If you have dabbled at all in the world of Internet marketing, you may have heard the term "unique selling proposition" or USP. USP is a technique that Internet marketers use to set themselves apart from the competition. Internet marketing is highly competitive and highly saturated. In order to be successful, it is vital that the Internet marketer present himself as being unique and different from his competitors especially when many of them are selling the same products.
It is also just as vital to have a unique selling proposition on Ebay. I am amazed at the number of Ebay sellers that are either unaware or just don't care about the importance of having a unique selling proposition. A case in point: A while back, I was researching some products on Ebay from a wholesale company called B&F System. B&F System is a wholesale only company that carries a variety of brand name products. One of the brands they carry is called Maxam. I came across several Maxam leather jackets on Ebay while searching ended auctions. Now here's the kicker. About a dozen or so of these leather jacket auctions were exactly the same. They all used the same image of a guy modeling the jacket that was captured from the B&F website. They even used the exact ad copy used by B&F!
What was the result? Only one of the sellers was able sell any jackets. The top bid was only $26. And since he purchased the jackets from B&F for $20, he made about $5.00 profit after Ebay fees. That's a slim profit for an item that normally retails for $95.
Always keep in mind that the amount of effort you put fourth on you auctions will be in direct proportion to the amount of return you get from your auctions. The sellers who put up the jacket auctions put fourth little effort by using stock photos and ad copy from the B&F website, and therefore received little or no sales from their auctions. The sellers in this case might think that using stock photos makes their auctions look more professional. It's just the opposite. These auctions look very amateurish. Using a picture of someone modeling a garment will not entice people to bid on your auction. Using three or four high quality pictures of the actual item along with a detailed description will entice people to bid. Remember that purchaseing apparel off the internet is not like purchaseing music CD's or software. You don't need to worry if a CD will fit. You don't need to see multiple pictures of a box of software to know what you'll be getting. However, when selling apparel, good quality pictures and a detailed description are vital. You should use a good quality digital camera to take pictures of the item from different angles. If you're selling jackets or coats, include a picture of the lining as well. In your description, don't just say it's a large size. Give measurements of the garment including overall length, sleeve length and chest size. If you're going to specialize in apparel, it would be a good idea to purchase a form or clothing dummy to model your apparel. Doing these things will go a long way in setting you apart from the competition and establishing a "unique selling proposition."
What ever you're thinking about selling, always look at your competition and think about how to set yourself apart. Remember that unless you're selling antiques on Ebay, there's always someone else who's trying to sell the same thing you're selling. Establishing your USP will put you on the road to Ebay success.
-Greg Hayes
Showing posts with label all about ebay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label all about ebay. Show all posts
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Selling Your Crafts Online
Artists, craftspeople and photographers are successfully selling their wares everyday on the online auction site, eBay. According to a recent analysis of eBay sales, a crafts-related item is sold every nine seconds, a scrapbook item is sold every minute, and 40 cross-stitch items sell in an hour on eBay. Sales of craft items on eBay have grown almost 60 percent in the past year.
But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn't work.
The Best Place to Read on How To Sell Your Crafts on Ebay would be from the horse's mouth itself - Ebay has nice page to explain the process. However, here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay" (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online:
1. Anyone who can type and has access to the Internet can sell on eBay. But the creative person has an advantage on eBay when she turns that creativity toward researching overlooked opportunities.
For example, during the months before Christmas, more than 3,000 Christmas items are sold every 24 hours on eBay. Research methods outlined in Sell Your Crafts on eBay showed that between February 12 and March 12 of this year, 4,107 auctions with 'Christmas ornament' in the title completed successfully at an average price of $17.34. Imagine how much more money a smart crafter can make all year long knowing how to ferret out this kind of information from eBay sales.
2. A word's spelling impacts an item's profitability. For example, the word 'handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included 'hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.
3. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for "completed items." Here, you'll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks to chart purchaseing patterns.
4. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says "highest price." This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can't make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace.
5. Determine how much money you'll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won't make a profit.
6. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay's special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions.
But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn't work.
The Best Place to Read on How To Sell Your Crafts on Ebay would be from the horse's mouth itself - Ebay has nice page to explain the process. However, here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay" (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online:
1. Anyone who can type and has access to the Internet can sell on eBay. But the creative person has an advantage on eBay when she turns that creativity toward researching overlooked opportunities.
For example, during the months before Christmas, more than 3,000 Christmas items are sold every 24 hours on eBay. Research methods outlined in Sell Your Crafts on eBay showed that between February 12 and March 12 of this year, 4,107 auctions with 'Christmas ornament' in the title completed successfully at an average price of $17.34. Imagine how much more money a smart crafter can make all year long knowing how to ferret out this kind of information from eBay sales.
2. A word's spelling impacts an item's profitability. For example, the word 'handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included 'hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.
3. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for "completed items." Here, you'll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks to chart purchaseing patterns.
4. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says "highest price." This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can't make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace.
5. Determine how much money you'll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won't make a profit.
6. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay's special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions.
Labels:
all about ebay,
Business,
make money online,
selling
Love Shopping on eBay? Now Make Them Pay You
There are many ways to take your business to the next level. There are a lot of strategies you could employ to bring in an extra $25,000.00 dollars each month. Unfortunately, few of those strategies are free, and even fewer promise to work for you as hard as the eBay Affiliate Program. The eBay Affiliate Program will be your business ally, equipping you with easy cash flow and more business tools than you can imagine.
The Program works with all kinds of businesses. No matter how long you have been in business, what kind of business you are in, what level of expertise you have, the eBay Affiliate Program can work for everyone.
The Program is by far, the most innovative and successful program on the Web. Members of the Program benefit from the ever growing eBay website, and earn money quickly just for referrals (as much as $45 per referral). Some of the most successful eBay Affiliate Program members have earned over $100,000.00 per month, and over a million a year. The only stipulation for joining is that you have a website.
The Program is designed to make it's affiliates successful, and they provide what you need to maximize your earning potential. You do not have to pay to become a member of the program – they pay you! Simply follow the five step enrollment process, and you will have access to the best business practices, a set of guidelines that the eBay Affiliate Program has put together to help you maximize your earning potential.
You will also have, within your reach and at your disposal, a variety of tools to make your site more effective and to reach your full eBay earning potential. With the Editor kit, you can dynamically display eBay listings. With the Flexible Destination Tool, you can instantly create traceable affiliate links to any eBay URL. You will also have access to the Product kit, Keyword Linking Tool, API Affiliate Tier, Dynamic Landing Pages, buttons, banners, logos, and more. These tools are free for you, and will optimize your web site to become a money-making machine.
The eBay Affiliate Program provides every member with a newsletter full of information and tips. The Program takes their obligation to their affiliates seriously, and they continue to provide you with new and updated tools to support your earning potential.
Using the natural search, paid search, content site, and newsletter models, many websites are running their businesses while also tapping into the eBay Affiliate Program Resources. With the eBay Affiliate Program, you still have time and resources to run your business, but you benefit from the reputation and success of the market phenomenon that is eBay.
If this sounds enticing, check out the eBay Affiliate Program. You may be meeting your next $25,000.00 per month business partner.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Beginners Guide to Buying & Selling on eBay or any other eCommerce Sites
The 26 tips listed here will save a lot of your money & hair eventually as you learn to trade on eBay or any other similar platforms. The irony of eBay is that as it grows to be ever more successful, it draws the unsavory element of the internet towards it. I'm talking about people who make it their business to attempt to defraud you and I in our eBay and PayPal transactions.
Of course, not all dodgy dealings on eBay are fraudulent. Some are just mischievous. Others are by chancers, who perhaps reckon their victims won't be bothered to pursue them.
Whoever causes it, it's left to the targeted purchaseer or seller to try and sort out the problem. All that we as users can do is to be extremely vigilant and cautious in all our eBay and PayPal activities.
Here is a list of practical steps, in no particular order, which purchaseers and sellers can take to help avoid becoming the next victim.
Hopefully you are already aware of some of these. It doesn't necessarily follow that if one of these applies the auction or person is fraudulent. But if you use your head, and build up a view of the overall transaction based based upon a number of these factors, you will reduce your chances of getting conned.
a) Stock photos and descriptions
Because they don't have the item they are "selling", some fraudsters use a stock photograph of the item. And they will probably use the manufacturer's product description too. So, stock photos and no original description might be a sign. Search for other auctions by the same seller, and see if they are brazen enough to advertise the same item more than once.
b) A price too good to be true often isn't true
A fraudster wants your money quickly, so you may find they offer to close their auction early with you as the "winner" having bid a price which you know to be somewhat of a bargain. Why would anyone close their auction early if the price hadn't reached market levels? I'll give you one guess.
c) High value or high volume, newly registered sellers
Although the vast majority of new sellers are genuine and honest, be cautious of purchaseing from people selling high value items in bulk, very early on in their eBay career. This pattern isn't quite normal. Think back to your own first sales. You would have been tentative, and probably have tried single, low value items initially. So, a new seller fitting this profile may be someone who has perhaps been previously suspended and has registered another ID.
d) 1 day listings
Although 1 day listing are used by genuine sellers who have more than one item or who want a quick sale, unfortunately this duration is attractive to fraudsters too. They sometimes use a 1 day auction duration to gain a quick sale before their actions can be reported and acted upon. So, be extra wary on auctions with 1 day listing.
e) Invitations to trade off-eBay
This is a classic ploy of fraudsters. Having made some kind of contact with you, or you with them, they will invite you to purchase or to sell off eBay i.e. without using eBay's auction services. The attraction here to the fraudster is that they can drive the transaction along the lines they prefer, whether that be escrow, PayPal etc. Another reason why trading off eBay is not a good idea is that you have to keep your own formal records of the transaction, and you forfeit any cover from eBay purchaseer protection and PayPal purchaseer protection. Plus, and this might be a minor point, but you will not be able to leave feedback to let others know your experience with this seller/purchaseer.
f) Payment methods with no recourse
Fraudsters prefer to chose payment methods in which the purchaseer has no protection, like wire transfers where the purchaseer has no way of tracing where the money is going. Western Union Money Transfers and BidPay are favourites and should be totally avoided. Postal orders are similar although they are a popular payment method among the genuine sellers as they require no clearance time. Bank transfers and cheques can only provide the possibility of your bank investigating the details of the account the money was transferred into. For the best protection use Paypal and fund with a Credit Card. Note there are limits on eBay and PayPal protection, and you should make yourself aware of what these are.
g) Unusual sales pattern
If your seller's feedback indicates that they normally deal in collectables, DVDs or other specific items, be suspicious that they are suddenly listing laptops, plasma TVs or other high value items. The change may indicate that this seller's account has been hijacked.
h) Bad english gives you a pointer
Some fraudsters operate from abroad but pretend to be in UK or USA. As they aren't particularly adept at the english language they might use a translation tool like Babelfish to create their emails to you. So, watch out for emails that are not good english. In itself, it doesn't prove anything, there are plenty of genuine eBay sellers for whom english is not their first language. But it might add to further evidence you have.
i) Location Location Location
In the case of lazy fraudsters you might find their locations don't match up. By that I mean the auction says the goods are in the UK, but the seller's ID details show their location to be, say, Ukraine. This is not a good sign. Often in these cases if you contact these sellers you will receive an excuse as to why the item is not in the UK, and therefore can't be collected in person. In short, if an auction says the item is in the UK and the seller says that it is not, I would avoid the auction. And don't forget to cross check with their PayPal account, and see in which country this resides.
j) Ask questions
Always, always ask your seller a question. Any question. Their response, if you receive one, will help you judge how genuine the seller is. Beware auctions that carry a message asking you to contact the seller via a given email address as opposed to via the 'Ask seller a question' link. This could be an account hijacker trying to prevent purchaseers from 'Asking the seller a question'. They want to stop this from happening because such questions could be routed to the real account owner.
k) "eBay can vouch for me" email
A warning about a relatively new tactic used by fraudsters. If you are proving hard to land as a purchaser/seller, they may claim they can get eBay to email you proof of their validity so that you can trust them. eBay, of course, will NEVER do this. The email sent out, however authentic looking, is fake and is designed to get you to part with your money or your goods. This applies equally to Square Trade and PayPal. They will never email you certifying the genuineness of anyone.
l)A PayPal warning
There are fraudsters who use stolen PayPal accounts to accept payments. To lower the possibility of this, check your seller's location as shown in eBay, and then see if it is one of PayPal's permitted countries by clicking here: http://www.workwinners.com/nlr701.htm. If PayPal don't offer their service in the country that the seller resides, be very wary.
m) Passwords
Never have the same password on your eBay and PayPal accounts. Or indeed on any other financial or personal site. Change your passwords every 30-60 days on both eBay and PayPal.
n) Escrow
If your seller asks you to use escrow, and proposes an escrow company they've used before, this is a clear indication they are fraudulent. There are many fake escrow sites which will take your money fraudulently. The only escrow site recommended by eBay is http://www.escrow.com. An alternative in the UK is http://www.auctionpix.co.uk Please don't be tempted to use any other escrow company, however professional looking their websites might be. It is a fact that 99% of escrow companies on the internet are fraudulent. They are set up solely to defraud money out of unsuspecting purchaseers, and to get goods without paying for them from unsuspecting sellers.
o) Pointers in feedback
Try to read the positive feedback as well as the negative. Read the way your seller responds to negative feedback as this will often give you an idea of how the seller will react if something goes badly wrong. If the seller is offering high value goods, be wary if their feedback has been built up quickly from low value purchases. Also, if the overall rating is good, but there are a disproportionate number of negatives in recent days/weeks, this might indicate the account has been taken over. Finally, be aware that feedback is not the guarantee it once was. Feedback can easily be manufactured. Also, if the user ID has been hijacked, you'll be reading the feedback of the original account owner, not the person with whom you're currently dealing!
p) Credit Card payment
For high value items, or for amounts of money you can't afford to lose, make sure you pay by credit card which has online fraud protection. This will give you some recourse if the seller is fraudulent. In this context, paying via PayPal is not the same. PayPal do have a purchaseer protection scheme, but there are criteria which the eBay auction has to satisfy in order to qualify. Even if the transaction qualifies, PayPal's standard protection currently has a maximum value of $1,000. Note that payment by debit card provides zero protection.
q) Address and Telephone check
Use the Ask the seller a question link, and request they email you with their address and telephone number. Any reputable seller will give you their address and telephone number. When you get the number, call it, and see if you get through to the genuine seller.
r) Keystroke capturing virus
This is a computer virus which you inadvertently download onto your PC. It's task is to capture the keystrokes you make, and to send them to the virus placer. The fraudster then uses pattern recognition software to identify and extract personal information, like username, password, credit card numbers etc. To avoid this happening to you, it is wise to have good, up-to-date virus, firewall and spyware checking software on your PC. Here is where you can get free software for each of these functions:
Virus protection - http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Firewall - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=ho_za
Spyware checking - http://www.lavasoft.com/support/download/
s) Shill bidding
Shill bidding is where people work in cahoots to inflate the bidding on an item. A seller has a "partner" who makes bids on the seller's items with a view to bumping up the bid price. They have no intention of purchaseing the item. Fortunately, shill bidders and their associated seller can be stupid. The shill bidder will usually makes bids on other items from the same seller. Here's how to check to see if shill bidding is a feature of a particular seller. First, look at the seller's closed auctions over the last 30 days. If most of the closed auctions have no bids, it is unlikely the seller has shill bidders working with them. If all of the closed auctions have bids, take a look at the bid history. See if the same bidder appears in the list of bidders, usually with aggressive bidding and normally at the start of the auction. If so, you may have uncovered a shill operation, so avoid that seller's auctions.
t) Keep your transaction information
Keep your own record of the transaction when you're purchaseing. Don't just rely on eBay. You want a record of the seller's identification, the item description, emails sent and received, plus the time, date and price of your bid.
u) "I noticed your bid...."
Never deal with anyone who contacts you after seeing your bid on another auction. They will say something like, "I saw you bidding on that digital camera. I have the same model available for sale. I don't have time to list it on eBay. It has more accessories than the one you lost out on. You can have it for xyz." If you bite, they'll probably take you down the fake escrow route. Also, if you entertain this proposition, you're operating outside of eBay and therefore have no auction protection whatsoever.
v) Changed eBay ID
Never deal with anyone who has a changed ID icon next to their name. This icon menas they've changed their ID in the last 30 days. Few legitimate people change their eBay ID. When was the last time you changed yours? There's a 1% chance that an ID change is genuine, but 99% that it is fraudulent. Why take the risk?
w) Changed email address mid-stream
If a seller or purchaseer changes their email address on you in the middle of a transaction, stop dealing with them. It is likely their previous email account was closed down due to some irregularity - such as a previous victim reported them. If you think about it, why would any genuine purchaseer or seller change their email address whilst corresponding on a transaction they wish to conclude expeditiously?
x) Complications
Never get involved in any transaction where the seller/purchaseer tries to introduce a third person into the financial arrangements. They might ask you to pay xyz, who will then pay the seller, and you will receive a discount or commission for your co-operation. Such proposals are always fraudulent. They prey on greed. Don't be tempted.
y) Time is of the essence
This is a scam which is has more potential for success than traditional phishing attacks, as it is time sensitive. The fraudster searches for high value auctions that have just ended. The bid history for an auction contains hyperlinks to each bidder. The fraudster checks to see if the winning bidder is selling any items of their own. If so, they go to that auction and embed a request for payment from the first auction within a question for seller. This works because winning bidders are expecting request for payment shortly after an auction ends. A variation of this is to offer a bidder a "second chance". This time the "Ask the seller a question" email pretends that the real winner has backed out, and offers the item at a lower price. The purchaseer, believing the story, is lured into paying to whom they believe is a genuine seller. Many eBayers have heard of the second chance system, but have no experience of it. This unfamiliarity coupled with the fact that a few weeks might have passed, makes this an effective method for fraudsters. The moral of this story is never get involved in any transaction which arrives in your inbox via the Ask the Seller a Question feature.
z) eBay IDs
Never use your email address as your eBay ID, or part of your eBay ID. Fraudsters have software which monitors internet traffic looking for information such as this. If your eBay ID and email address are the same, it is simple for a fraudster to plausibly communicate with other eBay members in your name.
That's all in my list. If you have any further ideas on how to prevent fraudulent transactions on eBay, please let me know and I will promote these through future newsletters.
In the meantime, be aware, and be safe in your eBay purchaseing and eBay selling.
About the author:
Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay.
Of course, not all dodgy dealings on eBay are fraudulent. Some are just mischievous. Others are by chancers, who perhaps reckon their victims won't be bothered to pursue them.
Whoever causes it, it's left to the targeted purchaseer or seller to try and sort out the problem. All that we as users can do is to be extremely vigilant and cautious in all our eBay and PayPal activities.
Here is a list of practical steps, in no particular order, which purchaseers and sellers can take to help avoid becoming the next victim.
Hopefully you are already aware of some of these. It doesn't necessarily follow that if one of these applies the auction or person is fraudulent. But if you use your head, and build up a view of the overall transaction based based upon a number of these factors, you will reduce your chances of getting conned.
a) Stock photos and descriptions
Because they don't have the item they are "selling", some fraudsters use a stock photograph of the item. And they will probably use the manufacturer's product description too. So, stock photos and no original description might be a sign. Search for other auctions by the same seller, and see if they are brazen enough to advertise the same item more than once.
b) A price too good to be true often isn't true
A fraudster wants your money quickly, so you may find they offer to close their auction early with you as the "winner" having bid a price which you know to be somewhat of a bargain. Why would anyone close their auction early if the price hadn't reached market levels? I'll give you one guess.
c) High value or high volume, newly registered sellers
Although the vast majority of new sellers are genuine and honest, be cautious of purchaseing from people selling high value items in bulk, very early on in their eBay career. This pattern isn't quite normal. Think back to your own first sales. You would have been tentative, and probably have tried single, low value items initially. So, a new seller fitting this profile may be someone who has perhaps been previously suspended and has registered another ID.
d) 1 day listings
Although 1 day listing are used by genuine sellers who have more than one item or who want a quick sale, unfortunately this duration is attractive to fraudsters too. They sometimes use a 1 day auction duration to gain a quick sale before their actions can be reported and acted upon. So, be extra wary on auctions with 1 day listing.
e) Invitations to trade off-eBay
This is a classic ploy of fraudsters. Having made some kind of contact with you, or you with them, they will invite you to purchase or to sell off eBay i.e. without using eBay's auction services. The attraction here to the fraudster is that they can drive the transaction along the lines they prefer, whether that be escrow, PayPal etc. Another reason why trading off eBay is not a good idea is that you have to keep your own formal records of the transaction, and you forfeit any cover from eBay purchaseer protection and PayPal purchaseer protection. Plus, and this might be a minor point, but you will not be able to leave feedback to let others know your experience with this seller/purchaseer.
f) Payment methods with no recourse
Fraudsters prefer to chose payment methods in which the purchaseer has no protection, like wire transfers where the purchaseer has no way of tracing where the money is going. Western Union Money Transfers and BidPay are favourites and should be totally avoided. Postal orders are similar although they are a popular payment method among the genuine sellers as they require no clearance time. Bank transfers and cheques can only provide the possibility of your bank investigating the details of the account the money was transferred into. For the best protection use Paypal and fund with a Credit Card. Note there are limits on eBay and PayPal protection, and you should make yourself aware of what these are.
g) Unusual sales pattern
If your seller's feedback indicates that they normally deal in collectables, DVDs or other specific items, be suspicious that they are suddenly listing laptops, plasma TVs or other high value items. The change may indicate that this seller's account has been hijacked.
h) Bad english gives you a pointer
Some fraudsters operate from abroad but pretend to be in UK or USA. As they aren't particularly adept at the english language they might use a translation tool like Babelfish to create their emails to you. So, watch out for emails that are not good english. In itself, it doesn't prove anything, there are plenty of genuine eBay sellers for whom english is not their first language. But it might add to further evidence you have.
i) Location Location Location
In the case of lazy fraudsters you might find their locations don't match up. By that I mean the auction says the goods are in the UK, but the seller's ID details show their location to be, say, Ukraine. This is not a good sign. Often in these cases if you contact these sellers you will receive an excuse as to why the item is not in the UK, and therefore can't be collected in person. In short, if an auction says the item is in the UK and the seller says that it is not, I would avoid the auction. And don't forget to cross check with their PayPal account, and see in which country this resides.
j) Ask questions
Always, always ask your seller a question. Any question. Their response, if you receive one, will help you judge how genuine the seller is. Beware auctions that carry a message asking you to contact the seller via a given email address as opposed to via the 'Ask seller a question' link. This could be an account hijacker trying to prevent purchaseers from 'Asking the seller a question'. They want to stop this from happening because such questions could be routed to the real account owner.
k) "eBay can vouch for me" email
A warning about a relatively new tactic used by fraudsters. If you are proving hard to land as a purchaser/seller, they may claim they can get eBay to email you proof of their validity so that you can trust them. eBay, of course, will NEVER do this. The email sent out, however authentic looking, is fake and is designed to get you to part with your money or your goods. This applies equally to Square Trade and PayPal. They will never email you certifying the genuineness of anyone.
l)A PayPal warning
There are fraudsters who use stolen PayPal accounts to accept payments. To lower the possibility of this, check your seller's location as shown in eBay, and then see if it is one of PayPal's permitted countries by clicking here: http://www.workwinners.com/nlr701.htm. If PayPal don't offer their service in the country that the seller resides, be very wary.
m) Passwords
Never have the same password on your eBay and PayPal accounts. Or indeed on any other financial or personal site. Change your passwords every 30-60 days on both eBay and PayPal.
n) Escrow
If your seller asks you to use escrow, and proposes an escrow company they've used before, this is a clear indication they are fraudulent. There are many fake escrow sites which will take your money fraudulently. The only escrow site recommended by eBay is http://www.escrow.com. An alternative in the UK is http://www.auctionpix.co.uk Please don't be tempted to use any other escrow company, however professional looking their websites might be. It is a fact that 99% of escrow companies on the internet are fraudulent. They are set up solely to defraud money out of unsuspecting purchaseers, and to get goods without paying for them from unsuspecting sellers.
o) Pointers in feedback
Try to read the positive feedback as well as the negative. Read the way your seller responds to negative feedback as this will often give you an idea of how the seller will react if something goes badly wrong. If the seller is offering high value goods, be wary if their feedback has been built up quickly from low value purchases. Also, if the overall rating is good, but there are a disproportionate number of negatives in recent days/weeks, this might indicate the account has been taken over. Finally, be aware that feedback is not the guarantee it once was. Feedback can easily be manufactured. Also, if the user ID has been hijacked, you'll be reading the feedback of the original account owner, not the person with whom you're currently dealing!
p) Credit Card payment
For high value items, or for amounts of money you can't afford to lose, make sure you pay by credit card which has online fraud protection. This will give you some recourse if the seller is fraudulent. In this context, paying via PayPal is not the same. PayPal do have a purchaseer protection scheme, but there are criteria which the eBay auction has to satisfy in order to qualify. Even if the transaction qualifies, PayPal's standard protection currently has a maximum value of $1,000. Note that payment by debit card provides zero protection.
q) Address and Telephone check
Use the Ask the seller a question link, and request they email you with their address and telephone number. Any reputable seller will give you their address and telephone number. When you get the number, call it, and see if you get through to the genuine seller.
r) Keystroke capturing virus
This is a computer virus which you inadvertently download onto your PC. It's task is to capture the keystrokes you make, and to send them to the virus placer. The fraudster then uses pattern recognition software to identify and extract personal information, like username, password, credit card numbers etc. To avoid this happening to you, it is wise to have good, up-to-date virus, firewall and spyware checking software on your PC. Here is where you can get free software for each of these functions:
Virus protection - http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Firewall - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=ho_za
Spyware checking - http://www.lavasoft.com/support/download/
s) Shill bidding
Shill bidding is where people work in cahoots to inflate the bidding on an item. A seller has a "partner" who makes bids on the seller's items with a view to bumping up the bid price. They have no intention of purchaseing the item. Fortunately, shill bidders and their associated seller can be stupid. The shill bidder will usually makes bids on other items from the same seller. Here's how to check to see if shill bidding is a feature of a particular seller. First, look at the seller's closed auctions over the last 30 days. If most of the closed auctions have no bids, it is unlikely the seller has shill bidders working with them. If all of the closed auctions have bids, take a look at the bid history. See if the same bidder appears in the list of bidders, usually with aggressive bidding and normally at the start of the auction. If so, you may have uncovered a shill operation, so avoid that seller's auctions.
t) Keep your transaction information
Keep your own record of the transaction when you're purchaseing. Don't just rely on eBay. You want a record of the seller's identification, the item description, emails sent and received, plus the time, date and price of your bid.
u) "I noticed your bid...."
Never deal with anyone who contacts you after seeing your bid on another auction. They will say something like, "I saw you bidding on that digital camera. I have the same model available for sale. I don't have time to list it on eBay. It has more accessories than the one you lost out on. You can have it for xyz." If you bite, they'll probably take you down the fake escrow route. Also, if you entertain this proposition, you're operating outside of eBay and therefore have no auction protection whatsoever.
v) Changed eBay ID
Never deal with anyone who has a changed ID icon next to their name. This icon menas they've changed their ID in the last 30 days. Few legitimate people change their eBay ID. When was the last time you changed yours? There's a 1% chance that an ID change is genuine, but 99% that it is fraudulent. Why take the risk?
w) Changed email address mid-stream
If a seller or purchaseer changes their email address on you in the middle of a transaction, stop dealing with them. It is likely their previous email account was closed down due to some irregularity - such as a previous victim reported them. If you think about it, why would any genuine purchaseer or seller change their email address whilst corresponding on a transaction they wish to conclude expeditiously?
x) Complications
Never get involved in any transaction where the seller/purchaseer tries to introduce a third person into the financial arrangements. They might ask you to pay xyz, who will then pay the seller, and you will receive a discount or commission for your co-operation. Such proposals are always fraudulent. They prey on greed. Don't be tempted.
y) Time is of the essence
This is a scam which is has more potential for success than traditional phishing attacks, as it is time sensitive. The fraudster searches for high value auctions that have just ended. The bid history for an auction contains hyperlinks to each bidder. The fraudster checks to see if the winning bidder is selling any items of their own. If so, they go to that auction and embed a request for payment from the first auction within a question for seller. This works because winning bidders are expecting request for payment shortly after an auction ends. A variation of this is to offer a bidder a "second chance". This time the "Ask the seller a question" email pretends that the real winner has backed out, and offers the item at a lower price. The purchaseer, believing the story, is lured into paying to whom they believe is a genuine seller. Many eBayers have heard of the second chance system, but have no experience of it. This unfamiliarity coupled with the fact that a few weeks might have passed, makes this an effective method for fraudsters. The moral of this story is never get involved in any transaction which arrives in your inbox via the Ask the Seller a Question feature.
z) eBay IDs
Never use your email address as your eBay ID, or part of your eBay ID. Fraudsters have software which monitors internet traffic looking for information such as this. If your eBay ID and email address are the same, it is simple for a fraudster to plausibly communicate with other eBay members in your name.
That's all in my list. If you have any further ideas on how to prevent fraudulent transactions on eBay, please let me know and I will promote these through future newsletters.
In the meantime, be aware, and be safe in your eBay purchaseing and eBay selling.
About the author:
Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay.
Why To Do Joint Venture Deals on eBay
eBay is THE most popular home business in the USA, but it's not without its problems. Many have tried to succeed but have failed due to confusion over what products to sell, giant numbers of competitors, copy and picture theft from other sellers and eBay and Paypal that eat into profits.
One way to avoid this swamp, though, is to do a Joint Venture with established eBay sellers. This allows a JV partner to build her own mailing list and sell products off eBay.
There are multiple advantages to this way of doing business on eBay:
1. The biggest uncertainty for would-be eBay sellers is what products to sell. Sometimes vendors risk large sums of money on untried products, only to lose their investment, become sour and give up. With a Joint Venture there is no risk except for a few hours of time.
2. Since there are no auctions listed on eBay, no one can steal copy or pictures from JV sellers - because there is nothing to copy. In effect, we become invisible - no one even knows we exist and this hidden aspect has many advantages.
3. eBay JVs are usually done with a digital product that can be instantly downloaded. This is great for any entrepreneur because inexpensive autoresponders mean that her entire business is handled via autopilot. Contrast this with the usual way of doing business on eBay which involves mailing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of boxes.
4. eBay and Paypal have lots of rules. It's easy to break some unwittingly, and even the most honest seller does so from time to time. A JV merchant isn't answerable to eBay, however, but only to her customers.
5. A JV seller never directly lists on eBay, thus avoiding eBay and Paypal fees.
6. Successful Powersellers have large numbers of customers and there are lots of administrative details involved. Implementing a sales system can cost time and money because without attention to detail packages won't be mailed in a timely fashion, payments won't be accurate, items will be sent to the wrong purchaseers, and so on. A JV partner eliminates all of that because all transactions can be funneled through a hands-off system.
7. eBay selling lives or dies through the 'feedback' system. Negative feedback can kill sales instantly and lack of feedback causes purchaseers to hesitite and choose other sellers. Feedback is totally irrelevant to a Joint Venture seller because she is using the reputation of carefully chosen other sellers. She knows in advance that their feedback is high quality or she doesn't do deals with them.
8. Inexperienced sellers sometimes drag wiser merchants into price wars. In a panic over sales, they foolishly slash prices, beginning a chain reaction that results in bare bones bids that allow no one to make any money. A Joint Venture seller floats serenely above such hiccups in the marketplace.
9. Best of all, a JV seller doesn't settle for a one time sale. She concentrates her efforts on a mailing list of happy customers that she can sell to again and again and again. In this way, not only is she ensuring repeate profits, but she gets paid for creating this list, rather than having to pay someone else for names.
With its 147,000,000 registered users, eBay is the best source of targeted, Net-savvy purchaseers on the web. By putting together Joint Venture deals with established sellers, anyone can add large numbers of qualified purchaseers to their database efficiently and inexpensively.
One way to avoid this swamp, though, is to do a Joint Venture with established eBay sellers. This allows a JV partner to build her own mailing list and sell products off eBay.
There are multiple advantages to this way of doing business on eBay:
1. The biggest uncertainty for would-be eBay sellers is what products to sell. Sometimes vendors risk large sums of money on untried products, only to lose their investment, become sour and give up. With a Joint Venture there is no risk except for a few hours of time.
2. Since there are no auctions listed on eBay, no one can steal copy or pictures from JV sellers - because there is nothing to copy. In effect, we become invisible - no one even knows we exist and this hidden aspect has many advantages.
3. eBay JVs are usually done with a digital product that can be instantly downloaded. This is great for any entrepreneur because inexpensive autoresponders mean that her entire business is handled via autopilot. Contrast this with the usual way of doing business on eBay which involves mailing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of boxes.
4. eBay and Paypal have lots of rules. It's easy to break some unwittingly, and even the most honest seller does so from time to time. A JV merchant isn't answerable to eBay, however, but only to her customers.
5. A JV seller never directly lists on eBay, thus avoiding eBay and Paypal fees.
6. Successful Powersellers have large numbers of customers and there are lots of administrative details involved. Implementing a sales system can cost time and money because without attention to detail packages won't be mailed in a timely fashion, payments won't be accurate, items will be sent to the wrong purchaseers, and so on. A JV partner eliminates all of that because all transactions can be funneled through a hands-off system.
7. eBay selling lives or dies through the 'feedback' system. Negative feedback can kill sales instantly and lack of feedback causes purchaseers to hesitite and choose other sellers. Feedback is totally irrelevant to a Joint Venture seller because she is using the reputation of carefully chosen other sellers. She knows in advance that their feedback is high quality or she doesn't do deals with them.
8. Inexperienced sellers sometimes drag wiser merchants into price wars. In a panic over sales, they foolishly slash prices, beginning a chain reaction that results in bare bones bids that allow no one to make any money. A Joint Venture seller floats serenely above such hiccups in the marketplace.
9. Best of all, a JV seller doesn't settle for a one time sale. She concentrates her efforts on a mailing list of happy customers that she can sell to again and again and again. In this way, not only is she ensuring repeate profits, but she gets paid for creating this list, rather than having to pay someone else for names.
With its 147,000,000 registered users, eBay is the best source of targeted, Net-savvy purchaseers on the web. By putting together Joint Venture deals with established sellers, anyone can add large numbers of qualified purchaseers to their database efficiently and inexpensively.
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