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7 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid on eBay

January 16, 2008

Mistakes on eBay can ruin a business before it starts. When people decide to jump right into the eBay auction business, they often get so excited about starting that they forget to do their research. They are not thinking of mistakes to avoid on eBay, but rather about how much money they plan to make.

Read on to see if you are committing some of these errors and take care to avoid these mistakes. Improve the quality of your eBay business by looking at and correcting these errors on your site.

* Not spending enough time to get a good “Look and Feel” for your site

The first thing buyers see is your home page. If it is messy, badly designed or hard to navigate they are not going to stick around. You may have the best merchandise in the world, but it won’t do you much good if no one stays around to look at it.

* Listing your items in the wrong category

Most buyers search for items by category. Be sure to become familiar will all the possible categories. It helps to list your products in the smallest niche possible. Putting it into a general niche such as “toys” will get you listed, but will buyers ever find your item? The smaller the niche, the better chance you have of someone landing on your site.

* Not knowing what is “hot” and what customers are actually buying

Just because you collect butter molds or antique golf clubs doesn’t mean others are looking for the same item. Keep an eye on the best selling items and hot seller lists to keep up to date on the latest buying trends

* Listing only a few items at a time

You have a site. Why not use it to the fullest? If you are serious about wanting to build an auction business or even if you just want to make extra money, you have to give buyers a reason to bookmark and return to your site. If you only have 3 items for sale, why would someone pay you a return visit?

* Writing incomplete or bad descriptions

Descriptions are the lifeblood of your site. You must make the descriptions accurate and truthful, but that doesn’t mean they have to be dull and boring. Go to some of the sites of your competition and read how they jazz up their descriptions with positive action words. Take some free lessons on the ‘Net about copywriting and make your site sell. This is one of the major mistakes to avoid on ebay.

* Posting items with a high starting price or a reserve price

Like any other auction, people come to eBay looking for bargains. A sure way to scare buyers away from your site is to start the bidding too high. Start at a reasonable price or none at all, and you’ll find you get plenty of bids. Yes, there are times you will lose money on an item. That’s the risk of eBay. More often though, once buyers start bidding on an item, they get caught up in the action and you’ll find oftentimes the item will bring you more than you ever imagined.

* Shipping at your own convenience

Always remember, eBay is a business. You may consider it a hobby that you can do at your own pace, but buyers are waiting anxiously for their merchandise. Take your time in shipping and you will find your feedback dropping like a stone.

These are a few of the glaring mistakes to avoid on eBay. Look at your site and evaluate it through the eyes of your customers. Are you an eBay seller you would be happy dealing with?

If you are an eBay seller and would like to learn more about other mistakes to avoid on ebay, or perhaps learn advanced techniques and tips on how to become an eBay Powerseller, consider joining an eBay membership site. Receive mentoring from eBay Powersellers and certified eBay instructors. Bring your eBay business to the next level. The cost of joining an ebay membership site is generally less than a dinner at a restaurant and it may bring you more satisfaction.

Gloria Daniels is not an eBay Powerseller because she is not willing to put in the time required to reach that level. She does however enjoy selling on eBay as a hobby and has been known to oftentimes turn a tidy profit because of the techniques learned on an ebay membership site. Joining an eBay membership site is like signing up for a university course, but a lot cheaper. You may not be buying credits, but you’ll soon have credits in your bank account. Check out Become an eBay Powerseller for a free email course on secrets and techniques used by expert ebay entrepreneurs.

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

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