EBay for Dummies (42 page)

You can go back and forth from the HTML text editor to regular input and add additional codes here and there by clicking from the Standard form to the HTML entry form tabs. I often prepare all my auctions ahead of time and save them in my computer as plain HTML files — that way they’re always retrievable for use (I just copy and paste) — no matter what program or form I’m using to list my auctions. See Chapter 20 for more on software to help you with your auctions.

To insert additional photos in your description (thereby avoiding eBay’s additional photo charges), use the following code. (Just insert the URL of your hosted picture, along with the photo file name). My example in Figure 10-5 uses the following code:

Occasionally, sellers offer an item as a
presell,
or an item that the seller doesn’t yet have in stock but expects to. If you’re offering this kind of item, make sure that you spell out all the details in the description. eBay policy states that you must ship a presell item within 30 days of the auction’s end, so be sure you will have the item within that time span. Don’t forget to include the actual shipping date. I have found that putting an item up for sale without having it in hand is a practice fraught with risk. The item you’re expecting may not arrive in time or may arrive damaged. I’ve heard of one too many sellers who have had to go out and purchase an item at retail for a buyer to preserve their feedback when caught in this situation.

Listing the number of items for sale

Unless you’re planning on holding a Multiple Item listing or Dutch auction, the number of items is always 1, which means you’re holding a traditional auction or listing a single item up for sale. If you need to change the quantity number from 1, just type the number in the box.

A matching set of cuff links is considered one item, as is the complete 37-volume set of
The Smith Family Ancestry and Genealogical History since 1270.
If you have more than one of the same item (two sets of cuff links), I suggest that you sell them one at a time. You are much more likely to get higher final bids for your items when you sell them individually. Never try to sell items that belong in a set as separate items.

eBay won’t allow you to list the same item in more than 15 auctions at one time.

Setting a starting price — how low can you go?

What do a baseball autographed by JFK, a used walkie-talkie, and a Jaguar sports car all have in common? They all started with a $0.99 starting price. eBay requires you to set a
starting price,
also called a minimum bid — the lowest bid allowed in an auction. You may be surprised to see stuff worth tens of thousands of dollars starting at just a buck. These sellers haven’t lost their minds. Neither are they worried someone could be tooling down the highway in a $100,000 sports car they bought for the price of a burger.

Setting an incredibly low minimum (just type it in the box
without
the dollar sign but
with
the decimal point) is a subtle strategy that gives you more bang for your buck. You can use a low starting price to attract more bidders who will, in turn, drive up the price to the item’s real value — especially if, after doing your research, you know that the item is particularly hot.

If you’re worried about the outcome of the final bid, you can protect your item by using a
reserve price
(the price the bidding needs to reach before the item can be sold). Then you won’t have to sell your item for a bargain-basement price because your reserve price protects your investment. The best advice is to set a reserve price that is the lowest amount you’ll take for your item and then set a minimum bid that is ridiculously low. Use a reserve only when absolutely necessary because some bidders pass up reserve auctions. (For more info about setting a reserve price, see the section “Your secret safety net — reserve price,” later in this chapter.)

Starting with a low starting price is also good for your pocketbook. eBay charges the seller an insertion fee based on your opening bid. If you keep your opening bid low and set no reserve, you get to keep more of your money. (See Chapter 9 for more about eBay fees.)

The more bids you get, the more people who will want to bid on your item because they perceive the item as hot. A hot item with lots of bids draws even more bidders the way a magnet attracts paper clips.

Before you set any starting price, do your homework and make some savvy marketing decisions. If your auction isn’t going as you hoped, you
could
end up selling Grandma Ethel’s Ming vase for a dollar. Think about your strategy. See “Midcourse Corrections: Fixing Current Auctions” later in this chapter on how you can make changes in your listing if you’ve made some egregious error.

When entering a starting price, type only the numbers and a decimal point. Don’t use dollar signs ($) or cents signs (¢).

Buy It Now

eBay’s Buy It Now (
BIN
in eBay-speak) is available for single-item auctions. This feature allows buyers who want to purchase an item
now
to do so. Have you ever wanted an item really badly and didn’t want to wait until the end of an auction? If the seller offers Buy It Now, you can purchase that item immediately. If you’re the seller, you can entice your bidders to pay just a tad more to have the satisfaction of walking away with the item free and clear. Just specify the amount the item can sell for in the Buy It Now price area — the amount can be whatever you want. If you choose to take advantage of selling a hot item during the holiday rush, for example, you can make the BIN price as high as you think it can go. If you just want the item to move, make your BIN price the average price you see the item go for on eBay.

When your item receives a bid, the BIN option disappears, and the item goes through the normal auction process. If you have a reserve price on your item, the BIN feature doesn’t disappear until a bidder meets your reserve price through the normal bidding process. To list an item with Buy It Now, you must have a feedback of 10 or be ID Verified. (See Chapter 16 for more details on ID Verify.)

Setting your auction time

How long do you want to run your auction? eBay gives you a choice — 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10 days. Just click the number you want in the box. If you choose a 10-day auction, you add $0.40 to your listing fee.

My auction-length strategy depends on the time of year and the item I’m selling, and I generally have great success. If you have an item that you think will sell pretty well, run a 7-day auction (be sure it will cover a full weekend) so bidders have time to check it out before they decide to bid. However, if you know that you have a red-hot item that’s going to fly off the shelves — like a rare toy or a hard-to-get video game — choose a 3-day auction. Eager bidders tend to bid higher and more often to beat out their competition if the item is hot and going fast. Three days is long enough to give trendy items exposure and ring up bids.