Introduction To Online Auctions

Make A Business Out Of The Auctions

About eBay

Go to http://www.ebay.com and enjoy page after page of advice and information about the range of auctions available online, together with frequently asked questions by new and established auction enthusiasts, as well as up-to-date advice on the best type of products to buy and sell by a variety of high-profit marketing methods, including auctions, but also encompassing dozens of other profitable media. Staying now with online auctions, among the many categories of products bought and sold on eBay you will find:

Antiques and Art

Books

Business (Office and Industrial)

Cars, Trucks and Parts

Clothing and Accessories

Coins

Collectibles

Computers

Consumer Electronics

Dolls and Bears

Hobbies and Crafts

Home and Garden

Jewellery, Gems, Watches

Motorcycles

Movies

Music

Networking and I.T.

Photographic

Pottery and Glass

Real Estate

Sporting Goods

Sports Memorabilia

Stamps

Tickets

Toys

Travel

Everything Else

New Categories.

With all those to work with, you’re unlikely ever to run out of things to buy on eBay to sell at other online auctions, or to sell offline instead at boot sales, auction, flea markets, collectors’ fairs, and soon.

And vice versa, too, for many of those other places mentioned in this package from which to purchase goods cheaply, you’ll invariably be able to sell quickly and profitably at eBay and other online auctions.

eBay Auctions

Many people consider auctions a roughly similar affair whatever their type or location, regardless of whether they are held in the high street or by post, irrespective of whether they specialise in costly antiques and collectibles or sell all manner of goods. In fact, this isn’t so, there are many differences, some significant, others minor, between the various types of auction, as eBay so well points out in this listing of the types of auction eBay itself operates.

“Reserve" Price Auctions

• A reserve price is set by a seller who will not sell below a certain price.

• Bidders know there’s a reserve price, but they do not know what it is.

• In order to win the auction, a bidder must meet or exceed the reserve price and have the highest bid.

• If no bidders meet the reserve price, neither the seller nor the highest bidder are under any further obligation.

• You can’t use reserve prices for Dutch Auctions.

Buy It Now Auction

• This is an exciting optional enhancement to the traditional auction format. See an item you want? Win it instantly!

• Sellers name a price at which they would be willing to sell their item to any buyer who is willing to pay that price.

• The listing will be run as a normal auction, but will also feature a Buy It Now price.

• Buyers will have the option to buy the item instantly without waiting for the listing to end.

• Buy It Now will only be available before the first bid is placed on the item. As soon as a bid is placed, the Buy It Now price will no longer be available and the item will sell through the normal process.

eBay Store

• These are Buy It Now Fixed Price listings presented in collections of stores designed to showcase merchandise from eBay storefront sellers. Many of these fixed price items can only be purchased in these stores!

• eBay Store sellers create Store Buy It Now listings to display in their store.

• Store Buy It Now listings have a convenient 30-day duration.

• Buyers find items quickly with customized categories or built-in store search engines.

• No bidding or waiting for an auction to end! There’s only one set price so buyers can buy immediately!

Private Auctions

• Bidders’ email addresses won’t show up on the item or bidding-history screens.

• When the auction is over, only the seller will know who bought the item.

• This option can’t be used with Dutch Auctions.

Dutch Auctions

• This fast-paced, free-for-all format is perfect if you have multiple, identical items to sell.

• Sellers start by listing a minimum price, or starting bid, and the number of items for sale.

• Bidders specify both a bid price and the quantity they want to buy.

• All winning bidders pay the same price which is the lowest successful bid. That might be less than what you bid!

• If there are more buyers than items, the earliest successful bids get the goods.

• Higher bidders get the quantities they’ve asked for.

• Bidders can refuse partial quantities.

Restricted-Access Auctions

• This separate category makes it easy for you to find or avoid adult-only merchandise.

• To view and bid on adult-only items, buyers need to have a credit card on file with eBay. Your card will not be charged.

• Sellers must also have credit card verification.

• Items listed in the Adult-Only category are not included in the New Items page or the Hot Items section, and currently, are not available by any title search.

• Please list adult items in the correct area. Otherwise, your auction may be relocated or ended. You could even be suspended from the site.

• Notice to Sellers of Adult Items. Various legal statutes regulate the sale and distribution of adult materials. As stated in the User Agreement, your breach of these laws is a breach of the User Agreement.

• Notice to Bidders and Buyers of Adult Items. Various legal statutes regulate the sale and distribution of adult materials. Please exercise caution and obey all applicable laws when dealing with buyers and sellers in this category. Please do not visit the Adult-Only category if you do not want to see explicit materials.

Tips for Trading At Online Auctions

• Learn how individual auctions work. Some are less comprehensive than others and list items people want to sell if the price is right. Those people may indeed withdraw items even without using a reserve price if they consider the price is derisory. That is not fair play, in any type of auction, except reserve price auctions. In cases like this, you can end up very disappointed and feeling used,
having simply helped the ‘seller’ arrive at a selling price via other marketing methods.

• Be warned against fantastic testimonials placed for various sellers and products.
These testimonials might be fake and placed by sellers or their agents purely to induce confidence in their products which may not actually deserve the glowing accolade.

• Bear in mind the larger auction companies offer some means of protection to buyers which small companies may be unable to do. For example, individuals and companies who consistently offer mis-described goods, either criminally or innocently, will be barred from selling on major auction sites. Smaller companies may be unable to offer such a service due to size or costs involved.

• Be cautious when dealing with buyers and sellers in other countries as their consumer laws may be prohibitive to you. We believe no trader in Britain is safe against the ravages of British consumer authorities whose main role is to protect the individual, not traders. Quite obviously, other countries care far more about their business population, they realise these are the people upon which the well-
being of their country depends, so it may be possible that buying and selling to some overseas locations will be easier and less complicated for you than dealing with buyers and sellers in Britain.

• Check out sellers before you spend time researching items that interest you. Some sites include a feedback section which allows you to view previous identifiable transactions and comments from buyers.

• Note that private individuals are protected to a greater extent than business entrepreneurs, certainly in Britain, the quintessential nanny state. The private individual offering you goods is protected sometimes to the fullest extent of the law. He may even be protected against you, the honest trader, as happens so often in Britain.

• Always obtain name, address and trading details of all buyers and sellers with whom you do business. Refuse to get involved, regardless of how much you want to buy or sell a particular item, if those personal and business details are unavailable to you.

• Enquire always about delivery times, descriptions of products for purchase or sale, as well as what warranties and after-sales assistance is available. If those details are not available do not trade.

• Avoid cash payments. Cash goes undetected and if sent to a bogus mail box in Britain or overseas that may be the last you will see of your money or whatever product you send to conmen operating behind such guises. Cheques and payment by card provide independent evidence to help solve problems and disputes emerging after the buying or selling transaction.

• Choose an auction company offering insurance and other protections against dishonest sellers, both private and commercial.

• Note that some auction companies suggest links to independent sites offering information and advisory services to protect against dishonest sellers, both private and commercial.

• Report suspected fraud or underhand dealing immediately to the authorities. But don’t expect them always to help. We have on occasion reported cheque bouncers and other criminals to their own banks and building societies, and we have yet to find any means of being compensated for the dishonest actions of others in Britain. In other parts of the world, you are protected to a greater extent and it may indeed be better and less complicated to buy and sell from overseas individuals and businesses. Note, for example, in the United States it is a criminal offence to offer a cheque for money you do not have.

• Always let the auction company itself know about whatever problems you experience. By doing so you will rid the company of conmen and undesirables and help protect other honest people against their wrongdoings.

• Research the market value of products you are buying and selling and stick as closely to these prices as possible. Bear in mind prices can be inflated or deflated by outside and undetermined factors, such as panic buying, the existence of one major and avid buyer or seller for a particular product, an unusually high number of bidders, recent shortages in particular items, and so on.

• Visit as many online and offline auctions as possible to compare prices and realisations for specific goods, even identical items.

• Keep records of auction houses regularly achieving record prices.

• Keep records of auction houses achieving higher prices than others for similar or identical products.

• Note which houses seem to attract interest in specific items, say teddy bears, or computers, books, collectibles. Focus on those that achieve the biggest audience for buying and selling and which also focus high in the best prices achieved listings.

• Keep records of opening and closing times of particular auctions in order to follow progress for your potential buys and sales.

• Note that some online auctions extend over several days, even weeks, while others last just a few hours.

• If you want something badly enough, make an early declaration to buy. Place a bid asap!

• Alternatively, if you are not certain about wanting something, but you feel bidding is low and you could profit from buying, make a last minute bid.

• Place an early bid on items you really want to have. This, psychologically, lets other bidders know you are serious about buying a particular item, and may well deter all but your most hardened and avid competitors.

• If the pace is moving too slowly and you feel certain a product is worth more than the current bid, not to mention the fact you want that particular item, then increase the bid price significantly, again to deter all but your most robust competitors.

• If a description is unclear, be sure to check with the seller or risk buying something you do not really want. For example, ‘old’ postcards can in some people’s eyes mean souvenirs of last year’s holiday, while in purist collector’s eyes the term really means pre-1939 only.

• Sellers make known their preferred method of payment which buyers are expected to comply with. If you want an item but the payment method is not to your liking, then contact the seller first before bidding for the item. Have whatever arrangement recorded in writing.

• Take heed of what eBay says about bidding, this being one of the most crucial steps of all in the purchasing process and one that could leave you in trouble, or merely embarrassed and financially disadvantaged if you get it wrong.

“Use a proxy. The amount is kept secret and is your proxy bid.
All bids at or above $15,000 require verification (credit card or alternative ID) prior to placing a bid. Learn More. The system will bid for you as the auction proceeds, bidding only enough to outbid other bidders. If someone outbids you, the system immediately ups your bid. This continues until someone exceeds your maximum bid, or the auction ends, or you win the auction! Plus your proxy will never exceed what you’re willing to pay for the item. Proxy bidding is not available for Dutch Auctions or Store BIN fixed price items.”

• Learn something about sellers and buyers especially the kind of reputation they have in business and whether anyone else has had problems dealing with them. The best way is to phone the seller, ask a few simple questions and note how well he handles them. If he knows very little about the product he is selling, it could be he is a Jack of all Trades, someone who knows very little about a lot of things, and may indeed be just as inexperienced at listing and describing items for sale. Ask for information about other customers you might contact for an independent review. If he or she has nothing to hide, that information should be readily available.

• Be careful. Ensure you are doing things legally and professionally. Some things can not legally be sold in some parts of the world. Some countries have stricter trading and consumer laws than others. Spend time browsing sections of eBay and other auction sites which provide information on various legal rules and regulations pertaining to most items sold through them.

Avril Harper