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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, October 22, 2009 12:00 PM

EBAY QUEEN: How can you become faster at posting eBay items?

By SUZIE EADS, Ask the eBay Queen

Dear eBay Queen: I’ve always wanted to sell things on eBay, and I remember you talking about Halloween costumes being a hot item to sell. So last year I bought lots of costumes for 75 percent off.

I’ve been listing them to sell on eBay since Oct. 1. One of the costumes sold last night exactly 10 minutes after listing it (with a Buy it Now), several have bids and one has nine bids, 22 watchers and 320 plus views.

Since selling the costumes, I’ve accumulated more than the 10 sales I need to have a Detailed Seller Rating Score. I wonder what difference it will make with the new changes.

Will it make a difference where I am placed in search? Everything I have read points to how important search is.

I really need eBay to supplement my retirement income. Because I am physically challenged, I can’t get a regular job, so eBay is it.

I have tons of things from garage, estate and thrift sales that I have purchased to start selling on eBay. My problem is that I am too slow at listing. I started using Auctiva, and I am still pretty slow.

One day soon, I hope to open an Auctiva e-Commerce store — it just needs to be set up. How can I become faster at listing eBay items?

Also, what is your opinion on www.sellebrity.com? I recently started using it, and it is supposed to keep track of who visits your eBay auctions. Have you ever used it? It sure gives a lot of information, but I’m not quite sure how to make it helpful to me.

Any hints of any kind to help me along in this world of eBay auctions would be much appreciated. — McCleary8

Dear McCleary8: Congrats on your successful sales. As the mother of five, I know finding the right Halloween costume can be tricky and sometimes difficult. I looked at eight stores last year for the Spiderman costume my son wanted. I finally found the right one in the right size on eBay.

How does your seller dashboard look? Does it show you are raised, standard or lowered? I’ve been in each of those categories, and I still sold stuff.

Keep listing your items and giving the best customer service you can offer: send the items out within 24 hours, send professional e-mails and send the delivery confirmation number to your buyer.

For me, when it comes to listing faster, the Sell Your Item Form can take a little while to go through each page. I also don’t like how it has to be listed right then, or I have to pay to schedule it.

Auctiva is a good program to use to help you list items on eBay. It has great templates that are free to use. How are you listing your items? Do you list things all at once, or is writing up eBay items a process?

When I started selling on eBay 12 years ago in March, I would list 10 things a day and do all the steps at one time. Example: research, photograph, fix photos, upload photos, write items up and list on eBay. Now I do everything in steps.

If I were to go to an estate sale and purchase 19 items, I would photograph the items first, fix them in the evening while I was watching TV, upload the photos and put them in my listing program and the next day write them up. I would schedule them with my listing program to be listed on the day of my choice. Keep in mind that it does take a little while to get the hang of any program.

I would give Auctiva at least 60 days before switching to something new. If you are sure it’s not the right program for you before the 60 days are up, you can go here: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/tools.html or http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ListingSolutions.html to find a listing program that might better fit your needs.

Congratulations on finding a unique way to supplement your income.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 250454460358 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). Has the thought of swine flu got you worried? Check out these respiratory swine flu masks SOLD $239.87 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250454460358

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com.

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EBAY QUEEN: How can you become faster at posting eBay items?

By SUZIE EADS, Ask the eBay Queen

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.