eBay Shopping Secrets

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

Jenny How asked:


e looking to profit from the eBay business, then the first thing that you have to do is to get sufficient information about making money online. Many people often make the mistake of jumping into the online business quickly without being prepared first.

This could lead to a variety of problems with could curtail your ability to make good profits online.

By reading a variety of information sources on the web, you can read a lot of tips about what products tend to sell well online.

There are many articles that could give you ideas about the resources available to you, which you could sell to people on the other side of the world.

Another thing that people could do in order to be well informed involves going to actual local seminars and discussions on e-businesses.

The time spent on research can be truly worth it in terms of increasing your capability to make money online.

You could also go to online forums to get ideas about the needs of the people in your area. If you figure those things out, that means that you can be a very wise entrepreneur and order from Ebay or other such sites those products and then sell them to your local market. With such a method, you can be almost certain to make great profits.

Perhaps you would then want to establish a web site to sell products from Ebay to your local community. You may need to invest on Internet security to make sure that your Internet business is as safe as possible from all sorts of risks and scams.

Another thing that you should know about involves how to have the products that you’re selling delivered to your customers overseas. you must be very familiar with things like foreign exchange rates and delivery costs in order to maximize profits.

Without knowing these things, you could be in danger of actually losing money instead of making sizable profits.

You should also constantly read tips that will expand one’s available online income sources. Affiliate marketing is one of the methods that could help people already into trading on Ebay.

By joining an affiliate scheme, you could make money by referring visitors to your site to other people’s products. That way, you could get a pay per click revenue source or perhaps even a portion of the sales profits.

By reading accounts on the difficulties that people might have had in auctioning and buying items online, you would have an idea of the many pitfalls to avoid. There are also legal matters that you always has to keep in mind.

The laws of the country that you’re in or the laws of the countries you’re dealing with might require certain taxes or prohibit the trading of certain materials. It always pays to be informed on such matters in order to make sure that all trades in Ebay are legal.

With sufficient information and a lot of resourcefulness, any entrepreneur can be sure to make good money by getting into the eBay business.

Kirsten Hawkins asked:


/>It is important to remember that eBay is a lot like a marketplace. There will always be a dodgy guy in the corner, selling things that most people wouldn’t touch. The trouble is that, on the Internet, these people can be a little harder to spot. Here are ten tips to help you keep an eye out for the rip-off merchants.



1. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is: This holds for everything in life, but especially for eBay. Things that seem too cheap are usually too cheap for a reason - it might be a complete scam, or the items might just be of extremely poor quality. Investigate before you go further.



2. Know the value of what you want to buy: There are people on eBay who regularly bid such high prices for used cameras that they might as well have gone out and bought them brand new. Check around for prices first.



3. Only bid on real things: eBay has plenty of people who are trying to sell all sorts of schemes and scams. It is never worth bidding for these, no matter how cheap they might be.



4. Don’t do anything outside eBay: Occasionally people will ask you to send them money outside eBay, to avoid the fees eBay charges sellers. Any money you send this way is entirely insecure - don’t do it.



5. Be careful where you send payment: People may hack into others’ accounts, and ask you to send payment to addresses that eBay has not confirmed as belonging to that account - you might send your money and receive nothing in return.



6. Look out for sellers who suddenly change what they sell: Sellers can look like they’ve made lots of transactions, when really they’ve never sold anything of worth. If they suddenly start selling $1,000 televisions, steer clear - the chances are they’re planning to run off with the money.



7. Beware the shill bidder: If someone who doesn’t seem to have bought anything before is constantly outbidding you on a certain item, be suspicious. It might be a seller ’shill bidding’ to force up his item’s price.



8. Don’t use the seller’s escrow service: If an escrow service is recommended to you by a seller, it could well be owned and run by them - and they’re quite likely to keep your money and send you nothing.



9. Pay electronically: You are more likely to be able to recover any losses if you pay using a credit card instead of sending out cheques and money orders - these low-tech payment methods can’t be tracked as easily.



10. Buy from reputable sellers: Each seller has a number next to their name, which is their feedback rating. The higher this rating, the more you can trust them.



On that last point, feedback ratings are the most important way that buyers and sellers can protect themselves on eBay - and you, as a buyer, have a rating too! Now that you won’t get ripped off, the next email will be all about your rating, and what you can do to make sure people know that you’re not going to rip them off either

Noor Mohamed asked:


Ebay as we all know is one of the very few success stories online. Every day hundreds of people join ebay in their quest to earn some money from it. Ebay provides steady money making opportunity and it is one of the greatest ideas ever. Ebay has changed millions of lives. How to sell on ebay would depend on a number of factors and in this essay we would make an effort to provide the information as simple as possible.

How to sell on ebay is the question we come across every day. As the world keep on exploring ideas to make money, more and more people now a days are becoming aware of the opportunity ebay provides to make money. It is one of the greatest money making idea ever to hit internet. As internet is fast becoming a place for money making scams, Ideas like ebay which are real, is gaining more and more ground. Ebay is unique because you get help here at every point. From joining a member to listing your product and getting your product sold at every point ebay helps you.

To sell on ebay you have join ebay as a member and you must get yourself verified. After verifying your self your next job is to find a product to sell on ebay. Ebay has greatest resources of information. You can find here with the help of couple of searches what sells on ebay and what not. After selecting a product to sell, the question of How to sell starts.

After the selection of the product you must list your product on ebay. To list your product you must write a sales letter that would sell your product. A sales letter should have the description of the product, its merits over other products etc. A good way to attract more people and more sales would a good attractive and real description. If your product has a problem feel free to inform the would be buyers. Make an effort to bring the product in front of their eyes. A good, High quality picture of the product would help people to see the product you offer and increase the chance of selling. A good attractive sales letter should be real. Ebay is not a one time business so, tell tem the truth. It will improve your reputation.

If you are worried about the sales letter you can overcome it by visiting the sales pages of your competitors who offer products similar to yours. It would help you and provide an idea as to how to construct your sales page. Do not try to copy. Find the unique features of your products and use your imagination to write a good sales letter. Focusing on unique features on your sales letter improves the potential of selling.

Ebay has many mechanisms to help you with listing and attracting more buyers. If you are planning an enduring career on ebay you can use the mechanisms. I would suggest you there are websites now a days offering tips and ideas to help you start a successful ebay career. Visit and learn the tips on how to sell for free.To learn more please visit http://ebay.makemoneyideas.in

Nicholas Tan asked:


Going full-time as an eBay seller is living the dream: making a real income, working from home, being your own boss and all the rest of it. It’s the promise of a million scams, and it’s finally come true - at least for some.

What they don’t tell you in the success stories, though, is that becoming a full-time eBay seller is by no means for everyone. You really, really ought to try it part-time before you even consider taking it up full-time, and even then, caution is advisable. Before you burn your suit, here’s a list of questions you should ask yourself.

How Much Do I Earn From eBay Now?

Work out how many hours a week you spend doing eBay-related things (be honest here), and divide it by the average amount of profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours, would you earn as much as you earn now?

Do I Have a Good Job?

Think about what you might lose if you give up your job to focus on eBay. If you’re in a well-paid job with good promotion prospects then it’s well worth reconsidering: you might get a few years down the line and wish you’d stayed in your traditional job, as you’d probably be the CEO by now.

Would I Really Make Much More Money?

Unless you’re selling a large quantity of small goods, most of what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end - and you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. This is why whether you would make more money on eBay really depends on what kinds of items you’re selling - for low value items, going full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, the chances are you’ll hit the limits of how much money you have to invest in inventory long before you hit the limits on your time.

Is my Home a Good Place to Work?

Quite apart from anything else, you might find that the dream of home working is more of a nightmare in reality. People can start to depend on you to get things done that need to be done during the day. If you have a wife and children then they can resent the fact that you’re in the house but refuse to have anything to do with them for large parts of the day. Giving in to any of these things and stopping work for a while will cause your profits to fall.

Can I Survive if it All Goes Wrong?

In the end, would you be able to get by if you had a month or two where you sold literally nothing? Or would you be desperately looking around for a job and cursing the day you ever discovered eBay? That’s the real test.

If you made it through all these questions, then I guess you’re cut out for the eBay life - and even if you didn’t, you’d be surprised just how far you can get part-time. In our next email, we’ll show you how to think like the eBay elite: the PowerSellers.

Kenneth Scott asked:


Being a full-time eBay seller is living the dream: making a real income, working from home, being your own boss and all the rest. It is the promise of a million scams, and it is finally come true - at least for some.

What they do not tell you in the success stories is that becoming a full-time eBay seller is not for everyone. You really, really ought to try it part-time before you even consider taking it up full-time. Even then, be cautious. Before you burn your suit, here is a list of questions you should ask yourself.

How Much Do I Earn From eBay Now?

Figure out how many hours a week you spend doing eBay-related things (be honest here), and divide it by the average amount of profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours, would you earn as much as you earn now?

Do I Have a Good Job?

Think about what you might lose if you give up your job to focus on eBay. Promotions ahead? Health benefits? Savings? Matching 401ks? Paid vacations? Paid holidays? Paid sick days?

Would I Really Make Much More Money?

Whether you would make more money on eBay really depends on what kinds of items you are selling. Unless you are selling a large amount of small goods, most of what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end, and you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. For low value items, going full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, chances are you will hit the limits of how much money you have to invest in inventory long before you hit the limits on your time.

Is My Home a Good Place to Work?

Apart from anything else, you might find that the dream of working from home is more of a nightmare in reality. People can (and will) start to expect you to do things during the day - when you should be working. Spouse, kids, and relatives- as soon as they find out you are home during the daytime hours, they expect you to spend time with them. And, as soon as you give in and stop work for a while, your profits will fall.

Can I Survive if it All Goes Wrong?

The real test is whether or not would you be able to get by if you had a month or two where you sold literally nothing. Or would you be desperately looking around for a job and cursing the day you ever discovered eBay?

If you made it through all these questions, then I guess you are cut out for the eBay life. Even if you did not, you would be surprised just how far you can get part-time.