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Many first time sellers have one thing in common –



they fail. Many of them fail time and time again,



never understanding what is going wrong. They do



hours of research looking for the perfect item to sell,



get the auction set up, and wait for the bidding to



begin. Hours go by and no bids are placed. Days go



by, and there are still no bids – or there are very low



bids. Finally the auction ends, and it turns out to be



a total failure. Considering the huge number of sellers



who run eBay auctions, there are specific things you



must do, and specific things you must not do if you



are to be successful.





There are many reasons why auctions fail. The most



common reason is that the item is not in high



demand. This problem can be avoided by doing the



necessary research to determine which items sell



well, and which items should be avoided. This



research takes a great deal of time – but in the end,



you will find that it is time well spent.





Another reason for eBay failure is pricing. No matter



what your reserve price is, your opening bid price



should never be more than $50 or so. This is how you



will attract potential bidders to your auction. If you



set that opening bid too high, most people won’t



even click the link to read the description for your



item. Another pricing problem is lack of research.



Before you set your reserve price, you must



determine what the item is really worth, and the price



similar items have sold for in past eBay auctions.





Poorly written descriptions are another cause of



failed auctions. Poor grammar and misspelled words



drive people away. Failing to post a picture of the



item will also keep people from visiting your auction



page. Make sure that your description is well written.



This is essentially your ‘sales copy.’





Shipping prices scare people away from auctions if



they are too high. Find the lowest shipping prices



that you can find, and consider paying for the



shipping yourself if it won’t cut into your profits too



much. Do not charge handling fees.





Offer great ‘customer service’ for all of your auctions,



and ask your buyers to give you feedback. If the



items that you sell are everything that you said they



would be, and you offer great customer service, you



can expect wonderful feedback – and this



feedback will help a great deal in your future auctions.