My First Listing

By now you’ve probably have been wondering about my first success, or failure, with my eBay selling experience. I know the suspense is probably killing you, so I won’t hold back much longer. But first let me tell you how I got there.

Throughout this great ordeal, I spent many hours each day signing in an out of my eBay account. I didn’t have any experience in merchandise selling and I wanted to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. I did have some selling experience though; as a matter of fact we all do. If you think you don’t, think again. How many times had you purchased something, went to jobs interview, gave advice, called to complaint about a service, received services and so on? In all these and other similar situations, consciously or unconsciously, you did some type of selling.

Think about a time when you were treated unfairly when purchasing something or when calling customer service to report a problem. How did it make you feel? Would you treat a prospective customer the same way? The answer is obvious; which by the way proves my point…we all know something about selling.

At any rate, there was no better way to use what I’ve learned through my life experiences and the books and articles I read, than to put it all to the test. So I decided it was time to place my first listing. I logged into my account and clicked on the “Sell” link located on the upper left hand corner of the webpage and began the process of listing my first item.

To my own surprise, the process was very simple and took just about a minute to complete. Once I was done with the first item, I logged out of my account and made a search for the item I just had listed. Once satisfied with the way it looked, I logged back into the account to list other items.

Here’s a tip: The item description is just as important as the pictures, so make sure it is well written and free of spelling mistakes. Use a word processor to type and edit the description and then copy and paste the information to the item description block when posting your listing.

If you don’t have a word processor on your PC, then get one. You can use one of the many free office suite or standalone word processors available online. Here are a few suggestions: IBM Symphony; OpenOffice; FlySuite, AbiWord, Zoho.

Another thing, know about shipping and handling charges before hand. The Post Office has some excellent tools for his purpose. You can also search eBay and see what other sellers are charging for similar items. But whatever you decide to charge for shipping and handling, make sure it’s fair, for you and the customer.

Before I leave, I want you to know that I did get some good offers and sold a few of my items. How did that go? I’ll tell you the next time we meet. Until then, happy computing to all!!

Getting Organized

One thing I quickly learned about running an eBay business is that I needed to get organized. I like computers and it’s one of my favor hobbies, but at the same time, I wanted to make sure not to mix business dealings with computing pleasure.

Please keep in mind that I’m just a beginner entrepreneur and that the tips and examples I’m about to tell you may or may not work for your type of business or situation…make sure to do your own research or contact someone who knows about running a business.

The first thing I learned was not to use my personal bank account to run my business. It could get a little tricky when balancing my checkbook; though I must admit, I’m not dealing with a lot of digits. Anyway, the solution was simple…use PayPal. Since PayPal is a must when running an eBay business and I already had an account, I figured it made sense to use it to track all my transactions. I guess I could open a separate bank account, but at least for now I feel satisfy wit PayPal.

Next, I kept my eBay files separate from my regular files and built a backup. I’ve already told you I’m a computer freak, so I know a little about protecting computer files. First, I used the resources I already had; PayPal and eBay. PayPal maintains all data in regards to transactions, including payments, shipping and customer information and eBay maintains similar records as well. So I made sure that all my information was correct and up-to-date.

Then I partitioned my computers’ hard drives. I use two computers, a desktop and a laptop. I like to keep the files on both just in case one fails. My computers are networked, so updating files can be done through any of the two computers. I recommend a laptop as it provides the flexibility of accessing files from almost anywhere, including through Wi-Fi connectivity. Anyway, partitioning the hard drives (dividing it into two or more segments) on both computers allows me to maintain all business data separated from my regular junk. These included pictures, documents, emails, applications, invoices and so forth.

If you don’t know how to partition a hard drive or if you rather not do it, you can always create a separate folder within your hard drive, but files will not be as secured. You can opt to encrypt the folder, and it’s an option built into Windows Vista , but make sure you understand what you are doing or you may not be able to access your data. Another alternative would be to install a separate hard drive into your computer, which would be a great option for your desktop, but not for your laptop. I don’t recommend the use of external hard drives because they don’t provide enough flexibility, however I do recommend them for backup purposes.

Just to make sure, I also back up all data onto DVD-RW (RW stands for "read-write."). A DVD-RW is a DVD onto which you can burn information; you do need a DVD-RW drive, but they are affordable an easy to install. Or you can opt to buy an external DVD-RW drive or buy an enclosure to house an internal DVD-RW. If you can’t afford a DVD-RW, you can purchase a CD-RW drive. Although CD-RW discs do not provide the storage capacity of DVD-RW discs, they are affordable. You can click here to read more about choosing external storage.

One thing though, the article mentions USB flash and online storage as backup alternatives. I use both and like their flexibility, however, when it comes to running an eBay business, or any type of business, your fist priority is to safeguard your customers’ information. Unless your online or USB flash data is encrypted, I don’t recommend you use them for backing up sensitive information. Flash drives are too small and can easily be misplaced, while online storage could easily be hacked.

You must safeguard your customer information as you should safeguard your own, so make sure to password-protect every document you create. If you use software to keep track of your financials; the software will provide the means to do that. But if you use an Excel Spreadsheet, like I do, then you should use the program’s tools to create a strong password; the same applies to documents created with Word or PowerPoint applications.

One last thing; DO NOT use the same password for your business documents as you do for your regular documents. Keep your business and your computing pleasure separate right from the start; it just makes a lot sense! See you next time. Until then, happy computing to all!!

More Stuff About Photos

Before I tell you more about running your eBay business, I’d like to comment about an email I received from a reader. Basically the email has to do with the fact that my articles don’t really offer in depth information; I agree. Two things though: I’m writing these articles during my spare time. If try to go too much in-depth, I’ll miss spending time with family and friends or give up my other hobbies…I’ll rather not do that. Plus, I don’t want to write a lengthy story and have you fall asleep before you get to the end. Secondly, my goal is to provide you, readers, with enough information to boost your interest. Interest, motivation and success go hand-in-hand. If you want to accomplish something, you must first develop your interest. Once you’ve developed your interest, you’ll feel much more motivated to begin your quest.

If you are seriously thinking about running your eBay business, then go to eBay. Browse through the different stores and products. Sign up for a free account and purchase something; may I suggest a how-to eBay book. Use search engines to find eBay forums and join one so you can participate with your questions and comments. Better yet, open a seller’s account (it’s free) and begin your selling. One more thing: If your question is where to begin? My answer is to start where you are; a journey can’t begin until you take that first step.

Continuing from my last post; once I downloaded, cropped and resized my photos, I made sure to save them to my PC for easy access when uploading them to my eBay listing. However, I did tell you I’m a computer junky and as such, I understand that computers and hard drives tend to fail from time to time, usually when one least expect it. You don’t want to go through the motions of prepping your photos, just to end up telling your customers that your computer ate them. So the obvious thing, at least to me, is to create a back up. There are many ways to back up your photos, but may I suggest online photo storage.

First thing is to check with your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Most ISPs offer customers a reasonable amount of free file or photo storage. You can also use a search engine to search for, you guessed it, free online storage. If you are a Google blogger, as I am of course, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, or even if you are not, you can sign up with Picasa, http://picasa.google.com/. You can currently get up to 1024 MB of free online photo storage. Since you followed my previous advice and resized your photos to fewer than 50K, the 1024MB of storage space will be sufficient for you to freely store thousands of photos.

Another convenient option with Picasa, and other online photo storage providers, is the ability to share your photos. You can send your friends a link to your photo albums so they can view or even print your photos. Conversely, you can add a link to your eBay listing so prospective customers can have a better ‘picture of your pictures’. By the way, this is within eBay policies; so be assured you are not breaking any eBay rules. Here’s a link to a web album I’m currently using to maintain photos for my eBay listings, My eBay Album, pretty neat, isn’t it?

Well, enough about photos. See you next time. Until then, happy computing to all!!

Cropping Your Pictures

So now I was ready to download my pictures to my “computer”. Yes, you are going to need a computer if you want to run a successful eBay business. Whether you purchase, barrow or lease a computer is up to you, but you do need access to one. Here are some clues; run eBay online business, through the internet. Got the hint? More on that later; for now let’s talk about pictures.

Pictures for your eBay auction style selling are optional…but don’t forget, buyers also have the choice to bypass your add if they can’t see the whole picture. Without photos, buyers won’t know about the condition of your product or if in fact you have it. Listen to me, YOU NEED PICTURES!!!

There are different ways to download pictures to a computer. The most common methods are scanners, which basically create electronic copies of images, a digital camera or from the internet. If you are not familiar with the scanner or camera, get hold of their manuals. If you misplaced the manuals, go to the manufacture’s website and download electronic versions of the manual.

Once you downloaded the photos, select the best quality pictures from the bunch. It has been said that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let me tell you a secret, we all do. So select the best looking images and make sure they tell your story. Let me explain; if you are selling a used item with wear and tear, you don’t want to select a picture that makes it look like it’s brand sparking new. This could cause buyers to feel they were taking advantage of and may end up returning the item or leaving you some nasty feedback. You may want to head to eBay and read about feedbacks; bad feedbacks may be detrimental to your eBay business success.

Once you have selected your pictures, you may want to dress them up a little. There are a few simple methods to do that. The first one is known as crop, which is basically removing unneeded parts from your images. Prospective buyers don’t want to see a photo of your cat next to that Santa Claus figurine; unless you’d rather sell your cat of course. So make sure to crop the crap.

Resize your pictures. You may think is cool to add that 10-Megapixel image to your listing, but let me give you a clue, it’s not. You must take into account prospective buyers that may be forced to weight a while for their browsers to load up your images, especially if they are using a dial-up connection. So verify the size of your images through their property; if they are larger than 50K, consider resizing them.

You may also want to adjust the brightness level and color if needed. How would you know if you need to adjust these features? That’s simple…look at the pictures from the buyer’s point of view. Put your buyer’s hat on and critique your photos; make sure to see what the buyer will want to see and not what you want to see.

If you are not familiar working with pictures, but still want to succeed as an eBay seller, I suggest you get with the “program” and start learning. Did you get it? Program, as the computer application you’ll need to dress up your pictures. Most computer operating systems have simple-to-use software that provide the basic essential tools you need to make your pictures look great. If you are not familiar with the application, use the help menu, get a book, Google for the information or go to one of the many online forums. By the way, you may want to head to http://www.vistababble.com/ right now and browse through the many threads and posts available on this and many other topics.

Make sure to stay tune for my next post. Until then, happy computing to all!

My Picture Taken Moment

So my quest to become a successful eBay seller continues. I’ve been making some progress, but it’s not as easy as many affirmed, or at least not as simple. Placing items for sale is straightforward, getting there is not. Whether your item sells or not is dependent on many factors; some which you may have no control of, but for the most part, if it doesn’t sell, you didn’t do your homework.

On the other hand, you cannot lose if you don’t play; so for the time being, I was ready to play and have some fun. I set aside books and other material about eBay selling and began my hunt for things to sell. The cat was the first thing that I came across; I know what you’re thinking! However it just happened that she got hungry and wanted something to eat; she’s my daughter’s cat anyway, I wouldn’t even think of selling her. But then again,…

Anyway, let me get back to my story. I’ve been a computer junky for over 10 years and had some computer items laying around the house, so I figured these would fit perfectly with my pursuit of eBay knowledge. These were surplus items anyway and would had eventually been forgotten and become useless. They provided me the perfect opportunity to put what I’ve learned to practice.

First thing I needed was a digital camera. By the way, if you’re planning to sell on eBay, you are going to need a camera; here’s a tip, buy an inexpensive one on eBay. Luckily, I didn’t have to purchase one. It just happened that I had given my daughter a 4.0M pixel camera as a gift on her 17th birthday. Now 19, she bought herself a 10M pixel camera and gave me the 4.0M pixel camera as gift. Wait a minute!! Come to think of it, I did buy myself a digital camera??? Oh well.

At any rate, through experience I know that, for the most part, pictures taken indoors with the built-in flash tend to come out either too bright or too dark. It was a sunny day anyway, so I took the camera and the items to the back patio to ensure better detail pictures. If you take the photos outside, you need to make sure to get the best angle possible to prevent shadows from appearing on your pictures. Also, make sure you move your fingers away from the camera’s lens; don’t want to end up posting your finger for sale on eBay. Another thing, take more than one photo of each item, at least four or five if possible…this way you can pick the best picture to post with your eBay add.

I took as many pictures from different angles as possible, and headed to my computer to download and view them. How the pictures came out? Well, I tell you on my next post. By the way, don’t forget to leave your comments. Until then, happy computing to all!!

Learning the Basics

So I became an official eBay seller and couldn’t wait to place my first listing; big problem, I didn’t know what or how to sell. Luckily, some of the know-how was quickly answered in the form of an email from eBay. You see, eBay wants sellers to succeed because if sellers succeed, eBay succeeds. It’s that simple.

The email included a link to a video tutorial that provided tips on how to list items, do research, and set the start bid prices. It also provided information about figuring postage and handling charges, printing shipping labels, selecting payment methods and a lot more. If after watching the video, you are still not sure about how to proceed, you can head to the eBay website and use the University Learning Center. There you can go through the many free tutorials; from how to register and sell your items, to how to increase your sales and mange your inventory.

You can opt to use any of the independent courses available online; most will charge a fee of course. If you do decide to go this route, make sure to read the fine print. Many will use magic words like “free for a limited time” or “for the next 12 hours…” and so on just to hook you up into getting their product. However, what you’ll get, more times than not, is a quick promotion designed to convince you to buy their product. In my opinion, you should stay away from these courses, as you can get plenty of info directly from the eBay University Learning Center. If after using the eBay University Learning Center you’re still at lost, you can head to your local library and sign out one the many books available about eBay.

One of my favorites, and which I purchased, is titled eBay Business for Dummies. This book is simple to read and offer tips not available through the eBay University Learning Center. One tip, for example, concerns the use of pictures to promote your item. When you place an item for sale, you can upload one free picture of that item (remember “a picture is worth a thousand words”), but every additional picture will incur a fee. However, you can upload your photos to one of the many free online-photo storage sites available and provide a link to the pictures on your eBay listing. Buyers interested in your product will read the description of the item and will have the option to click the link to view additional photos; thus increasing your selling chances, while saving on charging fees.

Learning about eBay can be compared to learning any other topic; the more you learn, the more you’ll come to realize how little you know. However, my goal is to learn, and to one day compete with the big eBay heavyweights. Until then, happy computing to all!!

Becoming an eBay Seller

I’ve been an eBay member since Mar 2005; membership is free, so I figured why not give it a try, but, that’s as far as I went. For over two years, the people from eBay were kind enough to maintain my sign in credentials; though I must admit, I had forgotten all about them. However, around the second week of Sep 2007, I was reading an article about running an eBay business and decided to become an eBay seller.

I didn’t have any items to sell, but I didn’t let that stop me. I went to the eBay website, clicked the register link and filled out an electronic form. Immediately, after completing the form, I received a message indicating that I was already an eBay member; I was also provided a link to reset password. I clicked the link, answered a few security questions and was on my way to browse the big world of eBay.

My membership allowed me to shop and place bids, but I was not yet considered an eBay seller. To become a seller, I clicked a Sell link and was taken to the seller’s registration page. The first step was to prove to eBay that the individual registering for the seller’s account was me and not someone else pretending to be me. Your identity can be verified by providing a credit/debit card and/or your checking account. If you don’t have a credit card, rarely the case nowadays, or don’t want eBay to maintain your card on file you can have your identity verified with ID Verify.
Verification through ID Verify costs $5.00 and it’s valid until you get rich and decide to move to a larger home or if your phone number changes. I used a credit card and answered a few questions to convince eBay that the person at the other end was actually me. They believed me and I was automatically taken to the next step. By the way, the information you provide to verify your identity is encrypted to ensure hackers can’t intercept the communication and steal your identity. You know it’s encrypted if the web address begins with “https” instead of “http”; clue, the S at the end of “https” stands for secure.

The next step was to tell eBay how I was going to pay my sellers fees; yes, membership is free, selling is not. I had the option to pay the fees through PayPal, credit card, checking account or by check. I opted to pay through PayPal, which accepts credit card and electronic check payments online. Though, as a seller, you can accept credit cards and electronic checks as payment methods, getting pay through PayPal can be much faster and less troublesome for both buyers and sellers. Also, using PayPal to run your eBay business makes sense when it’s time to pay your taxes at the end of the year. PayPal maintained all your transactions and fees stored in their servers; accessing this information is only a few clicks away.

Anyhow, I followed all steps as requested and, like magic, I became a proud and celebrated eBay seller. However, that was the easy part; now I had to find something to sell. But I’ll tell you about that experience later. Until then, happy computing to all!!

The Begining

I’m new to online merchandising and eBay business, so today will be a perfect time to begin keeping a time line of my learning, progress and experience. Will I succeed and become rich, or would I give up in frustration? Those are part of the many questions that tend to keep me up at night, while everyone else get a restful sleep. I can’t promise readers of this blog that I will succeed or that I’ll be the next Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart; but I promise to give it a try.

Hopefully, if you stick with me, providing useful do’s and don’t’s and other suggestions, I may one day be able to compensate you for it. But if not, I hope that, at least, you’ll find my success and triumph or my downfall, whichever come first, useful. If I succeed, you may want to mimic some of the steps I took; and if I fail, you’ll have plenty of reasons not to follow through those same steps. It’s just that simple.

The great motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, that “success is something you develop”. Since I wasn’t born a success, I will put Jim Rohn’s saying to the test. I’m going to spend as much of my time as possible “developing success”.

Please leave your comments and/or suggestions; don’t hold back. If I’m to succeed, I must take the good with the bad. See you next time. Until then, happy computing to all!