Choosing Your Selling Site

                                                EBAY 

     When we speak of selling on line, the first place that comes to mind is Ebay.  Since Ebay is the largest site it comes with the highest traffic count.  .
      Ebay is not a free listing site, the listing fees vary by the starting bid you will accept.  Do not be fooled by the 50 free listings per month they are not entirely free. Ebay will take Final Value Fees for non store holders up to 11% in early July.. also if you list more than 50 items then when all is said and done they will end up taking at least 20%

     Ebay has very strict listing guidelines, be sure to read the guides posted in the answer center about how to use Ebay.
     Accepting payments on Ebay is limited  currently to PayPal only and to the soon to be implemented shopping cart and no other form of payment will be allowed, therefore a PayPal account is required to sell on Ebay.


     Pricing your item correctly is a real necessity.  Do search the current listings to see what the average asking price is for a similar item.  Next search the closed listings to see what similar items have sold for, this information is on the left side of the current auction listings.  List your item at auction for the minimum price you are willing to take.
     Describe your item fully and truthfully.  If your item is used clothing, describe by stating the actual size, color and brand. If you clothing item shows some wear show this in a picture added to your listing. Be sure to add pictures to your listing, people do not really want to buy what they cannot see. 
   Let the buyer know how you plan on shipping your item and the cost if you are not offering free shipping.
     State your return policy completely.  Bear in mind that what you say may or may not matter if the buyer wants to return the item for a refund, but if the description is stated clearly, in the case of dispute Ebay may decide you are in the right. 
     Ebay as the biggest selling site has very strict policies and if you do not follow them, your listing may be removed, so do your research before listing on any auction site. 

                                                       EBID

    eBid and Ecrater switch between #2 and #3 on Power Sellers Unite Site however Ecrater is NOT an auction site and this section is devoted to auction sites I will do th e non-auction sites on the next blog. 

    eBid is about half the size of Ebay, but due to the high fees on Ebay is growing rapidly.  So if you are missing your favorite seller from Ebay check eBid chances are you will find them there.  eBid was started as an UK auction site so there are a lot of people from other countries listing on the site and in the forums which is a pleasure to me.

eBid does charge a Final Value Fee of 2% is you are a lifetime seller or if you want to have gallery pictures there is a small monthly fee.  You can see the seller options and fees at http://us.ebid.net/help_selling.php

     eBid, like all auction sites has policies to follow.  All online selling sites depend on search engines for exposure.  If your auction site does not meet Google, Yahoo or other search engines expectations, your site will get no exposure, therefore, policies are needed.

     DO NOT list fake or replicated items.  Not even if you state that your item is a replica.  According to ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement it is illegal to sell replicas, so do not do it.

     The best way to sell on any internet site is to READ, READ and READ again.  Check the rules of the site, the what you can and cannot do subjects are right there.

     Each site has their own way of setting up the listing, don't get frustrated.  Relax and read the listing form again, fill it out completely.  If you still have problems go to the forums you will find all kinds of help there.  The forum posters on eBid are extremely knowledgeable and polite, if they do not know the answer to your question they can give you a link to where you might find the answer.   Watch what you say on any forum as Google not only picks up your listings it picks up forum comments.

   
     The sales on eBid are slower at the moment than Ebay so be prepared to wait for the sales to start.  You do have to market yourself on eBid as they do not advertise as much as Ebay, come to think of it no other internet auction site advertises as much either.  I market my site through mass emails, blogging, joining Facebook and Twitter.  Use the forums to advertise as well there is a plug your auction thread and people do check it out.