It’s Time to Announce Your Ebay Business

Don’t worry about having too many people contact you all at once, or having everything perfect before you start contacting people. Once people know that there’s someone out there that they know and can trust to sell off their things on Ebay, you will get responses. Encourage them to pass the email along to their friends and family. Offering a referral bonus can always help get some new business, too (and it still won’t cost you anything). Delaying this crucial step will do nothing but hurt you!

Why Your Auctions Aren't Making Money

List it, and they will come.

Actually, that's not true at all. It's not uncommon for people who have never sold on Ebay to think the idea of selling products is a dream come true, and that there are millions of ignorant buyers out there waiting to scoop up any piece of junk that's listed for sale. That isn't reality.

What is reality on Ebay is that there's a need for good customer service and honesty. Maybe your auctions aren't working for you because you aren't being entirely honest. Or, maybe there's just too much competition in your field. Maybe customers aren't comfortable buying from you. It's your job to make the buyer feel comfortable, find items that people actually want to buy (that you'll profit from), and to give great customer service. If you can combine those three key ingredients, you'll start making money. There are many more possible reasons your Ebay auctions are losing money, and it could range from blurry photos to a boring listing. The best thing you can do is to think like a buyer, then apply those concepts to your auction.

5 Ways to Increase Sales on Ebay

Once you've got the hang of selling on Ebay, you're going to want to increase your sales per auction. Listing more in quantity is always going to get you more, but why not try to optimize every auction so it brings in the most money and is seen by the most potential buyers?


I've written a series of tutorials that can help you sell more on Ebay, whether you're a novice or an Ebay pro. These Ebay tutorials will help you sell more on Ebay, increase profits, and find new buyers. Here are a few of them:


1. If you're not sure where to find inventory for Ebay, check this page. This will give you some great ideas on sourcing new inventory, from online sources to places that might be right around your home.


2. Don't just take it from me, there are hundreds of other resources out there to help you sell more. I've compiled 48 ways to sell more on Ebay, from ways to network, how to bring in outside buyers, and how to optimize every single auction so it gets the best possible end price.


3. Take a look at your keywords. Once you've realized how important keywords are for Ebay auctions, you'll write in a new style that will bring in more search engine traffic. This will also help you optimize your store for search engines, too.


4. Speaking of search engine optimization, how is your Ebay store set up? If your Ebay store is your main business, you're going to want to set it up in a way that is friendly to search engines. You want them to find your store, and have a good idea of what it is that you offer. In addition to brand names, but product names and product lines, as well as promotions that you offer will add additional content. See the full Ebay stores SEO guide for more details.


5. Find more ways to increase sales on Ebay with this post. This list of 48 more tips will help you get your business more profitable, even if you only pick a small handful of these things to do.

Advertise Your Ebay Sales

You can further advertise your sale through the ebay store listing frame. This is found in also under the "manage my store" icon, then under "marketing tools." Click "listing frame" and check the box next to "link to items on sale." This will include a small band in all of your listings with links to your items on sale, creating a buzz and some traffic to your sale items. You might be thinking, "why would I want to promote my sale items, I want to promote my full-price items first!" While that may seem obvious, it's actually important to keep your customers interested in your listings and store for a long period of time with your content and items. A quick click of a non-sale item by a customer may quickly lead to them clicking the back button...but wait! There's some sale items that might be similar to this item in this ebay seller's store, I'll click the link to find out what...boom! They're brought into your store, browsing your sale items. This increases traffic to your listings, and therefore, your sales! So by enabling the listing frame and the sale link, you've increased traffic.

Back to Basics: Setting Up Your Ebay Account

We've come full circle on this blog, and we've talked about some in detail methods to increase your sales on Ebay. Now, on this post, we're going to point you in the direction, should you need it, on how to set up your Ebay account. It couldn't be easier, and if you're on the fence about joining Ebay, here are ten advantages to maybe make you reconsider your decision:

1. You can get rid of stuff in your house that's just collecting dust. Yes, we all know that Ebay can get help you unload some stuff, but how good would it feel to really make some room in your garage, barn or cellar, or your attic, bedrooms, storage units, or anywhere else stuff is bogging you down?

2. Get some extra cash. Everyone could use a little extra money nowadays, and people are looking to pay for used things today to save money. It's a win win situation for both buyers and sellers.

3. It's another thing you'll know how to do. If you learn how to sell on Ebay, you can help other people sell their stuff, and potentially get a commission. Ebay trading partners are local people that sell stuff on Ebay for you, and they set their own commission rates. Nice part time job from home!

4. It doesn't cost anything. It's free to join Ebay, and you're responsbile for finding the best deals you can possibly find.

5. Cut down on your bills with Ebay. Can it be done? In some ways, yes, Ebay can help cut back on your bills by lowering the amount you pay for certain items. Items like, for instance, water filters or razor blades can be bought in bulk at a far cheaper rate than in the store and even on Amazon sometimes. Shop around and see what price is the best.

6. It makes Christmas easier when you're looking for a sold out gift. Sometimes you'll pay a little bit more, but you'll no longer be hunting around and wasting gas searching all day and night for that certain gift.

7. Ebay has now set up a rewards program for select buyers. In BETA mode, Ebay buyers can now earn points on transactions so they can accrue bucks towards their next purchase. While this isn't available for everyone yet, it probably will be soon.

Creating an Interesting Title for Your Ebay Auctions

Keywords. Those are what matter when creating your keyword title, but have you ever given much thought to the sequence of those words? I recently listed a couple of bottles of cologne on Ebay and noticed my own title read a little funny. It was like I plopped a bunch of keywords randomly into the title. If I were reading the title, it would have made no sense whatsoever. For search engines, and the Ebay search, it may not matter, but to the human being, it matters.

Here's the mistake I made. I had a bottle of used Chrome Legend by cologne spray by Azzarro. I listed the title as "CHROME LEGEND Azzaro Cologne Mens Spray 4.2 oz Bottle." An awful sequence, and it reads poorly. What I should have done was put the words in an order that's easy to read, like "Chrome Legend by Azzarro Mens 4.2 oz Cologne Spray." That's more like it. And how about the capitlization of the "CHROME LEGEND," is that annoying, or effective? While it may stand out, it really depends on what everyone else is doing, which is why it's always a good idea to check the current and completed listings to see what you're up against. If everyone else is using lowercase, uppercase might grab their attention. All uppercase, well, you use lowercase.

Some other words I could have used were "Eau De Toilette," but I thought customers might not be searching using those words. When I search for cologne, I never search for "Eau De Toilette," I search for "cologne," and the brand name. To me, "mens" and "spray" were better words that were searched more often. Then again, "Eau De Toilette" might just be more targeted than "mens spray." In other words, the people looking for "Eau De Toilette" know exactly what they're looking for.

Remember, too, that your keyword title will not only show up on Ebay, but off of Ebay as well. That's why it's important to try to limit the amount of acronyms that you use like "NWT" and "NIB." Buyers outside of Ebay will have no idea what those are. Assume all buyers are first time buyers.

More Information you might find useful:
* The Ebay Education Group
* How to Price your Ebay Items
* 10 Reasons to Open an Ebay Store

One Hundred Tips for Selling on Ebay

No longer will you have the excuse of "I don't know how to make more money on Ebay!" Instead, the answer to your question, "how can I make more money on Ebay" will be answered. I've come up with not one, but one hundred ways that you can start selling more and making more money on Ebay on this Squidoo lens. It includes ways to start making a bigger profit, to divert more traffic to your store, and how you can cut costs on fees, as well as source new inventory and grab hold of your previous buyers (and make them want to return). Sound like a lot to read? It's broken up into sections that are easily scannable, so you can start reading it today and come back tomorrow or the next day.

Here's a bonus for you: A few resources I rooted around for that are excellent for increasing your sales and traffic on Ebay right now.

* Increasing Ebay Store Traffic
* Make Money on Ebay and Craigslist
* 10 Tips For Better Auctions