Great Estates eBay Showcase - Woohoo! on eBay

Photobucket Free Image and Video Hosting - Get Started Now

One of the things I emphasize in all of my product listings and promotions is excellent photos and graphics. No one is going to buy an item that they can't see well. With everyone and their brother selling online, things like the quality and quantity of the photos will make or break you.

We've all seen the glitzy animated banners on web pages, and the fun mash-ups, slide shows, albums, etc. While these are entertaining, and can be very useful in making your website unique, it's the humble product photo that will make or break your sale. I'll be talking about how to take good product photos in another module. The purpose of this one is to let you know about a great photo host for all your great (and not so great) product photos.

Many years ago, it was a big deal to be able to upload a few photos into an "album" website and send email invitations to friends and family to come see the pics. These were meant to be sneak peeks at the "real" photos you'd be sending them in the snail mail. Today, everyone has a spot where they keep their photos. But a commercial user needs some things that a more casual user doesn't, so the choice of your photo host is critical.

I tend to go overboard on taking photos of products, especially the higher end items that I want buyers to open their wallets wide for. I needed a photo host that was reliable, could handle large numbers of photos, and was cheap. Back in those days, it used to cost money for every photo you included - eBay still levies a per photo fee! I didn't want to go broke trying to make some money.

I found that Photobucket fit the bill as far as large capacity, bulk uploading capability, and cheapness went. No fancy tools, just jumbo sized economy photo storage with automatically generated html code for different uses: listings on eBay, emails, bulletin boards, forums, etc. Just select the photos you want, push the button, and copy the code of your photo into your document. Voila! They also have a full capability to handle videos.

Today I have over 12,000 photos hosted on Photobucket, which is nothing compared to their 7 BILLION or so photo library. I get reliable service at a cheap price - $25 per year for unlimited hosting. And today they offer all the bells and whistles for whatever purpose you need, so you can be as plain or fancy as you like.

Photobucket Free Image and Video Hosting - Get Started Now

If you're serious about making online, then you need a serious photo host to house your product pics. I give 5 stars to Photobucket!

Garden City, New York - January 1, 2008 - TIAS.com today released data for their December 2007 sales of antiques and collectibles, which show a 19% upturn in sales volume when compared to December of 2006. TIAS.com has tracked online sales data for the antiques and collectibles merchants within their online mall since 1995. Their data is based thousands of transactions that took place on the Web sites of hundreds of TIAS merchants.

Many Internet based antiques & collectibles merchants have reported significant decreases in online sales volume over the past 3 years. The December 2007 increase is important because it is the first significant sign the antiques and collectibles market may be recovering. At the height of the online market for antiques and collectibles from 1998 to 2004 there appeared to be a "gold rush" attitude about making money online. It seemed that everyone was dumping merchandise onto the Web, hoping to make a quick buck. This worked for a while, but as the market became flooded with inventory. On-line and off-line merchants were forced to lower their prices to compete.

"What we have witnessed is that many merchants just pulled out of the market entirely because they could not get the returns they needed to stay in business. Brick and mortar antique shops and malls have closed at an alarming rate. We've also seen a large number of On-line merchants just pull out of the market completely" said Phillip Davies President of TIAS.com "These new December numbers may signify that the devastating market correction we have witnessed over the past 3 years, is finally coming to an end."

A good indication that December 2007 numbers represent a market shift, will be the TIAS.com sales volume results for January 2008. TIAS.com will have these numbers in early February and will post another report at that time.

Accredited media interested in scheduling an interview to discuss this press release or other issues related to the online sale of antiques and collectibles are encouraged to contact Phillip Davies at phil@tias.com or call 1-516-294-3161

About TIAS
TIAS serves approximately 160,000 unique customers a day. About 530 merchants sell through the TIAS system, listing well over half a million items for sale online. The company has been building e-commerce systems for merchants who sell antiques and collectibles since 1995.

I am an affiliate marketer for eBay as well as an eBay PowerSeller and Registered Drop Off Store. In late 2007 I bought the software from Build a Niche Store (BANS) and set up my first few affiliate websites. This had been an interest of mine for a while, and I finally found a package that was complete, easy to use, and didn't try to dazzle with false "get rich quick" claims. My sites sites are just starting decent revenue and I'm encouraged!

Doing this properly so that the sites are successful is a lot of work. Don't believe anyone who says you just push a few buttons and the money starts rolling in. It doesn't work that way. But BANS provides great support and other BANS members share their knowledge and experiences willingly.

A little further down is a list of BANS sites run by some hard-working folks. Check them out! And if you're interested in becoming an eBay affiliate through BANS, click below.

eBay is a member-only shopping site, and you can quickly and easily sign up by clicking on this banner.





Shopping on eBay is one of the safest ways you can shop online. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be! Your safety and security is a high priority at eBay and there are a number of safeguards built in to protect buyers. Here are some basic rules that will help keep you out of trouble.

First, before you even think about bidding or buying on eBay, travel over to www.paypal.com by clicking on one of the many PP icons you'll see on eBay. Get yourself registered and verified. You'll need to provide basic bank information to do this but trust me - this one step can save you a lot of grief in the future. You are also going to be funding your purchases with your credit card.

It will take a few days for this to happen, so in the meantime you can start browsing. I recommend that you change the sort order of the items showing so that you look at the Newly Listed items first. That way you won't get caught up in the exciting of a soon-to-close auction and start bidding before you're ready.

EEEK! you say. More confidential information. Again, the safest way to buy anything online is through a credit card. The issuing bank has a lot of safety measures baked into their programs - you may have been saved by one of them at some point - and they want to keep you spending by using their card. So provide the info to PayPal and indicate that that's your funding for purchases.

By doing these two things, you have just prevented a lot of bad things from possibly happening, because you now have TWO 800 pound gorillas in your corner making sure you have safe transactions. If you should happen to get into a messy transaction, you can take advantage of PayPal's protection system AND the one provided by your credit card.

Second, common sense needs to rule here, just like anywhere else. While eBay is famous for its great bargain prices you can't find elsewhere, some listings just look at sound like they're too good to be true. For example, are you likely to get a real piece of jewelry worth $20,000 for only $9.99?? No. You may still get a nice piece, but if you think about it, who is going to give away $20K?? Always be a bit skeptical until you have proof.

As someone who has spent more than 10 years buying and selling on eBay, I've had time to observe a lot of good and bad things. I would guess that a large percentage of buyers who are unhappy with a transaction is because they gave too little thought to what they were doing. They didn't read every word of the listings, or if they did maybe the seller didn't describe the item very well. This is my quick list of things to do when you want to make a purchase.

Keep in mind that most eBay sellers are amateurs. They may think that they've provided everything you need to know what you're getting, but they could have innocently overlooked a lot of things. Maybe their writing or photography skills aren't up to snuff (this is also a watch point if you're looking for bargains, as great stuff+poor selling skills=DEALS!) So don't assume that the seller is a crook if some of these things aren't in the listing.

1. Thoroughly understand what the seller is selling. Read the title, description, and everything else on the listing ESPECIALLY THE TERMS OF SALE (TOS). Does it have the make, model, color, style, size listed? Do you understand the shipping costs and seller's return policy? If an important detail isn't listed, DON'T ASSUME THAT THE ITEM IS WHAT YOU WANT! Ask the seller via the little button provided. Don't bid until you get an answer.

2. Are the photos clear enough so you can tell what you're getting? Are there enough of them so you can see the piece entirely? If not, ask the seller for more or move on to another seller with the same item.

3. Is it new or used? You'd be surprised how many people just assume they are buying a new item. eBay has lots of new items for sale, but it's also a HUGE secondary market for most items. If you can't tell, then ask... I think you're getting the drift now.

4. What is included with the item? Are they shown in the photos or have parts been left out? Are the missing parts available or are they truly missing? Does everything in the photo come with the item, or just one or two? I've seen auctions where the seller puts 5 items on a table and takes one picture. Then their auctions state "You're bidding on the red MixMaster in the middle, not the other items." Cord/cables, instructions, certificates of authenticity, boxes - all these can be important to the deal, so make sure you know if you'll be getting them. Ask.

6. Does it operate as intended or is it a fixer? If the item is something that's supposed to run and the listing doesn't mention that it does, don't assume that it will. Or that it will run as you want it to. Ask.

7. Is the item in the photo the one you'd be getting? Sometimes sellers use a manufacturer's brand-new and professionally photographed stock photo (not supposed to, but it happens a lot).

8. Make sure you see the proof of their brand-name claims. For instance if you're trying to buy Waterford crystal, make sure there's a photo of the mark on the glass. Make sure you know the difference between the real deal and a fake. This area is probably the most contentious part of eBay shopping. There are MANY fakes of expensive brand-name goods out there because it's very profitable to sell them. If you can't tell the difference between a real Coach bag and a fake, then either buy one from a local authorized dealer (the more expensive option) or make sure the eBay seller has an authenticity guarantee and return policy.

9. KNOW YOUR SELLER. This probably should go on the top of the list, its so important. Everyone on eBay has a feedback rating, where trading partners rank them positive, neutral, negative on each transaction. Take a closer look by clicking on their feedback number. You'll be taken to the detail page which shows how many positive, neutral, and negative feedback ratings they're received, plus you can see each individual comment. If the seller has thousands of feedbacks it will take a bit of time to review enough to be able to evaluate the seller. But many unhappy buyers don't bother, and they get burned. Look at how many of the feedbacks are for their selling transactions versus their buying feedbacks. If they've mostly been a buyer, then they are an unknown quantity as a seller. See what their positive feedback percentage is compared to total feedback ratings. For practical purposes, sellers with a positive feedback rating below 99% need a careful looking at. Read the negative feedbacks to find out what the problem is, and when it occurred. Sometimes sellers get off to a bad start, but haven't had any negatives in a year or more. A truly bad seller may have negative feedback all the time. Look at their total number of feedbacks. If they have thousands of feedbacks, having 100 negatives may not necessarily be bad. All sellers sooner or later are going to have a problem with a buyer, and will likely get a negative. It's important to understand where it came from.

10. Pay for the purchase with PayPal funded by a credit card.

These are some a few common-sense things for you to consider that will help keep you out of a bad transaction. Buying on eBay is a lot of fun, and as the world's largest marketplace you will find a lot of unique items that you'll not find anywhere. If you take some time and learn the game, you'll have a lot more fun. See you at the auction!

Free Counter