitial products for under $10 bucks and buy your feedback score. eBay banned all digital product sales March 31, 2008.

You can gain feedback on low priced items by doing an advanced item search. Click advanced search, pick a keyword, select BUY NOW under buying options, and sort by Price + Shipping Lowest first. Some inexpensive categories to consider include party supplies, scrapbooking materials (like rubber stamps), vintage sewing buttons, and cosmetics.

4. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE BASIC TOOLS IN PLACE. You already have a computer, now you need to secure a scanner or digital camera (possibly both), a postage scale, and packing materials (boxes, plastic bags, tape, packing peanuts, paper rolls to crinkle in boxes, bubbles -- the whole sha-bang). You can buy most of what you need at Staples and eBay. We recommend you register first with a rebate club, then you can earn cash back from all your eBay and Staples purchases. Get cash back at eBay now.

5. GET A LOGO. A professional logo is the start of your branding campaign and can cost you as little as $79 at LogoMaker .

Remember to tell the designer to think about your logo in terms of eBay. This means you'll want to choose a simple black logo that captures attention when combined with an accent color! We use an obnoxious hot pink, and our mentors use a high-lighter style yellow -- both are attention getting to help make them stand out in listings.

6. CONSIDER A POST OFFICE BOX. A post office box enables you to conduct business without giving away your home address information. It will cost you around $100 for a small Post Office Box with the United States Postal Service. You'll still need to tie your post office box with a residential address and the post office verifies this address before providing you with a post office box.

7. CONSIDER A DEDICATED PHONE LINE. You don't want people calling you at home at 3 a.m., so you might as well set up a phone line just for your store. This could be your cell phone, but beware that if you plan on selling wholesale, many manufacturers are unwilling to sell to someone who only lists a cell phone or a P.O. Box.

Now that you have the basics in place, you can run out and print those business cards. In fact, you can get 250 for free at VistaPrint

With an Alexa ranking in the top 100 (around 21 or 23) there's no disputing that eBay is the online auction champion. Even so, eBay is not invincible, and disgruntled online sellers have a choice. Here's a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly alternatives to eBay:

eBay alternatives