eBay Shopping Secrets

T. Flatval asked:


If you are starting an eBay business, or looking into the possibility of selling your stuff online, you should know that there are several ways in which you can ruin your reputation on this online auction site really easily. So what are some things that you can do that will eventually (or immediately) get you kicked off eBay?

Number One:  Bidding when you don’t intend to buy.  If you are a seller, and you create a false identity to bid on your products, thinking that you just need to get the ball rolling and make it look like a lot of people are interested in your auction; it’s going to be found out, and you will get kicked off of eBay really quickly.  Bidding on your own products (or having a friend bid on your products) is really unethical, and eBay takes a serious stance against it.  Bottom line — don’t do it.

Number Two:   Jacking up your feedback.  If you are a new seller, you might want to get a lot of feedback.  There have been some scams on eBay, where people have sold items for one cent, in order to get good feedback.  Any savvy buyer is going to look at your feedback and then look at the cost of the items that you bought or sold to get that feedback.  If they find a whole bunch of cheap products that you bought or sold to get good feedback, they are probably going to take a pass on your items.

Number Three:  Stealing someone’s photographs.  A lot of the power sellers had professional photographs taken of their products to sell them better.  If you take their photographs, which are copyrighted, and use them for your products, it’s like stealing. Just don’t do it; take your own photos and do the work yourself.

Number Four:  Ditto on the product descriptions.  The same advice can be given for product descriptions.  If you didn’t write it yourself, don’t use it.  Sure, you can look at other sellers’ information for a good guideline and for reference, but you definitely need to change it so it is your own.

Having an honest and ethical shop on eBay can be difficult.  There are many temptations to do things the easy way and to get good feedback quickly.  However, if you really want to be successful, you need to remember that eBay buyers buy on trust and they need to trust their sellers completely before they make a bid.

If you want to learn how to run a successful eBay business check out the best selling eBook: Auction Profit Streams.

Marion Adiante asked:


This is the very short trimmed guide on how to get back onto ebay after your buyer or seller accounts got suspended or limited. If you need more in-depth information, then visit my website for: eBay Stealth - The Complete Suspended eBay Account Guide. Please note that we will be making a fully anonymous eBay and Paypal account using fully 100% legal methods.

1. First, you need to Download Firefox. After the download, go to Tools -> Options, Select the Privacy tab, then on the bottom in the “Private Data” Section Press ‘Settings’ and check off every checkbox. Press OK, Now whenever you close firefox it will ask to delete all of those things, just hit OK everytime. (you need these in case you are using 2 different ebay/paypal accounts so they cant track your cookies) And even if you are not using 2 ebay/paypal addresses, do this just in case everytime.

2. Register a Business name in your city. First make up a name you will be using for your new eBay and Paypal Identities. Then Google “register business [your city]” — without the quotes of course. Register a name that looks like a persons name, made up of 2 words, take some foreign words and create something for example; Wanslow Fae

Emily Banks asked:


EBay traders rely on their feedback reputation as much as they rely on their goods. Feedback amounts to the comments that both buyers and sellers leave on the transaction. The better your feedback reputation the more people will trust you as a buyer and seller.  Straightforward enough, you say. But some unscrupulous sellers manipulate their feedback to gain their buyer’s trust. Once they have that trust, they start ripping off buyers.

How Do They Do It?

Feedback Fraud -

A seller sets up multiple EBay accounts.  He then buys and sells items between his identities, making sure to leave positive feedback to make himself look trustworthy.



Purchasing Feedback -

EBay has cracked down on this. However, a simple search shows that it still goes on. A buyer purchases a low price item, say under £1, in return for positive feedback to build up their rating. These £1 friends help schew the true feedback status.



Stealing Feedback -

An unscrupulous dealer may hijack an account. After he does so, he can use its good reputation to scam unsuspecting buyers. This usually occurs after someone has been tricked into entering their password at a counterfeit EBay site.  The link to the phony EBay

site usually arrives in a phishing e-mail.

How To Avoid Being Scammed -

An important thing to in any EBay transaction is to check the other party’s feedback. Try and avoid a seller who has a large negative, or even neutral, feedback rating. Be especially careful if your purchase is an expensive item.

Things to Look Out For -

* Check the IDs leaving feedback.  If there are many from the same ID, alarm bells should ring that the seller might be purchasing feedback.

* What items are the feedback for? A hard sell of Very low-priced items and a sudden change to the seller promoting expensive laptops, you should be suspicious. Check by clicking on the item link - it will show you the auction and winning bid prices within the last couple of months. Pay attention to both.

* Is the feedback for buying or selling? If it’s all been for buying items and suddenly the person is selling, be careful.  Watch out for novice sellers and treat them as a seller with zero feedback.

* Look for the Buy Safe seal. It means that the seller has been vetted and approved by an independent company called Buy Safe. But some legitimate sellers even don’t use this.



What To Do If You’re Scammed -

You should report the incident to EBay, and also to Paypal, if need be. This offers you some recourse, and means you can file an insurance claim through them. Online auctions are like car boot sales.  It’s a case of caveat emptor, buyer beware.

EBay suspends accounts where feedback manipulation is obvious. They have stated, however, that it’s a grey area. SquareTrade is a mediation service that tries to resolve buyer/seller problems.  But if it’s a scam that has caused the problem, they may not be able to assist.

EBay states that only 0.01% of the transactions on its site are scams.  They do their best to police them. And certainly, the vast majority of people experience no problems.

Remember to do your homework before bidding on an item, especially an expensive one.

Emily Banks/Freelance Writer.  Why not visit Buzzed Up?

Nicholas Tan asked:


Are you interested in shopping on eBay? If you are, you are definitely not alone. Over the past few years, the popularity of eBay has literally skyrocketed. Since eBay is considered an online auction website, one that allows internet users to post their belongings for sale, it generates a huge marketplace with millions of items for sale, at any given time. Although eBay is a great place to do your shopping online, it can be unsafe; however, there are a number of ways that you can protect you and your finances when using eBay to do your online shopping.

One of the most important things that you need to remember when using eBay is that you created a sign in name or a screen name for yourself. That screen name is used so that you do not have to provide other eBay users with your real name. Yes, if you were to make a purchase online, you would need to give the eBay seller your real name and address, but that is the only time that you should do so. You should never give an eBay seller information about yourself, unless you have won an item from them on the eBay website.

In connection with giving out personal information about yourself, you also do not want to give out any other personal information about your finances. eBay uses a secure checkout program, which enables you to make payment arrangements on your own. The most secure way to make purchases online is through PayPal, but many other sellers accept personal checks or money orders. With PayPal, the eBay seller you are doing business with actually doesn’t get your credit card information, as all funds are transferred electronically. For that reason, there is no reason to give an eBay seller your bank account information or your credit or debit card information, even if you are buying an item from them.

When buying an item on eBay, you may place most of your focus on the price that the item is listed at, if it is a buy it now auction. If it is in a traditional auction listing, you may be focusing on the current highest bid. While this is important to do, you will also want to place a focus on the total cost of shipping. It is not uncommon for eBay sellers to sell their items for a low price, but charge a high amount in shipping. Also, be cautious of a seller who doesn’t provide you with shipping information upfront. Often times, you will find this is a front for a scam. After winning the auction, you are responsible for paying for the product, as well as the shipping costs, which often turn out to be high.

To prevent you from doing business with a shady eBay seller, one who may be out to take your money, you will want to examine the feedback of each eBay seller that you are interested in doing business with. While a few negative feedback ratings are not uncommon, you will want to be cautious of new eBay sellers with even just one or two negative ratings. Basically, when shopping on eBay, you need to use your best judgment. If something looks suspicious, there is a good chance that it is. To prevent yourself from being scammed or losing money, you will just want to make sure that you use your head, as it is often the best sign of trouble to come.

It is also important to mention phishing scams. These types of scams are taking place off of the eBay website, but they are, in a way, related to eBay. There are a number of scammers, who are creating fake eBay emails, as well as fake eBay sign in screens. These emails are prompting you to sign into your eBay account. Once you do so, the scammer will have access to your eBay account, as well as some of your personal information. Do not fall victim to these scams. All eBay messages should appear in your eBay account, which can be accessed once you log in directly from eBay.com.

eBay is a great place to buy and sell on the internet. You shouldn’t let the possibility of getting scammed prevent you from shopping online. As long as you keep the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to do your online shopping on eBay, without having any problems.

Mark Allen asked:


Are you interested in using eBay to shop online? If you are, you are definitely not alone, as eBay is one of the most popular online marketplaces. As you likely already know, eBay is an online auction website; an online auction website that allows internet users to post items that they have in their possession, but not longer want or need, for sale. While this tends to give you a large number of products to choose from, it can make getting scammed on eBay relatively easy; however, there is a way that you cannot fall victim to some of the most common eBay scams. That way involves checking feedback.

If this is your first time using eBay, you may not necessarily know that buyers and sellers are able to leave each other feedback; in fact, they are encouraged to do so. Now, if another eBay buyer, just like you, were to have a positive experience, like they got their item in a timely matter and it was what they expected, they would be likely to leave a positive feedback. Positive feedbacks are marked with green circles with plus signs in them. On the other hand, if an eBay buyer has a negative experience, like they never received their item or it was in poor condition, a negative comment may be left. Negative comments are market by red circles with negative signs in them. In addition to positive or negative comments, eBay buyers are also able to leave neutral comments, which are commonly used when a problem arose, but the seller in question fixed it in a timely matter. Also, next to the positive, negative, or neutral markings, eBay buyers can also leave comments.

Although you might not necessarily think about it, the feedback that an eBay seller has can give you insight into the type of service that you may receive. As a way, this feedback serves as reputation for an eBay seller. When shopping at a traditional retail store, there is a good chance that you wouldn’t shop at a store that is known for selling poor quality products or a store that has poor customer service. The same thinking should be applied when using eBay. You don’t want to business with an eBay seller that has a number of poor feedback ratings, as it is a sign of what may come.

If you are interested in examining the feedback of an eBay seller, you can easily do so. When visiting an online auction listing page, say a listing for a new set of hair clippers, in the right hand corner there should be a “Meet the Seller,” section. That section has information on the seller’s eBay feedback, as well as a link that you can click to see each individual feedback rating. You are urged to click that link. When examining an eBay seller’s feedback, you need to remember that it is not uncommon for a seller to deal with disgruntled customers; customers that may leave negative feedback for no reason at all. That is why it is not uncommon to see a few negative feedback ratings; however, be on the lookout for any eBay seller who has an excessive number of them or a new eBay seller that has a large number of negative feedback ratings, as they are someone you should try and avoid.

In short, examining the feedback ratings or comments of an eBay seller will only take a few minutes of your time, but it may end up saving you a considerable amount of money. When shopping on eBay, it is advised that you use your best judgment. A number of negative feedback ratings may be a sure sign that an eBay seller may be out to scam you, in one way or another.

Christopher Bernard asked:


If you are considering using dropshipping to supply your eBay auctions with products then this article might change your mind and send you in the right direction…

Dropshipping is terrible for eBay businesses!

What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a method of buying-and-selling that requires very little money upfront and very little effort. In theory.

Here is how dropshipping works on eBay.

You look through a dropshipper’s catalog to find products you want to sell on eBay. Then, you post the products as auctions or buy it now listings on eBay. If the product sells, you collect the payment from the buyer and forward the order on to the dropshipper, using your eBay customer’s payment to fund the transaction. The dropshipper then send the product directly to your eBay customer.

The money you have left is your profit.

The profit is the difference in price between what you pay the dropshipper and what you sell the product for on eBay. So if your dropshipper sells the Nintendo Wii for $230 and you sell it on eBay for $250 have $20 in profit. However, to determine your actual profit you need to include and deduct your eBay fees, PayPal fees, etc. So your final profit is under $20 using the example given.

Why is dropshipping bad for my eBay business? Let me start by saying “bad” is an understatement. Dropshipping is not bad, it is deadly. Dropshipping makes no sense in the eBay marketplace… Just think about it!

Dropshipping is based on the concept that you can get just one of an item and pay near wholesale price. But if you just think about it, that doesn’t make any sense. If we look at how the wholesale industry works it will be obvious.

The wholesale industry works on quantity. Wholesale is all about bulk. When a huge company, such as Wal*Mart, places an order it is in huge quantity (to fill all of their stores). I’ll make you an example using dvd players…

Wal*Mart wants to order 5000 ZIP-ZAM DVD PLAYERS which retail for $105 each. Wal*Mart plans to sell them for a little under retail at $98 each. So, they contact their wholesale distributor who offers them a price of $86 each. Wal*Mart places the order and everyone is happy. But…

Using dropshipping you cannot expect to get that DVD player for anywhere near $86. The distributor offered Wal*Mart the $86 price because of the quantity they were agreeing to purchase. At the $86 price the distributor is only profiting $5 per DVD player. But that is ok. One sale of 5000 units to Wal*Mart is $25,000 in profit. But you want just one, and a $5 profit sale is not going to do.

You have to look at it from the dropshipper’s perspective. If a dropshipper had a really hot product — why would they sell it to some small businesses for very little profit? Anyone using dropshipping is not going to sell huge quantities (or they would use wholesale)… So what is in it for the dropship company? The dropshipper could even sell direct to the public and do much better. They could charge a higher price and probably sell more units. Wholesalers could do this too, but remember, they do not sell one item at a time. They have a completely different business model.

So, when you think about it even a little bit - WHY would any company sell you just one of an item for very little profit? WHAT would be the advantage?

The answer is simple. They do not. The exception to this would be companies that sell large items that most stores do not keep in stock but will special order or very unique specialty items. But in the real world; in the EBAY world, dropshipping will cost you much more than wholesale price. Since eBay is a low-price marketplace, this means that often the dropshipping price is MORE than the eBay price.

eBay is a very competitive marketplace and the profit margins with dropshipping are just too thin to allow anyone to actually make a good living with this method of product sourcing.

But even if you could find a good product with a high profit margin, you cannot use dropshipping’s main advantage. You can no longer sell the item on eBay and then use that money to buy the item from the dropshipper.

You see, dropshipping is about getting paid first and then using that money to buy the product and have it shipped directly to your eBay buyer. So, you list an item on eBay then someone buys it. Then you use the money they paid you (though PayPal) to buy the item, which the drop shipper then ships directly to the buyer.

YOU LIST THE ITEM

YOU SELL THE ITEM

BUYER PAYS YOU FOR THE ITEM

YOU USE BUYER’S PAYMENT TO BUY THE ITEM FROM THE DROP SHIPPER

THE DROP SHIPPER SENDS THE ITEM DIRECTLY TO YOUR EBAY CUSTOMER

eBay’s recent policy changes will make it nearly impossible to start with dropshipping. One of the major benefits of dropshipping has been obliterated by eBay. You can no longer use the buyer’s money to pay for the product you are selling on eBay.

eBay has an new policy in place where they will start HOLDING FUNDS FOR 21 DAYS or UNTIL POSITIVE FEEDBACK IS LEFT! This applies to small sellers, new sellers, and sellers with less than stellar feedback.

Here are the details direct from eBay’s website…

FROM EBAY’S POLICY CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Occasional holds on payment

27. Which sellers will have their payments held?

In a small percentage of cases where it has been determined the risk of dissatisfied buyers is higher, PayPal may delay release of the payment funds to the seller until the buyer has left a positive feedback or 21 days have passed without a dispute, claim, chargeback or reversal filed on that transaction.

To determine if a transaction may have a higher risk of dissatisfied buyers, eBay reports to PayPal a number of factors, including but not limited to:

Seller’s % Positive Feedback in the last 30 days

Seller’s Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 30 days

Final price for the item

Shipping & handling fee

Seller’s eBay tenure as an eBay member

Seller’s total number of Feedback

29. When will PayPal release the eBay item hold?

PayPal will release the hold when the earliest of the following occurs:

the buyer leaves positive feedback,

3 days after confirmed item delivery* or

21 days without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal filed on that transaction.

* This applies to US domestic transactions that are shipped by USPS or FedEx and either (i) use PayPal shipping labels to ship items or (ii) upload tracking information to PayPal via the transaction details page.

So, now assuming you are a newer eBay seller (and if you’re established why on earth would you be considering dropshipping) you can not use the money they pay you to complete the transaction as it will be held.

You must use your own money to complete the drop ship order as the funds will not be released for 21 days. Seeing as this “pay only after you sell” feature was one of the best things about the dropshipping method of product sourcing there is really no reason whatsoever to use dropshipping any more.

While this might have you upset. I think it is a blessing in disguise. This will undoubtedly put a dent in the business of the handful of dropship sourcing companies that have made a fortune preying on eBay business hopefuls.

Dropshipping doesn’t work on eBay. It didn’t before and it definitely will not now!

If you are interested in buying products in a method similar to dropshipping (but that actually can help you profit) please visit my anti-dropshipping website at http://www.DropShippingSucks.com

Good luck and no matter what you try remember… If it sounds too good to be true, it is!

Derric Simms asked:


Dear Friend,

I was actually very reluctant to give this information away to people, but I believe Ebay! is big enough for the both of us. Now with that said, let’s get on with it.

Selling information products on the Internet has been one of the biggest boom markets in the last 3 years. You can see that in the number of people selling ebooks, videos, membership sites and so on, on the Internet. Back in 1996 there were under 50 people selling information products online, now in 2005, there are literally millions of sites selling all sorts of information to all sorts of people.

So why are all these people flocking to sell information products online? Because of the promise of quick money from scam artists. Most people who are selling any sort of information online are usually resellers (affiliates or people who brought reprint rights to a product) or they created an ebook themselves.

What these people don’t understand is that the market is nearly saturated with the same books they are trying to sell. This of course leads to a price war, and then no one makes any money because they are all trying to undercut themselves to be the cheapest in the market. This is not a viable business idea.

“How to create an automated monthly income selling easy to make information products on Ebay!”

I first started selling information products on Ebay in 2002, it wasn’t a work of art thats for sure. It was a book on how to start your own pay per click search engine on a tight budget, which was a hot topic at the time, with many people selling pay per click search engine scripts and websites on Ebay. My first book (that book) only sold for $9.95 and was only 50 odd pages in length, but in 4 weeks I sold 52 copies with my expenses being under $20.

So not only did I make close on $500 for a few hours work, I gained a lot new customers to sell other products too. I ended up selling the master reprint rights to that book and sales letter for another $1500.

But you don’t have to limit yourself to selling ebooks on Ebay, there are so many different types of ways to sell your content, it’s just a matter of find the right way for you.

Audio tapes are a great way to sell products online. All you need is the dubbing equipment and your set. These types of products can sell for over $50. The best way to sell audio tapes is also to send them the tapes transcribed into text so they can read it as well, and this adds more value to the product.

If you really want to churn out audio tapes in record time and don’t want to do the content yourself, why not hire an expert to talk on the tapes for you?

Getting a professional in the field to answer your questions would have to be the simplest ways to create a product. If you were doing a book on direct mail, why not hire a guru for a couple of hours, grill him over the phone or in person, have the conversation taped, and there you go, instant product.

Most times people will do interviews with you if you give them the rights to sell the audio tape to their mailing lists. If they won’t do this, then all you have to do is hire them for an hour or two, pay their usual consulting fee (a few hundred dollars should do it) and you then have no competition at all.

Joel Mclaughlin asked:


Ebay ® unfortunately scammed me out of money by stiff arming me in to paying for services not rendered and then they ruined my reputation by saying that my

First off, a few months ago I had over 90 positive feedback with 100% satisfaction on ebay. This was earned over years of transactions.  Unfortunately ebay ® recently made some changes that really hurt my business in several ways. Including my business reputation, pocket book and lots of wasted time.

I have been selling on ebay ® for years, however I began selling web site hosting services on ebay quickly within one month racked up over $400 promoting my products and business. I was offering a discounted auction to give ebay ® users a great start up rate on web site hosting. I was offering them an introductory rate of $.01 or $1 for a few 1 - 3 free months of services.

I soon found out that other ebay ® users were buying my auctions and not signing up for hosting services, therefore costing me a large amount of money. I later complaned about this (see below).

After some research I found out why I was getting a lot of people buying my auctions and not signing up for my services. Turns out that ebay ® created a search function that gives ebay ® users better rankings if they have higher feedback rankings. Additionally ebay ® implemented a feature that requires a certain amount of feedback for users to be able to sell on ebay ®.  So in essence what was happening was people were bidding on my auctions that I paid ebay ® for, sending me (often times) one penny and then requesting positive feedback. This had me outraged because it was costing me large amounts of money to list these auctions and costing a lot of money on marketing. Then a lot of my auctions were being taken down by fake bidders. 

Another thing that ebay ® did was remove ANY SELLERS ability to leave negative feedback about  buyers that treat sellers poorly, which makes absolutely no sense because sellers are the only people that pay ebay ®. These people that help make ebay ® succeed in the stock market are the ones getting treated terrible and not being able to protect themselves from buyers abusing their system.

Fake bidders kept requesting I leave them positive feedback after sending them a penny. I wanted to leave them negative feedback, however since ebay ® removed this function, I was being held hostage by all bidders to leave them positive feedback because they are the only ones that can hurt my credibility by leaving me negative feedback. If I didn’t leave them feedback and they sent me money, they had the right to leave me negative feedback.

On 9/4 I sent an email telling ebay ® the following: (exact message below)

I have several hundred listings for hosting online. The reason I listed

all of these online was because I thought since people were bidding they

were going to sign up for the service I was offering. So a few hundred

dollars later, it turns out 3 out of 4 people are bidding on my items

just to hold me hostage for positive feedback. This is terrible and

expensive. How can this be resolved?

I never received a response until 9/10 when ebay ® shut down my account and hundreds of my auctions I spent around 50 hours working on. I was astonished!  I attempted to contact ebay ® regarding this on the phone, however their phone number hangs up on you and does not offer any sort of support. This company is very scarey, because I believe that companies that treat customers like this are destined for failure.

After requesting help and spending hundreds of dollars with ebay ®, my account was shut down. Not to mention, many legitimate accounts I obtained ended up cancelling services from me because ebay ® sent them a letter saying that I was abusing their services and that any feedback I left for them was not legitimate. This type of thing was a major defamation of character for my business.

After everything I have paid around a thousand dollars paying and improving my ebay ® auctions, put in tons of hours and feel abused by ebay ®. I also am shutting down several companies that I run that use paypal ® as a payment provider.

Obviously this is all my personal opinion and ebay ® and paypal ® are all Designated trademarks and brands that are the property of their respective owners.

Regards,

Joel McLaughlin

Thomas Martinez asked:


Although regular sellers on eBay are only required to fill up a registration form to legally put items up for auction or sale, there are a few other things to consider. You will be able to survive longer in the business if you follow rules and regulations. Knowing the right items to pay for to begin is essential so that you avoid possible scams and unknown invisible fees.

What to Do

If you intend to set up a retailing business on eBay, you are required to register or get a license depending on your location. There are laws already formulated to cater to online business owners. These are created by the state, city or country which primarily intends to protect the best interests of both the buyer and seller, as well as prevent any unscrupulous activity. Go to your local commerce authority to register your business. Not doing so will put you at risk for unlawful issues.

There are local commerce and zoning laws as well that cover your business on eBay. Since you will be maintaining inventories for your business, you will be required to get a permit, depending on the type of industry that you are currently in.

Tax and Insurance

You also have tax responsibilities as an eBay business owner. Personal income or self employment tax and sales tax will be required on retail sales. Plenty of eBay sellers are required to pay for a certain percentage of their current income to the United States government, considered as income tax. Sales tax may also be asked from eBay retailers who live in particular cities and localities. Check the laws in your area, so that you can reserve a portion of your current profit for income tax payment or sales tax.

Your business and inventory should be insured too. The value associated in your business will increase over time, which is why you have to get insured to stay free from huge financial losses should there be any accident or sudden change.

Very big and valuable inventories will need insurance. Search for a number of reliable options online and determine the inclusions of their policies. Meticulous records should be kept accurately. You will have to be very careful about every entry to have no problems during tax preparation and insurance processing.

The IRS

Even if you are running a business on the internet, you will have to stay transparent to keep looking credible should the IRS start asking questions about your industry. Social Security numbers need to be collected from customers, especially your regular and biggest clients. There should be a database of social security numbers, addresses, contact numbers and names. The IRS requires SSNs for the purposes of tax. It is only one way of helping others online stay protected against unscrupulous and dishonest individuals.

The IRS wants eBay and other online companies to give out more information regarding high-volume and high-value sellers to narrow the tax gap between the amount that Americans owe and pay for actually. Ebay brokers will have to give some information regarding both the buyer and seller to the government. The data will most likely include gross and net proceeds, size of inventory and contact numbers and addresses. You will find that legally doing business online is the way to go to boost credibility and last for several years.

Jason Griffith asked:


Having a store on eBay is an exciting venture, at least at the outset. You have visions of millions of eBay buyers who will be visiting your store, buy from you, and the money will just pour in.

Anyone who has had an eBay store knows better. Competition is very tough. It takes hard work and a lot of marketing to drive traffic to your eBay store.

Then, when people do arrive at your eBay store, what do they see? Do they see the run of the mill, the “me too” look, the amateurish storefront that many, if not most, eBay stores present to the world?

You have only one opportunity to make a first impression. In a second or two, the eBay buyer is going to categorize you into professional or amateur, into trustworthy or dodgy.

Here are five basic things you must do right to give you the best chance of survival.

Number One: Treat Your eBay Store as a Serious Business

So many eBay stores appear to have been hastily bolted together, almost as if it were something that the eBay seller did late one Sunday evening. Nobody wants to buy from somebody who appears to be in it just for the money. An unprofessional eBay storefront gives the impression of an unprofessional eBay seller who simply wants to take people’s money and run.

Number Two: Portray Yourself as a Knowledgeable Professional

It is astounding how few eBay sellers make use of the About Me page. That one page has the ability to either establish or destroy your credibility. The page gives the eBay seller the opportunity to tell the eBay buyer why she should buy from him.

Look at it from an eBay buyer’s perspective. You would much rather buy an item from somebody who clearly knows something about the item, than from someone who doesn’t. More importantly, you would much rather repeatedly buy from someone who is knowledgeable about the particular item or category of item.

You might be a guru. Nobody will know it if you do not tell them.

Number Three: Give all the Necessary Information to Facilitate Buyer Decision

Remember, the eBay buyer is forking out hard-earned cash for your item. You need to give them the required business information to ensure them that: a) they are paying a fair or better price, b) they are getting value for money, c) they won’t get any nasty surprises of hidden costs, and d) they can get their money back if they are not satisfied with the purchase.

That’s the purpose of eBay Store Policies.

Number Four: Give Special Attention to your eBay Storefront Above the Fold

It’s that first impression issue again. What do eBay buyers see when they land on your main storefront page? Do they see a tacky image? “Unprofessional, see ya,” hit the back button! Do they see the most expensive items at the top of the list? “Expensive,” hit the back button! Of course, YOU would want an eBay buyer to see your most expensive item first. However, is that what the eBay buyer wants to see? Probably not.

Number Five: Make It Easy for the eBay Buyer to Find Items

You are one amongst thousands. Unless you are selling something completely unique, nobody is going to take an hour, or half an hour, or ten minutes, or even one minute, to try and find an item in your eBay store that they could also find somewhere else.

Wisely use the categories and promotion boxes of your eBay store. The categories are like aisles in your eBay store. You do not want to force people to rummage through the entire store if they came for a specific item. Why not? Won’t they see other things they might want to buy? The answer is, because they won’t. They will just leave and look somewhere else until they easily find what they are looking for.

Conclusion

It might sound very tough, but if your eBay store is failing or is struggling to get off the ground, the reason is probably you. Are you treating your eBay store as a serious business? Are you portraying yourself as a professional and knowledgeable business person? Are you presenting the best image possible and are you making it as easy as possible for the eBay buyer to buy from your eBay store? Think about it.