eBay's advanced seller tools

eBay offers a number of Seller Tools to help people who are active users of the eBay service. These make it much easier to manage your eBay auctions, from listing and managing items, to efficient post-sales operations, automation of email generation, shipping labels and invoices. Other useful seller tools are Turbo Lister and Selling Manager, both are free. eBay also offers a more advanced selling tool, Selling Manager Pro, which costs $9.99 a month.

eBay Buyer Tips Part 1

As a seller you must also become a buyer.

1) Always get positive feedback from your sellers, it would be pointless to have a great seller feedback and then get a negative feedback from buying something on eBay.

2) Look for lots of products that you sell. Many times you can buy a large amount of products and then turn around and sell them one at a time. With video games you can buy a lot, clean them up, and then sell them for a considerable profit one at a time.

3) Use Advanced Search to find out how much your product or service is selling for. Then you can forget about price and focus on purchasing from a reputable buyer.

4) Always snipe your auctions. It is a waste of time to put in a bid before the end of the auction. Everyone can just bid up the price, but if you wait till the end of the auction you can get a much better deal and not tip your hand.

5) Use eBay mobile to keep track of your auctions. You can even use this to snipe your favorite auctions. No more reason to stay at home to make sure you win an auction.

Happy Bidding!

eBay Motors: More Information, More Sales

If you are not the original owner, before listing your vehicle, it is worthwhile to run a vehicle history report. Make sure that any branded title or history of the vehicle is appropriately disclosed in the description of your eBay Motors listing. If you've got a clean title, or there was a salvage title in the history, make sure to disclose it at CarFax to alert buyers that the history is clean and to get more money for your automobile.

Be accessible to potential buyers.
Make sure your phone and email address on your eBay account is up-to-date. The serious buyer will engage in business with you if you are open and responsive to questions and answer them in a timely manner..

Determine the best price for your vehicle.
Refer to Private Party or Trade-In Value guidelines at KBB.com. Take a look at final prices on other eBay listings for similar cars at Completed Items from Search results. Set the starting price low to attract bidder attention and drive market excitement.

Ebay Sellers: Coming Soon Category Updates

The category structure will be updated later this month based on feedback received from the eBay Community. You may provide category structure feedback at any time by emailing your eBay contact or by visiting the feadback section.

A complete list of the new category structure can be found on Seller Central.

Updated categories:

COINS & PAPER MONEY
eBay is adding categories for the new Presidential dollars and the 2007 state quarters.

COLLECTIBLES
eBay is looking for updates in the Cultures & Ethnicities area, with expansion the Pinbacks and Nodders sections.

COMPUTERS & NETWORKING
eBay is adding a category for the Windows Vista operating system.

DOLLS & BEARS
Now available is the new Tin & Metal Doll category under the Antique (pre-1930) section.

MOTORS
eBay is looking for new models under Audi, Dodge, Mazda and more.

As always, you can move your item to another category by revising your listing as long as it has not received a bid and there are more than 12 hours left in the listing.

eBay's Markdown Manager

eBay's new Markdown Manager for Store sellers can be a useful feature when used strategically.

Pick your eBay auction markdown strategy, and let buyers know that you are having a sale. Items that are on sale will show the new "sale" price in search. There will be no other identification that the auction is on sale.

With this new feature you can alert watchers and frequent buyers, as well as eBay community as a whole that your products are on sale. Hopefully eBay will release an icon for people that are browsing to easily see sale products.

Ebay Mobile: Coming To America

Search for items on eBay.co.uk mobile that are available to buyers located in the UK. Even other country specific eBay US mobile sites may sell to US buyers, you may get a good deal if you combine the price of shipping with the total purchase price.

Some functions available on eBay mobile include the ability to view a simplified item listing with item and seller information, and where available a photograph of the item that you are selling on eBay.

Watched Items
Add items you are interested in to your Watched Items list (requires an eBay User ID and Password). The Watched Items list stores bookmarks to your favourite items.

Bid and Buy!
Items you have searched for or you have previously added to your Watched Items list can be available right away for bidding or buy it now functions.

eBay Seller Tips: Part 3

Feedback is King
Keep your feedback above 99%, eBay accentuates your feedback and everyone will see it. The higher the better, offer quality service and keep people posted. If you must, contact eBay to change feedback that is unfair.

Get your Account Verified
It takes a little time but it is well worth it. The more reassurance you give the buyer the more money they are willing to pay.

Become a Powerseller
If eBay offers you the ability to become a Powerseller, sign up! This is another thing buyer will look for from a seller to show credibility.

Explain Everything
Tell the buyer exactly what is going to happen, when the product ships and how long it will take to get it. Keep them updated.