eBay Buying and Selling Online Auction Tips
eBay, the worlds largest online auction site, continues to dominate the online shopping world. With over 27 million active users buying and selling everything from web hosting to small towns. What’s next? Planets for sale on eBay? There’s no place in the galaxy like eBay! Review these basic tips for eBay buying and selling before starting.
eBay Buying Tips
- on eBay.com, it is normally to the buyer’s advantage to pay with a credit card, whether via PayPal or direct or with an escrow service. Most credit card companies offer their cardholders some type of protection against fraud. Never pay using a check or money order, if possible. Online fraud is increasing according to consumer advisor Clark Howard.
- Leave eBay feedback only after receiving the product and addressing any issues you may have with the seller via e-mail.
- Use the numerous “My eBay” resources to keep track of your bids and offers and get e-mail notifications on your bids. The eBay community forums are the probably the best source for help available on eBay. Due to the huge volume of help requests, don’t get your hopes up for a human to respond back to a you and certainly not by phone.
- Watch the eBay feedback very closely. This is most important in judging seller credibility. If over 5% of the feedback remarks are negative or neutral, consider purchasing from another seller. Don’t buy from eBay.com sellers with under 10 feedback ratings if possible. Be especially careful of anyone with negatives on large ticket items.
- Be mindful of eBay sellers who consistently have a high percentage of 0 eBay feedback bidders. Some eBay sellers may be artificially running up the market for their item, hoping you will be the high bidder.
- Pay promptly. You will receive higher praise from eBay.com sellers.
- Always leave eBay feedback. Some eBay buyers with over 100 comments stop leaving eBay feedback, thinking that with such high numbers, they have achieved sellers nirvana. This could create a problem over time.
- Don’t get emotional with eBay bidding. Set the price you are willing to pay ahead of time and stick with it. Be like Mr. Spock and don’t give in to emotion over logic.
- Respond to all questions from inquiring eBay bidders promptly.
eBay Selling Tips
- Always list a photo in your eBay.com auction, even if it’s a stock picture from the Internet.
- List concise specs and details of your eBay item in the description. Is the item you’re posting on eBay new or just opened and never used or in fair condition? These seemingly small details can often make the difference in a higher bid for your product.
- Mention comments in your follow up e-mail after your eBay.com auction is closed. Example:
I sent your item today via Priority mail. I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate any positive ebay feedback you may want to leave and I plan to do the same for you as well. - Send the merchandise only after you have received payment for your eBay.com auction item, even if it’s from a family member.
- Leave comments only after the eBay.com buyer confirms receipt of the product, either via e-mail or the eBay.com comments form.
Disclaimer: Clickfire does not assume any responsibility for losses incurred resulting from these eBay buyers/sellers online auction tips.
December 12th, 2007
im having problem with uploading the picture.
ebay some how dont allow mw to upload picture from my computer.
January 31st, 2008
yea, ebay is by far th best place to buy and sell product.
i know many people who make their living by selling on ebay.
October 22nd, 2008
My Sister has a red rider BB gun for sale, ingood condition, used, but has all the neccessary things on it.
It has the Red Rider Logo on the side of it.
Thanks
Jackie Anderson
August 9th, 2009
Ebay is good just to place scams through the net…
Ebay, AKA “The Mother of All the Frauds.”
August 11th, 2009
icctrade, I really hope you are just be sarcastic. I am a hard working and honest Ebay Powerseller with 100% positive feedback. Sadly, life is full of dishonest people and it’s easy to just assume that if one person is dishonest, so is everyone and everything involved. There are many many hardworking Ebay sellers, just like myself that give Ebay a good name…not bad.
January 14th, 2010
eBay is the biggest and arguably the best, especially for beginners, however there are many smaller niche auction sites for experienced buyers and sellers that offer a far more personalised service than eBay, well worth a look for the enthusiasts
July 25th, 2010
Good point about sending up a follow up email. I recall once getting a business promo card, and a link to a seller’s general website, which were quite informative and useful.
For Selling,
- It helps if you can list equivalent model numbers for some items (e.g. mobile phones and their batteries), as some identical items, as I have discovered are re-branded differently in overseas markets.
- Perhaps list benefits, dimensions, and even alternative but genuine uses for some items. This well help target specific buyers as well as un-targeted buyers. I eventually sold an old rope, but after I described it’s thickness, number of strands, “bundle height, length, (in feet and metric) and added photos as a tow rope between two vehicles, and as a kid’s swing, and described a range of possible uses.
August 6th, 2010
Some really good tips here… My biggest lesson on eBay came when I miscalculated the postage on an item by $3 and overcharged the buyer… it was an accident but it cost me dearly – the buyer gave me negative feedback within minutes of receiving the item…
I refunded the postage costs and they agreed to remove the negative feedback, however, eBay wouldn’t let them for some reason.
Eitherway, I learnt a valuable lesson about postage!
Despite this fact – I still love eBay…