THE
EVERYTHING
ONLINE
AUCTIONS
BOOK
All you need to buy and sell
with success on eBay and beyond!
Steve Encell & Si Dunn
Copyright 2006 F+W Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Publications, Inc.
Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN: 1-59337-582-4 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-60550-338-7 (EPUB)
Printed in the United States of America.
J I H G F E D C B A
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Encell, Steve.
The everything online auctions book / Steve Encell and Si Dunn.
p. cm. (Everything series)
ISBN 1-59337-582-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-60550-338-7 (EPUB)
1. Internet auctions. I. Dunn, Si II. Title. III. Series.
HF5478.E57 2006
381.177 dc22
2006004163
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
All online auction sites identified by name within this book are the intellectual property of their respective owners and no claim of any rights thereto is being made herein. In addition, care has been taken to properly identify each of these sites by their accurate designation(s). Neither the author nor the publisher is in any way associated or affiliated with the entity owning the rights to any of the sites referred to herein. This book is not authorized or endorsed by these auction sites.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.
This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-872-5627.
Acknowledgments
Steve: Thanks to Larry Brody, Si Dunn, and Pace. This book couldn't have been written without all three of you.
Si: Special thanks to Connie Dunn and Erin Dunn, for helping with research and letting me sell off some excess treasures after I decided to become an online auction seller, as well as buyer. Thanks, also, to TV writer and producer Larry Brody for his superb guidance and advice during this book's creation. In the shorthand parlance of the entertainment world: LYMI (Love ya. Mean it).
Top Ten Things You Will Learn in This Book
- How online auctions can help you get lower prices for the things you buy and higher prices for the things you sell.
- How online auction selling can be a good source of extra income or an exciting new career.
- Why you should be a buyer first, before you become a seller on eBay any other online auction site.
- Why getting good feedback is extremely important to online auction sellers and buyers.
- How to use online auction sites to find the items you need to fix something, replace something, expand a collection, bring new pleasures to a hobby, or save money in a small business.
- The best ways to list, display, and promote the items you want to sell online.
- How to pack sold items effectively, so you can keep shipping costs down and sales profits up.
- The best ways to ship the items you sell online to domestic and international customers.
- The importance of inventory: how to keep finding more items to sell at online auction sites.
- What the future may hold for online auction sellers and buyers, as well as for online auction sites.
Introduction
Auctions are one of humankind's oldest business pursuits, probably dating back to the earliest sales of food and animal hides. Auctions also represent one of the world's simplest business models: an item or service is offered for sale to the highest bidder. Despite the historical vintage and simplicity of auctions, only small numbers of people actually take part in them. A conventional auction typically requires travel to a central site where you can sell goods or examine the items that will be put up for bid. Sellers have no guarantee that interested buyers will show up for the auction, and buyers have no guarantee that they will find something they want or need.
In 1995, the Internet and one man's hobby turned the ancient auction process totally on its head. Now, online auction Web sites make it easy for almost anyone on the planet who has a computer and Net access to buy from, or sell to, almost anyone else who can log on to the same auction site. In the online auction world, corporations and sole-proprietor home businesses can compete for the same buyers. No special training, certifications, franchises, or storefronts are required to become an online auction seller. Indeed, all you really need are a few items to sell, a camera, and a credit card or debit card (necessary to open a seller account or buyer account at online auction sites such as eBay or Amazon). Many people have launched part-time and full-time sales businesses simply by grabbing a few unneeded things from their households and selling them online. Later, they have branched out to items purchased at yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, and other auctions. Then they have learned how to buy certain merchandise at one online auction site and resell it at others. From there, they have opened online stores and built even bigger businesses that use online auctions to help them sell merchandise and buy more things to sell.
In this book, you will discover how easy and fun it can be to bid and win at online auction sites, and how simple and profitable it can be to sell items online. You will learn how online auctions work and why you should always make a few small purchases first at any auction site before you sign up to be one of its sellers. You will also learn how to open buyer and seller accounts at some of the leading online auction venues, such as eBay, Yahoo!, Amazon, and uBid. This book will guide you through the process of creating your first listing, making your first sale, getting paid quickly, and picking the best way to ship the sold item, whether the buyer is in the next county or halfway around the world. These experiences and the tips in this book will give you the insights you need to master the online auction business.
Online auction sites can be fun places to buy useful items for your home, business, or hobby at bargain prices. Online auctions can be a pleasant, convenient, and profitable means of paring down the overabundance of stuff in your life. Online auctions can also be catalysts for a new career that takes you out of a corporate cubicle, puts a stop to commuting, and lets you work at home during the hours you choose.