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วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 2 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2550

eBay Gift Certificates - The Gift Solution Suitable for

Author: Mark Flavin

We all know one. There is at least one in every family, and one in every circle of friends. There is even one in every office! There is always that one person that you know who is absolutely impossible to buy a gift for! These people either have everything, or want nothing. They don't drop hints at all, and when asked, they simply say that they don't know, they don't care, or they don't want anything. Well, now you can buy a gift for that person. The solution lies in an eBay gift certificate! This will allow your loved one to essentially buy anything that they want, in a very exciting way. eBay gift certificates can easily be purchased through paypal, in varying amounts. There are things that you should point out to the gift recipient, however. For instance, eBay gift certificates do expire. eBay gift certificates will not be accepted for all auctions either - they can only be redeemed for those auctions that accept Paypal as a form of payment. Other than that, your loved one should not have any problems redeeming their eBay gift certificate!

Ebay Selling And Post Selling Checklist

Author: James Ojo

Despite the fact that eBay has provided sellers and buyers with a perfect venue to interact, yet there is the need for you to make extra effort in planning and proper coordination to enhance your trading ventures' profitability. This is the difference between the ordinary seller and the extra ordinary or super-sellers. Before you will earn above the ordinary eBay traders, you must move from the ordinary level to the extra ordinary. I will show you how!

I will now tell you what you should do before, during and after each trading effort at eBay so that you will be classified among the few that are successful on the wealth-creating mega-market forum. Even if you are a newbie, these tips are good for you!

PRE-SALES PLANS
Note the following points when making your plans:

Ensure that your plans are written.
Keep your plans where you can see it daily.
Your plans must be measurable so that you will be able to evaluate your result
You may need to change some of your plans. But, you must be as rigid as possible. Those who change their plans frequently hardly achieve anything in business and even in life.

1. Determine the scope of your eBay operation. Is it full-time or part-time? The number of hours you can devote to this business in a week will impinge on this plan. Are you currently employed full time or part time? Do you want to gradually replace your current job with eBay business?

2. How much are you ready to invest in your business? The scope of your business will be affected significantly by this factor.

3. When you have determined how much you will invest in the business vis-à-vis the scope, you will now plan your costs, revenue and profit margin. Your cost must take care of the following: inventory supplies, equipments and software, administration, marketing, staffing, online payment-processing (credit card, Paypal, Stormpay), eBay fees, etc.

4. Determine which goods you are going to deal in. This decision is also very crucial since it will affect how much you will expect from your customers. The profitability of your venture will also be largely determined by the product you sell.

5. Will your business be carried out on the cyberspace and from your home? Or you will operate from a rented store. This will be affected by the scope as well.

6. Another vital plan is pricing your goods. Once you have determined what to sell, you must determine how much to sell. Your pricing decision will influence your sales volume as well as profitability. In determining the price, the costs itemised above are taken into cognisance.

7. Risk-bearing plan is another area of consideration which is very vital. Your willingness to take risk will determine which pricing policy you will adopt. A low starting price encourages bidding but may lead to selling the item at a price lower than what you really want while or fixed price option and your product will either be sold or not at the fixed price. You can also set a low starting price with a Reserve Price. Buyers are not shown what the Reserve Price is, and if it is not met, you are not obligated to sell the item. However, a Reserve Price may discourage bidding in much the same way as a high starting price. Hence, before you start on eBay at all, sit down and make these plans.

WHAT TO DO DURING SALES.
When you have taken the pre-sales decisions, there is the need for you to make necessary decisions during selling operations. Some of the decisions are as follows:

1. Time planning and Mental-Scheduling. Determine what to do at what time. As said above, be rigid. Procrastination is dangerous and will make you a failure. Set time to search for and procurement of merchandise, shipping of goods, posting your sales and purchases day books, balancing your accounts and bank statements. You need to give time to attend to customers' questions.

2. Make use of tools available. Some are provided by eBay free while you buy others. There are some good books which you must buy and read depending on your budget. These tools are dealt with in another article.

3. As your eBay business expands, you may not be able to cope with every aspect of the operation: the procurement, sales, book-keeping, payment-processing, inventory, etc. You may need to hire few hands. Although you may automate your business with the use of various tools mentioned above, yet, you will need some employees sooner or later.

4. Guard against fraud. Although this is not rampant with eBay, yet, you must guard against the following situations:

a. Non-paying bidder. Send a reminder to him to know if he has a legitimate reason for not responding. You will now file unpaid item alert. After 10 days of trying to resolve things with your buyer/bidder, you can request a Final Value Fee Credit. A refund will be credited to your account within 48 hours.

b. Bid-Shielding. This occurs when a bidder/buyer is protecting a low bid by intentionally using a secondary User ID to place an exceptionally high bid that is pulled away at the last second—report it to eBay's investigations department.

c. Ensure that you have received payment and it has cleared before shipping an item.

d. Track your shipment and deliveries. Some might dubiously claim that the item was not received. You must have a proof of delivery.

e. Check and evaluate your bidder's feedback rating. If a buyer has a bad record, you might call him on the phone to ascertain his seriousness on the current item.

AFTER SALES PROCEDURES
After sales services are known to be crucial for effective feedback mechanism. You must be accessible to your buyers after you have shipped the item and the payments have been cleared. The buyer may want to ask one or two questions concerning the product, may want to make one comment on the other on the item purchased.

Feedback is imperative to the eBay user, according to Joseph Sinclair, author of eBay the Smart Way: Selling, Buying and Profiting on the Web's #1 Auction Site: "If a buyer is purchasing an expensive item, maybe over $100, they'll definitely look at the feedback of the seller first. If it's not good, many people won't bother bidding."

These are tips for good feedback and good after sales bidders relationship. Avoid cover up. Use the listing description to expose the quality of the item being sold. Take a picture of the item and tell the bidder of any defects on the item.

Make sure you ship the item securely. Use a secure shipping organisation with good track record and reputation.

Check buyers feedback. Respond to them since this can be insurance and testimonials for future dealings.

Withdraw negative feedback. If you bag a negative feedback, you may work it out with the buyer to withdraw it. eBay recently put in place a procedure whereby this could be easily effected.

Refer un-resolvable problem to Square Trade. If a problem does arise, try to contact the buyer directly to resolve the problem. Those who can't work out their disagreements can also turn to Square Trade, a fee-based third-party arbitration system. Square Trade acts as a mediator in situations where negative feedback has been given and will help resolve conflicts, often resulting in negative feedback being removed.

Want more, visit the author's site.

About the Author.
James Ojo is a prolific and seasoned author of many online articles.
He is the President of Hot Home Business Online.
http://www.hothomebizonline.com
http://business.hothomebizonline.com
e-mail: admin@hothomebizonline.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Ojo

Ebay Business - Tricky Situations In Business

Author: Maisy Day

What you have to remember when starting up your Ebay business is that it is no different from any other business venture. The business world is all about buying and selling and so is your Ebay project. Conduct all your business transactions in a professional manner then you your product or service will be taken seriously.

Running a business is not as big a mission that people make it out to be. However it can prove to be stressful at times - but you can change that by having an organised system. Organization should be one of the main priorities right from the start. Keeping on top is important - keep data up to date and file all files this will help your Ebay business to run smooth thus saving you time.

Most Ebay business`s are run from home so choose a room in the house that you can create as an office area to do business. An office type surrounding will encourage you more in your Ebay business. Everyone has a business plan structured up so why not you - remember you are in business for yourself now.
Write your Ebay plan accordingly to comply with Ebay`s rules and regulations. Jot down your goals you expect to achieve - profits from sales or whatever comes to mind to claim success. Go research on how other Ebay sellers are successful in their business.

Another vital addition is to have an Ebay business checklist drawn up and easily at hand - list all that you would need to start up - like organizing your products for auction, this will include itemized tasks like the photo shoot, writing out a description for the sale item and remember to answer all emails - we are looking to run this Ebay business professionally and prompt replies to questions or queries is where you will gain respect from your customers. Respect can bring repeat orders.

The product or service you choose to sell in your Ebay business is entirely up to you but please do a little research on this matter - the reason being is the greater the need for a certain item then the more chance you have of a guaranteed sale. Expenditure and costs should be limited at least till you have learnt a few tricks of the trade. Buying up front in large quantities is not a good idea - you maybe left with unwanted stock if the product you have chosen to sell for your Ebay business has a sell by date.

There should be no reason why your Ebay business can not be as successful just like the thousands of others who are making their fortune selling their wares.

In an Ebay business what are the tricks of the trade - how can you find out about the tricks of the trade - well let me tell you about a little trick picked up on the way and that is to learn from others. By doing this you can prevent yourself becoming involved in any tricky situations.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com


For success in business you have to be in the know - don`t take my word for it and check it out for yourself www.ebay.webinputbiz.com Hard work comes with rewards - need a break www.airfarelive.com

Ebay Business - Tricky Situations In Business

Author: Maisy Day

What you have to remember when starting up your Ebay business is that it is no different from any other business venture. The business world is all about buying and selling and so is your Ebay project. Conduct all your business transactions in a professional manner then you your product or service will be taken seriously.

Running a business is not as big a mission that people make it out to be. However it can prove to be stressful at times - but you can change that by having an organised system. Organization should be one of the main priorities right from the start. Keeping on top is important - keep data up to date and file all files this will help your Ebay business to run smooth thus saving you time.

Most Ebay business`s are run from home so choose a room in the house that you can create as an office area to do business. An office type surrounding will encourage you more in your Ebay business. Everyone has a business plan structured up so why not you - remember you are in business for yourself now.
Write your Ebay plan accordingly to comply with Ebay`s rules and regulations. Jot down your goals you expect to achieve - profits from sales or whatever comes to mind to claim success. Go research on how other Ebay sellers are successful in their business.

Another vital addition is to have an Ebay business checklist drawn up and easily at hand - list all that you would need to start up - like organizing your products for auction, this will include itemized tasks like the photo shoot, writing out a description for the sale item and remember to answer all emails - we are looking to run this Ebay business professionally and prompt replies to questions or queries is where you will gain respect from your customers. Respect can bring repeat orders.

The product or service you choose to sell in your Ebay business is entirely up to you but please do a little research on this matter - the reason being is the greater the need for a certain item then the more chance you have of a guaranteed sale. Expenditure and costs should be limited at least till you have learnt a few tricks of the trade. Buying up front in large quantities is not a good idea - you maybe left with unwanted stock if the product you have chosen to sell for your Ebay business has a sell by date.

There should be no reason why your Ebay business can not be as successful just like the thousands of others who are making their fortune selling their wares.

In an Ebay business what are the tricks of the trade - how can you find out about the tricks of the trade - well let me tell you about a little trick picked up on the way and that is to learn from others. By doing this you can prevent yourself becoming involved in any tricky situations.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com


For success in business you have to be in the know - don`t take my word for it and check it out for yourself www.ebay.webinputbiz.com Hard work comes with rewards - need a break www.airfarelive.com

Wholesale Body Jewelry: How To Find The Best Wholesale Body Jewelry Deals For EBay

Author: Donny Lowy

Wholesale body jewelry offers resellers high profit margins along with high volume sales, when done right.

Resellers, whether flea market vendors, eBay sellers, or dollar stores, will be faced with competition from online and offline retailers who can buy wholesale body jewelry at a lower price.

To outmaneuver this competition in the wholesale body jewelry business, resellers need to have a strategic plan in place.

Part one of their plan deals with finding the best sources for wholesale body jewelry at the lowest possible prices.

For this reason I would recommend resellers to stay away from drop shippers when looking for wholesale body jewelry.

Since the drop shipper is set up to offer his products to thousands of other resellers, you will not be able to compete based on price. All the resellers are paying the same price to the wholesale body jewelry drop shipper, so how can your prices be lower?

When looking to buy wholesale body jewelry you want to get as close to the source as possible.

Since you will not be able to buy brand name wholesale body jewelry for a lower price than major retailers can, you will want to look for lesser known wholesale body jewelry sellers.

For instance, ABC Body Jewelry might not have the name recognition that Tiffany enjoys, but you can show customers that the quality is the same, and as long as your prices are lower some customers should buy the wholesale body jewelry manufactured by ABC Body Jewelry.

When you contact these companies looking for wholesale body jewelry ask them for their overstock, overrun, and closeout deals. You would be surprised at the wholesale body jewelry deals you can find from small manufacturers that are looking to move merchandise out.

You can find great wholesale body jewelry deals but it will take some solid leg work.

Donny Lowy is the CEO of http://www.closeoutexplosion.com, an online wholesale and closeout business, and http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com, an educational site for the wholesale and closeout business.

Wholesale Dollar Store Items: How To Find The Best Wholesale Dollar Store Items Deals For EBay

Author: Donny Lowy

Wholesale dollar store items offers resellers high profit margins along with high volume sales, when done right.

Resellers, whether flea market vendors, eBay sellers, or dollar stores, will be faced with competition from online and offline retailers who can buy wholesale dollar store items at a lower price.

To outmaneuver this competition in the wholesale dollar store items business, resellers need to have a strategic plan in place.

Part one of their plan deals with finding the best sources for wholesale dollar store items at the lowest possible prices.

For this reason I would recommend resellers to stay away from drop shippers when looking for wholesale dollar store items.

Since the drop shipper is set up to offer his products to thousands of other resellers, you will not be able to compete based on price. All the resellers are paying the same price to the wholesale dollar store items drop shipper, so how can your prices be lower?

When looking to buy wholesale dollar store items you want to get as close to the source as possible.

Since you will not be able to buy brand name wholesale dollar store items for a lower price than major retailers can, you will want to look for lesser known wholesale dollar store items sellers.

For instance, ABC Dollar might not have the name recognition that Dollar Days enjoys, but you can show customers that the quality is the same, and as long as your prices are lower some customers should buy the wholesale dollar store items wholesaled by ABC Dollar.

When you contact these companies looking for wholesale dollar store items ask them for their overstock, overrun, and closeout deals. You would be surprised at the wholesale dollar store items deals you can find from small manufacturers that are looking to move merchandise out.

You can find great wholesale dollar store items deals but it will take some solid leg work.

Donny Lowy is the CEO of http://www.closeoutexplosion.com, an online wholesale and closeout business, and http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com, an educational site for the wholesale and closeout business

eBay Sales Commands That Increase Sales

Author: Donny Lowy

eBay sales commands is a phrase that I use to cover the buying motivations for successful eBay sales. In other words, according to my research I have found that most eBay shoppers bid for certain reasons.

Once an eBay seller understands what these reasons are, he or she can make sure that their auctions are geared towards fulfilling those reasons.

Here are some of the top reasons I have found that eBay shoppers have for bidding on items:

1. eBay shoppers are looking for excitement. They are looking for an item which will provide entertainment value. The more exciting the item is, the higher the level of interest.

2. eBay shoppers are nostalgic. They love finding collectibles and novelties that remind them of an earlier time. Many eBay shoppers look for comic books, toys, and posters, which they had when they were younger.

3. eBay shoppers are also curiosity seekers. If an item seems unique it will pick their interest.

4. eBay shoppers are looking to save money. They love bargains where they receive a good value for a relatively low price.

You will still need a good set of skills to make your eBay auctions successful. According to Janiece Smith from ebaybusinessbook.com you need to have a system in place.

It should be a system which can be repeatedly used for all your eBay auctions, regardless of what the item being auctioned is.

Donny Lowy operates the following wholesale sites:

http://www.closeoutexplosion.com
http://www.wholesalequest.com
http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com

Google vs eBay, or Google vs YahooBay?

Author: Sramana Mitra

The media is full of stories and analysis on Google's announcement of GoogleBase, a user-database, that predict thet Google is taking sure steps towards eBay's turf.

eBay is slowly and surely falling prey to its supremely powerful, but easy to copy and rather narrow core business model of facilitating B:C and C:C e-commerce. Needless to say, Google's entry into their turf will be a big blow. Google will, no doubt, hit eBay where there is a low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked: eBay's sordid user interface. In the 10 years of its existence, eBay has not bothered to address this glaring weakness. Google does clean User Experiences very well, and my bet would be that they will cream eBay on this topic. Also interesting is their introduction of a user-generated database, which will enable applications such as Yahoo! Stores easily, too. Potent combination.

I said once before, that Yahoo should acquire eBay. eBay's market cap is $52 Billion, whereas Yahoo's is $50 Billion. It would roughly be a merger of equals, but I believe Yahoo's future is far more promising than eBay's. Hence, judging by futures, Yahoo ought to acquire eBay.

Product Search and Search Engine Marketing are key areas that, as industries, need to reside together. Amazon realized it, and launched A9, their very own search engine. However, Search is a competitive business, and an overnight search giant will not be created at this stage of the game. I don't recommend, therefore, that eBay also follows suit.

However, at least 5 different properties that Yahoo has could tremendously leverage eBay: Small Business, Stores, Search, Shopping, and Overture. Finally, as Yahoo unfolds its content and personalization strategies, there will be a tremendous further opportunity to build value on top of their existing framework.

Not the least, but last, Meg Whitman has indicated that she wants out. Terry Semel, however, is dedicated and focused.

Then?

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur and Strategy Consultant Sramana Mitra writes about Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy, Emerging Technology, Market Moves, and sundry other topics in her Blog "Sramana Mitra on Strategy". Read more of her writings at http://www.sramanamitra.com.

Make Make Even More Money on eBay!

Author: Paul Duxbury

Over the years, eBay has introduced all sorts of different auction types, in an effort to give people more options when they buy and sell their things on eBay.

For every seller who doesn't like the idea that their item might sell for a far lower price than they intend, there's another who wants to shift hundreds of the same item quickly. eBay tries to cater to all tastes. This email gives you an overview of the different kinds of auctions and their advantages for you.

Normal Auctions.

These are the bread-and-butter of eBay, the auctions everyone knows: buyers bid, others outbid them, they bid again, and the winner gets the item. Simple.

Reserve Auctions.

Reserve auctions are for sellers who don't want their items to sell for less than a certain price - a concept you'll know about if you're familiar with real auctions. They work just like normal auctions on eBay, except that the buyer will be told if their bid does not meet the reserve price you set, and they'll need to bid again if they want the item. If no-one is willing to meet your price, then the auction is cancelled, and you keep the item.

Fixed Price ('Buy it Now') Auctions.

Buy it Now auctions can work in one of two ways. You can add a Buy it Now button to a normal auction, meaning that buyers can choose either to bid normally or to simply pay the asking price and avoid the whole bidding process. Some sellers, though, now cut out the auction process altogether and simply list all their items at fixed price. This lets you avoid all the complications of the auction format and simply list your items for how much you want them to sell for.

Recently, eBay added a twist to fixed price auctions: the 'best offer'. This means that buyers can contact you to negotiate a price, which could be a good way to get sell some extra stock at a small discount. The only downside to reserve and fixed price auctions is that you pay a small extra fee to use these formats. In general, it is more worth using reserve auctions for higher-priced items and fixed price auctions for lower-priced ones - but remember that you can combine the two formats.

Multiple Item ('Dutch') Auctions.

These are auctions where you can sell more than one of a certain item. Dutch auctions can be done by bidding. Buyers bid a price and say how many items they want, and then everyone pays the lowest price that was bid by one of the winning bidders. If you have trouble getting your head around that, then don't worry - everyone else does too! These auctions are very rare.

What is more common is when a seller has a lot of one item, and lists it using a combination of two auction types: a multiple-item fixed price auction. This just means that you can just say how many of the item you they have, and offer them at a fixed price per unit. Buyers can enter how many they want and then just click Buy it Now to get them.

Paul Duxbury has spent several years learning what not to do on eBay! He now sells quality eBooks through eBay and through http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk. He has written many articles about eBay and these can be obtained through his Free Course at http://www.ebay-profits.co.uk