Thank you,

Jenn Cangelosi

If you would like to keep in touch, just stop by! http://boutiquebargains.com/blog/

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There are over 100 million members using eBay. That number is astounding, and just think when you set up your eBay business that means that will be how big your customer base will be – right away. 100 million potential customers – 100 million people looking to spend their money with you as soon as you are up and running. The reach of eBay is impressive, but keep in mind that right now the market doesn’t know you exist. Truthfully, most will never know that you exist, no matter how well you do. 100 million is a lot of people.

The most successful eBay sellers started out as buyers, and I suggest you start this way too. Starting as a buyer gives you a sense of how everything works. It also gives you the buyers perspective, which can be helpful when you begin selling. Consider this time period as time spent doing consumer research. You will actually be studying how eBay works, from the customer’s point of view. It may not seem like it, but the eBay buyer experience will help to make you a better seller – from the beginning.

Pay special attention to the customer service you receive from sellers. Take time to think about how you, as a buyer, want to be treated, and take notes for later use. Take your time in this process and interact with each seller. Even get involved in some hot auctions to see what that experience can be like. Another thing to make notes of is the hot items you see selling, these will be useful later.

eBay is like any other business, you need to determine what people are wanting to buy to be successful. You will learn that there are specific items that sell really well on eBay – you will need to figure out what those items are. There are many resources to help you find out this information. The best place to start is with eBay’s sellers lessons. I strongly urge you to attend the eBay University as well. This will be your next step in the process. Once you have experienced being an eBay buyer, it will be time to learn how to be an eBay seller.

eBay has lots of useful information right on their site. study as much of it as you can. You will learn quite a bit and it will provide a roadmap to your success. The best part is it is completely free. Reading through these resources will help you to avoid making several mistakes that many others have already made.

Once you make it through this learning process, you should know everything you will need to get started. And you will be on your way to making money with an eBay business of your own.

The first thing to remember is that good communication is EXTREMELY important. Making contact with your customers doesn’t have to be time consuming. Just sending a simple notice when you ship packages, and a thank you for their purchase and prompt payment. Taking the extra few minutes to write a short and friendly email, can make quite an impression.

Once you have your customer service established and ahead of the crowd, why not take it another step further? Really stand out among the millions of other eBay sellers.

Customers LOVE it when they open their packages to find a “little something extra” inside. Something that is complimentary to the item they purchased from you…like a hair accessory, a pair of socks, a sheet of stickers, or a small piece of “play” jewelry to go with a child’s outfit. You can easily get inexpensive “extras” at Big Lots, Dollar Tree or other dollar stores, online or even on eBay with bulk lots. Your customers (and their kids!) will be delighted with the extra gift, and how many do you think actually expected it?

Another “little something extra” could be to include a coupon for an additional 10% off their next purchase. Everyone loves a discount and repeat buyers will flock back if they are offered one. Or even surprise them with free shipping on a purchase and include a little card that says, “Thank you for your purchase, the shipping is on me this time!”, with the shipping refund inside.

Try it! Just make sure not to mention this as a perk in your auction descriptions. Don’t advertise “free bonus” or anything like that. Make it a surprise for your customers. It will make them feel extra special and make them more likely to remember you when making future purchases.

Here is an example of how it works. Let’s say you buy a Hanna Andersson striped playdress for $19.99, therefore you would need to sell it for $25.00 to make a decent profit. You might assume that you should start your bid at $19.99, right?

Maybe not. To decide on the starting price, you should ALWAYS check the completed items list on eBay. Look for a similar Hanna Andersson playdresses. Is your item popular and in demand? Are similar items ending with high closing prices? Or is this particular item flooding eBay, thus driving the price down? If similar items are flooding eBay or not popular, it would be best to start your item at $19.99.  If you don’t you will probably lose money on the sale. On the other hand, if the item IS popular, you should seriously consider starting your auction at $0.99 or less. Why? Like was said before, people like bidding and they prefer to bid in small increments. 1 cent or .99 cent auctions allow buyers to do just that. A penny auction will draw in bidders, and people are also much quicker to place a bid on an auction starting at $.01 than they are an auction starting at $19.99.

So why is it important to have lots of bids?

It draws a lot more attention to your auctions. You will attract a larger number of people bidding on and watching your auction…possibly setting up for a bidding war. Secondly, as potential buyers browse, they will come across your auction, that may have 12 bids on it. Who wouldn’t be curious and check out an auction with a ton of bids, as opposed to an auction with only 1 or 2 bids? It gives the impression that “Wow, this item must be really something!” Must be human nature that whenever we see something that someone else wants, we decide we must have it too.  Finally, more bids normally will result in a higher closing price.

Low starting prices also…

Low starting prices also drives bidders toward your auction instead of the competitor’s $19.99 price. The $19.99 price may guarantee that they won’t lose any money, but they most likely will not make much either, because they won’t be getting as many bids.

Success at $0.99?

The MOST important part of a dollar or less auction is doing your RESEARCH! If you do not research before selling, you will probably fail. It doesn’t take a whole lot of time, but by browsing eBay’s completed items list you will have a good idea of the market for your item. You have to be assured that your item will sell for a higher price. Keep in mind that most of the time auctions gain their bids either at the very beginning or very end. Don’t be surprised if your auction sits at the starting price all week and then in the last 20 minutes a bidding war begins!

What about No Reserve?

Use this feature with caution. Reserves tell the buyer that you are unwilling to sell a particular item unless it reaches a certain price. eBayers are looking for a deal. When they see an item that has a reserve, they will normally go and look elsewhere. The eBayer wants to be in control and know they can get an item, no matter what the ending price may be.

Before you know it Summer will be in full force!!  Uh Oh…that means kids are home from school!!  So what do you do when you have a TON to list on eBay and still need to entertain the kids?  Get them involved!!

We all deserve a much needed break from time to time.  But that doesn’t mean the money has to stop coming in.

My daughter is old enough now to where I will be taking her with me as I seek out some great treasures from yard sales to sell on eBay.  Especially the neighborhoods who start their yard sales on Fridays!  It’s the best time to get started and beat the Saturday shoppers!  Check out your local paper and you’ll be suprised at how many people have started selling on Friday and continue through the weekend.

Toys are a great items to look out for and they sell all year.  You’ll want to be on the look out for back to school items.  The summer selling season on eBay is short, and back to school shoppers will be seeking out deals on eBay as soon as July!  I also have this great book on finding items to sell How To Find The High Profit Items to sell on eBay that is written by a former eBay seller.  I refer to it year after year!  I’m glad it’s still around to share with you!

Click Here! - Let me know how you like it!

Keeping organized is always a challenge with two kids, but if you stay consistent – things will remain in place.  Or, at least in organized chaos!  Last year I listed “what to sell on eBay” each month as a blog post to keep readers a bit ahead of the game.  This year, everything has been compiled into a guide! 

Grab your complimentary copy so you can stay on top of what you should be doing each month!  Print it out and keep it close! 

Grab your Selling Guide Here for an instant download.

Happy Selling! 

I just got this from eBay Power Up Feb. Edition - three big reasons to start cashing in today:

Reach millions more buyers–for no extra cost. If you ship worldwide, for no extra cost your listings will appear on eBay.eu with access to nearly 200 million more Europeans. (No more switching to eBay UK to list your items)

Only domestic DSRs count. Since only DSRs on your transactions with U.S. buyers count on eBay.com, you can sell globally without worrying about customs or international delivery affecting your eligibility for Top-rated seller or PowerSeller status.  ( I had NO idea that DSRs from international selling wouldn’t effect selling out of the U.S – BONUS!)

Be a Top-rated seller in more countries. Now you can also earn and enjoy the rewards of being a Top-rated seller in more countries, including Germany and the U.K., two of the largest export markets for U.S. eBay sellers.  (This is great for branding yourself in other countries!)

Get more helpful tips and best practices for international selling.

 

GREAT news from an eBay seller standpoint!  It certainly takes the guess work out of selling Worldwide!

When you start listing in bulk you get into the groove, and sometimes you may forget about the details! Yes – I know you have heard me say before that details are everything. Details can help the bidder realize that not only is this a Burberry Dress, but it is red velvet with sequins around the trim of the dress by Burberry from this Holiday season. Sometimes we get in the groove, but get lazy in our descriptions. Try not to get into the lazy ways.

Getting your items on eBay is only half of the listing process. In order for people to bid  you they need to be sure of what they are getting. That is where your item description comes in.

Effective listing tip: Be upfront with your bidders but also engage your bidders so they will compete for your products which could start a bidding war. 

As I have mentioned before, bidding wars on eBay are a good thing. Often times the bidding war will increase the final price of the item and your time dedicated to creating and listing the item was well worth every minute.

What makes up an effective listing description?

The most important elements of an auction are the title and the body of the listing description. Both of these will work together to create a well-rounded picture of the item in the bidders head even before they take a look at the pictures of the item being described. Dull and boring descriptions won’t attract the potential buyers to click and want to see more.

First, let’s begin with the title. When creating your title, be specific and visualize. Ask yourself, if you were looking at this title, would it draw your attention? Use that same idea to write one an eye-catching title for your items.

Let’s image you are selling a red holiday dress. What would the title be for a red holiday dress? Let’s look at a listing titled as “Red Holiday Dress”. How much does that tell you about the red holiday dress? That title doesn’t really say much about the red holiday dress. Immediately a few questions come to mind, such as “What size is this holiday dress?, What is the holiday dress made out of?” Think about it, we all know what a Red Holiday Dress could look like, so this is no help at all. It could be a dress for a doll or a Barbie, for all you know.

Let’s try this again. Creating an effective descriptive title by saying, “New Burberry Girls Red Silk Holiday Dress Size 5” Now, the potential bidders can visualize the dress and even virtually touch the texture due to the mentioning of the type of fabric. You couldn’t envision that before. Your potential bidders will come in for a closer look at your listing to see what this dress is all about since you put a mental image in their head.

Next, we move forward to develop the description for the listing. A description is not about being fancy but itemizing the features of your product using attention-grabbing words. The first thing to remember is to mention all noticeable features of the item that would be important to anyone buying a dress.

What will help you to describe your feature and create a dazzling description  knowing your product inside and out. If you are unsure of what you are listing then I would suggest doing some research. Go to Google and type in what you know. From there try to find the manufacturer’s website to gather more information about the product you want to list on eBay. For an example, we will use the girl’s dress. What brand and style is it? Does it have a zipper, snap or button and where is the closure located on the dress? Does it fasten on the sides or up the back What are measurements?  Is it fully lined?  Would I need to purchase a slip?  What else would you want to know if you were looking for a dress?

All of these questions will help you come up with a great description. Let’s again look at the title that we developed earlier and answer some of the questions: 

New Burberry Girls Red Silk Holiday Dress Size 5

• Burberry, new with tags size 5 girls.  Short sleeved, bishop style, slight smocking detail along the front.
• Full zipper up the back.
• Measures 23 inches from shoulder to hem, falls just below the knee.
• The dress is fully lined and also has some crinoline starting at the waist to give it some body.
• No slip needed – I have included matching tights that are also new with tags. I also have black patent shoes listed separately.

You would bid on a dress with that description, wouldn’t you?  :- )   It includes all the details that you can use to make an informed decision about bidding on this product. You know that Burberry makes high-quality items and you won’t be dissatisfied by your purchase.

Listing tip: You know now that the more information you can include in your auction’s title and the item description, the more likely potential bidders are willing to take a closer look and put in their high bid.

By taking the time to create an effective title and item description for your listing you will be one-step closer to attracting buying customers and boosting your profits on eBay. I hope this helps with your listing descriptions!

If you have plans to earn a full time income on eBay, you’ll have to build up your inventory – and savings in order to maintain the volume of sales to get you to the next level.

Take a good look at what is working for you currently. For example, if you’ve been doing this part time for a while, one skill that you may already be excelling in, is selling gently used items from around your home. It could be gently used appliances, clothing, toys..etc.

Have you already developed a well tuned eye for what sells on eBay in the “gently used” department? If so, then expand on it! Use your skills to your advantage to build the inventory in your store to purchase some new hot products that are selling on eBay.

One way you can do this is by helping others. Take their gently used items off their hands and flip it for profits on eBay. You can offer them a set amount for each product or a percentage. Most times, people are just so happy to get things out of the house, and any amount is appreciative. Use your discretion, making sure you take into consideration listing fees and final value fees.

Help friends go through their kids piles of toys and books, writing down each one. Take a day to research them, and break out their items into different piles

Donate–  Toys that may not be complete, broken or anything that may not be worth selling after you perform your research.

eBay – Can include complete sets of books, working toys in good condition, gently used clothing, games etc..products you are familiar with selling or anything that you’ve researched giving you a good return on your investment.

Craigslist– Utilize Craigslist for another alternate stream of income. Mostly, for delicate, big and/or heavy items that you really don’t want to risk shipping. The turn around time is usually pretty fast.

Hand-Me-Down – Items that will be donated to schools, family and/or friends.

You can go at your own speed. You can learn as you go.

Offer pick-up for your items or have a secure location where you can drop them off.

 This is just one way to boost your income with little investment.

Happy Selling!

Why Snipe?  Well, my main reason for writing this is to give you some tips on how to ‘flip that auction’ and take advantage of misspellings. By doing this you can purchase items for pennies on the dollar and resell them, making a great profit!  It’s a great way to get inventory.  It’s also a great way to get name brands for your kids and sell them later. 

Use a program such as fatfingers.com or typohound.com – there are more.  Think of commonly misspelled words.  Examples you can check out are:  Gymboree, Hanna Andersson, Baby Lulu, Oilily – these are all highly sought after brands.  I like to look for my favorite brands, items that sell well – and even items I like to buy for my kids!

Do your research before purchasing ANYTHING, unless you know by experience that it’s going to sell for you.  I like Terapeak, but there are other eBay research programs that you can use.  Sometimes just by using the eBay completed listings, you will be able to get enough information to make a decision if you want to resell or not.  Once you have your listings in front of you, sort your listings by ‘ending soonest’ so your turn around time is less.

Do not bid on anything yet – this will only drive up the ending price.  Use a sniping program such as Gixel.com – unless you know you can physically be at the computer to bid last minute.  If you think you’re going to be bidding on numerous items, use a sniping program to be sure you won’t miss out on any last minute bidding.

I’ve dabbled in SMS to my cell phone and proxy bidding.  But it’s much easier to use a program that does everything for you!  Enter a price you are comfortable paying and you’re done!

Good Luck and let me know how you make out! 

Jenn Cangelosi is owner of Boutique Bargains and a dedicated eBay expert who has transformed her hobby into an online business guiding moms wanting to build a successful eBay business.