Tips for Being a Successful Seller
• Use good pictures of your product.
• Know your product. Be specific about the name and detail. Use serial numbers and identify any special markings. Keywords are so important to Ebay and Google. If you have great keywords in your title, then a Google search will drive people right to you. The buyer doesn’t have to have already been on Ebay, and the seller doesn’t have to advertise. • Be honest about defect. People will buy them anyway. Maybe not for as much, but they will buy it. • Use the tools available to you as far as setting pricing. Ebay and other Internet tools can help you set a reasonable price. • “Reserve” is a great tool. A reserve sets a price at which you will not go below for a bid. They buyer cannot see this reserve price. All the buyer knows is that they have not met the “reserve.” It encourages people to bid higher and higher. You could get well above your reserve price, but never below!
How can the Buyer beware?
• Seller ratings can tell you whether of not buying from this seller is a good risk. Do they have no feedback, negative feedback? Sometimes there has been a bad experience, but there is a place for comments. Maybe the product was great, but the buyer had to wait a long time to receive it. Read the comments, maybe the seller had a death in the family and thus the delay. They might be worth buying from if they have the item you really want.
• Look for a picture that the seller has taken. Often a fake won’t take their own picture but find a stock photo off of the Internet and post it as their own. • Look at the description of the item itself – did the seller purchase it himself or herself? Is there a guarantee of authenticity? • There are other websites that can authenticate items. • Ask questions – it’s perfectly fine to write to the seller and ask as many questions as you want to about the product. If there are red flags, pass.
What if you do get swindled?
• Ebay and Paypal have “insurance”, so to speak, on purchases. They want to keep their business alive and trustworthy as much as you do. Contact them and they have steps in place to return your money and take care of the fraudulent seller. They will protect you. Take advantage of that.
